What's this all about?

A new adventure beckons, and this is once again about my personal journey to make it happen.

It might make you laugh; it might make you cry, but by 'eck lads and lasses, it will be worth a quick skeg every now and then, tha's for sure.

Monday 27 February 2012

My 100th post - New scenery, old jokes, Eddie the Eagle & the auction begins

With a little over 5 weeks to go, I now know what my last 4 blog entries will be before I head to the Pole.

a) There will probably be one after this coming Friday which could prove to be quite an eventful and emotional day given it's the service for Peter Huntley. I then need to drive from Preston to Middlesborough, via Salford, to get to a soiree organised for me by my friend Jane, to talk about my challenge to some potentially interested individuals.I think the key word is 'potentially'.

b) There will be an entry after my training week in Norway (and Jonny Brown has said there'll be the chance of another article updating readers of the Yorkshire Evening Post too). Speaking of which The Victoria Quarter sneaked in a little article about their support back in February that I didn't know about.


c) One after the Yorkshire Mafia Conference in late March and ...

d) The fourth one should be a few thoughts from me just before I leave for Heathrow. I expect it to detail JUST how nervous I'm feeling as the reality of imminently heading to one of the most inhospitable places on earth sends me running to the loo (but you didn't really need to know THAT much detail did you).

No doubt there will be a couple once I'm back too, but this blog entry, my 100th, is about the weekend just gone.

It began as all normal weekends do, on a Friday evening. I had chosen not to train on Friday as I had a searing pain down my left knee cap on Thursday morning, whenever I walked down stairs. I arrived home from work to find a large sled-shaped parcel and a large boot box dumped in the middle of my lounge. My polar gear had arrived.

On a stylish rug in my lounge; no the whole floor isn't that colour (see photo of my foot further down)
After saying hello to the girls and having some food, I sat down and watched a DVD ('Real Steel' if you must know) determined to deal with the packages over Saturday and Sunday but, at midnight, I decided rather than go to bed I just HAD to try on the boots (given it was the easist of the packages to open and easiest item to try on). They seemed HUGE ... simply HUGE and yet lightweight too thankfully.

Not sure this really demonstrates their size against my foot (nice wooden flooring though, not a red rug/carpet)

Not sure it looks that big against Lauren's either (she's sat on my Mum's carpet; what can I say, she's almost 80 and quite traditional in her tastes ... my Mum, not Lauren. Hmm bit of a 'flooring' theme going on here I think)

And so I went to bed in the quiet satisfaction that the footwear fitted beautifully and I looked forward to checking the rest of the kit. I also knew I had to try the camping stove Andrew from work let me borrow, to practise with before I look a complete chump in Norway. Oh dear (#fail).



Saturday afternoon I set up the equipment on my 'picnic table' with the umbrella acting as the tent roof (Andrew had confirmed what Geoff Somers (the Trek lead) had told us; you could burn the tent down if you're not VERY careful). The good news is I didn't burn a hole in the umbrella and I 'made fire' four times!



The bad news is, the four fires were actually on the picnic table after the safety valve on the fluid bottle kept letting some out and not ONCE did I get the camping stove to work. After that I gave up and as I'd been to the gym for a PT session that morning, that was it for all things 'polar' that day.

It's strange but after such a massive prep and build-up, my mind is the most fatigued thing of all. It's as if once I'd concluded the #ontheflag opportunity, my mind just said "Enough for now. Think of something else", but that's easier said than done though and so, with a tyre drag to come in the afternoon on Sunday, I got up and decided to unpack all my gear to check it against the shipping list.

Within minutes it was obvious that I was a pair of gloves and a hat short (as they'd only packed four, yes FOUR different types of gloves and four different hats/balaclava's) . The 'tent socks' were there though and felt like baggy Ugg boots!.

Just the hats, gloves and 'tent boots' here with two sleeping 'mattresses' stood behind

Of course the gloves will be handy to stop my fingers going bad with frost-bite. Actually that brings me onto this weeks random photo; a shot of Tesco's Finest sausages. Is it just me or does the photo make it look like the butcher has deformed fingers in some wrapping?

