The Everyman Olympics: Original Deadline Day Arrives

Over two and a half years ago I made a bet with my mate Carl to race against each other to lose a stone. He'd opt to go down the regular route: eating less rubbish food and joining a gym which he'd plan to visit religiously, while I did a brief self-assessment and chose to pursue an altogether different path...

Carl 2009 BG (Before Gym)

Recognising my nature was to bore of attending the same place every 48 hours to do battle with my belly, and my inability to commit to such an approach; my job sends me motoring some 30,000+ miles per year around the UK, sometimes abroad also, while my wonderful missus lives 100 miles away from where I personally reside. I searched for a different approach, and one night while supping a beer, I realised that the Olympic Games offers a sporting menu which provides more exercise options than I could shake a chubby finger at.

The Everyman Olympian: At the start of 2010, weight: 14 stone 4 pounds

I elected to start with Rowing, bought a home machine, it didn't work. The next day I would start my adventure in a hotel gym, in fact I joined 2 gyms in that first week and by the time 8 days had passed I'd rowed 70,000 metres to complete The Rowing Challenge.

I developed my one-sport-per-month approach to replicate each event as it took place in the actual Games, so for my next sport I would need to play out the same amount of games as a male singles player would from day one up until and including the final. I called on family and friends to offer themselves as my opponents, even bought an extra racquet so there were no excuses and then spent 6 days playing 6 matches to achieve The Badminton Challenge.

Athletics seemed too large a topic to deal with in one chunk so I singled out the Marathon as the main endurance event but I didn't even run a mile at this point, so I consulted my brother and broke the task down into a challenge of 21 days over which to run the famous 26.2 miles. I smashed this target and on day fifteen I ran 5.1 miles alongside my brother to complete The Running Challenge.

I was going strong with my plan, which I'd decided to call The Everyman Olympics, but then my world changed. Pete Puma, a Bodybuilder from the US put me in touch with a British Weightlifter via Twitter and over the next month I Clean & Jerked on more weight than I'd lost. Carl won the bet and a slap up meal.




Nothing but the finest for our Carl, Tayyabs on Fieldgate Street in London has the best pork chops you'll ever eat!

I needed a change of tactics, I'd lost the bet but I had other plans in mind. The Everyman Olympics was effectively re-galvanised and I decided to try and tackle EVERY Olympic Sport before London 2012.

Well I'm sorry to say folks that this quest continues, though I'll need you to bare with me for a while longer, I'm not abandoning this adventure - I won't let you down.

Here are the sports I've achieved challenges in, with the help of many:

Archery, Aquatics (Swimming), Athletics (Running & Decathlon), Badminton, Beach Volleyball, Canoeing (Sprint & Slalom), Cycling (BMX & Road), Fencing, Handball, Judo, Rowing, Shooting (Pistol & Shotgun), Table Tennis, Tennis, Triathlon and Weightlifting.

In all I've complete 16 different sports, across 20 disciplines (somehow managed to bag bonus sports along the way), with these 5 sports currently on the go:

Basketball, Football, Sailing, Wrestling and Boxing.

But friends, I need your help! I'm looking for contacts in these 6 sports so I can complete my challenge:

• Gymnastics
• Trampolining
• Water Polo
• Taekwondo
• Modern Pentathlon
• Diving

If you can help please email me at: theeverymanolympian@googlemail.com

Thanks, you're a legend

The Everyman Olympian

PS I've kept the stone off, jumped on the scales today:

The Everyman Olympian: Weighing in at 13 stone 3 pounds.

The Beach Volleyball Challenge: Your Invitation





The Everyman Olympian invites YOU to take part in The Beach Volleyball Challenge!

Saturday 12th May, 10:30am - 3:30pm-ish

Ocean Beach, Eastern Esplanade, Southend-on-Sea, UK

There'll be plenty of this!

and a few of these!

Location Map (click the image to take you to Google Maps):

Come in Beachwear and bring footwear you don't mind getting dirty - it's a pebbly beach!

There are stores and parking nearby, though feel free to bring your own food and refreshments

Just tidy up after yourselves OK.

Saturday May 12th at 10:30am

 The Beach Volleyball Challenge,See you there,

The Everyman Olympian

The Basketball Challenge: Match Three, Southend Swifts vs Erkenwald Ladies

Oh yes, there's a new British BBall player on the Allstar circuit!I know what you're thinking - how can this be? well read on my friends...

While I've been running the boards of Leigh-on-Sea, my fellow Brit, Luol Deng has been wowing US coaches, through averaging 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds this season playing for the world famous Chicago Bulls in the NBA's Eastern conference. His performances have earned him a vote onto this month's Allstar game in Orlando, Florida. I earned eight minutes on the court Wednesday evening while 'my boys' (that's BBall talk y'all) battled a spirited ladies team for a 101-45 victory. I'm guessing you're equally proud of the pair of us, Great Britain.

Luol Deng, a kindred spirit?...probably not.

Louis' self-imposed voodoo about playing girls teams came back to haunt him (again) as he go downed in defence and then blocked in attack, but he wasn't the only one to fall fail of an Erkenwalk Ladies team who fault well for the only female team in the league, I for one respect them - I'm reckoning Dan, having been mugged of the ball, and others in the Swifts side who also got blocked that eve will be thinking likewise.

Southend led from the get go and dominated every quarter but amongst the ranks of the fairer opposition No.4 & No.5 each had skills in going up to the net, No. 10 & No.15 proved at times to have nerve with scoring shots from distance and No.7 bossed their side by example; I had to mark her during my time on court and believe me, I got little joy.

There were some real moments of maturity, composure and skill from the cool kids in black: Reece, Jordan, Dan and Brad all displayed some excellent skills while making point-scoring breaks; the highlight of the night goes to Dan for managing to bounce the ball off of his head from a pass, into his own path and coolly lift it into the hoop under pressure.

