Well on Saturday morning I left a sunny Liverpool to head to London to make my final preparations for the Marathon on Sunday. I was feeling ok and relatively good about the race; I had been hit with a chest infection the Friday before and finished the course of antibiotics I was taking on Saturday morning.  The atmosphere in London is amazing on the build up; the city is busy and buzzing with people and athletes.

After a brief rest on Saturday and some broken sleep, Sunday morning quickly arrived and I was full of porridge and on the tube heading to Greenwich to the start of the race. The carriages were heaving, it was like being at the front at a concert and not a very good one, I thought at one point how many more people can fit on a tube that is already full, the answer is a lot more!

At Greenwich station the trains flooded the streets with runners and the sea of people poured to the large flats of the park. All around people stretched off, ate and drank and carried out the all important final rituals. Charity vests and t-shirts covered the landscape, men and women erected weird and wonderful costumes and a small zoo of runners was formed. Probably the most surreal part of the day for me was standing having a wee next to Darth Vader and Scooby doo at the same time!

Before long it was bags on the transport and everyone had to make their way to the form up points, bang on cue the heavens opened and we all became soggy and cold. Richard Branson then pushed his way to the front and we were off at 09.45. It was a real hurry up and wait moment, crossing the line was slow and starting to run was even slower, eventually after a mile the crowd began to open up. The first six miles flew by and the three different start points (Red, Blue and Green) all joined up as the route headed towards London city, the pace was picking up but the volume of people around me was unbelievable!

As the course progressed the crowds of supporters grew and grew, the bands, drummers and screaming mobs all get inside your head and power you forward. I saw my family at 12 miles and hit the half marathon marker at 1 hr 39 minutes. Miles 14 to 20 disappeared as I trotted around the isle of dogs and Canary wharf dodging the water bottles and empty cartons on the road.

When I hit the final five miles disaster struck, I started to cough and my lungs decided that they had had enough. I lost my pace and had to stop, St Johns ambulance smothered me with kindness and offered me O2 but the race official at the roadside explained that if I needed oxygen then I would be out of the race. After a short quick walk away from both men, I cleared my chest out and started to run again, sounding like an old knackered car as I went. The next 5 miles took me 67 minutes of breathless coughing and spluttering to get down to Buckingham Palace and the finish! My overall time was a disappointing (for me) 3hrs 51 minutes. I finished 8840 out of 51000 who started the race.

What next……………………? Another course of anti-biotics, then back to training and who knows! I might do Berlin, Boston and Chicago to complete the marathon major series or  I might just stick to walking the dog in the park...

The Outdoor Show was a real success for Go Commando. After a stressful start on Thursday waiting for the stand to arrive, Greg and Tim eventually headed down to Birmingham to set up and Charlotte followed closely behind on the train that evening. Having only half an hour to set up the two Commando’s decided it would be best not to read the instructions as this would be time consuming. What a mistake! The stand fell over on numerous occasions until the Rock Ape (Tim) decided to have a read and all was sorted. Mission completed time to have tea and pick Charlotte up from the train station.  

Day 1 was like going into the unknown but by midday we were well into the swing of things and Charlotte was very happy as there was a Sausage butty stall right next to ‘Go Commando HQ’. Tim found the triathlon section but had to leave his credit card with Greg and decided to stay off the Mountain biking for another day. The camouflage face painting started and Greg was in his element. He had a tear in his eye as it brought back so many memories of his days in the Core. Charlotte decided to have a go, admittedly getting more on the floor than the kids faces! The standard of camouflage and concealment was a little poor but after painting about 10 scouts she soon got the hang of things. Unfortunately, one little girl must have been expecting a princess or an angel and burst into tears when she saw her dirty looking face!!! 

At the end of the first day we had around 60 names for the 3 Peaks Challenge, Greg and Tim- get walking!!!! After eating about 10 tonne of Chicken at Nandos (no chips I must add) it was time for bed and an early rise for a 40 min run. Day 2 was even better as this was the going to be the busiest day by far and even the two guys Peter and Matt from Keep It Hostile started to sell stock even if they did look like they had come of a scene of Eastenders. It was really interesting to see how many people want to do the 3 Peaks Challenge and that there are not any companies out there doing what ‘Go  Commando’ does.

There was another 100 names to the list on Saturday and it was great to see Humphrey and his wife Sue. The Commanders Mum and Dad Phil and Joan also tipped us a visit, you guys must have been proud of your son. Robbie Doran and his family made our day complete and insisted on lots of photos of his biceps??!! By the end of Day 2 everybody’s legs felt like they had done 3 peaks.  Food bed and bring on the last day. 

Day 3 brought another 100 names and more kids stealing our sweets. This was bargain day Charlotte now is a proud owner of a reindeer rug (I wondered where you disappeared to.) It will look great in your living room. Greg you looked great in that Triathlon wetsuit, which I believe he has not taken off since. Whatever tickles your fancy Greg!!!!!  

