Inspired by Banff film festival and after a touch of tequila, Emma and I thought she should run from the west coast of Africa to the east. This is our story of dreaming up the idea, researching it, planning, training and running the distance.
We, Emma and I, have been frantically busy getting to this point. 18 months of preparation, planning, training. For Woocash, 3 months of working every night on the car.
We’re almost there. We’re almost at the 31st August. We said we’d start in August and we like to do what we said.
27th August: Mike and Emma are exhausted from their flight. To make sure that their luggage was under the restricted weight limit, Emma wore all her clothes (leggings and trousers) and transported a small baby’s worth of CLIF bars in her pockets.
Emma’s CLIF bar baby
As soon as Emma and Mike arrive, I whisk them off to the best Sushi Restaurant ever. It hasn’t even opened yet. We’re allowed in as its run by our lovely new friends Barbara and Keletso Nyathi. Either its very cheap or they give us a whopping discount for such delicious food.
Lots of food makes a happy Mike
The first night we are all together, we sleep 4 of us in the 2 man roof tent. Top to toe like sardines. Surprisingly, comfortable and warm. But no wriggle space. And the wind catches the tent and makes it flap all night.
28th August: we have our first TV interview with One Africa TV and a radio interview at Radiowave.
Kirsty at Radiowave, just as bouncy a person as EmmaEmma and Kirsty: peas in a pod
Turns out loads of people listen to radiowave we go on to meet people all across Namibia who have heard about us.
We, also, drop off Cleo to have her extra fuel tank fitted. But when we go to collect her and pay, at the end of the day, their card machine isn’t working. The owner insists on a passport as a guarantee. I can’t leave mine as I need it to get that amount of money out the bank, so we have to leave Emma’s.
Then its off for the best First Aid Training I have ever had, at Maerua Medical Centre. We learn how to put a drip in anyone who starts to dehydrate. Emma insists its not going to be her.
28th August is a 5.30am start. Emma’s passport has been stamped well short of 90 days. For no known reason 30 days is all she has, which puts a lot of pressure on her to run fast! If we can, we want to get that sorted.
7.30am we pick up Emma’s passport from the 4 x 4 centre and leave Mike’s in its place.
8am we’re at the Namibian home office to resolve the visa issue. They say it will take until next week and cost about 580 Namibian dollars. We decide to find another solution.
8.30am I’m at the bank asking for a bank transfer but there is no agreement between the UK and Namibia bank and so its impossible. Luckily, someone advises me to keep putting my card in the ATM until I have all the money. There’s a maximum you can withdraw at any one time but not a maximum to how many times you can do this.
9am Hand over the money to Mike and Woocash to pay for the car.
9.30am Meeting at the British High Commission, who sets us up with a meeting with the Mayor of Henties Baai. Emma writes a press release whilst I chat to the Mayor’s office. She’s skilled like that.
Then rest of the day is running about getting kit for the car and trying to find an internet cafe. It seems everyone has a smart phone except us and no-one needs an internet cafe. Robert, from the SEED Project, flies in from Harare, and Gunther picks him up from the airport for us again as we run out of time.
Tired Emma
Its a late night again.
30th August
We have last minute items to get before we head for the coast and a water container to return that’s leaking already. We finally set off and 6 hours later we meet the Mayor of Henties Baai, who turns out to be lovely. She wants to have us round for breakfast before we start but there’s no time. (Henties Baai, looks gorgeous to me, I like it a lot)
31st August
We’re HERE! We’re at the coast and Emma’s about to start!!
Henties Baai in the early morning. I think its beautiful.
We meet amazing people, again. Liliana and Emil Schmid have been to 180 countries and been travelling for almost 30 years. We’re a bit star struck.