Nathan, or The Mop as I shall now name him, used his significant height advantage (dude must be 6'4'') to hoover up many of the rebounds in the first two quarters, and this surely added to the impressive points tally.

I too bagged my first competitive points; a penalty was awarded in the third quarter our way and Coach Butterworth gave instruction to the team that I was to take it - I'd have 4 shots...I fluffed the first, then the second (though this time aim was on target, just the power let me down), then miraculously after a bounce on the ring and backboard, my third sunk. A huge cheer went up, I was beaming but with the mini crowd all behind me I opted to compose myself for a final throw rather than revel in the moment. The ball arced disappointingly and we played on.

I was replaced soon after, though once again came on for the final few minutes, Jordan netted the final basket and we saw out the match having just made the ton mark.

I've now played in my third match, and scored 1 point which means I'm averaging 0.33 points per game. By my reckoning this makes me 0.02% the player that Luol Deng is, after just two training sessions ever, the Allstar team selectors may have to rethink the British allocation.

The Basketball Challenge: First Training Session

Last Wednesday night I met up with Head Coach at Southend Swifts Basketball Club, Stephen Pearl. I'd landed on my feet...

Basketball first caught my attention when a Greek lad at school started playing the game in London and promptly stopped wearing trainers and starter wearing 'sneakers'. The year was 1990, I thought the kid was double cool.

Michael Jordan may have made the sport globally recognised but this kid in my school, also called Michael, was the only person we actually knew who played the sport. I think even our PE teachers secretly thought he was cool, despite their preference for football, rugby and athletics.

Around the same time my pal Johnny had a basketball net put up by his dad on the carport attached to their garden and my first playing experience came with the boys I grew up with; we'd try and 'slam dunk' the ball but at less then 5ft tall we would have to resort to sitting on one anothers shoulders to get the job done.

As we settled into our teens this Amercian fad passed, our hair grew, and grunge music and girls took our attention.

So when I met Coach Pearl in the car park of Eastwood High School I expected to be greeted by a giant from across the pond....though while Coach Pearl may not be a giant in terms of physical size, he is a goliath in terms of Basketball knowledge and hospitality.

Stephen understood my need to compete in the same number of games as a team would in the Olympics, from day one to the final, and what's more he'd already worked out exactly how I could do this all with Southend Swifts - what a star!

We talked about the club's set-up, standing in the community, the expectations of the players to give something back to the club - Coach Pearl was as proud of the young Swifts that helped introduce basketball to kids at local schools as he was of the 17 students who'd gone on to play in the United States.

I wasn't just there for a chat mind, within half an hour I'd joined the 16-18's and was doing lay-up drills under the coaching of Simon, one of the clubs talents who'd played in the US, he's now returned to coach at the club that gave him his opportunity.

We progressed through shooting hoops from the penalty line, practising 2-on-3 scenarios with an outnumbered defence, learning and role-playing set plays and finished on a best-of-three / first to seven baskets competition.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first training session for The Basketball Challenge, and was wholeheartedly welcomed in by the lads; including Louis (who gave me penalty shooting tips), and Little Darren (he's 6ft 9'...but is shorter than his brother!).

They've even got a player called Jordan, so they must be good!

I've a few weeks of heavy work, where I'll need to focus on challenges during the weekend, but then I'm looking forward to working with the Southend Swifts and will definitely make the effort to give something back.

BBC Radio Wales December interview: Listen Again

Thanks to the Pistol Shooting Coach Morris hooking me up with my first national radio interview last October, BBC Radio Wales invited me back for an update in December, here's how to listen...

Click HERE for the interview, select 28/12/2011, click LISTEN NOW and fast forward to 2:40:10

BBC Radio Wales Presenters Louise & Jamie

Hope you enjoy this, let me know either way,

The Everyman Olympian

The Handball Challenge: Match Three, Warwick vs Brentwood

With Phillipe Kouessan-Ettori and Danny Sedano returning to the fold for their first league match of the season, and our greatest team attendance yet, we headed back to Cranfield University with our strongest squad so far to face Warwick Uni.

Making up the 11 and coming out of a heavy cold I'd be happy to warm the bench while my stronger team mates lead the way...and set off to a fine pace they did; Rob bagged the opening goal of the match for Brentwood were leading 3-2 with ten minutes played.

The refs were a little harsh on us, I'm not saying they were showing favouritism but lets just say that Warwick were getting a generous share of the decisions.

Warwick lead with their lump of a No.8, seemingly playing a looser attack, with No.5 coming in from the right wing to launch shots on goal and a canny No.7 rushing in from the left to force goal scoring opportunities through our central defence.

Warwick's No.7 attacks.

We'd lost some focus after a good start and trailed 13-6 at half time.

Coach Kuller Rabaca gave us a stern tactical talk at half time, the fruits of which flourished early with Brentwood putting the ball into the back of the net 4 times to Warwicks 5 in the opening ten mins of the second half, we were competing once more.

Coach Kuller Rabaca puts the steel back in our wheel

Again we stuttered midway through the half and it seemed we were struggling at times to make our numbers count, despite the opposition suffering a few key injuries during the game but Mark Cory in the Brentwood goal was on song and kept us well in the match with some stonking saves to frustrate their tiring attack.

Brentwood's top scorer, Chris Baker, pounces again - he bagged 8 goals in this game.

We managed a heroic end to the match, outgunning Warwick 15 to 14 goals in the back half of the fixture to reduce the final deficit but sadly the first half lull cost us - the final score Warwick 27 - Brentwood 21.

The 100km Challenge

At some point one Sunday, a few weeks back, I had a rather silly idea pop into my head, not for the first time would I suggest a challenge to myself which would see me testing my body to the max for seemingly no point whatsoever...

I was preparing for a few days away for work and I knew I'd be spending the majority of my time with my face illuminated by laptop light, my only realistic escape being the rather machine-cluttlered hotel gym.

