Land Rover G4 Challenge International Selection
RAF Doctor with a Taste for Adventure
Rob Howard / 27.01.2006
RAF Doctor and sports and adventure fanatic Andy Grieve based at Frimley Park Hospital, was the third competitor to successfully complete the National Selections process and is now facing the prospect of going head to head with competitors from around the world at the G4 Challenge International Selections at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire.Andy said: "The G4 National Selections were pretty tough from the start. The only clue we were given as to the events location was a grid reference and a time. If we stepped outside those times we would have been automatically disqualified before even starting.
"I scoped out the 50-odd hopefuls as we sat around at the Land Rover test track at Solihull waiting for a hint of what was going to happen. Most of the folk looked bloody fit - adventure race types, climbers, fell runners etc. Me being a bit of a bloater knew I had my work cut out. Then they told us that the 50 of us would be reduced by half in 8 hours time! Then the video came on.
"It was a 5 minute taster video taken by the recce teams across Thailand, Laos, Brazil and Bolivia. It blew my mind and that was enough to get the adrenaline pumping. Starting off on biking was tough as the ground was frozen solid with ice blocks in the ruts, fortunately the navigation followed which I loved."
Taking part in a variety of tasks at the National Selections Andy completed gruelling mountain biking; kayaking and climbing based events alongside challenges requiring the peak of his mental powers. At the end of the first day the field of 48 was unceremoniously cut to 24.
"Making the cut surprised me. I knew I had done alright on most of the events but only had done really well on the navigation and the driving. Growing up on a mate's farm in Devon taught me lots about off-roading in various vehicles." The sad thing about the cut was leaving behind my long suffering partner, Tis, an experienced climbing instructor."
"Those who made the cut were all pretty stoked as we chatted round the fire on the Saturday night before the evening's entertainments started. More running, biking, navigation, night driving and initiative skills before falling exhausted into my tent just gone midnight. I'm used to being woken in the early hours to go off and do some horrible task from my time in the Army; but nothing was to prepare me for the cold and wet at 0430 for the team task of recovering a Defender from a frozen, swollen river."See All Event Posts
