Nijmegen Marches – Day 4

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The day started out quite damp, but not the heavy down pours of yesterday afternoon; just gentle rain for about an hour and then the sun came out to play!

We were on the late start today (5.15am UK time!). I have found that the extra hour in bed on 2 days made a huge difference. The crowds were out in their masses. The locals of Nijmegen don’t seem to sleep and are out on the streets drinking beer cheering us on as we start the walk each day!

From Curijk onwards (14km from the finish) the pace slowed right down, and the public were handing out Gladiolli to all the walkers. I enjoy walking through Mook (my Mother family originally hale from this area of Holland and take the towns name as their family name)

There was lots of messages for people doing their nth Nijmegen March, the highest I saw was 56, but on the news there was an 85 year old chap who was walking his 60th March – impressive!

The medals for this event are well worth earning. The medal for two years has a crown, after that you get pins with numbers to go on the ribbon, until your 5th walk, when you get another special medal. I am not sure John and I will be progressing beyond two!

Nijmegen Marches – Day 3

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It was an early start today. At the beginning of the week Day 3 was meant to be very wet, but with the exception of a very heavy down pour as we approached the finished, it was a hot sticky day!

Having not seen much of the Military Marchers yesterday we saw lots today & they walked with us for all but the last 5km. They are very motivational with all their marching songs – but my favourite today was a unit from Denmark which played the pipe and drums. It was lovely to listen to and ensured you kept a good pace!

We stopped for coffee and lunch, with an additional unplanned stop at the Military Red Cross, where I had my ‘mean”blister from day one re-dressed. A nice young Dutch soldier looked after me very well! This one blister is causing me huge discomfort (mainly when I stop walking!) It really needs a few days rest from heavy pounding of the streets to let the bruising and swelling go done …. still only one more day.

Day Three is the Day of Groesbeek, and we walked the seven hills (probably the only seven hills in Holland!) They were steady inclines, which were quite hot work in the heat of the day, but do not compare to the likes of Offa’s Dyke!

Ten minutes before we reached the finished the heavens opened and the rain poured down. By the time we had checked-in and got back to Vanessa & Dirk’s house we were soaked! Luckily I have some dry boots for tomorrow; I am not sure how long they will remain dry as we have rain forecast for the morning!

Tomorrow is our final day – Our last 40km! 3

Nijmegen Marches – Day 2

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We had a slightly later start today (they alternate the start times for the 40km march because there are so many participants!); the extra hours in bed made a difference and I found the going much easier today.

We had a couple of firsts today!

• Saw our first person doing the event in clogs — yep proper wooden clogs. You can hear them well before you can see them
• Met up with 27 UK Bobbies from different constabularies in the South of England. They looked very smart in full uniform including their helmets.

The weather was much cooler today and we had the odd spot of rain – but it was warm rain, so not unpleasant or tough going. More rain is forecast for tomorrow, fingers crossed it does not start before we finish.

We took today with a more leisurely attitude stopping for a coffee break and lunch. The bands and local disc jockeys were out in force, so we were suitably entertained along our miles. Day 2 is known as the Day of Wichen, because you spend a large amount of your walk going in and around the Dutch town of Wichen!

No new blisters today, but we did pop into the Red Cross Tent to get yesterday’s blisters re-dressed (not sure if this was a wise move or not! – will let you know tomorrow). We are back on the early shift in the morning – so must away to my bed now.  Goedenacht!

Nijmegen Marches – Day 1

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An early start, crossing the line at 5.30am (4.30am UK!). The weather was better than forecast and the sun was out most the day, which made it hot work in my Hotpants. The atmosphere was great with the locals supporting us well with music and refreshments. We were interviewed by Dutch TV and asked  how walking together in the Nijmegen Marches was growing our love for each other …. John admitted to being an un-romantic type of chap and hadn’t thought about the marches in this way!!

We completed the 40km in 7.30 hrs; visited the Red Cross tent where a couple of blisters were sorted; then had a little lie down in the sun!

We have now replenished the carbs, and about to retire ready for another early tomorrow!

At the end of May I entered to do the Housman Hundred. I pre-qualified with a 50 miles walk – The Sussex Stride in 2010. I entered the event because I thought I would be at my fittest on my return from the Arctic, and this likely to be the only time that I could walk 100 miles in a single go. I knew it would be a challenging event – the route took you through Shropshire and North Wales and included a total climb of 18,000 feet!

We started the event at 10.00am, it was a damp drizzly day, which got progressively wetter! The views were fantastic and the hills challenging! I love the ups, but found the very steep declines were starting to cause my knees (mainly my good knee!) problems ….

I teamed up with a nice couple as it got dark and we climbed Offa’s Dyke. Navigation was difficult at times and I took two falls and lots of slips on the almost vertical descents. As dawn approached and I hit the 50 mile marker I decided that the I was likely to do some long term damage to my knees if I kept going (unusably sensible of me I know!), so I reluctantly pulled out of the event. Most of my training had been on gentle inclines and rolling hills with the odd steep challenge. I had not trained for this level of ascent and descent! We covered 9,000ft in the 50 miles completed!

I had been due to complete another hilly event at the start of July – The Welsh 3000, but we have had to post-pone this due to bad weather. This has been re-scheduled for Oct half term!

The immediate challenge now is The Nijmegen Marches. We are registered and ready for an early start tomorrow – 3.15am! One hundred and sixty kilometers in 4 days (40km/day)!

MoonWalk 2011 Finish

The London MoonWalk 2011 was much colder than last years event – there was a bitter wind blowing that was sometimes head on! I wore my attractive plastic poncho for at least half of the walk – it did a great job as a wind shield! Many people are asking if I am enjoying the warmer weather of the UK – but I have yet to feel really warm, and have only managed shorts once, for a quick dog walk, I am often wearing gloves, as my hands in particular are still quite sensitive to the cold!

I Pottered round the MoonWalk, taking lots of pictures of London at night – you can see most of these HERE. The London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament are particularly attractive landmarks in the night sky. The first 16 miles were easy, and came round very quickly. 16 – 20 dragged a little – probably the early hours of the morning. Then the finish was quite quick!

London MoonWalk 2011 - Buckingham Palace

I was very pleased that the organisers had changed the final route back  into the Park. Last year we had a long drag along Rotten Row, across the bridge and back down Serpentine Road into MoonWalk City, which although just over a mile, seemed to take an age! This year, we came down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, along Constitution Hill back into Hyde Park – a lovely welcome back, and a great landmark especially against the bright blue skies we had that morning.

The theme this year was ‘walk on the wild side’ – there were some great costumes, but I didn’t think as much effort had been made as last year with the bra decoration, and outfits.

I was back home just after 9.30am. It was The Andover Rugby Club Presentation Day, and both the boys did John and I proud winning awards; having been away from home for five weeks – it was a moment not to be missed! After a healthy lunch of a rather dry burger and a Mr Whippy 99, I was tucked up in bed by 1.00pm. I got up briefly later that evening, but was in bed for the night by 11.00pm, and had my best nights sleep for at least 8 weeks …. no skiing and no loo stops!

I was surprised by just how tired I was in the days following the MoonWalk. I don’t think I have really appreciated just how much my Arctic ventures have taken out of me physically. This does worry me slightly as next weekend I have a REALLY long walk. One Hundred miles in 48 hours. It is a very challenging walk, with many steep hills, in Shropshire and North Wales! The good news is that I have no walks planned for June!

MoonWalk 2011 The London Eye

Polar Racers 2011

All the 2011 Polar Racers are now back home!

Rob, Lucy, Lee and the checkpoint crew, who narrowly missed the plane back with the rest of us had to spend a further night on the ice. They all piled into one tent (five in a four man tent must have been very cozy), and drank champagne! The plane picked them up the next evening and they all got back to the UK by Thursday 5th May.

When we arrived in the Arctic, we were warned about Arctic Shock, which can occur when arriving in such a cold, white environment. I think because our journey to Resolute was a prolonged journey with plane troubles, we were pretty well adjusted by the time we arrived! I think they should have warned us about ‘Home Shock’! Having not been to bed for at least 3 nights out of the previous 5 before returning to the UK, I arrived home well but shattered. I have found sleeping in a big spacious bed difficult, so my nights are still very broken. I don’t think it helps that I am in white bedding, so most nights I dream that I am still skiing!

The Tent

In the High Arctic we slept in Rab Down filled ‘Mummy’ sleeping bags, which with the fleece liner were generally very warm, but there was not much room to move, particularlywith all your bed partners!

After we put the tent up, we would get changed from our ‘day gear’ – changing our stretch bottoms for fleece lined tent trousers, our racing hat for our tent hats, our boots for down filled tent booties, and hang all our wet / damp kit up to dry in the top of the tent. When the stoves were not being used for cooking, they would be pumped up and the temperatures in the top of the tent would easily reach mid – high 20 degrees (Roasty Toasty). As soon as the stoves were switched off, the temperatures plummeted, and would often drop to minus 26 / 28 degrees, so anything left out froze! To ensure I had dry kit for the next day, most of it would came into bed with me! My boot liners (seen hanging above my head) would go at the bottom of my sleeping bag between the bag and the liner. My gloves, hat, face mask, and socks would come into my sleeping bag. My wash bag came into the sleeping bag (otherwise any moisturisers, sun cream or toothpaste would freeze!) All my electricals which hung round my neck during the day on various lanyards, were put into a small bag and bought into the sleeping bag. The electricals were: The iridium phone (think old fashioned chunky first generation mobile phone!), My video camera, my ipods and all spare batteries for phone, and cameras,  and my GPS; in my top pocket was my small digital camera and the plastic bullets (for scaring bears – which wouldn’t work if they got cold!) And left round my neck was a lighter, which we all carried and was used for lighting the stoves! This didn’t leave a whole lot of room for me! We slept on two layers – a foam mat (about 5mm thick) and a thermalite ‘mattress’ (about 20mm thick). I generally sleep on my side, with only 25mm between me and the hard ice, I woke up regularly with sore hips and would have to turn onto my other side, shuffling all ‘my stuff’ so that it was behind my knees! I generally slept in my thermal underwear, my fleece tent trousers, dry socks and booties, my stretch top and my fleece. I kept my gloves and a supply of toilet paper in my fleece pocket – needed for nightly toilet dashes out of the tent! On really cold nights, baffling down in this gear, with your fleece liner pulled tight over your shoulders, your hat pulled down over your nose, and you neck gaiter pulled up to your mouth wasn’t enough. On these nights I pulled my Down Jacket (my Downey was probably my best friend!) into the sleeping bag and wrapped it round me.  Early in the race (before spring arrived) when you woke up in the night or early morning (we were generally up by 6.00am) the zip on your sleeping bag would be frozen, and the only way out was breathing on it, and there would be ice on your sleeping bag, which showered you as you sat up. This is cold!

I will update you with more information on daily life in the Arctic over the next few weeks … Many people have asked what next?! I have no major challenge planned (yet!) but I do have a few small events! The first is this weekend. I am doing my second MoonWalk – 27 miles through the streets of London on Saturday night in my bra, kindly decorated by Katie (again!). If you you would like to sponsor me for this event, please visit my fundraising page HERE! As ever, thanks for your continued support – it is much appreciated!

News from the Polar Race Support Team

Published: Sunday, 1st May 2011 09:30

The plane is on its way and with any luck our remaining racers and staff will be off the ice in the next couple of ours. Weather has been a bit poor in Resolute and various pick ups from local Hamlets have not happened. So fingers crossed we may yet get away from Resolute only a day late as there may be free seats on the plane out We need to wait and see. All I think will be glad to be “winging” our way back to the UK.

It is never over however till the “fat lady sings”.

Keep watching this space for more on our adventures and the final results. Early next week after the May break we will also be making an important announcement on the future of the Polar Race.

As they say “watch this space” – especially those who feel they are up to the challenge!

News from Polar Race Organisers

Published: Saturday 30th April 2011 09:30

Ice rubble goes on for miles

For once the Gods did not smile on us and we were unable to get some of our Racers off the ice!

Weather was beautiful for once but when the plane flew over our camp at the Pole the pilot decided that the ice was just too rough to land on even if considerable work was further done to smooth out the landing strip. In a highly dangerous part of the world where a bad landing can be disastrous it is left to the pilot, (quite rightly) to make the final choice.

The decision was then taken to try and move the racers to an ice strip where we knew the plane could land on some 13 miles away. The Racers although “dog tired” were asked to try and ski to this position in about 5 hours. To their credit, 3 made it in time (Rob Platt, Ryan Malfara and Jo Winchcombe). The pilot stayed much longer than normally allowed but in the end had to lift off leaving Rob MacAllister, Lucy Maizels and Lee Swan being escorted in by Steve Pinfield and Neill Williams.

I would like to reassure everyone that they are all safe and well and emergency food was left for them but they will not now make tomorrow’s flight to Ottawa and London. Having “got their Pole” (and there are a lot of people currently sitting in Resolute who have not, and how disappointing can that be?) it is in a sense a minor isue and we hope to be able to lift them out in the next 36 hours nevertheless it is disappointing we are not all going back together.

However it just helps to show what a “tough place” this is and just how tough you have to be to survive.

Jo & Rob on the Plane to Resolute

I am writing this email on a very small plane from Deer Bay, back to Resolute Bay. We have had a very challenging week or 2! You should have got my update for leg two, as I was leaving Check Point 3, where things all started to go a bit wrong!!

