The Q Trust's very own Iron Man!

In 1985, at the age of 21, in what seemed a natural break in the development of my career (!), I jumped on a train to Avignon in Provence and onto the idyllic hamlet of Le Grand Banc on the northern slopes of the Luberon Valley, to become the latest in a long line of helpers for the disabled English travel writer, Quentin Crewe, otherwise known as Q. So also began a wonderful friendship with this remarkable and lovely man - who was at times very much a mentor - which endured up to his death from Muscular Dystrophy on his 72nd birthday in 1998.

Shortly before the second installment of the Q Trust Quiz night last October, I decided to have a go at the L’Etape du Tour – the biggest and best of all the ‘Cyclosportive’ events taking place around the globe which I would then follow with the UK Ironman to raise money for the appeal.

L'Etape du Tour
L'Etape du Tour is a mass participation cycle ride held over the exact route of one of the stages of the Tour de France. The 2006 Etape du Tour took place on Monday 10th July and followed the route of stage 15 of this year's Tour. The stage is an absolute classic Alpine stage that started in the town of Gap and climbed the monster passes of Col d’lzoard and Col du Lauteret enroute to the 21 hairpined corners climbing up to the famous ski station of L’Alpe d’Huez.

What happened...

I successfully completed L’Etape du Tour in a total elapsed time of 10 hours 38 minutes 32 seconds having burnt many more calories than one would use in back to back marathons..

It was absolutely the hardest thing I’ve ever done – particularly the 1000m+ final climb up to Alpe D’Huez after over 100 miles of riding that included the similarly debilitating but just not quite as brutal climbs of Izouard and Lauteret - in temperatures of up to 38 degrees. I understand that in the region of 3000 riders didn’t make the finish and that it was regarded as one of the toughest Etapes to date. I was absolutely staggered that my own fitness levels which I feel are getting pretty good, were really only just enough… A quarter of the way up Alpe D’Huez, I felt so sick that I was sure I wouldn’t make it..

It puts the fitness levels of the Tour riders into perspective too, in that they will complete this stage in a little over 5 hours - and do an almost equally tough stage the very next day - and the day after that etc..!

2006 UK Ironman
The Ironman is a truly fearsome event, that takes place in Sherborne, Dorset and involves the three disciplines of triathlon, but on an utterly daunting scale, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile marathon
all in a single day.

The event was an unforgettable experience and in spite of the discomfort, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Everyone who had even made it to the start line had put in a heroic performance just to get to that point – the event itself only the culmination of countless hours of grinding and relentless training.

As far as my own performance goes, I’m chuffed really. There were a few scary moments when my heart rate raced up at the high 170s and refused to come down in spite of freewheeling / walking. However, the body changes throughout and during the later stages of the run – due to eventual and inevitable dehydration – I couldn’t raise my heart rate above 135 no matter how hard I tried to run. My legs were just totally out of gas. In all, a real learning experience..

I do feel that if I could ever learn to run a little faster and more economically, I could take literally hours off my time. Perhaps next year… which is not something I would have said on Sunday afternoon..! Therein lies the drug…

Now it’s over, I’m not quite sure what comes next. I know that I’ve really loved the challenge of doing something that really was properly ambitious. I was a 16½ stone spectator at last year’s Ironman and a 12¾ stone finisher at this year’s. That’s been very good for my personal health and my regular stints in hospital in 2004 really do seem like another life - and body - altogether.

Along the way nearly five thousand pounds has been raised for the Q Trust - a supremely worthy and important cause - thanks to your support and generosity. I think that’s amazing.

Thank you

Hamish, on behalf of everyone at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign thank you for putting in so much effort to help us raise vital funds.

Return to The Q Trust page.