We’ll be coming down the mountain…

Sat here at my desk this lunchtime finding it difficult to believe I was 650m up on the Fairfield Horseshoe braving 70-85mph winds yesterday. Truly is a magnificent way to spend a day – raising money for charities that are really close to our hearts.

This was one of the defining views of the day yesterday… I’m thinking about getting it done on canvas for the house!

Team Scotland made the finish all together in the first group – so big shout out to Shiona “Surprise” McCallum, Stuart “Goldenballs” Stott and James “Miami Vice” Stephens.

A big shout out also to those from CHAS that didn’t quite make it to the finish due to unforeseen circumstances involving an injury to one of the team – Jon, Sandy and Paul as well as Danielle and Darek from Frankie & Bennies. Jon – thanks for the goody bags and T Shirts – made all the difference!

We asked the gaffer, Mark – what his thoughts on the day so far were… just as we reached Peak 1…

Needless to say we all stuck close to pinch some Haribo’s after this!

One or two mentions to be made from what was a truly memorable day out:

Michael McIntyre – thanks for all your hard work organising… was a cracking day and night!
Helen Walledge – Sorry for forgetting the Hot Chocolate… I hope it kept you going on the way to work this morning! Also… practice your sewing skills!
Alex, Ben and Dave Quinney – Couldn’t have asked for better lads to team up with, great laugh… keeping it Celtic!
Alan Scott – Found your wallet yet? ;o)
Pete Casci – Official Videographer… looking forward to it!
Linda Bailey – Leading the pack. Walking so hard she broke her pole!
Dan & Sig – Good motivation and well organised trip again!
Tom Gillings – For confusing the life out of the locals with your Cockney Rhyming Slang!
Everyone else… cracking to meet you and catch up with you – I had a really great time and hopefully it won’t be the last time we all get together.

A selection of photo’s from the day are below:

We also got a few talk ups on both the breakfast show and drivetime today and yesterday… audio attached:

I also want to reserve special mention to the guys that were in the second group down the mountain last night. I thought we had it bad with our 70mph gales – but by the time they had hit the ridge, they wind had blown up to 85mph  (yes, a severe gale) and they also had to contend with a pretty hefty hailstorm as well… not to mention walking in the dark which can’t have been easy. To quote Steve Dunbobbin: “The hail was like getting acupuncture on your face…” nice. Tough work.

Just to finish off by saying that if you meant to give us a donation to CHAS for the 6 Peaks Challenge you can still donate at: http://www.justgiving.com/realradio-scotland or text REAL66 £x to 70070 

We’ve currently raised £805 – but hope to get a little more over the following days.

Hope we get to to do this again – it’s a privilege to work with each and every one of you 🙂
Definitely a relaxing evening on the cards tonight… and one thing is for sure… I won’t be eating curry, drinking beer or climbing mountains for some time yet!

Hope you all enjoyed reading and see you on the other side!

The Last Supper – Team Scotland Style

So I’ve just finished packing my bag for the 6 Peaks Challenge after (in true typical man fashion) A. leaving it till the last minute and B. Lumping the entire contents of my outdoor collection into a bag big enough to fit a small person (It’s actually a sleeping bag I borrowed from Alison McDonald). Cheers Aldo!

I’m now sitting down to dinner. In true athletic fashion I’m having Chicken Chow Mein washed down with a bottle or three of Heineken – accompanied by the latest episode of AMC’s the Walking Dead.

Eating utter rubbish, being half inebriated and sloping around like a Walker? Sounds just like what Team Scotland will be doing on Wednesday night after the 6 Peaks Challenge.

See, that’s how we do it in Scotland… I run up a 600m gradient hill and 11k distance in a training run at the weekend and what do I do? Follow it up with a King Prawn Phaal and one too many Cobras! That’s how we roll. That’s also why the West Coast of Scotland has the highest incidence of Heart Disease in the developed world. My bad.

