Enduroman Events Blog

Enduroman winter swimming programme begins

Steve Haywood — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:43:00 +0100

Enduroman began its winter sea swimminng training programme this weekend at Boscombe, Dorset. The sessions are designed for those wishing to take part in the Enduroman Arch to Arc, Channel Swimming or to those who just wish to improve their sea swimming. The forum link for the 2011-2012 season can be found here on the Enduroman Forum.

This week 2014 Enduroman Arch to Arc soloist Paul Parrish and potential A2A athlete Mick Barns jumped into the Force 7 sea for some lump and surf training. The Enduroman Ultra Anglo / American plan is also in full swing. Details can be found at http://www.enduroman.com/utc.html

Rachael Cadman becomes Enduroman No 8 and the first ever woman to complete the challenge!!

Steve Haywood — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:11:00 +0100

On 23rd August 2011, Rachael Cadman became the first ever woman to complete the Enduroman Arch to Arc. Full report coming shortly. The following is a race report from the Enduroman race director Eddie Eddie:

"There is a lot printed about Rachael’s training, her background and the 97hours and 37minutes it took her to become Enduroman No8 and the First Lady Enduroman. I just want to thank and give a little mention to those involved who helped towards making Rachael’s challenge a success.

Thanks to Jo Kilkenny another lady hoping to become part of the growing number of successful Enduroman Arch to Arc athletes. Jo had come to wish us luck and mentioned she would like to lead Rachael some of the way out of the city. It was nice seeing the two girls chatting and smiling making their way out of the busy part of London. As the Enduroman official I was sat in the support vehicle with Adam Rachael’s main support and husband to be, also with Mike the driver, Adam’s dad. They were both very well organised and a pleasure to be with.

The run went smoothly and finished just over 23hours later between the two stone pillars on Dover sea front, Rachael was interviewed and videoed again by the RAF media team led by Squadron Leader Howard Leader. They were a great team and very professional as you would expect from the services getting lots of footage and media interest without interfering at all with Rachael’s progress.

The swim started as planned at around 15.00 hours but there was a bit of wind around and the sea was far from flat. We had agreed with our boat skipper Chris Osmond that Rachael’s swim starts at Shakespeare beach which meant she had to jump from the back of the boat “Sea Fairer2” and swim to shore in quite a confused sea before the official swim clock can start.

About 30minutes into the swim start a Lancaster Bomber that was in the area doing a Battle of Britain display knew of the swim through Howard and got permission to fly over us, it was an absolutely fantastic sight.
Rachael did what was expected and a little over 16.5 hours from the start she swam in at Sangatte. Immediately after landing she had to re-enter the channel and swim back to the support boat to take her into Calais. Rachael was in high spirits once back in the boat and spent the hour or so of the trip to port sat talking with her husband to be “Adam”.
Just the bike ride left and after a break to sleep and eat we were on our way. But within 1or 2 hours of the start a thunder storm that had been threatening broke. I have never seen such an amazing display of electrical activity, the flashes were forking down and also sweeping across the skies. The display went on for a few hours before the skies opened. Torrential rain poured down, Rachael only made short stops to feed and only took an 1hour nap during the whole trip: Amazing.

At the finish at the Arc de Triomphe, Rachael was met not only by her family and friends but also by the highest UK RAF officer in France. He was delighted with her efforts and all the monies she has raised for her two chosen charities. I was personally delighted for Rachael, she was getting media attention, money was being donated and above that she achieved her goal.

At the end of a celebration meal Brian “Rachael’s Dad” made a speech. This started everyone talking about things that happened during the duration of the challenge. It was a relaxed and funny time, which reminded me how special the Enduroman Arch to Arc event is. I have always known the Enduroman challenge raises money for charity and is a life changing experience for the athletes who do it, what I had forgotten until the meal was how many people are touched in some way by the challenge.

Thank you Rachael and all of you who joined us on the journey for reminding me.

Steve & Dan attain English Channel relay success

Steve Haywood — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:38:00 +0100

Report by Dan Earthquake:

Four years ago I was a member of a Channel relay team that failed because I was not strong enough to continue. I was stopped whilst swimming for my own safety fifteen minutes into my second rotation. Swimming through an oil slick and some sewerage was a factor, but there was no one to blame but myself for not being fully prepared for the circumstances that can stop you from completing a Channel crossing. It has taken me a long time to put right the things that I felt were wrong and to organise a return trip. I have had to learn to breathe left, though still not entirely comfortable at it I can do it if I have to. I have learned to cope with the salt water taste, implemented controlled vomiting and to do it on the out breath without stopping. My stroke has become deeper and more powerful and my tolerance to the cold year on year has improved and is still improving.

The idea for the relay was Matthew King's, and it was to have an international flavour with him being Australian, Tejesh being Indian and Marey El Bejou being Libyan. Queensland floods and the war in Libya prevented Matthew and Bejou attending, but I thought about them both a lot during the swim and hope in future to be with them again on a similar adventure. Tamsin was to be in the team also, but the arrival of Lex prevented the essential winter conditioning that was needed to be dones.

The team I built around me was the strongest I could find:

Caroline Thorn - swimming at number one - is fast and thoughtful. Having trained diligently all winter whilst still maintaining a slim physique, Caroline is my best advert for the benefits of the Coldwater Culture programme. By conditioning her body to be resistant to the cold and maintaining proper distance training indoors, Caroline is very tough and still improving ready for her solo attempt in September. The beach start and the night swimming were things that Caroline wanted to practice and the relay was the ideal opportunity.

Tejesh Parsekar - Swimming at number two - is the World Record Holder for swimming the Arabian Sea and Gibraltar Strait backstroke. Tejesh has an ambition to gain the Channel record too, so his inclusion in the team was to give him some insight into night swimming and also the conditions on the French side that he will have to conquer in the final stages. Tejesh is in my opinion among the toughest men in the World, having swam to unconsciousness last year in a valiant solo attempt in very challenging conditions. I believe that he will be considered as one of the all time greats of open water swimming in years to come.

Steve Haywood - Swimming at number three - is Enduroman Four, one of only seven to complete the Arch to Arc London to Paris Triathlon. I know from being close friends that Steve is exceptionally gifted and tough and his prescence in the team was a massive bonus in experience and calm stoicism that he exhudes in everything he does.

Julie Ryan - Swimming at number four - has had exceptionally bad luck in 2009 with worsening weather halting her solo attempt. Her relay team of 2010 lost all it's members and a last minute addition to make it a two person attempt ended when her team mate could not continue due to being cold. Julie is very determined and tough and I wanted her experience and cheerful manner to be on the boat.

Paul Watson - Swimming at number five - trains with me all year round and despite being considerably smaller and less insulated against the cold will never back down from a challenge. We joke over who is the laziest, but it is definitely me. Paul, Tamsin and I have trained a number of years over the winter, the dark mornings and the ice all etched into our experience.

Dan Earthquake - swimming at number six - definitely the laziest of the team but I have put some effort into preparing for the worst of circumstances.

After my failure in 2007 I became friends with Stuart Gleeson and hired him and the Folkestone Angler for many training swims - at least a dozen, perhaps more. His good sense and honest appraisal along with his physical strength and dive rescue experience gave me great confidence that should I get into any difficulty he would be able to recover me onto the boat. This is an important consideration when you weigh over 100kilos. He has always hired excellent crewman, safety and experience always the priority. The crewman for this trip was also called Stuart - his day job is with the RNLI station on the Thames, and he has worked this stretch of coast with the RNLI as well, so is familiar with the conditions and more importantly the traffic.

Our team assembled on Monday 20th and we had a few training sessions between a lot of meals as is my habit. Tejesh did 2 six hour swims, a 7, a 4 and two 3's with Caroline doing a 5, 4 and a few 3s. Paul got caught up in the melee and tore up and down with them, Julie swam a few single hour swims whilst I stood in the water without a swimming cap and watched them for an hour at a time. My strategy was to eat as much food and rest as much as possible until the trip went, happy that the mileage and exposure I had done would be enough to cope with the conditions come what may. Lex joined me for a few minutes twice in the week gaining her first sea experience a fortnight before I did all those years ago. I kept in contact with Steve, who would join us at the weekend or the evening before the off whichever came first. We also had the pleasure of the company of Paul Ingenthron and Coldwater Culturists Sara Dodsworth, Charlie Forrest and Duncan Phillips over the week, welcome additions to the sessions and more importantly the dinners.

Dan, Caroline, Tamsin, Lex, Arti, Tejesh, Charlie, Paul & Julie

Staying as ever at my second home (The Grand Burstin Hotel) and eating at the Lifeboat Inn in North Street I was as comfortable as could be whilst waiting for the off.

The wind remained too strong all week, our hopes of Friday diminished with Sunday 26th always looking like our day. Stuart arranged to meet us at 430am on the Sunday, wind forecast looking promising. I awoke at four and looked out the window. Fog. Our drive to Dover Marina was cautious and on meeting our visibility was about 20 metres. Two other pilots instantly sent their swimmers and observers home whilst we decided to wait for the 6am shipping forecast in the hope of improvement. Amazingly two pilots ventured out into the fog, followed by another a few hours later, but the forecast was unfavourable. There were moments of silence, the team eager to go looked to me for a decision. Should we press to venture out in the hope that it would clear?

I kept silent and waited for Stuart. I have learned over the years that it is better not to get emotional or try to make important decisions without the right information. Stuart did not think it safe to venture out into the fog. The team talked briefly, agreeing that with work and travel commitments the afternoon evening would be our last chance. We went back to our respective lodgings. I ate and slept, then ate and slept again. The fog cleared a bit, got thicker and then disappeared. We met Stuart at 420pm in bright sunshine, loaded up and made our way to Shakespeare beach. I threw a £2 coin over the side for King Neptune and benefit of future archaeologists, with the hope "May fortune favour the foolish."

Our observer was originally to be Steve Franks, but he was diverted to another boat to cover a two way swim that in the event never went. Arti Pradhan was then appointed, a good friend of mine and Tejesh and an experienced Channel swimmer and observer. Having been the person who trained and managed the CSA Observers for three years any of them would have been a friendly face so I always knew that whoever we got would be good support for the team.

Caroline Thorn, just before starting the swim.

Caroline Thorn, first hour.

Caroline started as planned at 5pm, powering us out of the way of Dover harbour entrance with a smooth and powerful stroke that we would be glad of each of her turns. We saw a few porpoises or dolpins here and there in the first hour, but didn't get any photos.

Tejesh Parsekar, Backstroke World Record Holder, Gibraltar Strait & Arabian Sea

Handing over to Tejesh, we watched again that amazing backstroke that has gained him the records and will gain him more. His smile and alternating closure of his nose passage by extending his jaw and lips are not easy to replicate. Some of the team had a go at backstroke earlier in the week finding it difficult in the waves and even worse to breathe. Tejesh smiles when we tell him, it is a technique that is as important to him as the turning of his arms. Caroline put on a large wetsuit and then climbed into a foil sleeping back which gave her the look of a NASA test pilot who had been recovered from a successful spaceflight ditch in the sea. Had someone told her it was fancy dress?

Fancy Dress - an Astronaut?

Steve Hayward about to start his turn

Steve ate lots of food at various times, slept for short periods when it suited him and swam strongly as we all knew that he would. He has not had anytime to train for this swim, having had one forty five minute session the day before after a six week lay off to run the Enduroman Deca. He told me he had to work hard to keep up with Tejesh on the Saturday, my estimation that the speeds of Steve, Caroline and Tejesh being about the same proving to be reasonably correct.

Food Thieves!

Whilst Steve was swimming we had a look to see if any of his food was more attractive than ours, his complaint of me not feeding him in 2007 on his Arch to Arc crossing was a constant source of amusement with everything offered to him being identified as something that was kept back from that trip.

Steve Haywood

Julie Ryan

Julie entered the water next and found the going a little tough. The wind had picked up on the variables and a few passing ships made some big waves that meant some mouthfuls of saltwater were taken in.

Julie waving for the Cruise ship to wait

On exiting her mood was a bit glum and some doubts were apparent as the light started to fade and the reality of night swimming came to the fore. Julie had swam well, and I reminded Julie that I had every confidence in her. The words of our mutual friend Karen Throsby "There is nothing so urgent in open water swimming that cannot wait half hour or more" were later repeated, and they are true.

Paul Watson

Sunset over Dover

Paul got in just before sunset and attacked his hour with usual ferocity. A hard act for me to follow these five, but that is why I asked them to accompany me.