The incredibly nice and inspiring Liliana and Emil, gave us lots of confidence after all the scare stories most people tell youand their fantastic car – also a toyota landcruiser
After getting some good advice we leave, reluctantly, and the kind owner of Loubser B & B (tel: 091 128 7347) gives us a lift to Woker Freight Services, who are the import agents. I’m bouncing with excitement to be getting Cleo. The agent comes in looking serious. He warns us that boxes in the car have been opened and things have been stolen. We turn silent and sit and wait to be taken to the car. All of Woocash’s mechanics tools are in there plus the stove and other essential items. Its a quiet journey to Cleo. I get out and check her over.
A few boxes opened and emptied but they left the rugby ball and Emma’s Ice packs, which are very important to Emma.
The metal chest is still padlocked. I am overjoyed, nothing has been taken. Cleo has been roughed up a little but no serious harm done. The plan to save time and money paid off. Now, its a 4 hour journey to collect Emma and Mike from the airport.
“What’s that smell?” I ask Woocash. Its a burning kind of smell.
Ten minutes later, water started spraying out the engine onto the windscreen. Cleo’s radiator hose had popped off.
Thirsty Cleo in a pretty sunset
With the help of a friendly Namibian, Cleo is swiftly back on the road but restricted to a paltry 45mph. We would never make it to the airport on time. With no way to contact Emma, I called a friendly taxi driver (Gunther) and asked him to stand with a sign and collect her and Mike from the airport.
(Apologies for the lack of photos but the internet connection is too slow to upload them).
Whilst Emma and Mike are flying to Windhoek, Woocash and I head to the coast to pick up Cleo. We’re hoping that she has all the kit still with her. Sending Cleo by Ro-Ro (roll on roll off) instead of container became the only option as sponsorship failed to come in and the dates started to slip. Ro-ro is faster and I’m conscious of the coming African summer, but you have to leave the car unlocked. We locked everything up in a big old chest and we padlocked all the items together and gave the key to the Captain.
We head to the coast in a combi, which I would definitely recommend to other travelers. You can catch the minibus taxi from Rhino Park in Windhoek. The 14 seater minibus waits until all the seats are filled for the journey. It costs N$150 each and takes 5 hours. There is a locked trailer into which your luggage goes. We had one bag but they might charge if you have more. One of the other travelers, as he got on the bus, made a comment about preferring the back to the front … because in the front there is nothing in between you and whatever you are going to crash into. Naturally, then, someone else happily piped in about how a car crashed into the side he was sitting on when he last traveled in the minibus.
The driver turns out to be awesome. Highly skilled at predicting other people’s bad driving. The travelers are friendly, and the lady behind me starts singing (beautifully) to pass the time. Its hot and and I put up a hoody as a screen from the sun. The road is smooth tarmac.
The journey entrances me. I have never been in a desert before. Beautiful and uncompromising, overlapping brown and crème sand dunes, some small, some huge, and in the distance blue mountains.
There are warning signs for “Sand” and “Fog”. My mind wanders to thinking about water tanks, how much water we can carry and where we will be able to fill up. We arrive at the coast and turn left. This area is famous for shipwrecks and I feel sorry for the sailors who landed here.
I can’t believe we are in Namibia. The last few months have been frantic, getting the car ready, getting the necessary equipment, trying to get sponsorship. And now we are here. We are almost at the beginning.
Just arrived! Having caught the early morning flight from Cape Town
Namibia is cold, not cold like the UK, but there is no central heating in the houses. The night we had to camp I barely slept for cold. It brings into perspective what it is like for people who don’t have money for warm clothes or a duvet. Windhoek seems wealthy but there are also those who live in shanty houses, and struggle for food and basic necessities.
But the cold will be good for Emma, it is cool enough to run until about 11am.
Nambia is also dry. We are in a desert. I’ve learned to keep lipsalve with me at all times. And the nights are long. It is dark from 6pm until 6am. Windhoek is pretty safe during the day but its best to be home by night. A couple of nights ago two men broke into the hostel and attacked one of the guests with a knife. He was swift and clever enough to be able to defend himself but the intruders stole several laptops. It is a reminder to be careful.
