Found a way to keep this Blog up to date with MDS news.
In the message below Al is Nicky's husband made to sat at home whilst Nicky is away enjoying herself?!!
Al is manning the race HQ in Long Sutton, Somerset.
Nicky's MDS (2):
"Hi all, Al standing in for my mad wife for the next week to 10 days, so I have been allocated the task of keeping you all informed as best I can, in reality I only get the same info as you guys but am under the threat of a thousand cuts if I don't search it out and relay it all in facebook world!
Well Nick arrived safe & well, all this week she has been complaining 'my legs, calves and all sorts of other places ache, pleeeease Alfie will you give me a quick massage' so I do the right thing (whilst watching the football) and give Nick a 40 second massage (effort she calls it). Well it obviously worked 'cos all the aches and pains have disappeared (I have clearly been conned) and this evening she is languishing in a 5 star hotel, relaxing by the pool in 26 degree sunshine with ice cream and a SOFT drink, yes you did read correctly, finally off the alcohol with one day to go!
However reality kicks in tomorrow, they have a 4 hour drive into the desert to their acclimatisation camp, where they do all the registration stuff, jettison all their surplus kit, (Nick has packed & re-packed about 10 times), say goodbye to their suitcases and the last contact with any kind of luxury.
Well that's about it for tonight. I think Nicky is about the most focused and strong minded person we all know, but I also know she is really looking forward to our motivational e-mails, these are passed on to all the masochistic competitors after each stage (via the MDS web site).
Cheers for now
Al
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
This Blog was started because Nicky was trying to raise money for a charity whilst having fun running across the Sahara desert. I'm now changing its aim to concentrate on our Junior club events Especially our fun run on Northstreet Moor
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
MDS adventure starts from Ouarzazate in Morocco
Tried to find a map of the route but no luck so far. Perhaps they keep it a secret!
Competitors fly to the town of Ouarzazate which is south of the Atlas Mountains on the edge of the desert.
This info from Wiki.
Ouarzazate is located in Morocco
Nicky flies out on Thursday.
Competitors fly to the town of Ouarzazate which is south of the Atlas Mountains on the edge of the desert.
This info from Wiki.
Ouarzazate is located in Morocco
Nicky flies out on Thursday.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
MDS and James Cracknell
I was browsing through the Telegraph magazine in a quiet moment after lunch on Saturday and started reading about James Cracknell and his amazing challenges. I knew about his rowing triumphs with Steve Redgrave but didn't know about his entry to the MDS in 2010.
Here's a picture from the Telegraph article;
I looked up his own official web site and found a reference to his MDS Blog and here is an extract. You can see the whole piece by clicking here.
As events go it wasn’t the longest I’ve done but some of the days were as hard as I’ve ever had in sport. I decided to enter the MDS whilst sat in a tent 100m from the South Pole as the race doctor assessed the blisters I’d intelligently let turn to ulcers and another visitor to the pole stuck his head in the tent and said “Call those blisters - you should do the Marathon des Sables”.
I wanted to prove to myself that I could look after my body day after day whilst racing. Knowing blisters are my Achilles Heel or if I’m honest one of my many Achilles Heels I set about making sure I had a strategy to deal with them but more importantly not to avoid them in the first place. I hardened my feet over six weeks with surgical spirit and worked with various taping methods on training runs but more importantly worked on sorting out my gaiters to make sure no sand entered my shoes in the first place.
He ends his MDS Blog with this summary.
Crossing the line wasn’t the celebratory process I was envisaging instead there was the frustration of not being able to run flat out because of the leg and a painstaking wait to see if I’d held onto 12th.
After six days running I’d made it by two minutes. I’m as proud of that achievement as anything else I’ve achieved in sport. It turns out I had broken a bone in my foot – the fifth metatarsal – at least I feel like a proper sportsman now. I’m sure the doctors guessed it was broken but stuck out in the desert there was nothing they could about it and I wasn’t going to stop. Goes to show that what you don’t know won’t bother you.
Here's a picture from the Telegraph article;
I looked up his own official web site and found a reference to his MDS Blog and here is an extract. You can see the whole piece by clicking here.
As events go it wasn’t the longest I’ve done but some of the days were as hard as I’ve ever had in sport. I decided to enter the MDS whilst sat in a tent 100m from the South Pole as the race doctor assessed the blisters I’d intelligently let turn to ulcers and another visitor to the pole stuck his head in the tent and said “Call those blisters - you should do the Marathon des Sables”.
