by Oliver Robinson | Jun 25, 2015 | Antarctica 2018
On Saturday, in 14 hours and 15 minutes, Matt and Joe conquered 200 climbs of the Peak District, thus completing the team’s second challenge of the year! Despite being near the summer solstice, the early morning mist persisted and developed into showers. Evidently, this is becoming a theme of our challenge days now; even if it was more welcome during the marathon back in March.
Setting off at 0730 at arguably the most famous crag in the National Park, Stanage Edge, the task ahead seemed, to put it mildly, daunting. Could it be possible to complete 200 of these climbs? Would we be here all day and all night? Following the pre-selected routes Joe had meticulously labelled in the book, the climbs, ranging from MOD to HVS, soon began to add up; by 0930 20 climbs had been completed and the mood was upbeat. Could Matt and Joe’s bodies tolerate the relentless thrashing they were subjecting themselves to?
Frankly, the support team were having a tough time of it too. Led by Ollie, they were running around like headless chickens just to keep up and make enough tea! By 3pm when the team had moved to Burbage, 100 climbs had been completed and it seemed like darkness would fall and this would never be complete, unfortunately Matt and Joe had to pick the pace. Luckily, the weather did clear and the final 40 climbs at Birchen were enjoyed in the setting sun. Some sudden energy provided by members of the public and HSX turning out to congratulate them, meant that by 10pm and the final climb in-hand, there was enough time to get back to the car whilst it was still light and head back to the camp for a well-deserved beer and sleep!
“It feels amazing to have completed a year’s worth of a person’s climbing in just 24hrs! This is definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my climbing career and really couldn’t have done it without the support of the team! If there’s anything you attempt this year, then attempt this! – But remember to be careful in the shower afterwards, your fingers are going to burn like hell!” – Joe
“You never really know what to expect with these challenges, until you’re halfway through you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. We train hard, but that’s only half the battle. The team play a massive part on the day; without their support you couldn’t keep going for as long. It’s like a big family, when one person is down you bring them back up and all keep going. That’s what will be vital in Antarctica which these challenges help us to refine; family spirit and brotherhood.” – Matt
These challenges are all in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, which provides support for sufferers of MND and their families, whilst undertaking never ending research to find a cure. Thanks go to David and Debbie Robinson who came to take photos of the team and to you all for following our progress on the challenge day and as we continue our Antarctic journey. Our next challenge will be on August 22nd, and will see the team complete a triathlon on the Isle of Wight; the largest island in England. Cycling its 64-mile circumference, running 13 miles North-South and a swim!
by Oliver Robinson | Mar 17, 2015 | Antarctica 2018
On Sunday 29th March, HSX Antarctica will complete the 26.2 mile Clarendon Way marathon, etching a route between the cathedrals of Salisbury in the West and Winchester in the East. All funds raised from this extreme challenge will go to their chosen charity: the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Each dragging a tyre along the way, to simulate dragging a pulk across the ice as well as the difficulties that people with MND face on a daily basis, this is certainly going to be one hell of a challenge! None of the team have run a marathon before.
We hope you can come out and cheer us on along the route; the team are hoping (!) to reach Winchester Cathedral at 3pm and will be making much-needed pit stops at Middle Winterslow Scout hut, the villages of Broughton & King Sombourne and Farley Mount Country Park.
If you wish to meet the team along the route, please complete this form
You can keep up-to-date with the team’s real-time progress on the day via twitter @hsxantarctica
If you would like to sponsor the team, for this or any of their 2015 challenges then please go to: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/Antarctica. The Motor Neurone Disease Association was established in 1979 and is the only national charity in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that funds and promotes global research into Motor Neurone Disease, whilst supporting MND sufferers and their families.
Thank you for your support!
by Oliver Robinson | Jan 7, 2015 | Antarctica 2018
The HSX Antarctica team are excited to share our plans for 2015!
During the year, the team will be undertaking four physically and mentally demanding challenges to raise money for our chosen charity, the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
In March, the team will complete a marathon from Salisbury to Winchester along the Clarendon Way. The route is off-road and very tough but possibly one of the most scenic races you’ll ever enter. However we are making it harder; the team will complete this marathon whilst dragging a car tire each! That’ll add a lot of drag to an already painful 26.2 miles.
The team after a 15-mile training run, December 2014
In June, as a group, the team will complete 200 climbs in 24 hours of the Peak District’s famous Stanage Edge, climbing routes between Moderate (M) and Hard Very Severe (HVS). Hopefully the weather will hold out!