What strikes me most, however, is how friendly and helpful most people are. Villa Moringa, a gorgeous place, where we stayed initially, are storing most of our kit for us, whilst we sleep in cheaper places.
Drs Keletso and Barbaria Nyathi, who run Maerua medical practice have been looking after us. I contacted Keletso after reading his profile on Explorers Connect. (If you are planning an adventure you should check out Explorers Connect). Keletso is a doctor and ultra runner interested in adventure so, I thought he might like to join us. Sadly, due to work commitments he couldn’t but, he and his wife, have welcomed us, given us essential advice on what we need to do to be legal and will be teaching us first aid. They are incredibly hard working, constantly laughing at life and a pleasure to be with. I can’t wait for them to meet Emma.
New friends, Drs Keletso and Barbara Nyathi of Maerua Medical Centre, Namiba.
Indira, Keletso and Nyathi’s receptionist, has been showing us around. She welcomed us into her story and educated me on what life is really like to grow up in Katatura. She took us to her grandmother’s house where she was raised and to a local restaurant. For dessert, we went to the meat market where we discovered the most delicious Namibian spice to have with a BBQ.
We have also been preparing for Emma, Mike and Cleo’s arrival: finding out where to get the last bits to kit out the car (Cymot); contacting radio stations (Kosmos, RadioWave, One Africa); making sure our agent who will be getting the car through customs has all the necessary documents; and getting to know the city.
Tomorrow, we shall set off on a 5 hour minibus taxi journey to Walvis Bay to fetch the car, Cleopatra. Fingers crossed she comes through with everything intact.
Things we learnt:
Its winter bring warm clothes in August
August is peak season, book accommodation in advance
Its very dry
You can buy almost everything here that you can get in the UK
You need a GB sticker for the car
You need to get a Cross Border Certificate for cars on a temporary import
Paint your car white, everyone else has, its probably a good idea.
Its 7.30am: not a normal time for me to be out on a Sunday morning. London is surprisingly busy. I can’t get a seat on the Victoria line train. There are suits and ties, tourists, shorts and hoodies, little dresses. No-one speaks. Birds chatter in the early morning, humans don’t. I pass a homeless man, blended into the building scenery, having a morning cigarette.
There is a receptionist at the studios, he lets me in the glass security gates and directs me to an empty room.
Anybody there?
I call a number to chat to a nice man who checks the sound is working and then he tells me to wait for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to call. And silence. I’m surprisingly relaxed or maybe still asleep.
Not my best look. Headphones carefully balanced as they were huge.15 seconds to go to 8.15am …
At 8.15am … no-one calls.
I’m slightly concerned there is a problem but am distracted by the temptation to press buttons.
If I press something will it make a difference and can I fix it before I’m on air?
Then a lady comes on the line, I’m not sure if I’m live on the radio and stutter. But, after initial greetings, she says that I’ll be speaking to the presenter in a minute and hangs up, leaving me connected to the radio. My adrenaline soars as I listen to the music.
When the presenter, Suzie Roberts says “Good morning”, I almost fail to speak. Luckily, Marie goes first and I’m interested in what she has to say. Listening to her, I relax. Then Suzie asks me question. I respond and all other sound cuts out. I can only hear my voice whilst sitting in an empty room. Surreal. It stops you babbling though, as you have to listen to what you are saying. The questions are good and easy to answer. Then its goodbye and silence again. I’m a bit confused. Is it over? Seems to be and off I go without ever having mentioned that the run is called Head over Heels 2014 and how you can follow us. Doh!
You can hear the interview here, Marie’s first and my bit starts at 2.50 (a huge thank you to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire for having us on the radio and being friendly):
Lessons Learned:
Don’t repeat the question because if they cut it you can sound stupid (I didn’t learn this from the radio, I learnt it from my friend in PR who I met up with the night before)
Also, I’d say don’t repeat the question because the presenter doesn’t have much time between songs so if you’re not concise you won’t get much info across.
Interviews are short, its not a chat show, make sure you get the key points in quick and notice when they give you an opportunity to do this.
