The list of links at the bottom right of my website has been slowly growing over the past few months as I’ve met more interesting and like-minded people. I thought I’d take this opportunity to introduce some of them to you more formally:
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Escape the City – escthecity.com/blog
This new site is fast becoming one of my favourites on the world wide web. If you’ve ever stared at your computer screen somewhere between the hours of 9 and 5, and thought to yourself: “Is this really what I want to do with my life?” then this is the place for you.
I met the guys who run it at one of their monthly Esc Wednesdays and am now a devoted fan. My mate Rob Cousins features as one of their Esc Heroes (as does this guy).
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Totally Sporty – www.totallysporty.com
I met Doug for a flavoursome blackcurrant tea at Costa Coffee recently (I particularly like the fact that it’s served in a glass so everyone can see my bright pink beverage).
What I liked most about our meeting was that, despite having little in common between our two sites (his is all about helping Londoners get into sports, find clubs and meet people to train/play with) – we’ve been going through very similar processes. He started off working on his idea in his spare time then eventually gave up his job and his now dedicating himself to developing it.
We’ve both been putting a lot of time into improving our sites, networking (horrible word) and promoting what we do. As you’ll see, however, he is some way ahead of me.
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What’s Your Challenge? – www.whatsyourchallenge.org
This website has the second best name in the industry.
It’s a one-stop-shop for people looking to try adventure race-type challenges – triathlons, desert marathons, charity runs and so forth. Similar in concept to Totally Sporty in its focus on physical activity and community, but with a focus on challenge events.
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Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition – www.kasperskycommonwealthexpedition.com
This site is about to get exciting. As I type, 8 women from different Commonwealth Countries are making their final preparations in Chile before boarding a flight to Antarctica and skiing to the South Pole.
As it happens, I’m now maintaining the site although I didn’t design it (these guys did) and I certainly can’t take credit for its news. Irregardless, the blog entries should start hotting up as the expedition gets underway (and we get an RSS Feed sorted out).
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Egg & Spoon Race – www.eggandspoonrace.com
Wow! Who came up with this great idea?
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Michael Halls-Moore – MichaelHallsMoore.com
Old friend, new website. Sickening how his page was built from scratch, looks 10x better than mine and was no doubt made in a quarter of the time. Check out his Projects page.
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Outdoor Swimming Society – www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com
The tone of this site reflects beautifully the ethos of swimming in the open air.
I’ve recently become a fan and advocate of getting wet outdoors. I learned to swim front crawl last year when I swam the Solent but that was all about mileage and nothing to do with fun. Since then, I’ve hardly done any pool training but I have crossed a fjord in the Arctic, floated a couple of miles down stream in the Thames, skinny dipped in Swedish, made brief but bold forays into my local pond and done a month’s washing in glacial melt water. It’s weird, it’s wonderful and it’s all a little bit subversive, but above all, it’ll put a smile on your face.
Even more recently I’ve become a member of the OSS (it’s free and there’s a big push this weekend) and hope to get more involved. Their next event is the Plum Pudding Plunge on Saturday 5th December. (Don’t stay too late though, you don’t want to wear yourself out for the next day’s activities).
