Stop the presses!!! 2009 is another year of stupidity!!!

OK, so not quite as insane as last year, but this year will see me doing another couple of triathlons and run the London marathon. Clearly, now I've had a bit of practice, this doesn't seem such a big challenge any more, so how about running up Tower 42 (what some of you might know as the Natwest Tower) - the City of London's tallest building on 19th March. 600 feet, 920 stairs and my only training has been walking up to the third floor in the office! Described by the Times as 'a race for sporting masochists', it seemed perfect for me (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article5727709.ece).

I managed to climbe Tower42 in just over 6 minutes, but it took me longer to run the London marathon - 3 hours, 36 mins and 1 second! Thanks for all your support in both events!

The need for your sponsorship is at least as important as last year. Shelter's work becomes ever more important as the recession bites, but at the same time, their sources of funding dry up. Anything you can do to help is really appreciated!

New year resolution: get off my lazy backside and raise some money for some charities that need your help.

I'll be doing 12 events over the coming 12 months, mostly in aid of Shelter, but also dipping into your pocket for other charities.

January 20^th: What a day, what a day. 12 hours in the saddle, cycling through some of the most picturesque countryside that you can imagine - the M25!

Starting at home in South London at 7.50 on Sunday, I had great intentions of going past the offices of Shelter to get my first photo of the day. However, the first of many wrong turns left me not finding the place, so I hacked out to my 'starting point' on the north side of the Thames at the Dartford crossing. I can advise you that if I had any desire to move to the 'Thames Gateway', I've probably lost it now. But the wind was behind me, so that was fine.

Shortly after passing the beauty of Lakeside Shopping Centre, I hit some countryside. And hit my first puncture. Boo! Once I got that fixed, I was off again, and discovered that there are hills out in this part of the world! And once I turned the corner to start heading east at Brentwood, there was a pretty strong wind in my face. About three hours in now, and my legs were hurting. Properly hurting.

The next 10 or 20 miles really took a long time - hills and wind that I didn't count on. And it slowed me down. A lot. But on the up side, my legs got so tired that they just sort of went numb.

Which was when the rain started. Numb legs, wind in my face, and rain. I don't really remember much about hours 5 through to 9 except numb, wind, rain, numb, wind rain.

By Heathrow I was ready to chuck in the towel, but with only 2 or so hours to go, I just kept on telling my legs to keep on turning. Which seemed to do the trick, as by the time I got to the junction of the M3, and met up with Steve (thanks for coming out to visit!), I was feeling much more chipper again. Or I could have finally gone mad. Not sure which.

Anyway, only an hour left, the wind behind me and a sense of achievement under my belt helped me pick up the pace again. But didn't improve my map-reading skills, and I got a bit lost on the way home, which meant I ended up finishing the ride after 12 hours 15 minutes and getting the train home for the last little bit.

I loved it. But never again. Never.

So, who's up for some comedy in February? Thursday 21st at Jongleurs in Clapham Junction. Tickets £10 each. Let me know if you want to go - places are limited!

Check out the link to my route http://www.mapmyrun.com/ride/united-kingdom/london/572655711

February 21st: Comedy night. It’s cold, it’s dark, we all need cheering up, so I’m offering you all the opportunity to spend an evening of fun and laughter at one of the UK’s best comedy clubs – Jongleurs in Battersea. Thanks to the 27 people who came along and helped to raise £150! I had a great night, and I hope you lot did too (even those of you who got picked on by the comedians!).

March 1^st to 8^th: I have just finished crossing the Three Valleys ski resort in France (there and back) without the use of any lifts. A few years ago, me and my mate Sam entered a competition called the Three Valleys Rally, which was a race from the Frog and Rosbeef pub in Val Thorens, to the bottom of the main lift station in Courchevel 1650, and back again. We finished in 2 hours 36 minutes. I always knew that it’d take considerably longer without the lifts, but I didn’t realise quite how much longer. 