I wanted to prove to myself that I could look after my body day after day whilst racing. Knowing blisters are my Achilles Heel or if I’m honest one of my many Achilles Heels I set about making sure I had a strategy to deal with them but more importantly not to avoid them in the first place. I hardened my feet over six weeks with surgical spirit and worked with various taping methods on training runs but more importantly worked on sorting out my gaiters to make sure no sand entered my shoes in the first place.
He ends his MDS Blog with this summary.
Crossing the line wasn’t the celebratory process I was envisaging instead there was the frustration of not being able to run flat out because of the leg and a painstaking wait to see if I’d held onto 12th.
After six days running I’d made it by two minutes. I’m as proud of that achievement as anything else I’ve achieved in sport. It turns out I had broken a bone in my foot – the fifth metatarsal – at least I feel like a proper sportsman now. I’m sure the doctors guessed it was broken but stuck out in the desert there was nothing they could about it and I wasn’t going to stop. Goes to show that what you don’t know won’t bother you.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Our running heroes
Great cover picture of Nicky in our local paper Western Gazette 10th March
Front Page
More details on page 12!
18 days to go and I'm getting nervous and I'm not running!
Dont forget Mel with 35 days to go to the London Marathon,
and Pete who still has 73 days.
**********************************************************************
Just sent this message as an email to all Club members.
Charity running update.
See http://langportrunnersextreme.blogspot.com/ more information about our three hero's.
With apologies for everyone else who is missing out on the press coverage and doing great things in training and racing!
Please buy this weeks Western Gazette. Nicky and Langport Runners are on the Front Page!!! And on page 12 for the story behind the headlines.
Only 17 days to go before flying to Morocco and preparing to run across the Sahara Desert. We should be able to see daily reports on Nicky's progress and we will be sending email messages of encouragement which will get to Nicky at the end of each day.
Mel has 35 days to go before the start of the London Marathon, which I'm sure is going very quickly now. Mel uses Fetch to record her training and you can see it at this web address: http://www.fetcheveryone.com/userprofile.php?id=44997 If that doesn't work go to Fetch for Everyone, home page, people near you and click on "nevienais". I see that Mel completed her 18 miler training run at the end of Feb and has been completing good monthly mileage totals this year. That looks pretty good to me.
Pete hasn't had much publicity for his 5 marathons in 5 days for the Forces March event on the 25th May. 73 days to go. That date is very significant as it is the anniversary of the sad loss of HMS Coventry , a type 42 destroyer , on the same day in 1982. Pete was a member of the crew.
All three are raising funds for charities related to armed conflict and through press coverage we hope to help them get as much support as possible. If possible please pass on this information. Links to their charities are shown on our Blog; http://langportrunnersextreme.blogspot.com/
Front Page
More details on page 12!
18 days to go and I'm getting nervous and I'm not running!
Dont forget Mel with 35 days to go to the London Marathon,
and Pete who still has 73 days.
**********************************************************************
Just sent this message as an email to all Club members.
Charity running update.
See http://langportrunnersextreme.blogspot.com/ more information about our three hero's.
With apologies for everyone else who is missing out on the press coverage and doing great things in training and racing!
Please buy this weeks Western Gazette. Nicky and Langport Runners are on the Front Page!!! And on page 12 for the story behind the headlines.
Only 17 days to go before flying to Morocco and preparing to run across the Sahara Desert. We should be able to see daily reports on Nicky's progress and we will be sending email messages of encouragement which will get to Nicky at the end of each day.
Mel has 35 days to go before the start of the London Marathon, which I'm sure is going very quickly now. Mel uses Fetch to record her training and you can see it at this web address: http://www.fetcheveryone.com/userprofile.php?id=44997 If that doesn't work go to Fetch for Everyone, home page, people near you and click on "nevienais". I see that Mel completed her 18 miler training run at the end of Feb and has been completing good monthly mileage totals this year. That looks pretty good to me.
Pete hasn't had much publicity for his 5 marathons in 5 days for the Forces March event on the 25th May. 73 days to go. That date is very significant as it is the anniversary of the sad loss of HMS Coventry , a type 42 destroyer , on the same day in 1982. Pete was a member of the crew.
All three are raising funds for charities related to armed conflict and through press coverage we hope to help them get as much support as possible. If possible please pass on this information. Links to their charities are shown on our Blog; http://langportrunnersextreme.blogspot.com/
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Our running heroes
First Nicky.
And Mel. (Mel is obviously standing in the middle of the picture)
And Pete at our AGM in Feb.