Due to various reasons, (The storm, delayed planes, and slow progress by the other team), we were facing time constraints to finish the race in the remaining time available. The length of leg three was increased from 75 miles to 90 miles, if progress was slow, people would be flown from CP3 to the pole …..

Polar Slugs team moral dropped a little, but we rose to the challenge, and put in some long days, doing circa 20nm most days (on 5 hrs sleep). Our final day into CP3 was storm conditions again, and we were blown along at quite a pace. Luckily the 40 knot gusts were on our back! We reached the CP3 in good time (by 5.20pm), and after a challenging hour or so managed to get the tent up securely (We have some seriously bent tent poles!)

In the morning, we had to phone for an update on the Internationals progress, only to find we were not at CP3 …. the co-ordinates in our GPS were incorrect! We had also been verbally given the co-ordinates (The correct ones), but when asking the chap who had entered them, if they were the same, he said yes ……

We had to ski 4.75nm to the correct CP3, and our arrival time of 12.20pm was taken. The Internationals, had arrived at 2.00am, so this put them ahead of us again – very frustrating, but at the end of the day, it was ultimately out fault for not checking the verbal co-ordinates, with those in the GPS!

The final leg the Magnetic North Pole was 38 miles. The race was restarted at 2.30pm (no rest day!). We completed 11nm. We decided the only strategy to possibly win the race was to go for the final 27nm in one go ….

The next morning the weather was semi white out, so going was slow. We were walking by 7.30am …. another short night! The first 10nm took us to the mountains, which we then had to cross! The big ups & downs were very challenging, dragging the pulk. But I really enjoyed this section, and felt very strong. Eventually we found a valley going down the mountain and into Deer Bay – the location on the MNP! When we reached the edge of the bay, we had 5nm to our destination. It was the longest 5nm of my life; we were all very tired by this stage, having been on our feet for 14 hours. We eventually reached the MNP at 2.00am. It is 24hrs daylight in the high Arctic now, and there was a beautiful golden glow as we reached the end of our journey.

After a celebratory hug, we put the tent up and cooked supper. It was 18 hours since we had started & we were all shattered. Just as we baffled down into our sleeping bags, we heard the Internationals arrive; they had obviously found a shorter route over the mountains than us, and our lead on getting to the Pole was not enough to make up for the error at CP3!

We had a social day at the Pole, catching up with the other team; Steve & Neil, arrived late afternoon (The Check Point Team, who had completed this leg, rather than flying in!) We had a relatively early night, the plane was due to pick us up the next day …….

This morning, we got up and prepared a run way for the plane. We were told it would be in around 2.00pm. so were very surprised when a plane circled, and attempted to land just after noon, we hadn’t even packed up the tents! News came through that the run way, was not good enough, and we had to try and make it better! (less bumps!) After a couple of hour’s work of digging & stomping, we got a message that the plane was not prepared to land on that
site & the only option was to walk 12.8nm to a ‘fixed’ site across the bay. The plane would wait until 7.30pm, but would then be out of hours.

That was a huge ask … 12.8nm, in an unrealistic time scale, but we had no option but to go for it! We re-dressed in our skiing gear, packed the pulks, and set off. I was determined I was going to get this plane, one way or another, so I walked as fast as I could, with Rob and Ryan from the other team, doing nearly 3 miles/hour, which is an amazing speed pulling a pulk, and going over some long rubble fields. My moisture management was terrible!

I was just under 2nm away, when I saw the plane leave; I was gutted, but caught up with Rob and pushed on. Apparently Catlin was doing some research in that area of the Bay, and had a heated tent, and a cook!

As we approached our destination, we heard the plane; it had been on a recce flight to see where we all were. I was so pleased to see it land again, and very, very thankful! Only Rob and I had made it, and the two person crew, said it would only wait 20 mins, before it had to leave….. Ryan arrived just in time, but unfortunately, the other 3 Racers and the two check point team did not. It felt very wrong leaving them behind, but there was no way I was not getting on that plane – our scheduled flights back to Ottawa leave at 6.00am tomorrow.

I am not sure what will happen to the others, and it is not a great way to finish the event; but I am very pleased to be on my way back to civilisation. I am desperate for a shower (Annie would be a-shamed of my very greasy hair), and some clean clothes.

We are due to land in Resolute at 11.30pm, so I am sure this will be another night of little sleep, by the time I get clean, eat some normal food, and pack all my gear.

News from the Polar Race Team

Published: Friday 29th April 2011 13:30

Team Polar Slugs

Congratulations to Jo, Lucy & Rob!!

The first team (Slugs) arrived at 01:54 yesterday morning, the second (Internationals) followed on closely at 05.00. Once again all our teams have made it to the Pole. All are in good health and enjoying the moment.

Back in Resolute yet another team of people were medivaced in last night from the ice demonstrating again the competence and ability of this year’s Racers and the training regime and organisation that made it possible for OUR people to achieve their dream.

Now that they are safely to the pole, we have the task of getting them out. Much of this is governed completely by the weather, which is proving a little problematic. We have had a low pressure system go over the top of them last night and the emergency medivac has put pressure on the pilots’ available airtime. Nevertheless the weather for today is looking good and I am as confident as I can be that we will have them out this afternoon. This is never easy.

Fortunately the racers are aware of the situation and have plenty of supplies to keep them going, although I’m sure they would like to be retrieved sooner rather than later!

Full race results and statistics will be published soon.

We are on the home run – and hopefully by Friday will reach the North Pole.

Here’s a few more images of the journey so far…..

Click here to see full article

Slugs crawl first into CP3

Published: Tuesday 26th April 2011 14:30

The Slugs conquered the weather and were first into CP3 located just north of King Christen Island at 17.20 local time. As team member Lucy Maizels said:

“It is blowing a hooley here and it is freezing but it is Brilliant”

Her other team members Rob MacAllister and Jo Winchcombe could not be heard in the wind but we were told were equally ecstatic.

We await now the arrival of the Internationals some time later this evening.

In Resolute we are now contemplating dropping a food barrel to the teams if we can not land tomorrow!

News from the Polar Race Organisers….

Communications Restored

Published: Monday 25th April 2011 14:30

All came through “loud and clear” last night as the teams moved out of the “communications dead pocket” and have been making some serious inroads into the distance between them and the Pole. They have all been doing some 20 mile plus days showing that if you really “want to” the mind tells the body what to do!

They came through at very different times yesterday but we make Slugs at 14 miles and Internationals at 20 miles from Checkpoint 3 respectively and both will arrive by Monday evening local time.

The issue now is the weather where they are which is not good. We have deliberately not moved our checkpoint team as we had wanted to give ourselves the option of being able to pick up the teams en route and move them forward if they had not “risen to the challenge” and got the miles done. This would have given them the chance of at least finishing on foot. Now that they have shown what they are “made off” and made the mileage themselves we need the weather to relent so we can catch up with them.

Lots of brain cells are working away in Resolute to solve the problem but we wait for the weather to change.

Just finished 2/3 20 mile days.

Exhausted!

Jo

News from the Polar Race Organisers

Canadian or International Waters?

Published: Saturday, 23rd April 2011 21:30

Strange but true!

Our racers are going through an area where we traditionally always encounter bad communications: The Maclean Strait.

We could never understand the problem until the last race when webmaster Chris Walker made determined efforts to find out why. He discovered to our amazement that this area is not recognised by the USA as Canadian waters and that this is in dispute. Consequently our Canadian registered Satellite phones which use the American (government backed) Iridium system fail to be recognised and for about 36 hours communications can be very patchy.

Ryan Malfara, who handles Team Internationals comms however had the “wit of mind” to use one of our other contact numbers through to our Checkpoint Team, (and got through) still sitting at the top of Bathurst Island who relayed an approx position to us, which showed them as having done 18 nautical miles and still in the tracks of Slugs. This shows that they are both making determined efforts to make the KCI Checkpoint for the final push for home.

Left CP2 yesterday afternoon. Time is getting tight to reach the Pole in time! Jo.

News from the Support Team….

In the rubble

Published: Thursday 22th April 2011 16:30

The Racers are making their way through the rough old ice that always forms just North of Bathurst Island.

The photo was taken on the mini-expedition and only shows some rubble close to Resolute. Up north of Bathurst the rubble fields are seemingly endless and contain chunks the size of houses!

Racers on the Ice Rubble

News from the Support Team: Race Restarts

Anxious to be on their way and make sure they make the Pole the teams have opted for a 15.00 hours start (local time) today from Checkpoint 2 just south of Cator Harbour on their way to Checkpoing 3 just North of King Christian Island.

They are over the “crest of the hill and on the downward slope” to the Final Finish. Navigationally this is the most difficult leg as there are no landmarks to take direction from.

Leg Two Statistics

Here are the standing after leg two. Note that the distances are different, they are the straight line distances between each time the teams check in so whilst not precisely how far each team has walked, they do provide a good approximation.

Hey – we made it in first to checkpoint 2!!!!

News from the Race Organisers….

Reversing the result of the first leg. Team Slugs (Jo Winchcombe, Lucy Maizels and Rob MacAllister) were first into Checkpoint 2 at the end of the second leg which started from Polaris.

They finished at 18.53 local time Tuesday 19th. We now await the arrival of the Internationals to see if there is a change in the overall order.

Tough 2 days walking up coast of Bathurst Island.

Should reach CP2 tomorrow.

Thx. Jo

(Sorry, limited Internet connection – so only a short message again by SMS )

More news from the Polar Race Support Team ….

Teams fight to the finish

Published: Tuesday, 19th April 2011 08:30

Quite a bit of gamesmanship going on out there. Only Internationals reported in and they were on the move still. Both teams are determined to get to the Finish tomorrow evening and with only one hour between them they are both going for it.

Both teams seem to be taking slightly different routes to the Finish. Slugs have tried to communicate but are also still on the move.

He who wants it badly enough??

Internationals position at 22.00 (local time) on 18/4/11 N 76 deg 35.652, W 98 deg 18.679

May the best team win!!

The weather has improved so we are back on racing. No Internet access so this quick message is sent via SMS.

Good to be skiing on land again. Skiing up Bathurst Island. Tough Day, 13.5 miles. 30 percent of the race completed.

With the winds still gusting up to 35 knots and blowing snow no one moved today!

With the weather set to improve steadily from tomorrow we are all hoping for better things.

We have had a conversation with the Checkpoint team on the satellite phone but because of the weather we have to sit tight.

“We are becoming stir crazy but know there is nothing we can do”

The intention if the weather improves as predicted is to move the Checkpointpoint team tomorrow afternoon to await the our arrival.

Video of Tony (Support Crew) at Resolute Bay

Gallery Photos of the Storm at Resolute Bay

News from the main Polar Race website

Leg 2 of the Polar Race 2011 started today at 09.40. with all the teams setting out together on their way to CP2, North of Bathurst Island some 130 miles away:- the longest and hardest leg of the Race. The start was in light winds and perfect visibility.

Click to see Pictures on the Full Post

Despite the wind chill, (it was clocked at -44°C at Resolute Airport at 7am) all were keen to get on with the Race. They were all warned to keep a close eye open for polar bears as they passed the entrance to Polar Bear Pass which is a migratory route.

Here in Resolute Tony is about to leave and travel on skidoo to pick up Checkpoint assistant Danny Munden. The forecast for travelling to Cator Harbour is not good despite the current good weather at Polaris and having once had a flight turn back from there only 20 miles out due to fog (A VERY expensive mistake) I do not want to take that risk again as we have 4/5 days to get the Checkpoint team there before racers arrive. Hence Tony is going on a skidoo ride to pick him up.

Leg One Statistics

Here are the standing after leg one. Note that the distances are different, they are the straight line distances between each time the teams check in so whilst not precisely how far each team has walked, they do provide a good approximation.

Team Time (Difference) Distance

• The Internationals 91 hours, 41 minutes (First) 57.64 Nm
• The Polar Slugs 92 hours, 41 minutes (+1 hour) 58.17 Nm

More Photos from the start of Leg 2

Here we go…. off on the 2nd leg of the race.

Dear All,

Thanks for the comments; I can’t log onto the website – as takes too much phone time. It was really nice to read all the messages & know so many people are thinking of me. Will keep me going through the tough bits (& there are lots of them!)

Best regards

Jo

N75.23.087 W96.56.247 – Check Point One!

The day started with flat light, which made navigation very hard.  Around lunch time we saw the other group who were slightly ahead. Around 7 miles out we could see the Polaris Mine, and some old containers. We are skiing around 1.5 miles/hour, so the mine was like a mirage, always in the distance, but never getting any closer! We arrived at the check point one just before 6pm, We were 55 minutes after the Internationals.

The Polar Slug philosophy is to enjoy the Polar Race experience, and win, if we can (but not at all costs). We generally get up around 6.00am, and try to be on the road before 9.00am. We stop every 2 – 2.5hrs for a quick drink of hot water & a bit of the day bag. The stops are a double edge relief, you need the fuel, but you always get rather cold, especially the hands! We normally ski until 5.30pm, stop, put up the tent, dry out our gear, have supper, with lights out juat after 9.00pm – quite civilised.

