We’ve managed to wangle an extra team slot for the Original Source Mountain Mayhem 2009, which means we’ve got five race places up for grabs in a free prize draw. Plus, together with our fellow sponsors, we’ve gathered a sackful of fantastic prizes, so even if you don’t get your bottom in a saddle, you could win some tip-top mountain bike gear.
Visit the site: http://originalsourceexperiences.co.uk
In preparation for what will certainly be the event of the year my training has stepped up a level in the past weeks. I have been working hard to loose some weight to improve my speed on the bike – but it is harder than you would think!
Events wise I entered the Bournemouth Bay Run, which was a successful half marathon along Bournemouth promenade. Light sea breezes and the sun beaming down would sound like ideal conditions but I felt the strain and tasted the salty sweat dripping from my forehead after just 6 miles. Despite the fatigue, the cheers from the hundreds of spectators at the finish line was rewarding enough to spur me on the last few yards. Fortunately I was entertained en route by my fellow competitors (and the public alike) who mistook me for an Original Source rep who they expected to be handing out free Original Source products along the way!
Along side my regular training patterns, I’ve been swimming every Monday night to increase my anaerobic level of fitness, and on Tuesdays taking part in Time Trials. My goal is to rank in the TT top 5 by the end of this season – a good way to loose more of the beer tummy! The TT’s are proving ever popular amongst our continually growing Triathlon Club.
Rather frustratingly from a training point of view, this month has been a bit of a funny one, as I’ve been spending more time abroad with work commitments, but at least I’ve trained in some pleasant weather! Running along the Barcelona beaches in 25c + heat, and more recently mountain bike training in the Normandy hills in thundery rain is certainly an endurance test! The OS Mint shower gel and shampoo has come in use plenty of times – and woken me up in the morning when I’ve most needed it! All I can hope for now is some dry conditions at the Mayhem weekend.
The Original Source Team’s route began with us running up to the prison, and across the old fort – so far so good! But what goes up must come down, and it took some pretty fancy footwork to stop everyone tripping over themselves down the cliff to the shore line. All competitors had been warned not to expect their usual finishing times for this event and it was becoming really apparent why! The challenging coastal route to the Portland Bill required a steady pace and balance to avoid sliding down the sheer cliff drop towards Chesil beach. This arduous end to the course was certainly the sting in the tail – you could almost hear the organisers laughing! I felt my calves burning, and could sense my fellow competitors willing the agony of the pebble beach run to end. With the race complete, a sense of relief was evident all around – and as for our reward? Marine dog tags! A sign of true endurance madness.
Picture the scene…. A deserted beach, bright sunny day, a mile or so of clear sand (apart from the odd dog walker) & a steady 10-12knot breeze. Amazingly this was the scene that I found when I recently went to Watergate Bay during mid October.
Watergate Bay is home to, among other things, the Extreme Academy where all things surf or kite can be learnt & enjoyed – check out their website for more detail watergatebay.co.uk/extremeacademy.htm. The bay itself is a delight especially on a retreating tide when a huge expanse of firm sand is left glistening in the sun.
It seemed a perfect opportunity to dust down the kites & have a play…..
First up was my Radsail 4.0m traction kite which is lovely & smooth in gusty conditions.
My hope was that there would be enough of a breeze to jump on my landboard & enjoy the full extent of the beach due to the onshore breeze. Unfortunately either the breeze died or I’d been enjoying a few too many pasties, but I struggled to get sufficient power to overcome my considerable inertia. No probs, just dig out a bigger kite!
So out with a Flexifoil Blade III 6.6m – a relatively recent purchase from Ebay that I’d just re-rigged. The Blade provides much more power, as well as lift, & I totally expected to have something of a battle on my hands, but the wind died back to a gentle 8 knots or so, which still provided enough breeze to allow me to get used to the Blade.
After an hour or so of “scudding” on the beach with the Blade it was time to call it a day & head to the bar for a refresher & to cool down. As I headed across the beach a kite surfer was heading into the surf with a 15m kite (a very different type of kite before accusations of being a pastel blouse wearing northerner start!!). He managed to get a fair bit of speed in the surf & it looked fantastic against a back drop of a setting sun.
The following day brought similar conditions but the wind had shifted to a more SW direction making boarding difficult, but allowed for more quality Blade fun.
Confidence now increasing with handling the bigger kite, I’m now ready for a stronger breeze & to try & get some air…..surely a recipe for trouble!!
Obviously there is nothing better after a long hard day on the beach than jumping in the shower with some OS Mens Sea Kelp shower gel to help wash away the salt & sweat from the day. The Sea Kelp variant seemed rather appropriate to throw in the wash bag for a few days by the beach………
Vincent Price said it best in MJ’s Thriller – ‘the foulest stench is in the air, the funk of 40,000 years’ – this is a perfect description of how the Original Source Bog Of Doom smelt as I plunged feet first in, disappearing to almost shoulder height and with my mouth firmly shut! But this bog bath was somewhat refreshing after the gruelling half marathon we’d just completed up hill and down dale as part of our latest challenge. We ran it with a mixed bunch – the hard core trialthletes, the ardent fancy dress wearers and some random walkers that just got picked up on the way. But all in all there was about 2,000 of us tramping across Delamere Forest last Sunday in an attempt to complete the merciless course that has acquired the accolade of HELL RUNNER, sponsored by Original Source. Mile after mile of hill, brambles, nettles, mud, bog, the trees rang out with shrieks of pleasure, laughter but mostly pain. It was a great day that we thoroughly enjoyed – it was impeccably organised and an absolute scream with really good, sociable runners all along the way.