Its surprisingly fun
All PR advice gratefully received
Have you had a radio interview? Any tips? Any funny mistakes?
It’s a bit late for an introduction. I’ve been part of the team for over a month. …
Anyway, I am 21 years old, which officially makes me the youngest member of the team, although the way my mini person drives me, you’d think I was 80. Maybe she’s 80, I don’t know. Too old to tell the truth about her age, that’s for sure.
How did I get involved? Against my will. I was happily living a gentle life in Norfolk, trips to the seaside, taking the dog for a walk, when this mini person came along and drove me to Manchester. I feel ridiculous, I am not a city girl, I don’t have the figure for it.
I was swiftly taken to the GP for a once over. Whatever. It did make me laugh though, when my mini person had to change my tyre:
Here we go …Go! Mini person, go!nice face, note the double chin
Well done mini person! … I carry that around all day everyday
Specialist Doctor
The Cotswold way [Editor’s note: Emma’s practice run of 107 miles] was a blast. I love blatting round the country roads. It got a lot more fun after the specialist doctor, Julian, said I was indestructible. He had a proper poke and prod and called me, “Sluggish!” I’d like to see him carry four people up a hill. But, apparently, I’m to have some surgery and given new toys. Sounds good to me. I would like to be a bit speedier.
Tell you what though, that mini person has no sense of direction. I shall have to have my compass fixed or we’ll end up in Kenya. She’d get lost walking round a corner. And she doesn’t half fuss. So I dribbled a bit of green and puffed smoke on the hills. Get over it. I’m fine!
Slacker!
The team, are alright. I didn’t appreciate Emma saying I was “too fat”. Skinny thing. She needs more fuel, than is in her right now, to power her across Africa. Too fat! After I’ve been nice and kept the wind off her.
I’m waaiting …
That Mike, had a proper skive too, I carried him and his bike up the hill. Who’s the fatty now, eh?
They’re all fussing about wrong turns, border crossings, baddies, lions, snakes and heat. The only thing I’m really worrying about is being poked in the side by an angry elephant or if they’re dopey enough to put the wrong fuel in me. As for the rocky roads, mud and sand. I say: “Bring it on!”
*****
Editor’s note:
A huge thank you to Julian at Overland Cruisers for checking over Cleopatra, free of charge, and telling us everything we need to do to get her in shape.
A massive thank you to Tony for letting us buy her off you. She’s perfect.
And Mini-Max … I would not be able to do this without you.
I would like to introduce you to Jackson because I’m sure if you met him, you’d get on well. He’s one of those people. Also, he and his wife, Marie, founded The SEED Project. One of the charities we are raising funds for. Today, I recorded him talking about SEED’s Project Manager, Robert Kazunga. This means, within 1 minute, you get to meet Jackson (as much as is possible), and hear about Robert and SEED.
Robert is outstanding in his role and passionate about his country and his job. When Jackson first met Robert, he was a gardener in Harare, Zimbabwe, now, he is SEED’s Project Manager. Robert’s solution to the cholera outbreak was recognised by a UN organisation as an example of best practice: educating over 70,000 people with only 2 staff. In this clip, I asked Jackson, “what made you choose Robert?” Robert’s story is SEED’s story.
As part of our preparation for Emma to run across Africa, Emma suggested that we did a practice run of 100 miles! Its really hard to take someone seriously when they are utterly casual about a huge endurance event. On Wednesday 26th March we met up, looked at the Cotswold way, thought about things we needed and that was it. Thursday, I travelled to Norfolk and bought the 21 year old car we are taking to Africa and named her Cleopatra. Two weeks later we drove to Bristol to stay the night with a friend of Emma’s and start the trail in the morning. Emma’s running, Mike’s on a bike as support, and I’m in the car.