The Internationals, get up at 5.00am – ski until 10.00pm, and turn in around 1.00 / 2.00am! I know which race strategy I prefer. Especially as we are now completing around 14 miles/day which is a great target!

We had a great welcome coming into the check point with bunting, and hopefully lots of pictures! It felt really good to have achieved, this first hurdle.

We get Sunday as a day of rest tomorrow, which is most welcome. The race then starts again on Monday. The next leg is the longest at over 100 miles … We have now skied 60 miles and completed 20% of the race!

YouTube Video of the Support Team setting up Checkpoint 1

N75.09.151 W96.49.598

Friday 8th April

Polar bear close up !

It has been a long day  – we have done 14 miles & have 14 to go to check point 1, which we should arrive at tomorrow late afternoon / early evening.

We had great excitement – around lunch time we saw our first polar bear! It was too far away to get a picture. We also saw lots of foot prints of female & young, so we didn’t hang around!

We over took the Internationals around two, at Polar Bear sighting, but following in the normal pattern, they over took us, once we set up camp tonight about  7.00pm. It will be interesting to see who gets into check point first tomorrow!

See the full post for Gallery photos of the Checkpoint set up

Checkpoint 1 Set up

A few photos of the chaps setting up Checkpoint 1

N74.56.579 W96.27.203

7th April 2011

Jo - on the way to checkpoint 1

Had the worst night’s sleep, very cold, and\needed the loo in the night – we have given up on the shewee, and create an outside loo (just like the olden days!) each day when we camp; so was avoiding getting up!

Dreamt of hot baths & hot chips, obviously what I am craving most!

Had a really good day, skied about 14 miles; overtook the other team at lunch time, although, they have camped about 5 minutes past us tonight! We had a good run, due to great navigation by Lucy, and luck – we hit a motor way (Skido tracks) which went the same way as us for most of the day, which made the skiing a lot easier.

My skiing is definitely getting better, and I am swearing less at myself! My moisture & kit management is also improving. You need at least 2 pairs of gloves and two neck gaiters each day, as they freeze up, through the day, and become very uncomfortable.

The plane flew over with Danny & Steve, who have gone to set up check point one. It waggled its wings at us, as it went overhead. We have now completed 10% of the race, and should reach checkpoint one on Saturday – hurrah!

I spent most of today listening to an iPod that my lovely neighbour Richard put together, kept me going all day, but I was very surprised there was not more Elvis!

Tomorrow we should move up a latitude to N75; we have spent the last 3 days going along N74, to start our journey Northwards

N74.48.237  W95.47.987

Day two

Our Wake time is 6.00am, then it is a very busy couple of hours, having breakfast, and taking down the tent. Another beautiful in the Arctic, with clear blue skies and slightly warmer temperatures of -29 deg.

Because none of my wet stuff dried out from yesterday, I had to ski in my thermal vest & fleece, which was a disaster for moisture management! Despite venting, my windsuit, I ended up with more wet clothes, so this evening, we have had the burners on full, to dry everything out, it is a slow process, but we are getting there!

More photos below on the main post page

We have seen polar bear tracks, on the last two days. they have been quite old, and slightly snow filled – but they are enormous….

The day started off in some sea rubble, which soon cleared to good skiing, but we have been rather slow today, mainly I think, because it was another cold night & we did not sleep that well. We have covered about 9 miles, today, so will have to up the anti tomorrow.

The other team passed us as we set up camp tonight, so they will be slightly ahead of us now!

More Photos

Photos from the start line this morning

Smile for the camera

Click to see full Gallery below

Camping at -33 Deg

Up at 6.00am, for our last proper cooked meal before heading out into the unknown!

My pulk is packed – it weighs a 70KG. We will shortly be heading up to the start line for the off. We are hoping to cover at least 10 miles today …. but the plan is to take it steady for the first few days to get some miles under our belt, and enjoy the experience.

[ More photos on the Polar Race Gallery Page ]

It was a tough few days out on the ice last week, so I am under no illusion as to how hard this going to be, and I know I will have to dig deep (on many occasions!) My mantra will be the Lance Armstrong quote

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”

(I saw this up on the wall in a friends gym, and thought it suited my needs on this challenge!)

I will try and blog a few lines tonight, and update you on my location!

Thanks for all your love and support, it means so much. X

Jo Early Morning at -25 Deg

Our second night out on the ice was marginally warmer, but I hunkered down much better, so didn’t get as cold, and got a better nights sleep. I have attached a picture of me in my sleeping bag from this morning – not great quality, but you can see how wrapped up I am and all the ice on the outside of the sleeping bag!

We had an hour’s ski into base camp, once we had bought the pulks in, and sorted kit out, I dived straight into the shower – bliss! The shower is over a bath, there are no plugs, but flannels work very well, and I enjoyed my last soak for 3 weeks!

All my kit has now been washed, and we are slowly sorting out our stuff out.

The rest of today, is spent planning our route, sorting out our pulks and getting ready for the start of the race 9.00am – 10.00am tomorrow morning

Sunday 3rd April

Jo - The Arctic Mummy

Well I thought yesterday was hard, and physically it was, but that is what I spent a year and a half training for! I am still stiff and sore today, but at my age I would expect nothing else; I suffered for at least 3 days after every session with Tommy in the gym!

Last night and this morning was mentally very tough. It was our coldest night yet (-24 Deg in the tent!) I was the wrong side of uncomfortably cold all night, especially my feet. Consequently I did not sleep that well, which meant for a tough day, after a very physical one yesterday.

It takes a minimum of 2 hours from wake up to do breakfast, get dressed and pack up the tent. When we set of I was very cold, and there was an extremely cold westerly wind. The actually walking was pretty straight forward and quite flat, but it took me until lunch time to feel even slightly warm. I spent most the morning walking in my down gloves, which are like duvets, great for providing warmth, but not greatly practical for skiing in. But needs must!

I wore a thick face mask which covered most of my face, and goggles, which froze up by the minute. By noon, I had gone through both pairs of goggles, and luckily by this stage I was warm enough to wear my sunglasses.

We have now been in our tent a few hours, with at least one burner on, all our kit is hung up in the roof of the tent to dry, and I am just warming through. I struggled today. It was SO cold, and I was physically very tired.
I know there will be other days like this; I hope I have learnt from today and cope better, even just slightly!

This rugged pc (supplied by Pure Technology) is amazing. It comes into the tent, with ice on the outside, from a hard day in a very cold pulk, gets itself ready, then just performs (better than me)!

Amazing!

More pictures in the Gallery

This morning we skied back from our base camp in a semi white out. It was sloe going and very disorientating! The rest of the morning was spent getting ready for our 3 day 2 night final trip out. I also had some extrs gun training, as I am in charge of the gun, and polar bear protection!

Setting off into the sun

Jusr after noon, we left for our first camp 7 miles away. The route took us out on the sea ice and into a very challenging rubble field. There were some huge bits of rubble, and some great blue colours. But it was extremely hard work, I feel like I have down three hours in the gym with Tommy. My shoulders and legs are killing me now that we are holed up in our tent!

It also got very cold this afternoon, and by the time we were making camp Lucy and I were struggling. It has taken 2 hours and a three course dinner with 4 drinks to warm up.

Tomorrow we have 11 miles and some more rubble before we get to camp 2!

Luckily, we spend the last night at Sout Camp Inn before the start of the race!

Happy Mothers Day!

Photo Gallery

Rob with Snosticles 01042011

After lunch, Polar Slugs spent some time doing tasks for the actual race, which starts next Tues. Sorting out food for each of the legs, toilet roll, clean pants (LOL), treats etc.

We then packed up our pulks ready for another night out, further away from base camp. Jock issued us with our phones and contact details for our nightly call. before we could make tracks for our new base, we had to take down our tent from base camp, by South Camp Inn. This takes at least an hour, cleaning out all the ice, from both layers, clearing the snow from the valences, taking down and rolling up the two sections, with semi broken poles. Two pulks have the tent section on top, and mine has the gun, and the two spades.

The weather deteriorated quite quickly this afternoon, and by the time we were skiing to our new base, it was a semi white out and much colder. Our goggles steamed up quite quickly, so we removed them, and as you can from this picture of Rob we were soon covered in icicles. My eyes looked like Katie Waisels from one of her X-Factor performances!

More Pictures in the Gallery below – click here for full post

We successfully put up our tents (this took another hour!) dug our poo hole, with snow wedges, and escaped to the warmth of the tent, where Chef Rob had got the stoves going, made us all hot drinks, and started making the supper.It took us a while to get set up inside, but we are getting much more organised!

Supper for me tonight was chicken and rice which was quite yummy, followed by rice pudding. Yum.

I have bought the rugged laptop and iridium phone out for this trip, kindly provided by Pure Technology, to check that I can get it all working!

We are now 3 degrees further North than Gavin Henson, when they completed the final of 71 Degress North!

Polar Gallery

Shooting Slugs

Another packed full day (no wonder I am exhausted!) Spent the morning learning about polar bear activity and how to deal with different behavious.

Run is not a good option! We then spent time familiarising ourselves with the gun, and the different types of ammo we will be carrying. Bangers to scare the bears away, plastic bullets to frighten, but not hurt the bears, and slugs as a last resort when the bear is in attack mode, to protect ourselves. I am in charge of the gun, so lots of going over loading, discharging, unjamming etc etc.

Tony, and Danny then took us out into the field and we practised firing the shot gun at a cardboard target. the gun is much heavier, with a bigger kick than the one we used in the UK, and the slugs, when fired are very loud! You will be please to hear, I got all but the first shot on target!

This afternoon, we spent more time on navigation, and camp break down. We are now getting ready to go and make a new camp about 3 miles away! Will update you in the morning!

Lucy and Jo having pre-dinner drinks

It feels like we have been here weeks not days! Our acclimitisation training is very intense!

Yesterday we spent most the morning stripping down the stoves, learning how to mend them  for when we are out in the field. They are multifuel stoves, we are using white parafin. It was another glorious day, so in the afternoon, we put the skis on, attached the lightly weighted pulks (about a third of the weight we will be pulling!) and went out for 3 hours. I am definitely improving, and finding better technique … I managed not to fall over, but it was a bit hairy going down the small inclines – luckily we don’t get many of these until the last leg!

We camped out again, cooking our supper and breakfasts in the tent. No cooking for 5 weeks – what a treat! Rob is our tent chef. The stoves are very noisey, so you have to shout a little. We have been told, that with both stoves going, the tent temperature gets up to +20 deg?? we did not manage to get it above about -5 deg last night. But actually it did not feel chilly! The outside temperature was -33 deg!

Lucy and I had a go at using the sheewees in the tent before bunkering down, but failed miserably!

I slept quite well, although I did have an extra layre on. When we woke up, there was lots of ice on the inside of the tents … we tried scarping this off with the pab lids, but put more over the sleeping bags than out through the door – I think we will try a different technique tomorrow morning!

The re-hydrated food is ok, but I am struggling with the volume. I am sure once we are out in the race and walking all day, I will be wolfing it all down! At the moment, Lucy is enjoying finishing mine!

Gun handling & navigation today – then moving base camp three miles away, for our next night out!

First Morning

The Polar Slugs spent their first night out in the Arctic last night. It was a cool – 25 deg. We have lovely fleece liners in our heavy duty down sleeping bags, and I was mostly roasty toasty! Except for my face which did get a little chilly at times, despite wearing my cashmere eye mask (loved it Kt – thanks), my neck gaiter, my fleece ears and pulling my hat down to the end of my nose! When I woke up, there was ice on the outside of my sleeping bag … reminded me of when I lived in a student house with no heating in Colchester!

I also used the shewee; I was not brave enough to use it in the sleeping bag, but crawled out of my snug sleeping bag,donned my tent booties and scrabbled into the porch. Having completed this challenge, you then have to sleep with your pee bottle, otherwise it all freezes, and you are stuffed!

That is a bit hard to get your head round. The up side is the extra warmth!!

We woke up to a glorious morning. This is the first view when we opened the tent t- this is just in Resolute Bay … but so beautiful; imagine what it will be like when we are miles from anywhere and just us – team Polar Slugs!

Todays schedule brings stove management, in preparation for another night in the snow, this time cooking our own dinner and breakfasts. We are also skiing today – with the pulks!!

Arctic Mummy on Skis 300311

It has been a busy day for our first full day up in Resolute. This morning we put the tents up indoors, getting all the poles marked up (we leave the poles in the tent from now on & just break them down, and roll up the tent canvas round them for carrying on the pulk). After getting the hang of this inside, we then took the tents out, and made camp for the evening … we will eat dinner in South Camp Inn where we are based for the next week, and then have our first night out on the snow. Having put the tents up, you then need to dig them in, putting lots of snow round the valence of the tent.

This was hot work; in future, I think we need to take it a bit slower, and keep our core temperature more stable!

This afternoon, we put on thr skis and had our first go at nordic skiing. I was quite apprehensive, as last time I skied, I ruptured my cruciate ligament. After I shakey start (and a few falls, where I mastered getting upright!) I began to get the hang of it – you just have to visualise yourself on the cross trainer in the gym. Our 1.5 hr sesssion passed in a flash, and was great fun. I was also pleased as my layering seemed just right, ensuring good moisture management (no sweating!!)