From seemingly nowhere the thought of 'travelling' 100km in four days entered my head and me being me I decided to accept my own silly challenge just to give me an excuse to venture outside my own room - I'd be unable to partake directly in any of the sports I had left to tackle at this point and figured the added task would do me good.

Day 1

I started like a lightning bolt out of the blocks on the first day:

EveryOlympian Butt's sore from naff saddle on the bike in this hotel gym but bagged 40km on Day 1 of my 4 day 100km Challenge, 20km Run & 40km Cycle to go

This tweet tells you all you need; I was fired up and being cocky on the adrenalin...my apologies, it gets me that way sometimes.

Day 2

Unsurprisingly, since I had barely ridden a real bike this past few months, let alone an exercise machine version with an uncomfortably wide saddle, I was unable to be as agressive on the morning of the second day:

EveryOlympian Legs let me down on the treadmill at 5km this morning, but made up for it with 10km cycle so pushed over the half way line #100kmChallenge

This plagued me mentally all day - as I'd stated earlier my intention was to cycle 80km and run the other 20, but rather than whallow in my morning's 'defeat' I headed back to the house of pain for a second stint that evening...

EveryOlympian Headed back to the gym after work and battled through a further 30km cycle, now 85km into the #100kmChallenge Just 15km run & 2 days to go

Now I was showing them!
 
Day 3
 
My legs were in tatters; aching whether I sat, walked or stood - stairs laughed at me as I advanced on them like a drunken cowboy who'd lost his horse.
 
Thankfully this was to be a crazy busy work day which called for me to start before 6am and keep going till gone ten pm - I'd worked right through the opening hours of the gym. Shame.
 
Day 4
 
Again I was short on time due to work that morning but I did manage to go through with a short run to clock up another 5km, I was just 10km and one gym session away from achieving my goal.
 
The telly nearly got me...
 

EveryOlympian 10 more mins of Crocadile Dundee 2 and I've gotta go battle the final 10km of this 100km challenge #The100kmChallenge

But I prevailed, only to be cocky on my bodies own chemical kick once again:
 

EveryOlympian 100km Challenge achieved...report by Sat eve to you tweeps

OK so this is three weeks late but hey I did still nail the 100km Challenge!
 
Why not set your own version up? Just calculate a tough training schedule that gets you to 100km - now make it a tad harder - and use any form of movement you feel confortable with. Good luck and let me know how your get on: theeverymanolympian@googlemail.com

The Handball Challenge: Match Two, Brentwood Vs Essex University

A local derby by all accounts, but with only four teams in the Development League South, which are slightly spread out, we journeyed to Cranfield's patch for the match - each match day all teams gathered at the one venue so as to play back-to-back matches and allow the coaches to deal with any league business.

Cranfield University like to keep their Sports Hall a well kept secret and so you only really know that the modern white block of a building opposite the campus petrol station is in fact the very hall for sports that you're seeking when you leave your car and make the effort to walk through the main doors - there are no noticeable signs on the way to it from either direction, and the hall itself is entire unmarked. Genius.

Controvesy in the carpark: I spoke with Rolf on my arrival, a stocky chap who'd attended my first training session with Brentwood but whom I hadn't seen since, he informed me that he was here for the game but had decided to play for 'A slightly more advanced team', which he added with a wry smile. I hoped he'd be proved wrong but in fairness this was only my second match and no less than three other team mates were on their debut run out today; Duncan, Terry and Ian were each eager to impress.

Essex University's Handball Team are a cosmopolitan bunch who are well organised and skillful in an attack that's quick to break (something which they did on no fewer than two occasions courtesy of cutting out my own poorly selected passes).

Rob scored the first goal for Brentwood - we were ahead for the first time this season! Sadly it was short lived...

The game had spluttered early into life in our favour but the away team soon put pressure on a nearly recovered Mark (he'd damaged his ankle in our first match) in our goal; including having to defend a penalty which I'd unwittingly given away - the ref blew for me elbowing their right wing player, I'd just been clumsy with my left arm in truth (no malice involved).

We knew we were in a game. (That's me far left - stood too far out)

Just ten minutes in I was substituted for Terry to make his handball debut, with both Duncan and Ian each already showing no signs of nerves and making impressive attacking moves, our sole sub was anxious to get involved; he'd prove more aggressive than myself in our defensive line.

'Is that a slow moving train or what?', clearly we needed to work on our speed in switching from attack to defense from this excellent turn of phrase from our Coach.

When I was reintroduced in the first half I settled into my wing duties with greater ease, hugging the line and hanging back slightly as instructed to give our attack some width and passing options. I also cleaned up my defensive play and following some other advice from Coach Kuller Rabaca I managed more effective close-outs on my opposing player by placing my arms behind my back and simply side-stepping into their way.

By half time the scoreline read 6-20, we were trailing but already Ian and Duncan were showing confidence in their goal line moves and combining well with the more experienced players of Rob and George (our most eccentrically-haired team mate), who worked well in those opening second-half moments to bring about 5 Brentwood goals in the first ten minutes.

Essex struggle to contain George in the early moments of the second half.

The second half had started with the same formation as the first had ended, with myself and Sean now occasionally switching wings - a tactic our Coach employed to give their defence something to think about.

On a few occasions I was left short of available passing options due to our players being man-marked so well and getting themselves involved in tussles of their own, my lack of experience led to poorly weighted passes back to Rob in the centre of midfield, which were cut-out by his marker and gave Mark little chance in our goal as they quickly counter attacked. It was no surprise that I was subbed out to Terry once again who was having more success.

Rob, was recently back from honeymooning on the other side of the world, was now commanding our attacks with confidence, though our defencive line became near bereft of comunication as we tired.

