This is very exciting to have got to this stage of the Archduke challenge.
My name's Luke and this whole idea and adventure has been an idea for probably over a year
now.
Basically I saw the email from Luke about this and as soon as I read it I just thought
fantastic.
This is a challenge I've just got to do.
I got pretty attracted to the challenge just because it sounded utterly mad really and
I've certainly never done anything like it before.
The idea is to get from Marble Arch to Arc de Triomphe by running, then rowing, then biking.
The chance to travel between two iconic landmarks, nearly 300 miles using just our own steam
was just something that really, really appealed to me.
I think it appeals to the athletes amongst us because it combines three disciplines.
It's going to be not only going to push us physically but mentally.
So broadly speaking we're going to run from Marble Arch to Dover over the course of three
days.
Total distance, roughly 80-odd miles, probably just over a marathon a day that works out
there.
We're then going to row the channel in a coxed four-man coastal skull.
That should take anywhere between three to six hours depending on the conditions.
Then stop off in Calais for one evening before we start the bike ride which should take two
days, cover approximately 180 odd miles.
So all in all, six days, three different ways of travelling, 300 miles.
Training so far has been probably not as much as we should have done.
I have an extensive training programme.
I think I get up in the morning and have a bowl of cereal.
I stretch off and walk to work.
Training is going reasonably well.
The major battle is trying to get everybody coordinated and organised to turn up at the
same time to take part in the training.
I usually stand up at work a few times and end a bit more stretching.
It's quite a commitment really, getting up early in the morning, exercising most days
a week.
It has been a big commitment and it still will be even more so in the build-up.
Training is going really well.
We've been building up our own runs, bike-wise we've been doing our own normal daily biking
and then we met together at the weekend to bike from Marble Arch down to Dover.
It's about 90 miles in the end.
Very hot day but again really tested us and showed us that we can cycle that sort of distance.
I think we're nearly there.
We've got quite a few outings on the Thames together now.
We've all started to row together a little bit better.
We've also been out with Dover Rowing Club, we've been incredibly supportive and just
shown us what it's like to row out on a coastal scarlet on the sea.
The running side of things I think we could all do a little bit more but it's very much
ensuring you can cope with a little bit often and recover and get going again the next day.
So it's all about the stamina here, consistency.
You would be able to do a little bit often for lots of hours.
So obviously we're raising money here for two great charities.
The first one, the RLNI, doesn't need much of an introduction, everybody knows about
them.
They're a great charity and we're raising for the Tower Lifeboat Station based here in
London, probably one of the busiest in the whole of the country.
They really are out there 365 days a year making sure that all those who use the Thames
are safe and don't come into any danger.
The second one is a much smaller charity, less well known, the Xavier Project, a charity
my brother knows really well.
Based out in Africa, Kenya, they look after really underprivileged kids who are looking
for a better life.
And I know that any money raised here will go directly to ensuring people in those countries
leave a better life.
So it's really well worth all our effort and time and money in raising sponsorship for
it.
For the challenge itself, just really looking forward to leaving Marble Arch, seeing that
disappear behind us and then looking forward knowing that we're going to be arriving at
the Arc de Triomphe in six, six days time.
It's going to be tiring, but it's going to be an incredibly rewarding experience.
The biggest challenge actually running from London to Dover is several days of hard running.
I think probably the thing I'm looking forward to most is getting to the finish line and
having that fear and kicking back in Paris.
Really an appeal out to all the sponsors.
They're looking at the sponsorship for the challenges we're representing because the
challenges that we're doing are very close to our hearts, so please give generously and
we'll push on even harder.
It's really going to test us to our absolute limits, I think.
None of us have done anything like this before.
I haven't even run a marathon before.
They're alone three in three days.
We're going to do three in three days, then cross the channel in a day, then bike to Paris.
It's going to be a real feat of endurance, but I know as a team with all of us together,
all sponsorship behind us, we can crack it, and I'm really, really looking forward to
it.