The rest of the day has been spent doing on going tasks … today that has been lots of sewing, attaching cloth to our goggles to prevent them steaming up, and keep our noses protected. The best ‘Burka’ is still being developed and modified! You can clearly see mine in this picture of me on skis!

I am looking forward to our first night in the tent, but it may be a little chilly as we are not cooking in them tonight. We get that responsibility tomorrow!

Don’t forget to click the full blog post URL to see the whole article and more photos

More Photos for the Gallery

This photo is of team Polar Slugs - Rob, Lucy and I on our first day in Resolute Bay!

Finally arrived in Resolute Bay, three days after leaving Heathrow! We had a good flight over to Ottawa, where we stayed in the Elgin Hotel. We divied up the food into our second check-in bags … these bags weighed a massive 30KG each!

We had an early start on Monday 28th March, flying out of Ottawa at 8.30am into Iqaluit. There was three hours inbetween flights, so did a quick tour of this very grim and grey town! We left Iqaluit on time, and set of for Resolute Bay. It was a tiny twin prop plane with 16 passengers, and lots of cargo. The plane had a refuel in Hall Beach, which was meant to take 15 mins … we were still there 2 hours later! There was an oil leak on the left engine, and no oil registering on the gauge. After much debate, a plane was re-directed to us, and we were flown back to Iqaluit, arriving just before midnight!

The next morning after a great cooked breakfast, we tried again! This time all went to plan, The plane refuelled in Hall Beach and Arctic Bay, arriving at Resolute Bay at 3.00pm. The weather has been amazing today, with clear blue skies, and lots of sunshine … a cool -25 deg!

Steve, who is in charge of us during this acclimitisation week, has already got us fixing bindings on our skis, and sorting out much of our stuff! Anna, the team doctor took us through  the medical dangers, from frost bite to snow blindness – all very scary!

It has been a long three days, and tomorrow the training starts in earnest, so I am away to my bed. Yes I have the luxuary of a bed tonight, but tomorrow we are camping out.

Because we have been delayed by a day, the race is now due to start on Tuesday 5th April.

Polar Race Gallery

Briefing in Ottawa

It has been a long day! I only got 4 hours shut eye last night, so I ready for my bed. I had a surprise send of today from the Jamie G Trust Committee. Having spent too long packing, repacking and weighing bags upstairs, I rushed into the kitchen saying ” OK lets get going”  only to be greeted by Jacqui, Ivan, Tommy, Liz, Paul, Anjela and Dave! Already emotional this started to tip me over the edge – what a lovely send of!

John and Annie took me to the airport. More emmotional farewells! The kids had all written me a lovely card & Annie had sorted out some photos – more sniffles.

Unfortunately The Finnish Team have dropped out, so we are now down to two teams of three! It is very sad to loose Jari and Tero at such at late stage (5 days before the event), and bad news that now, not only am I the oldest lady doing the race, but the oldest person (probably by 10 years)!

We had a good flight to Ottawa, and have a night of comfort in the Lord Elgin Hotel! We have packed all our food bags up, and have an early start tomorrow. We take a small jet to the Baffin Islands, then a prop plane to Resolute Bay (which will probably stop of at least once at a village on the way!). The final plane will be half cargo and half passenger plane.

Every day will be an adventure now. But for tonight I am going to have a hot shower, and curl up in my nice large hotel bed!

It’s been a busy week, but if I haven’t done it now, then it’s not going to happen! Here I am ready to go (well almost). I  have only managed to get to the start with lots of help from many people!

It is always dangerous to name people for Thank Yous, but there are a few people that it is only right and proper to publicly THANK;

Tommy Gentleman from infin8pulse, who has provided me with personal training for the last 11 months. Tommy has always worked me to my limits, and there has been some serious pain … but my strength and fitness has improved beyond all recognition. I can now do pres-ups (never quite managed more than a few mms with pull ups), and no longer have bingo wings! You can see my last session with Tommy HERE!

Dave and his team at Key Multimedia, who have done all the clever stuff with the Arctic-Mummy Blog. I can update the posts, put photos in the Gallery ….. but anything slightly technical and the experts have had to be called in!

Sarah Kennedy, who has provided Pilate’s classes for the last 14 months. I now know where my core is, and can do a reasonable side plank, down dog, and reverse press-up. Sarah’s classes are always challenging, sociable and have helped me build great core strength. This is vital when I will be pulling a 50kg pulk for 12-15 hrs each day!

I have had an amazing amount of help and support from friends organising my three fundraising events. Sarah Kennedy (not only my Pilate’s instructor) but my lovely next door neighbour and very good friend, was the primary organiser with the quiz night held back in March 2010. Kizzy Romer-Lee who co-ordinated the very successful black Tie Auction night in November, and Judy Staples who made the Last Bash such a great event last week. Lots of other people helped out at these events providing food, running the auction, taking the bids etc etc, but these three beautiful people made these events happen!

My lovely business partner – Katie, who has provided all my creative stuff; from designing the very clever Arctic-Mummy logo, to producing artwork for sponsor badges, and making up films for You tube. A very talented lady!

My family (it’s rather large) have been fantastic. Neither sets of parents were keen about me abandoning my husband and children for 5 weeks to trek 350 miles in sub zero temperatures. Despite this My Parents Rene & Malcolm Hutchinson, and John’s parents, Philip and Gill Winchcombe have been fabulous, attending all the fundraising events and always being there for me and the family! My three beautiful sisters, Nicki, Carol and Lindy and their families, who have come and danced at the social events and kept telling me – you can do it! Wenche Smith, who sewed many, many sponsor badges onto my wind-suit … no mean feet with all it’s many pockets (which are all still use-able!) My gorgeous family, John, Annie, Sam and Simon, who have had to put up with me being away for training weekends, and constant questions about  the North Pole! Charlie Dog who has walked miles and miles with me!  Last but not least all my friends, near and far, who have constantly rallied round, sending texts, emails tweets and face-book comments – Thank you all so much. I would not have made it to the start without all you continued support!

My final thanks go to Danny Long and his team at Pure Technology, who have provided all the kit for me to keep blogging whilst I am away. I have had a good play, and so far so good!

My next blog will be from the other side of the pond! With Love and Thanks to you all xxx

Polar Gear ready for Packing

The days are rolling quickly into each other now! We spent a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago packing up most of our kit into our main bags. All the team equipment has to be split up, and taken out between us – I have the tent outer! I also have some Baffin Boots to fit into my bag. I don’t think I will be wearing these ones, as they are a tad tight with a couple of pairs of socks on!

I have been rooting in the ‘packed’ bag (Rooting was always a big sin on our family camping holidays as a child!), still using some of the kit for training walks. I will have a big re-pack tomorrow! There is a short video of Rob packing up ALL the gear!

I have not been sleeping brilliantly the last few weeks. I feel like I still have quite a lot to organise, and get my head round. I have a couple of fears, that I can’t address until I get out to the Arctic. 1, is the cold (I know this is an obvious one!). We have great gear (and I have a few extra bits!) I am sure we will be fine whilst we are walking / skiing, but how do you not sweat when you are pulling 50Kg pulks? As soon as you stop, this sweat freezes ….. and I get VERYcold. hmmmm. Here in the UK, I just jump into a hot bath to warm up. But in Northern Canada, that’s not really an option (gulp)  2. I keep waking up in the night about 4.00am to go to the loo. In the Arctic, I won’t want to be leaving the relative warmth of the tent, to go outside and wee! I have a shewee, but am not comfortable using it just for a wee, let alone trying to wee into a bottle, in your sleeping bag, in the tent, in the middle of the night …. if you get that wrong ….. cold, wet, smelly sleeping bag (lurvley!)

The Route

This picture shows the checkpoints that we will be walking too. As you can see there is quite a lot of sea in the 350 miles we are covering!

Only 4 sleeps until we leave!

Barmen at the Last Bash

Saturday 19th March was my last fund-raiser! Judy who has superb organisational skills, and an excellent network, invited the majority of the guests and co-ordinated her army of support! Most of the food was prepared and donated by friends and family, as a result we had the most amazing feast with plenty for all (and some for Sunday lunch and supper the next day! It’s always a bonus, not having to cook when you are rather tired and a tad hung over!)

It was a very social evening with around 70 guests – family and friends, so it was just an excuse for a knees up! The disco played a great selection of music and kept the dance floor full. There was plenty of 80’s music for us middle aged peeps!

I tore my left calf muscle at the last two dancing events in November and January, so I was under strict instructions just to do some quiet shuffling! I managed slightly more elegant dancing than a shuffle, but my eldest sister Doctor Nicki, gave me frequent reminders to prevent anything too energetic!

There was no hard sell raffle or auction at this event (been there, done that – back in November with the Black Tie Auction!) It was a low key fundraiser with money being made on the tickets and the bar. We made an amazing £1200 through this event! This will be split 50:50 between Arctic-Mummy and The Jamie G Sporting Trust; I have now raised just under £8000.00 for the Trust through fund-raising events, and very generous donations. People’s generosity in these tough economic times is amazing.

Lots of people helped make this event a huge success, but it would never have happened with out Judy! A big THANK YOU to everyone, and a special Thank You to Judy! I know we have discussed this many times before …. but you could have a fabulous career in event management!

There are more great pictures in the Gallery!

Only six more sleeps until I leave … Still so much to do!

Having written my blog from the start of this adventure 14 months ago I was keen to be able to post whilst I was actually out in the Arctic! I wanted to be able to tell the school children following me  just how well the clothing was working, how cold it got, and what adventures we were having!

As you can imagine I have spent hours on the pc trying to find help with sponsorship, fundraising, researching equipment … and looking for IT support. On the whole, I have to say,  it has been my experience in this tough climate, that it is the smaller companies rather than the PLC’s  that have shone through!

One brilliant example of this is Pure Technology. One of many companies I found on the web, and emailed to see if they could provide remote IT support. Most companies don’t even bother to respond … Pure Technology emailed by return!

Rugged Laptop

Pure Technology has been impressively professional, helpful and interested. They are kindly providing me with a rugged laptop and data phone, so that I can continue to update this blog (with the very kind help of David Lakins from Key Multimedia) I will also be given a solar roll, which will be collecting the suns rays whilst strapped to the top of my pulk, to enable me to recharge these devices. I am hoping for lots of bright blue skies and not many white outs!

In the short time that I have known Danny Long and his team at Pure Technology, I have been bowled over by their level of support, their mantra has been “How else can we help you?” A few months ago I hadn’t even heard of Pure Technology. When I emailed them for possible help, I didn’t really know what they did; I had found an article which talked about Pure Technology providing the communications and IT support for Bear Grylls’ expedition to the North West Passage, and thought,  ”maybe they can help me!”

I have to say I got lucky! Here is a small bit of information on Pure Technology, and what they actually do for a living, when they are not helping wanna be explorers like me!

Pure Technology is an independent technology support company with offices in the UK and Australia.  Operating 24/7 support services for a variety of organisations across a broad range of platforms, its core focus is on the delivery of high calibre solutions tailored to meet the individual requirements of an organisation, regardless of environment or location.  Services focus on provision of traditional IT support, critical systems monitoring, integration of disaster recovery platforms, as well as a comprehensive range of offsite data management services.

If your company needs any of this kind of support, I can highly recommend Pure Technology as a professional, personable company passionate about what they do.

Polar children celebrate putting up tent

Abbotts Ann Primary School is a tiny village school with just over 100 pupils. We had an amazing amount of fun during their North Pole Day in February. Part of the day involved a sponsored walk, where all the children, and many of the staff spent an hour walking (but mainly running) round set routes in the spacious school grounds. You can see how much everyone enjoyed themselves in this short video. My favourite quote of the day from one of the younger children (my role model!) was “What’s the point in running? It just tires you out!”

The families and friends of the children were extremely generous and £515.31 was raised for the local charity, The Jamie G Sporting Trust. Putting the total raised through Arctic-Mummy to just under £7000.00!

I am really looking forward to going back to Abbotts Ann Primary School in the summer term to share all the experiences of my Arctic adventures with these lively, sociable children, who are a pleasure to work with.

Year 2 Thank You Cards

I recently visited Mary Collins year 2 class at Wherwell Primary School. They were a lively group of children, who clearly enjoyed learning, and were very participative.

The children were keen to know how I would keep warm out in the Arctic, with temperatures up to minus forty degrees Celsius. I took in most of my arctic clothing, so that they could try it all on, and see how the layers worked. They particularly enjoyed trying on the goggles, which make everything yellow and sunny!

After my visit the children sent through a generous cheque of £40 for my charity –  The Jamie G Sporting Trust; and all drew me some lovely cards, with great messages in.

I know the children are now working on a banner for me to take to the Magnetic North Pole. If the drawings on the card are anything to go by, I am sure it will be a very colourful and personal banner!

Final Arctic-Mummy Balloon Race Results

The closing date for the Arctic-Mummy Balloon race has passed, and we are still receiving cards back from Europe! We have received back over 20 cards from 5 different countries, England, The Netherlands, Germany, The Czech Republic, and Hungary!

The winners are the two balloons which reached Hungary. The furthest balloon reached Kalocsa, Hungary, which is around  1200 miles by car, or 980 miles as the crow flies from Andover! The second furthest balloon reached Budapest 1175 miles by car, 955 miles as the crow flies! The overall winner – Martin Kay is a friend of 20 years, who responded to my late evening text of 5th Feb …. “I ‘ve still got 40 odd balloons to sell, whose going to help me out?!” The second prize was won by Donald Neil, who bought a balloon from me whenI made my pitch as a market trader on Andover Market! Both winners were surprised and delighted at the distance that their balloons had reached.

