(Please Scroll down to see the latest blog including pictures and videos of all the group training sessions) 

 Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. 

10 of us will be taking part in the Toughguy Winter Challenge on 29th January 2012 in memory of Janet Snowball and to raise money for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd in Backford. 

This event is widely recognized as the toughest challenge known to mankind, It’s true we have had all had to sign death warrants - there’s no guarantee we will all survive it but we’ll certainly give it our best shot!  

The Tough Guys 

 ·          Andrew Snowball        

 ·          Andy Moore

 ·          Barry Green 

 ·          Graham Siddons

 ·          Jeff Dixon

 ·          John Graham

 ·          John Harris

 ·          Matthew Caton

 ·          Matty Hough

 ·          Pete Hammersley

To learn more about the fantastic work that this charity carries out click the following link: http://www.hospiceofthegoodshepherd.com/

Or to see what we are letting ourselves in for click the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR-Ln57Vzyc&feature=related

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Saturday 21 Jan               08:30            Llandegla & Horse Shoe Pass

 Ok to the final training session before the big day and this one needed to be hardcore, a new location this week and we’ve managed to recruit 1 extra toughguy which meant the attendees were: Andrew Snowball, Andy Moore, Barry Green, Graham Siddons, John Graham and Matthew Caton.  Baz has just spent the past week in warmth of Vegas so it’s shock to the system time!

 After everyone moaning about the early start time and having to be reminded that they are Toughguys we finally set off, 2 cars this week, following John being directed by Snowy was probably not the best idea and predictably we got lost, going around the same roundabout in Wrexham 5 times was fun.  Eventually we found our way and arrived at Llandegla, £3.50 to park, it’s a good job Keith wasn’t here otherwise we’d be parking on the road at the bottom and walking up to the start!

 Before we got out of the car the thermometer was showing 6 degrees not to bad until we got out into the wind, geez was it windy, the trees were bending in the forest not the time to hang around under them so off we went a mile and a half along the trail to the reservoir and after G’s pathetic excuses with his gentiles last week there were really no excuses left in the book, through the forest we went until we reached the banks of the reservoir, surely there is nothing dangerous about swimming in a reservoir in the middle of January so out we waded into the middle until it was neck high, time for a quick dunk, although mega cold at least it was clean unlike last week and also compared to what next week is going to be like.

Out of the water and time for a run, off we went back into the forest and it wasn’t to bad once we started to get warm again, at least until we left the forest and hit the open heaths and the wind kicked in again, although it was nowhere near as cold as last week the wind hitting our wet clothes made it feel the coldest yet.  Onto the horseshoe pass and across the bogs, some people were clearly struggling with the pace of things now, not naming any names but that’s what happens when you try and be a big man and train every day without a rest day.  Anyway it gave the others a chance for a quick breather. 

 After around 5 miles of running up and down hills we reached the Ponderosa café in the middle of the Horse shoe pass, one final push through the quarry and we reached our end point the chilly waters of the blue lagoon.  Also nothing dangerous about jumping into a lagoon in the middle of a quarry with no one around and after all we are Tough Guys, so in we all went, I suppose the sign wasn’t lying when it said Deep, Cold Water.  Keep Out!  By now everyone was uber freezing, what I don’t quite get is why instead of then running to keep warm everyone just stands around and talks about how cold they feel for at least 5 minutes!

 Anyway we finally got going again and we had a 6 mile slog back through the hills towards Llandegla forest, the wind seemed to of died down at last or maybe it just felt that way and it was just the first part of hyperthermia kicking in!  After getting back to the forest we found a whole load of logs stacked up at the side of the track so in true tough guy style we scaled them on the way back.

 Now back alongside the Reservoir it was time to go for one last dip before the mile run back to the car, we ran across to the far side of the water and the plan was to swim across to the other side, in we went, half way across and you could no longer feel your arms and coupled with not being able to touch the bottom a feeling of panic set it, everyone bombed out at this point and just about managed to make it back to the side without drowning, that is everyone apart from Sid’s who must have had his weetabix because by the time everyone was out he was already over on the far side shaking the water off. 