Friday (35 miles)
As soon as the 6.30am alarm goes off, I’m up making porridge and tea. Emma’s a sleepy bug in the morning which gives me a chance to get everything ready. Mike eats all of his and some of Emma’s too, I think, which is satisfying for me as the cook. When we get to Cleopatra, we notice a small green oily/viscous puddle under the front nearside wheel. I’m worried. I take some photos and send them to Lukas for a diagnosis. Its 7.30am so we get going whilst we wait for a reply.
Bath is beautiful but it feels odd. Emma’s about to do something epic and there’s no-one to see except Mike and I. I guess that happens a lot in the world. Emma, wanders off to the fudge shop.
Emma coming back from checking out the fudge shop, “I saw a light on, there’s someone in there” she says, hopefully. Nope, fully shut, but I went back later for her and it made her happy at first break.At the start
Emma and Mike set off appearing very relaxed and I skedaddle to get things we need and chat to Lukas over the phone about Cleo. He diagnoses the fluid is grease from the front axle air vent and tells me where to look. I love poking around under the bonnet. It’s a giant toy. Lukas tells me I should be fine until I get it back, he’s a little concerned when I tell him I’ve got 500 miles to go. I’m a little worried by his concern and drive more carefully.
Cleo’s cigarette lighter doesn’t work, which means we can’t charge the sat nav (or phones) and her compass always points north. I navigate my way out of Bath by using the sun – seriously – I head east and then when I feel roughly out of Bath I head North looking for signs for villages near the first check point. And I make it! However, its way past the time so I hazard a guess that Emma and Mike have carried on and head on into the higgledy piggledy land of the Cotswolds and get lost. Well and truly.
Gorgeous single track roads handily meant that cars couldn’t pass me without giving me directions
Me “Excuse me, could you tell me where I am and where I’m going?”
Them “You’re off the map, about here, take the next left, its signposted Nowhere [or some place like that]”
The next left didn’t have a signpost.
This becomes a general theme of the trip. Fortunately, Emma and Mike are two of the most easy going people you can meet and are just happy to see me, even when I get to check points after them. They never complain about anything. Not once. Mike is a bit concerned about the amount we’re spending on food at one point. I like my food. And Emma, on Saturday night, gets serious about starting early in the morning. That’s as demanding as they get.
Happily, this time, I am early for lunch. Its a gorgeous sunny day and the birds are nattering away. A few minutes later, Emma and Mike appear trundling down across the field and Hayley (our guest for the day) pulls up in a car. It’s idyllic. I feel there should be more drama on a 100 mile run, not chilling in the sun. Lunch is delicious. Chicken, avocado, basil, tomato, salt and pepper – I made it myself. Mike falls asleep and Hayley and Emma are busy catching up and laughing.
Lunch break views
After lunch Hayley and I head to the campsite and arrive at around 6pm at what looks like a stately home, (after an unquantifiable several mile road works detour, inability to find the campsite, food shop and a panic over Cleo puffing out smoke).
Not long after, Emma and Mike arrive both looking shattered. Emma wraps herself in her sleeping bag in the tent and is still cold. This worries me. She’s run 35 miles and the food isn’t ready yet. Eventually, Emma goes for a shower to warm up. Mike gets busy helping us get the fire going. I’ve splashed out on the first meal, and using the gas canister and the Kelly Kettle, Hayley and I manage to cook: mashed potatoes and broccoli, followed by steak and mushrooms. That’s better than I cook at home. But I believe food is important for this kind of thing. Emma is a lot better after food and a shower. The trickiest thing is persuading her that she doesn’t have to do anything, she’s running 100 miles. Kindly, North Nibley campsite lets us off £4 as a donation.
Saturday (33 miles)
I’ve forgotten how slow, cooking is, on a gas stove. The porridge is not boiling and the 8am start is not happening. There’s a general sleepy, happy, feeling. Emma is stretching and Mike gets a brew going.