This balloon race had a few personal results for me. The winning balloon reached Kalocsa, Hungary, which is not far from Lake Balaton, Hungary, where we had a great family holiday last summer; and a second balloon, which reached Lith, Nederland, which is very close to Nijmegen, Where John and I completed the 4 Day Marches in July last year!

The full results are:

1. Southampton – 30 miles (21 miles as the crow flies)
2. Great Missenden – 68 miles (47 miles as the crow flies34)
3. Kensworth, Dunstable – 90 miles (61 miles as the crow flies)
4. Potters Bar – 90 miles (65 miles as the crow flies)
5. Gorinchem, The Netherlands – 355 miles (280 miles as the crow flies)
6. Lith, Nederland – 372 miles (300 miles as the crow flies)
7. Rees, Germany – 451 miles (341 miles as the crow flies)
8. Billerbeck, Germany – 510 miles (380 miles as the crow flies)
9. Kirchgandern, Germany – 612 miles (494 miles as the crow flies)
10. Wickford, Essex: 110 miles (90 miles as the crow flies)
11. Babyloniënbroek, The Netherlands: 342 miles (282 miles as the crow flies)
12. Sliedrecht, The Netherlands: 330 miles (272 miles as the crow flies)
13. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: 320 miles (268 miles as the crow flies)
14. Nieuwaal, The Netherlands: 350 miles (289 miles as the crow flies)
15. Hoekeinde, Sleeuwijk, Nederland: 330 miles (280 miles as the crow flies)
16. Budapest, Hungary: 1175 miles (955 miles as the crow flies)
17. Kalocsa, Hungary: 1200 miles (981 miles as the crow flies)
18. Kladno, Czech Republic: 897 miles (685 miles as the crow flies)

These cards arrived after the closing date:

• Drensteinfurt, Germany: 475 miles (398 miles as the crow flies)
• Struhařov Budkov, Czech Republic: 930 miles (718 miles as the crow flies)
• Oudenhoorn The Netherland: 316 miles (247 miles as the crow flies)

Thanks to everyone who supported this event, and either purchased a balloon, or sponsored me on my tyre pull. Thanks also to all the people who mailed the balloon cards back to me, receiving these through the post has been very exciting (and made Andy the posty happy!) The sun is shinning – have a great week!

Polar Sam Ottewell

I had the most fantastic day on Thursday 17th February.

 Having presentated to Abbotts Ann Primary School in September 2010, about my Polar Race, and it’s challenges, they organised a North Pole Day for the whole school, to raise funds for The Jamie G Sporting Trust. The North Pole Day was an idea developed by The School Council lead by the inspirational Key Stage 2 teacher Sam Ottewell.

It was an action packed day ….. all the children arrived at the school in fancy dress. There were Polar Bears, Father Christmas, Lost Penguins, Explorers, Elves, Polar Hares, Igloos, ice-bergs, Caribou (as I was informed after I called this chap a Reindeer!), snow flakes, stars …  A huge amount of effort and time had clearly been spent by everyone. Rosie Davies (A School Governor) and I had the very difficult task of judging winners from each class.

Ben Moore filming for BBC South Today

Ben Moore, a reporter from BBC South Today arrived just after we finished judging. He spent a good hour filming all the children’s activities, talking to them, and making it a very special day. I frequently heard children saying it was the best school day ever! There was so much for the children to do, from designing a sledge, researching about the Arctic, working out how to survive with polar bears, decorating arctic biscuits, doing arctic collages, drawing pictures of arctic animals ( I was presented with two superb paintings by a very talented Callum and Sam),and putting up tents. Most the tents were straight forward, but the one pictured here had an external frame, and all in the instructions were in German! When the children struggled to put this tent up, the teachers praised them for trying and told them “even Arctic-Mummy couldn’t do it!”

Lunch for North Pole Day

After all the hard work in the morning, we had a break for our Polar lunch! The tables were all decorated in a polar theme, and Polar bears and penguins lined up along the windows. It was a very sociable lunch with all the staff sitting with the children.

After lunch we launched the balloons for a balloon race; with balloons travelling over 1200 miles from a launch 10 days earlier the children were hopeful of some good results!

For the rest of the afternoon, the children walked round the lovely school grounds. Each class had a designated route for their sponsored walk. It was fabulous weather, and they loved being outside, walking, skipping and running round! I pulled a large 4 wheel tyre with them for a short while, then completed the walk without it, enjoying talking to them, and answering their questions.

Polar Bear & Lost Penguin

When the children had completed the sponsored walk they returned to their class rooms for some quiet time, and a cool down before heading home. I popped into each class to thank them for such a fantastic day. The children were still full of enthusiasm, asking further questions …. this had also been one of the best school days ever for me as well!

The teachers and staff at the school were amazing, they weren’t fazed by the BBC, local papers and Jamie G Charity disrupting their carefully planned day. Everybody joined in; all the teachers were dressed up and entered into the spirit of the day. With this kind of leadership it is easy to understand why there is such a happy atmosphere in the school, and why the children are so polite, confident and engaging.

The BBC compiled a comprehensive news clip of the day, which was shown on the regional news. It was great coverage for Abbotts Ann school and Arctic-Mummy!

There is a good selection of photos from the day in the Gallery unfortunately I can only include a few in the blog!

Wednesday morning’s post was very exciting! We had our first four cards returned from the balloon release in Andover Town Centre on Sunday morning! The weather on Sunday 6th February, had been dry but very gusty, but  I was still really amazed by the destination of the returned cards. Two from the UK, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire …… the other two were from Germany! Another four cards were returned last week – two from Andover, (they must have been the balloons that unfortunately bobbed up the high street), one from Holland and another from Germany. The furthest recorded balloon so far from the Andover release is one that was found later that day in Kirchgandern, Germany; about 600 miles away!

I have had a go at editing the footage that I took during the release and the Tyre Pull on the Kodak Playsport, along with some photographs kindly taken by Nicola Dunning and Mimi …. You can see the end result here! It is the first time I have had a go at editing, so I am sure these videos will improve! The Kodak Playsport was really easy to set up and use, so I am hopeful of some cracking footage in the Arctic!

Map showing Balloon Returns (so far ….)

 Balloons were launched at 8.15am on Sunday 6th February:

1.  Southhampton – 30 miles

2. Great Missenden – 68 miles

3.  Kensworth, Dunstable – 90 miles

4. Potters Bar – 90 miles

5.  Gorinchem, The Netherlands – 355 miles

6.  Lith, Nederland – 372 miles

7.  Rees, Germany – 451 miles

8.  Billerbeck, Germany – 510 miles

9. Kirchgandern, Germany – 612 miles

I am sure more cards will be returned, so I will update you on progress, and the eventual winner! The closing date is 28th February 2011

Just before the end of term before Christmas Hampshire Collegiate Junior School organised a sponsored walk with ALL the children to raise funds for Arctic-Mummy and their chosen charity “Schools in Madagascar”.

The sponsored walk was a truly successful event. We all had a very enjoyable morning walking round the beautiful school grounds, and the children raised so much money (over £2,400), that the money was split three ways, also raising money for Jovhan, a Ugandan child, which the school sponsors – what a fantastic result!

Market trader

It has been a busy busy weekend! I was up early on Saturday morning to make my pitch at Andover Market. I had nearly 500 balloons to sell for a balloon race on Sunday! I am not a natural sales woman, and I knew it was a numbers game, but we shy retiring British are not generally good at approaching people to encourage them to part with their money … albeit the princely some of £1 / balloon! I had some fantastic help from Lorna, who was much better at selling than me, by lunch time we were making good progress, that was until Lorna, who had very kindly given up her Saturday morning, had to go. Left on my own, sales slowed down considerably, but I think I performed better than my husband, John (who does work in sales!) when he came down for a quick support stint.

I was well supplied with coffee and lunch. and by close of play I had sold around 350 balloons! I am not sure I could make a living as a market trader! I was not going to be left with 150 balloons, so once I got home, I sent out a barrage of texts ….. within a few hours I had sold all 500 balloons from the Andover release, and by the time I had completed the tyre pull at 4.30pm Sunday, I had sold a  proportion of the Salisbury release balloons as well. People were very generous and amazingly supportive!

Support Team

It was an even earlier start on Sunday morning with 500 balloons to inflate by 8.00am. We had a good team of workers, and soon got into routine, identifying peoples strengths. It is hard work tie-ing knots in balloons – and very sore on the fingers. It was rather a gusty dawn, so we did loose the odd balloon before it could be tagged, and we had the occasional early escapee!

By 8.00am, we were ready! The John Russell pub kindly provided us all with teas, coffees, and use of their facilities …. essential really before a twenty mile hike! My walking team arrived, Neil Haskins from Nordic Walking UK, planned and mapped out the route, his wife Heather, was the back-up car and emergency support vehicle! After brief discussions on the best way to release the balloons from the net, we were ready to let the balloon race start, and get the tyre pull underway!

Balloon Release

Checking the route

After the balloon release Neil and I had a quick review of the route, then the challenge began! It was just coming up 8.30am and we were right on time. The route took us along the river and out of town to Upper Clatford. We had a good sighting of a Kingfisher as we left town, which lifted our spirits even higher!

We made good progress in the morning, completing just under 10 miles, and reaching Jacks Bush before midday. We did a few circuits in the Winterslows (there are 3 of them!) before picking up the correct route on the Clarendon Way. This took us across a very windy ridge to Pitton. The next stretch was much calmer and quieter, as we trekked through the woods, past the ruins of Clarendon Castle, and down into Salisbury. It was decidedly damper in Wiltshire, with a fine drizzle for the last couple of hours!

We picked up the pace, as we navigated our way through the streets of Salisbury to the Cathedral and into Cathedral Close where we were warmly welcomed by family, a very supportive contingent of the Trussell Trust, and a few locals who were out for a breath of fresh air on a rather dank Sunday! We celebrated our mammoth tyre pull, by releasing another 500 balloons into the Southern Skies!

Balloon Release Salisbury

I know people think that I am a little balmy; and pulling a tyre 21 miles across country is not the normal way to spend Sunday, but I really enjoyed it! Neil and I completed a walk we had not done before, finding some great public foot paths and byways. There were a couple of challenging hills, but I felt really good, damp …. but fit. I had no sore joints, no blisters (apart from a couple on my fingers from knotting balloons!), no aches or pains!

After a much needed relaxing hot bath (I am making the most of this luxury), we had a drink with my ever supportive parents! Followed by roast chicken supper, cooked by my fantastic husband!

I have yet to finalise the money raised for the event, which is being split three ways between Arctic-Mummy, The Jamie G Trust and The Trussell Trust, but I think it will be around a thousand pounds …. not bad for a training walk, and a few balloons! I never ceased to be amazed by peoples generosity. When I was ’selling’ the balloons on Andover Market, it was often the people with the least money that gave the most.

Kodak have kindly provided me with a video camera to record my training, and the race out in the Arctic. I will upload to youtube the video taken on Sunday. ….. If it is any good!

I am going to have a slightly quieter week. It is only 7 weeks until we leave, and I feel that I still have so much to do!

Pictures were kindly taken by Mimi and Nicola Dunning.

Polar Slugs in Stockbridge

Rob and Lucy came down to Hampshire for a Polar Slugs team training session today. Whilst it was not sunny … it didn’t rain! We did a great 14.6 mile circular walk from Clatford, over to Wherwell, across Chilbolton Common, Over the West Downs to the Test Way by the Mayfly Inn, Along the Test Way to Stockbridge. Out towards Danebury, and back down to Clatford.

I was out dancing at a Burns Night on Saturday and paid the price with a tweaked calf muscle! The walk helped loosen everything up and it is much better! It was great to spend a good five hours together, but with only 9 weeks to go we realised just how much stuff we still had left to sort.

This was my second long walk of the week; having dragged The Tyre 13 miles on Thursday. My next fundraising event is a sponsored tyre pull from Andover to Salisbury on Sunday 6thFebruary. The walk will be marked with a balloon release In Andover at the start of the walk, and in Salisbury to celebrate the end! There is a prize for the balloons going furthest from each release. If you would like to purchase a balloon for the princely sum of £1.00 or sponsor me for this event, please email me – jo@arctic-mummy.co.uk.

One of the key learning’sI have made this week, is that I really need to look after my body, with at least two extensive stretching sessions a day. My muscles and ligaments are just not as flexible as they were 20 years ago! Have a good week! xx

How Does This Go?....

It was an early start on 8th January for a 10.ooam meet in Ogmore By the Sea! (Wales). Our first task was to set up the tents. It’s quite a long time since we have put up the team tents, and I think we need rather a lot of practice, to ensure that this is a slick operation when we are working in extreme conditions!The views were lovely, camping in the grounds of Ogmore Castle, but conditions were as they will be in the Arctic – no facilities! Once we were all set up, it was a short walk to start the day’s training in the Merthyr Mawr Sand Dunes; They are a huge network of dunes, rolling over towards the Ogmore/Porthcawl coast, and once the largest sand dune system in Europe. The dunes also claim fame to the highest single sand dune in Europe, known locally as the ‘big dipper’ I am informed that this was the training ground of Seb Coe, so seriously hard work!

