Borneo Bound with the B.B.C.
Rob / 07.08.2002
Gill Watson and Rob Priestley are off to Borneo soon with the BBC to find out if they are ‘Tough Enough for the S.A.S.’
The production team for the second series, which will be based around the jungle training and selection for the elite unit, particularly sought out adventure racers for the series. After the first series they felt racers would have the basic skills and fitness to do well and asked if we’d place a news item on SleepMonsters.com. This was probably because of Anna McCormack’s successful showing on the first series, and Ben Bardsley’s performance in the initial selection trials, though he was injured and never got the chance to take part.
When they held selection days to choose 24 new contestants Ben was back to try again, along with Gill and Rob. The test started at the Storey Arms at the bottom of PenYFan with a half hour written navigation test. Then came the more physical part. Carrying a 45lb Bergen (weighted with wet sand, so it just sat at the bottom of the pack) they were sent up the mountain to the top, where their Bergen’s were weighed to check they hadn\'t dropped any of the sand. (Anybody might think they were worried about cheating – but adventure racers would surely never do that!)
On a warm sunny day a second map reference took them down the other side, along the roman road to the next checkpoint, where (surprise, surprise), the final map reference sent them back up to the top, and down to the start point. There were a few people who didn\'t complete the course, but Ben was by far the quickest, and both Rob and Gill did well enough to get selection. Sadly, though Ben has missed out for a second time as he couldn’t get leave from work.
Rob and Gill will be leaving for Sarawak on September 22nd (it’s the rainy season there) but exactly what challenges they will face is top secret, and will be until the films are shown. So we’ll have to wait to find out how they got on as they won’t be allowed to tell us. That could be Gill’s toughest test of all!