A big thank you to John, Gill, Robyn and Andy plus Jane and her Dad George for coming down to support the, Go Commando team. John the Outdoor Show would like to thank you for buying half of its merchandise, profits will be up this year, despite you bargaining for every last drop of discount. Go Commando would also like to thank Matt and Peter fromKeep It Hostile for being great company throughout the show, good luck guys. It was a great 3 days and ‘Go Commando’ met so many great people and the 3 Peaks is going to be a massive success. Bring on London!!!!!!!!!By Tim Barrett

Friday was an unbelievable day to be in the mountains. I was lucky enough to spend the day on the Snowdon Horseshoe, having watched the weather forecast all week I knew that I might be in luck (and dry) but did not expect what I saw.

The Horseshoe has two of the best ridge walks in the Uk and on a clear day some of the best views. I had the pleasure of spending the day with the FD of Shop Direct and an old friend of his to help him celebrate his 40th birthday. The day started with the usual amount of hill fog and dampness that you expect early morning at Pen Y Pas but quickly broke allowing a warmer brighter ‘Alpine style’ Day.

The Snow was still patchy and crisp on the ascent but nothing to worry about and to my surprise Crib Goch was clear of any ice or cloud which ment that the two Crib Virgins had plenty of time to enjoy the 3,800 foot drop and contemplate the need for good hand and foot placement. All in all, a great day out.

The tracks on snowdon are still very icy and have deep snow in parts, my advice would be stick to the pyg track, start early and aim to get down to the pass by 4pm.

The weather this week is going to be wet! 95 % chance of rain on Friday. If I was a betting man I would say stay indoors! I am not a betting man and will be heading out to take two guys up and over the Snowdon Horse shoe to celebrate a 40^th birthday (Not mine!) God bless Gortex and all who wear her.

The Snowdon Horse shoe has two exciting ridges to cross and is a great way to spend 8 hours of your life; I will aim to post the photos of the rain and cloud next Monday.

One day challenges are a great way to mark special occasions, you get to share your time with your friend doing something that allows a shared sense of achievement. I love running them because everyone involved wants to be there, you get the walk done and then it’s off to the Pub to share the days war stories! 

September is shaping up to be a great month. We have been busy climbing mountains and talking to some new exciting people in fantastic companies!

We will be kicking off the North West development agencies Lead Programme at the end of the month. We have now started looking at our first charity 'Cast Away' experience for senior executives; we hope to get a group of top dogs to battle it out in a genuine survival situation for forty eight hours. Who has the mental strength to win? Who will crack and who won't have the guts to try at all?

Finally, we are planning to take everyone's favourite personal training company Body Solutions in to the wilderness once more! 'I'm a celebrity PT, get me out of here!' springs to mind, will we be able to provide enough calorie burning activities to stimulate them? ....I'll keep you posted!

September is going to be a busy one at Go Commando as we push forward with our work with No Guru and Freedom Business Coaching. The joint collaboration working on the LEAD programme is set for the end of the month and all delegates get the chance to Go Commando for one day!

We are looking forward to working with individuals and opening their minds to who they really are!

Twenty six hours and fifteen minutes is a long time to be climbing mountains, but that is what the 'Roy Castle Six' (as we call them) did on August 22nd!

For those of you who don't know about the three peaks mountain race, it takes in Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell pike in the Lake District and Snowdon in North Wales. All three mountains are the highest peaks in their relevant countries and the race is non stop, finishing at the foot of the first and last mountain, aiming to complete the challenge in as close to twenty four hours as possible.

We were hit by the cloud on Big Ben and fought our way down through the crowds heading up to a feast of haggis on the summit! We then shot off to the lakes in a mini bus restricting 60mph, arriving to enjoy a clear bright evening in the English countryside before venturing into wet Welsh Wales in the dark. The Roy Castle Six did not let this poor weather dampen their spirits, instead they pushed on through the night to reach the summit of first light and then head back down the beast that is Snowdon to a warm dry set of clothes. All bar one of the challenges completed the task, we unfortunately had to sacrifice him to the god of bad knees! We ate his liver with some Welsh farmers pickle!

The magnificent six have all recovered and have helped to raise much needed funds to keep the boffins at Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation labs researching on your behalf!

Go Commando has recently secured the use of an exclusive 64 acre island! This new location offers a unique cast away experience to add to the already popular courses that our clients have taken part in at our base in Capel Curig. The remote island is neighboured by a slightly smaller island owned by none other than Bear Gryles. The new experience takes in a fats boat ride out, an exhastingly eventful two day course packed with survival skills, physical tasks and accelerated group bonding. Forget go-karting and Alton Towers - Go Commando and challenge your team to survive on our island, the only real way to discover peoples true identity is to remove them from their comfort zone!

We are mad busy at the moment, August and September are mountain months. Each weekend we are running training days and mountain events. On Sunday 9th August the team of raw recruits supporting the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation set off on a misty damp walk up Moel Siabod overlooking Capel Curig. The weather was poor and so was the visibility, but that didn't stop the group enjoying the days walk. The highlight being the sighting of a man celebrating his 40th birthday by plunging into a large disused quarry pit of ice cold water wearing only an iluminous greeg 'Borat style' mankini! Well done to all the team and good luck for the three peaks challenge on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd August.