Dune Running

Our task was to run up and down the very steep dune, roped together in teams of four. The objective to encourage team work, and you could only go as fast as the slowest person. We each had to do the run five times, and within our schedule you would do two runs back to back! Running on sand seriously saps all the energy from your legs, and causes intense muscle burn. At the top of the second run, I had thought I would lose my breakfast and had BIG doubts about completing the task, especially as I had to run three out of the last four races …. and I had thought my fitness levels were quite good – Think again was the message from my body! This kind of training is all about PMA (Positive Mental Attitude!). I got my head round the fact, that being the second eldest competitor I was not going to get faster times than teams with people in 20 years younger than me, and this task was all bout pacing yourself and getting to the end! With this mind set, and lots of support from each of my team of four, I found the last three races much easier to complete!

After a brief rest for lunch and to get our breath back we were divided up into two teams to navigate a 7.5 mile walk round the beautiful Welsh countryside carrying 5KG of sand in our back packs. We were the wise old International Team of four (the other team of six had much younger legs!) Our team was Yaris (A Fin living in Switzerland!) Lee from South Africa, Curtis, a retired US Marine and myself! After an initial stutter, we got to grips with the scale of the map and soon got into a great rhythm. The objective was to get back before nightfall. It was not a race, but we were the first team back!

We celebrated with afternoon tea in Ogmore Farm Tea Rooms (at £1.40/person it was great value). We then finished setting up the tents before retiring to the pub for supper! It was a good social get together in the pub, providing further opportunity to get to know all the competitors better! Lucy and I left the pub not long after 9.00pm, for an earlyish night. Not long after settling down, the heavens opened, and the wind started gusting, bashing the tent around for a few hours. By the time the rest of them left the pub at 11.30pm, the storm had blown over, and all was peace and quiet. The temperatures dropped below freezing over night leaving heavy ice and frost on the outside of the tent … when we are in the Arctic we can expect this on the inside of the tent as well, when the moisture from our breath freezes! After a re-hydrated breakfast of some kind of tasteless porridge, we packed up camp and drove round to the dunes for another days training. This time we worked in are Arctic Teams.

      We were given five co-ordinates to put into our GPS’s; each group was given a different starting point. The objective of the day was to navigate to all five points, and then back to the car park. Each pulling a weighted pulk! We soon learnt to go along the dunes rather than cutting across them to get to the end point. But there were still some very steep inclines. We were walking without poles which made tough going even harder! We completed three of our five points and bumped into ‘The United Nations Team, and joined up for a quick social lunch. The Polar Slugs were the first team to complete the task – a mere 5 hours hauling the pulks up and down dune. In the Arctic we will be doing at least twice this duration …. but the pulks should pull more easily on the snow and ice (so I am informed!). It was a tough weekend and there is still obviously some training to do. But I think the key messages I took home were:

Ogmore Castle

ps …. The Merrell Boots performed very well

New Training Boots for Arctic conditions

We have Team Polar training in Porthcawl, Wales this weekend …. It is called ” I am a Polar Racer – Get Me Out of  Here!” I am all packed and think that I have enough changes of clothes & shoes! We have been told to take costumes, perhaps this is part of our cold training? We are sleeping out in tents & no doubt cooking on our stoves! I will update you next week!

I am very keen to test out my new Merrell Boots! I Had great customer service from Merrell. At the end of last year I emailed them informing them that I had bought some of their boots in the summer. After four months the linings had split on the back of the boots and were giving me blisters. I explained that I was doing lots of walking and suggested that they looked at this web site! Within a week, they contacted me, suggested I might like the pictured boots as a replacement, and what size was I? If these were not the right boots, then to look at their website and choose any other pair that might be more suitable!

My new boots arrived very promptly, and their initial performance is fantastic. I have worn them a lot in the snow, the grip was excellent, and yesterday, I wore them for over 2 hours, walking in heavy rain. When I got home my feet were still warm and very dry! The boots have been very comfortable from the start, and not required any wearing in! This weekend, running up and down sand dunes will be an even greater test! It is unusual to get such good customer service. Well done Merrell 10/10!

Arctic-Training - Merrell Boot Footprints!

I will try and tweet with pictures this weekend. I am sure it is going to be tough, but at least they can’t make us eat any jungle nasties!

Family Walk on Kimpton Down Boxing Day 2010

I have been making the most of the snow over the last couple of weeks, doing some kind of walk most days. It is quite hard going on the uphill when your feet are sinking into the snow … just a small taste of how things will be out in The Arctic. We are given skis and Baffin boots. It is very much a personal choice as to what you use when. Some people have done it all in boots, most people use a mixture of skis on the flatter ground and just boots on the harder going rubble!

We have had some pretty low temperatures over the Christmas break. In sunny Hampshire it has been down as low as -10.5˚C . Not quite the -40˚C  we will be experiencing!

I have tested my Arctic Sleeping Bag! John put the tent up on boxing day, and after an evening out at friends, we crawled into the tent. The temperatures were only -2˚C / -3˚C! I did get a little chilly in the early hours of the morning, but I think this was a) mainly because I had not zipped my bag right up, and b) because I had moved of the airbed (luxury I know!) and onto the floor, so I had NO insulation from the frozen ground. The cold was not my problem …. It was the Bl**dy cats who seemed to spend all night, on the hour every hour running up and over the tent. They got between the inner lining and the outer shell, clawed their way up and slid down the other side – what great fun. NOT! If I had my gun, we would no longer have any pet cats. I had a serious sense of humour failure.

We have had a very happy family Christmas, spending  Christmas day at Philip & Gill’s; then a few days with the Hutchinson clan down at Millfield School in Somerset. It is never a quiet time, but this did not stop John and The Hound catching a little bit of shut eye!

Hutchinson Clan - All 14!

It is the New Year tonight (and Mine and John’s 16th Wedding Anniversary!) After a year of training, raising sponsorship and fund raising for my charities, The Arctic Challenge is very nearly here. It is only 13 weeks until I leave for Canada and 14 weeks until the Polar Race. Thank you for ALL your friendship, Love and Support, I would not have made it this far without you. I wish you all a very healthy and happy 2011.

Now the hard work really starts!

Sleeping Beauties

Long Haul

On Wednesday 15th December just under 200 pupils from Hampshire Collegiate Junior School participated in a sponsored walk,  raising funds for Arctic-Mummy and the Junior School’s charity “Schools in Madagascar”.

The Children walked the walk for as long as they were able from 9.30 – 11.30am. Every class from nursery to year 6 took part, and walked as many 1 mile circuits as they could. It was a lovely dry day with a hint of sunshine, and the children happily and enthusiastically completed lap after lap. The route took us up a short, but mean incline to the Florence Nightingale seat, through the woodland areas and back down the hill. You can imagine Florence Nightingale resting on the seat and admiring the views and enjoying the peace and quiet. Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to share the same experience!  Mr Meaden kept me company for most of the walk, and we talked the walk! which was easy on the flat, but slightly more challenging on the ‘mean hill’ as I was working quite hard pulling the tyre!

We were provided with refreshments after an hour… coffee and kit kats for the grown-up, squash and fresh fruit for the kids! (There are some benefits to being a grown-up!) After two hours Mr Meaden & I had completed 8 laps – eight miles! The more energetic children, who had run round some of the laps completed 10 and 11 laps … very commendable!

Gaggle of Wellies and Boots

After a quick change and warm up with more hot coffee, I joined Teresa Rogers, the Head of the Junior school for a  roast turkey lunch. It is a long time since I have had school lunches ….. I think things have improved hugely since then!

Ewe Looking At Me

On Saturday, I decided to make the most of the snow and did an 18 mile Recce walk from Home to Salisbury. The is the Tyre-Pull Walk  scheduled for Late January / early February and will probably start in Andover town centre and finish in Salisbury City Centre.

The purpose of the recce walk, was to have a look at the proposed route and get some idea on timings. The route can be seen here . This is not quite complete, as I had to turn my phone off because it was running out of battery!

Neil, who takes Nordic walking on Salisbury Plain at the weekends, put the route together, and gave me the grid references. I eventually managed to put these into my GPS, including finding the deliberate mistake! That in itself was a worthwhile exercise!

On the whole I had a successful walk, only taking one wrong turn, in Porton. I realised my mistake, and got myself back on track quite quickly. So I achieved at least three objectives with this walk. 1) I now know how to enter data into the GPS for a planned route. 2) I can use this data, with a map to navigate myself along said planned route (VERY important as I am responsible for Navigation in the Arctic!) 3) It’s a long way to pull a Tyre!

Shooting Clays

On the 21st of November we had team training at Wyley Valley Shooting Ground. Lucky for me this was just 20 minutes down the A303. After a coffee and bacon sarnies we were split up into two groups with 50 cartridges each and some ear defenders. The two instructors Jeff and Ian took us through gun safety and handling; we were then taken onto various stands to have a go at shooting clays. Rob was definitely the expert in our group, but the three girls (Lucy, Lee and myself) were hitting clays consistently, even on the harder stand were the clay flew across from left to right at a very fast pace!

In the Arctic, are main danger is from polar bears, which are significantly bigger than your average clay. We are highly likely to see polar bears as we cross their migratory route. The primary objective of the gun is to scare them away if they get close; however if they are too nosey and try to get into our tent, then it is all about self protection.

After we had spent a couple of hours using up our 50 cartridges we then had a go shooting a pump action shot gun, which is like the gun we will carry in the arctic. This was great fun, and we all felt that we should be playing a part in some Schwarzenegger movie!

 Val the resident cook had made  lunch fit to feed an army. Having just been home to God’s Country, she had bought local ingredients for Yorkshire Stew with dumplings (Yum yum). This was followed by an equally filling pudding – bread & butter pudding!

After lunch we spent a couple of hours working with the GPS. Jock gave us four co-ordinates, which we had to plug into the GPS. We were all given a different start point, and had to visit all four points; recording the letter marked on the card fixed at the point, with a brief description. We whizzed round the four points, and were first home (Polar Slugs are the under dogs to watch .. as I’ve mentioned before, as a team we are quietly competitive!) Jock couldn’t believe quite how quick we had been. He’d reckoned on quite few hours catching up with a bit of admin. We finished the afternoon with tea and cake before heading home.

The next team training session is down on the beaches in Swansea, in January! We will be pulling our pulks up & down sand dunes, camping out in the tents, and cooking on our stoves… lets hope the weather is dry, don’t mind cold, just not wet and cold!

Not so long ago I was given a four wheel drive tyre to pull for my training. The tyre was given on the wheel, which made an already heavy tyre …. extremely heavy! I took the tyre down to ATS who, after much struggling, managed to remove the tyre from the wheel. The mechanic rolled the tyre round, asking where the puncture was. I tried to explain there was no puncture, I merely needed the tyre for my training. He clearly thought I had lost the plot!

The Big Tyre

With Pop’s help I set the tyre up ready for pulling. As you can see it is a significant step up from the golf tyre! I took the tyre out for it’s first (and only pull to date) on my Thursday walk with Kizzy. I had under estimated how hard it would be. This tyre has serious drag and not much bounce. We were only walking a 3 mile circuit, but I seriously thought about taking the tyre off and picking it up on another walk, some time later (much later!)

Kizzy was delighted, this tyre slowed me down hugely; luckily we met Sarah another friend out walking her hound, who joined us otherwise Kizzy would not only have had a very slow walk, but a rather unsocial one too. By the time we got home ( I live on a hill, so it was a cruel finish!) I was the shade of a very ripe tomato.

Tommy has had me working seriousy hard in the gym. I am now deadlifting 50kg (only 10kg off my 60kg target!), bench pressing 30kg (I don’t have very good technique on this yet!), and doing eccentric press-ups with a 5kg weight on my back. My workouts never seem to get any easier; each week I come away with slightly different muscles hurting, I suppose I must be making some progress, but it is difficult to see.

The Arctic-Mummy Black Tie Auction was last night. It was a seriously fun evening which I will blog about in a few days time when I have managed to have a look at all the photos. I am also busy organising the next fundraising event which is in 2 weeks time … arghhh. So much to do, and time seems to be racing by so quickly!

I have just put together a silent movie (well Katie did all the technical stuff, I just played the staring role). To watch me in my Tango Wind-Suit, seeking sponsorship click on this link!

A few weeks ago we had our first team training session. It was meant to be a 20ish mile circular walk around Hindhead. It was a walk from the LDWA handbook. I had managed to mark about a third of it on the map from the written instructions; we had 3 GPS’s and a compass … and we still managed to lose our way!

We walked through sun, wind, hail and rain in our 5 hour jaunt. I am sure we will experience these quick changes of weather out in the arctic, so all good preparation.

We have divided out responsibilities for our expedition. Rob is the cook (which also means he has prime responsibility for fuel and stoves). He is already planning what spices and sauces he can pack to liven up our food! Lucy is in charge of Comms, and will phone in our position each night, so that the organisers can plot our route. Lucy is also our team medic, which is very reassuring. (We are the only racing team to have a qualified doctor!!) I am responsible for the gun! Polar bears are a real threat; we are visiting their homeland, and if we cross their path, they will come look! My main job is to use bangers to scare them off. I am hoping we will see some bears … but in the distance! I am also responsible for navigation, and maps …. obviously still got lots of work to do then!