Essex Uni were not quick to defend after their increasingly successful recces into our half, though their vocal front man was quick to ensure each of his players were covering their opposing man and this system was proving very effective for them - their last 12 goals came with just 1 in reply, we were soundly dealt with.

Rob celebrates his return by making Rolf look average in goal.

The final score was 12 - 42, the Essex Blades remained unbeaten this season. It was dark when I set off in the car after the match that day, the mood in my car wasn't much brighter.

The Handball Challenge: Match One, Cranfield Vs Brentwood

My travel to and from the University of Essex Sports Centre pretty well mirrored my performance in my match for The Handball Challenge; I got lost due to an unclear path and was disorientated at the end.

The Handball Challenge:

• 7 matches before the Olympics starts (I've joined Brentwood Handball Club to play in their season).

Much like other team sports, the worth of your labours in training amount to nothing until they're tested on the field of play, or in this case the colourfully lined indoor court.

Baptisms of fire vary in heat like a curry without the English translation on the menu; you're not sure what you've let yourself in for until it's all too late, in this instance I was the oik left gulping down Cobra like a man who'd not seen liquids in weeks.

The play was quicker than my brain but I now know that with a third of the match down (20 minutes), we were only trailing 3-5 and were well in with a fighting chance against a Cranfield University side that was well stocked with apparent fans of Rap and Metal music.



Cranfield break through to apply early pressure (The Everyman Olympian, Far Right)


Then disaster selected Mark and struck him with a bitch slap to the ankle, we were now substitute-less and yours truly would be seeing out the rest of the game. Coach Kuller Rabaca called a time-out to give us a breather and make us aware of the situation.

Whether it was the news that hit us hardest or our opponents more collective reaction to this game-changer I'm not in a position to say but when the ref blew for half time we'd slipped ten points adrift with no further reply, the score now 3-15.



Our great goalie David draws on this childhood days of watching Karate Kid


Hans-Jorg took us aside for a rest and a pep talk, we needed to focus, maintain shape and move the ball quicker to the attacking players in the second half.

Sean and George mustered a tiring defence as best they could (each also netting 1 and 2 goals respectively in the match), while Chris lead an aggressive and physical attack that yielded 4 goals and riled their defensive triangle.

Collectively we were sharper in the back 30 and reduced their scoring opportunities, though their agile yet short front men continued to pose a threat, George and Big Phil were able to disrupt them while they looked genuinely unsettled by Chris' counter attacking ability.



George limes high to save us after Cranfield launch another well-oiled attack


7-22 The final score of a match which we'd lost due to their blistering opening half while we still getting used to each other, a heavy loss then but there were some positives to build on.

You can find out more about Brentwood Handball Club and the sport here.

First Handball Training Session

My back aches, my feet are sore, my clothes dripping with sweat an my right hand feels like it's been through a strenuous workout of it's very own (hold back the sniggers you in the back), and I feel great!

I drove over to join the Brentwood Handball Club this evening for my first taste of training for The Handball Challenge and thanks to Coach Kuller Rabaca I may even being joining the team for the whole season.

Coach Kuller Rabaca put six of us through our paces while three others practised Goal Keeping drills at the other end of the court, then we joined to play a 5-a-side match that ensured I was thrown in at the deep end.

I loved the training element and the warm-up drills as they were varied and I felt I was learning pretty quickly - I now need to work out how to put this into practise during a game, because I was pretty shoddy in the mini match.

This Saturday (22nd October) I'll hopefully make it there in time to get my first competitive match in too, if you're around from 3pm in the Brentwood area then why not come along, here's the address:

Brentwood Centre

Doddinghurst Road

Brentwood

Essex

CM15 9NN

Telephone: 01277 215151

Coach Kuller Rabaca and The Everyman Olympian - as taken by Ralf, who had shaky hands after remaining from 12 years in the Handball Wilderness

The Table Tennis Challenge: Ping Bounce Pong Bounce Ping Bounce Swoosh...Bounce

This next sporting challenge (undertaken in October 2010) is based on a game played by more people than any other in the world so I thought it would only be right to take my quest international...by playing matches in England and Scotland!

The Table Tennis Challenge:

• 6 matches
• Against 6 different opponents
• In 6 days

With a pending work trip around half of the UK's best countries ahead I looked to capitalise on my journey by seeking opponents in each location I'd visit; I tapped out tweets, mails, Facebook messages and texts, and even resorted to calling a few people too.

Manchester was done and dusted within an afternoon and on day one I had time aplenty to get to Leeds and check out my customers there too, plus as I was done by store closing time and knew someone in the area I hoped they'd be available and made the call...

You may recall Coach Josie was right at the heart of me changing my goals from 12 to every sport in the Olympics when training me for The Weightlifting Challenge, now she's studying in the city of Leeds and thankfully had a small window of opportunity to play...sadly though every sports club or leisure centre I called was either booked or having their table repaired...FAIL!

I trotted off to visit my good hearty northern pals, Chris and Trish; the very same folk from The Badminton Challenge and The Tennis Challenge.

This time I was determined to beat Chris, he'd won our two previous encounters on those past challenges and now I needed to show my skills with a mini-racquet...I mean bat.

We played like practising champions, in a hall with only one table...well, Chris played like a practising champion, I played like I'd not picked up a bat since holidaying in sunnier climes nearly ten years ago (because I hadn't).

After my thrashing, Chris delighted in giving me some tips and then revealed that he used to play this for hours, every day!

The next day I set off to work and towards Match 2: this time my opponent would be a man I'd trounced during The Tennis Challenge; Tones would be after revenge.

After work I picked up Tones from his location just outside of Newcastle and we headed to a table I'd pre-booked in sports centre that clearly had been state-of-the-art in the 70's, but was now as unloved as an old teddy in the bottom of a teenage lad's wardrobe.

This was to be a battle of gargantuan proportions; Tones took a game, I took a game, Tones took a game, I took...anyhow it reached 3-3, meaning the winner would take all in the final game...it was tenser than Conan The Barbarian, constipated.

