We all have snapshots in life when you can remember specific moments: 911; Royal Wedding. I have one related to the eXtreme 5 Challenge. A friend of mine (Graeme) was training to swim the Channel; we were in Dover giving some moral support and awaiting our ladies to emerge from “powdering their noses.” The conversation turned to next year and how to top swimming the Channel. Some wild ideas were bounced around!
That was August 2008. Since then Graeme has conquered the Channel; those wild ideas are now the eXtreme 5 Challenge, and Graeme, myself and another friend Mike have covered the length and breadth of the UK under our own power. See the full story of that on.
Four Challenges down we returned from our adventures brimming with ideas to raise money for charity and satisfy the 5th Challenge. Along the way we’d had a lot of fun; met some great people; got a bit fitter, and we thought others would enjoy something similar. So we set up a one day Challenge involving swimming; kayaking; cycling and running that participants can do for their own favourite charity.
You may not know it but this year that Challenge takes place at the Thames Young Mariners in Richmond. It’s the third running of the event which is proving increasingly popular with people of all ages and abilities. (You don’t have to be super fit unless you take on the individual challenge – most people do it as a team of 4.)
The people that took part, the charities that benefitted and our own memory banks now contain a lot more snapshots. If you want to be part of a unique challenge in 2012 or support a particular cause this article might just become one of you life’s snapshots.
Simon Grint
