As many of you will already be aware, last weekend a group of six Berkeleyites, myself included, took part in the 2008 Commando Challenge. You may wonder why a blog wasn’t posted about this yesterday but we’re only just beginning to regain mobility after taking a serious battering at the hands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines!

After a somewhat staggered arrival at the quaint Devonshire B&B on Saturday night, and experiencing the warm hospitality (said in an extremely sarcastic manner) of the local watering hole, Team Berkeley settled down for a good night’s sleep.  As most of the team tucked into a hearty breakfast of bacon sandwiches and scrambled eggs on toast, I pulled out my sachets of porridge and smugly made my way to the microwave. It’s safe to say the smugness was short lived – battling my way through a mountain of cold, lumpy porridge at ten past daft in the morning wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had.

On arrival at Bicton Arena the cold, harsh reality of the situation began to sink in, an eerie silence fell and, I’m ashamed to say, there was even talk of creeping off to the nearest pub for a ploughman’s and a pint – a much more civilised way to spend a Sunday, many would agree!  Following the safety brief and a very amusing warm up session with an extremely energetic marine, it was off to the starting blocks. As the countdown to our departure began, spirits were high and t-shirts gleaming in the style of a Vanish Oxy Action advert.

Having signed up for the Commando Challenge without applying much thought to it some five months ago, and only actually introducing exercise into my life in the last three, to describe my state of mind at this point as terrified wouldn’t be an overstatement. The first two miles, which I still maintain must have really been at least three, were mainly uphill, very uneven and covered in cow pat! As Team Berkeley ran two by two we were met with 11 separate jeers (yes, we counted!) from competitors returning from the obstacle course, in multiple shades of brown, along the lines of “those t-shirts won’t stay white for long”.

The first obstacle was a tunnel, which we all managed quite easily. The next was the river crossing. It was cold, slightly smelly and the perfect photo opportunity so without much convincing from the official photographer, the whole team (bar Jim, who didn’t want to get his hair wet without his trusty GHDs to hand!) ducked under – very refreshing!

The smartie tubes, numerous other rivers, tunnels and the dreaded sheep dip followed, before the home run began – where adrenalin was pumping to the extent that Team Berkeley began an army style sing song.

OK, the Citigate girls beat us to the finish line but what impressed me the most was how well we worked through the scary moments as a team – encouraging each other through the tough bits, going at the speed of the slowest member, which was me and being genuinely elated as we passed the finish line together. It definitely was a bonding experience and just shows what you can achieve if you push yourself outside of your comfort zone.

In addition to raising almost £500 for Devon Air Ambulance and Help for Heroes, many of us have caught the fitness bug and are already planning the next year’s Commando Challenge. Huge thanks to everyone who sponsored us.

Berkeley PR: challenging perceptions of the PR industry one sheep dip at a time!  Check out some of the pictures here.

Bethan Wadeson