UK Athletics Heroes

Recently, I have been given one of the most rewarding tasks within my role at work and this is to help 6 young rising athletics stars, all under the age of 18, to help them on their way to winning medals at the London 2012 Olympics.

This is something that is extremely close to my heart. When I was growing up and competing regularly in swimming, I would have loved the same level of support, enthusiasm and financial backing, as well as gaining that exposure and media attention, which in itself is a skill any professional athlete has to master.

The programme is named. ‘Heroes’ and is sponsored by UK Athletics and Original Source. I intend to follow the chosen six young athletes, with their sights set on the podium, for a period of 6 months and watch their summer season unfold as they strive to strike a balance between everyday life and the demands of a rigorous training programme. At the end of those 6 months, we get to decide who the winning hero is and ultimately who will then receive an extra bursary from the brand to help them further on their way to athletics stardom! Quite a momentous and difficult task as they are all so talented!

It’s been fascinating to hear about what they go through on a week to week basis; here are just a few of their quotes:

Ross Murray (Gateshead Harriers)

IAAF World Cross Country, Edinburgh

“You have to be quick when the food is served….bananas are like gold dust when you’re a middle or long distance athlete.”

Laura Weightman (Morpeth Harriers & AC)

Flora London Mini Marathon

“On you marks… Set …. Bang …. We were off. I felt good; I didn’t have tight calves as I thought I might and my breathing felt under control. It was a fast pace to begin with, but it soon settled and I got into a comfortable position.

“The first 3 girls went off and I couldn’t keep with them. So I kept on working and just sat in fifth. I then saw the 600m sign, the girl in front was not far ahead, so I kicked and went for it. I ran all the way to the line and managed to go past her 50m from the line to finish 4^th.”

Jordan McGrath (Birchfield Harriers)

Life change from 16 year old boy to 18 year old athlete

“I have only been involved with athletics for two years, and it has already changed my life vastly…. It was a very fast rise to the top in Under 17 athletics for me. In just my fifth 400m race I was lining up next to Chris Clarke, who would break his own English schools record by half a second in the same race.”

Niall Flannery (Gateshead Harriers)

“When I hear other students complain they didn’t have time to do their work I always wonder what their excuse is because I know fine well they will have had more time than me!”

I am so pleased to be supporting such a deserved cause. All 6 athletes are such characters. When I met them in person for the meet and greet photo shoot day it was no disappointment. As I gave each of them their Original Source goody bags on the side of Headingley track in Leeds, it was a pleasure to see the delight on their faces. It was hilarious to hear Ross shout at the top of his Geordie accent “It’s proper mint like” on receiving 12 bottles of OS mint and tea tree, “I love this stuff, it’s what dreams are made of”……I couldn’t have said it better myself……..

Two days in Phnom Penh

I’ve heard Bangkok referred to as an assault on the senses, but after 2 days in Cambodia’s capital, I would have to say this classes as a full scale attack with noise, smells and images unlike no other. At first sight you may think it a typical Asian city, lots of street markets, food carts, motorbikes, push bikes, lots of horns beeping and Tuk-Tuk’s as far as the eye can see. But when you look a little closer you see the differences.

The roads are the first giveaway. There may well be road markings, but these are blatantly ignored and all you can do is maintain your speed with white knuckles, sharp intakes of breathe and the occasional high pitch squeal, (from my female passenger of course). Your fellow commuters are inventive to say the least and have a good grasp of the benefits of car sharing. One van, 4 rows of seats, every row has 4 people on the seat and 4 people on their laps, even the driver was sitting on someone’s lap with 1 person wedged between them and the driver’s door, not to mention the 12 people holding on to the roof rack – economic and environmental!

Then there are the vehicles on the road, this fascinated me more than anything else. The people of Cambodia know the true meaning of car pooling. My favorite memory of this was a van with 4 rows of seats and every row had at least 4 people across and someone else sitting in their laps. Even the driver was sitting in someone’s lap, with another person between them and the drivers door. And it didn’t stop there, on the roof there was a further 12 people holding onto the roof rack.

What I really enjoyed was the people. So friendly, approachable and with beautiful smiles. Drivers shouting ‘tuk tuk?’ suggestively and the comedic ‘One dollar? Maybe laytur?’ when trying to induce you to buy some trinket or food. Then they remembered you the next day, pressing free flowers in to your palms to say ‘thank you’ for the bracelet you bought the day before.

But the city of contrasts also also offers an interesting yet extremely sad insight into Cambodia’s recent and tragic past. Only 30 years ago, Cambodia was under the control of a regime that left a horrific legacy for its people that is still evident with many of its people today. The Khmer Rouge came into power in 1975 under their Leader Pol Pot, and commenced a radical form of communism which lead to the deaths of 2 million of Cambodia’s own people, through torture, execution, forced labour and starvation. The Toul Seng museum or S21, is the site of one of the main prisons which is now a museum to the memory of the people and the events of this era.

There is another key part to understanding the Khmer Rouge regime and that is a visit to the Killing Fields. The Killing Fields has little remaining evidence of the events that occurred there as most parts of now been removed, however, there is a commemorative Stupa to the people which is a tower like building containing the skulls and bones of the many discovered human remains at the site. If you are traveling to Phnom Penh these are both worth a visit, but do Toul Seng first, as many of the images you see at the museum, you will be able to translate into reality in at the Killing Fields.