I have been watching 71 degrees North, the ITV programme about Celebs battling it out to be “The Champion”, in Arctic Norway with interest!

I was sad to see Andrew Castle get voted off this week, I know he is the old man of the programme, but he is only a month older than me! Am I going to struggle as much as Andrew with the cold, lack of ‘real food’ and creature comforts? I will be out in similar conditions for over a month, and there is no opportunity to win a night in a log cabin, have a hot shower or have dinner cooked for me! I know it makes for good telly, but I am quite sceptical as they talk about temperatures of minus forty degrees, then you see them all ‘hanging around’ with no gloves on their hands and not wearing any eye protection …. I suppose I will only know for real when I have experienced it for myself. Once we leave resolute Bay in Canada and head North towards the Magnetic North Pole, we leave behind civilisation. It’s a 350 nautical mile trek (race!) and the only way back is by plane, not a nice warm car.

I continue to train hard. Whilst I am not making much headway on the Pull Ups, I have a lot more strength in my arms, and I can control more of my eccentric Pull Ups (or is that controlled downs??). The Tyre (TT) is coming out very regularly. The session on the Salisbury Plain last Saturday was not as bad as I had feared, almost enjoyable, but we did do a rather steep incline! The Tyre is a great collector of leaves. Initially it was the lovely red and yellow Autumnal leaves; but today after the heavy over night frost of minus four, the trees lost most their remaining green leaves.

Autumn Leaves

Leaf Collection

I have the first training session with my team mates this weekend. We have not got a team name yet, but I am quite keen on Polar Slugs! There are a couple of reasons: 1. because we all look rather like slugs when in our sleeping bags (see Kit Distribution) and 2. Because we are not the obvious favourites for this race, but we are all quietly competitive (well maybe not that quietly!) and it has connotations of the tortoise and the hare! Katie is having fun working up a logo, so that I can try and convince my team mates! Chloe (10), her eldest daughter is very artistic (takes after Mum) and drew this picture of us!!

Polar Bear Attack

Let me know you thoughts on 71 Degrees North … Will Gavin Henson win, or is he just a bit too confident??

Training has definitely stepped up a level!

The Competition!

A few weeks ago I was invited to a Greg Whyte training day at the National Training Centre. The event was hosted by Glacéau vitamin water, I had very little information, so did not really know what to expect, other than some hard work! Everybody came by train together from London; coming from the country, I drove! The other girls who were invited were six journalists from glossy mags. I did ask the question “how did you find me?” and was informed that I had been picked up because of my blog .. so the marketing does work!

Greg was an Olympic Athlete (Modern Pentathlon - Barcelona 1992). He is now involved in training at various levels to teams & individuals. After a quick tour of the National Training Centre; where most of our elite athletes spend some time, we got changed for a session on the rowing ergos. It was an intense 30 minute session, working flat out with very little rest, pushing yourself to work at maximum effort, with high lactic acid build up. (All a bit technical I know …. there was lots of burn in the legs and bum!)  Jess (2nd in from the left) was my main competition; I think she just beat me in each of the timed row session (I put that down to youth!)

Refreshments

After much needed and welcome refreshments, provided by Glacéau vitamin water, we had a chance to chat to Greg and pick his brains. The best piece of advice for me was get to know your team mates as well as possible, as the better your work together the more enjoyable the experience, and the better the result. I have my first team walk with Rob and Lucy next Saturday!

I have also been spending time down the gym with Tommy. You would think that it would get easier, but every time the day after I have aching muscles! For the last 2 weeks we have played this card game (well Tommy has and I’ve worked!) There is a set exercise for each suit, eg  press-ups (Spades), 10KG medicine Ball Slam (Hearts), TRX Pull Ups (Clubs) and Jumps onto a bench 18″ off the ground (Diamonds). You have to do as many exercises as the number on the card, 10 of hearts would be ten ball slams; Jacks are 11, Queens are 12 and Kings are 13. You end up doing 91 repeats of each exercise. The jokers give you a 60 second rest. Yesterday the jumps nearly killed me, especially as I had to do 28 in a row (a jack, a nine and an 8!) I reckon that Tommy fixed the deck!

I have pulled TT (the tyre) 3 times so far this week, and am ready to take ownership of the Landrover tyre. I get lots of comments when out: “I could give you a lift to Kwik-Fit”, “That must be tyre-ing”, ” Can I have a ride?” I am going to take TT Nordic Walking tomorrow which will be very hard work up and down Salisbury Plain. I will let you know how it goes!!

Scrambled Eggs and Bacon ......

I drove down to Yatton, near Bristol for a team training session yesterday. It was the first time we had all been together since early summer, and there was lots of admin to be done.

We tasted a selection of the food rations. The breakfasts will take some getting used to. I ordered mostly porridge, with a few packs of cheese omelets to break up the monotony. In this picture I am sampling the eggs and bacon ….. I think my face says it all. The evening meals were a lot better, although they were a little on the salty and bland side – nothing that a bottle of Tabasco wont sort out! There are about 7 different options of main meal, from chicken stew, chili con carne, to beef strogonoff; enough choice not to get bored! We didn’t taste any of the puds, but we were told that they are all nice! Through the day we graze on a 600g of dried fruit, chocolate, nuts, sweets, Peperami – all high energy, high fat foods – yum!

We were given most of our kit; all the time we are being fed bits of important and useful information:

• Put coloured tags on all your clothing to make the zips easier to use with gloves on & identify your kit from your team mates
• We have given you 2 pairs of goggles, so when one freezes, swap them over with the warm pair in your pocket
• We wrap all thermos flasks in duct tape, so you can hold them in the cold!
• Take powdered Orange juice, you will get bored of tea and coffee (there is also hot chocolate but I don’t like that!!)

We were also given our GPS’s (one each), and the Maps, so that we have got a bit of time to learn how to use them.

My team is now confirmed, if you want to see who they are check out Rob MacAlister and Lucy Maizels on the Polar Race web site and select 2011 Racers page! I am the oldest and the smallest on our team! We have had a first divvy up of team responsibilities.

 I am the lead on:

• Fitness, Charts (Maps), Navigation, Sponsorship / PR, and Protection (responsible for the gun!)                                

And Back up on:

• Media (Press & TV), Communications (Daily radio communications), Films (video & stills)

• Dehydration
• Frost Bite
• Hypothermia
• Snow Blindness
• Sunburn
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Polar Bears

It’s suddenly all becoming very real and very close. I am getting really excited, but also apprehensive about leaving all my family for so long. I know once we are past Christmas and New Year, our projected leaving date – 27th March 2011 will arrive in no time. I still have so much to do! ……

Last week I visited Abbots Ann Primary School to talk to the children about Challenge, Olympic Values and in particular my challenge in the Arctic. I did a short presentation, asking them about challenge, what challenges they had done, or were doing; and gave them some information about my trip and preparation. We then had a quick practical session. One of the daily challenges in the Arctic is tent management – putting up and taking down the tent with gloves, goggles, big coats, hats etc. So three children and one teacher got togged up for the Arctic and helped me put up a tent. It is always a bit of a laugh for the helpers and the audience; it also gets home the message of how hard it it can be to do straight forward tasks when you change the parameters a little. Imagine how much harder it will be in the Arctic with temperatures down to minus forty and strong winds…

We then had question time. And the children from Abbotts Anne school were fantastic. The questions were non stop for 20 minutes, and even then we had to call time; there was school work to be done after all!

Some of my favourite questions:

Building an Igloo

• Why don’t you build an igloo every night!
• How do you keep clean and wash (we don’t …)
• How do you go to the toilet (very quickly … this one worries me a little!)
• How do you find your way ( with a GPS, the sun, snow patterns etc etc)
• How long will it take you (around 4 weeks)
• How long will you be walking each day (10 – 12 hours)
• How do you keep drinks warm (thermos flasks)
• How do you make hot drinks (using melted snow)
• How do you carry all your stuff (In a sledge which we pull)
• How heavy is the sledge (50kg – about my body weight)
• What kind of animals do you get in the Arctic? (Polar Bears, Caribou, Wolves, Seals, Owls …) 
  

  Visit from a Polar Bear

• Polar Bears …. what if they attack you. (we frighten them away with a gun)
• What if they steel you food (we keep all our food in big plastic storage containers)
• What if they come into your tent …….
• Can we follow your progress (yes www.arctic-mummy.co.uk)
• Can we follow you during you race in the Arctic? (yes …..hopefully I will be able to blog on this site, sharing with you all the many daily challenges. and on the Race Site http://polarrace.com/site/)
• Will you come back and talk to us when you get back from the Arctic and share all your adventures (Definitely ….I am already looking forward to a whole new range of questions, and being able to share photos)

I have three children of my own, but never ceased to be amazed about how inquisitive a child is. We lose so much of this as we get older, accepting life and all our own rules, barriers and limitations. Why not think about yours this weekend? ….. have fun!

I have been looking forward to the Sussex Stride for a while … It takes training to a new level. The Nijmegen Marches was getting up early and walking long distances on four continuous days. This was walking a really long way (51 miles) for the best part of 20 hours. We were nearly late for the start; at Chicester,we drove 2 miles in 50 minutes queuing with The Goodwood Revival traffic … arghhh.

Anyway we arrived with 20 minutes to spare, just enough time to check in, for Paula to check the route on the map, for me to smother my feet in Vaseline (I am not sure if this helps, but I am trying to avoid blisters – so whatever it takes), and to have a quick loo stop. Then we were off! The first stage was Longhill to Offham (10miles)

First Trig Point - Black Cap

Paula - On top of the Downs

Last time, when we walked the South Downs in April, the weather was grey, cold, misty and very windy. On Saturday, it was warm with clear views for miles. There were about 120 walkers (very different to the 40,000 in the Nijmegen Marches) and we soon spread out. It was interesting chatting to fellow walkers (Paula is a lot better at this than me!) Once a year the LDWA organise a 100 mile walk within the UK. You have to complete a 51 miles walk (in 20 hours) to be able to partake. There was a lady of 80 who has completed 8 of the recent 100 mile walks, she would like to do 10; another lady in her 60’s / 70’s has done 13, 100 mile walks! When I completed the 27 mile walk in April, I couldn’t see myself doing 50 miles ….. now I quite fancy the challenge of 100 miles (It has to be walked in 48 hours!). Next year the walk is in Wales – I will be just back from the Arctic, so should be fit enough. In 2012 the walk is in London to tie in with the Olympic Games, I am very keen to do that! (I can feel lots of people raising their eyebrows as they read this and shaking their heads … am I really a lost cause?)

It was great to get 10 miles under our belts, and I felt really good, (all my training was obviously beginning to pay of!) The next stage was Offham to Glynde (5.1 miles), which took us through the centre of Lewes; it amused the shoppers to see us all with our packs and sticks! We had a very steep climb from Lewes up to the golf club and back on-top of the Downs. In Glynde we were fed quiche, sandwiches, and lots of Swiss roll – it was a much needed, quick energy refill. Then up an extremely steep climb back up to the top of the Downs towards Alfriston (6.4 miles). We had covered this section on the 27 mile walk, so knew what we were walking for the next 20+ miles. I think this is one of the hardest stretches. The climbs (and we had at least one in-between each check point) are always worth it on fabulously clear days like Saturday, the views are so rewarding.  

As we walked from Alfriston to East Dean (7.1 miles) The sun started to go down. East Dean was the start and finish point for the 27 mile walk in April. We were fed bacon butties here, and even served pudding! The volunteers were all fantastic, and really looked after us extremely well, at all the check points.

We missed the sun setting. By the time we came out of the village hall at East Dean it was almost black. It was time for coats, gloves and head torches! The next satge was East Dean to Litlington (5.6 miles). This would take us over 4 of the Seven Sister. Some very steep climbs up and equally steep walks down. We  had to take real care that we did not wander too far left and into the sea! It did make it easier having walked this stretch before in day light, at least we knew roughly where we were going, and where we needed to be! As we came down the hill into Litlington, the Marshall marking us in to the checkpoint, stood by the gate, waving his arms, much like an air-traffic controller! His luminous jacket was very effective and it made it so much easier knowing where the gate was onto the lane!

Litlington to Norton (4.8 miles) was a quick stretch! We were now getting accustomed to walking in the dark,  using head torches.

It was a Dark Dark Night ...

Paula and I walk at different paces.In the daylight hours Paula had jogged on the flat stretches to catch me up (I like to attack the hills!) Paula found that jogging stretched her legs out. Me I don’t run anymore (although Tommy does try and make me do a bit of jogging on the treadmill in the gym!) Once it got dark, I would walk for a while then wait for Paula. There was a reasonable group of us spread out along this stretch, so we never walked completely on our own. Norton to Southease (5.5 miles) was a frustrating section. The directions provided were not particularly clear and the way marker used as a reference point had been knocked over by cattle (It transpired that the organiser knew this, but failed to communicate it to us, despite being at check point 6!). We spent at least 40 minutes in this black field ensuring that we were on the right track. We made it to checkpoint 7 with only 15 minutes to spare.

