Balham on a Saturday morning from Tobias Mews on Vimeo.

Oxfam Bookfest – Literary Quiz in Bloomsbury from Tobias Mews on Vimeo.

Christoph provides inspiration to go on an adventure and see the world.  I’m not alone in this thought as the words “inspiring” and “amazing” were posted numerous times in the comments area ofte  YouTube video.  The video is a photographic documentary showing how his beard and hair transformed during the course of his journey. I think every man wonders what he would look like if he went somewhat feral. However, the main point from his adventure can be summarised by the advice his father gave him: “Son, nobody cares who you are not. It’s who you are that really matters.”  Wise words.

The Yukon Arctic Ultra is not a well-known race –  partly because it’s only been running since 2004.  And partly beacuse only a few people have ever competed in it, let alone finished it.  When asked what the most difficult race is, most reply “oh the Marathon des Sables of course”.  Now this has all changed because those who have heard of it, would agree with what the Yukon’s organisers describe as “The toughest and coldest race inthe world”.  So what is it that’s so tough?

There are a choice of distances –  a marathon, 100 miles, 300 miles and for the truly ‘nails’ individuals – 430 miles (only one person has completed it – Andy Heading in 2009).  Oh, and it’s very very cold – reaching temperatures as low as -61C.  Bearing in mind the Marathon des Sables (MdS) is a 7-day race over 150 odd miles, in comparison to the Yukon, it’s a walk in the park.

Members of the Adventure Racing Team Helmut, who spoke recently at the Royal Geographical Society, said they decided to give the Yukon 300 miler a go because they thought that “the MdS wasn’t tough enough” and that they “Needed a new challenge”.  This new challenge involved pulling all their equipment on “pulks” (known to most folk as sleds) non-stop for 320 miles over the Canadian Arctic – for six days in temperatures as low as -30C.  Their plan: to raise £50,000 for Breast Cancer Care.

But six days of physical pain and the risk of frostbite is nothing in comparison to the 18 months worth of planning, fund raising and training prior to race day.  The pulks weigh on average 18-20 kgs each, so a lot of training was needed.  From August 2008 until they departed in February, they could be seen training in Richmond park pulling tyres and trying to dodge the Royal Park’s Police.

Unfortunately, this year proved to be more of a challenge than Team Helmut could cope with.  Before the race started there was much discussion as to whether or not they should take with them snow shoes.  They decided “not” due to the fact it wasn’t predicted to snow.  However, it was to be a fatal flaw as after 260 miles they had to pull out of the race due to a massive dump of snow.  As Simon Bayliff said, “I’m not someone who likes unfinished business…”  I’m guessing that this will be a challenge to be repeated.

For more information on the Yukon Arctic Ultra, check out their website.  The next event will in 2011, so plenty of time for those tough enough to train and give it a go!  Good luck!

Often described as the “toughest foot race in the world”, 2009 marked the 24th edition of the infamous Marathon des Sables. It involves running 256kms (154 miles) across the Sahara desert, under the searing heat of the Moroccan sun, which for some will have been the biggest challenge of their lives.  However, on the 27th March the 807 runners were faced with a new challenge – rain.  And very few could have predicted that the heavens above the Sahara would open to the extent they did, as can be seen in the video below.

Winner of the MDS 2009

The heavy rainfall resulted in the 6 day race being cut down to 4. However, the rain did nothing to slow down Morrocan Mohamed Ahansal, who came first in a remarkable 16hrs 27 minutes, winning the race for a second year in a row.  Mohamed’s brother has won it 10 times.  The top finishing Brit – in 13th place – was William Davies with a time of 20hrs 5 minutes (3:13 behind the leader), who before training for the race had never run a marathon let alone 5 marathons in the desert. The full results can be found here.

If you’re interested in participating in 2010, then you’ll probably have to wait a few more years.  This author applied in June 2008 for a place in 2011’s marathon.  Within 30 minutes, all the places were sold, each having put down a deposit of £500.  It just goes to show that after 24 years, the popularity of the race has not lessened. More details can be found on the Marathon des Sables offical website for British participants. Otherwise, you need to go to the organisers at Darabourd.com for more information.