At the side of the reservoir a hiker stopped to talk to us to try and find exactly how tough we were, we didn’t want to seem rude but you don’t really want to stand around talking after being in that freezing water, next thing a Land Rover turned up from the water company and like true tough guys we sprinted off, well apart from John who for some reason walked back to talk to the guy from the water company and got a right dressing down!  Something about them sucking the water from the Reservoir and we could of gone down the pipes!

 Now the race was on for the glory of the finish line back through the forest and into the car park to a feeling of Victory.  The last training session had been smashed big time.  Just needed to get out of our Wet clothes and get the heaters on in the car.

 So that’s it less than a week to go until the big day, only time will tell if we have undertook sufficient training.  Looking at the weather for Wolverhampton now and Snow is forecast for the day of the event, well if we are going to be tough we may as well do it properly!

 The next blog will be after the event itself, so please dig deep people in the final week and help support this fantastic cause!

All the photos and videos from the 4 training session and indeed all training sessions can be found by clicking the following link:

 http://s896.photobucket.com/profile/mat0gs/uploads

 Hurrah the Omars!

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sunday 16th Jan        9.00       Moel Famau & Moel Arthur

This is it, we awoke on Sunday to freezing temperatures and having to  scrape ice off the car, this didn’t deter the mighty omars though, this was the moment we had been waiting for, up the mountain we go different route this week to include a 2 mountain and to hit Moel Famau from the rear (careful Matty!).   Same Tough guys as last week: Andrew Snowball, Andy Moore, Graham Siddons, John Graham and Matthew Caton.

After driving around for about half an hour extra to find the carpark (good directions snowy!) we reached the peak of the mountain.  A few camp warmups and we were ready to go, Snowy had been told of two ways up the mountain a step way and a steady way, we didn’t know which was which so guessed on the steady way which turned out to be the steepest but we are tough guys so off we went.  Not before going through a field full of sheep, thought we had got lucky for a moment but they soon scarped when we approached.

So carrying on up the hill with a quick pause half way up to wait for the laggers, defo the hardest training session out of the 3 so far minus 2 and the wind biting into us.  The top of the Mountain was packed full of hikers but by now we were used to looks so carried on undetered.  

With the different route planned this week we headed down the mountain in the direction of Moel Famau and a 3 mile run between the mountains.  Amazingly no dogsh*t and nobody went on their arse at least until we reached Moel Arthur.

Standing at the bottom between both mountains we needed water and it was there we found some frozen pond water.  Over the barb wire fence John ripped his T-shirt and Snowy got a posion arrow shot into his hat but on we went towards the pond.  The ice was thick and at times would hold our weight so the challenge was to dive into the ice and smash it in order to land in the water, one by one we went and the water under the ice which looked clear before being broken, soon went black and the smell was minging!

Back onto our feet we had to keep moving to stay warm but not before we smashed a few frozen ice sheets into our heads as we are tough guys after all!  (See pics and video’s in link).  Heading up Moel Arthur and halfway up we found another iced over pond so a quick paddle through breaking ice and shreading our knees open we completed the last part to top of the next mountain that was 2 conquered for the day.

 The last leg was around a 3 mile run back to the car which all completed non stop, although Matty decided he needed extra training so didn’t turn right by the church and instead heading ½ mile in the wrong direction but I suppose when you don’t keep up with the big boys that’s what happens!

 12 miles completed in around 2 ½ hours not bad and at least we got to experience cold temperatures before the big day!  I’ve gotta add that the plan was to run a little back up the hill and take a dip in the reservoir but John’s schlong was hurting so that idea went out the window (I can’t think what John has been up to, to get this type of injury).  