Speaking of the rest of the world – we’ve got people descending to Ambleside from all over tomorrow. James Stephens, fresh back from his intensive training session overseas in Miami has arrived back in the UK and gone straight to Leeds via Laser House today. He tells me he hired a Chevy Camaro and drank Mojito’s all week. We all know better, he was dragging the car at altitude to get into shape for this. James… no excuses. You’re week long training camp is better preparation than the rest of us have had!

Roving Reporter Shiona McCallum has been away in Dumfries & Galloway working on Ewen & Cat’s Guide to Scotland… our first ever locally ad funded programming (sponsored by Visit Scotland). She’s been Zorbing! She’ll be making a special arrival tomorrow:

 

Stuart Stott… He’s currently sitting at home playing FIFA 14, and eating 6 chickens (yes, he does that every day.) (No, I’m not kidding either). He’s the dark horse of Team Scotland. A bit like the French National Rugby Union team… he can outpace and outperform just about anyone he’s ever met… if he can be arsed turning up ;o)

I hadn’t really thought about the weather aspect of this at all until the other day. The temperatures started to plummet after what was an unusually mild Autumn. I thought… it’s cool – we’ll get a wee bit wet and probably a bit muddy… ho hum, happens every weekend up here!

Then I went to training the other evening and was faced with this:

 

Now… where did I put that trapper hat and my long john’s?

See you on the slopes ;o)

Have you not made a donation yet? Why not? We’re so close to target… you can seriously help us get over the line!

http://www.justgiving.com/realradio-Scotland

Text REAL66 £x to 70070 

 

A day of appeasement…

So I was having a think the other night about how in my position as Team Scotland blabberer I could help make all the other participants be more at ease with the task they are about to undertake. I decided the best way to do this was bite the bullet and get down there for a little reccy myself and see what the fuss was all about. So here’s a little video I took of the beautiful scenery we’ll be taking in on our ramble in the brambles:

The big question is… which one of us is going to be Jon Snow?

Just an interim shout out to some friends and colleagues who have made a difference to this challenge in the last couple of days… A full, and frank mission briefing will be given at 09:00 on Monday morning.

The big man (Gavin) was obviously feeling very generous this week due to the absolutely STUPENDOUS, STONKING AND FANTASMAGORICAL performances that have bestowed Real and Smooth Radio in Scotland this October – as such, he dug deep into his own commission for the month and donated us the princely sum of £100. Thank you so much, makes a huge difference.

Also, massive thanks to Ross Williamson, Vic Paterson, Karen Hodgson, Sue Donaldson, Michelle Hextall, Suzanne Waters, Lisa Wilkinson and Ali Bally Bing Bong for their kind donation to the cause (every single penny counts). If you haven’t already donated… please make it your priority to do so: http://www.justgiving.com/RealRadio-Scotland or text REAL66 £x to 70070

Oh, and all my family and friends too… but this post isn’t really aimed at them!

ONE TIME OFFER ONLY. I WILL MATCH EVERY PENNY DONATED BY A MOVEMBER PARTICIPANT BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE WALK WITH A RECIPROCATED DONATION! Anyone?!? Come on!

The guys at CHAS really need your help – they do such amazing work and even a donation of a fiver can make all the difference.

However, that’s not where the good work ends. I would also like to give a huge bit of encouragement to the guys around the country who are raising money for the charities that are so close to their hearts. They are Noah’s Ark Childrens Charity in Wales: http://www.noahs-ark-appeal.org When you Wish Upon a Star in the North West: http://www.whenyouwishuponastar.org.uk/ Zoe’s Place in the North East: http://www.zoes-place.org.uk/ and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance: http://www.yorkshireairambulance.org.uk/

And that leads me on to the next part…

… wait, I’ll have to leave that till Monday – my new equipment for the walk has just arrived from Go Outdoors!

TTFN!

TEAM SCOTLAND ARE BACK FOR MORE (PUNISHMENT)

So… sent out an email a couple of weeks ago looking for volunteers for the next installment of Michael McIntyre’s stonking ideas story book – and silly me… thought I’d perhaps start with asking the hardy souls that formed Team Scotland on the Five Peaks last time. In no particular order… here’s the response I got.

