Best of British South Pole: Manley's weekly missive

Hi All,

With a larger "ice team" and the commercial muscle of Catalyst now onboard, a "launch team meeting" of the new look Best of British South Pole Expedition at the Union Jack Club last Friday was an excellent meeting indeed. We will be saving the "big launch" to later - don't worry, you will be amongst the first to know!

There are 8 members in the "ice squad" now - a necessity to ensure stiff competition for places and a seamless integration of reserves right up to the last minute if needs be. Some truly inspiring characters - we spent some time listening to each other's reasons "why" and with a bit of a potted history thrown in!! It is an impressive cast of achievers, misfits, inspirers, adventurers and tough tough people! I commented at the time, that with this team there is nothing we can't do; we can take on the world! And we will!

Media interest is rising and the meetings with potential sponsors getting warmer all the time. It all feels good and looks good too. I have a feeling that a few "large" announcements are just around the corner!! Marvellous.

Charles Pedlar, our fitness man who runs the Centre for Health and Applied Sports Exercise, summed it up nicely on Friday. He reinforced the message that this is not just about "getting to the top" or "crossing something" - it is not about reaching a place , it is about performance and performance has only one measure - it will be great to get to the South Pole of course, but our publicly stated aim and our internal motivation is for that World Record - it is all about our performance!

Bring it on!

Speak soon

Hurrah

Manley