Cameron - Founder and Director


G'day!

Now based in London I grew up in NZ, leaving in 1998 to start the big OE. Growing up the family got in to everything. Water skiing, snow skiing, tramping, cycling, running and the usual team sports. Mum and Dad did and still do set the example in that regard!

Leaving home at 17 to move to the big smoke in Wellington I got in to Duathlons, Mountain Biking and Mountain Running, competing in the NZ Mountain Running Champs just before I left for London. Since arriving new mates have got me in to all sorts of great adventures. I have raced a fair few ultra marathons and marathons (with my Mum dragging me round my first marathon!). I normally manage to slog out a couple of ultras and a couple of city marathons each year. I've completed the Marathon des Sables across the Sahara Desert, the Gobi March across the Gobi Desert and the Atacama Crossing across the Atacama Desert. Mountaineering has also started to feature. I've knocked off a few Alpine ascents including Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. I'm always dreaming about the next big outdoor adventure and looking forward to the next summit.

The day job is office bound - I'm a lawyer and partner in a big City law firm who do surprisingly well to tolerate my need to get away and appease my Kiwi spirit by letting me captain (now retired!) the firm's rugby team.

I've always wanted to get more involved in adventure racing and I was inspired to set up the MARCH to help other athletes, the sport and the next generation looking for a sporting fix. I can get inspired by all sorts of things - but I find myself thinking a lot about one of my best mates Greg Dickson who was killed in a plane crash in the Alps in September 2007. On the exact first anniversary of his death I stood on the summit of Mont Blanc and could see the path of his last flight. Greg and I travelled, drunk, ate and partied our way round the world for many years. We had the biggest adventures possible in some of the most obscure places. He always said yes, whatever the offer. I reckon that is pretty inspiring.



Tom - Equipment and logistics


Hello

I am Tom. I have always been into long distance running - I cannot really recall a time when I was younger that I did not run for some school, club or charity. It all started when I realised at a young age that whilst I was mediocre at ball sports (putting it very kindly...) I could run longer distances and do well or even win. I ran for each of my schools and for a running club. Mostly longer track stuff and cross country. Aside from the health benefits I found (and still find) that running affords me space to think and take stock. I am now a busy lawyer and I find that some of the everyday business and work issues that I face are best sorted on a long run.

I left Law School in 1993 and work took over my life. I was a busy junior lawyer working all hours through the mid 1990's. Running all but ceased for me. I kept active and always cycled to work, but long distance running was one of the activities that took a back seat to my professional life for a period. On one of my cycles home from the city I was hit by a car. I broke my leg badly. My lower right leg now has four pins and a plate. It took a long while to recover. During that period a colleague at work mooted the seemingly crazy idea of a 100k run for charity across the South Downs of England. I began to wonder whether I could ever do such a thing, following the accident. I began to train and train and clearly recall the heartbreak when the leg would not stand up to the distances I hoped to achieve. I plugged on, and we did it - all 100k cross country and navigating our way. That was in 2003. Since that time I have done at least one Ultra Marathon a year, often more. We do quite well, but that (for me) is not the point. It is the focus an upcoming event provides for my training, the camaraderie and the nagging question..."can we actually do this one?" To date the answer has always been 'yes', happily.

In addition to long distance running, there is also the offshore sailing that I have always done...and then there is the mountain climbing. I'll save those two aspects of my 'sporting life' for another time.



Dave  -   Photographer and videographer


Hi

I'm Dave. I'm been into the Great Outdoors since my dad took me fishing when I was three. Excuse the pun but since then I've been hooked (sorry) on anything and everything that involves both exploration, challenge and most importantly, fun. Since university I have travelled extensively throughout Europe, Africa, South East Asia and Australia/NZ. Along the way I have trekked through jungles, climbed some of the highest mountains each continent has to offer, and worked on both wildlife conservation and social projects in remote areas. Due to work commitments (long hours behind a desk in the City) these journeys became ever more infrequent, so I took the decision recently to quit my job and do something I am truly passionate about, photography, and I have not looked back.

It was only in the last 3 years that Cameron and Tom introduced me to the world of Ultra Endurance events and in them I have found something that gives me the opportunity to explore, challenge myself and have fun doing it - all at once! Before then I enjoyed trekking, mountaineering, mountain biking, long distance swimming and the odd Triathlon, in fact I still do. At first I questioned why any sane person would want to put themselves through some of these events, but having now done just that - the shared sense of achievement you feel as you cross the finish line, or take those last few steps to the summit really do cleanse the mind of any negatives, and knowing that I really can, I come back to the real world wondering what else can I achieve..?