Alison McDonald: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. No.

Lynn Proudfoot: Eehhhhh, I’m sure I’m washing my hair that day.

Karen Hodgson: James (Husband) says I can’t go so I’m not allowed to (*yes Karen, I’m only joking*)

Gerry Burke: Hmm, no. It’s really not my cup of tea.

Then we had James Stephens’ response which I recorded for posterity (PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURE OF JAMES FOR THE VIDEO):

Seems as though I was the only one actually up for doing the challenge… I don’t think there’s any coincidence in the fact that I’m getting married in a little under six months though and will do anything to get away from organisation!

So that then led me on to my next trick.

Get everyone bladdered on Tequila at the recent RAJAR night and put a highlighter/crayon in their hand and then masquerade it as a signed testimony on Sunday Morning. This appears to have worked on both Stuart ‘MasterChef’ Stott and Shiona ‘Roving Reporter’ McCallum. Both of which have tried to pull out kicking and screaming at a couple of opportunities – however are both now resigned to the fact that it’s the only way I’ll ever leave them alone (EVER AGAIN).

Team Scotland is now made up of: Myself, James Stephens (in Miami, returns day before challenge), Stuart Stott, Shiona McCallum and the rest are representatives of our charity.

So…

… given the fact that I’m probably the only freak in the entire business that’s actually looking forward to doing this (us White Walkers North of the Wall love the cold) – I guess it now falls upon me to yet again become official Team Scotland blabberer… sorry, blogger-er for the Real and Smooth Six Peaks Challenge.

Up here in Scotland we are raising money for a charity called CHAS: CHAS is a charity that provides the only hospice services in Scotland for children and young people who have life-shortening conditions for which there is no known cure. CHAS runs two children’s hospices, Rachel House in Kinross and Robin House in Balloch, and a home care service called CHAS at Home. – See more at: http://www.chas.org.uk – I’m sure you’ll all agree, a great cause. We are fortunate enough to be getting joined by 5 others from CHAS and sister organisations who intend to help us out on the way.

But I don’t want to do any of the serious stuff today… I want to do the fun parts. A big shout out to my favourite peakers and bloggers from last time out who I hope will joining us (either physically or in spirit):

Helen ‘Mother Hen’ Walledge: I’m sure Jamie, Callum and I will make huge use out of your cooking skills. Cold sausages ahoy! I’ll provide the Hot Chocolate

Alison McDonald: Wuss. ‘Nuff said 😉

Steve Dunbobbin: You will finish this. You will not moan. You will savour that beer at the end!

Charley Schmarley Dwyer: Shame you can’t go… hope your colleagues chat is half as amusing as your own!

Gemma Mainprize: Dara da da da da… I’m lovin’ it!

Mark Lee: Bet you’re looking forward to not having to share a car with the man that can’t shut up for 4.5hrs!

Caroline Parker: Looking forward to seeing you ther…oh wait, you’re on the wrong side of the fence now! ;o)

Michael McIntyre / Army Man Dan: No excuses about your ‘Knees giving way’ this time ;o)

And many more I haven’t mentioned yet (but I will, don’t worry!)

Above all – let’s just make sure we all push ourselves and each other to get over the line… make some stonking money for our respective charities and then have a few beers to celebrate at the end of the day. You are collectively the best bunch of people I’ve ever worked with and I’m really looking forward to having another opportunity to have a get together pre whatever may happen in the near future.

Also, big thanks to Andy and Mark for agreeing to cover the costs of the charity participants in this endeavour – a very warm and welcome gesture and one which I’m sure we’ll all pass on our gratitude for.

Finally – Team Scotland now has it’s own Just Giving page for everyone taking part – please visit our page

http://www.justgiving.com/RealRadio-Scotland

or text REAL66 £x to 70070 if you’d prefer.