Dan Earthquake

The two Stuarts considered issuing a warning to shipping that a large wave would likely eminate out once I jumped in, and in doing so I was surprised at the coolness before the eleven second thermostat kicked in and I made my way into the darkness. Sea Leopard was lit up beautifully and I smiled a lot to myself during my hour. I loosed off my wristwatch and let it fall into the depths, another gift for Neptune and a commitment to myself to swim without worrying how long I had to go. I sang "Wont get fooled again" by the Who and "I wish" by Stevie Wonder alternately. I watched seagulls circling above and saw Venus in the sky a few times. A few big waves gave me some surprises from large ships, though it was only occasionally I saw lights in the near distance. No point in trying to look ahead in the dark in the ocean. My earlier meal of noodles with some sort of spicy sauce repeated on me several times and Tom Beavers advice to vomit on the outbreath was again useful meaning that I could have the odd retch without breaking stroke or worrying unduly. I have got used to vomitting occasionally, dogs and babies do it easily enough so it was only a case of relearning what I had done in my very early years.

All too quickly it was time to get out, Caroline taking over again with that smooth sleek stroke. The South west lane had been relatively quiet, but traffic in the North East Lane looked to be busy and it proved to be so. Tejesh leaped into the void, two lights attached to his trunks as one on the back of his head would be useless, and one on the front would be impractical. Caroline had been stung by Jellyfish on the calf, we put white vinegar onto the area and it seemed to give relief straight away. Tejesh caught a few on his back and legs, smiling that his face had not been immersed. Steve told us early in that he was getting some bad stings, but vigilence did not identify any. By the time he got out the effects were gone, so he didn't want the vinegar, prefering to snuggle into his sleeping bag without smelling like a pickled onion. Sleeping bags (army style and waterproof) are definitely usefull additions to the kit list of relay swims.

Julie followed Steve in with some apprehension having had some horrid stings in her past adventures, but they left her alone. With the tide now pushing from behind Julie had an incredible hours progress, later telling us that looking at the beautiful red crescent moon was inspiring and telling herself "I can flounder for an hour" worked well. In the wheelhouse, the big ships were being sighted and their speed and course calculated in relation to us, with a diversion having to be made to avoid a tug with a phenomenally long cable pulling a barge the particular hazard. Stuart calmly altered our course to run parallel with it in the opposite direction so we went round the back without having to get close or stop and Julie did not notice. I think this might have cost us twenty minutes as the position we was hoping for was slightly negated by the diversion. Julie's 2 miles gave us a fighting chance. "I'm retiring from sea swimming now," Julie smiled, "It was much better than I thought it would be. No stings either."

I talked to Stuart about where we were heading and what we needed to do to achieve our goal. We were hoping to land on the Cape, but our position and progress suggested that we might miss it, and our strongest three would likely have to push hard to get back round for Julie, Paul and I to have a chance at landing. I then talked to Paul, who was next to go in. "If we can give a might push in this next two hours there's a chance that Caroline or Tejesh will land us on the Cape - but if not we'll get pushed round the corner" I told him. Paul nodded thoughtfully and from the moment he hit the water he sprinted, getting 4mph during his stage with the tide now flowing fast.

The Moth Pupas

Steve getting his head down for a few moments

Caroline had been feeling sick for a while now, and cocooned in my German Army waterproof sleeping bag resembled a Moth pupa. I told her how we were doing and that she would likely feel better when swimming, and that we needed her speed to get us in. Either her or Tejesh would land if we could push to our capabilities. Conscious of the unpleasant taste left in my mouth from regurgitating the noodles, I had some fig rolls, dates and chocolate wafer biscuits with plenty of water. I had a plan.

Dan Earthquake

Paul climbed back onboard shortly after I began my leg and I got into a strong pull rhythm, strangely thinking of my 500 lengths at Tiviton baths a few weeks ago when I was imagining doing this very swim. Still singing "I Wish," I noticed that the light was getting brighter and I watched as Steve clapped and everyone smiled and waved. Occasionally I felt a push from behind of the current and I let myself look up a few times and saw land ahead. I smiled to myself and felt hot. I had a few prickly sensations that lasted only a few seconds. Jellyfish? I am generally very thick skinned and laughed to myself about that. I took a mouthful of sea when a stray wave hit me on the breath so implemented my vomit plan. A little retch, breath in, vomit up on the out breath and a sweet combination of the earlier treats easily came up and took away the salt taste instantly without any unpleasantness. Controlled vomiting, without breaking stroke. I smiled again at my own cleverness and remembered the horrid half day nausea that I had experienced in the past. I noticed Caroline had climbed out of the sleeping bag and had her swimming hat on, but thought that only a few minutes had passed and that she was getting ready far too early. Steve waved frantically at me and I stopped to ask him what was wrong. "Times up," he said simply.

I climbed on board. Someone asked if I felt cold. I got them to put their hands on me, all of them were colder than I and on taking off my swimming cap my head was sweating. I smiled. Not many get out of the Channel sweating. I let the air dry me off and watched Caroline put in another amazing performance, all the more exceptional for how she had felt for the preceeding hours.

I checked on our progress. Our combined efforts were paying off and we had a good chance of getting in on Caroline or Tejesh's leg. Stuart felt that it might take Steve to land us, and Tejesh joked that he might just get in and treadwater so Steve could finish it off. "I've had my moneys worth," he said, "and if you do that, you won't be getting back on this boat."

Tejesh prepared himself for a third rotation, looking fresh and excited. Gris Nez tower was looking larger now and little Stuart began to get the punt ready. Tejesh gave him a carrier bag for pebbles and the flags in case it would be his job to finish.

Caroline gave it her all and with five minutes of her hour to go we had just half a mile to the Cap. Tejesh was ready and he leaped over the side and began that machine of a stroke, powering hard again. It now looked like we might get him in on the slipway below the cafe to the left of the rocks, safer than having to clamber out. There is always that fear that a tired swimmer will slip and hit their head. Tejesh had other ideas and with great strength powered across the current to towards the sandy beach. Little Stuart followed, landing a little in front in time to take a photo of him exiting.

On Sea Leopard, we had looked at the clock. Steve said "I hope I haven't got to swim half a mile to then just walk up the last two yards," but we knew that Tejesh had broken the current by this time.

Tejesh walks ashore

Tejesh with the Indian Flag, another victory for a champion.

Tejesh collected pebbles for us all - and one for Matthew King who had given him one last year from Shakespeare beach with the instruction to get one to go with it from the French side.

Caroline, Tejesh, Dan, Paul, Julie & Steve

Back on board, all smiles. Sea Leopard was made ready for the journey back - I can remember a good many trips that seemed to last forever. Stuart put the lever forward and we sped back to Dover at 18 knots. The deck was dry throughout the trip there and back, the design of the boat and the weather being the main reasons. I have had wet feet in many instances in lesser swells than we experienced on this trip.

The sunshine at this early hour was to get hotter as the day progressed and I was thankful that we were not leaving now to have a day in the heat, something I have no tolerance for. I would have had to act as the drogue in such circumstances. Stuart Gleeson and I talked on the way home a lot, he asked if I liked the new boat. "I have a great nostalgia for Folkestone Angler," I told him, "as I have had such great enjoyment these last few years swimming alongside." Stuart smiled and replied "Folkestone Angler served it's purpose. I'll be sad to see it go, but Sea Leopard is the natural progression." I agreed, and looked back at my happy dry friends sitting comfortably as we ploughed back across the Channel.

Back on shore John Ryan gave us all medals and we posed for a thousand photographs with happy smiles and warm hearts. First trip on the Sea Leopard. First CSA success of the year. Thirteen hours and fifty one minutes. Our average speed was 2mph, our fastest was 4mph.

click here to view our route across the Channel

My gratitude to this team is beyond what I can articulate, and to have such good friends is a wonderful thing. I came this week intending to have fun. I knew that luck would be the determining factor to success and resolved that no matter what happened I would have had a great week in the best of company,whether this was on the boat, beach or in the Lifeboat Inn eating large meals (thanks Laura and Annette) with the team and my friends from Folkestone Rescue.

Thank you all.

Urban Fitness Enduroman Arch 2 Arc Relay New World Record June 9-11th 2011

Steve Haywood — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:49:00 +0100

By Andy Mouncey

Six men, one hour rotations – and the clock don’t stop till you get there

‘Dave – I need to speak to you, please.’

I kill the phone call to our pilot and draw Urban Fitness team leader Dave Grigg aside.

It’s around 10pm and the boys are pounding through the run miles as darkness falls on the approach to Maidstone.

‘We’re now looking at ‘conflicting’ weather reports which means it’s still uncertain whether a Channel swim is on. So I need to confirm with the pilot what you want to do.’

Dave doesn’t hesitate: ‘ We want to go for the Channel – if there’s a chance, we want to go for it.’

‘Even if the swim gets aborted part way through?’

A firm nod. ‘We have to give it a go – and we have to swim tomorrow – we can’t wait.’

‘Right – so here’s what I’ll tell the pilot: We swim straight away even if there’s only a small chance it’s on. Plan B is the coastal option which voids the challenge. Plan C is a harbour swim which also voids the challenge. Agreed?’

It is. The run start has already been delayed for 2 days due to bad weather in the Channel, and my conversations with our pilot from 2 days prior to that have all been around a ’Half & half chance’ at best.

So we wont know for certain until we get to Dover, and even then…

A small smile to myself – ‘reminds me of the scenario I faced during my own solo crossing in 2003. In the meantime, there’s some miles to run…

We’d set off from Marble Arc in late afternoon sunshine and rush hour traffic, and I’m on cycle escort duty for this first hour.

‘Relax and stay with me, ‘ I tell Edmund, the teams’ star swimmer. ‘ It’s easy to get separated on this first bit. Plenty of time to put the hammer down’

Fat chance. He’s tearing up the pavement through Hyde Park.

I sigh inwardly & switch to sergeant-major mode.

Diving through pedestrians and traffic we manage to stay connected and I bless my choice of cycle accompaniment on this first bit. 20 minutes in and I sense Edmund slowing enough to allow me to reduce the decibel level of my instructions. His target is the 7.3 miles handover location in Lewisham where the support vehicle is waiting, and one hour and a few seconds later to great excitement from everyone else, he’s in.

We’re off and running!

The first couple of hours settle everyone down. I can see we’re all drawing confidence as the major tasks are ticked off for the first time:

Make the rendezvous

Navigate the course

Hit the schedule

Nail the handovers

Rotate the roles and back eachother up

The excitement ramps up a few notches as the strong runners hit the pavement for the first time, and the only real stumble over the first part comes as we head through to midnight. First Stuart ends his leg doubled over with back problems, then Edmund finishes his second rotation looking like the wet bit can’t come soon enough for him.

It’s not putting much of a dent in the overall pace though, as Dave, Luke, & Tom pull the graveyard shift. A shot knee means Tom has to drag himself up the horrible long climb from Folkestone, but he gets going again on the descent into Dover – managing a vocal sprint to the final handover that will probably find its way into the local parish magazine. (‘Wild Beast Wakes The Neighbours!’ – I can see the headlines now).

To Rob falls the glory leg: A 12 minute plummet into town and a dash for the harbour front which has yours truly floundering in his wake. He goes so fast he beats the support vehicle carrying the rest of the team, so his reception is, er, late.

No matter: Leg 1, job done ahead of schedule – now where’s our boat, and does anyone know where some toilets are?

4.30am & our pilot vessel Sea Satin has just arrived.

‘Well?’ I’ve just greeted Lance, our skipper.

A wide grin. ‘Ah, let’s give it a go!’

Brilliant.

‘Dave? We’re on!’

Dover harbour is calm with hardly a breath of wind. I for one know that’s meaningless and beyond the harbour wall could be a very different story.

I’m not wrong. As we clear the breakwater and turn into the beach the boat is thrown about all over the place. Contrary to conventional strategy, the team have their strongest 3 swimmers off first on this leg. I have no idea if this is deliberate, but it strikes me that it will be a fortuitous choice.

Edmund, Luke & Tom all get a kicking in the first 3 hours, while Rob succumbs to seasickness big-style. We’re in Force 3-4 in 13-14 degree water, and the only blessing is that the winds are a conservative 11 knots. The team are subdued as the reality of the Channel hits. I’ve grabbed some sleep and on waking I’m met with a very sober Dave: ‘Around 4 miles, ‘he tells me. ‘But we expected it to be 7-8 by now…’ A check with Lance confirms the grim picture: The conditions are expected to remain for the duration…

Edmund in particular is finding the reality of his swim hard to cope with. Used to dominating the water and the competition he seems almost stunned at the yawing chasm between the distance he did cover in his hour and the distance he expected to cover. I grab some time with him in an attempt to help him shift his goalposts and make his peace with his first effort.

But I figure only a better second swim will get him smiling again.

8.30am Rob’s turn and it’s not his favourite medium and he’s not having a happy time. His stroke rate hovers around a slow 50 which just looks painful. But he does his hour without a pause, gets out shaking, throws up twice, and is bundled into his sleeping bag out for the count. Catch y’all in five hours, fellas…

10.30am and Dave exits after his hour, coherent and pleased. The rest of the team seem to draw on that and as if on cue, the sea has calmed somewhat. As we approach the Separation Zone and the weather continues to settle, Lance adds to the optimism: It seems a 12 hour swim could be still on depending on how the tide pushes us over these next 3-4 hours…

11.00am and the wind has dropped to a pathetic 3 knots with the sea looking almost flat calm. The boys are round to their second stint and I figure this is their chance to make some distance. I brief Tom on the conditions and show him the plot: ‘Tell Luke & Ed as well – you guys need to step it up.’

