Cycle News Tuesday, October 12, 2004

UK team selected for Arctic Challenge

The 2005 Fulda Challenge UK team has been selected following a gruelling final elimination event held in the breathtaking setting of Sulden/South Tyrol in Italy.

The ultimate two-person team – Richard Jackson, an Offshore Engineer from Newcastle and Emmie Gribble, a Marketing Manager (and former BBC SAS Desert Are You Tough Enough? competitor) from London – will now face the arctic adventure of a lifetime when they represent the UK in the fifth Fulda Challenge. Runners-up Greame Hobson and Claire Blewden narrowly missed team selection but will maintain their fitness and remain on stand-by.

The Fulda Challenge, one of the world’s toughest adventures will take place in the Yukon Territory from 29 January to 8 February 2005. The Yukon is situated in the Canadian Cordillera – a mountainous belt with a sub-zero climate. As well as experiencing the magnificent scenery, the team will undertake a series of demanding activities including ice climbing, cross country skiing, mountain bike racing, chasm crossing, snowshoe trekking and much more.

The two-person team was picked following a national selection event held between 30 September and 3 October. Five men and four women travelled to Italy to compete for the selection and two coveted tickets to Canada. Awaiting them were three days of intense physical challenge designed to test fitness, endurance, determination and driving ability.

In Italy, the UK competitors joined five other European countries – Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands – each selecting their own Fulda Challenge team.

Following six years in the British Army, Richard Jackson (who was born in Yorkshire) has a strong fitness background and manages to teach a number of outdoor pursuits including, rock climbing, sailing, mountaineering, kayaking and caving. Ecstatic with his forthcoming trip to Canada he commented: “The experience in Sulden has been exceptional. I have travelled around the world leading expeditions but have never competed in an event like this before. I haven’t managed to fit in much training since the initial selection event in Devon, but I ran the Great North Run last weekend for a bit of a warm up.

“I have met a lot of good people and am now looking forward to working with Emmie in the build up to Canada. I have also got three weeks of skiing planned over the Christmas period, which will stand me in good stead for the winter sport events in Canada.”

Emmie’s experience is extensive. Running her first marathon in 2000, she decided to move into triathlon and qualified for the 2003 World Championships in New Zealand. After her experience in the desert with the BBC, it was onto the Iron Man competition in Lanzarote in January 2004. About her training, Emmie said: “I haven’t been training as hard over the last few months. I do Bikram Yoga (at 105 şf) twice a week, cycle 16 miles a day and swim every week as a rule. I also go outdoors every weekend and climb, bike or walk.”

“The team in Italy was great and, despite all of us wanting to win, we have pushed each other all the way. There are no mountains to compare in England – it was definitely a test for all of us. I will now start planning my training for the next few months. I need to brush up on the technical stuff and need to get in some more running. There are some very good runners from the other countries so this will be one of my main goals. I also have a long distance triathlon coming up in Ibiza. We are going to Canada for a win and will not be satisfied with anything less.”

Fulda UK Brand Manager Marcus White was delighted at the UK contestants’ performance: “It has been a fantastic three days of sporting adventure. The UK competitors gave their all in every event and overall we faired extremely well against the other countries. We now feel that we have the strongest team yet to represent the UK in Canada and are hoping that they can go all the way.”

Final results:

Male competitors Points Female competitors Points
Richard Jackson (Newcastle) 27 Emmie Gribble (London) 33
Greame Hobson (Derbyshire) 25 Claire Blewden (Surrey) 30
Toby Keep (Shropshire) 24 Karen McDonald (Derbyshire) 28
Robert Smith (Yorkshire) 24 Becky Tovey (Cornwall) 21
Martin Yardley (Devon) 20

Fulda is one of the leading German manufacturers of quality high performance car, 4x4, truck and agricultural tyres. Founded in 1900, Fulda is a member of the Goodyear Dunlop group with 13 European tyre-manufacturing plants. In Europe, Fulda sells over eight million vehicle tyres and employs about 1,600 people.

(Source: http://www.4ar.info/comments.php?id=1742_0_1_0_C)