awesome Friday #1

We thought it would be nice to round off each week with some awesomeness. Something you can share with your friends or talk about over lunch or even better in the pub after work, maybe mention it to that stranger you are stood next to on the tube or whilst waiting for the number 36 bus to New Cross.  Hopefully you'll be left thinking "that was awesome" well at least we hope you will...

a jaunt through the city

On Monday morning, Ben H and I ran to work.

10 kilometres to be precise.

We started at St. Paul's. We gave the Queen a wave at Buckingham Palace. We blazed along with the wind in our hair and nothing to stop us - aside from 200 traffic lights, London's entire workforce on foot, and a scenic loo break two thirds in when Ben got caught short.

Our one man technological guru, Kamal, accompanied us by bike to record the whole thing and update the whole office live as it happened.

Why did we do this?

We did it because 10km is the distance that people in the village of Ajiek in Sudan used to have to walk, every day, to get to a borehole for the water that they needed to live. And whilst we chugged along the Strand, struggling with the weight of the Oyster cards in our pockets (unused, might it be noted), these formidable ladies used to carry up to 21 litres of water for the 10km walk back. 

For those who aren't sure how heavy 21 litres is, here's a pictorial representation:

Ben and I ran in to celebrate the fact that this is no longer the case for these ladies. 

Working alongside an incredible NGO called FARM Africa, our innocent foundation has funded the development of a borehole in the village. 

This means these women now have an extra 6 hours every day to sell their crops and generate a secure income for their families. 

Their children no longer have to stay at home alone waiting for food to be cooked on Mum's return, and they are now able to wash more than once every 10 days because there is sufficient water to do so. 

In simple maths, water = the ability to make life changing choices.

Here's the little video that Kamal made about our adventure:

A massive thank you to FARM Africa. 

And a huge thank you to all of you who have bought our bottles, cartons, pots and wedges over the years. 

In doing so, you've been a part of changing people's lives.

corned beef & smoothies

We were very amused to find a reference to our smoothies in The Guardian's over by over report of the England v Bangladesh cricket match on Saturday. 

 

It seems the reporter popped out for some corned beef, as you do in the middle of a test match, and came back with a smoothie.

 

No such joy in their live coverage of that football game though.
 
 

england's world cup starting 11 revealed

We don't think the papers have got hold of this yet, but we have it on good authority that Capello and Baldini nipped into the boys toilets at Fruit Towers and chalked up the team on our blackboard...

  

Controversially, they've gone for Albert (or Tom) Finney ahead of Ashley Cole, and it's good to see Yoda back in the starting line up after a long lay off. Bullard will always give you 160% in the engine room, and Tuffers is set to form a strong right hand side, with the Dark Knight himself in front of him. And those centre backs...no-one's going to get past those two.

You can compare this with the sparse team selection of a couple of months ago to see how much thinking has changed in a relatively short space of time.

Come on England.

join the debate

 

football was the winner

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet the Goldfork Toads, innocent's very own all-conquering five-a-side team.

They won the cup (pictured in Ed's hands, above) and the story goes like this:

"Last night innocent’s own Goldfork Toads footy team won the league. A freak set of results, involving fete helpers Sister Sledge actually winning a game, conspired to hand the mighty Toads the cup after they themselves smashed their opposition 8-2.

The dramatic finale was a fitting close to a season where the Toads had scored a total of 75 goals and finished with the highest goal difference in all of Chiswick. There were highs and lows, lefts and rights but despite Ops Matkinson’s fabled touch in front of goal, Oli utilising his kick boxing skills, Andrew W top scoring while the keeper, Giles C getting sent off in nearly every game, Jim (aka Tony Yeboah) going on holiday for most of the season and Ed G returning 1 goal in 10 games the toads fell out on top.

The trophy was presented by Greg, the guy who collects the money at the end of the match. The winning keeper Andrew W said ‘I can’t remember the last time a saw a trophy that big, pet’. Greg followed with ‘never before have a side been so happy to win the Chiswick 5-a-side league division 3 title. It’s concerning’. "

Now that, I'm sure you'll all agree, is what sport is all about.

fancy doing a duathlon?

Our Fordy is part of a committee organising a duathlon. Fancy joining in? As you can see above, duathlons are a great way of combinbing luminous running shoes with more sombre tones of Lycra, and generally getting fit and looking super hot, as Fordy does above. This is what Fordy says:

"Can you run and ride a bike? (one after the other rather than at the same time)? If your answer is mostly yes then I may have the answer for you:

The inaugural Ful On Dualthon - Saturday 26th April 2008.

It's happening on a test track so there will be no cars to hamper your style. And there's an option of 2 distances:

Standard: 5k run  / 20k bike  / 5k run  OR
Sprint: 2.5k run  / 10k bike  / 2.5k run

Online entry with a bargain price of £22. It's a great first race and you don’t need a super whizzy bike (pretty much anything that works will do). Hope to see you on the start line.

Yours in Lycra

Fordy"

folf professionals

Folf is a new sport, a bit like golf but played with a foam ball.

Brian lines up a shot

It is traditionally played in Mountjoy Square in Dublin, by two men called Brian and Peter.

Claire grabs the ball

But play has been suspended after Claire got in the way of an important folf tournament and ended up with a black eye. Ouch.

on your bike

This is Ben. Ben works for Cycle Training UK, who teach people how to use their bikes safely and cycle with confidence on the roads. And if you live or work in London, quite a few local authorities subsidise the training. Which means it's free.

Seeing as that cycling proficiency test was probably a while ago now and the playground you did it in lacked speeding cars and buses, it's a great way to improve your cycling technique and gain some confidence on the roads.

You get 4 hours of one-to-one tuition, during which you learn all about assertive road positioning and how to slow down traffic with your eyes. Your instructor will also teach you how to use your gears properly, check if your bike is roadworthy and will even accompany you on your ride to work to make sure your route is as safe and swift as possible.

Plus if you're good, they'll give you a shiny set of badges to prove your roadworthiness.

This sort of scheme is available in towns and cities up and down the country. So why not have a look on your local council website to see if you can get some free training and a set of posh new badges to impress your mum.

Back in '89, it was Cycling Proficiency. Now they're calling it Bikeability. How times change.

what mad people do

At 6am BST on Monday 16th July, some fit/insane people will attempt to complete l’Étape du Tour. It's a stage of the Tour de France that anyone can apply to race in, but it isn't one of those flat stages where everyone pedals along in a nice happy peloton, swigging red wine and eating Camembert. No, it's more like one of those spiky stages where you have to pedal up mountains, then fly down the other side, then grunt your way up another incline, etc.

All in all, there are five big climbs, including one that lasts for 19.2km (ouch), so we doff our caps to our friend Paul, who is broadcasting his attempts to complete the stage at www.etapecycle.co.uk

On Monday itself, his site will have a link to Google Earth so that you can fly the route that he's done, and cyclist's-eye photos taken from the handlebars updated live every five minutes, so if you fancy doing the Étape from the comfort of your desk, follow Paul's progress. And if you find yourself in a giving mood, sponsor Paul to the tune of a few quid right here - he's pedalling in aid of The Grove Hospice in St. Albans.