Stuart exits really buoyant and then Edmund is in for his Salvation Swim. He, Luke & Tom really nail it, and though rain sets in the sea remains pretty calm. Spirits are high and talk is of Paris. I draw Dave aside and pour cold water on that one: Focus on the swim, focus on your rotation, work your roles.

Because it is working. The guys have an on-boat system rehearsed and are reaping the benefits. Lance has noticed too and remarks on it. It’s a happy boat for sure…

2.30pm and the sea is much rougher again. Tom exits tired but in control and then Rob’s in for his second time. ‘Swim your b***ocks off!’ Lance tells him. So he does.

For me, it’s the swim of the crossing. France looks CLOSE when he finishes, though Rob works his tried and tested routine of throwing up and heading straight to sleep in his bag. The view can wait…

And so to the leader the spoils – and at 4.21pm Dave gets to do the landfall bit while everyone else, (except Tom & Rob who are asleep) goes mad on deck. The sun is out and the sky is blue. It’s a wonderful wonderful moment after all the uncertainties of a start and the tough first 4 hours. It takes me back and I’m grinning as much as everyone else: A sub-11 hour Channel swim! Formidable!

Which leaves the small matter of 180 miles or so of biking into Paris, and the boys are soon into the groove, the bit very much between their teeth. Everyone gives a full-on time trial effort which has them slumped in the vehicle at the end of their turn.

And STILL Driver No 1 George keeps up his ‘leap-out-give-it-to-‘em-big-and-personal’ routine at every stop. When Dave told me they were bringing their ‘glass half full guy’ behind the wheel, he sure wasn’t kidding. George (and co-driver Sam) had got to be worth at least 3 mph at this stage…

We get full darkness after around 70 miles and then in the early hours the wind and rain start. It is the low point of the trip and requires two inspirational turns from Dave & Rob to get us within striking distance of Paris.

Now the value of our departure windows and schedule is really enjoyed as we get to drive into Paris early Saturday morning with minimal traffic. The rain has let up and the sun emerges, and though this is the trickiest route-finding of the whole trip, the stress is lessened considerably with light traffic. Luke gets to enjoy the sights and sounds of what I think is one of the most beautiful cities in the world – and a bike riders’ Mecca.

Luke blasts up Champs De L’Eysee to complete a sub-12 hour ride & beat the support vehicle to the top. A handful of family and friends are there to meet us – hugs, handshakes and grins as wide as the Arc.

After some 300 miles of running, swimming & cycling, Team Urban Fitness have arrived in the early Parisen sunshine. There’s a new record on the books and a new standard to shoot for. Now, where’s those cigars?

Record Detail

Run Marble Arch, London-Dover: 10 hours 12 mins

Waiting Time 1 hour 48 mins

Swim The English Channel: 10 hours 51 mins

Waiting Time 1 hour 48 mins

Bike Calais-Arc De Triomphe, Paris: 11 hours 14 mins

Total & New World Record Relay Time: 35 hours 53 minutes

Team Members

Dave Grigg

Edmund Salt

Luke Swain

Stuart Baker

Tom Reader

Rob Baird

Crew

George Doors

Sam Pink

Links

Urban Fitness http://www.urbanfitnessgb.co.uk/

Enduroman http://www.enduroman.com/

Andy Mouncey http://www.doingbigandscary.com/

Enduroman UK - The New Forest - 13 days to go!

Steve Haywood — Sat, 21 May 2011 07:01:00 +0100

After 4 years of organising, and visiting 37 potential race locations, were are nearly there. 13 days stand between now and the largest gathering of ultra triathletes in history. The New Forest will welcome athletes from England, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland, France, Scotland, Singapore, Wales, Burmuda, USA and Ireland.

Ultra distance triathlon in the UK is booming. The Deca in the New Forest will host 20 athletes. This will be the most Deca athletes on the startline ever, despite Deca Mexico being organised for a number of years now. This is a direct result of the postive direction the sport is heading in the UK.

2011 also sees the start of the Enduroman European Ultra Triathlon Championships with the Deca, Quintuple, Triple, Double, Single and 100 UltraMarathon held in the New Forest, the Double and Single at Lichfield, the Double and Deca held in Italy, the Festival of Triathlon Lanzarote as well as the solo events of the Enduroman Arch to Arc and the Lanzarote Ultra.

We would like to thank the staff at Avon Tyrrell and to our sponsors Buff, Fitsense, High 5, Bio, Greeper and Sundog for their support. As usual both Eddie and I will be their every step of the way for all of the athletes involved.

See you on the finish line.

Steve Haywood
Race Director

Enduroman continues to deploy quality race marshal strategy

Steve Haywood — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:48:00 +0100

For the last 4 years, Enduroman have successfully deployed a strategy at our events that encourages marshals to help out in return for free future race entries. The idea behind this, is that hopefully Enduroman can guarantee that those that marshal have experience in the sport of triathlon that they can pass to the athletes and they can experience first hand the difficulties encountered at ultra endurance events providing them with valuable knowledge for the marshal's future competitions.

This format has had its ups and down in the past, particularly when marshals commit to full days marshaling but leave their duties whilst athletes are still competing presenting Enduroman with a difficult workload to manage for the remainder of the day.

For this reason, prior to Avon Tyrrell 2011, Enduroman advertised that marshals needed to commit for a 24 hour continuous period from 5.30am each day to receive a free future single entry. For example if marshals committed to a 48 hour period starting at 5.30am on the first day and ended their duty at 5.30am on the 3rd day then they would receive a free future Double Enduroman entry.

Each event works independently, so if a marshal helps out at Avon Tyrrell, then the free entry would be offered to race only at this location. The only exception to this is when marshals helped out at Lichfield 2010 in return for a free entry at Avon Tyrrell 2011.

At present, the only race deploying this scheme is Avon Tyrrell, so any previous marshaling completed at Lanzarote will not be counted towards free entry at Avon Tyrrell.

To ensure that Enduroman continues to use quality marshals, only future athletes will be able to exchange time helped for free entries. If friends, family or partners wish to accompany the marshal then Enduroman will be happy to pay for food and camping fees for them but will not transfer their help to another's race entry. Also, if marshals only commit to part-days (less than 24 hours continously), Enduroman will not convert this time into a free entry.

Marshaling is hard work, and you should expect it to be hard, with very little sleep in return for a race entry worth up to £1000. If you commit to 48 hours marshaling in return for a free Double entry please do not be disappointed when you ask if you can leave at 5pm on your second day so that you can 'miss the traffic' or 'you are tired' when you are told that you will not be offered a free entry. Our only priority are the awesome athletes that are competing, and Enduroman needs to know in advance what support they will have from Enduroman and at what times. No exceptions.

If you are interested in marshaling at Avon Tyrrell 2012 please contact Dan Earthquake on dan@enduroman.com.

Sea Swimming weekend with Cold Water Culture & Enduroman

Steve Haywood — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:55:00 +0000

Dan Earthquake's Cold Water Culture is running a sea swimming weekend at Folkestone on the weekend of 25/26th March 2011. This is a very informal weekend amongst friends involving swims from the beach and boat, training advice from both Dan and I, lunches at the pub, and beers in the evening. There will be a early bird run for the triathletes on the Sunday morning, and an Enduroman Arch to Arc film being played along with Q&A with myself on the Saturday evening. If you are a member of Cold Water Culture or Enduroman then the price of the weekend is £30. Details can be found at www.coldwaterculture.com. If you wish to attend, please email danearthquake@hotmail.com. Please see below for more details:

From Dan:

I recommend that the swimmers stay in the Grand Burstin Hotel as it is central and has the best facilities for what we want to do. Prices are advertised online from £32 per night single, £55 double, but I hope to get a reduced deal for us as a group.

Cost per person is £30, only open to members of Enduroman Club or Coldwater Culture. Standalone Price is £130 for the weekend so interested parties might as well join one or the other and get the other benefits too. Existing members can pay their £30 when they turn up. New people pay in advance the full £130.

Times are approximate and subject to alteration with weather/wind conditions on day. It may be that the boat can only go on one of the days or that the swimmers are not that bothered about going on the boat. If wind is in certain directions Rotunda beach is unsafe, but it is good for a hard session otherwise.

Fri pm: Arrive/check in/settle in. those who arrive in time for dinner (7ish) join us for a meal
Sat:
900am: introductions/safety briefing
10am: swimming session on Sunny Sands
1pm: light lunch at Lifeboat Inn
2pm: depending on weather & wind - boat trip. We charter the boat for 2 hour @ £100 which is split between those who want to participate, hard swims against flowing tide.
Alternatively back to Sunny Sands for another session.
5 or 6pm: - Arch to Arc film (London to Paris continuous triathlon) with Q&A session with Steve Haywood
7 or 8pm - dinner

Sun:
Early bird run session for triathletes or those who have too much energy.
Check out of hotel before 10am
10am: swimming session, rotunda beach or sunny sands
1pm: light lunch at lifeboat Inn
2pm: boat trip as yesterday or another beach session
5.30pm: Lunch at Lifeboat Inn followed by departure.

Channel Relay Team 2011 - Joint Venture

Steve Haywood — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 22:06:00 +0000

Enduroman and Dan Earthquake's Cold Water Culture and the Winter swimming Council are joining forces and teaming up together to mount a 6-person relay challenge to to swim the English Channel. The team are using the Channel Swimming Association's pilot Stuart Gleeson to hopefully steer them across on the 21st June 2011 (weather depending of course).

The Winter Swimming Council executives are Tamsin Lane, Dan Earthquake and Paul Watson. Meetings are held in the lake (Sandwell), out of earshot of warm bloods when the water is below 45oF.
Honourary membership of this mythical group is granted by the executive to those who have either suffered alongside them during winter months or have demonstrated significant toughness to withstand harsh conditions. (Of which I have the privilege of qualifying for).
As well as Dan and I, the other members of the Winter Swimming Council Channel Relay team are:

Paul Watson has swam continuously through the year since the summer of 2007, suffering greatly to become a winter swimmer despite his lack of bulk. Paul is a scuba diver with training in both instruction and dive rescue and has dived many of the deep lakes of Britain, as well as having swam 2- way Bala and a six hour swim last year.

Julie Ryans works for the International Rescue Corps who help manage disasters all over the world. Her solo channel attempt was aborted in 2009 when the weather turned mid channel and her 6 person relay team reduced to just her and a stand in when others backed out, and the stand in had to retire half way. Julie is very tough and will likely attempt a solo swim again in the future.

Caroline Thorn joined the Coldwater Culture team in September 2010 in preparation for her 2011 solo attempt. Caroline has continued to swim at Folkestone Beach throughout the winter.

Tejesh Parsekar lives in India and is a champion Backstroke Swimmer indoors as well as being the World Record Holder for swimming the Gibraltar Strait Backstroke. Tejesh is training to gain the English Channel Backstroke record in his solo attempt in 2011.

Enduroman New Forest Course 2011

Steve Haywood — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:26:00 +0000

Continuing from my write up on the history of this event and the training and nutrition advice I gave when I completed the Deca on this course in 2010, I thought I would include a short description of the swim, bike and run courses.

Swim:
The lake is ideal for what Enduroman require. One lap around the outside of the lake is 300m. The lake is shallow, which means that it will not be as cold as most lakes in June. Swimmers will be able to stand up on most parts of the course and they are never more than 20 seconds swim from the side of the lake. It will be a mass start, but only a maximum of 50 swimmers in each wave. The corners will be quite tight for the first couple of laps until the swimmers space out a little. Apart from the first lap, swimmers will funnel single file past the officials who will count them past using the numbers on their swim caps. The colour of your swim cap will indicate a certain group of numbers (EG - yellow caps will be numbers 1-9, 51-59, 101-109 etc). So the counters will have no problems counting you past. About 30m short of the officials counting area, there is a small platform where swimmers enter and exit the water, Swimmers can stop here to feed, or use the loo ;-) For those doing the longest swim in the Triple, you only have 36 laps to do. Much better than the 600 you had to do at Lichfield

T1:

Have an old pair of flip flops or trainers with your support crew by the lake. It is a 150m grassy hill run into the tennis courts where your bikes will be. Next to your bikes will be a changing tent, or you can stop at your own support tent which will be half way up the hill from the lake. Grab your bike and walk up the tarmac slope to the turn-around circle on the bike course. Here will be the aid station giving out Citrus High 5 EnergySource drink and a selection of summer fruit, orange and citrus gels as well as water. The run course will also use this aid station until everybody has finished the bike, then it will move down into the race centre by the camping area.