So next week is the last week before the main event.  Hopefully the cold will keep up and we’ll get some more cold water training in.  Should have at least one more attendee next week as well in the form of Baz.

Link for the photos of training session 3 can be found here:

http://photobucket.com/toughguytrainingmoelfamauandmoelarthur150112

Just 12 days to go – Please help to support this fantastic charity.

 Hurrah the Omars!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Saturday 7 Jan 2012     9.30am         Moel Famau Mountain (North Wales) 

2 Training session of the year and amazingly we’ve managed to get John out of bed!  Must be something to do with the temperature being a couple of degrees milder this week.  Therefore despite the early start  we managed to increase our numbers by one which ment the Toughguys this week are Andrew Snowball, Andrew Moore, Graham Siddons, John Graham and Matthew Caton. 

It’s amazing the difference an early start makes we get to the carpark after everyone being amazed by the superior quality of Andy Moore’s driving and we are one of the first cars there.  After a few warm ups and laughing at Sid’s rather camp squats we are ready to go, same route as last week best to introduce John to the pain slowly! 

So off we go and not a great start it’s less than 20 seconds to reach the first stream and I go arse over tits into the water (I was supposed to do that, best to give the lads a giggle to calm their nerves!).  After everybody composing themselves again, up the hill we go and the pack soon starts to spread out. 

Half way up, it seems to be uber hard this week, time for a breather to allow everyone to catch up, my day just gets even worse slump down in the grass and end up in a pile of sh*t, great another 30 minutes minimum till we reach the river!  Snowy then takes the lead and powers up the mountain like he’s possessed or something, I’m sure he didn’t stop once there. 

At the top, it’s definatley warmer this week although proper windy just check out the pics!  Once everyone had reached the top and John had realised that he wasn’t actually dying we are off again down the side of the mountain and off towards Loggerheads and the beauty of the river.  It seemed muddier this week and now it was Matt’s turn to land on his arse and more than once! 

Down the hill, through the forest over a couple of fields it was river time.  It was agreed head under water first time this time.  We couldn’t figure out what was worse the 4 of us knowing how cold it was going to be or John not realising what he was letting himself in for!  In we went, came out pretty quickly again but it was definatley not as cold as last week and thank god the sh*t smell had gone.

Onto the slalom 5 laps round to warm up, Matt even done it the right way around this week, hard work but definaltey good pratice I couldn’t quite understand why we were being shot at though!  

After warming up again it’s back in the water and we can’t just go back under for a couple of seconds it’s not going to be like that in the proper event so we decide to lie down in the water for a couple of minutes however what we didn’t bank on was the current and everyone being carried twenty yards downstream!  And I don’t know what the 2 hikers that crossed the bridge must of thought!

Back on the beaten track heading back up the farmers track avoiding the bullets and back towards the mountain, everyone’s back together now for the final push up the hill, now this climb is about a mile long and beat everyone last time but not today at least 3 of us smashed it none stop mainly thanks to Sid’s blasting away in front, well we can’t stop if Sid’s hasn’t.  

Now everyone’s back together for the victory run down the hill and over the stream and into the carpark, and no casulties in the stream this time!  Another fine victory for the Omars!

7 of the best photographs from this week have been uploaded to this justgiving site but due to limitations the rest have been uploaded to photobucket, click this link to see the full collection including videos:  http://photobucket.com/toughguytrainingmoelfamau070112 

And now onto next weeks training session and at the time of writing I’m looking at the weather forcast up for the mountain and it’s going to 0 degrees at 9am next Sunday with rain and snow showers – that’s more like it, bring it on!

Hurrah the Omars!

Monday 2 Jan 2012 11:00              Moel Famau Mountain (North Wales)

Our first group training session of the year attended by team members: Andrew Snowball, Graham Siddons, Matthew Caton and Andrew Moore, there was supposed to be 5 of us but John decided he was too tough for the mild conditions and staying in bed was far more hardcore!