We rallied and rallied and smashed and sliced and Tones even hit the deck on one occasion but he emerged victorious and looking like a mildly sweaty and make-up-less Noel Fielding.

Two matches down and 4 to play, I would have to win all of my remaining fixtures to be claimed King overall.

Edinburgh and Aberdeen were visited the following day, and then I had a large Glaswegian in mind with whom to do Table Tennis War!

Louis stands some 8 feet tall and has a reach that would leave me only speed as a potential weapon...but disaster struck when I arrived in Glasgow to find my ol' pal an injured man - I'm not going into his wound but let's just say every one of us would prefer not to have it (thankfully he's better now and the extra hole in his bum has healed nicely).

The match off, we settled into a lovely home cooked meal thanks to his wonderful missus and had a good catch-up, I was relieved in a way as maybe now I could wash off the smell of defeat.

By the start of Day 4 I had a total of no wins and 2 defeats to my name; one beating and one valiant and well-fault loss. The clock was ticking so I had to formulate a plan...

That very eve I would pull off a masterstroke in mid-week organisation; I fixed not 1, not 2 nor 3 but 4 matches - this would be a mini event of the nature no small town sports hall had seen independently organised within its venue before...or it would have been if we hadn't been playing on football night and so had to play on a table set up in one of the squash rooms.

Ali, Matt, Clare and Jess would be my four opponents, I would need a strong wrist and a sound mind to win against them all.

Ali ruined this immediately. He beat me like the novice I was, and this provided my remaining adversaries with the confidence to attack me with verve.

Matt tried some sly shots, but I won through - the taste of my one victory, bitter in the mouth with 3 helpings of defeat - I would need to beat the girls or 'die' trying.

Clare...oh dear, clearly Edinburgh (yes Clare is from Scotland's fair capital but she was living in Leicester at this point) taught many things but not how to play ping pong. I just had the missus to beat...

Victory! In a final match that would see me possibly giving away some points just so's I wouldn't have to sleep on the sofa, I beat Jess with the skills I'd accumulated in 4 short yet long-distanced days.

I'd recommend Table Tennis to everyone, but then again, given that so many of you play it already I guess I don't have to.

Winter Warmers

With the weather here in the UK looking to show early intent that we're in for a harsh and drawn-out Winter I'm looking to move my focus to indoor sports, so what sporting options do I have available for The Everyman Olympics?

Swimming I've just bagged (report to follow soonish...I know I owe you a few) so what else do I have left to tackle in The Great Indoors?

Fencing - a sport I've been keen to start for a while; its got swords and cool outfits, plus the added benefit of decent war wounds - what more could a lad ask for? Having just noticed I'm being followed by @britishfencing on Twitter I've sent them a message, fingers crossed they'll come back with a way for me to get started!

Wrestling - I've a tenuous link to this one: a pal of mine works with someone connected to the GB team for Greco Roman Wrestling - if you read this Chris, lets talk more on this when I visit Friday.

Basketball - 'Pat Ball' as my ol' Grandad used to say (bless him). Apparently a girl very close to me knows someone who may know someone who can help, but you know how those kind of contacts tend to go...

Football - OK so really this is an outdoor sport but I'm up for a game of indoor footie soon if YOU are? (Hoping to bag this one in December)

Water Polo  - @GB_WaterPolo have got back to me on Twitter and I may be able to hook up with the actual GB teams in late January (thanks to both Ollie from the BBC, @BBCSport_Ollie.and Una - @aqua2swim - for the contact via Twitter)

Diving & Synchronized Swimming - here's hoping Una and Lauren can help me here too x*

*Over-friendly kiss - hoping it helps!

Handball - I've no links whatsoever for this one...HELP!!!!

Boxing - Rocky famously trained outside on some occasions but the beatings usually take place in a warm and 'cosy' ring (Pete Puma - insert gag 'here')

Track Cycling - I'm in need of getting to Manchester Velodrome, or waiting till the actual Olympics one is finished in nearby London - then hoping the very helpful Karim of @catchsport can convince Lord Coe to let me use it (I see the great man follows you on Twitter)

Taekwondo - If you're out there and can help with this one, please get in touch!

Gymnastics - Artistic, Rhythmic or Trampolining - I'm even up for these if you can point me in the right direction y'all?

Volleyball - Isn't this just Netball for boys? (Just kidding ; )

So if you can help me with these Winter Warmers please GET IN TOUCH... email me at theeverymanolympian@googlemail.com or send me a tweet on Twitter

I look forward to hearing from you soon x*

The Everyman Olympics: Re-Galvanised

How 12 Events became EVERY Sport in the Olympics...

As the buzz of The Canoeing Challenge settled I started to envision putting together an event around my next task, so as to get more people involved all together in one glorious day...though this wasn't the only thing taking up my spare time: word of my tasks had started to get me noticed and this attention lead me to re-think the core idea at the very heart of my challenges - this is the story of how The Everyman Olympics became Re-Galvanised.

As you may know, this is how I first layed down the rules to myself:

• One challenge to be set every month for a year, based on a different Olympic sport

Because I work in a job where I travel around 35,000 miles per year by car, and have various trips abroad and would be organising the whole thing myself I thought that this would in itself be plenty to keep me busy.

You might also recall that my reasons for doing this series of tasks were purely targetted at weightloss - more specifically I wanted to lose a stone of the fat stuff.

Oh and there was the slight matter of beating my pal Carl in the race to lose this stone....some of us will already know how that story ended.

Back to the point in hand...

A few days after hooking up with Graham, who I'd met on The Cycling Challenge I received a phone call from Mike Miners, a journalist for the local paper - The Evening Echo.

Mike had heard of my sporting challenges through a mutual friend of his and Grahams and wanted to write a report on me.

