• LONG COVID TO LONG SKI
  • 90KM CROSS COUNTRY SKI
    FEBRUARY 2022
  • TO ADVENTURE
    A JOURNEY FROM ILLNESS
BEN'S BIG ADVENTURE

STARTS IN

VASSELOPPET 90KM

THE WORLD'S OLDEST LONG DISTANCE CROSS COUNTRY
SKI EVENT

KICKING LONG COVID'S BUTT

A year of recovery
A year of training
One epic challenge

BEN'S BIG ADVENTURE

ABOUT THE ADVENTURE

What is it?

A 90km cross country ski ultra

When is it?

27th February 2022

Why are you doing it?

To tackle something new and challenge myself in a new way. I believe that this is something that will help me recover from Long Covid and regain my fitness and my mojo.

What do you hope to get out of this?

Personal satisfaction and raising awareness of what Long Covid is and how it can affect people, as well as rediscovering the part of me that I feel got lost whle I was ill.

Why skiing, why not something you've done before?

I have always liked doing new things and although I did cross country skiing as a teenager, this will be the first time I will train to do it (and do it properly). I find that I focus better when I have a new experience to aim for and lack of focus is something that is not helped by Long Covid.

How are you going to manage this?

With a lot of hard work! I am starting out overweight and unfit and I am aware of getting older. I have support from my family and I am building a team around me to keep me motivated and lift me up when I need it.

Why now?

I caught covid in March 2020 and took 12 months to recover to the point where I could start training. It just so happens that the Vasseloppet in 2022 will be 24 months since cotracting COVID19, and 12 months since the beginning of my recovery which seems like a nice neat fit.

WHO?

ABOUT BEN

Work

Work has always been a big part of my identity and I am proud of my career.

I started off working as an office junior making coffee and doing photocopying and worked my way up to senior positions.

I have worked as a Business Analyst since 2010 and love working on projects with different companies and meeting new people.

The unfortunate thing about this is it ties me to a desk in front of a computer.

As well as this “Day Job” I also have 2 businesses that allow me to use my work skills and combine my passion of being outdoors in the hills or woods normally with a map.

My father and I run a timing company and specialise in timing ultra marathons and helping smaller races.

The other business is run with Nic and we organise our own races; I get to pore over maps and work out the most interesting places to send them.

Rest

When I get a chance to relax (which is not often as we have 4 kids) I love to read.

I grew up with dyslexia and was so lucky to be told the best way to learn english is to read, read and read some more. I love fantasy, science fiction and historical fiction (books with maps at the front).

As a family we try to go kayaking as often as we can and pootle about on the local loch. In 2018 I had a fantastic time kayaking in Sweden exploring the archipelago of Santa Anna.

As a child I loved lego and this is a love I took into adulthood. I am a firm believer that we should alway play.

PLAY

Peter Pan is right; we should never grow up!

Despite the demands of adulting I still think we need to “play” as much as possible for our own mental wellbeing.

In my life I have always leaned toward less mainstream sports or activities (you won't find me on a football pitch).

Growing up I participated in Orienteering, Sailing and windsurfing events. I zoomed around on rollerblades, I pinched my brothers unicycle and hung from the top of lampposts!!

As a grown up I have on occasion lost my sense of play and got stuck with adulting but I have always managed to find new ways to play.

In 2013 I found Obstacle racing which can be a great way to get in touch with the sense of play, there is nothing like getting stuck in the mud with friends to make you laugh.

Nowadays our family has taken up paddleboarding and kayaking as a way to have fun together. I love being on the water and spent a lovely summer in Sweden in Saint Anna archipelago kayaking between islands.

THE STRUGGLE

LONG COVID

What is Long Covid?

According to the NHS Long Covid is classed as "symptoms that last weeks or months after the infection has gone. This is sometimes called post-COVID-19 syndrome or "long COVID"." In reality it can mean that while the initial illness of Covid19 has gone, you end up with a bunch of new ones that can seriously hamper your life, leaving you depressed, anxious and unable to do anything!
Read more on the NHS website

Ben's experience with Long Covid

Ben believes he contracted COVID 19 early March 2020. He pushed through this illness for weeks to look after Nic, the new-born when she arrived and the three other children in the house, coping with home learning, trying to keep up with his work and with the added responsibilities of Nic’s usual tasks – grocery shopping, cooking etc and then he developed pneumonia. He basically never got better. And that's when the fatigue really set in... Here’s Ben talking about what his experience with Long Covid was like and what, looking back over the last 18 months, he’s learned about the condition, his body and adapting.
Read the full article

THE TEAM

ROGER HOMYER: SKI COACH

I coached at CBNSC then moved to coaching the GBR squad and teams from 2006-2014 including 4 Youth Olympic games, 4 World Junior Championships, a World University Games, and the 2011 World Championships in Oslo. I continue to coach through Highland Nordic and this includes World Junior skier James Slimon.

My time is now spent as a masters athlete for both athletics and cross country ski racing. My main focus is upon the World Masters Championships with the next event at Canmore in 2022. But my immediate focus is on the Scottish Masters Track 5000m athletics champs in a couple of weeks.

So running and skiing fill my days!

I really enjoy meeting people with an interest in sports so it was great to team up with Ben, to learn about his challenge, and to recognise a spirit that responds to challenge with a "can do" attitude. Ben has an approach that leads to success through his mindset....... "today I did what yesterday I knew I could not do".

NIC CROSSLEY: PERSONAL TRAINER

Nic is a Personal Trainer and Run Coach and qualified in 2013. She also goes by the handle Flabby Mummy - as she's a mum (of 4) on a mission to ditch the "mum-tum" and help others do the same.

Nic set up Crossley Fitness in 2013 in Derbyshire and has trained a wide variety of people looking for weight loss, to fitness for specific reasons, rehabilitation and more. Nic became a Run Coach in 2015 and then set up Crossley Runners to help both aspiring and existing runners improve their technique and prevent injury.

From 2015 to 2018 she ran fitness successful bootcamps in and around the Chesterfield area then relocated in 2018 to Perthshire and has been spending time setting up her fitness business (in the new location) since.

Nic is passionate about fitness and encouraging others to find the activity that ignites a flame within them - especially parents! She is extremely busy but always has time to pass on her knowledge of training, running and juggling life and exercise in one!

"I'm delighted to have this opportunity to train Ben and know he'll succeed!"

SARAH YOUNG: ROLLER SKI COACH

Sarah Young is the Snowsport Scotland Pathway Coach for Cross-country skiing and one of the coaches at the Fife Roller Ski Club.

She was introduced to cross-country skiing at a young age by her outdoor enthusiast parents and keenly pursued the opportunities the sport presented.

After racing in cross-country skiing throughout school and University, Sarah swapped her focus to volunteer coaching as she embarked on a career as an Environmental Consultant.

With the creation of the Pathway Coach role at Snowsport Scotland, Sarah jumped at the opportunity and

is now working with development athletes and promoting participation in cross-country skiing in Scotland full time.

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