Day 1 (yes, it took more than one day)

After having eventually found somewhere to rent touring skis in the morning I set off from Courchevel 1650. Touring skis are basically normal skis with special bindings that allow you to free up your heel for walking uphill. They also come with ‘skins’ – fabric strips with hairs that point backwards and hence stop you slipping downhill when walking uphill – which you can take on and off. Having never done this before, I was on a pretty steep learning curve, and after 20 minutes trying to walk uphill and finding it a bit harder than I thought I would, I realised I had the skins on backwards, and therefore not really helping me much.

It took a while to get out of Courchevel valley, but at least it was nice and sunny. Rather too sunny – temperatures were around 15 degrees or so, and I was melting in the mountain sun. After about three hours, I topped the ridge between Courchevel and Meribel (at 2305m), and met up with one of the guys I was on holiday with – Craig. It was good to talk to another human being, but even better to actually ski downhill for a while into Meribel (1750m). Craig and I had a bit of late lunch, the temperature fell and then I headed off up the other side of the Meribel valley.

By this time, the day was coming to an end. A few people have asked me what would happen if I didn’t complete it in one day. Well, I didn’t dig a snow hole, nor bunker up in a mountain hut. No, I hopped on the nearest lift to get me back to my nice warm chalet back in Courchevel.

Day 2

Hopped on the lifts to get back to where I finished the day before, and completed the long slog out of Meribel valley to the highest point on the trip (2803m). By this time, the weather had really turned, and I was in sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow falling. I have to admit that there were moments when I considered quitting. Not only was it the cold, the constant slog uphill (red runs really are quite steep when you’re tackling them the wrong way round) and the burn in my legs, but there was a couple of feet of really lovely powder forming, and I’d much rather be skiing down through that instead of walking up through it!

When I made it into Val Thorens (at 2300m) at around 2pm, I was feeling quite a bit better. Some other friends (Graeme, Ali, Paul and the Sam I did the original race with) were in the Frog and Rosbeef having some lunch. This is where it all started, so it was fitting that I stop in to say hello. Unfortunately, this only marked the half-way point, so no time for reminiscing, so back on the skis and back up the mountain.

Stupidly, I decided to walk up a black run on the way back. Quite steep really. And icy. Not very easy to walk uphill on that sort of thing! Back out of Val Thorens valley, still in whiteout conditions and heading back to Meribel village. I finished the day back down the bottom of Meribel and looking forward to the final slog!

Day 3

What a difference a day makes – a beautiful Alpine morning with blue sky and great snow conditions. Still, couldn’t get distracted by that, as I had a final mountain to climb. Out of Meribel in the morning, really grateful for the ice crampons to get me up a steep and icy slope, and then 2 hours of lovely scenery as I made my way out of Meribel valley, and back to Courchevel.

The final uphill section was fun (believe it or not), as I could smell the finish. A gentle cruise back to Courchevel 1650, still under the bluest of blue skys, and job done.

Total vertical distance walked up 3800m. I only had a few people talk to me whilst doing this challenge, but the general theme was ‘tiring’, ‘mad’, ‘brave’, ‘tough’. Have a look at the photos and a more detailed map of my route at my facebook group www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8832831971.

April 27th: Clapham Junction 10km race. This being my first ever 10k race, I thought I'd do some practicing. Not just going for a jog or two, but I entered another 10k on the Wednesday beforehand. I finished the first in 44 minutes exactly, and the Clapham Common race in 42 minutes, 31 seconds. I was really chuffed with both these times, and now I just need to keep up the practicing so that I manage to finish the Berlin Marathon later in the year!

May: Party month! A great night of soul, funk, rock and melodic tunes happened at the Cavendish Arms in Stockwell (www.thecavendisharmsstockwell.co.uk) on May 7th. This was the first Woodstockwell Festival! 14 talented artists took to the stage to show us their stuff. Some really impressive acts, who could easily have filled a venue twice the size. Thanks so much to everyone who put their time and effort into making the night a huge success - we raised over £300.

June: Back in easy territory here. London to Brighton bike ride. 50-odd miles in aid of the British Heart Foundation. Find out more and sponsor me specifically for this one at www.justgiving.com/davidcope_londonbrighton.