Southease to Longhill (6.4miles – THE FINISH) was the section that required reasonable navigational skills, By this stage Paula was walking with Paul, and I was walking with his mate John. We had to keep waiting for fellow walkers who had their own compasses (I have now put a compass on my Christmas list!) to ensure we took the right bearings. We marched this stretch at quite a pace, arriving at the finish at 4.47am; an hour and 13 minutes inside the required finishing time!

We were served tea and coffee, and a cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs, beans and toast – what fantastic value! The walk had cost £15.00 to enter! I did suffer with a few ‘mean’ blisters on my heels, and I was a little stiff in the thighs, but I think this was more from a tough Pilate’s class on Friday morning and a hard session in the afternoon on the rowing ergos at a Glacéau vitamin water training session (More on this in my next blog!)

My key learning’s from this long walk are:

• My fitness levels are good
• My strength training is starting to pay off (I did not get sore shoulders or back from carrying a heavy rucksack
• I need to work on my navigation skills
• I need to find a better way of looking after my feet to reduce the chance of getting blisters.

Suggestions and help gratefully received ….

Forgot to say …. the fastest people (runners ..) finished the 50 miles in under 12 hours!!

I have had 2 sessions in the gym with Tommy in the last four days …. and I can feel it! But I am making progress, albeit small!

I can now hang from the pull-up bar and pull myself up a couple of inches! You may laugh, but this is progress. Initially I could not lift myself at all. I practice at home (I’m sure it is all down to technique). Either Sam or Simon lift me off the ground and hold me. I then put all my effort and concentration into pulling myself up. I think I did one complete pull up yesterday (Sam said he did not lift me, just held me ….). 

Helping Hand

 Tommy is away for a couple of weeks; I am determined to be able to do at least one when next back in the gym! My shoulders are very sore today, so I feel like I must have managed one.

In my current 6 week gym programme I have been using a 15kg kettlebell in an exercise which involved 20 double arm swings followed by 20 squats, repeated three times. When I first did this little routine I was nearly sick. I’ve kinda got a love hate relationship with kettlebells. In the second session I had this week Tommy gave me a new routine. The good news is that I use a lighter kettlebell – only 8kg. The bad news is that I have to do five reps of the whole exercise. I have to do 8 single arm swings with each arm, followed by 8 snatches with each arm, followed by 8 press-ups! The secret is all in the hips, get that right and the movements flow … lol. There is a Ladies Challenge on the board in the gym. You have to do the five sets as quickly as possible. After my first attempt I am 4th on the leader board (out of 9). My mistake was losing a bit of hip technique, and trying to get full tidy press-ups. I think I can knock at least 30 seconds of my time by going for outright speed, rather than style – not that I am competitive (much!)

I have a Greg Whyte fitness day tomorrow, hosted by Glacéau vitamin water, at Bisham Abbey. We have been told to take warm coats and gloves as we will be going into the altitude chamber, which may be a little cold (zero deg Celsius). Not as cold as the Arctic then …. but least a start with some kind of cold training. Then on Saturday I have the Sussex Stride, a quick 50 mile walk on the Hilly South Downs. You have to agree this is certainly more effort …

The kids are back to school, work as calmed down a little, so we can get back into some kind of routine. We have an  Arctic team meeting scheduled in the diary with Jock on 10th Oct. His message was “The hard work starts now – the focus is getting to the pole!” Not sure how I am going to fit in more training, especially with the nights and the mornings drawing in. I am already doing my morning walk in the dark! One solution is to start  some pool training …. I did pick up a timetable today!

My last gym session with Tommy was rubbish (not the training – my performance!) In a fit of enthusiasm the day before my training I tried to do pull ups on the door bar as soon as I jumped out of bed … big mistake, I pulled / tore the muscles under my arm. This meant that I couldn’t control any pull downs either with my body weight or on the weight machine. Very frustrating. The boys now do pull ups at home with a ruck sack on their back with weights in … I am sure we women aren’t designed to lift our own body-weight, well not once we get into our forties!

We had a lovely end of summer catching up with the Ridley’s in Plymouth; we got the full local experience! Surfing at Watergate beach in Cornwall, walking up the Tors in Devon (well one of them!), sailing in Plymouth Sound, and walking along the cliffs at Membury

On Top of A Tor

So this week the focus is more effort. I pulled the tyre last night, Pilate’s starts again tomorrow morning, and I have the chance to do better in gym tomorrow afternoon. I have a looong walk next weekend. Fifty miles in 20 hours  – The Sussex Stride on the very hilly South Downs. I did a marathon on the South Downs earlier this year, and that was very tough…. walking through the night is another challenge altogether!

Sailing in Plymouth Sound

A Small Incline

The training has stepped up a gear! I have been out with the tyre twice in the last week; on Sunday I pulled it for 3.5 miles and felt it for the rest of the day. This tyre is only 10Kg in weight. I will be pulling 50Kg in The Arctic, so I have a way to go. Mel has generously offered to keep an old 4 wheel drive tyre for me, which I hope to be pulling by the end of September.

I am quite keen to organise a sponsored pull before the end of the year, but will have to up the distance, as any event is likely to be 15 – 20 miles, and that would kill me (or my lower back) at the moment.

I also have a new schedule in the gym which revolves around doing pull -ups. I can’t do any yet! The boys can both do around 20 and Annie can do 3, so I have got some work to do! At the moment I am concentrating on eccentric pull-ups (or controlled downs) I can only manage about 6 of these before gravity takes over …. Still I could only manage 2 press ups in May, I can now do over 20 and at least 30 controlled eccentric press-ups so there is hope for me yet!

Charlie & Alfie (the dogs) really enjoyed the tyre walk, and were quite bemused by the bouncing object I was pulling along. They took every opportunity they could to shake as close as possible after they had been into the river.

Here is a short video clip of the tyre in action! Have a good week! We are flat out at work, so it’s going to be long days fitting in training, family, and getting ready for the new term!

By The River

Alfie determined to soak me .. again!

When we arrived at our holiday home in Hungary I made John drive round the block. We were given some very sketchy directions from the tourist office, where we collected the keys, and this house did not look like the one we had booked through the Internet! Our house had looked white & not green, definitely did not have signs outside advertising beauty treatments & massages! On the second time round the block, John asked a chappy in the drive, who confirmed it was our accommodation! First appearances can often be deceptive! Despite the ‘funny windows’ and green colouring, the house has been fantastic for us, accommodating 15 of us very easily, providing plenty of living space inside and out & comfortable bedrooms. The only disappointment has been the pool; which we had to confirm sole usage of. prior to booking!  It is a small pool which is rather grubby (to be generous), and with one push you could reach the other side!

The Lake has more than made up for the lack of pool. Lake Balaton is beautiful and has provided a great play ground. All the kids have had a go at windsurfing, which they seem to be mastering much quicker than I did when I had my first lesson in my twenties! We must be the best customers for the hire of pedalos & kayaks, with prices starting from £2/hour are great value. Inspired by the kids great performance on the windsurfer, a few of us larger kids had a go today. It must be nearly 20 years since I got on a surf board, but I was pleased to say that I could remember the basics, managed to get the sail up, sailed, tacked and sailed in the opposite direction. The winds were frustratingly light, so my limited skills were not overly tested…. perhaps another day? All the grown-ups have now committed to have ago before we leave at the end of the week!

I have managed to keep up a limited schedule of training. We have done a few walks; there are lots of castles here, at the top of pinnacles (hills or small mountains), which have provided at least 3 outings; and on one of our cloudy days Annie & Niall challenged each other to a walk to the local Tesco to invest in some new DVDs! Fifteen miles and two DVDs later we got to watch a ‘new’ film. It was a very un-inspirational walk, along road, but most of the kids joined in the challenge, and got some miles in!

Press Ups on the beach!

The whole family has taken on-board parts of my schedule! Sam talks non stop whilst I concentrate on finishing my third 60 second plank. And everybody is having a go at press-ups. I am very pleased with my progress. When I started my training with Tommy I could barely do two! Now I can do about twenty two!

Enjoy the video of family press-ups on the beach!!

On The Beach

A week after the Nijmegen Marches I am in sunny Hungary enjoying a complete change of scenery! There are 15 of us; 5 adults and 10 children ranging from 9 – 15! We are in a large house, which surprisingly, as advertised has loads of room, 2 kitchens, 2 living areas, a fire pit and it is only 700m from the shore of Lake Balaton! As you can see life is taking a slightly different pace from last week.

My foot is almost 100% recovered and we are out exploring the local area. We trekked up the local hill (which at over 1000ft high I am told qualifies as a mountain!) The only downside is the mosquitoes, these were very active in the woodland, despite the heat. The climb provided great views over the Lake (Hungarian Sea). At 77km long, it is the largest freshwater lake in Europe.

Local Vineyards

Our return route bought us down through the vineyards. We stopped for a coffee, and John thought he would sample some of the local grapes (it was after 10.30am) His glass was ladled out of the cask and cost the vast sum of 60p! It was a light fruity number that served slightly more chilled would make a good aperitif. Niall, encouraged by John, decided to splash out on a 90p glass. This was a slightly more intense wine that tasted better after the second and third sip! There are lots of attractive looking wine establishments that we thought we would visit later in the week, whilst the kinda had a quiet night in with take away pizza (£3 each!), popcorn and a dvd!

As well as a bit of walking most days (the local hills are quite steep) I am being good about doing my homework. Tommy has kindly given me a short routine to keep me on track. Oh I do love lunges… My eccentric press ups have improved beyond all recognition, and I can hold the plank for over a minute. Sarah will be chuffed when Pilate’s starts up again in September!!

The Plank...

I can’t believe it is a week since we completed the final day. It was straight back into work on Monday … the print pc had crashed and burned, so that set us up for a good week, starting of a day behind! Anyway I digress.

On the last day the atmosphere was buzzing, we were all on a mission, and so nearly there. I was shocked to read later that over 800 people had given up on day three… why? so close? Most of the hard work was done! The first 8 miles seemed easy, it was cool and misty and we walked most of this part with the soldiers. As planned we stopped for food, the mid morning broth was tasty and renewed our energies. I had developed a nasty blister on the side of my foot, the pressure on this was increasing as the day progressed. After lunch we had to make an emergency stop at the Red Cross tent to get it drained and dressed. It took 2 red cross workers and a nurse to remove the compeed. The Red Cross don’t like compeeds, I was informed ”they were for city walking, not heavy trekking”. With my foot sorted and a sandwich stop, we managed to pick up the pace. The welcome into Cuijk was very lively, and the giving of Gladioli began! We walked through the town and across the river on the temporary bridge built by the soldiers.

From Cuijk we walked to Mook and the long stretch to the finish. Mook is my Mothers maiden name and must be where her family originate from. The support grew through Mook, Molenhoek and Malden until the last 6km it was just continuous. The crowds were fantastic, nobody was left out, everybody was given gladioli and cheered on. By the time we got to the outskirts of Nijmegen the pace slowed right down due to the sheer numbers. It was painfully slow, all I wanted to do was stride out a little and stretch my very tired legs, but that was not an option. Luckliy the crowds, and the marching bands were a welcome distraction and caried is through to the finish. We marched past the dignitries to the finish line. We handed in our check cards, had our wristbands scanned for the last time and collected our very special medals.

Some facts from the walk:

• 45,000 people registered
• 39,933 started the Four Day Marches
• 38,788 finished the first day
• 37,545 finished the second day
• 36,702 finished the third day
• 36,504 completed the Four Day Marches!

Bobbies

Nearly Home

We retired to Vanessa’s flat for a sit down, a shower and a much needed cup of tea, and then onto the beers! Simmone and Judith also completed their 160km Four Day March, so there was big celebratory hugs. Last year only one of Vanessa’s four guests had completed the event and collected their medals We were all very chuffed. The Atmosphere in the town that evening was so open. Everyone was wearing their medals and swapping tales of their ups and downs. It was a huge achievement and all the competitors were rightly proud. I have to say it was physically the hardest thing I have done to date! Will we do it again next year … We would both like to go back and get our crowns (The medal for completing two walks has a crown!). I think we ‘have done’  200km and would happily settle for the 160km march – only 40km/day! Luckily John turns 50 next year, so can walk this distance and still get his medal! Being a mere woman, I automatically qualify for a medal at this distance regardless of age! It was commented on that I must be a very loyal wife to support my husband doing the 200km walk … lol.

We have many memories from the Four Day Marches:

• Wilma the cat, who certainly came to support on 2 days. Perched on her table next to her owners
• The outstanding support from 3.00am on the first day
• Wijchen with at least four brass bands playing us through the town
• The marching songs which kept us going through the toughest stretches
• The seven hills in the last 10 miles of day three
• The traffic warden who conducted us in with Gladioli
• The competitors wearing costumes, that looked like they were being given piggybacks on little guys
• The T-Shirts marking down the days of the 94th March, and the years to the 100th March
• The Red Cross tent with 50 beds full of people having their blisters sorted
• The marching bands, with the tiny music clipped onto their arms
• The children handing out sweets and putting up their hands for high 5’s
• The openness of the Dutch people.

I have just signed up for my next challenge. 50 miles in 20 hours over the South Downs Way in Sept. I am sure that will be equally tough! Thanks to everybody who sponsored me during the Nijmegen Marches. I have raise about 3% of my total for The Jamie G  Sporting Trust Fund, which is a great start. Have a good weekend. X

We made it! I will write a proper blog about it tomorrow when I get home. Now it is party time!

The Finish!