Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest – Powered by Team Land Rover!
As the primary sponsors of Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest, allow us to introduce to you a selection of the Team Land Rover participants competing in the London Battersea Power Station event on the 12th of November. They tell us in their own words why they entered, the types of training schemes they’re enduring and why they picked Team Land Rover!
Name: Anthony Grimley
Nickname: Ant
Day job: Website Manager, Future.
What made you sign up for Survival of the Fittest? It was a spur of the moment thing. I usually wake up early on Sundays and the only things to watch on TV are Rats Runs, swimming and triathlons on Channel 4. I thought that they looked like a fun challenge and Survival of the Fittest is certainly of that ilk – lots of crazy people running around!
What is your training regime like? Mostly running. I’m very fortunate to live inBath so that I can do interval run training along the Kennet and Avon canal towpath. As the city is situated in the centre of an ancient volcanic crater there’s lots of hills so it’s good to mix up some level running with some hard slogs up to the top of the crater. I monitor my runs using the Runkeeper app and hop on the Wii Fit afterwards to stretch. I often mix the running up with some swimming at theUniversity ofBath and some Ballet on Mondays. Ballet is sometimes more of a workout than the running, and it’s definitely helped with my strength and suppleness, but sadly not my ability to confuse my right and left legs!
What are you most looking forward to about the race? Mud? There is mud, right? And firehoses. Also, my younger brother, Tim, is running for Team Land Rover so I have to help him along, as long as I cross the line before him (sorry Tim!).
Which obstacle scares you the most? The only obstacle I fear is not making it to the start line. I’ll take on anything!
Finally, tell us why you picked Team Land Rover! My dad had a Discovery when I was a teenager. It was such a great car – high up, with great views, and with such a distinctive design. He always let me sit up front, and my mum sat in the back (!). I’ve got a great affinity for Land Rovers. Being a Devon boy, you’d see them everywhere, and covered in mud like they should be, so it’s a thrill to be part of Team Land Rover. My first, and only car, was a dark blue Discovery and I loved that car, and taking people around in it. Representing Team Land Rover is quite an honour. I hope I do the company and owners proud!
Name: Michael Coleby
Nickname: Macca/Miguel depending who you talk to.
Day job: Emergency Response Logistics officer (British Red Cross)
What made you sign up for Survival of the Fittest? A moment of madness!
What is your training regime like? Split 4 day program involving core muscle groups and CV work.
What are you most looking forward to about the race? Finish line and free bacon sandwich
Which obstacle scares you the most? 10km run
Finally, tell us why you picked Team Land Rover!
I’m a Land Rover owner and follow them on Twitter. When I heard about them looking for participants I thought I might as well give it a go! I have been training for a while but with no target in mind and I thought this would be a great opportunity to get involved in something a bit different, a bit more fun rather than just your conventional runs, bike rides etc and also a challenge.
Name: Ross Middleton
Nickname: Ross Chops
Day job: I work as a Commodities Analyst in London.
What made you sign up for Survival of the Fittest? The Survival of the Fittest events have a bit of a rep for being fun as well as challenging. I write a running blog and run a lot of 10k road races and although the course setup and scenery changes with every race, 10k can become quite boring and repetitive after a while. Something like the Survival series really appeals to me as not only are the races situated in great (and convenient) locations, taking in bits of the cities that I would never normally have a chance to run in, but the obstacles look like such good fun!
What is your training regime like? Having spent the best part of a year training for the UK IronMan triathlon in July this past summer (140 miles of swimming, cycling and running), I was ready to take a bit of a break from my long distance training and have a bit of fun with the Survival 10k. My training has consisted of going for a few runs around Battersea park in the hope of getting some home turf advantage (not going to happen), attempting a few pull ups in my office gym (unsuccessfully) and planning my victory celebrations for the finish line (think Usain Bolt covered in mud).
What are you most looking forward to about the race? I think that running around the course covered from head to foot in mud is going to be a bit of a novel experience, as is trying to scale a 9 foot wall after 10k of running, scrambling and swimming. I am going to be shattered.
Which obstacle scares you the most? I am not really sure which obstacle to be most worried about as I haven’t entered anything even remotely similar to the Survival series before. I can picture myself running around a corner, seeing a huge scalable wall or freezing lake crossing in front of me and having the shock of my life, but otherwise my plan is to take the race as it comes and just enjoy the day!
Finally, tell us why you picked Team Land Rover! Land Rover is a brand that is all about performance. I have been driving their vehicles for years now and they always come out on top as they constantly strive to be the best and make continual performance improvements with every model that they release. Constant improvement is something that appeals to me as an endurance athlete and so joining Team Land Rover seemed to make sense. I was also hoping that the company was offering a free Range Rover Evoque to everyone that joined their team but unfortunately that was not the case!
Name: Tim Grimley
Nickname: Grimmers
Day job: Royal Navy Logistics Officer (Submarines)
What made you sign up for Survival of the Fittest? In all honesty initially I had no idea what I was signing up for. In a conversation with my brother (who has also entered) I was complaining about how quickly I had put weight on since my last deployment. Having recently returned from sea I had just bought a Land Rover and on the same day he showed me the LR blog for free entry into SOTF.
What is your training regime like? Desperate…. I’m placing all my trust in an app recommended that get you ready for a 10k run. As far as the obstacles go I’m placing a lot of trust on grit on the day. My last sub, Turbulent, is appearing in Men’s Health in Nov on an article about exercise in a confined space- I really wish I had signed up to it now.
What are you most looking forward to about the race? Having seen the video clips of Cardiff I think I’m most looking forward to the final wall – perhaps a beer after!
Which obstacle scares you the most? Scared is not a word I’d use, but I hope I am not underestimating the challenge ahead.
Finally, tell us why you picked Team Land Rover! Couldn’t resist – the day I was shown the blog was the same day I bought a Freelander 2. Having sold the Porsche, as I couldn’t fit a surf board and golf clubs in, I was keen to get something a bit more practical.
The final Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest event will be taking place at London Battersea Power Station on the 12th of November. If you’re heading to the event, be sure to check-in here and tweet about it using the #mhsurvival official hashtag. Look out for the photos of the event on our Facebook page.
We’d like to wish all participants the best of luck for the race!
