Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

The challenge has now been completed!

We completed the challenge in 39 hrs which is a fantastic achievenment, finishing at Birmingham's War Memorial at 09:30 hrs where we laid a reef in memory of all those lost in recent conflicts.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people, firstly our sponsors for the event Fosco Hayes Hurdley who are a Digital large format specialists trading out of Hockley in Birmingham www.foscos.co.uk , Ethos for donating the reef which was beautiful, Army careers office Birmingham (Mandy) for donating the essential equipment needed, a huge thank you to a close friend and the fourth member of our team Frosty (Army) who without his support during the event meeting us at check points no matter what the time with essential rations and more importantly moral. Finally all those friends and family who showed their support by being there at the finish line and supporting us all the way with positive messages.

We want to also thank all those who have sponsored us so far.

For those who are not aware of the challenge please continue to read.

We really want to smash our target and with your help, your donation can help to achieve help it.

 

As an ex military man and a personal trainer at Bannatyne’s Health Club in Birmingham I recruited 2 other budding fitness fanatics to help raise as much money as we can and challenge us both mentally and physically.

 THE EVENT:

·         3 guys

·         145 miles (along the Grand Union Canal) London to Birmingham

·         No sleep, stopping only when the distance is completed (approx 40 hrs)

·         Carrying all supplies (food + water) approx 55lbs

·         Completing the full distance in Army boots.

 “We intend as a team of 3 to Tab 145 miles from London (Little Venice) to Birmingham, none stop carrying all our supplies”

LET ME EXPLAIN

The idea started with a local in house challenge at the gym where I work but due to our competitive nature amongst members of staff and some gym members this soon escalated into what we intend to do.

We intend  to “TAB” which is an Army term meaning “Tactical Advance to Battle” where soldiers past and present advance to battle carrying all supplies needed to carry out a mission, or in my experience war fight and to get there as quickly  as possible.

The army word for it - tabbing -. “Immense courage, endurance and unprecedented mental and physical levels are often associated with the concept of tabbing and the elite soldiers of the British Army”

 This gave us an idea...

We’d heard of an ultra marathon that takes place once a year from Birmingham to London covering 145 miles along the Grand Union Canal system.  The event is targeted at elite runners.  We thought with Birmingham being our home town we would start in London (Little Venice) and reverse the route finishing at the war memorial in the city centre of Birmingham. 

We aim to start our challenge at 2100hrs on Thursday 20^th May 2010 and finish some time on Saturday 22^nd May 2010 after ~0900hrs.  Carrying weight we aim to mix the pace between a brisk walk and running.

We aim to have completed the distance in approximately 36hrs.  This is a minimum pace of 6.4 kph in boots.  Ouch!!!

NOW TO INTRODUCE THE TEAM

My name is Jay Wheeler and I suppose you could call me the team captain.  I’m 28 years old and I’m a Personal Trainer at Bannatyne’s Health Club in Birmingham city centre www.militarypt.info .  I served in the Army (Irish Guards) for a little less than 5 years where I was based in Germany seeing active operational service in Basra in 2003 and seeing some of the heaviest fighting seen by British troops.  I was an integral part of the initial push into Basra resulting in the liberation of this city.

Unfortunately, losing two close friends and more recently seeing comrades injured in Afghanistan made me want to do something to help for fallen heroes past and present.

I have always been a physically active guy and this has been highlighted in my Army career undertaking many promotional and fitness courses.  Since leaving the Army I have continued my level of fitness, I train at least five times a week doing resistance and cardiovascular exercise.  I am a fully qualified Fitness Advisor working towards completing my Personal Training Award in January 2010.  I will work as a free lance personal trainer in February 2010 at Bannatyne’s Health Club in Brindley Place, Birmingham using my Army experience, my training knowledge and my passion for overall fitness to launch a successful business.

I feel my army background and passion for fitness accompanied with the strong team we have selected we will complete this mammoth challenge and we would love to raise as much money as we can for this worthy cause.

Now to introduce the second member of the team...

Ravi Sinha

Aged 33. Upon graduating in an Economics and Politics Degree  I embarked on a career in The City within the Investment  Banking sector. Subsequently I and a couple of colleagues then set up our own investment company specialising in Healthcare companies. I now work as a financier and have set up my own Investment Firm, whose activities range from Healthcare , Civil Engineering, and Property Development.

I’ve always been an avid sportsmen and the competitive spirit developed on the sporting field helped enormously in my early career and now as an entrepreneur. Admittedly, professional commitments curtailed my time to take part in sporting activities, but for the last 2 years i have challenged myself to become the fittest i have ever been and so took up endurance sports which included military type training involving running up and down mountains carrying 30kg on one’s back. Training for triathalons also became a staple diet of my regular training programme. Ultimately i wanted to challenge myself both physically and mentally to see how far i could go in terms of stamina and endurance. The opportunity to be part of the ‘tab 4 heroes’ team represents a fantastic opportunity to put my fitness levels to the test, and to challenge myself to successfully complete a gruelling event which will be for a wonderful cause.

Now for the 3^rd member of the team.......

Stephen Recardo, 25 years old.

I am a Personal Trainer at Bannatyne’s  Brindley Place Birmingham.

Currently training in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and enjoy cross training. I like to vary my training as much as possible; last year I did the PARA10 endurance challenge. This was a 10mile T.A.B as fast as you can with a 35lb Bergen on your back, at Catterick Garrison Barracks. The Parachute regiment cut off time for selection is 1hr 50mins; I did it in 1hr 41mins.

Doing a 145mile T.A.B will be the toughest challenge both physical and mentally that I have ever done. My aim is to raise as much money as we can for the service men that are under appreciated.

Often our troops get briefly congratulated for their efforts, but are then quickly forgotten about. I want to help raise awareness of our hero’s and the job in which they do. Also to remember the fallen, but also help the surviving troops return and support them to normal lives.

 

So that’s the team...... there was a fourth member of the team as the name suggests (tab4heroes) but due to other commitments that dictate his availability in his free time the fourth member won’t be able to attend the main event, leaving just the three of us, however we feel with all your support and donations we’ll all do our bit for all those heroes so thank you for taking the time to read this and please dig deep.

If you have any questions about the event or anything else for that matter feel free to contact me my email address militarypt@live.co.uk