The BG Aberdeen team have done it again: signed up for three days of mud, midges, madness and mayhem at the BG Energy Challenge 2007 - UK. What were we thinking?
Well, in all honesty we enjoyed ourselves so much last year that we couldn’t resist. And, although we need to prepare ourselves by devoting some time to training and fundraising, there are ways to make that fun too. For example, we’ve spent some sunny afternoons on our mountain bikes in the forests of Royal Deeside. Who can complain about a day like that? Bumping and jumping over forest tracks amongst majestic pine trees closely followed a well earned rest at the top of the hill, where you plunge your feet into the cool clear waters of the river Muick to cool off.
We’ve also been running in the park on our lunch breaks and have used the opportunity to invite others from the office to join us for some fresh air and exercise. Next, we’ve got a day on the glorious River Dee planned. Our in-house canoeing expert is going to instruct us in the ways of paddles, buoyancy and keeping upright. This is essential practice as last year the team earned the nickname ‘Aberdeen Submariners’ after a very wet capsize on the lake near Aberystwyth during the kayaking event. We should probably start training with some Mensa puzzles too – last year the team lost some serious time when trying use their logical and mathematical skills to figure out the answers to the starter puzzles!
Admittedly we are not going to be super athletes by the time the 5th July rolls around, but at least we will have an idea of what our strengths and weaknesses are. Like all good strategists, we hope to use this to our advantage during the event. We know that it is impossible to predict who the winners will be as each event is so different – requiring its own unique blend of physical, mental and strategic challenges. It’s always at the back of your mind that you could drop from first to last place at any stage.
The fundraising has started too and cheques are beginning to come in. We’re getting our own websites set up to target family and friends, and as a team we will be laying on some special fundraising events at the office’s Family Fun Day in June.
This year, we don’t have to travel too far as the event will be held two hours away in bonnie Stirling. On the 5th July, our colleagues, and other teams from south of the border will meet and greet the teams from Aberdeen. The last time such a large group of people from England came to Stirling (albeit a few centuries ago), William Wallace and his men “sent them homeward, tae think again”. Rest assured though, we’ll be sure to give them a friendlier welcome this time!
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