I can see the newspaper headline now; "Tesco pay rates appalling; workers sell their own fingers to make ends 'meat'".
Now where was I; oh yes, the polar clothing. So after 6 pairs of leggings, 6 tops of varying 'weights', 4 jackets, two windproof sallopettes, 5 pairs of normal polar socks, 4 pairs of boot liners, 3 waterproof storage bags, 2 one-litre flasks and a partridge in a pear tree, I finally got to the BIG jacket; the quilt with sleeves and a TOG factor of 97!!



The hugeness of the coat was unbelievable and it felt so warm that after just 3 minutes with it on (unfastened) I was feeling light-headed and a little queasy. Either I have NO idea how cold it will be at the Pole or this is a very worst-case scenario jacket where it's death by freezing or toastie warm survival.

Once all the clothing was checked to ensure it would fit, it was time to head off for a few hours tyre-dragging with the 17kg tyre. Instead of Rothwell Park I decided that Temple Newsam Park had a lot of slopes and some rough tracks through the woodland areas. A new 'gate of hell' awaited.

It looks so flat and welcoming at first.

I did intend to take a few photos on my journey but I found the first 30 minutes increasingly difficult I forgot until I got to the top of this gentle nagging slope .......


I've made this photo extra-large so you can almost make out the people at the bottom of the hill
It was whilst I was slogging up this hill I made a startling discovery. I'd noticed before that when I was in-the-zone huffing and puffing up a long slope I've find myself humming the theme tune to The Addams Family in my head, or even quietly shh-whistling it. It was then that I recalled my Dad would do such things and I've only just realised it wasn't him being jolly or annoying or finding things fun, but it was his way of dealing with physical demands placed on him.

I smiled as I remembered the day before, when we went to visit my Mum, I took a photograph of a photograph she has stood on the upright piano in her lounge (still tempted to write "... in their lounge").



After resting at the top of the slope I happily and easily continued with the 5-mile drag, no longer shh-whistling the theme tune as I suddenly felt self-conscious, but finding the slopes and tracks not only easier but also enjoyable.

I think I've mentioned before that it's as if the first 30 minutes is the hardest as the pipes and cobwebs need to clear away. After that it's just general fatigue that starts to emerge after about 6 miles usually.

It was a wee bit warm Sunday afternoon and I would have done a third and maybe even a fourth circuit had I not run out of time, but it was time to set off to take Becky and her boyfriend to the airport (he's returning to Canada to live and she flies out in 4 weeks to join him).

What I did notice about 'dragging' around Temple Newsam is that there are so many more people there than when I drag around Rothwell Park and quite a few of them asked me what I was training for. I even had 4 people take a copy of the business card that Rushfirth Creative designed for me.


So many lovely people although the downside was it was the first time they had had the opportunity to shout out the usual jokes: -

"Hey mate you've got a tyre attached to you" - wow, creative

"Can I sit in it? I'll add a bit of weight" - err join the queue & I have videos in earlier entries to prove it

"Lost your car mate?"/"Have you got a flat?"/"Is the tread on that legal?" - hang on, that last bit actually MIGHT be original .... err ... oh no sorry, my mistake; it's the 97th time I've heard that joke.

I must say though that apart from the 9-year old girl who kept saying "Ty.... urrrr" every 25 yards (so tempted to jam her inside it and roll in down a hill towards the lake), everyone else who spoke to me, even if only to say a bemused 'hello', were really really nice. I'll definitely be back there several times before I leave for the Pole.


NOTE TO READER: -
The above was written yesterday evening, before I went to bed and subsequently woke up with a splitting headache at 4am. I'm now completing this entry before I go listen to an absolute British folk-hero ... but more of that at the end. Next up? A brief intro to my fundraising auction.



Between now and 23rd March I'll be running an auction, primarily via Twitter but also via my 'northpoletrek' email address (ask me if you want the details sending; I just don't want to publish it on here for fear of SPAMBOTS grabbing it and abusing it).

From this week onwards I'll be publishing details of the items that are in the auction, so keep your eyes peeled on here and via my Twitter account (@northpoletrek). How it works is you bid a price, the highest price (but not the bidder's name) is posted every weekend until midnight on the 23rd March. At that point the bids will close and the winners will receive their items.

