Mad Monk;- 10k Run / Swim / Assault Course

The Mad Monk a gruelling 10k trail run with obstacles, featuring the “New” assault course, “New” cargo net climb and “New” balance zone. Old favourites will include the mud bank, tunnels, hurdles and the infamous river crossing....! Check out our new website X-Runner
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Mens Fitness : Wild Thing No1 for 2011

MF's pick of 2011 adventure races

Get your leg over

Wild Thing, I think I love you: running through chest-deep bogs is a great way to while away a boring Sunday.
Check out our new website X-Runner

Wild Thing aaa adventure challenge

25th September 2011

Brailsford, Derbyshire

It’s part 10K trail run, part swim on a course punctuated by gruelling obstacles including scramble nets, tunnels, hurdles and the ominous-sounding Swamp of Doom. 

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Another Day in Paradise, Africa, Uganda....

In November 2010 aaa-adventure travelled to The White Nile, Uganda, here is a typical day...

Another day in Paradise...

Each morning I wake to the sound of the river Nile. The river is about fifty feet below my tent, I can hear the water crashing over the first major rapid, Bugugalli Falls, I unzip my tent and look outside to see the morning mist rising above the river and the sun just starting to creep over the hills to the east, a few light wispy clouds in the sky. There are monkeys climbing in the trees and African fish eagles circling overhead. The climate is almost perfect, we are on the equator but at altitude, so the heat is comfortable, another day in paradise!

My tent is home for the next few weeks, its great, not the sort of tent you would use in England, its more like an army tent, made of thick heavy canvas. It has a nice comfy bed, table, chairs, electricity (sometimes) and a balcony that looks through the trees onto the river.

There is just time for a quick shower before we board the lorry to work, to the Nile River Explorers (NRE). Its an open lorry with seats for about thirty people, it has a roof and plastic side curtains. The days clients are loaded up and its off to the NRE base on the outskirts of a small town called Jinja.

The journey takes us along muddy roads, all roads are made of mud here, its a deep vibrant red, almost terracotta and it gets everywhere! The trip takes about twenty minutes, we pass what seems like hundreds of little mud and brick huts along the route. The local Africans are very poor, they live a basic existence. This is definitely third world and still controlled by the white man (Mizungo). For the local villages there is no electricity, no tv, no running water, just the bare essentials. Each village will keep a few chickens, maybe even the odd cow tethered at the side of the road and grow crops to eat, thats it!

Despite the poverty everyone seems really happy, no stress about the next mortgage payment and the pressures of western life, I guess! Their clothes are all amazingly clean, despite being surrounded by and living in red mud! Everyone has happy smiling faces and they wave frantically as the white people on the lorry pass by.

There seem to be thousands of little children everywhere, they run out as the lorry passes, waving! They all do the same funny little wave, arm straight out in front of them with their hand up, as if to say stop, but their hand is rotating at the wrist, waving! Big smiling faces and shouting, almost screaming JUMBO JUMBO JUMBO, HELLO!

After a very bouncy journey we arrive at the Nile River Explores, and time for a quick breakfast. Breakfast consists of tea, coffee, boiled eggs, chapattis, mellon and bananas. The bananas are amazing, they are tiny, about 5cm long and taste delicious, sweet and yummy. After breakfast its a quick safety brief for the clients and load up the lorry. The lorry’s now have trailers with rafts piled four or five high and another five safety kayaks on top.

The journey to the river takes another fifteen minutes, we go on one of the only tarmac roads, over the Nile hydro electric dam. The dam blocks the northern end of lake Victoria, the largest tropical lake in the world. This is the starting point of the river Nile, if flows out of lake Victorias northern end, bang on the equator and into what is known as deepest darkest Africa. The river then continues north for 6500 kilometres, through Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt before it reaches the Mediterranean. The water takes four months to reach the sea and ninety percent will have evaporated along the journey!

Again we pass hundreds of little mud huts, by this time the children are all heading to school, dressed in their clean, bright pink uniforms, again all waving and shouting JUMBO, JUMBO, JUMBO. We head down a steep muddy track to the get in point for the days rafting. Kayaks and rafts are unloaded along with medical kit, water, food, spare paddles, pump and lots of sun screen.

Its then onto the river, its unfathomably huge and powerful. To put it into perspective the river Derwent has a water flow of around 6 cubic meters per second! The Nile today is around 1000 cubic meters per second, it can be up to 3000, its massive! The river is around half a kilometre wide here, fairly flat but you can already sense its immense power.

The river starts off fairly gentle for the first few kilometres, this is a great opportunity for the clients to practice their technique and safety drills. Basic paddling, forward and backwards, getting down and holding on tight for when we hit BIG water. Then the all important flip drill, for when the raft turns upside down and everyone falls into the river, guide included, oops!. This is inevitable at some point, almost expected!