Once we’re all off, I am swiftly lost and take up talking to myself. We get on remarkably well but an extra set of eyes to look at the map and road signs would be more useful than a split personality. “Uley” I shout with joy for no-one to hear (it’s a village that means I’m going in the right direction). And am 5 minutes late for mid-morning break. Emma and Mike are both quiet. They went in the wrong direction and its dampened both their spirits a bit. Emma’s cold again and I worry whether she’s getting enough food in her. I shouldn’t really though, when I next see them, they are both chipper. Its an odd relationship, me dipping in and out of their experience. After lunch, Emma wants to push on as far as she can and gives me 5 options where she might want to be picked up from. I get busy with finding accommodation nearby. Happily, I find some out the back of a friendly pub. Emma and Mike call me to come and collect them. I’m there first (woohoo!) and surprised when they both come bounding up to me – turns out they’re both rushing on CLIF gels.
Naturally, Emma and Mike are happy with the campsite. Its a handy bit of fate as we set fire to the kettle and the gas canister stops working. I suspect sabotage as it means we have to go to the pub for food and beer.The friendly pub manager at the Hungry Horse, Seven Springs. Mike has sunburn on his nose, in April!
Sunday (39 miles)
Emma wants a quick, early start. We’ve no fuel for cooking so that’s easy. After the mid-morning break I have 3 hours until lunch. In my head, I plan a yoga session at the meeting point. But, decide I can’t miss Cleeve’s hill, the highest point on the Cotswold way, and there’s a chance I’ll see Emma and Mike and can cheer them on. I have a little faff parking the car, pick up my water, and not my phone, then set off upwards. Near the top, 1 metre above me, Emma runs by. That’s uncanny timing.
“Emma!”
She looks worried, “I can’t find Mike. He wasn’t at the checkpoint.”
On top of Cleeve’s Hill
I pass her my waterbottle as Mike was carrying her water for her. She hasn’t had water for an hour. But, she’s much more worried about Mike. I promise I’ll call him and go back and look for him. I’ll be honest, I don’t think anything has happened to him, he wasn’t on a tricky part of the route. I’m expecting him to have moved on to the next check point. But Emma’s running a 100 miles and run about 80 miles at this point and I’m only going to do the thing that puts her mind at ease fastest. It takes me 40 minutes to get back to where Mike should be – no, I wasn’t lost, it was fiddly. I’m literally 2 minutes away (sigh!) when he calls to say Emma hasn’t arrived and he’s moved on to the next check point. I explain where I saw her, turn the car around and head for lunch. 30 minutes later Mike calls again. She’s not arrived. This is concerning. Have they missed each other again? Is she lost on the Cotswold way? Is she hurt? She hasn’t got water or communications, as her phone isn’t working. I go to the furthest point I think she could be, park the car and start walking back. I agree to meet Mike at a monument on the way but, he decides to wait a little longer. I’m asking everyone if they’ve seen a thirsty looking woman, with red curly hair, running the Cotswold way.
Where’s Emma?
Then, they are both coming towards me on the path. And there’s just a bit of an atmosphere.
Found her : )
Apparently, they were waiting for each other in different places. Emma’s frustrated,
“I don’t know, I don’t know if I can make it up the hill.”
I figure annoyance will power her to the second option (but, obviously, don’t say that). We make some quick decisions and I join them on the run back to the car. Its gorgeous and I’m bounding with joy at being out in the fresh air and having found Emma. The tension quickly lifts. But don’t mistake me, that is not happening in Africa. I get back in the car and muddle around in single track lanes before arriving for lunch 2 minutes after Emma and Mike, who are both cheery when I meet up with them (I reckon they’ve been on the gels again).
My mum arrives with chocolate brownies, which makes everyone happy. Emma and Mike go for ice cream at the farm shop.
Me, looking like an escapee from an 80s brat pack film. I don’t know what’s going on with Mike, maybe in training for being a levitating leprechaun or hiding something.lunchtime snooze. Mike refusing to be caught napping – he did nap though.
After lunch, dinner and campsite are sorted quickly, I’m half an hour early in idyllic quiet Broadway, reading the manual for Cleopatra. Emma and Mike come companionably up the road. I join Emma and run to the start of a hill. Then, Mike and I scoot back to the car, load up the bike and drive to the top (cheeky). We’re all getting giddy, the end is so close.