Items so far include: -

1. A limited edition YCCC signed top, created for a special Roses cricket match to support MacMillan Cancer Support (donated by YCCC on behalf of MacMillan Cancer Support). Bidding starts at £50
2. One of the 2 signed Gray Nicholls cricket bats (donated by YCCC with funds going to MacMillan Cancer Support). Bidding starts at £25 for each bat

A 1.75 litre bottle of Belvedere vodka. The internet has this item at £100 but we'll start the bidding from £50
(Item donated by Charity Angels; funds received to go to MacMillan Cancer Support)

There are also 4 excellent prizes coming from the Candlelighters Trust, a VIP 'celebrity package' from Run For All events (part of the Jane Tomlinson Appeal series of activities), Karen Asemper has offered an hour of her excellent coaching amongst a whole host of prizes. Watch this space and, if you're interested, you can start bidding on the items above right now via my Twitter account (@northpoletrek if you've forgotten it already) or ask me for my email address if you don't do Twitter.

I LOVE doing this stuff and it makes me feel liberated (even though this final addition to the blog has taken me over 2 hours today). What has added to the excitement today is that in exactly 9 minutes, a true hero of the British public will be on Liz Green's One to One (BBC Radio Leeds) - someone who if you were around and interested in the 1988 Winter Olympics, stood equal in legend to the Jamacian bobsled team. It is ..... Eddie 'the eagle' Edwards.

See below for an extract of the Wikipedia background to a self-funded Olympian who made the world sit up and take notice. Oh how amazing that is looking back. See you next weekend folks.





Edwards was born in Cheltenham, England. A good downhill skier, he narrowly missed out on the GB team for that event for the 1984 Games. To improve his chances to qualify for 1988, he moved to Lake Placid in the US to train and enter races of a higher standard; however, he soon found himself short on funds. To realize his Olympic dream he decided to switch to ski jumping for reasons of cost and easier qualification
with no other competing British ski jumpers.[4]

Eddie began jumping under the watchful eye of Chuck Berghorn in Lake Placid, NY, using his equipment though he had to wear six layers of socks to make the boots fit. Edwards was handicapped by his weight—at about 82 kg (181 lb), more than 9 kg (20 lb) heavier than the next heaviest competitor—and by his lack of financial support for training—he was totally self-funded.

Another problem was that he was very farsighted, requiring him to wear his glasses at all times, even though when skiing they fogged to such an extent that he could not see. Eddie was informed of his qualification for the Games whilst working as a plasterer and residing temporarily in a Finnish mental hospital due to lack of funds for alternative accommodation (rather than as a patient).[5]

Edwards first represented Great Britain at the 1987 World Championships, and was ranked 55th in the world and this performance qualified him, as the sole British applicant, for the 1988 Winter Olympics ski jumping competition. Edwards was the best ski jumper in the United Kingdom, setting a British record of 73.5 m in one of his Calgary jumps in 1988.[6]

1988 Olympics
Edwards finished last in both the 70m and 90m events. However, his lack of success endeared him to people all across the globe. The worse he did, the more popular he became.

He subsequently became a media celebrity and appeared on talk shows around the world, appearing on The Tonight Show during the Games. The press nicknamed him "Mr. Magoo", and one Italian journalist called him a "ski dropper".[8]

The widespread attention that Edwards received in Calgary turned into a large embarrassment for the ski jumping establishment. Many athletes and officials felt that he was "making a mockery" of the sport[citation needed]. Shortly after the Olympics finished, the entry requirements were greatly toughened, making it next to impossible for anyone to follow his example[citation needed].

[However] At the closing ceremony, the president of the Organizing Committee, Frank King, seemed to single out Edwards for his contribution: "At this Games, some competitors have won gold, some have broken records, and some of you have even soared like an eagle." [9]

Planned biopic
A film chronicling the life story of Edwards has been planned by Irish director Declan Lowney since 2007. Comedian Steve Coogan was originally slated for the title role.[15] Edwards was said to be pleased with the choice but also joked that Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise would be better suited for the role.[7] In 2009, Lowney announced that Rupert Grint would instead play the role. The film is scheduled to begin production once Grint has completed work on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2.[16]

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Sad news of the death of Peter Huntley

This evening I received the shocking news that Peter Huntley, a man due to go on the North Pole Trek in 6 weeks, sadly fell to his death on Sunday while out training on the snow-covered hills of the Lake District.