I should explain the white water grading system, rapids are graded from one to six, one being almost flat, six being you will probably die! Grade five is the highest grade that can be commercially rafted, the stretch of the Nile we will run today is thirty kilometres long and has seven grade five rapids plus a few slightly, easier sections!

The river gently meanders along for a few more kilometres and we pass through a couple of small grade 2 rapids, this is a great opportunity for the clients to jump in the river and practice their white water swimming before it gets serious!

After about half an hour we reach the first set of major rapids, Rib Cage and Bujagali Falls grade 4 and 5. Rib cage is a technical shallow section that you definitely do not want to fall out on, lots of rocks! We make sure all the clients are down on the floor and take a safe line close to the right river bank.

Bujagali falls is the first time the river really shows its power and the first grade 5 rapid. As you approach you hear the formidable roar of the water, you then see the mist above the horizon line as the river disappears over a 20ft almost vertical drop. The raft plummets over the edge into a powerful wave that can and regularly does flips rafts. Bujagali is a real taste of what the river has in store?

Having survived Bujagali the river continues to casually wind its way along, there are a few small rapids before you reach Fifty Fifty, grade 4. So called because there is a fifty percent chance you will fall out, ha!

Next its the BIG ONE, Silver Back.... The most amazing stretch of water I have ever experienced. Its awesome power is mind boggling, the entire force of the Nile is poured through two narrow canyons. Silver Back is the left hand channel, you can hear its thunderous roar a mile away. The main rapid is about two hundred meters long and consists of four massive waves. If you fall out on the first wave you are in big trouble. The immense power and water hydraulics will toss you like a rag doll, expect to spend a long time underwater, its black and dark down there (so I am told)! Having successfully negotiated the first wave, number two and three toss the boat into the air and back down again, all you then need to worry about is wave number four, BANG.....

We continue through a couple of smaller rapids until its time for a floating lunch, fresh pineapple biscuits and water and time to take in the local wildlife.

Most of the larger animals have been killed by the locals in this area. Its difficult to appreciate as a westerner but if you lived by the river and Hippo's ate the crops your family needed to survive or even worse crocodiles ate your children, you would probably have a different outlook! For this reason the few surviving animals have learnt to avoid human contact and are difficult to spot. Local fishermen say they have seen large crocodiles on the afternoon section of the river but none of the raft guides can confirm this. The crocs are probably in the quiet side channels that are seldom visited by humans, as a precaution we don’t allow swimming in the afternoon!

You will regularly see otters and large Nile water monitors (lizards), they grow up to two meters long. They bask in the midday sunshine and have bright yellow flecks along either side and can swim incredibly fast. There are hundreds of different birds, eagles and vultures. One of the strangest is the snake bird, all you can see in the water is its long wobbly snake like neck, it has a long sharp beak, which it uses to spear fish!

The afternoon white water includes rapids such as Overtime, Retrospect, Chop Suey, Bobogo and the Dead Dutchman...! The final rapid of the day is called Itunda falls, its a grade 6 so we get out and walk around the first part. There are porters who carry the rafts and supplies to the lower section of the rapid where we get back in! Its a formidable place, the shear size and power of the water is terrifying, the noise is deafening! This is where a few clients decide enough is enough and just stand and watch from the river bank!

For those intrepid soles who are still brave or foolish enough its back on the water for the lower section of Itunda. There are two lines down the rapid, river right (chicken line) or for those brave enough you paddle out into the main flow of the river, hopefully avoiding the BAD PLACE....

As a guide you need to decide wether your crew are strong enough to paddle into the main flow and if they will be able to hold it together under pressure, you can ofter hear people crying mummy mummy, help me! Your crew need to paddle hard enough to avoid the BAD PLACE, so called because it has little respect for rafts and people and will break both without a second thought.

Having avoided the BAD PLACE it almost inevitable that the raft will be taken into the OTHER PLACE... A huge curling wave that is almost guaranteed to surf and flip the raft upside down. Luckily this rapid ends in a big pool, where the safety kayakers can pick up the pieces!

Time for a quick head count to see how many people we have lost. We then walk up a mud track, past a small village of mud huts to find the lorry waiting with cold water. The lorry is loaded and its a forty five minute drive through open country side back to the camp, cold beer and a BBQ...

Camp is a beautiful place, it faces south and sits amongst enormous trees high above the the river. You can see the sun rise and set and watch the colours change as the light glistens off the water below. There is a small beach and you can often hear people swimming and splashing about in the river. There are open showers that look over the river, the inevitable bar that plays music into the small hours, a bistro and internet that is transmitted by smoke signals and jungle drums Zzzzzz.