I was already in training for my next event at the time and so after a telephone interview we agreed to meet at Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre for some photos to be taken of me in action.



The Everyman Olympian (Me)


A few days later I was staring at myself on Page 5, here's a link to Mike's great article:

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/8382831.Olympic_Games__I___m_in_training_for_every_event/

Literally the day after this came out I was contacted on Twitter by the very delightful Shana Pearlman, a producer for BBC Essex Radio no less!

Shana invited me onto the Dave Monk Show to be interviewed live on air - naturally I lept at the chance (being an 'Olympian' and all).

(Unfortunately for some stupid reason Blogger won't allow me to upload the recording I have of this interview - if anyone out there has any tips on how to get this on, please let me know)

Before I did this chat on the radio I looked back at the interview for The Evening Echo and realised that Mike Miner's had printed a quote from me which I hadn't really taken in:

“Originally it was a 12 month project, but now I hope to try every sport before the 2012 games in London.”

EVERY SPORT??!!!....I. Must. Be. Bonkers!

Realising that I'd clearly got excited in the moment, I took the bull by the horns, marched into BBC Essex Radio HQ and ran with it.

So there you have it, the London Olympics in 2012 will feature 26 Sports (though some are broken down into more events) - I've now completed 8 of them and have 20 months left to do the rest.

Here's a list of the sports I've yet to tackle:

Archery
Basketball
Beach Volleyball / Volleyball
Boxing
Diving / Swimming / Synchronised Swimming / Water Polo.
Equestrian - Dressage / Eventing / Jumping
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics - Artistic / Rhythmic / Trampoline
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Sailing
Shooting
Taekwondo
Triathlon
Wrestling.

If I'm going to achieve this I Need Your Help - leave your details in the comment box below or email me at theeverymanolympian@googlemail.com to find out how YOU can help me and get involved in The Everyman Olympics.

Thanks in advance,

The Everyman Olympian

The Canoeing Challenge: Blazing Paddles

The Canoeing Challenge for The Everyman Olympics fell onto my lap easier than my missus manages to knock things over - believe me she is double clumsy (bless her); a group of pals from Leicester were off on their annual canoeing trip to the English/Welsh boarder and invited me along.

After a briefing Wyedean Canoe & Adventure Centre which frankly we all should have listened to more, the 12 of us paired up, loaded our gear into 6 Canadian open canoes and then launched off into the River Wye.

The River Wye

There are 2 different canoeing events at the Olympics - Slalom & Sprint, the Slalom is a timed run down a white water course with up to 25 gates to negotiate, the Sprint is...erm...a sprint and can be done over 200 metres, 500m or 1000m - simples.

The Canoeing Challenge:

Slalom

• Distance: 39 miles, including White Water Rapids
• Time: 3 Days

Sprint

• Distances: 500m & 1000m(ish)
• Time: As quickly as possible, obviously!

It soon became apparent that most of us had missed the part of the briefing where we got taught how to steer...

The boys were being boys and in that very first leg we each established that none of us wanted to be last, though this was counterbalanced by the girls being girls and not being arsed about the pecking order so long as they could chat with each other along the way.

Toilets breaks had to be approached with all the tactics and skill of a military campaign: every time the shout went out that someone needed a call of nature the lead canoe became the scouts for a place to stop, what followed was essentially the sight of 6 canoes crashing into any riverbank we could all get to, then a scramble of people each trying to help the most needy to secure their vessel from moving off down the river while others urinated in bushes or against trees - a real sight to behold.

One bathroom break was less successful than most: we'd unwisely opted to stop at a muddy bank - having wedged our 'boats' into the mud as best we could, there was a 4 foot high step onto the brown squelchy stuff, followed by a brief climb up yet more mud to get onto the bank.

On the way back down to the canoes Sophie slipped into the river and was dragged off by the current, the rest of us rallied to get her safely into a canoe but this came at a cost - 'I've lost my shoe'.

For food we would moor up at the regularly positioned pubs along the riverbank and occasionally we'd treat ourselves to a beer - just the odd one as I'm sure you can imagine (I didn't accumulate the belly I had before The Everyman Olympics without knowing my way around a pint glass).

Of an evening we would pitch tents at prebooked locations under the watchful eye of our leader,Will - an ex-marine; in our collective minds eye he could deal with any situation we encountered: if a pack of lost wolves attacked as we slept - Will would organise us in a ring of fire and we'd fend them off...if hippies in neighbouring tents persisted in playing Janis Joplin right through the night - Will could cut off their power supply...if we discovered the campsite toilets had no loo role all-too-late - Will would wipe our...

Janis Joplin - Will could take her.

On the morning of Day 3 we'd already travelled 30 miles and had bonded as a tightly knit, expert rowing unit, yet now we were to be briefed on a new and dangerous turn in our journey - the White Water Rapids...

The briefing lasted 20 minutes.

The White Water Rapids lasted 3...minutes.

I. Kid. You. Not.

Disappointed and barely endangered enough for any amount of adrenalin to kick in we ALL felt cheated.

Tones and Kate had shot off when the heavens opened - leaving 6 of us lads to wave good bye to Jess, Katie, Laura and One Shoe Sophie as we drew twigs to work out teams...it was race time!

Will & Ali were favourites - Will being the ex-marine and Ali being a big lad, the Dave & Henry combination looked challenging - Dave with his never-say-die attitude and Henry who looked chipper after spending each day in his canoe with a different lady...which left Ryan and I - me being the newcomer to canoeing and Ry with his iffy steering skills.

We guesstimated the 500m point and lined our vessels up, it was tense...'GO!' I yelled - disaster followed.

All 3 crews headed towards the exact same spot - Will & Ali crashed into Dave & Henry and so did we! Both men were thrown into the river - then we nearly crushed Henry, missing only by inches.

By the time they were safely back into their metal racer they were shattered, so the rest of us took advantage.

