11:38am Wednesday 9th July 2008
FIVE pupils from John Lyon School are embarking on a landmark journey to the South Pole. The teenagers have to raise £260,000 to fund the expedition in November next year, and are training hard to be up to the challenge. The Harrow Times is following their progress.
With our exams far behind us we can now give our full attention and energy to the South Pole expedition.
We have already finished two tyre-dragging sessions, hosted a Summer Concert, and we are now preparing to start establishing sponsors with the skills we acquired during our telesales training day.
If someone rings you up during the day, no they aren't trying to sell you a kitchen or a holiday; it could be us, so keep the profanities at bay at least for the first sentence.
Meetings are a frequent occurrence now and each one of us has some kind of task to complete.
On the 22nd of June The John Lyon School Music Department really was alive with the sound of music; around two hundred people can confirm.
The JLS Antarctica Team hosted their summer concert in hopes of raising some local awareness, gathering funds, and generally providing people with a good time.
The fireworks started a bit before the guests started to pour in as the strawberries had to be chopped my Aaron and I (let me assure you that four bags filled with boxes of strawberries is an arduous task); drinks prepared; vicinity tidied; raffle-prize organized; and the barbecue stand had to be set-up - not to mention establishing the filming where Kristian's camera memorably failed the audition of, "I can fly ...", escaping with a few scratches and probably a headache.
What can I say; it was on a ledge and it was windy.
The guests were greeted by two impeccably well-dressed (I got a call ten minutes before the event from Kristian that he was wearing a suit; and I should follow suit) gentlemen at the door with manners to rival the Queen.
We received more demands at the door than we anticipated which was great but meant that I had to wait with ten guests, all of whom needed tickets, five minutes into the concert as Kristian dashed about to find more.
However, everyone got in at the end and from what I heard the concert was a ball; rightly manifested by the tremendous applause at the end.
The weather was a bit different to what we were preparing to face in the South Pole but nonetheless we must be prepared for any condition and learn to adapt to it.
We distributed leaflets about our event, and received a generous sum of donations (my strawberry stand received the most, just saying), as well as establishing a few future sponsors.
Kristian's trailer attracted a great deal of viewers; all of whom seemed worried that we were participating in something akin to the Blair Witch Project'.
The barbecue went smoothly however during any barbecue someone/thing has to catch fire; and the head cook did just this to his shoe (kindly pointed out to him by myself).
The liveliness of the party can be seen in the waste; and boy did we have a big waste to clear up (none from the strawberries - all gone, eaten!).
The event raised a great sum of money and on behalf of the team I would like to thank the guests and the members of staff who helped out even though they were under no obligation to do so!
It would be an under-statement to say that our tyre dragging session was as lively as the Summer Concert.
We certainly got noticed; the straw-hats were no longer the subject of jokes on top of the Hill as seven lunatics rampaged through the quiet streets in the afternoon with tyres clipped onto their back.
Each person we passed turned a shade lighter and rushed off to see if they were in fact stolen from his car; they could invent a seven wheeled car in the future I suppose.
However weird we looked and however many pictures were taken on mobile phones followed by gawping stares there was a purpose behind the activity and that was to simulate dragging a 70kg sled across the Polar Plateau.
As the weeks progress we will add more weight and increase the resistance by selecting a steeper incline.
Our first session was short as we familiarised ourselves with the equipment and acquired some insider tips; for example if Aaron turns left while running a metre in front me his tyre will hit me and it will hurt.
Going down-hill , it did not hurt us when our tyre slid into our legs yet this will be a different story with the 70kg sled.
I simulated some interesting conditions during the training session to test the groups responsiveness.
Quietly creeping up on Ralph I placed his tyre on a metal pole in the ground which we were about to pass; his awareness was not the best as the resultant force practically flung him onto ground.
Another interesting experiment was to see whether he could pull two tyres; quietly clipping my tyre onto his harness I observed - he could and he did not notice; this is valuable information for me for future training sessions.
Our second training sessions was as professional as it could be; having finished our little simulations and growing accustomed to our equipment as well as forming a personal attachment to our tyres, mine is called, "Road Champ", we were ready to start.
If one had strolled around at 7.00AM, they would have seen seven people with tyres clipped on their back running laps around Sudbury playing fields.
We will soon have our T-shirts printed to show people further madness behind our madness.
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