24 Heures Du Mans

Our mission: the transportation of 4 thrill seeking speed demons to Le Mans.

Our goal: get there safely of course, experience the thrills & spills of a 24hr race and understand the literal definition of ‘beer mountain’.

So how did we fare? The tamest part of the trip was easily the lolling ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge. This allowed us to find our inner-peace, quaff a few beverages (clearly not the designated driver), and discuss tactics, preparing us for the enslaught of roaring engines, car exotica and trying miserably to forewarn our guts about the bloke fodder they were about to be subjected to.

We crossed country weaving in between cars you would sell your brother for (sorry Ben) and some random incarnations of vehicles – the old Routemaster London Bus carrying some delightful folk enjoying a lunchtime beer or 3. We then landed at the course, camping as closely to it as possible because if the beer didn’t do the trick, the fumes certainly would and we needed the growl of the engines to lullaby us into a timely slumber.

The race kicked of in earnest so to summarise the pitch of it all:

Watched a modified Ford Anglia burn out on the drag strip (or small local road) next to our camp site, out-performing most of the exotica costing tens of thousands more

Ordered away from a great viewing spot on the outside of a bend (something dull about it being dangerous)

Watched the first couple of hours of racing including a few excellent prangs

Revelled in the noise of Aston Martins & Corvettes at full chat

Saw cars race through the night at Arnage (including a good bump)

Eenjoyed the last bit of the race where rain showers caused havoc, as leading teams struggled to decide between slicks & intermediates

Got onto the pit lane to watch the presentations, including Aston Martin winning the GT1 class – huge Brit presence ensured massive cheering & flag waving school-girl stylee

Our Sunday night meat feast – typical bloke silage & watching 10 lads from Blackburn drink more beer than is humanly possible & then trying to beat them (all of us being competitive sorts)

http://www.beermountain.com/ captures the essence pretty well.

So what to do when it’s all over and the climax has anti’d? Clearly, 4 men, 1 fast car & time on our hands, meant a leisurely route home via the Champagne region before getting back on the ferry for a shower & shave. Hot water meeting smelly males for the first time in 4 days. A shameless plug but clearly Original Source mint & tea tree did the trick, tingling the areas that needed a good tingle, cooling those subjected to too much heat, and bringing a new lease of life to all of us.

The next challenge will be to improve upon it for next year……..

Mountain Mayhem

Phewee. We’ve just about recovered from a MONUMENTAL weekend at Mountain Mayhem 2008. Thanks guys for letting us take part!

We pitched up on Friday 20^th June, girding our loins and gritting our teeth for the enslaught of 24 hours pelting hamster-esque around a notoriously muddy and fairly technical track come rain or shine, light or dark, chaffing or smooth.

It all kicked off Saturday 21^st with over 2,500 riders preparing themselves and so when the sirens honked at 2pm, it was a pretty epic half a mile run to put distance between competitors before bikes were mounted. Then it was non-stop, hard-nosed riding until 2pm the following day – ouch – jumping off the bikes occasionally to ram home a portion of carb-heavy noodles, the occasional sausage and lots of fluids.

As one of the sponsors we of course had to have a team (we’d be lame otherwise!) and we did pretty well to boot. With over 650 entrants across teams and individuals, team Original Source came 223^rd – and we’re feeling just a little bit proud! Of course it rained, of course the wind blew and of course we had fun (apart from Jamie’s snapped back derailer – whoops – half way round a pitch black course – whoops – at one thirty in the morning – whoops– with a lot of rain and mud – whoops- taking him 2 hours to get back-whoops!).

Thank you Andy Brack, Steve Davies, Jamie Lothian and Steve Ball for taking part!

Not only did we complete the course (to the degree we literally had to drag Big Steve off his bike as he just would NOT stop!), we gave away over 12,000 freebies. We also sponsored all the luxury shower units, now dubbed the ‘Blake 7 showers’ as they were so ultra-modern (and clean!), so that the riders had somewhere decent to hose off and massage their saddle-indented behinds back into life.

It’s nice being nice and we like to give a way a load of cool stuff so if you’re up for it, these are the other events we’ll be appearing at over the summer:

The Original Source Urbanathlon: July 13^th, Sports City, Manchester. A 10km gruelling race around Manchester, jumping over and under urban obstacles whilst negotiating errant pieces of fruit. Can’t wait! Check out the link: www.urbanathlon.co.uk

Tough Guy: the big daddy of all endurance races, it describes its summer events as ‘Nettle Warrior’ . You will feel pain, some pleasure, but mostly pain. It’s on 27^th July and you can find all the details at http://www.toughguy.co.uk/

Rip Curl Boardmasters: as this is for surf-pros we won’t be entering this one although Nig could give them a run for their money! It’s on from 4^th until 10^th August and is mahhussive surf, skate & music setting in picturesque Newquay. Check it out: http://www.ripcurlboardmasters.com

Hellrunner: just as it sounds 10 -12 miles of challenging off-road running…tough, twisting trails… including the famed Hills of Hell and the Bog of Doom! We’ll be doing it – do you dare! November 1^st and you can choose Hell up North or Hell Down South! http://www.hellrunner.co.uk/

Looking forward to seeing you there!