5 degrees was the temperature at the bottom of the mountain and after a vigorous warm up session at the bottom car park and a few group photographs we were good to go, the plan was to run up the 2 mile trail to the peak of the mountain at the start of the session and then it would be a reasonably steady trek down, after an initial steady climb we ran out of the woods and onto the main climb into the open and man was that wind cold!  About half way up and as the incline was reaching almost climbing point the affects of the Christmas pudding, copious amounts of ale and biting wind on the lungs were kicking in, time for a quick breather which consisted of lying in the heather and nearly throwing up whist dozens of hikers wondered what was going on.

After the quick breather and another couple of pushes and we were at the summit I would love to say we felt on top of the world but it just felt like we were at deaths door. The temperature up top was now around 1 degree, we had managed to reach the summit in approx 20 minutes from top to bottom, Snowy even managed to blag a woman that we had run to the top non stop!

With the biting wind and freezing temperatures at the top we didn’t want to hang around to long therefore after a quick and slow jog around the top taking in the views we were good to start making the descent down the mountain and the 3 miles towards loggerheads, now this was fun!  Slipping and sliding down the side of the moment and then along an old farmers track Sid’s lost a shoe and Mat went on his arse more than once!

Across a couple of hill side fields and styles we were then just about to reach loggerheads when we heard the sound of an ice cold river gushing along.  This opportunity was far good to miss we needed to know what it was going to feel like to have to duck under ice cold water in January, in we went and it was cold, oh so cold!  After being waist height in the water for a couple of minutes we needed to bite the bullet and go under the water but the shivering had already kicked in and none of us were quite so brave to attempt it at this point!  Back out of the water we came and across the bridge we needed to warm up before ducking in so on we headed on towards the main Loggerheads area.

After reaching Loggerheads we found a hill that lead to the top of the forest with a steady slope that circled back round to where we were standing, this was perfect training for the slalom obstacle of toughguy so we decided 5 laps of this was in order, off we went it was hard work and about half way through Matt decided he was going to switch direction to make it easier which lead to us nearly crashing him to in at the same point every time for the last 3 laps!  Again we got some strange looks from hikers every time we reached the top of the hill!

So now was the moment of truth, warmed up and standing by the river it was time to take the plunge there was no getting out of it, Sid’s set his camera to video mode (the link for the video is below) rested it on the bridge and in we went face first, we were only under the water for a couple of seconds but the coldness and feeling of disorientation when we came back up was overwhelming.  

Now we had to keep moving to stay warm and try and stop shivering so the 3 mile ran climb begin across a couple of fields, up along the farmers treks and half way up the mountain again in the direction of the car park.  Snowy kept blagging us that after every turn we made it would be downhill to the car park, maybe he was disorientated from the ice cold water but we just kept going up and up and up until finally we could see the car park at the bottom of the forest, a quick sprint down and we were in the car park tired and in pain but undefeated!

Getting changed by the car was comical nobody could feel their fingers and changing our bills was a challenged Snowy’s towel fell down and he flashed a old man who had come out for a quiet days walk not a pretty sight!

We covered 8 miles in 2 hours, which included the cold water training so not a bad start considering it was our first group hill training session and the varying degrees of fitness etc.

After finally getting changed there was only one thing that was left to complete the session a well earned pint, off we went to Wetherspoons in Mold, 3 pints of Amstel and pint a Champion for Sid’s because after this training session he truly felt like a champion!

Next group training session will at 9.00 on Saturday 8 January in Moel Famau again, when we hope to try a different route with a lot more water.  Let’s hope the temperature drops sufficiently to get other members of the team to come along!

All the photographs plus the video of the training session can be viewed by clicking the following link:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/73377895@N07/with/6623047039/

Please help support this great cause by giving what you can (no matter how small) to help the Hospice of the Good Shepherd.  Or even just ‘like’ us on Facebook.  Thanks!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++