Bike:
This is a beautiful, scenic, good-to-smooth tarmac surface lap of just over 11 miles,. apart from the half mile private road that runs from the turn-around circle, up a short slight incline (which felt like Mt Everest after 10 days), out onto the public roads. I have called this, 'The Rat Run'. Chuffin potholes everywhere! The site owners have assured me that they will address this issue but as a charity and the fact that some of the rat run is shared with other land owners I can't see there being a great improvement. In practice, by day 10 of the Deca, I could ride up and down the rat run blindfolded. Only the Double / Triple will be on the bike course at night, so if the potholes don't improve then let's call them a little Enduroman present from No 4

Once out on the highway, there are 2 left turns along the flat before a very fast downhill and even smaller power hill into the village of Burley. This is quite busy in the day with old folk walking across the road without a care in the world so watch out for pensioners, and the wild cattle and horses that think they own the roads. There is an s-bend hill coming out of the other side of Burley. This has quite tight bends so I found myself cycling out into the road an extra yard or two so the vehicles behind would see me sooner. Left turn at the top of this hill then it's head down through the Forest. All the turns throughout the course are left turns. This was a major requirement for your safety. I did however have to slow down considerably before all the turns as the view to the right is restricted until I was right on top of it.

Then comes the hill called, "Little Alfie". Those doing the 1 x Iron may be swearing a little by lap 10, but for those doing the longer distances, this 'little' hill that looks nothing on your first few laps will have you swearing like Alf Garnett by nightfall.

Finally it is a left turn then back down the rat run. Don't worry, I will spray any potholes with magic Lichfield paint as per the Devil's Staircase. Slow down as you approach the turn-around circles as the ground has a few gravel sections. Here you can use the aid station, rest your bike up or make the 'walk of shame' back to your tents(approx 50m) to grab some grub or a kip. Unfortunately, the support crew tent area is as close to the bike course as we can get it. Anyway, the walk will do you good, you need the exercise so man up!

Situated near the tennis courts which is only 20m from the circle is the main marquee. Here you can have your meals provided by Enduroman, or meet your crew for some shelter or a break.

T2 is the same as T1.

All in all, the course is more technical than Lichfield with a few more little climbs, but smoother roads, protection from the wind and stunning backdrops. In Burley, Forest Cycles have kindly built a cycle shop on the course, cyclists can stop off for repairs and any minor repair bills and labour will be paid for by Enduroman. I didn't use an aero set-up, but there would be no disadvantage in using one.

Run:
Smack on 1 Mile. The course goes from the race centre up a short gravel hill, around the turn-around circle, (the only tarmac part of the course), down the length of the estate on a gravel track, around both lakes where it is soft woodland underfoot (just like Lichfield, so loads of tree roots sticking out of the ground and branches that can take your eye out), then back up the grassy path, back past the support crew tents (where you can stop off) to the race centre. Again you can use the main marquee during meal times.

I always run Ultra's in Nike Structure Triax trainers because of the support they provide. I would see little point in wearing trail shoes unless it pisses down and that could happen). The site owners have assured me that even if we have a freak storm, the campsite wouldn't flood (yeah right!)

Anyway, best of luck for all your training. Remember that I only completed the Deca on this course so that I could pass on any advice, so please ask if you have a question!

No 4 signing out.

Enduroman Ultra Triathlon Club

Steve Haywood — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 21:02:00 +0000

Enduroman UTC is a British Triathlon Federation affiliated club designed to promote the sport of ultra endurance triathlon and the individual sports of running, cycling, and swimming. 'Ultra', defined by the International Ultra Triathlon Association is any event of distances of 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling and 26 miles of running or beyond. If you already compete at these distances or aspire to do so, then Enduroman UTC is the club for you with members having completed Double, Triple, Deca, 100 mile ultra marathons and Enduroman Arch to Arc triathlons.

Benefits of being a member:

10% off selected Enduroman races worth up to £30.00GBP *
Free Enduroman cycle top worth £50.00 GBP
Discount from this year's BTF membership which in turn get you discount from BTF sanctioned events
Discounted participation in the National Triathlon Relay Championships racing for Enduroman UTC
Access to and coaching from British Triathlon Level 3 Coaches **
Free entry into the end of year club celebration drinks & buffet
Weekly open water swim session at Bournemouth Beach summer and winter!!
Coached weekly run session at Bournemouth
Meet up at races Nationally and Internationally at IUTA and other
ultra distance races and compete as a team for Enduroman UTC.
Free monthly e-newsletter.

*Offer applicable to any Single, Double or Triple Enduroman Event
**Coaching available only at coached sessions or advice readily given via email or telephone

Join Now - £100.00
(Membership for 1st January - 31st December 2011)

Open-water Swim training:
Saturdays 11am, all year round
Meet next to Urban Reef, Boscombe Pier, Dorset
(Always check this link first due to Enduroman commitments)

Run Training:
Thursdays 7pm, all year round
Meet outside Enduroman HQ, 1 Arnewood Road, Bournemouth, BH6 5DG

Committee

The following committee positions are set by Enduroman Ltd and are life members of the club:

Chair:	Steve Haywood
Secretary:	Lynn Ette
Treasurer	Eddie Ette

The following committee positions will be voted for by it's members at the club's first AGM (Date TBC)

Head Coach
Welfare Officer
Publicity Officer
Team Manager
Volunteer Coordinator
Junior Representative
Regional Committee Rep
Social Secretary

Enduroman Festival of Triathlon Lanzarote

Steve Haywood — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 09:17:00 +0000

Download Poster

Enduroman have found the perfect location to host the Festival of Triathlon Lanzarote. A place to break away from the long winter nights and to compete alongside the worlds best Ultra Triathletes "creating a festival atmosphere never to be forgotten". Playa Blanca in the Municipo of Yaiza is situated in the south of Lanzarote on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and has everything that a triathlete and the family needs. Enduroman are proud to announce Lanzarote's 1st Festival of Triathlon incorporating Double Enduroman, Enduroman, Half Enduroman and Olympic Enduroman.

The Double Enduroman Lanzarote is an IUTA sanctioned World Cup Series race and is the first of three Double distance ultra triathlons in the 2011 Enduroman race calendar. On the 12th December, Enduroman's Eddie Ette signed a contract with the President of Lanzarote to secure the festival for 2011 and beyond.

Enduroman are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2010 Triple Enduroman UK and second place athlete at the 2009 Double Enduroman UK Paul Thomson will be on the start line at the Double Ultra in Lanzarote. Paul will be joined joined by elite triathlete and Lanzarote champion Gregorio Caseres Morales, who finished 11th this year at Ironman Lanzarote. The pictures below show Paul and his brother meeting Gregorio and Eddie a few weeks ago.

Unfortunately, I will be missing all the fun in Lanzarote this February as my baby boy is due to arrive on January 9th. I wish all those taking part the very best of luck.

Enduroman No 4 & The Earthquake swim across 'the Reef!!

Steve Haywood — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 20:57:00 +0000

In 2009, Bournemouth Council built Europe’s first artificial surf reef at Boscombe, Dorset. The reef is 220m offshore and just east of Boscombe Pier. The reef is made up of 55 giant sandbags and is the size of a football pitch. The reef is not a wave machine. It doesn’t create waves from nothing, but acts as a ramp, pushing existing waves upwards and shaping them into better quality surfing waves.

I hadn't seen Dan Earthquake since the Enduroman celebration evening so we decided to meet up and swim through the 'Boscombe Rapids'. The beach area was pretty packed, and our two 7 and a half months pregnant swimming widows took a strategic observation point at Urban Reef bar avec hot chocolate. Swimming through the reef was much more interesting than swimming to Bournemouth peer (mainly because we would have had to walk back and there is a bar and hot showers at Boscombe!!).

There was a 4.5 metre swell and the water was down to about 13 degrees. We swam out through the reef , got thrown around for 10 or 15 minutes, out around the peer and joined all the surfers waiting for the ultimate wave to arrive. The common question from everybody was 'aren't you cold?', especially from the surfers wearing their 15mm dry suits. Although surfing looks exciting, I can't see myself sitting on a board for 30mins just bobbing up and down waiting for a freak wave.

Back around the peer we went, and around 45-60mins later we were in the hot showers. Things nearly went Pete Tong when Dan nearly slipped off his speedos in the changing rooms not realising that they were communal. A brilliant day with great company. Photo's coming soon. Please click on the video below to see the story of the reef.

3rd Enduroman Arch to Arc attempt failed by Nicky Farrugia - 6th September 2010

Steve Haywood — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:29:00 +0100

Race Report by Eddie Ette (Enduroman No 1)

Last year: After being pulled from the English Channel in June 2009, then running from London to Dover again in September 2009 and unable to swim because of strong winds, Enduroman, the boat skipper and Nicky reorganised and agreed another attempt the Neap tide 16th – 24th August 2010. A good slot in the middle of the swim season?

Nicky had booked a house in Folkestone for the whole of August he was taking no chances. It was good to meet Nicky and his family again, (his support) all of us in high spirits as we discussed the basic plan and then as with every event involving the sea waited on the weather. We watched and waited and waited as nothing swimmable showed. The whole week blown out, no one was swimming, so no A2A attempt. Unbelievable.

Reorganise: After talking through options and availability it was decided to wait it out until the end of the next neap tide ( Neap fully booked) and wait for another chance during the spring tide from 6th to 13th September. For Nicky this meant a long hard wait, loss of some support crew, move of accommodation, and watch Jay Goss achieve the A2A to name a few. “A nightmare as all he could do is wait it out and hope for the chance”.

Nicky and the support were put on standby from Saturday 4th Sept as we had planned to allow 40hours from the start of run to start of the first swim day being Monday 6th. On Sunday 5th in the evening after the last weather forecasts and much deliberation the decision to start the run was made. The run would start 0530 on Monday 6th to enable us to be ready to use a forecasted window of opportunity and start the swim on high water or an hour before high water on Tuesday night the 7th September.

The Run: After a few photos, a hand shake from me and Julian “Enduroman number 3 who cycled from home into the City to see Nicky start” and a kiss from Nicole his daughter, support, masseur and almost every thing else as it was only be me and Nicole on the run leg. The run clock started at 05 30 sharp. Nicky delighted to be going at long last looked happy and proved it by running strong and controlled with a happy face all the way down to Dover pretty much, even through a few hours of very heavy rain during the late night when I am sure most people would question their reason for wanting to do such an event.

Nicky was supported brilliantly by Nicole, had a surprise visit late evening from Duncan Philips an Arch to Arc contender next year and with the support by all on the forum, his spirits stayed high.

After a very respectable 21.24.38 Nicky finished through the swim pillars on Dover sea front. (To look into Dover harbour and across the Channel he was about to attempt).

We drove straight back to Folkestone to clean up, rest and eat before the swim start. The weather forecast still showed the opportunity to swim but there was a question mark, would the window remain and last long enough. With no option but to wait and see we slept a while. First thing in the morning we checked the shipping forecasts, looked at latest updates on web sites and spoke again to boat skippers. Even after all that we still could not be certain, so we waited again until after the final weather forecasts of the day at 7 pm on Tuesday evening the night of the swim. The word from boat skipper came just after the forecasts he was happy to go and so we made the final preparations.

We arrived at Dover Marina 22.00hrs to load the boat and motor to swim start which was the wall of Sanfire Hoe, about 20minutes from the marina. Nicky was absolutely ready, he knew from previous experience what was needed of him and was more than able to deliver.

The swim started Tuesday 7th in complete darkness (except the one light to show the wall) at 23.12hrs on the mid point of Sanfire Hoe in flat seas with a slight swell and next to no wind. The swim progressed very well with Nicky maintaining a 72 stroke rate. The sea remained good for all the night but started to chop up as the sun rose and day broke. The chop gave Nicky nothing to worry about but was bad but enough to make swimming uncomfortable at times. The day started with blue skies but started to change quite quickly and by 8am a light drizzle had started, with that came a little more breeze and reduced visibility. The breeze was not too much of a problem as it was coming from the same direction as the tide but we knew when the tide turns the sea would rough up a bit. We did not expect the dramatic change in conditions that transpired and in quite a short period of time the boat and crew are being thrown around and Nicky had to really fight just to get a breath at times. The feeds which were being giving every 30mins became difficult and started to take longer. The reason for this was Nicky was being pushed away from boat and having to swim all the way back before ever making any headway. Also after approximately two hours of very tough swimming with the skipper monitoring closely his progress it became apparent that Nick was not making headway and was not going to get to land on this tide. Nicky was being pushed straight up the French coast which meant he would have to keep swimming in the rough conditions for another 6hours at least only then giving himself the chance to break through to land on the next tide. Nicky had already been swimming for around 12 hours when the skipper asked the question can Nicky swim in the conditions we have now for that extra amount of time.