July: The London Bikeathon (I expect you’re seeing a pattern here in terms of my chosen activities!) in aid of Leukemia Research. Had a lovely ride around London on a sunny Sunday - actually quite tiring as I'd just driven back from a week of mountain biking in the French Alps! All in aid of Leukaemia Research www.justgiving.com/davidcope_bikeathon

August 10^th:

Close your eyes and imagine something for me (you’ll probably need to open them again now, so you can read what you’re supposed to imagine):

Get inside your washing machine and turn it on. The sit in it for 30 minutes on a fast, but cold wash. Then get out of the washing machine and try to push a big truck along the road for an hour. And once you’ve done that, put both your legs in plaster and try to run for three quarters of an hour! That’s basically my experience of the London Triathlon – all completed in under 2.5 hours – and didn’t I just love it!

See photos and read more at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8832831971.

View the video of me crossing the line at http://virginmedialondontri2008.sportcamvideo.net/videopage.php?bib=7792

You can sponsor me (as if you didn’t know) at www.justgiving.com/davidcope. You know you want to!

First of all, I should say that I really enjoyed the day – if you’ve ever thought about doing a triathlon, but came up with excuses for not doing it, then change your mind and do one. It was brilliant. Not that there weren’t nerves to start with... I didn’t sleep so well last night (I spent quite a bit of time dreaming of punctures, cramp and doing the wrong number of laps!

Before the start of the swim the organisers do an oggie oggie oggie – oi oi oi! call (just picture 300 athletes in wet suits and swimming caps shouting that out!). Then on the sound of the hooter, the dock turns into a splashing mêlée of arms and legs and white water. If you’ve never swum 1500 m in open water, I can tell you that it looks a damned long way when you’re trying to avoid getting kicked in the head by the person in front of you and swum over by the person behind you! The white water fight didn’t really stop until half way down the return leg when I managed to get into my stride a bit more and actually started to enjoy myself.

Getting out of the swim was the hardest part. Not just because it is slippy and wet, but because my head was spinning and focusing on anything was quite tough! You’ve got to run up a ramp, pull off your wetsuit (and when your ams and legs are exhausted from the swim, that is easier said than done), and then run up into the bike transition area. Pop on your helmet, cycling shoes, take on a bit of fluid and get the bike out onto the road. And into the headwind!

Right, so the cycle is 40km, from the Excel centre to Tower Bridge and back twice over. With the wind directly in your face for the whole way into London, it was tough going to start with, but great fun on the return legs – getting in top gear and firing along. I was riding with a big smile on my face the whole time! When the carbon fibre tri bikes whizzing past you at speed, it makes you feel like you’re crawling along, but what a buzz! By the end of the ride, I could feel the tops of my legs seizing up and my back was starting to complain in no uncertain terms. Slightly worried about the transition to the run... after hearing so much about the jelly legs thing, I wasn’t looking forward to it!

I took a bit of time in transition. More fluid, change of shoes, little stretch and then get back out there! Now, I’ve done a few 10k runs this year, but never when feeling quite so exhausted! Rather than suffering from jelly legs, I was suffering from wooden legs. My calves felt like they were solid blocks, and my hips were definitely in some sort of spasm! But it’s amazing what a crowd can do to give you energy... and the crowd was great!

And then, 2 hours 24 minutes and 13 seconds later, I crossed the finish line. A huge amount faster than I ever imagined that I’d be able to do it in... hence me spending about 10 minutes with my mum just counting the time out between us to confirm that I hadn’t somehow got it wrong.

And do you know what really made the day great? The fact that when I wrote to you all last week, and asked for you to sponsor me, so many of you did – you raised a massive amount in just a few days. Thank you so much.

Oh, and then I had to cycle home.

Bring on the marathon!

September: Thankfully, unlike poor old Pheidippides, I survived my first marathon to tell the tale! And in the process have broken all previous bests!

Results:

Position 1: Haile Gebrselassie 2h 3m 59s (world record)

Positions 2-7670: Some other people

Position 7671: David Cope 3h 35m 55s (errr, personal best?)

OK, so I’ve got a way to go until I can compete with Haile. But he is 35, so I’ve got a few years to improve and make up that hour and a half or so! But what I can tell you is that we’ve burst through the £5,000 barrier in style! Thanks so much to all of you who have supported me so far through this year, and especially this weekend just gone.

