Yes, you read that correctly. A marathon. On ice. Why? Because I'd never done a marathon before and would probably never do one again, so I might as well make it memorable: by doing it on frozen lake in Norway, as part of the World Ice Running Championships. Thus, the Oarsman! We drove from O...
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After appearing on House Hunters International a few weeks ago, I have received lots of very kind messages from people who saw the show. This rocks! I can't express how grateful I am for the show of support; it's hard to stay convinced I'm doing anything worthwhile, so hearing that some peop...
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I need to get fit. Much as I have loved the last 5 months of adventuring, it has not been good for my health. Too much beer, too many cakes and too long sitting on long-haul transportation has done terrible things to my body. I am fatter than ever before, my muscle has shriveled to the point of u...
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On Sunday morning, with hangovers that would kill lesser men, the Guild of Adventures donned our running gear (I made mine by taking a knife to my trousers), wrapped socks around our shoes to keep them on...and strode out onto the Killing Fields of Tough Guy Nettle Warrior 2013... [caption id="at...
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Once I am out of Mossburn, I stop to catch my breath and readjust my backpack, which already weighs a ton. My knees throb and the lunacy of attempting to run 22km in this condition has dawned on me. Still, at least I have made some good distance towards Five Rivers. Casually I check my watch for...
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Today, I shall hitch hike back to Queenstown from Te Anau, after a week of walking in the mountains. Sarah and I have managed to get as far as Mossburn; I have jumped out at the turnoff for Queenstown and she has continued on to Dunedin, on her way back home to Candada. So here I stand, on Highway...
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Today, I have been told that the Cairns Trinity Beach Bulldogs have put me on their team for tonight's match against Cairns City Lions. I suspect they are simply one man short of a full team. (If that sounds like a euphemism for being crazy, I stick by it entirely). Still, the Guild knows no fear...
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Luckily for me, tonight's Aussie Rules training is mainly just drills. The guys have a match tomorrow, so they don't want to get too bashed up in the pre-match training session. Also luckily for me, everybody here is friendly and inviting; they include me immediately and don't even mock my u...
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This evening, I am off to Cairns to train with the Cairns Trinity Beach Bulldogs Aussie Rules Football team. There are three contributing factors to this surprising turn of events: Firstly, I always agree to trying new sports and games. I don't want to stop doing so, just because the fund-rai...
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I haven't been here long, but I have come to love exercising and working out in Australia. I find it infinitely more energising than going to the gym in the UK, where even in the summer I have started waddling in stiff and aching from the cold, hunched over and dripping wet, wondering why I even bo...
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Somehow, friends, I did it. 13km of open sea kayaking, 22km of mountain biking and 12km of trail running in the midday Australian summer heat. It was horrendously hard...but not for the reasons I expected. I expected the kayaking to be the killer. I'd never tried it before and I was certain I'...
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I have not finished...but I am finished. I am also lost. In the Australian bush. God damn it. I have nothing left. The kayaking stole my strength, the mountain biking crushed my spirit and now here I am, face down in the sand. I am not getting up. I don't even want to. This is the most e...
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By the time I pick up my mountain bike, my mind and body have separated. My body is a shell; a hollow, useless husk. Yet my mind is aflame. For the first time since I signed up for the Enduro Adventurethon, I believe I can complete it. A seemingly impossible 13km of sea kayaking are behind ...
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“If you don't know how to kayak, you may as well give up now.” So says this professional, in his pre-Adventurethon interview. Clearly he has never met an adventurer of The Guild before. We never give up. Ever. And we don't know how to do anything! Due to the weather (there has just be...
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I cannot kayak. This I now know for a fact. A deeply concerning fact... After a morning of exploring Townsville, I hitch a ride with over to Magnetic Island with Derek from Winner Kayaks. He is kindly lending me both a sea kayak and a mountain bike for tomorrow's Adventurethon. He has sugge...
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Today was my first off-road run of 2013 and my first since a traumatic body-building workout with Robser Le Monster. I decided to try a 10km route my dad showed me before I ran the Wycombe Half Marathon in 2011. So, to the sounds of Apocalyptic Love by Slash, I headed out into the chilly February e...
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Today, I had my first cage fight, at Gods of War's Berserker Brawl V - Valhalla Rising! I also lost my first cage fight...along with my general confidence in my ability to grapple. To be honest, this is probably for the best. If I can't fight, it's good to at least know that I can't fight - r...
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Today, I decided that running 6km at a time was going to get me nowhere fast. Or rather, it would get me exactly 6km...and rather slowly. Useless. The only thing within a 3km radius of my house is Tesco Express and, if I want to go there, I'll drive. For one thing, it is a petrol station and, fo...
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According to the Native American calendar, the 22nd of March will see the end of the Wolf Month and the start of the Month of the Falcon. Oh, it will also be two year to the day since I started this blog... In honour of this tradition of naming months after kickass animals (as well as some disappo...
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Today, I went for a run. It way my first run since the Super Spartan race in September...which was my first run since the Spartan Sprint in July, which was also my first run since Tough Guy this time last year. So, today saw my forth run in 12 months, bringing my total distance covered in a YEAR ...
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