In a moment of complete madness I decided on the biggest challenge of my so far - to compete in a UK track and field decathlon in 2010. Having idolized Daley Thompson in my youth and ruining several joysticks playing Daley Thompson's Decathlon on the ZX Spectrum it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. The fact that I haven't done ANY of the decathlon events since leaving school nearly 20 years ago will make this a challenge and a half.
The decathlon, as the name suggests, consists of 10 events. Some requiring strength, some needing great technical ability, some endurance but most need all three! It is usually completed over a two day period as follows:-
Day 1 - 100m, Long Jump, Shot Putt, High Jump, 400m
Day 2 - 110m Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin, 1500m
The idea of the challenge is to score at least 3000 points (which would take me into the top 80 decathletes in the UK based on 2009 scores) and to raise £3000 for charity in the process.
Even somebody who isn't great at maths can work out that I need to average 300 points per event to reach the target. Obviously some events will be better, some worse. As a guide, here's what needs to be done to reach the goal for each event:-
100m - 14.09 seconds
Long Jump - 4.56m
Shot Putt - 6.87m
High Jump - 1.38m
400m - 1 min 3 secs
110m Hurdles - 20.65s
Discus - 21.46m
Pole Vault - 2.76m
Javelin - 30.03m
1500m - 5 min 51 secs
Some targets look easy. Who can't throw a little ball 6.87m, eh? Did you realise that the shot putt weighs 16lbs?!! That's equivalent to the heaviest bowling ball shrunk down to the size of a grapefruit. And the hurdles are 3'6" tall! That's like jumping over 10 6 year old children without kicking them in the heads! And let's not even get into the pole vault! :-S
I will be raising money for the Donna Louise Children’s Hospice, which provide care for children with life threatening conditions and for their families. The hospice is based in the UK, local to the area we live, in Stoke on Trent.
The rough date for completion of the challenge is September 2010, and there will be a blog to track progress towards my goal. All of my training will be logged and there will be tables on the main page which show how much or little progress I'm making. Link here - Decathlon Training Blog
It'sfair to say that I'm the fittest I’ve ever been. I'm a regular runner and have competed in all sorts of distanced road races through 2008 and 2009 from 1 mile up to Half Marathon.
However tough it gets, I aim to enjoy it.
Please join me, support me, comment on my trials and tribulations and above all please sponsor me. If it helps I could wear a replica Daley Thompson 1984 Olympics outfit and handlebar moustache. Although we'd end up looking more like the 118 118 guys...
Thank you.
Mark