It usually rains at about 5pm each day, its very localised but can be torrential, the rain is accompanied with loud banging thunder and flashes of lightning, everyone runs for shelter, it usually only last for 30 minutes as the sun briefly emerges before sunset!

As dusk falls the insects, grass hoppers, beetles, frogs, monkeys, bats, mango flies, mosquitoes and every sort of creepy crawly imaginable all come to life in a deafening chorus. They maintain their conversations until daylight, I have no idea what they are talking about but it must be important as they all fight to be herd above one another! I made a recording of this because when I get back to the UK I know I wont be able to sleep without it....

Time to snuggle down in my silk sleeping bag liner, without doubt the most important thing I brought with me. It can be rolled up in the day, and unfolded at night, that way I know there are no nasty creepy crawly's hiding inside, sweet dreamZzzzz.

Another day in Paradise....

By Steve Walker

aaa-adventure

Hydro Electric Dam threatens Lake Victoria and parts of the sacred White Nile....

Elephants, Hippos and White Water from Vimeo.
aaa-adventure travels to Uganda to investigate!


Lake Victoria, the world’s largest tropical lake is under threat and the construction of the Bujangali Dam will destroy parts of the sacred White Nile in Uganda. 
The Bujagali Dam would permanently displace 820 people, and affect an additional 6,000.  The project will permanently submerge highly productive agricultural land as well as islands supporting valuable natural habitats.
A consortium to construct the dam is assisted by the United Sates and has estimated costs for the dam and power plant of approximately US$800 million and will open in 2011. They say an acute electricity crisis is impacting the livelihoods of millions of Ugandans and threatens the country’s development. Hospitals, schools, businesses, and residences suffer daily power shortages. 

White Water Rafting - Southern Alps - June 2010

aaa-adventure travel to the French Alps for Level 3 Raft Guide Training - Rivers include;- the Durance, Guil and the Ubaye Race Course a true alpine classic with powerfull grade 4 rapids, a natural flowing river in a beautiful valley, awesome...!

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aaa-adventure-challenge 2010 Darley Abbey Images

White Water Rafting - Dry Flip

New for 2010, 85ft Mud Bank Climb;-

Mud Bank Climb;- The mud bank is 85ft high, Don't Look Down....! First you will have to negotiate a 12ft "A-Frame Ladder, you will then be faced with an 85ft climb, your assent will be aided by ropes! This will be a test of your upper body strength and a test of skill and agility.... A full safety brief will be given to explain correct teqnique..!

Only 150 places left... Book Now and save 10%..

1http://www.aaa-adventure.co.uk/

Early Bird Discount: Register Before 28th Feb and Save £6.00 - Teams of four receive an additional £10.00 Discount

aaa adventure challenge, Sunday 16th May 2010, 10K Run, military obstacle cource, mud bank scramble and river crossing! you will get wet, you will get muddy, you may hit the wall, you will be going up but what goes up must come down, you will get wet again...

Customised Training Plans

If you've signed up for the aaa-adventure-challenge, or your thinking about entering a running event ,why not be fully prepared? Realise your fitness goals with a personalised training plan tailored and designed to suit your athletic ability, from beginners to advanced.

 

You'll be able to log and follow your cardio and strength training workouts, monitor your vital statistics, while also being able to track and view the routes you run.

Simply put, it assists you to make training easy while becoming a better athlete.

Available to you are 4 to 8 week training plans: from only £6 to £15. In a variety of disciplines from strength and core training to a 10k run and if you really want to challenge yourself why not get started with our marathon distance training plan.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR TRAINING PLAN AND START TODAY!

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE aaa-adventure-challenge!

Good luck with your training.

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The aaa-adventure challenge is set to return in 2010, the event will be harder, longer and tougher...! Don't miss what promises to be the event of the year.......!

Along the 10k route there will be various tasks for you to undertake, including;- the military obstacle course, mud bank scramble and the infamous river crossing....!

The second aaa-adventure challenge will be held on Sunday 16th May 2010 in the World Heritage village of Darley Abbey, Derbyshire.

This will be an adrenalin fuelled 10k running event, with obstacles and challenges designed to take you out of your comfort zone….

Places are limited so book now to avoid disappointment...

All abilities are welcome....

Run as an individual or Team of Four and enjoy, the pain, the burn, the camaraderie of the route....

The adventure course will be a challenge to both your mental and physical abilities…..

Train hard, front up and come and tackle the infamous adventure course............

Area: Darley Abbey Park, Derby, DE22 1EB
When: Sunday 16th May 2010
Disciplines: Trail Run, Swim, Mud Bank, Obstacle Course...
Distance: 10 km (6.214 miles)

Places: Places are limited so Book Now to avoid disappointment..!