Pulling us back to gain unfair advantage Will & Ali paddled off to victory.

2nd place is nowhere in a 3 team race, so me and Ryan had our honour at stake as we lined up for the final event - the 1000 metres(ish).

The race started and this time we meant business...till I saw the chance to get revenge on Will & Ali, which backfired on both teams, leaving Henry & Dave a clear run to the finish line and glory...damn me!

We had to cruise the final 2 miles of our 39 mile Slalom listening to the other crews chirping about their wins...I'd completed another challenge for The Everyman Olympics but was wet and gutted.


With Special Thanks to:

Jess, Kate, Katie, Laura & Sophie - without you ladies it would probably have been a testosterone-fueled canoe race to the death (or the pub...whichever came first)

Tone 'Skimmer' Curran - shame you missed the race because you didn't want to get your hair wet ; )

Will & Ali - Cheers for organising the whole thing Will - much appreciated by all! Oh and congrats on the win chaps, albeit by dodgy means, grrrrr

Dave & Henry - Apologies for trying to kill you

Ryan - A valiant team mate (who must work on his steering).

What a top weekend!

Vote Now!

The BBC are looking for Sports Unsung Hero to give them an award for their endeavours alongside current professional stars at this years Sports Personality of the Year Awards and I think that could be ME - I just need your help!

So what are The BBC looking for?

'We want to know about an individual who, on a voluntary basis, makes a real difference to sport within their area.' The BBC

I'm not paid for The Everyman Olympics. And I cover a large area - so far I've ventured as far East as Southend, as far West as Basingstoke, as far South as Hove and North as Doncaster...but I'm willing to go so much further! Scotland, Wales, Ireland, the States,  Australia...just invite me!*

*And provide travel and accommodation.

What else do the organisers want?

'This person will give their time and talents to enable others to participate in sport.' The BBC

I give loads of my time over for this very reason...and to beat Carl of course (struggled there), you are ALL welcome to play a part in my challenges - simply email me at theeverymanolympian@googlemail.com and let me know which sport you want to get involved in.

Any last requests from The Beeb?

'This may be helping an individual, team or teams'. The BBC

Let's see - I've so far battled individuals at badminton and tennis and the decathlon, got other individuals out with me running, done weights with one of the country's finest athletes, and I'm part of 2 cycling teams, AND I'm part of a canoeing team! - to date in helping myself I've also 'helped' over 40 individuals and counting!

I rest my case.

To VOTE FOR ME to be BBC Unsung Sports Personality of the Year 2010 simply:

Download and complete the Unsung Hero nomination form (Word) at the bottom of this page: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/8913207.stm

And email this completed form to: sportsunsunghero@bbc.co.uk

My contact details: theeverymanolympian@googlemail.com

With gratitude,

The Everyman Olympian

The Tennis Challenge: Smashin'

As a kid I'd say that my sporting prowess was limited to two events, yes I dabbled in Rugby and Weightlifting in my teens but that was mainly because I was big for my age for a few years; our PE teacher most likely picked me for the pack due to a lack in numbers and my chunkiness rather than my skill with an oval ball and I most likely picked lifting weights because it'd make me even bigger and that'd serve to protect me from the odd bully at school, but my real sporting interests started early in the pool and later evolved during the summers when I worked hard to emulate my Wimbledon heroes...this is the tale of The Tennis Challenge.

The Tennis Challenge

• Play: 6 (Matches (Each best of 5 sets to add fitness value)
• Time: 8 Days

Feeling slightly under the weather I met Tones one glorious Sunday afternoon in July to start this challenge on some concrete courts in Middle England.

While it had been the best part of a year since I'd last played this game of wits, skill and physical fitness, I believe it had been a while longer for the chap on the other side of the net - who turned up to play with his girlfriends racquet.

The best thing about my route to victory was that despite the scoreline - which was more flattering to me than the match felt (6-1, 6-2, 6-2),  I can honestly say  I had to fight for it - Tones played with heart and guile; a number of my passing winners were narrowly missed by a man hurling himself through the air with no thought for his closeness to the metal mesh outer fencing or the hard deck below...



Think this is gonna hurt? Now picture Tones in the same position above concrete and hurtling towards a metal mesh fence!


My pal Big Pete is not exactly built for tennis (he resembles a cross between Michael Chiklis and Ben Grimm, the character he plays in The Fantastic Four movies) but like a true friend he agreed to meet me the next day back at home for Match 2.

Having discussed venues and come to few conclusions, in true British fashion we ended up going to the pub, but not just any pub - this was a pub with a tennis court.

It's no detriment to the big man that I beat him 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 and in fairness probably gave him a few of those points, because sadly his tennis racquet wasn't exactly built for a man not exactly built for tennis either (he'd borrowed it off of his niece), and despite the cheering support of his lovely wife Debs he was unable to learn and master an unfamiliar sport within the short time we had on court.

In either form this dude's hardly the new Roger Federer

After 45 hours away for work, the late afternoon of Day 5 arrived and it was a must play situation: but I was struggling with a sick feeling in my stomach during the day and before I left to get to Mopsies Courts in Basildon, I had to convince myself I'd be OK...

Old foes always endure great battles, think Senna & Prost, Vader & Obi-Wan, Kermit & Miss Piggy...OK so scrap the last one but you get the idea - Snelly & I were no different, we'd played many times in the past and both of us wanted to claim the trophy*.

*A few years back Snelly and I had come up with a concept by which we played Squash in the Winter, Badminton in the Spring and Tennis Summer to Autumn, whoever dominated each season owned the trophy for that sport - we never actually bought trophies for this, it was just the tern of accolade the overall winner of each event could claim.

For 3 and a half hours we clashed like titans, till eventually I held the trophy aloft; winning 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) - victory was mine!!!

'I'm gonna look after this for a while'

Less than 24 hours later and feeling knackered still quite frankly, I arrived at some courts in Leicester to play a man they call: Ryan Devlyn.