Matt and Joe training at Boulder Ruckle, Swanage
In August, the team will cycle the circumference of the Isle of Wight in 6 hours. This is a 64-mile loop of the largest Island in England, a short hop across the Solent from our base on the mainland.
Dave completing the John-O’Groats to Land’s End cycle in 2013
In October, the team will summit the 15 high mountains in Wales, known as the Welsh 3000s. Setting off from Pen-y-Pass the team will complete the run in stints, passing a flag between each other. The route will see us take in iconic mountains as Snowdon, Crib Goch, Glyder Fach & Carnedd Dafydd.
The team on Y-Gribin, Snowdonia National Park
This is going to be a perfect chance to build up our fitness, mental strength and ability to work as a team – things that will be vital during our march to the Pole in 2018.
If you would like to sponsor us, all proceeds will go to the Motor Neurone Disease Association and can be done @ https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/antarctica. Remind yourself why we’re raising money for MNDA here
We hope you enjoy keeping up with the team over the year! Keep an eye out for more updates on where and when you can catch us during our ‘marathon’ year… There’ll be prizes to be won too!
by Oliver Robinson | Dec 2, 2014 | Antarctica 2018
The HSX Antarctic expedition aims to raise funds to support the motor neurone disease association (MNDA); the UK’s only national charity dedicated to motor neurone disease care for sufferers and cure research. So why are the Antarctica team choosing MNDA as our charity? Twins, Ollie and Tom Robinson have had grandparents directly affected by MND and so have first-hand experience of the valuable work that MNDA does for sufferers and their families. Here, Ollie explains their story:
“During the course of our childhood, we would often fly, without our parents, to Scotland to spend our summer holidays visiting Jean and Robbie (grandparents on Dad’s side) who lived near Perth. We would often be travelling around in their camper, messing around with the Yorkshire Terriers (Penny and Midge) and visiting relatives in East Lothian; a time filled with so many memories.
In 2003, not long after one of these visits did we find out that Robbie was diagnosed with MND. We were very young at the time, so didn’t have a lot of contact as his health deteriorated, but we know that MNDA offered the family a lot of emotional support. This is a disease that affects not just the sufferer, but the entire family. Tom and I were both protected from seeing our Grandad as the disease developed, to keep in our minds the good memories from years prior, of playing golf at the local golf course. We now know what a sufferer of MND goes through, as well as the sacrifices people have to make. Jean became Robbie’s carer and they moved house to a bungalow in order to make things more accessible for him. However, after a year of fighting, Robbie passed away. For Jean, this disease took away the man she loved as she watched it run its course. There was still worse to come.
As for anyone, the shock of losing a grandparent at a young age is difficult, but time moved on and Tom and I grew up. Tom joined the British Army and I started an degree at the University of Southampton and so it was all the more difficult to learn of Jean being diagnosed with the same disease in 2010. At first it was extremely difficult to be able to even contact Jean, without knowing what to say to somebody who is affected by the same disease which they saw their husband go through. Finally however, it was Jean that contacted us and we soon made the decision to head north and visit. Jean had by this stage been living with the disease for a year and moved in with our East Lothian cousins.
Jean was still talking, however her speech was slurred and she became very tired easily; so short visits were prescribed. It was great to see how her mind was still as quick as ever (she was once a fearsome headteacher) and that despite the physical difficulties, she was still laughing and joking (especially if you took in her afternoon G&T!) and great company. We were able to watch some home movies of us in the garden playing (failing!) golf and knew that it had made Jean happy for us to be reunited with our cousins, whom it had a been 7 or 8 years since we had seen each other last
A few short months after, Jean passed away. We were both grateful for seeing her whilst she was still in relatively good health, but for the family who welcomed Jean into their home, they had seen the disease progress and deteriorate every day for a year. We want to thank MNDA for the support that Jean and those around her received, and for that reason we want to support the charity in any way we can.”
The work the charity does to care for those suffering with the disease is extremely valuable and even then, the unending quest to find a cure continues in the background. Tom, Ollie and the rest of the team will have all those that are still suffering from MND in their minds during the advance to the South Pole.
*What is MND? MND is a degenerative disease which affects the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord; destroying the nerves that are responsible for passing messages to the muscles. As a result, the person affected by MND has difficulties in walking, talking, eating and breathing.