The support team, myself, Lynn his wife, Tom his swim coach, the skipper and crew discussed the options and it was decided that I explain to Nicky the situation. A determined Nicky decided he would fight through the rough in the hope things would get better. During the next hour the conditions worsened slightly, Nicky was still not making headway which meant the boat engines were out of gear for long periods and was being tossed around like a cork. The decision to take Nicky from the water was very hard for all but made for his safety and all aboard. The swim finished at 12.22 just a few miles from the coast of France. All aboard were absolutely gutted.

There is one absolute with English Channel swimming: If the weather is not on your side you will not swim across no matter how good a swimmer you are.

Jay Goss becomes Enduroman No 7!!

Steve Haywood — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:25:00 +0100

Race Report by Steve Haywood:

Jay contacted me in early 2009 and expressed his wishes to attempt the Enduroman Arch to Arc. Once I found out that he was an ex Royal Marine officer, the banter commenced and it was clear that we were going to get on just fine. Jay started his swim training with Enduroman at the Enduroboat in Weymouth in March 2010. I always like to get the swimmers in the water whilst it is still below 8 degrees. Although most A2A athletes wear wetsuits, their body core temperature is significantly lowered by the 87 mile run that precedes the swim. When Jay jumps into the cold water on his big day I wanted him to remember the days when his balls shot up into his throat and to provide the reassurance that his race conditions were like a bath in comparison. Our first outing was in 6 degree water , and Jay swam with his throat full for about 20 minutes. We continued to build through the spring and by June he had swam his 6-hour qualification swim. Our training was complete and Jay smashed his 10 hour swim with 4 weeks remaining before his attempt.

In the 3 weeks before his attempt, the weather over the channel had been awful. Predictions had become impossible and even the most experienced boat pilots in the land said that he had never witnessed these conditions in the 40 years they had been taking swimmers across the blue stuff. No pilot had taken a swimmer out in the 2 weeks before his due date.

We had all been waiting for the high pressure that had been sitting in the Atlantic to move over the UK, but 'Hurricane Danielle; was causing havoc across our shores. Suddenly it looked like it was going to happen. Jay was due to start his swim at 01.30 on Monday 30th August 2010. There was a good chance that the high pressure would arrive by this time and an even better chance that it would happen by Tuesday.

We do not have the same luxury as 'normal' channel swimmers who can sit on the beach and be at an hours notice to move as the news of good weather arrives. We had the small matter of an 87 mile run to contend with, so we need to plan 72 hours in advance. No easy task when weather predictions over the channel can change in a matter of hours.

So we were faced with the option of setting off on the run, with the possibility that the weather would turn for the worse whilst running, or delay the run by 24 hours and risk missing the only swimmable day if the weather turned for the better. No brainer!

I met Jay and his support crew (Faye - partner, Anne - mother, Benjie - Brother), at Marble Arch at 7.30am on Saturday 28th August. Athletes can start their run a maximum of 48 hours before their allocated swim time. Jay chose to start 40 hours before, so we planned a 9.30am run start.

Jay was very nervous, but that was good. It was clear that his support crew was committed to the job and Benjie had the campervan equipment set out in a meticulous order (slight OCD issues), and Anne made the last minute adjustments to the vehicle's safety signs.

At exactly 9.30am, Jay began his journey from Arch to Arc. Game on! Saturday morning in London was busy, but the sun was out and Jay was looking good. Although he set off a little fast which is very common in this challenge, he soon settled down to pace of around 11 min / mile. Jay stuck to his planned routine of 1 hour 50mins run, 10 mins rest to feed / change socks etc. We hit the half way mark in just over 8 hours and everything was looking good. I had briefed the team about the need for Jay to eat fat and salt throughout the challenge, and as the night approached, Jay showed his first signs of fatigue and nutrition issues. After several stops at the chip shop for chips, battered cod and battered sausage, Jay picked up the pace and he was flying once again. Benjie, who is connected with sports nutrition giants Lucozade, agreed that the best product they could design for the Ultra athlete would be a Lucozade fish in Carb laced batter!

With around 24 miles to go, Jay broke into a walk, which he sustained for the remainder of the run arriving in Dover after 22:12:43 hours. Off to bed Jay went, while his support crew started sorting out his kit for the swim in about 18 hours time and started looking at the weather charts to see if the weather had improved or not.

Unfortunately, once I had spoken with the boat pilot around 7.00pm that evening, it was clear that the swim would not take place on time, nor would it happen on the split tide around 12 hours after that. Although the possibility of breaking the world record was gone, Jay took advantage of eating as much food as he could and sleeping more than I had done over the last month! At 7.00pm the following evening, I had made the decision that although the forecast was variable force 3 and 4 N/NE winds, it was the best that was going to be on offer that week.

We met the boat pilot around 00:30, and shortly later we were sailing around to Samphire Ho to start the swim. Jay had swam during the night at the Enduroboat in Weymouth so there was never going to be an issue starting at this time of night. The forecast was that the air temperature would drop to as little as 3 degrees during the night, but again, Jay and I had been out training several times during the winter in conditions far worse than that. He was more than prepared.

We fed Jay as we had done in training all year. The first feed after 1 hour, then every 45 minutes after this. Sports drinks on every feed sometimes topped up with some warm water to take the chill off it, and solids every other feed using a combination of bananas, tinned fruit and jelly babies.

During training, we teach the swimmer not to ask any questions. They do not need to know where they are going, or how far they have swam, or how many miles they have left to swim. They just have to swim and stay with the safety boat. We do this because so many things can change out at sea. The swimmer may only be half a mile away from the French coast, but due to the tides and wind they can not swim in a direct line and may have to swim 5 miles to make it into shore.

Jay had been swimming for about 9 hours. He had kept his cadence at around 52-56, and his work effort had been the best I had ever seen him swim. Jay kept looking ahead towards France and could see Cap Gris Nez getting closer and closer. We were getting pulled to the East by the Ebb tide and the longer Jay swam for, the further away the Cap was getting away from us. This is totally normal during a channel swim, and we needed to wait for the tide to change in around 3 hours time. Sometimes unpredictably, after the tide changes it makes little difference to the swim because the opposing tide had been very strong. This is the reason the swimmer just has to swim with the boat. If we explain what we hope to happen, and due to mother nature it doesn't happen, this often breaks the swimmer and the challenge is over.

Jay was becoming frustrated and asked why were not making any progress. All the team were encouraging Jay just to keep pushing on but after a few dummies were thrown out of his wetsuit, I explained what was happening with the tides. I was hoping that I would not regret this but when the the time came for the tide to change, and nothing happened, it was clear that we were not going to get pushed back onto the Cap. (This was due to the fact that too much water had been forced by the winds from the Atlantic to the North Sea over the last few days, so when the Atlantic tide was due to happen, there wasn't enough water in the Atlantic to push Jay i the direction that we wanted).

For the next 2 hours, Jay had a constant mental battle going on but we kept telling him to forget where the land was and just swim with the boat (Even the boat pilot joined in at one point!). We were taking a more direct route towards the coast and with about 400m to go, I dived in the warm waters and swam with Jay. After 14:09:12 hours, I helped Jay back down from the sharp edged rocks that he needed to climb up to clear the water, and swam back out to the boat.

It took around 90mins to sail into Calais port where we met the rest of the support crew that had caught the ferry across. Now that chasing the record was not an option, Jay decided to take the full 12-hour recover before starting the bike the following morning at 03:39:39am.

Jay rode the bike course with a different attitude to those that I have seen before. Usually, if the record is not an option, the cyclist takes every opportunity to take breaks in cafes etc in an attempt to enjoy the 'finishing straight' of the challenge. Jay just got his head down, keeping to this routine 2-hour efforts with short breaks. This is a testament of Jay's character and drive and I admired him greatly for it. After 16:32:33 hours of cycling, Jay arrived at the Arc de Triomphe completing the challenge in 102:42:12 hours.

Enduroman No 7.... we salute you! Welcome to the club.

Steve
Enduroman No 4

Shell Relay Race Report - A New Enduroman Arch to Arc Relay Record

Steve Haywood — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:25:00 +0100

Race report by Eddie Ettie

Shell International Team members: Marion, Linda, Laura, Rod, Oli and Mark.

The race started at exactly 15.30 on Sunday 18/7/2010, one day later than planned because of wind in the Channel. The afternoon was hot and sunny with light breezes. The forecast for the swim planned for 0430am Monday was good and all the Channel boats were waiting to get swims away.

Marion Wagner (Team Captain) and I had been talking often during the previous two weeks of absolutely perfect conditions and I was concerned the weather was due to turn. I had recommended Marion ask the team to start earlier to use the good conditions and not wait a week for the start date, but that was impossible as the team are all very busy professionals and work commitments gave little flexibility, so it was the planned time or never for the full team.

Run order handed to me, final photos taken and the first runner Rod was on his way. “Game on” . The team plan was to beat the existing record time set by BMF just two weeks earlier. The team knew that success depended partly on a strong run down to Dover, but more importantly the sea conditions in the Channel. The Shell team were stronger swimmers than BMF, so should get a faster swim crossing but if there is wind in the Channel swim crossings can be much slower.

Shell knew that the swim was where they had to make the anticipated loss on both the run and bike legs, nature would determine if that was possible so focused only on the run. The run changeovers went smoothly, all team members averaging between 7 or 8 mph to arrive in Dover 11:04:34 later around 02.30am. The team were delighted to be “only” an hour behind the BMF time.

The whole team were keen to get on the boat and away but had to wait, the tide in the Channel being such that there is no advantage “in fact you are disadvantaged” if you start too early. During the wait of about an hour the team occupied themselves preparing kit until the boat could be loaded. After loading and a quick final brief Paul Forman Skipper of Pace Arrow motored them round the coast to the swim start at Sanphire Hoe below Abbots Cliff. Swimmer 1, Oli wet suited was waiting the final instruction to jump from the back of the boat and swim to the shore to start the Channel crossing. The swim started at 04 07am on Tuesday 19^th and because Team Shell had less wait time before the start of the swim they had already pulled back the time lost on the run.

After 6 hours and one swim each, team Shell was more than half way across the Channel with a possibility to finish in less than 11hours. The weather had held and the sea conditions were perfect, no one was sea sick, some team members had seen jelly fish but they were a few metres deep so all were keen to swim again to get across as soon as possible and make as much time as possible on the BMF time to give a bigger buffer on the bike. As is so often the case, the last few miles turned out to be the hardest and took probably 1 hour more than expected. The French coast was so very near but the tide was pushing the swimmers away from the nearest landing point “Cap Griz Nez”.

The tide building in strength was pushing the team down the coast and away from the point. This could mean up to two hours longer in the water if the swimmer in the water slackened the pace. With determination and the will to not let all the hard work be washed away “literally” swam and broke through before the last changeover. Oli the man chosen to start the swim had the pleasure to finish on the beach just left of the Cap Gris Nez to cheers in a very respectable time of 11:16 mins. Oli swam back immediately to the boat for the team to be motored into Calais, this took about 45 minutes and on top of that disembarkation and preparation gave a total time of 1:16. Team Shell were about two hours in front of the BMF time so still nothing certain as a lot can happen in 180 miles of cycling from Calais to Paris. All the team knew if they could ride the distance in under 14hours the record would belong to Shell International.

Marion and the team had deliberated much on the best sequence to put the riders and had finally decided that Mike start the bike to use his skill of climbing and descending taking on the ups and downs of the first leg. As with the previous two disciplines of the race the whole team gave 100% on their leg and supported each other during every changeover.

As the miles and night hours passed the city of Paris was getting nearer, the roads were quiet because of the time day so entry into the city was quite relaxed. The average speed into the city is always reduced as there are literally hundreds of traffic lights and lots of twists and turns. The Last cyclist was Laura who had the pleasure to ride the team up the Champs Elysees (fully rigged with seats and flags for the finish of the tour de France) up to the Arc de Triomphe to set a New Relay Record time of 37.15.30. A time I am sure will be hard to beat.

Well done to you all.

Eddie

Andy Mouncey - Life after the Enduroman Arch to Arc

Steve Haywood — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:06:00 +0100

Enduroman No 2 Andy Mouncey put his money where his mouth is at the end of last month and took part in the 3rd Montane Ultra Tour of the Lake District 100 mile race which includes nearly 7000m of climbing and descending through classic Lakeland terrain.

Competitors find their way to 14 checkpoints via a designated route which is essentially a clockwise loop through the Lakes.

They start on Friday evening and go through the night, through Saturday - and for some through a second night and day.

Andy completed the first event in 2008 coming home 4th in just under 29 hours.

He had, he tells us, some unfinished business with the race, and this year came home second in just over 25 and a half hours.

And the secret of taking a whopping 3.5 hours off his time?

'I got serious about my training and got rid of a bit of baggage,' he said.

The race continued to merit it's place as one of the most serious undertakings in the ultra-running calendar.

For the third year in a row only around half those on the start line managed to finish within the 40 hour limit.

What next for Andy?

'Well, I've been letting the feet repair, enjoying eating rubbish and driving everywhere,' he says.

'I've also been looking at the numbers from the race...where the dead time was, where I was fast, where I wasn't...'

