this is my happy place
A week ago today, I published this on Facebook –
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The Tough Mudder was epic. I’m still aching (slightly). But we’ve raised over £1200 for charity and, on top of that, one week later, I still can’t believe we did it.
The sense of achievement is palpable.
And I am happy.
Captain Obvious I know, but still…
I’ve got a full review percolating around my skull for this device (kindly lent to me by the guys at Nokia Connects) but if you’re a regular listener to my podcast, The Voicemail, you probably know where I’m at with it already.
But after spending a couple of days with the device and irrespective of how I feel about Windows Phone, you can’t deny how incredible the camera on the Lumia 1020 really is.
Taking it with me on my recent Tough Mudder meant we had some fantastic photos to share when we got back. Good work.
If the only thing you’re looking for in a phone is a decent camera, you simply can’t look any further than the Lumia 1020. Full stop.
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Kate Bevan’s piece on the Lumia 1020 in The Guardian is also worth a look.
“We came. We saw. We kicked its ass.”
Saturday, October 5th – my Ogilvy colleagues and I completed the Tough Mudder North West challenge. 12 miles. 25 obstacles. One amazing feat.
Back in May, I started working with Ogilvy & Mather London Advertising on the Expedia UK account. The team were awesome and welcomed me with open arms. However, as an official member, I was told that I would have to join them in their Tough Mudder.
Comedy moment in the office as the O&M bunch attempt to rope me into their Tough Mudder team for September. My response: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
— James Whatley (@Whatleydude) June 19, 2013
30mins later (after much heckling and also the clincher comment ‘James, it isn’t a race – it’s about TEAM BUILDING’ – I’m such a sucker for that stuff), this happened –
Comedy moment in the office as the O&M bunch manage to successfully coerce me into their Tough Mudder team for September. My response: ARGH!
— James Whatley (@Whatleydude) June 19, 2013
Turns out the best date we could all do it wasn’t in September after all. It was today. And guess what? We nailed it.
— Briony, me, Amelia, Harriet, Stephen and Joey —
There was blood. There was mud. There was euphoria. We climbed 12ft walls, we ran through electric cables, and we plunged ourselves into ice – and that is very much not even the half of it.
So far, we’ve raised just over £800 £1000(!) for Action on Bladder Cancer, the charity of choice of the Expedia UK marketing team, and there’s also (perhaps somewhat delirious) talk of making TM an annual Ogilvy event too – amazing.
If you’d like to sponsor me, or anyone else on my team, then you can do that on our dedicated sponsorship page (please do, even if it’s only a couple of quid it’d be appreciated).
I think I have a longer, more meandering post about how much of a personal achievement I feel this is (given that I only started running back in January), but that can wait for another day.
In the meantime, I’m headed home for a very long bath and while I do that, you’re going to sponsor me, right?
UPDATE: Photos now up on Flickr.