Almost there!
Unpacking the bike. I wait to film Emma as the sun begins to set.
The fields are a gorgeous colour of yellow flowers, set against green, on one side of me is a fading pink sky and on the other an almost full moon. Cars are rare and, mostly, all I can hear is the wind and the birds. I stop for a film shot, as I realise Emma will run right past me and then, race her the last 2 miles to the finish. Parking up the car in quiet and serene Chipping Campden, I head back down the Cotswold way with the camera.
Dusk, and Emma comes round the corner, friendly and smiling as normal. Jogging and filming is ridiculous. Emma’s more worried about me falling over whilst filming than the fact she’s run 40 miles in one day. You’d think she had run only a mile or maybe two. I run with her the last 100 yards. We can’t find where it officially finishes and wander around a bit confused. To be safe, Emma taps the War Memorial and Tourist Information. (The official point is the War Memorial.) 107 miles run in 3 days. Total running time: 23 hours and 38 minutes including detours and waiting.
Finished!!!! You’re amazing Emma!
To celebrate we opt for beers and wine in the tent and, a lie in in the morning.
Special Thank yous to:
Hayley for putting us up and feeding us on Thursday night, helping me set up camp and cook, and bringing lots of laughter.
Lukas and Jay (Mini-Max Garage) for advising me on what to do with Cleopatra.
The owner of the Hungry Horse, Seven Springs for letting us sleep in the field next to his pub and charge phones.
My mum for brownies and pie.
Hayles Fruit Farm for letting us snooze in their car park and charging my phone.
Things I learnt:
Emma is never allowed off on her own, I know she’s done it before in South Africa but its a risk I’m not willing to take.
Emma needs a better water system so she can run and carry her own water.
I need a warmer sleeping bag and coat.
Mike needs regular brews.
We need bigger cooking pots.
We need a way to keep everything charged.
The best map we can find is essential and don’t rely on electrical equipment.
We’re a great team already. There will always be hiccups and annoyances but Emma and Mike are two of the nicest people you can meet. And Emma will always find a reason to laugh. They’re both pretty handy too.
I need a friend in the car before this talking to myself or the car gets out of hand.
Aysha: So it turns out meeting a top director in the business of adventure media isn’t as hard as you would think. I sent Paul Diffley an email, he replied and after several months of not much contact I asked him if he was serious about working with us. He said maybe, offered us a camera to use and suggested we met at ShAFF. Which was why we went. I’d never heard of ShAFF (Sheffield Adventure Film Festival) before.
Over the hills to Sheffield
Mike: Its my first ride in the 4×4. Well done Aysha, for finding that beast. Big, spacious, comfortable. And, its great to have the team on a road trip. It was hard work getting into Sheffield because most of the roads into the center were closed for the (cancelled) half marathon.
Morning!
Aysha: It’s the first time I’ve really spent time with Mike. I’m normally shy round people but we’re going to spend 5 months together which makes being shy a waste of time. We arrived in Sheffield almost an hour early and were stumped to discover all roads to our destination were blocked off. With Mike’s great navigation, we found a car park, after 45 minutes! Emma bounced out the car to help me park and then remembered she needed to pee and went into a weird cross-legged position, which still makes me giggle when I think about it, I wish I had a photo for you to see.
Emma: Yes, I did take on a Tina Turner like posture for some time due to pee-need. We all have these problems! I loved seeing our team come together for the first time and I think we all really compliment each other. Our truck ‘Cleo’ is the coolest thing ever, I love her dearly.
Mike: I learnt lots of really good stuff from his lecture, like the rule of thirds and the 5 shot rule – take 5 different shots: establishing wide/mid shot; close up of hands; close up of face; point of view/over the shoulder shot; and a creative shot. How to set up interviews and where to stand when interviewing people.
Photo accidentally taken with a flash in a room full of media experts. Doh!