Does that mean there'll be a next time?

'Ask me in September!'

LINKS

Andy's Race Report http://www.bigandscaryrunning.com/andys-blog.html

Full results with photos www.lakeland100.com

More photos www.sportsunday.co.uk

British Military Fitness Race Report - Enduroman Arch to Arc Relay World Record!

Steve Haywood — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:07:00 +0100

The British Military Fitness team started their attempt at the Enduroman Arch to Arc at 12:40pm on Wednesday 30^th June 2010. The Weather was hot and the forecast was looking fantastic for the channel swim planned for just 12 hours away. The team were confident that the run of 87 miles from London to Dover and the loading of the Channel support boat can be accomplished in the 12 hours. The 6-person British Military Fitness (BMF) team comprised of Carlos Glencairn-Campbell, Nigel Ilsley, Paul Kenny, Andy Bosman, Jeremy Nelson and Chris Preston.

Carlos (Team Captain) had first leg and was threading his way nicely out of the city of London. Change over one to Chris went smoothly as expected. It was obvious to me (Enduroman No 1 Ette Ette) from the outset that these guys knew their stuff which would mean a very enjoyable experience for us all. Kev the team’s driver had massive experience. An ex Marine with a calming, jovial way. I was at ease and keen to see them achieve.

The run progressed very well with all team members running between 7 and 9 miles an hour. The banter soon started, these guys were enjoying themselves. Every member of the team supported each other on every change over and each doing their bit kept the change overs quick and smooth. The weather remained good (very hot) until late afternoon then as the air cooled the runners pace got even quicker as we approached Dover. The run stage took 10 hours 07minutes in total. It was a little before 11pm and we had arrived at Dover Sea front. Team BMF were about an hour quicker than anticipated and being unable to start the swim earlier because of the tide, they used the time to shower and prepare the swim/boat kit prior to loading/embarking the Channel swim support boat (Pace Arrow).

At approx 01.00 on 1/7/10 team and kit on board, Pace Arrow left Dover Marina to motor to the swim start. The swim started below Abbots Cliff next to Sanfire Hoe (a nature reserve made from the spoil of Channel tunnel diggings). Nigel was the first swimmer which meant he would have to jump off the back of the boat (in darkness) swim approximately 100mts from the boat to the shore before turning around to enter the English Channel for the start the official swim.

The swim started at 01.36 on 1^st July 2010. Nigel swam into the English Channel in complete darkness. No Moon visible, only the small lights on the boat to guide the way. The team were as ever supportive but I could feel some nerves. These men have army history and on land I believe unstoppable but the water and tide in the English Channel is a great leveler and to add to that the first 3 one hour swims were in the dark. Some of the team had to overcome seasickness which came on almost immediately after their first swim. Being sick on a wet deck with not much space, the others had to watch them suffer. Some of the team suffered more than others but team spirit and support for each other held fast. No one complained, even though I could see the thought of going back into the sea was not great. After the first few hours it looked as if the swim could take as long as 18 to 20 hours, they were not liking the swim section, but as expected the team and individual strength of character that each member showed as every single team member improved and did a better during the second swim than first. The team achieved the very respectable time of 15 hours 04 minutes seeing Andy landing on the sand and pebbles at Sangatte. He even bought a present back to the boat as keep sake for each team member “six pebbles”. As soon as Andy was on the boat, we motored directly to Calais Port to meet the support vehicles and start the bike leg. 40 minutes later the team were disembarking and giving thanks for being on dry land and saying goodbye to Paul the skipper. Once on dry land the team went into action and produced a 13 minute transition (incredible). The kit was in vans, bikes in order of change over and we were on the road to Paris after a few hours. All in the van knew the record belonged to BMF. Was that enough for Carlos? No! Carlos (team Captain) had just finished talking with me and he made it clear he would like to see the team at the Arc de Triomphe in less than 40 hours. That meant maintaining an average pace of around 17mph until arrival and bearing in mind the pace into Paris can be painfully slow this was quite a big ask. The BMF team had not slept more than the odd power nap in the last 24hrs and had pushed the previous two disciplines as hard as they could but when asked about the 40hr goal we were well up for keeping momentum and were happy to oblige.

The traffic and the wind were kind to the team and after some fantastic cycle stages the team arrived at Arc de Triomphe at 04.25 BST to become the Enduroman World Arch to Arc World Record holders.

The World record time of 39hours 52 minutes (not yet official) is now the time to beat. I know the men from British Military Fitness are very happy with the record but I also know from the short time spent with the team that is not the thing that pleases them the most. They are delighted with the response from all and every one that has supported them and are very proud to announce that £24,000 has been pledged and will be donated in the near future to HELP for HEROES.

For me personally it was a great pleasure and Enduroman are delighted to have been able to help.

To show your support visitwww.justgiving.com/bmfenduromanteamor alternatively follow theirtraining through their Facebook page –www.facebook.com/bmfenduroman2010

Enduroman Ultra Triathlon Championships 2011

Steve Haywood — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:13:00 +0100

It has been a long 4 years. 4 years of endless phone calls, emails, visits, risk assessments, council meetings and sleepless nights. But it is finally here! The plans to hold a Deca Ironman in the UK have stretched all over this land. Enduroman have attempted to organize the Deca at the following locations but with so many boxes to tick, they have all come up short:

(Impressive views of Avon Tyrell Estate House)

John O'Groats to Lands End, Snowdonia, Lichfield, Telford, Nottingham, Birmingham, Sutton Park, Hyde Park, Battersea Park, Cornwall, Crystal Palace, Kings Park, Bournemouth, Boscombe..... The list is twice this size at least.

There are so many factors that Enduroman would not compromise on, that potential sites could not fulfill. Enduroman really wanted the Double and Triple Iron races to fall within the same competition. This would make a fantastic event for all involved, especially as all the events would finish on the same day. We really wanted an open water swim. We have been too kind to our athletes over the last 3 years allowing them to enjoy the luxury of an indoor swimming pool. No more bluffing the swim training and concentrating only on biking and running!

(Avon Tyrrell campsite and the lodges available for accommodation upgrades for athletes)

Once we decided that the swim would be open water, it became obvious that the option of holding the original format Deca was not possible. Holding a 24 mile swim on Day 1 would mean that some swimmers would be in the water for more than 20 hours. Open water swimming, during the night, in Great Britain presents some risky cold injury and safety issues. So a 10 x 10 Ironmen in day days was decided to be the format. The race would start each day at the same time. On Day 8, the Triple Enduroman race would start. On Day 9 the Double Enduroman race would start. And on Day 10 the Enduroman UK (1 x Iron) event would start. All 4 events would finish on Day 10.

Sounds easy doesn't it? Nope. I now had to find an open water location. The sea was a no-starter really. One bad day with the wind and the whole event would be a disaster. So we had to find a lake, that would give us 3 hours of lake time each day, and the whole of the lake for the last 3 days. Let me know if you find any!!! With so many swimming, triathlon, water sports clubs using the lake on the same day/evening each week it was impossible to find a location. We didn't want to chose a lake, that athletes had to travel to, to start the race. We wanted it to be next to the campsite, bike and run courses. The list of suitable locations was already very small.

(Race HQ and the location's lake)

Wherever this lake would be, the bike course would have to have left turns only (for the Deca's safety), and the course would have to run past the campsite. On this campsite would be the race centre, catering and the options for the athletes to upgrade accommodation. The run course would be completely closed to traffic, without crossing any public roads, that of course, runs past the race centre.

After 4 years, the list of suitable locations was now zero. To be honest, I was about the give up on the idea. Then one day, a friend mentioned they had done a novice triathlon at Avon Tyrell, Hampshire. After a bit of Googling, I decided to drive across to the location just out of curiosity. I introduced myself to the site manager and the response I got when I went through the basic requirements of the event were very positive. Usually, we have to try and sell our events to these people, and try and work our way through all their red tape. The manger's attitude this time was, "What can we do for you to ensure the event comes here?" Now that's the sort of team that Enduroman wants to work with. To add to this, the manager is an ex-triathlete and Army officer so we had lots in common.

(Avon Tyrrell race lake)

Several recce's of the location then began, and we have found what we believe to be the perfect race site. It is true that things you want mostly come when you are not looking for them. Avon Tyrrell is an outdoor activity centre. A private estate set within 65 acres of the stunning New Forest. It has its own lake which is quite small (around 300m laps). However we would plan on the laps being this small anyway to keep an eye on the athletes and giving the swimmers a chance to feed and see their support crew on a regular basis. The bike route is planned to take place around the villages of Bransgore and Burley, using left turns only, with stunning backdrops throughout the course. And the undulating run route is entirely within the private grounds.

Avon Tyrell has its own campsite, private lodges, catering and event licence. It is almost purpose built for Enduroman. Entries have already gone live. Get a place while you still can!

(The run route through Avon Tyrrell Blair Witch 2 woods)

Mark Sweny & Aidan O'Donnell complete Enduroman Jurassic Swim enroute to the English Channel

Steve Haywood — Mon, 24 May 2010 06:43:00 +0100
On the hottest days of the year so far, London-based friends Mark Sweny & Aidan O'Donnell completed the Enduroman Jurassic Swim (10 Miles) this weekend. Both swimmers are booked to attempt to cross the English Channel during September this year. They are both swimming off the same tide, however they have different pillots. The Enduroman team sensed an air of competitive spirit between the two friends over their Channel swim, and this weekend was no different either.

Mark (Picured above and right), planned to attempt the Enduroman Jurassic Swim on Saturday 22nd May, with Aidan swimming on the Sunday. They would also be each other's support crew. We set off from Weymouth marina at around 9am on the Saturday. Our plan, was to swim Mark along the stunning route from Weymouth Pier to Lulworth Cove; a distance of 9.5 miles as the crow flies. However, to pick uo the tide flow, we kept close to the cliffs to give Mak a little push towards Lulworth and to provide the extra milage for his 10-miles swim.

When looking at the forecast before we left the marina, the predicted Force 2-3 North Easterly winds would make it very difficult to get all the way the Lulworth. We timed the start of the swim so that the tide would be behind us when we needed it, but a NE wind would mean that Mark would get slapped in the face by the waves on every stroke. Fortunately, the wind behaved itself and we made it up to Lulwoth Cove and cleared the water in a time of 5 hours, 35mins 19sec.

Well done Mark (above and left showing off the infamous Enduroman medal), and the very best of luck for this Sepember. The following day, we left the marina around the same time as the day before. Aidan looked a little more nervous than Mark, but he had no need to be as we saw a very strong swim from him. The forecast looked slightly worse than the day before with a predicted 3-4 NE wind.

We decided to give Aidan a different swim heading East across Weymouth Bay, up the Jurasic Coast, west directly back across the bay towards Portland, then finish at Newtons Cove. As we headed across the bay, we couldn't help to think that we were being followed as a group of Triathlon swimmers (Pictured below) had joined us and wanted to follow our swimmer for as long as they could. Forest Gump came to mind!!

It wasn't long until the Triathlon club headed back to the beach and we continued with our planned route. This was again a good strong swim by Aidan. The sea fluffed up into a Force 4-5 as we headed towards Portland, so Aidan got to experience some proper English Channel conditions. Aidan arrived at Lulworth Cove and cleared the water in a time of 5 hours 59 mins 21secs. Again we wish you the best of luck for September.

Both swimmers plan to join us (non-wetsuit next time lads!!!) throughout the summer to train for their attempt at the marathon of marathon swims... The English Channel.

4-hour Swim - 10 Degrees - Jay Goss - 10th May 2010

Steve Haywood — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:07:00 +0100
Even though the sun was shining it was still a chilly morning when I met Jay on Monday. Great Britain usually has South West prevailing winds, and the winds from this direction aid bringing the warmer water up from the Atlantic. Unfortunately for Jay, the winds are still coming from the NE, so degrees was the best that we could hope for.

The wind was also at strength 4-5, which from the NE, meant that the waters was quite rough, so we spend the first 2 hours inside the protective waters of Portland Harbour. Jay has been dealing with cold water very well and implemented several sprints during the 3rd hour to keep him motivated, left his core temperature and give him the much needed strength to break through the French tides after several hours of swimming.

It was another great swim by Jay who hopefully will getting in a 5-hour swim in Corfu next week before meeting back up with me in early June for his 6-hour qualification swim.

A2A 2010 challenger Jay Goss swims for 3 hours in 9 Degree water!!

Steve Haywood — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:25:00 +0100

On April 20th, Tom and I took Jay out for his third sea swim of the year. It was still 9 degrees out in the bay but we wanted to Jay to start pushing on early on in the year.

After a 90min swim 10 days ago, our aim was 2.5 hours and see how he felt. Just like his previous swims, Jay became stronger after an hour or so.

It was quite lumpy out their due to the SE wind so we swam him into Portland Harbour for a bit of shelter. After 3hrs, Jay climbed back into the Enduroboat with a big smile on his face.