Have you ever dreamt of riding across the world via the ancient trading routes? Well, 25 year old Becky Sampson had and she has finally realised her dream and it’s called Expedition Equus. On 1st April 2009 Becky and her horse Bertie set off from London on a 4 year adventure that will take her along the Silk Road until she reaches Tokyo. Where ‘Bertie the horse’ needs help, she will hire camels and packhorses along the way. By the time that she arrives in Tokyo in the summer of 2012 she will have travelled 15,000kms through 15 countries, in the process hoping to raise £15,000 for the charity SOS Children- £1 for ever kilometre.

The Silk Road

With the Silk Road being over 6,400 kilometres long, Becky will travel though some of the most inhospital parts of the world, not lease the Tien Shan Mountains followed by the Takla Makan Desert (which has the rather ominous translatin from the Uigur language of ‘He who goes in does not come out’).    Averaging 32 Kms a day, this will take her some time!

The view that Becky will have for almost 4 years

Becky is primarily funding the expedition herself, raising money along the way by teaching English in the Winter months and through donations. To help her along the way she has received a travelling Fellowship from the Winston Churhill Memorial Trust. We’ll look forward to reading the book that she’ll be writing along the way!  If you would like to follow her progress, go to you can find her website at www.expeditionequus.com.

Since the advent of Web 2.0, the ethics of journalists accessing personal data for their stories has been thrown into the debating ring. Tobias Mews examines whether online bloggers and social network users are fair game to the journalistic process.

Journalists are amongst the least trusted people of the professional classes – with red-top newspaper journalists being right down at the bottom of the list alongside estate agents and politicians. Why is this? Well, any budding journalist will at some point be told that in order to succeed in their new profession, they will need to have a natural curiosity. Some would rephrase this to “they must be nosy”! But where do nosy journalists get their information from?

Contacts and case studies, because without them, a journalist is lost. So, with the advent of Internet sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, journalists found themselves entering an Aladdin’s cave of case studies, stories, photos, contacts… it’s a goldmine! Welcome to the world of Web 2.0 where nosiness knows no bounds! Well, almost no bounds, because this goldmine raises concerns about privacy invasion, which also makes it a minefield.

An Ipsos MORI poll commissioned by the Press Complaint’s Commission (PCC) found that 55% of people were aware that information that they were posting online “might later be used by third parties without their consent”. Therefore, one could argue that as the majority knowingly upload information about themselves, they instantly become fair game to the “nosy” journalist: “what people write on Facebook sites is publicly available information, like anything posted on any site that is not encrypted” writes Craig Whitney, assistant editor of the NY Times. But one of the main complaints is that journalists disguise themselves as “friends” in order to interact with these future case studies.

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

There are few people who have not typed their name into Google to see what it brings up. Many are shocked by what they find. But if you really want to dig up your online life, there are a multitude of other online research tools available to the discerning journalist besides Google: 123people.com, spokeo.com, pipl.com, 192.com to name but a few.  These sites find email addresses, photos, social networking accounts, Amazon accounts, telephone numbers – any information that is readily available on the Internet. Despite the evidently worrying identity fraud issues, these sites provide powerful tools for any journalist tracking down that elusive source. But if you really want to scare yourself, then try Spock.com – a people searching/social networking site that allows individuals to edit other peoples profiles. It raises huge ethical issues as Jane Copland of Seomoz.org highlights “the web is not designed to let individuals have complete control over what appears in search engine results for their names. Reputation management services exist because we don’t have control over search results.”

The Virginia Tech shooting, without sounding disrespectful to the victims or survivors, is a modern day version of Dunblane, which occurred before the advent of the Internet: “there has been no better illustration of this shift than the Virginia Tech shootings, in which witness-reporters on campus used their available tools – blogging, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, mobile phones, wi-fi – to tell their stories as they occurred” writes Jeff Jarvis in his Guardian column. In another article he raises a valid concern: “There is no control point anymore. When anyone and everyone — witnesses, criminals, victims, commentators, officials and journalists — can publish and broadcast as events happen, there is no longer any guarantee that news and society itself can be filtered, packaged, edited, sanitized, polished, secured.”  In other words, it’s “no man’s land”.

So, it appears that the Internet is a game park where there are no rules and everyone is the hunter and the hunted. Editorial bodies will try and apply their code, but more often than not, it will be too late for the world of Web 2.0.