And Mel. (Mel is obviously standing in the middle of the picture)
And Pete at our AGM in Feb.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Our running heroes
All three of our heroes were running with us tonight in our weekly club session.
I have no plans to cover such a distance so found it a bit easier running round Town with Nicky. Absolute speed is not a priority on the MDS but ability to run uphill with a 20lb pack on your back and training for an hour or more three times a week is Nicky's choice. Given a 20lb handicap I could keep up for 50 minutes and headed in to get a cuppa. Nicky just kept on running to do her programmed 60 minutes and returned fresh as a daisy. The other two just did 6 or 7 miles a bit fast by the look of them when they returned.
My achievement was a modest 4.25 in around 50 minutes with a couple of stops for a chat!
I have no plans to cover such a distance so found it a bit easier running round Town with Nicky. Absolute speed is not a priority on the MDS but ability to run uphill with a 20lb pack on your back and training for an hour or more three times a week is Nicky's choice. Given a 20lb handicap I could keep up for 50 minutes and headed in to get a cuppa. Nicky just kept on running to do her programmed 60 minutes and returned fresh as a daisy. The other two just did 6 or 7 miles a bit fast by the look of them when they returned.
My achievement was a modest 4.25 in around 50 minutes with a couple of stops for a chat!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Pete's Run press release 01.03.11
Sorry about the photos not transferring but will try to get them in later .PRESS RELEASE
LOCAL MAN TO UNDERTAKE 5 MARATHONS IN 5 DAYS
FOR PROJECT 65 — THE VETERANS CHARITY
Peter Jones, from Langport, has decided to take part in a 132.5 mile super challenge in aid of Project 65 — The Veterans Charity.
He will be taking part in THE FORCES MARCH 2011, one of the UK’s toughest challenge events which was created to unite civilians with personnel from the military and emergency services to raise vital funds for the care and support of UK armed forces heroes and forces families. THE FORCES MARCH retraces the route taken by men of the newly formed 6th Airborne Division on a now legendary training march from Devon to Wiltshire in 1942.
Running or walking, Pete Jones will cover at least 26.2 miles a day on five consecutive days starting in llfracombe, North Devon on Wednesday 25th May and will finish at The Forces Festival in Bulford, Wiltshire on Sunday 29th May. Entry details and additional information can be found at www.forcesmarch.org.uk
I spent over 29 happy years in the Royal Navy during which time I served in the Falklands on HMS Coventry, also in support of Bosnia and the gulf conflicts. I feel this is a very worthwhile cause and seeing what the men and women of the services do today makes me very humble and proud, anything I can do to support their sacrifices is very much in my mind. Please if you can assist “ you can sponsor me at http://www.justgiving.com/Peter-Jones6 ”.
 |
INSERT PHOTO HEREENDS
For further information or an interview with Peter Jones:
Please contact:
· Pete on 01458251486 or 01823652513 or email suepete@sky.com
· Danny Greeno, Chief Executive of Project 65 on 07595 186838 or email
Notes to Editors:
About Peter Jones
I am a 57 year old male ex serviceman. Left the RN in 1998 having served 29 years.
The forces march starts on the 25th May 2011 which is the 29th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Coventry, which I was serving on at the time and lost a few good friends.
This is my opportunity to give something to those Falklands veterans as well as those from all other conflicts including those of today. I feel strongly that the support our service personnel of today are getting and the awards they get do not match the sacrifices they are making. Anything I can do to help is a mere pittance to the good life the forces gave me. I only have a small circle of friends and I need to raise at least £1000 so if you can put in a small article I would appreciate it.
I currently run with Langport Runners and have run over thirty marathons in the last seven years. I organize the local Langport Runners races with a team of helpers as well as organizing the training for the junior section of the club.
About Project 65
ProjeCT 65 — The Veterans Charity is a military charity which was founded in 2008 to raise funds for the care and support of wounded armed forces personnel.
Our aims are simple:
· To raise the profile and funding of major organisations that provide the vital care and support for those affected during the service of their country
· To promote the efficiency of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces
· To support our armed forces veterans and families of the armed forces community
Every pound raised by ProjeCT 65 — The Veterans Charity will make a difference to the amount of money we can provide for our chosen beneficiaries and will enable them to continue providing the vital care and support they give to individuals and families affected by injury or trauma as a result of service in the UK armed forces. These do not just include the current and recent conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan but also Kosovo, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, The Falklands, Borneo, Aden, Korea and of course WWII.
More information about the charity and how you can help or get involved can be found at www.project65.net
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