Hebridean Challenge 2003

While you’re sleeping, we are training!

In these cold, dark days of winter there is nothing better than sitting in front of a roaring fire, watching the telly and planning a summer holiday. Occasionally you may glance through a frosted window to see someone jogging past and think “idiot”. That idiot may well be one of the seven who have volunteered to represent One.Tel in the gruelling Hebridean Challenge (sponsored by One.Tel) next June.

This physically demanding event starts in Stornoway, and over the course of five days, takes the team through the Hebridean islands to Barra. This is achieved with a combination of hill running, orienteering, swimming, cycling, canoeing and mountain biking. The team of five will be selected out of Tim Silva, Darren Turnbull, Robyn Ferrar, Wollie Boehm, Pete Holley, James Burns and Richard Stevens. In the meantime, the “Heb Squad” are busy building up their fitness and preparing to enter a series of similar events to hone their skills and prepare for those hectic five days in June.

So next time you see one of the Heb Squad looking like death after a hard training session, repress the thought of ‘fool’ and replace it with ‘Go Team One.Tel!’.

Mud, Sweat and Gears

With the Heb Challenge getting closer the team training is becoming more intense. This weekend the challenge for the team was The Morph – an off-road biathlon (fell running and mountain biking), or triathlon (the biathlon with added kayaking).

We were 4 of about 80 entrants in this gruelling 2 to 3-hour race. The 6.5mile run started on a long, cruel uphill stretch, giving no quarter to athletes who had failed to warm up properly, before taking us across the undulating Ashdown Forest to squeeze the energy from our legs. The last stretch of the run was a single winding track along the river, where the pace quickened despite having to duck and dive around trees and logs.

Suitably sapped by the run, Tim took to the water for the 1.5mile paddling leg of the triathlon, whilst the landlubbers (Robyn, Pete and Rich) took to the bikes. Three laps (12 miles) of a devious mountain bike course followed. The route was designed for maximum punishment and did not disappoint. Fast, single-track sections, cruel uphill stretches, unforgiving, root-gnarled forest trails, jumps, drops and a few stream crossings added to the thrill and excitement. This was a race not for the faint-hearted and no one escaped unscathed.

After the race we sat at the finish with battered bodies and jelly legs, comparing our well-earned cuts, bruises and blisters and congratulated Robyn on being the first woman across the line…

… and then we started to plan the next torture that we call training

We did it!

After months of planning and training we finally took part in the One.Tel Hebridean Challenge. None of us really knew what was in store for us when we arrived in Stornoway as extreme challenge virgins, but by the following Friday we were fully fledged adventure racers… wizened and hardened by experience.

Those who were following the 5-day race on the website will know that Team One.Tel came stone last. BUT we are all very happy with our performance and recognise that the learning curve was too steep, and the deep end too deep for us to have a crack at being competitive.

We have undertaken a journey from the Isle of Lewis to Barra by human power and on the way we visited pain, excitement, disappointment, elation, tears, laughter, exhaustion and sleep deprivation. What’s more, we picked up a couple of injuries along the way but still managed to keep the pace. We supported each other and kept each other going through the ups and downs. A very special thanks to Captain ‘we’re gonna kick some ass’ Silva who has a gift for lifting team spirits and keeping morale and motivation at high levels… Tim, we could never have done it without you!

This was so much more than an athletic exercise in getting from A to B in the fastest possible time. For us it was about a team of people learning to pull together in adverse conditions, using the team’s skills and strengths to work as one to achieve our goal. We mixed in with the best and saw it through to the end. Along the way we were praised by teams and organisers alike for our plucky attitude and team spirit. Having a fantastic time was a bonus; coming last was immaterial; finishing with a smile was everything!

A Small Moment of Emotion

It was over. The last swimmer had rung the castle bell and the race was complete. We had smiled for the cameras and shook hands. There was no more. We threw the kit into the van, selected some suitable sounds, cranked up the volume and grinned.

Then it hit. The days of racing, the brutal mountain bike stage, the time trials, the swims, the elation, the agony, the planning, the sleep deprivation… not to mention the months of training for this very race. Everything about the challenge condensed into a single moment in time. I realised it was over… the end of a relationship of such intensity, passion, and unyielding demands that all else became secondary.

At that moment I was released from its grasp, but instead of the relief I’d craved, there was nothing. I was in a void that sucked the tears from my heart.