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Well, I have finally managed to "try" and explain what an awesome experience this was. I say, "try", because I still don't think I will be able to convey the true feeling of finishing this challenge.

For a quick background. CSFB have been doing channel swims for a few years, where apart from the swim, raising money for charity is the ultimate goal. In 2005, they however came up with an idea to do the EnduroChallenge as a relay, and invited Morgan Stanley to join them in the challenge. So run to Dover (87miles), swim the channel (29miles) and then cycle from Calais to Paris (180miles).

I remember when the email first went out to the entire firm, asking who was keen. I thought, "what is so hard about this", especially if we are only doing an hour each at a time. Then at the first meeting, they said the 2 words that have haunted me since, "no wetsuits" ! The group went from about 50 to about 20 after that initial discussion.

The big factor, and we all knew it, was the swim. The cold water can wreak havoc with even the hardened athlete. So a squad of 8 was selected, and headed to Dover for a few weekends to get used to the cold water. I'll give you some insight into what happens in Dover. At any one time there are people training for individual crossings, other relay teams as well, and then people that just sit and watch. You swim between two walls, which must be about 2km apart. We decided to do 20mins at first, then have an hour break and do 20mins again. Some of the team had been down before, so when they got out of the car with sleeping bags, blankets, flasks etc, I should've known !! It was like they were off for a North Pole expedition, not a swim in the sea !

When you finally have got to the water's edge after cursing the bloody stones, you get to dip the feet in the cold water. It was at that moment I realised, oh crap, I'm in sh*t here ! After 10mins of swimming, I physically started shaking/shivering....I wasn't warming up. After 20mins, blue in the lips, I exited the water, and headed straight for my towel and clothes. I couldn't even dry myself. Even James (from Cape Town) expressed that it "was f***** freezing". I honestly didn't think I would ever get feeling back in my limbs, and that's why the second 20mins was a little easier,....only because I was still half-numb ! What a way to spend a Saturday !! And the most embarrassing part,....as I was walking in for my second swim, an old women in her sixties walked out the water and said "That 4hrs wasn't too bad" !! So this carried on for about 4 weekends, gradually increasing the time to 60mins per swim. I was only able to make it to the last 2 sessions, by which time I was also taking thermal gear with me.

Final Team:

• Keeto
• James - Saffa triathlete from Cape Town. Nickname "Jimmy the fish" and now we all know why. Man, can he swim, 5km in his last hour leg. Watch him at Ironman Austria next year.
• Steff - crazy German, who was able to keep the entire group entertained with his David Hasselhoff impersonations. Last man standing at the after party.
• Ben - a quiet englishman, who literally blew the cycle leg to bits by flying around tight hairpins at 10pm. On his swim leg, he had a 500ft barge in front of him. He did not feel the cold in the Channel. A week after EnduroChallenge, cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats.
• Rachel - in her first season of triathlon was an inspiration to us all with her non-stop guts through the channel swim. Then time-trialled on her bike up some of the steepest climbs in France. Beware of her in 2006.
• Luke - an Irishman, with a wicked sense of humour. Between him and Steff, the bus was never short of laughs. Another strong swimmer who ended up swimming the last leg and "body surfing" onto beach in France.

Support Crew:

• Ami and Louise were responsible for everything from kit, accommodation, visa's, nutrition and making sure we knew the route. We would never have got to Greenwich Park, let alone France without them.
• Rob - He was the driver of the minibus, having to navigate his way through a foreign country at night with a cyclist time trialling just behind him.
• Tim - a mad and hyperactive Welshmen. He was our support cyclist for the run and on the support boat for the swim. Always shouting encouragement and urging us on, this carried on into the after party drinking aswell. I think he was fed too much sugar as a child. Also will be on the triathlon circuit next year, you will hear him.
• Lucy - massage therapist, who helped with everything else aswell. Trying to rub legs at 2am in the morning in a minibus full of guys is not what they told her she would be doing when she qualified.
• Eddie Ette - the man who has done this event solo (81hrs), and our race referee. He made sure we changed every 60mins and adhered to the strict safety rules, well sort of, if you don't count Steff running through the middle of a traffic circle into oncoming traffic !!

So in the final week we had a few last minute meetings with CSFB to iron out some rules and logistical questions. Rules stated that we did 60mins shifts, but had 5mins leeway either side for safety reasons. So if on a carriageway and there was nowhere to changeover, the athlete would continue until safe to do so. On Wednesday afternoon, we were told there was a 95% chance we would head off on Friday am for the run, so swimming early Saturday morning. The next thing we had to sort out was the run and swim order. The rules stated that the cycle leg was determined by the amount of time each athlete has done on the run and swim. So the person who had done the least amount of time in the swim and run, would cycle first etc. This was deemed fair so that you couldn't "carry" athletes. Also, the start was in Canary Wharf, and because of safety precautions, the first runners would run together to Greenwich Park. So this first section was deemed a "neutral" zone, but counted towards the first hour.

We decided to go with our strongest runner, using the first 30mins as warmup and then running hell-for-leather for the next 30mins. CSFB decided to use their weakest runner, on the premise that we couldn't take too much time out of her. Time would tell!

After the compulsory media obligations at the start, I was left at Canary Wharf with Fiona (CSFB) and Eddie Ette (organiser and referee of EnduroMan). We would wait until the support vehicles were in Greenwich Park and then start. Eddie would be running with us, to make sure we ran together. I had a plan,...I was going to make sure that by the time I got to Greenwich Park, I was warm and ready to run a 30min time-trial. I had no idea how the legs would react after IMUK 5 days earlier.