Any feelings of apprehension soon disappeared as I made my way to the front of the starter pen.  I had managed to upgrade my starting position to the sub 3hr group, as I knew that if I didn’t get a good start, then I would be held up.  Annoyingly, as I had not stayed with the other Chasers in their hotel, I only managed to find one Chaser at the start line.  However, any thoughts of running with him soon disappeared when the starter gun went off.

More to follow!

Desjoyeaux's boat - "Foncia"

On the 1st of February 2009, history was made.  Michel Desjoyeaux of France became the first man ever to win two Vendee Globes.  ”It’s indescribable. Even though I won it eight years ago, this is huge,” Desjoyeaux said. “Paradoxically, I don’t feel like I suffered. Either I’m getting old, or I was really at ease.”  

Michel Desjoyeaux

But not only did he win, he did so in a record of time of 84 days, three hours, nine minutes and eight seconds, comfortably beating  Vincent Riou, the previous record holder and defending champion with a time of 87 days, 10 hours and 47 minutes.  Unfortunately Riou had to pull out of the race in January when is mast snapped off the coast of Cape Horn, resulting in him being towed to safetly.  Britain’s Elen MaCarthur was brought to fame in the Vendee Globe, by coming second to Desjoyeaux by only one day in the 2000-01 race.

At a little over 24,000 the Vendee Globe is a solo (without assistance), non-stop, around-the-world yaught race and is widely known to be the toughest ocean racing endeavour.  Founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, the 2008-09 was the sixth race of the Vendee Globe.   This year, only 11 of the 30-strong competitors completed the race, proving that it is quite simply… the ultimate test in individual endurance!  The race attracts the best of the best to compete, as entry qualifications are particularly tough.  

The route of the Vendee Globe

In the words of  the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, “With this latest extraordinary victory, Michel Desjoyeaux confirms his status as the most titled sailor in solo [racing]“.  We will have to wait another 4 years to see if he can do it again.  

Almost 100 years ago, two polar explorers set off on what would become one the most famous battles in polar exploration.  The ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition set off in 1910 under the leadership of British Naval Officer Captain Robert Falcon Scott in order to “to reach the South Pole, and to secure for the British Empire the honour of this achievement“.  However they were pipped to the post by Norwegian Roald Amundsen.  It was on the return journey that Scott and his team perished.  Some of his last words were “had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman”.

Well, the Amundsen Omega3 South Pole Race is the first time Scott and Amundsen’s race to the South Pole has been repeated.  Amongst the teams that began this epic adventure on the 3rd January 2009 were Team QinetiQ comprising double Olympic Medallist James Cracknell, TV presenter Ben Fogle and newcomer to the adventuring duo, Dr Ed Coates.

They started training 18 months before the race, because if you’re going to tackle 430 miles on the arctic (affectionately known as “the continent of pain”, you’re going to need to be very prepared.  Travelling by foot or skis and pulling 70kg pulks (sleds) at an average 20 miles a day, this was not going to be easy, especially as they would also have to contend with snow-blindness, frostbite, blisters, chafing, the odd mile-deep crevasses in temperatures as low as -50C.

Team QinetiQ were in the lead at the start, but were unable to maintain the lead and unfortunately history repeated itself where they came second to Norweigan long distance ski experts ‘Team Missing Link’ by only 20 hours.  Fortunately, everybody returned to the safety of the camp.  However, all the teams suffured minor ailments such as sprains, muscle aches, little bits of frostnip, blisters, etc. but nothing too serious.

The race will be repeated next year in 2010 and the organisers are now recruiting team members.  More details can be found here.

The final positions for 2009 were:

Missing Link 19:03, 21st January – 17 days 8 hours 58 minutes
QinetiQ 15:15, 22nd January – 18 days 5 hours 10 minutes
Danske Bank 17:00, 24th January – 20 days 6 hours 55 minutes
Due South 16:10, 26th January – 22 days 6 hours 5 minutes
South Pole Flag 22:09, January – 22 days 12 hours 4 minutes

Audio diaires from QineticQ can be found here:

Ed Coates speaking for Team QineticQ, 1 day before they finished

James Cracknall leaving a message for his son

Ben Fogle talking about their daily routine