Ryan Devlyn

 He may not have played of late but pre-match he warned me that if his serves started to come good then he'd punish me with them - luckily he took the first set to settle in, I won 6-1 by using my recent experience to focus on accuracy and gave the lad the run around.

Then his serves started to kick in - they were low, quick and accurate and indeed they did punish me.

4 aces later however, I regained my attacking in-game play and took the second set 6-2, which seemed to have a diverse effect on my sturdy opponent and while he reeled from my improving returns he was unable to up the other elements of his game - victory came swiftly with a 6-love win to seal it in straight sets.

Joy in my heart and bruised muscles in my legs, just 12 hours later I cruised through the gates of what can only be descibed as a manor house - I hit jackpot on Day 7 when my mate Chalky agreed to play me on the private court of his father-in-law-ish.

It was then that I took the biggest beating since Bruno vs Tyson '96 - as yet another ace flew past me I asked whether Chalky had played much before:

'I used to play for my school a while back, had coaching for a few years...oh, and I might have played a bit of County'. Cripes.

I can honestly say that I only really won half a game, the 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 victory for my classy opponent didn't do him justice - as we walked off 'centre court' his breathing was calm and controlled, I was a broken man.

Chalky beat me like the big softy I am

'Slight problem old chap, my uncles not got a racquet with him'. I looked at my phone in disbelief. Bo***cks! Suave's news could not have come at a worse time - I now needed a final day opponent and didn't have a clue who'd be up for playing on such short notice, I was in danger of failing The Tennis Challenge.

Post call there ensued a melee of madness - I called John, Kelly, Matt, Ma, Glen...Mark, Brian, Mike, Paul, Si...nothing! I hopped in the car and headed to the M25 in the hope of being best positioned to get to any game, anywhere in the UK and continued to make and take calls - those who couldn't play me I made be scouts for opposition and they would report back - I was desperate for an opponent.

By 1pm I was sat in my car at a service station and distraught, I'd made over 40 enquiries for fresh opponents and had scouts covering everywhere South of the North of England, the gamble of heading away from home had even meant I'd missed out on a match I could have played near home but my potential opponent had to be finished my 2pm - there was no way I could make it back in time.

A call came in through my cars speakers, ''Ey up bud have you found anyone to play yet?', it was Donnie Chris, he went on to explain that he was taking his missus,Trish, to her bosses house in Northampton that afternoon and could pack a racquet and shorts if need be - if need be?!!! Hell Yes I needed be!!

We arrived at the oddly named 'Race Course' to find a large field with no race course but it did have courts galore, and room for football and basketball too - the final match began at after 5pm on the last day of the challenge, on a grass court that had seen much much better days.

Actual picture of playing surface

At two sets down I'd had enough of this comedic farce - I'd guesstimate over half the shots we each had to receive bounced so ridiculously that chance and luck had more to do with the scoreline than pure tennis ability (though I would say that at 6-1, 6-1 down), so we moved onto a hard court nearby...

Some say that its the 'taking part that counts', and for the sheer fact that I've set these challenges up for the exercise value rather than to win every one I should agree - but I can't, fact is that losing in straight sets at a game I love is blinking annoying! (Chris took the last set 6-3, damn him!).


With Special Thanks to:

Tones - Cheers for turning up to start The Tennis Challenge the day after that day ; )

Big Pete - Nice one mate, let me know when you fancy a rematch!

Paul 'Snelly' Snell - The Tennis trophy is mine, next up - Badminton & Squash!!

The man they call Ryan Devlyn - Nice one fella, but next time keep them aces to yourself.

Chalky - A pleasure to lose to you sir, many thanks for the education!

Chris - Well done mate...Git.

The Cycling Challenge: Rollin' (Part One)

Now, built like Arnie (from my local chip shop, not the Governor of California/Movie Star/Mr Universe) following The Weightlifting Challenge and having piled on the pounds whilst couped up in sweaty rooms I needed an opportunity that'd help me shed kilos whilst getting out in the open, I would also need a bike for:
The Cycling Challenge!

This is the story of how my previous favourite pastime crashed head long into my fresh, florishing, and worrying wholesome new favourite pastime.

Back in June...

Just 5 hours after leaving a bar at the end of last night I was stood outside a pub. But not just any pub. This, this was the wrong frigging pub. Bugger

We have a Winner!!

As you'll recall the first post on The Everyman Olympics outlined why I'm doing these challenges, whilst my second post -  The Very Exciting Subplot - focused on my competition with Carl and the race to lose a stone - this is an update on that sub-challenge, and yes ladies and gents, we have a winner!

The Weightlifting Challenge: Pumpin'

The Weightlifting Challenge for the The Everyman Olympics fell onto my lap thanks to a response to a tweeted cry for help from an Amercian I'd never met and the enthusiasm of a young woman whom during the month of May I would come to warmly regard as Coach Josie.

Note how knackered I look compared with Coach Josie!

Stepping into the gym I was nervous, not because I was about to meet a complete stranger who I'd only come to know through the internet or because I was about to be judged on how strong I was by a girl, but because I'd had a dicky belly that morning and was fearful that lifting heavy objects might have a diverse affect on my stomach muscles...infront of a complete stranger...who just happened to be a girl...who I'd never met before.

The Running Challenge: Jog On

Having spent a pretty penny on court bills and clocked up the miles chasing games I went back to my catalogue of sports - http://www.olympic.org/ - and searched for a new active adventure that would increase my fitness whilst going easy on my wallet.

I found one option but realised that perhaps the effort levels would be too easy, even for me. No, a walking task was out of the question, but...walk a little quicker...quicker still...

I'd arranged to start this challenge with the company of a pal - feeling that agony was a dish best served to share - but was shocked when I pulled my door open to find that there, stood before me, was a man suitably dressed for the beach. Here in England, it was April.