Team MAD Update
Less than a week to go
Less than a week to go until our window opens — it’s all becoming very real. Our Channel swim slot runs from 31 August to 5 September, and we could be called to swim at any point during it. Once we know our swim time, we work backwards to our departure from Marble Arch: we’ve budgeted 20 hours for the run/walk, followed by 10 hours’ rest at Dover before we hit the water.
1) Clyde 1 interview
Thanks to Maggie’s, we’ve been interviewed by Clyde 1, Glasgow based radio station — listen out for it on 28/29 August.
2) Branded team wear
Thanks to Gary Potter of Think Solution, we now have some fantastic branded stash — T-shirts and jackets with our names on. No excuse for wearing the wrong jacket mid event!
3) Our fantastic support team
Gillian — aka Beach Babe — has been with us on many of our adventures, and always seems to know exactly what kind of encouragement the moment calls for. She’s the ultimate person to have on a boat. If one of us hasn’t slept the night before through nerves (usually Trisha!), Gillian is the one who’ll calmly insist: “It’s okay — you’ve been resting.”
Yvonne — Trisha’s eldest sister and Rachel’s aunt — has very kindly taken on the driving, which is no small job, and the food too. That suits us perfectly: we like food, but we wouldn’t call ourselves foodies, and Yvonne is the real thing — a private chef who cooks for shooting lodges and makes the most amazing Victoria sponge. She’s a no-nonsense performer: she’ll just drive, be there, get it done, no messing around. We’re enormously grateful.
And Coach Paul. He’s “Coach” Paul because Trisha’s husband is also called Paul, and one Paul per team is quite enough confusion. Coach Paul is our official Enduroman adjudicator, so he’ll be with us throughout — and he’s also offered to help with the bikes, which is just as well, because neither of us would claim to be “bike people”. He was until recently the fastest male athlete to complete the Enduroman without a wetsuit and after a year of coaching us he has the measure of us both: keeping Trisha, a self-confessed over-trainer, in check, and building a programme that fits around Rachel’s very busy schedule. We can’t wait to have him on our small but perfectly formed team.
We’ll keep you posted as soon as our slot is confirmed — in the meantime, we’re praying to the weather deities. Thanks very much as always for your support!
Trisha and Rachel
