Your interests, hobbies (sport and otherwise!), special skills...

A big hobby of mine is playing Ultimate Frisbee. I love travelling, camping and goofing off with my teammates. Off the field I enjoy cooking, especially comfort food, and running with my border collie.

What are you most looking forward to about the Namibia trip?

Camping in the desert and stargazing with no city lights for miles.

What are you most apprehensive about?

Managing training intensity and avoiding over-use injuries.

What do you hope to achieve from the challenge?

Confidence that I can train hard and go out and accomplish something that is far beyond my current capabilities.

Anything else you'd like to share?

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Sporting Lowlight

In the weak prior to the Seville Marathon (Preparation Event for IN-NAM ’18) I got pretty ill and wasn’t sure whether I would be able to do the marathon at all, although I trained several weeks for this point. Finally I decided to go there and started in the race, which was hitting me quite hard short after the half-marathon marker and I still had 20 km to go.

Qualification/Experience

MEng - Chemical Engineering

Key Likes

Football, mountain biking, snowboarding, running, traveling and enjoying time with friends

Sporting Lowlights

A few weeks after my first marathon I started training again for the next event.
In hindsight I can see that I started too eagerly. I also trained a lot on soft undergrounds during the winter.
I started feeling pain in my shin and after a visit with the doctor they concluded I had shin splint and had to stop running for a while.
Being focused on the Namibia event but unable to train like you want to is very frustrating.
By switching to some more cycling I managed to keep on training.

Qualifications/Experiences

The best experience I had during the qualification events was the karaoke evening in Lanzarote.
It wasn’t on the official planning we received, but it sure was a lot of fun.

Key Likes

What I loved about the Namibia event is the impressive surroundings you can run in.
You can see a mountain at the horizon and realize that’s only your lunch stop.
At first, this thought is scary, but distances become very relative and the joy you feel every time you reach the next camp is worth all the pain.

Brief description of your day-to-day job at INEOS

As Process Performance Manager in the PE-asset of Cologne I’m responsible for the two high-pressure LDPE-plants. Supervision of production, evolving optimization of product quality and plant performance are the main elements of my daily work.

Your interests, hobbies (sport and otherwise!), special skills...

I love doing different kinds of sports like skiing, cycling, climbing, surfing, football, running, but my sporting roots is gymnastics since I’m seven years old. Over several years I made it to the second German league starting for Leverkusen, Mühlheim a.d.R., Cologne and finally Karlsruhe. With respect to my family and job I reduced my ambitions in gymnastics after over ten years in active team sport. Today I’m starting for Leverkusen in single competitions and in the team for a local league and thanks to INEOS found a new obsession in cycling and running.

What are you most looking forward to about the Nambia trip?

This will be my first visit of the African continent. Running and cycling is for me an absolutely new way to explore a country.
I’m looking forward to challenge my body and test my personal limits in a new environment.
I’m looking forward to do that in a group of friends found in the 1st and 3rd year events.
I’m looking forward to a unique experience.

What are you most apprehensive about?

After training over 28 years my high-speed strength and short-term physical stress it is somehow complete contrary to go running and cycling long distances. For distances up to 21K the changeover worked well, now the training for longer distances is ongoing. My body and muscles started to change but that is a long way to go or, more explicitly, to run.

Sporting Lowlight

Losing that BUCS final!

Qualifications

Degree Physics and Philosophy

Key Likes

Playing hockey and tennis have remained a staple. Since Namibia last year, still enjoying a good amount of running and cycling (both were pretty new to me this time a year ago), which definitely helps sustain another keen interest….great food and drink! Have also become a big fan of the yoga classes here at Anchor House and love travelling to new countries and photography.

Sporting Lowlight

Having to get out of the car to be sick when we were sat in a queue of traffic after a race

Qualifications/Experiences

MENG Mechanical Engineering

Key Likes

Generally being outdoors. Running and walking with my dog

Brief description of your day-to-day job at INEOS

Working in Procurement, my role mainly revolves around trying to leverage INEOS’ position in the market to get the best possible deal from our suppliers. This could mean providing benchmark data to assist in local negotiations, attempting to align on specifications in order to go to the market for global pricing, or, in my role as contract manager, escalating on-site issues to the supplier’s higher management.

Your interests, hobbies (sport and otherwise!), special skills...

I’m a huge sports fan, and follow football and cricket religiously! On a personal level, I play football and squash (although neither to a very high level!). I’m also a keen runner , having started running in 2012 to stay fit; following a back injury that ruled me out of other sports for around 6 months. Away from sports I am an avid reader and an overly competitive pub-quizzer!

What are you most looking forward to about the Namibia trip?

For me, the most exciting thing about the trip is the chance to push myself to the limit in such a remarkable location. Some of my fondest memories are running through the Brandenburg Gate at the end of the Berlin Marathon, or past the temples during the Angkor Wat Half. From what I’ve seen so far, Namibia will be on another level entirely.

What are you most apprehensive about?

The heat – as a boy from Carlisle I imagine the desert climate will be a shock to the system! Normally I do the majority of my running in Spring and Autumn, so 5 days of intensive exercise in the heat will no doubt be a real challenge.

What do you hope to achieve from the challenge?

As with any challenge I set myself, my main goal is to be able to say at the end of it that I did as well as I possibly could. Beyond that I hope to come away with some great memories and hopefully a few new friends as well!

Sporting Lowlight

Any time spent in the truck during In-Nam ’17 (which was a few, so train as hard as you think you can…then train harder!)

Qualifications/Experience

2 post-graduate degrees, licensed Texas attorney; member of INEOS Legal since 2013.

Key Likes

History books, especially books on Alexander the Great. Any time spent outdoors, especially in West or South Texas or the Rocky Mountains (USA). Travelling to new countries with my wife Sarah. Oh, and Namibia!

Sporting Lowlights

Participating in big events is fun and rewarding. But I enjoy the training as much as the race itself. A while ago, I had a foot injury and was not able to do running or cycling for a few weeks. This felt as a very long time and was definitely a lowlight.

I studied chemical engineering at the university of Ghent. I’m employed as a production engineer which means I am closely involved with the daily operation of a chemical plant. Currently, I’m working on a bigger project which will increase production capacity.
I love spending my time with traveling. I really enjoy exploring the beauties of the world. Furthermore I definitely like to sport and for the little time that remains I play music.