Peter was 54, a 6ft+ guy who was quiet, had a gentle nature and always an encouraging word. Such sad news and my thoughts are with his family.

He will be with us on our Trek, even if only in spirit.

R I P

Monday 20 February 2012

Wow and some text donation codes

The previous blog entry has had 215 page views already, less than a day after it was published on-line. It could soon become the most-read page (although that title currently belongs to a January 2012 entry with over 300 page-views).

I also wanted to ask you to spread the word about the text donation codes I've set up, just in case people want to do something immediate rather than log-on to a PC and dig out their credit card details.

To text a donation of between £1 and £10 for a specific charity, the user should text thje following message to 70070: -

'GNPT99 £(enter amount)' if they want to support Muscular Dystrophy Campaign

'GNPT98 £(enter amount)' if they want to support Candlelighters

'GNPT97 £(enter amount)' if they want to support MacMillan Cancer Support

'GNPT96 £(enter amount)' if they want to support Yorkshire Cancer Research

'GNPT95 £(enter amount)' if they want to support Heart Research UK

'GNPT94 £(enter amount)' if they want to support The Jane Tomlinson Appeal

'GNPT93 £(enter amount)' if they want to support Yorkshire Air Ambulance

'GNPT92 £(enter amount)' if they want to support The Samaritans

'GNPT91 £(enter amount)' if they want to support Multiple Sclerosis Society

'GNPT90 £(enter amount')' if they want to support Help For Heroes

It would be AMAZING if this page generated another £1000 to add to my targets for the Twitter silent auction and the fundraiser at Zinc Restaurant Bar & Grill in Manchester on 28th March.

Sunday 19 February 2012

Self-doubt and the small matter of a 'flag' to premiere

Good evening, good morning or good afternoon (whenever you're actually reading this).

Six weeks on Tuesday and I take off from Heathrow on my way to Svalbard (via Oslo); blimey it's getting close and the nerves are starting to tingle just a little as that little thing called self-doubt starts to chatter away in my head. Not that it's a loud voice that's constantly nagging away but it was hugely evident after this Friday's tyre-dragging. Let me set the scene.

Lucia had recently returned from a visit to her parents house; newly built on the outskirts of Breszno (yes the photo below is the house). I'd been busy at work and tyre-dragging (and going to the gym) so we decided to have a weekend away in Oxford.


I tell you Oxford is SUCH a bad place as it hosts the best sweet shop in the WORLD. There was everything there and I'm sorry to admit it but we spent £49 in a flippin' sweetshop !!


This is only about 25% of the total shop

Yes she filled the basket (not me, oh no honest. Well maybe a bit).

Anyway we had a great weekend and last weekend I was so ready to train that it didn't surprise me when I completed 6 miles on the cross-trainer (Friday), a PT session (Saturday) and dragged 22kg of tyres for 4 miles on Sunday, stopping only once at the 2-mile point for water and a cereal bar. Admittedly the cold weather and the snow/ice helped.

Yes I look dopey, or cold ... or both
I also completed a pretty healthy cardio PT session during the week (Wednesday) so all in all I was feeling pretty positive. Then came the Friday just gone.

I can't really use the sort of words I'd like to use on a public blog like this but it was DREADFUL and primarily because the snow had gone and I allowed my mind to think about failure, giving up, taking a break, other things that were 101 excuses as to why I wouldn't complete the 4 mile circuit ... and I didn't !!! I was hot, my feet felt uncomfortable in my newer boots and I knew when I started that I was going to find it hard.

At least a photographer shooting me going up 'Hamstring Hill' broke up the 'drag'. Photo courtesy of Rothwell Record

So I went home after a tough and disappointing 2 miles and spent the rest of the afternoon packing for a short weekend with Lucia, chased the last contributors to go #ontheflag (I'll come onto that in a moment), wrote three VERY important emails and then left for Manchester and what turned out to be a fun Saturday afternoon in Southport, where it really wasn't very cold (oh no it wasn't Lucia it was just a strong breeze).