I always knew that running a marathon would be difficult, but didn’t realise just how far 26 miles 385 yards actually was. The first hour went quite quickly, I was enjoying that. The second hour was more noticeable. The third hour and a half just got progressively worse and worse. First my legs started to feel heavy. Then it started to get harder and harder to take on enough liquid to actually stop me from feeling thirsty. Then I thought that somebody had tied my laces together and hung a weight around my head so that all I could do was watch my feet take each step and keep on telling them to take the next one. And the 48 hours after crossing the finishing line, I’m still having trouble taking those steps!

But there were highs too. Basically, I ran the first 30kms (20ish miles) with a stupid grin on my face. From the street-side bands, to the crazy German supporters lining the route, to the ridiculous number of Danes who seemed to be running the marathon, to the man dressed head to foot in Skins, to the man who was actually in fancy dress wearing a Roman soldier’s outfit, to bumping into the only other Shelter runner I saw on the day, everything seemed to bring a smile to my face. Or it could have been the daft amount of sugar-based food and drink that I’d managed to consume in the previous 24 hours.

Running up to the half-marathon point was fine... all that training was looking like it paid off (although apparently, as I found out afterwards talking to somebody who’d run 6 marathons, I hadn’t done enough training and that I should have done many more, and longer, runs). And as I approached 32km, I kept on telling myself that all I had left was a 10k race. That was clearly a stupid thing to think because I’d forgotten how difficult the 10k race I did earlier this year actually was. It seems somehow appropriate that I hit ‘the wall’ whilst running in Berlin. But, in some weird sporting analogy to the inhabitants of Berlin in 1989, I ran through the wall.

Even though Haile had finished an hour and half earlier, the crowd that was lining the street at the Brandenburg Gate, and the last couple of hundred metres to the finish was massive and loud! The feeling of euphoria that rushed through me was crazy. Then that wore off and I realised that my whole body was in agony! Still hasn’t quite worn off as it happens – bring back the euphoria.

OK, so I’ve got through 9 months of this year of fundraising. The biggest challenges are over – cycling around the M25, ski touring across the Three Valleys, completing the London Triathlon and the Berlin Marathon, and most importantly smashing through the £5,000 mark that was my target at the start of the year! But just like I kept on telling myself in the marathon, I’ve got to keep going! There are three months of the year to go, and it should be fun fun fun all the way from here on in. That fun starts with October being a cakeathon. I haven’t quite decided on the format for this yet, but if you like cake – either baking of eating – let me know, and I’ll figure something out!

October: So, after running a marathon, a triathlon, cycling for 12 hours etc etc, it was time to kick back and relax a bit! So this month was all about the cake.

At the start of this week I held a cake sale at work, with many friends and colleagues donating home baked goods to sell. And work being work, they all sold out within a couple of hours, raising £90.

But worrying about my waistline meant that there had to be a bit of sport this month, and my ultimate frisbee team came up trumps by arranging a tournament last weekend. 10 teams from across London turned out in the sun, played a day of high-quality and fun frisbee, and raised £600 in the process (much of which came from cake sales!!). You can find some photos on my facebook group www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8832831971.

Thanks to all of you who have helped this month – together we’ve burst through the £6,000 mark in funds for Shelter. All the more important as news comes out that house repossessions have jumped by 50% over last year’s figures, and things are probably only going to get worse as we head towards the end of the year. Shelter’s work is fundamentally important in helping people to keep a roof over their heads as we head towards Christmas time.

November: November is Movember (www.movember.com). I’ll be growing a moustache for you all to laugh at. But the serious side of this is that I’ll be aiming to raise money for prostate cancer research – the most common cancer in men in the UK, which kills one man every hour! I’ll be updating photos on my Movember page (http://uk.movember.com/mospace/1335661 – you can also donate simply and securely via the same page), so if you don’t see the abomination under my nose in the flesh, you’ll be able to scoff at it virtually!

December: Christmas pub quiz time of year. Hoping to hijack the charity fund from the one I usually do, and will be trying to arrange a quiz night at work too.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Shelter will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

Many thanks for your support. Sponsor early. Sponsor often.