Aysha: The biggest message, for me, was the importance of sound.
Emma: I felt completely out of my depth with all the technical talk. I’m very glad I have the excuse of running for not doing too much filming!
Meeting Paul Diffley
Aysha: I walked up to Paul, to introduce us all, expecting him to brush us off. Instead, he gave a friendly smile and said, “I’ve got a camera for you”. Which was a huge relief and delightful. Not everyone takes you seriously when you say you’re organizing a trip across Africa and you want to film it.
Can you tell me again – how do I turn the camera on?
Mike: It was amazing to meet the Hot Ache’s guy and ace that he has lent us a camera for the training run on the Cotswold way. Just need to get some good footage now. I’m looking forward to getting to grips with filming.
Emma: Very scared of having a camera pointed in my face!
The running films
Mike: It was really cool to see the running movies, especially the one about the South African guy running in Namibia (The Penguin Runner). Seeing some of the terrain we will be going through and getting to speak to the guy who filmed it.
Aysha: The running films made me realise that we need to stick to one story: either its all about Emma, or our adventures as a team, or the people we meet along the way. But I don’t think it can be all three in one film.
Emma: I loved all of the films but ‘The Runners’ has inspired me to try and get people to chat to me (and a camera) when I go out for runs.
Favourite Films: The Runners a surprisingly intimate meeting with individuals who run; The Penguin Runner one very entertaining man running across Namibia unassisted; In the High Country a beautiful cinematic film.
Colin Papworth, Accelerate UK checking Emma’s feet
Aysha: There weren’t a lot of stalls to browse but this one was flippin’ brilliant. Emma’s been needing new shoes since January but not buying any, as she couldn’t afford them. We agreed to go halves on a pair, which then caused her agonizing pain in her foot after 5 miles. This hugely alarmed me (I still can’t run, I really don’t want to take her place). And we can’t afford to buy shoe after shoe until we find a pair that don’t hurt her feet. I’ve been arguing with her to go to a specialist shoe shop so I was dead pleased that Colin, in the photo, is a podiatrist. He talked through the problem with Emma, explaining lots of stuff and advising her what type of shoe to buy. We bought the pretty shoes in the facebook photo for the absolute bargain of £40!
Random Thoughts
Mike: It was really good to hear Aysha talk about the run and I’m learning lots from her.
Aysha: We work well together as a team. The fourth team member should probably be as chilled as Mike.
Emma: We are so lucky to have such great support from so many awesome people. Feet that have been in tights and boots don’t smell nice, sorry Colin.
Emma, the lunatic, as my housemate calls her, is going to run the Cotswold Way as a practice run. That’s 103 miles! Doing this will teach Mike and I, how (not) to annoy Emma, how to use our brand new stove, and who snores as we’ll all be snuggled up in a tent together.
Emma planning
I thought you might want to get involved too.
Of course, you are always welcome to donate through our fundraising site: virginmoneygiving.com/EmmaTimmis which would be brilliant but I thought it would be more interesting to organise a sweepstake in your office or amongst your friends. So, we’ll be timing Emma. We will be timing her running, so lunch breaks and overnight sleeps are not included but quick snack stops etc. will be. However, if you wanted to run a sweepstake on how long it takes her, including sleeping and eating, we will be recording the time she started and the time she finishes. And then, er, if you could donate some of the sweepstake to the charities, maybe even through our fundraising page, that would be highly motivating for us and hugely appreciated by all the charities.
A little tip you might like to know:
Emma still hasn’t run more than 25 miles in a week – this fact is worrying me a lot more than Emma.
Emma is starting on 11th April
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Let me know if you want to run a sweepstake on anything else, like whether I prang the car, as I may have a 4×4 by then – which is a little bigger than I am used to. My current car is a 17 year old Ford Fiesta.
And if you fancy popping by and cheering Emma on that would be fantastic (or if you want to dress up as a lion or elephant that would be even better).
Head over Heels 2014 