The Original Source team comprised of myself, Nigel, Big Steve (not missed an Original Source challenge yet have you!), Paul Davies, Ben Harris, Frazer Yeomans, Martin Preston, Mike Geary, Anthony Taylor, Anthony Southward, Christian Barnett, Martin Bullock, Daniel Hancock and with photography by James Harris (I’ll get you running next year!). Nice work one and all – see you at Hell Down South???!
Chasing butterflies, building sand castles or puddle jumping is no longer fun for some. They’re up for a serious challenge now. Starting early might not be a bad idea.
For those of you who wonder what this is, it’s Mountain Mayhem 2008 – one of the most gruelling 24h bike races on Earth.
Good shot Richard!
There are some people in this world that are just nutters. Anyone brave or mad enough to participate in this year’s Nettle Warrior ‘Year of the Iron Fist’ falls in to this category. Part of Tough Guy Ltd, it is the genius of an ex-serviceman, Mr. Mouse – an oxymoron if ever there was one. It occurs bi-annually at his pad down in Staffordshire.
It is the original survival ordeal. The worlds “safest most dangerous test of physical and mental endurance, designed to take you beyond your limits on torture rack obstacles known as The Killing Fields, following a wild terrain warm up”.
With a little coercion and bribery I managed to persuade two Original Source team members to take part; Big Steve and Old Andy. I was, of course, walking in the Pyrenees at the time so was unfortunately unable to participate and you can rest-assured that I will be walking somewhere else when January’s Tough Guy comes around again!
So what did it entail – running through boggy water carrying logs, climbing up and over impossible hurdles,
burrowing through gravel/water filled pipes, swinging monkey-esque between obstacles,
throwing your self across smoke-filled fields and generally pushing oneself to the absolute limit. Impressive, exhausting, fun.
And because we’re so generous, we gave out some samples too for the dirtiest of bodies to get the most refreshing of showers. We hoped it worked and was appreciated.
Through such popular demand (January’s ‘Guy Gorilla’ event is already over-subscribed), they’ve kindly put an event in on October 26th – Screwball T.H.U.G – go on, you know you want to give it a go – check it out at www.toughguy.co.uk
I am a glutton for punishment. Why I do this to myself, I do not know. My holiday this year has just been and gone so I thought I’d let you know what I got up to. I decided to walk part of the GR11 – the alpine track which splices France and Spain. We planned to do about 80 miles over 5 days from a place called Candanchu to Parzan.
We flew into Pau – a lovely French city, slightly twee and a little up its own bottom, but very picturesque with some great eateries. We then took the bus/train down to Col du Somport where the walk began in earnest. Being exceptionally foolish, we decided to carry all our kit and food, flouting the offer of nightly refuge at one of numerous mountain huts as we thought it would be more ‘grr’ to go it alone.
So with some cheap cartons of rosé wine and enough plastic cheese and chorizo to stuff a small dog, we set off. Boy it was hard, hindered by a sprained ankle on my part – a lovely mountain boy whittled me a stick as I forgot my walking poles (plus I’m never sure whether walking poles are a good idea – answers on a postcard please!).
The scenery can only be described as splendiferous. Marmots rushing to and fro, eagles soaring and mountain deer trotting proudly past. The weather was hot and humid and the ascents gruelling (particularly when carrying 15kg of gear). Well in to the snow line by lunchtime, the walking/scrambling was arduous to say the least but we preserved and saw some cracking views. And with very few sightings of other human beings – I never realised I am so anti-social!
My next sojourn in to the mountains will be the tour de Mont Blanc which I’m doing at the beginning of September. 110 miles, 50,000 metres of ascents & descents over 10 days – when, I ask myself, will I learn to chill out on the beach – NEVER!
Ahh, the typical British summer – Ascot, Wimbledon, The Original Source Manchester Urbanathlon, & of course Henley Royal Regatta. Folk from all walks of life with their finest frocks on show, being battered by the great British summer weather!
For those unfamiliar with the event, it is a 5 day rowing event held in the run up to the 1st weekend in July each year, culminating with finals day on the Sunday. Qualifying crews, from 450 entries from 17 different countries, race head to head over an upstream course on the River Thames measuring 1 mile, 550 yds followed on each occasion by an umpires launch.
For me, the highlights of the event were watching some extremely close racing especially in a number of the eights events & the schools quads (where 2 crews dead heated after over 7 mins of close racing, only to have to paddle back to the start & do it all over again!). Unfortunately my own club, Agecroft, who were in the Thames Cup (club eights) met one of the hot favourites, Leander, in the semi finals on Saturday losing whilst battling against a ferocious head wind. Leander, a club based in Henley, then went on to win the event narrowly beating the London based Tideway Scullers Rowing Club in the final on Sunday.
Finals day was hit with some truly horrendous weather – torrential downpours & lightning suspending racing at times, but when the sun did appear, the umbrellas dropped & usual service resumed. A fly past from the Red Arrows added to the occasion as crews raced for ultimate glory on the water with more excellent racing.
The pictures try to capture the atmosphere, but all in all an excellent weekend of racing – seeing a successfully growing sport doing so well at an event started 169 years ago….
10k….bollocks that was 10k! Never have I felt so destroyed and taken so long or felt so much of a buzz after doing a “10k run”.
There might have been walls to climb, cars to jump, haystacks to stumble down, drains to crawl through and pools of oranges to wade through, but for me the moment to remember has to be the 50m long slip and slide. Powered by fire hoses for extra speed, this made me feel like a kid, I just wanted to run up and slide down all day! Plus I was the fastest down it in our team…..nah nah nah nah!
The Original Source Team Blog 
