The Ever-Rest Challenge

Well, today I took part in the Everest challenge. As any of my colleagues were keen to point out, technically i profited from a charity event, which in turn means that I am a bad bad man. It was an interesting start to the day, though there were a few comments I wanted to make.

1. I felt like death: By the time I finished, floor 30 seemed felt like my first step into hell. In fact, if you will spare me the (deliberate) literary allusion, it felt like Dante's first step into the inferno. My whole body hurt, my throat burned - hell, even my teeth hurt. And it was not that nice kind of pain you get after good exercise, this was a proper "I am not as fit as i thought i was, dream on if you think you are going down stairs for another one" kind of pain. And you know what, it surprised me. I play football 3 times a week and am used to running 5 miles at a reasonably competitive time, but this was something else. I was a wreck.

2.Hands off...Hands on: There was a lot of clapping. I know it was all for charity, but there seemed to be ab awful lot of clapping. I am not suggesting that this was totally self congratulatory, as there was some really hard work put in, but I think I clapped "ourselves" at least three times. Hell, we just rocked in at 10am for a run up some stairs. I guess my point here is that we were clapping the wrong people. The majority of the money raised, I will hazard a guess, was donated by people not present. It was these guys who deserved the applause, and yet we couldn't give it to them, not directly at least.

3. Give me a hand: The stewards or marshall's saw some grim sights. One of them tried to encourage me by saying "would you like some water?". I replied with "mate, I need a fu*king hug, not some water". At least he smiled, no harm was meant, but christ did I really need a hug (thanks HP).

4. Always mix business and pleasure: It was really interesting to see the group dynamic once again. I know there were some individuals attending, some branch teams and some couples present, but it was really interesting to see the other graduates again.

We took some excellent and ridiculous photographs, but what stood out for me was the attitude. For me, it did not feel like I was with people I worked with, it felt like I was there with a group of buddies (allow me this sentimental digression please). That said, it was buddies who abuse, insult and generally torture me when they can, but that's standard and I'm down with that. The point remains that I felt that people were more natural and at ease than during working hours (you see - this is why corporate wear sucks). While people may assume this is obvious, I find it difficult to relax around people I work with, even outside working hours, but today it felt easy to do so. But then again, we were all in shorts.

5. Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail: there was some pretty wicked planning involved today. Sure, there were one or two pairs of shorts that were too short, but generally, it was a well executed day. While I will not pretend to know all the logistics, I must say it ran pretty smooth. So cheers to those guys who organised it. In fact, I feel compelled to add, that the one part of the day that was left to myself to organise involved an amusing incident. I managed to get the DLR towards Bank, then stay on the train once I had reached Bank (while everyone departed) and headed back towards Shadwell. So good work guys on the organisational front - very smooth and very enjoyable.

These were the things that leapt to mind, though I am sure several other observations leapt a bit higher for everyone else. I had a really good day and certainly had a lot of fun. It would be great to have the option to meet all the guys in that sort of capacity every week - it was certainly refreshing to have a totally non work meeting with some of the guys - but I guess one of the charms was that events like that don't happen all the time.

As such, I'd though I would leave you with a poem:

Churchill Place has many a stair,
It is tough on the mind as well as the soul.
My body felt good, my heart without care.
at the challenge ahead and the easy goal.

Floor one to ten took my ambition,
It was tough on the mind as well as the soul.
For me, it began at a sprint and ended a war of attrition,
The first ten flights had begun to take their toll.

Floors ten to twenty felt like I was running in glue,
It was tough on the mind as well as the soul.
I walked and struggled on and my hopes were too few,
Never before had I felt less suited to a role.

The last ten flights were designed to separate the great from the crud,
It was tough on the mind as well as the soul.
I insulted a helper and sweatted what felt like blood,
WhileClimbing the stairs I descended into a hole.

The finish arrived , and supreme was the feeling,
It was easy on the mind and let lose my soul!
Yet nothing could stop me, over did I go - reeling,
Despite all this I had achieved my goal!

And so it ended with a group hug,
happy I felt and without a drug!
training next year has begun in vain,
For I still know I will feel as much pain.

A dreadful poem - but then again, given how dreadful I felt, it seemed fitting.

Kindest,

Dante