Eight Point Two

what we get up to at this time of year…

To be honest it does go very quiet here in the office over Winter so keeping motivated to prepare for those busy weekends in Spring is all important.

Last week we did recce’s for two of Marie Curie’s adventure races (Whole Hog’s) ie Brecon Beacons and Cornbury park. Both of these venues look like being excelent race venues with a great find at the Brecon race of a 200 metre long tunnel!! Lets just say we are quite excited about that (we dont get out much). Cornbury is also an excelent venue with plenty of good challenges to look forward to! see their website for more details: http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/en-gb/events/adrenaline-experiences/

We also managed a recce of the RNLI’s South Wales cycle ride which involved Stuart cycling 50 miles in the pouring rain and strong winds!! Luckily his camera stayed dry so it was all worthwhile. For more details: http://www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/west/events

I was in Consiton (Lake District) preparing for two multi event challenges which will involve walking up the Old Man of Coniston,  canoeing a few miles around lake Coniston and finally an exciting cycle around Grizedale! What a playground the Lake District is!!   

Finally, I had some time planning the new 55 mile Ultra race we are putting on in Sheffield during the Summer. This week I get to run it (though not all in one go) so that we can get a GPS plot of the route! Hopefully well have the permission for what looks like being a great race soon!

So, if you were wondering – now you know!

Just a quick blog to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

January is always a quite time in the adventure events market so we tend to take a well earned break over Christmas and the New Year holidays. 2011 was a busy time for us and we were lucky enough to run some of our best events ever!

2012 is already shaping up to be a very busy year with May and June all getting close to being full already. Races and cycle rides seem to be the growth areas with Marie Curie expanding their exclusive Whole Hog race programme from 1 event in 2011 to 5 races (all in May) in 2012. Take a look at their web site for more details but the 5 races are well spread out around the country so there is something for everyone. The usual mix of mayhem, mud and hills will be at every venue!

The RNLI have also expanded their cycling programme with us too. We now have 3 new exclusive events (5 in total)with them linking RNLI lifeboat stations around the UK. Whitby, South Wales and a 3 day Coast to Coast are all new events as well as an exclusive abseil off the Humber Bridge. Again, check out their website for more details.

We also have a number of events with other charities and businesses: Heres a short list of events coming up in the next few months- if you want more details take a look at the website of the company/charity involved:

Key 103 -  Trafford Centre abseil

Walsall Stop Smoking Society – Walsall abseil

Red Cross – Leasowe Lighthouse abseil

Hewlett Packard – National 3 Peaks

MAG – Lake District tri Challenge

Young Achievers – Yorkshire 3 Peaks

Yorkshire Cancer Centre – Yorkshire 3 Peaks

Marie Curie 5 Peaks Challenge – Lake District

Marie Curie – Yorkshire 3 Peaks

We also have our own open events which you may also be interested in. Take a look at our open events calendar on the website www.eightpointtwo.co.uk for details of cycle rides, walks, races and abseils.

Fianlly, once again we would like to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Yesterday was the day for the team race!

With just over a 100 teams competing it was always going to be a busy day but after the success of the individuals day we were confident of another good day. The course followed pretty much the same route as the individuals race but also included a team challenge which involved dragging concrete posts around a short-circuit!

The race started well with the competitors making good times around the earlier section of the route. Unfortunately, unbeknown to us, somebody had tampered with an early section of the route which caused some of the leading teams to go off route! However, the mistake was soon rectified but the course tampering resulted in some strong teams losing much time and their rightful places in the race! We were obviously hugely disappointed about this and are still trying to get to the bottom of who might have removed the vital signs and tape. Needless to say it was very disappointing for the faster teams!

However, the race continued and the hole was plugged soon after it had been made meaning that the majority of teams were soon following the course as it was laid out. There were a number of good times made yesterday including another sub hour result from the leading all mens team! Another excellent time! It was a great effort from all of those teams that took part – especially those of you who did the extra loop. Big thanks once again to the Fitness Unit who sponsored the event. Thanks Guys!! Until next year!

Results are below and pictures are available at : http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3035436

Our first individual race at Wantisden, Suffolk was a great success. As it was its first year we didnt expect high numbers but those who did come brought some quality and speed with them. The course was, as usual, a fast first half interpersed with a few simple obstacles. Then came the first proper area of wet obstacles including river crossings, the Hog Pit, Tunnel of Love and the digger trenches. A short lap was then followed by the monkey bars and the Bomb Crater. Another short run led on to the Tunnels and a further river crossing.

The last few km took in the zip slide and then the cross country route over the hay bails and back to the finish!

It was an excelent fast race with Sam O’Neil and Alastair Wright both being the first to break the hour barrier!

Pictures available at http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3035436