By the way I have to say I made a huge 'find' at Southport; BOVRIL !! I just would NOT shut up about how great it was and how I'd be taking it to the North Pole too so if you know someone at Bovril, tell them I think it's fab!!

Anyway back to that voice in my head. I dropped Lucia at work this morning and headed back to Leeds. I knew I had to shut that little voice up in my head and avoid failing today, so instead of 22kg of tyres for 4 miles I took just 15kg of tyre and went in shorts. I dragged it for 6 miles, stopping only twice for water and a cereal bar and completed the 6 miles in 3 hours .... PLUS could have done more if only I'd known the time.

Don't feel great about taking just one tyre but feel much more positive about the training ahead, what's left of it. No doubt Norway will be a final dose of reality just as Dartmoor was a dose of reality too.

I could go on further about the psychology of my Trek and where I am with self-belief after today, but I know many people have logged-in to this blog as they are one of either 78 companies who have donated to have their logo #ontheflag, or 6 individuals who donated to put a personal tribute to loved ones on it.

The #ontheflag opportunity is now closed.

If you follow me on Twitter (@northpoletrek) you'll probably already know the following three statements but, for those who do not, here they are: -

a) The flag represents £5 000 of donations by companies and individuals to get on it, recognition to those who have donated a little over £3 000 of goods/services to help with my fundraising and PR, the £31 000 of my own money to prep for and go on this Trek ..... and a whole HEAP of emotions.

One of the entrants #ontheflag will win it when I return from the Pole but I'll have a duplicate made to display at the Yorkshire Mafia Conference in March and then to hang in my house along with the other memories from past and future challenges. The actual flag will be vacuum-packed, safe and ready to fly out with me.

b) As you look at the design and as you think (maybe fleetingly) of the trek I'll be completing, NEVER EVER underestimate the support, patience, skill and passion of Rushfirth Creative (@rushfirthcreative on  Twitter or http://www.rushfirthcreative.co.uk/ on the web) - I am TRULY indebted to them and will never forget their kindness and professionalism.

I also acknowledge those behind the scenes who I am unaware of that will be turning the PDF below into an actual flag, resistant to temperatures that can get as low as -40.

c) All those #ontheflag are supporting a variety of the 10 charities I'm fundraising for; charities who I hope take the time to say a silent thank you for their generosity and a public thank you to everyone involved in the flag via their tweets as well as by their Facebook and/or web pages. If the charities want a PDF copy of the flag that can be provided.

Okay, well that's enough words about the flag, guess you want to see the design now huh?








You ready?






Are you sure?





Alright then, you asked for it ....





Here it is then ......



And so that concludes this blog entry. Not a hugely expansive one nor something I'd class as a favourite but it does represent the closing of the #ontheflag activity and that, for me and Rushfirth Creative, is just huge.

Thursday 2 February 2012

Only 27 days left to be #ontheflag (but first, some stats)

I've just broken through the 5000 page-views from readers in the UK, I'm approaching 1000 page-views from the States and January 2012 saw 1019 page views from afar afield as India, the Ukraine and a relative newcomer, the Netherlands.

It's been a steady climb in readers since it all began in December 2010

The pressure is on to top 1000 again in February and March before the BIG month of April when Twitter will probably be the main source of updates before my penultimate entry when I return from the Pole.

In May 2012 I'll make my final entry on this blog but it will point people to a blog about the proposed 2014 adventure which promises to be even MORE interesting and ever-so much more complicated. And you'll be able to take part of the 2014 adventure so here's hoping all my readers follow that blog too.

Finally there are only 27 days left for companies or individuals to get their logo's or personal messages #ontheflag. Contact me either via Twitter (@northpoletrek), Facebook (Geoff Major) or leave a comment on here. A £50 donation to my Trek charities and your logo (or message) could be on the flag I'm taking to the North Pole to photograph AND one of those #ontheflag will win the flag on my return.


Here are most of the logo's that Rushfirth Creative has received so far, ready to go on the flag (thanks folks).
Now, what about the rest of you? What's your reason for not donating £50 to get yours on?

What a GREAT piece of unique memorabilia. I hope you agree.

G'night.