"This shit is awesome" were the first words out of his mouth. What more can we ask of a swimmer?

It was Tom's first outing of the year. In 81 years, Tom has coached over 80 athletes to swim the English Channel and has coached the youngest ever person to complete this feat (12 years old).
Tom is great asset for Enduroman, and his extensive experience mixed in with the Enduroman's successful Arch to Arc CV is a great recipe for the A2A wannabe.
Personally, I have been recce'ing numerous Deca courses around the country. It will happen, and in the end, I know that our patience will pay dividend. I also ventured back onto the athletics track on April 11th at the Bournemouth track and field open meeting.

I entered the 400m and the high jump (mainly because my 15 year old nephew (Alex) entered the same events)). Also, I really felt the extra 2 stones, it was great to be back on the red springy stuff again, and I cursed my Achilles once again for taking this great sport away from me prematurely 18 years ago.

With that said, it was good for smugability to stand toe-to-toe with athletes more than half my age and still come in 3rd in both events. (Although I couldn't walk for a week later).

Paul Casey - unlucky mate... the US Marine attempted the Enduroman 5-Iron a couple of weeks ago. After a 15ish hour swim and a 22 hour first day on the bike he pulled out on Day 3 when he realized that he was not going to make the cut-off time.

90min swim for Jay and a host of new sponsors for Enduroman

Steve Haywood — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:16:00 +0100
At 8am on April 20th, I met Jay Goss at the Enduroboat for his second sea swim. The water temperature had raised slightly, but it was still a chilly 9 degrees. The wind gods were again on our side, as the force 0-1 South Easterly wind hardly made a ripple along the Jurassic Coast. The swims at this time of yearn for Jay are all about getting cold.. very cold. Jay managed 30mins in colder water a couple of weeks ago, so the plan was to stay in for an hour and see how it goes.

We sailed out into the bay and dropped Jay off next to an anchored shipping vessel. We first swam Jay around the vessel, to give him valuable experience of swimming next to ships this size.

We need to cover every eventuality, so getting over this hurdle was very important. Once we had done this, we headed on a SW bearing heading straight back towards the harbour.

The last 40min of Jay's 90min swim was his best. We are looking at one or two different technique issues per swim and Jay cadence has gone up from 48 to 60.

As ever, Jay dragged himself back into the boat with a big smile on his face. We plan to go out for 2hrs plus this on Tuesday April 20th.

It was good to meet Jay's partner Faye, who came along for the ride and will be part of Jay's support crew in August.

Great new for Enduroman athletes at the Double Triple Iron this year.

We have secured sponsorship with Sundog sunglasses, Greeper Laces and Buff; so their race goodie bags will hopefully be bulging!!

Jay Goss - A2A attempt 28/08/10

Steve Haywood — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:53:00 +0000
At 6.30am on Friday 19th March 2010, I took 'Wind Song' AKA the Enduroboat, out with the first channel training swim of the year.

Former Royal Marine Officer Jay Goss joined me for his first sea swim of the year, in preparation for his attempt at the Enduroman Arch ton Arc due to start on August 28th 2010. Although the weather was being kind to us (Wind Force 2), the water was a chilling 7 degrees, far cooler than usual for March. It was great cold water acclimitization for Jay, who swam for 30mins around Weymouth Bay. Jay's next swim will be in a couple of weeks when we will try and push for 60mins.

Enduroman Double Iron Lanzarote - 4th Febuary 2011

Steve Haywood — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:32:00 +0000
Now check out the sound of this.... The Enduroman Double Iron... what for it...... Lanzarote!!   Eddie has been working closely with the Spanish Government and after weeks of attending meetings and making representations for Enduroman, he has has secured the race date of Friday 4th February 2011!!

We hope that the winter timing of the event, will attract athletes worlwide during the 'normal off-season' to the home of Triathlon and the original location of Ironman Lanzarote, Playa Blanca. I wil be going over to Lanza very soon to check out the final courses and have a look around the area. Eddie has done a fantastic job in a very short period of time to get this awesome event off the ground.

On the Deca front, we just can't seem to have a break-through with the ideal location. We have recce'd coastal roads, country parks including Battersea and King's Park in Bournemouth. We have visited numerous airfields around the country and race circuits.

We have found the perfect location, set in the beautiful surroundings of Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield. Set within the park, is a 5km tarmac road, that is closed to traffic and has a swimming pool immediately next to it. It is used fo many events includiing the national road relay championships. Endurman have spoke with the park's events management and submitted an application form.

Due to the popularity of the park, our downfall may be the fact that our event lasts 2 weeks or more importantly for the Park... 2 weekends. Also, the USA and UK Olympic teams will be using the park to train in during 2011 so it may be a case of just bad timing. It is absolutley perfect. Let's wait to hear back from the management team.

On Tuesday, I made a trip to the Isle of Dogs to meet up with my old coach Frank Horwill. It was great to see him again after 18 years. He has been diagnosed with a rare type of cancer at 81 years old. He has beat cancer several times now, such is the strength of the man. He has no-nonsense attitude to life and his commitment to athletics has been a motivator for me since my early twenties. Check out this video and you will see what I mean!  We love you Frank!

Great time in Lanza and the plans for the Deca and Double get moving

Steve Haywood — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:27:00 +0000
A couple of weeks ago, I made the trip over the Lanzarote to see Eddie and Lynn. It was the first time I have visited the island for a long while without competing in a long distance triathlon and to just have a holiday. The weather was superb for once (I usually take the British weather with me - sorry Lynn' with temperatures in the high 20's throughout the 10 days I spent over there. I only went for one run and chose instead to swim most days around Playa Blanca bay.

Lynn told me about a local swim club staging their first organised event in the bay the day before I went back to the UK. This was a 1200m swim from the marina, around the bay and finishing at Playa Blanca main beech. On the day I was surprised to see about 50-60 swimmers turn up to race. Half with wetsuits, and half without. Eddie, Lynn and I couldn't see the point in wearing a wetsuit in waters of about 21 degrees. It was just a fun race, so I wasn't bothered where I finished.... as long as I beat Eddie!! I was pleased to finish 8th overall and a good 3mins in front of Grandad Eddie .

Also during my time out there, we recce'd the courses and location of the Enduroman Double Iron Lanzarote that we are planning to hold in February 2009. Wow!!! What a location and backdrop! Eddie is still in talks with the government and is waiting for the go-ahead from them before we go live on the website...   watch this space.

After setting up an on line discussion forum on the Enduroman website in relation to a UK based Deca Iron in 2011, it looks like we have settled for the original format (24/1120/262). Our next step is to find the perfect location. Last week I had a meeting with the events manager at Bovington Army Camp with a view to use their training area. We have a meeting set up in the new year to see if they have what we need. I am also looking at a few disused airfields and other locations.

(24 hour spinning session in Lanzarote - same day as swim race)

My last update for you is that Roland Patzina who completed the Lanzarote Ultra earlier on in the year, has entered the Enduroman Lanzarote Deca Iron, the dates of which will be confirmed soon. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

First winter swim with Jem

Steve Haywood — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:40:00 +0000
On Friday, I met up with Jem Bersin at the Bistro in Southbourne for his first winter sea swim. Jem (an Army Captain), is training for the Lanzarote Ultra in May 2010 and has asked me to coach him for his challenge. After a few days of strong gales on the south coast, it dropped down to a Force 4 and we enjoyed a 25min swim.

The water was 12 degrees, so it was still quite warm and Jem had no problems at all. I wanted him to start his cold water acclimatisation before the water became cold so that he would find it easier to swim through the winter. As I am training for the same event, it was good training for me too.

The season is over.. as a new one begins

Steve Haywood — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:25:00 +0100
Well there we have it. 2009 was a great year for many reasons. I completed the Enduroman 5-Iron, a new event for 2010 (not that anybody is brave enough to do it!), out of the 4 attempts at the Arch to Arc, only Dave Farrell successfully completed the challenge becoming Enduroman No 6. The Jurassic Swim got underway and the Enduroman Double Iron UK in August proved another massive success. In 2010, Enduroman will be holding the UK's first ever Triple Iron along with the third running of the Double. This event has sold out already.

Personally I am more that happy with my lot. Coaching wise, I am proud of the fact that out of the 6 successful Enduroman Arch to Arc athletes, I have coached 3 of them. I have some great athletes under my belt with 3 new athletes turning Pro this year and hopefully Rich Pryer will do the same in 2010. I moved down to Dorset in June and it has been fantastic to be only a couple of miles from both the sea and the New Forest.

In terms of the future, Enduroman are now fully booked for the Arch to Arc for both 2010 and 2011. I have had a couple of months off 'Double Planning', but next week I will start the event planning for the Enduroman Triple and Double Irons on 7-9 August 2010.

Hywel Davies - Jurassic Swim

Steve Haywood — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:53:00 +0100

At 10am yesterday, Hywel jumped into Weymouth Bay and began the Jurassic Coast swim. The furthest Hywel had swam before was 3 miles and he told me before the start that his aim was to swim 5 miles. Strong Westerly winds prevented us from following the coast up to Lulworth Cove, so we kept to the calmer waters of the bay and Portland Harbour. After 3hrs 27mins of swimming, Hywel completed 5 miles. Well done to Hywel.

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Dave Farrell's Arch to Arc

Steve Haywood — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:22:00 +0100

Dave was due to start swimming as the number 1 swimmer on the neap tide starting 13th August 2009. So if the weather behaved itself, he would swim on the 14th. Although the water temperature in August is ideal for channel swimming, the wind conditions are always unsettled and the chances of a swim being postponed by a few days are very high. 2 days before Dave was due to start running it was apparent that the unseasonal good weather over the channel would not last and it was unlikely that Dave would get to swim during his neap tide. We decided to bring his challenge forward by 2 days. After a mad flap by Dave re-arranging his support crew, we met at Marble Arch in the early hours of Monday 10th August in the McDonalds opposite Marble Arch. Even at this time of night, it was very humid and the city was still bustling with tourists and clubbers.

We started the challenge at exactly 2am. We had 3 support vehicles in tow. I always run the first 6 or 7 miles with the athlete as there are many underground subways and roundabouts to navigate in the city centre. Dave knew what pace to run at, as he had practiced this during many training sessions in the months prior to this challenge. With that said, it is still very easy to carried away during those first 10 miles and I had to slow Dave down a few times during this period (not because I couldn't keep up.... honest!)

Dave had carried a few injuries into this challenge, and I must admit that I was a little worried when I overheard one of his support crew say that he had been limping all morning before the start due to pain in his foot. Dave was is great spirits, and it wasn't long until he settled down into the 'ultra shuffle' and the miles began to fly by.

Dave's support crew were amazing. His wife Tracey, his children Madlin and George and his friend and Osteopath Dave all worked flat out, to help Dave along the 87 mile run route to Dover. Although starting at 2am had its advantages of less traffic, it did mean that all of us had gone without a full nights sleep before the race began. As we started to go into the second night without sleep, things started to get a little messy. There was a moment when Dave asked me why somebody had placed garden gnomes along the pavement. 'Gnomes?? They are weeds Dave coming out of the pavement'. Dave disagreed with me and then proceeded to bend down and pick a gnome up to show me. But the weeds were firmly rooted to the ground!! The Red Bull kept me going, but that didn't stop me seeing a Bride and Groom stood in the hedge bank. The bride's dress flowed about 15m behind her into the dirt gutter. I was just about to tell her to pick it up when I realized that the bride and groom was just a rubbish skip! I'm blaming that on old age!

With about 30 miles to go, Dave's quads began to break down and we knew at this stage that it was going to be a TAB all the way to Dover from here. Dave was in great spirits. We laughed and joked most of the way down. About 14 miles from home, Dave hit a real low patch. His core temperate dropped and he became disorientated. I have seen this many times before and I knew that he had to replaced the sodium he had lost. The Nuun tablets worked like magic tablets and within 30mins or so Dave was back on his feet making good progress.

After 27 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds, Dave completed his 87 mile run. Dave expressed how much he had enjoyed the run down to Dover, although the severe pain in his knee made things very difficult for him.

All we had to do now was wait for the boat pilot's nod that would allow us to swim at 2.40am on the Wednesday morning some 20 hours later. Chris (boat pilot) had to take another swimmer out before Dave. This Australian swimmer was due to swim on Tuesday morning, so we did not start running from London until we heard from Chris that he was definitely going to swim.  I heard the bad news as we got close to Dover that the bad weather had come in early. This meant that the Australian would swim on the Wednesday and Dave would now swim on the Thursday. Although this gave Dave an extra 24 hours recovery between the run and the swim, it also meant that the chances of Dave breaking the world record had now gone. Another day passed by in the hotel and then we heard more bad news that the weather was still too windy to take the Aussie out on the Wednesday. Dave swim was now due Friday morning. Tension was high in the hotel as there is a 7-day cut-off for the event (to prevent the athlete from having too long a recovery between the run and swim, thus keeping the integrity of the event). Dave's last chance for a swim would be Saturday. So we could only afford from this point for the challenge to be delayed by one more day.

