Squash Falconer

A lot of people have been asking how we came up with this ambitious challenge - and the short answer is through having the good fortune to know Squash Falconer and be inspired by her adventures. Jam has known Squash (a friend of his sister) since he was a kid, and I met her at the Boat Show a few years back.

At that point, she had already become the first British woman to climb and fly off the top of Mt Blanc - and was preparing to summit and fly off the top of Everest. She's currently in Tanzania attempting to climb and fly off Kilimanjaro.

Watch the video below for a quick review of Squash's Mt Blanc summit and flight - and a taster of the challenge we are preparing for!

Anyway - about a year after meeting at the Boat Show, whilst at the Riverside Pub in Vauxhall - we decided we'd try to copy her.

Climb Mont Blanc and fly off the top.

And after a couple more beers - for some reason, we decided we'd cycle there too.

She's been a great support in the planning of our trip - and we are very, very grateful. Make sure you check out her website and follow her on twitter and facebook.

http://www.squashfalconer.com/
@squashfalconer
http://www.facebook.com/SquashFalconer

Coastal Trail Series - Half Marathon

As part of our training we've been covering a lot of miles on foot - and have signed up for a number of races to give us some focus to our training. Look out for updates on our Tough Mudder and Energizer Night Run events.

This weekend, I (Sam) traveled down to Devon with an old school friend (Adam Brown) to take part in a half marathon that formed part of the Coastal Trail Series. Staying in Adam's cottage in Hope Cove and joining a team of runners from Atkins Engineering, we entered this beautiful but 'Severe difficulty' level half marathon. It was amazing. Despite it being early February and snow was falling all across the country, we were treated to clear conditions and amazing views. Our route was a wet and muddy 14 miles, climbing over 2,000ft, and taking a full hour longer than previous half marathon times - but it was incredibly enjoyable.

The great video below shows some of the route filmed by helicopter - definitely worth a watch. If anyone is keen to do one of these in the future - do let me know! We also had a GoPro camera with us - so watch this space for some clips from our race.

Bikes Purchased!

After what felt like weeks of researching the best bikes and finding ourselves still pretty clueless, a rash decision after a few beers watching Italy beat France in the Six Nations has meant that we will both be riding identical Specialized Secteur Sports. More importantly, we've bought matching helmets and so our fashion colour scheme for the next 9 months is now an enforced red, white and black.

We've both be training pretty hard over the last few months - but mostly running and gym work. Now we have bikes we have no excuse - hardcore training begins!