Last weekend Outside Adventure entered a team into the Helly Hansen “Cumbrian Commotion” Adventure Race in the Lake District – http://www.trailplus.com/helly_hansen.cfm

The team of 3 (Limby, Kes and Trav) were somewhat hampered by Kes not bothering to do any cycle training before the event and then using his considerable bulk to turn their canoe into the first submarine to grace Windermere’s shores. Despite Kes’ considerable shortcomings the team did finish in the top half of the field placing 110 out of 257 finishers. At least there is room for improvement !

The top team over the weekend was Aberdeen Asset Management, 2 of this team (Bruce Duncan and Nick Gracie) we had met previously during G4 selections which we helped organise in November, they finished a full hour before the Outside Team gasped and stumbled to the finish and seemed to thoroughly enjoy our suffering. The boot was definitely on the other foot. It is likely to be sometime before we trouble the frontrunners !

We feel very priviliged to work on the Eastnor Castle Estate, and so were delighted to organise a team building morning for the Eastnor Castle Staff.

This small team plan and organise superb events at Eastnor Castle week in, week out. It is impossible not to be impressed by the venue and the dedication / professionalism of this team. The event was planned for the end of the Castle Spring Clean which takes place every february/march in preparation for the 2009 season. The 2009 eventlist has now been published and can be viewed here: http://www.eastnorcastle.com/special_events.aspx

We had a visit this week from Marie Curie fundraisers to finalise the details of their King of the Castle Challenge which we are running for them in September.

They had come to try out a variety of team building activities to decide which should be included in the event. It was a lovely afternoon with the sun shining briefly through the gloom and we have agreed on a very exciting programme.

For more details of the event and to sign up a team please visit the Marie Curie Website – http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/events/adrenaline/ultimate_challenges/kings_of_the_castle_challenge.htm

“Join Marie Curie Cancer Care in a wonderful new team event with a difference on Sunday September 27, 2009.

Set in the grounds of the stunning Eastnor Castle six teams will battle it out against each other by completing a variety of tasks; everything from adrenaline packed high and low ropes course and a 250 metre zip slide to giant mental puzzles.

So get your team of friends, family or colleagues together and join us at Eastnor Castle for a truly unique event.”

At the beginning of February we were delighted to run a teambuilding weekend for the British Synchronised Swimming Squad. 11 athletes braved the cold and snowy conditions to camp in the castle grounds and take part in 2 days of activities.

The programme was based around the results of the girls Miro Psychometric assessments and mixed facilitated classroom sessions with team building activities around the Eastnor Estate. The weekend proved to be a great success and we hope it is the start of a continuing relationship with the girls in their preparations for the London Olympics in 2012.

The weekend is best summed up by the girls themselves:

“We just want to say a massive thank you for the whole weekend experience. All of us enjoyed ourselves and we learnt things about ourselves and each other that we didn’t know before. It helped us find out how to get the best out of each team member individually and for us to use that to the benefit of the team. We also camped in a tent for a night (which is quite a big thing for us) and managed the climbing and physical activities which were new for most of us so all in all it was a good weekend for everyone.“