Good news finally came when we heard from another boat pilot that Chris had finally taken the Aussie out early on Thursday morning (although he only lasted a few hours in the huge swells that were created by the previous day's strong winds). Even better news came when we heard that the weather was now good until at least midnight on Saturday, giving us 40-hour weather window. I then confirmed times the boat pilot and arranged for Dave and his support crew to meet at the boat at 1am early on Friday morning (14th August).

The wait in Dover was eventful to say the least. I had brought my nephew Alex King with me to act as additional Enduroman support. Alex aged 14 is wanting to swim the channel when he is 16, so I was hoping that experiencing an attempt at the channel would give him a great deal of valuable knowledge to take away with him. Dave also had his teenage kids with him so as well as keeping an eye on the weather, we also had to keep them out of mischief!

Just when we had made all the plans and timings of the swim, we heard at 12.15pm on the Thursday from Chris that the Aussie had only lasted 3 hours in the water and that if we wanted to swim at 3.00pm the same afternoon, we would have better weather than our previous planned swim time. After Dave picked his jaw up from the ground in shock, the next 2 hours were spent packing bags, buying food and drink, loading up the support vehicles and making our way down to Dover marina for 2pm.

Wavey and George joined Alex and I on the boat whilst the remainder of the crew made their away across to Calais to meet us at Fort Risban.

After 57hrs 8mins 55secs of waiting in Dover, Dave finally started his swim from Shakespear Beach at 3pm. Conditions were near perfect. There was very little wind, however there was still a swell that was caused by the previous week's strong winds. Head down and with a turnover of 64rpm Dave headed towards the French coast. After Dave's first feed at 60mins, it was apparent that the flood tide coming in from the Atlantic Ocean was pushing Dave too far east. Although he had covered some good distance, most of it was not towards France, but east along the channel. After 2hrs, the boat pilot told me that he wasn't making enough ground and that there was no way Dave was going to be successful. From day 1 after I watched Dave swim, I told him that he was going to swim the English Channel, as long as he did exactly what I asked him to do in training. I knew his capabilities and we had run through every eventuality in training. After some polite and direct advice from myself, the boat pilot kept to pilotting and left me to look after Dave. After 3 hours of feeding every hour, we changed to feed him every 45mins. We had done this many times in training, and we knew exactly what solids Dave could stomach without chucking up. After 8 hours, we were about 1 mile from the half way mark. Conditions were still favourable, but now were were in darkness and Dave now had to swim through the night.

The last training training swim we did, was a 4 hour night swim, swimming head on into a Force 5 wind. I am a big fan of training harder and tougher than race conditions. As expected, Dave just got his head down and powered through the seas. Problems came when we reached the 10 hour point. We had passed half way using the slack water as an aid but when the flood tide came in we just head east at right angles to the Fench coast. I figured out that Dave needed to put some hard work in and cut into the tide instead of being carried by it in the wrong direction. I brought Dave in and said, 'I need you to sprint for 3 hours. If you do, we may be in position to make it though the tides some time later'.

After shoving half a packet of Jaffa cakes down his grid, Dave got his head down once again, picked his cadence up to 72rpm and started to cut through the tide. Dave managed to make up some lost ground, but not as much as I would have liked. After 3 hours I brought Dave back into the boat. 'Dave, you can steady the pace down now but listen carefully to what I'm about to say... if you continue to work hard now for 6 to 8 hours we will make it to France... if you don't you will not make it'. I saw the look on Dave's face drop. He had been swimming already for 14 hours. His longest training swim had been only 10 hours, and I was telling him to swim hard for another 8 hours. After some colourful language, Dave downed 4 jaffa cakes, 6 jelly babies, 500ml of sports drink and a cup of tea, and looked at the French coast, muffled something else under his breathe, and swam... and swam.... and swam.

For me, the last 6 hours of the swim were Dave's best. After 87 miles of running, 14 hours of swimming, there is only one type of athlete that will be able swim for another 6 hours, through some of the strongest tides in the world... an Enduroman! When we were around 400m from Calais beach, I joined Dave in the water and swam with him to the coast. I did this with Tom Beaver, and I can honestly say that these were my 2 favourite sporting moments of my life, including my own A2A. After Dave cleared the water, he collapsed. This is the mian reason someone needs to swim in with him as he was unable to stand on his own. After about 20mins of walking down the beach, and threatening to get customs to arrest Dave if he didn't swim back out to the boat, I finally pusuaded Dave to get back in the dirty blue stuff. Dave's swim time was 20hrs 2mins 29secs.

Dave's support crew were cheering Dave as he boarded the boat. I have watched the video footage of Dave climbing back into the boat. The first words that anybody said were from Wavey.... 'Well done Chunky Monkey'. Something you can show your Grandkids Dave! Wavey... you are a true mate . The 30mins boat jouney to the port was full of celebrations. An epic swim, completed by an outstanding athlete. The boat pilot showed me a map with Dave's route plotted on it. 'You don't see many like this Steve.... not succesful swims anyway'. No I thought, but it can be done. And it was done. With the right size gonads, anything can be done.

After a few hours sleep, Dave was on his bike enroute to Paris. The weather was really kind to us for most of the journey. At first, Dave had his mind set on braking Andy's bike split record. But as the fatigue from the past few days started to set it, Dave decided to enjoy the rest of the challange. As usual his support crew were dealing with Dave's needs. After a long stop at a McDonalds on the outskirts of Paris, Dave got back on his Bike 2 stone heavier, and began the 'glory phase' into the city centre. With one mile to go, his support dropped Dave and I off at the bottom of the Champs-Elysees so that they could all be at the finish before Dave. We sat down for 10mins and talked through what had been achieved. I then ran the last mle with Dave on his Bike until he reached the Arc de Triomphe.

And there we have it..... I bring you..... Enduroman no 6... Dave Farrell!!

What it takes to be an Enduroman - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Steve Haywood — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:20:00 +0100
Some of this will sound a little harsh, but it is to the point, without beating round the bush. For me, it is the only way to be. Some people won't like it, but these are facts, and people can take this information and hopefully deal with it intelligently. Would you be able to explain the difference between information and intelligence? 'Information' is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Once you know this, 'Intelligence' is then NOT putting a tomato into a fruit salad. Without mastering the art of dealing with information intelligently, you will not finish the Arch to Arc. Learn about yourself, your strengths and more importantly your weaknesses and make an intelligent plan to achieve success.

The Enduroman Arch to Arc is without doubt, the toughest triathlon in the world to complete. I say this quite confidently. Notice I didn't say, 'The toughest Endurance event in the world". This statement is becoming a bit of a house joke at the moment. It seems every documentary on TV where somebody has to walk more than a marathon or have less than 8 hours sleep is carrying this title. More people have walked on the moon, climbed Mount Everest and of course swam the English Channel than the A2A. When an athlete keeps 'upping' the severity of his chosen sport, the A2A sits right at the top or ours.

There are 3 types of athletes. These are the good, the bad and the ugly. There are thousands of 'good' athletes around the world, but the event demands a lot more than just talent. These athletes may have sponsors, a £5000 bike, 5% body fat and a sub 9hr Ironman time but if they start squealing like a pig when you dunk them in 10 degree water for more than an hour, or they can't puke up continuously for 10mins without breaking stroke, then they should stick to events that can be completed in less than half a day. They are usually the ones that think they know better, regardless of experience. Note the word 'usually' though. The ones that don't have a head start.

Then there's the 'bad'. Not in terms of ability, but motivation. I can usually work out if an athlete will be successful by asking, 'So why do you want to do this thing?" I have spoke to over 200 people in the last year that have expressed an interest in attempting the A2A and pretty soon you can realize who the t-shirt grabbers are. 9 times out of 10, I never hear from them again. The 'bad' are the athletes who's sole motivation is to be able to wear the t-shirt, only on club nights and race days so everybody can see what a great athlete they are. For example, I received an email from an athlete a while ago, asking if I could change the design of an event's finishing t-shirt so that the distances completed were displayed on the front of the t-shirt so that the person speaking to them would know what they have done. If this is what motivates you, I suggest there may be other issues going on that need to be put to bed before you jump in the English Channel after running from London. One athlete is attempting the A2A because there are scared shi**less of deep water and they can't think of anything scarier to do that swim the channel to conquer their life-fear. Another successful A2A athlete's sole motivation was to raise money for his best friend that died in suspicious circumstances whilst abroad with friends. Another stated that they had been training for the A2A for the last 15 years. These are all athletes that DO NOT fall into the 'bad' category and probably have the correct motivation to succeed (2 of them already have). With that said, all athletes at the top of their sport display a degree of arrogance.    And the desire to want others to know how good you are is a motivator.

Then there is the ugly. As the name suggests, they are not a pretty sight. These athletes usually go with gut feelings rather than common sense, as long as the job gets done. Their brains have been slightly 'numbed' over the years due to several factors that have given them a rock-hard shell. They may not be sub 9-hour Ironman, or sub 15-hours, or have even completed one at all, but they would die trying to finish. We have all seen athletes crawl across the finish line, refusing to board the ambulance until they finish, athletes carrying their bikes 30 or more miles due to mechanical failure just so they can start the run and finish the event and I have seen athletes who have been swimming for 12 hours and be told 'go hard for 4 hours and you may get to France', only to be told after 4 hours that the tides have changed and they have at least another 5 hours of swimming left.   Tom Beaver's reply was, 'OK, as long as I'm moving forward". The ugly athlete doesn't ask 'why?' at the time. He just gets on with it and finds out the answer when he's finished, if they are indeed bothered at all. There is an old expression when somebody follows instructions and gets into trouble that goes something like this, "If he told you to jump off a bridge would you still do it?". These are 'ugly' athletes. There are able to listen, learn and do things that they may not agree with, but trusts in other's knowledge and experience... just to get the job done. Ugly athletes will go above and beyond their call off duty. Can you imagine attempting this event for the first time 15 years ago, when nobody knew about the event, nobody had attempted it, there was no website, no live-feed, no finishing t--shirt ? (well that cancels out any successful attempt by a 'bad' athlete'). Where does the motivation come from?

This was Eddie Ette's story back in the early 1990's. He failed the swim, so he returned a few years later and made another attempt. Where did his motivation come from? He failed the swim again, so 2 weeks later he returned to London and ran the 84 miles again and made another attempt at swimming across the channel. Motivation? He failed again so he returned a couple of years later and tried again. This time he was successful and set the world record that still stands today. Even I have problems comprehending how Eddie did that. What drove him? Where did he get his strength from? One thing is for sure, and I don't mean this in an appearance way (or do I), Eddie is one of the ugliest athlete's I have ever met.

When Julian Crabtree successfully swam the Channel as part of the A2A in 2007, as he swam back from the French coast towards the boat after swimming for over 14 hours, when the pilot realized that some rope had become tangled in the boat's prop. This meant that unless it was cut free, the boat would have to be towed into Calais by the French authorities and would cost over £2000 in recovery fees. Suffering from extreme exhaustion and hypothermia, before even touching the boat after his mammoth swim, Julian took a knife, dived underneath the boat in the darkness and cut the boat free. There aren't many people in the world that I could say would definitely do that, probably around 5 people. Julian trained for 2 years to attempt the A2A is 2005, then only a few weeks before the event suffered a nasty injury which prevented him from starting. He trained for another year, and then only a few weeks before his 2006 attempt caught a nasty illness which prevented him from starting. He then trained for another year and after only a few miles of running from London, picked up another injury which led him to walk most of the run. After limping into Dover some 29 hours later, he went to bed for a few hours, started his swim on the less favourable spring tide and powered his way to a successful channel crossing and then became only the 3rd person in history at that time to complete the A2A. I have the most amount of respect for Julian, a truly amazing athlete. And while I think of it, only 3 months before his successful challenge, he joined Eddie and I as a team competing together on an ultra distance triathlon Wales. After receiving a cortisone injection in his back he retired during the bike stage. How can a person suffer 2 years of A2A disappointment, then pull out of a race due to injury only 3 months before his next A2A and then romp to victory in Paris. Enduroman No 3 did just that.

The successful A2A athlete needs to be good, bad and ugly. They need to have the potential to be good. Not at the Ironman (this is common mistake, Ironman fitness has completely no relation to the A2A), but at the A2A. They need to bad and have the arrogance to know that they are going to be successful and they don't mind letting others know about it. And most of all, they need to be ugly.

The biggest mistake we have noticed is that people think that it is all about swimming the channel. Of course this is the crooks of the matter. But the Enduroman Arch to Arc is all about running 87 miles, and then be in a condition strong enough to then swim the English Channel only a few hours later. These are facts. Let's face it... if you train intelligently for the run and the swim but you haven't been on your bike since you were 10 years old then pending completion of the channel you are still going to finish the event. A £5K bike isn't going to help you one little bit, unless of course, you are still chasing the record when you arrive in Calais.