“Toughguy Challenge”
If you’ve been
looking for a challenge, you’ve found it!
When it comes to fulfilling your “needs”, here’s the ultimate
opportunity.
Tony Robbins maintains that we all have an
infinite number “needs”, which can be put into a finite number of categories;
·
The need for Certainty
·
The need for Uncertainty (variety, challenge)
·
The need for Significance (you are unique)
·
The need for Contribution & Growth
·
The need for Love and connection
How can you put all of that together in
one day?
If
you could put it all together, would you?
Background
The toughguy event is held every six months on
farmland near Wolverhampton. The next
event will be on Sunday 27th July, 2003.
It is a full day event (usually around 4
hours of activity), designed to raise cash for VERY unfortunate animals that
would otherwise have to be put down. A
number of teams congregate (totalling around 1700 participants) to HAVE FUN and raise money
for a very worthwhile cause.
Peter
Sage has already completed this event 3 times. Whereas Tim Ivison (last
year’s London YES group Chairman) and I (dynamicmike)
have participated twice. Of course,
Pete and Tim also ran one of the toughest races in the world this year, 9 days
over the Sahara Desert, so this is a “walk in the park” for these guys. (see
www.darbaroud.com)
Last year I took my son Michael, aged 16
(now 17). Not only was he the youngest
participant ever, he also beat every one of us (he beat me by 40 minutes! and I
was second from our group of 12 brave soldiers). Needless to say, he’s raring to go again this year, and he
anticipates taking his pals this year.
So what is Toughguy?
It is essentially an assault course,
starting with a warm-up “run” (approx 3 miles) over all sorts of terrain, and
then 2 laps of FUN and challenging events.
The events include; very low barbed wire to crawl under, high
hay bales to climb over, mud pits (to lose your shoes in), tunnels to crawl
through, cargo nets to climb, rafts to paddle, tyres to balance on etc.
What are our plans this year?
As last year proved to be such a success, Peter Sage has offered us his field to camp in on the Saturday eve prior to the “toughguy challenge”.
Last year we had a fabulous BBQ field
party on the Saturday evening, and a car convoy to the event, where we put on
our group T-shirts, and joined the other fun-loving nutcases.
What do I need to bring with me?
You’ll need some or all of the following;
Saturday eve
·
Tent
·
BBQ food (your choice)
·
Drink (your poison)
·
Sleeping bag
·
Breakfast for next morning
·
Basic toiletries
·
Change of clothes
·
Water pistol (joke)
·
Sense of humour
Sunday event
·
Old trainers (comfortable, but not too expensive)
·
Old jogging bottoms (shorts not recommended unless you wanna brave
the nettles, and the various times when you’ll be on all fours)
·
Old T-shirt (in case we don’t get group shirts organised)
·
Old socks and underwear
·
Plastic Bag - Basically you are VERY UNLIKELY to wish to take any
of your clothing home with you (VERY, VERY STINKY)
·
Towel (the washing area is a communal cow shed – extremely basic)
·
Clean clothes to change into before you get back in the car
·
A HUGE SMILE!!!!
So what are those “needs” that we
all have?
The need for Certainty (you will
test your resources)
The need for Uncertainty (variety,
challenge) – “a balanced seesaw is
boring”
The need for Significance (you are
unique, and you’ll do it your way)
The need for Contribution & Growth (you’ll help
& encourage complete strangers & you’ll be raising cash for the
unfortunate animals)
The need for Love and connection (you will
connect, after all you’re all there for one zany day of FUN)
If
you could put it all together, would you?
How fit do I need to be?
Neither the event organisers, nor any of us want a health-risk situation on our hands. When you register for the event, you will be asked to sign a “death warrant”, this is a total disclaimer against the organisers for any possible incident that may arise. Should you injure yourself (or worse) on the day – tough!!
I twisted my ankle four times in the first half mile, and seriously did not expect to make it to the finish line… but I did!! It’s amazing how resilient your body can be.
Of course many people have worse injuries… one of our team last year, Angie, broke her leg during the event and had to wear a plaster for weeks after, yet her very words (two weeks later) were “I think EVERYBODY should do that event”.
You may not currently think you could run such a challenging event, but you’ll be overwhelmed by the support of all the other participants and helpers….
Are you ready to STEP UP??
“OK, I’m STILL in, what do I
need to do now?”
· You need to register and pay asap. The organisers have a reward system for early entries, so the earlier you book, the cheaper it is. Cost for entry is approx £30. Remember it’s all for a great cause! http://www.toughguy.co.uk/
· You need to contact me asap to confirm that you will participate. We also want to know if you wish/intend camping on Sat eve, or just meeting us at the event on the Sunday.
· You need to decide if you’re gonna raise some sponsorship money, and start collecting. Why not get family, friends and colleagues involved?
Once you have confirmed, we will be communicating further with maps and directions etc.
Piccies from previous events click here (2001 & 2002) here (for 2003)
Strategy
This year we will have two teams. Individually YOU have to push yourself through the course, but as a team you’ll be PULLED ALONG & SUPPORTED. T.E.A.M. (Together EveryONE Achieves More).
Team “YES1” (name still to be chosen) will be our fast team, and they’ll be “going for it”, still staying together as a team.
Team “YES2” will ensure that every one of us “makes it through”.
Lessons in LIFE
Tony Robbins has a firewalk (at Life Mastery it’s 44 feet long), and a 50 foot high pole to climb and balance on top of, before leaping to a trapeze some 12 feet away.
As an analogy for life, a number of lessons may be learned, including;
· It’s not about being first or even completing the course
· It’s taking that 1st step
· Once you do take that 1st step, you’re not gonna go back
· The elation of overcoming obstacles will drive you through LIFE
My own journal entry as soon as I got home initiated my
mobile phone welcome message to “Life is an adventure playground”
Live with Passion
LIFE will NEVER be the same again!!