First Ascent

Source2Sea 2010 - The result!!

2010-09-20T22:09:00.003+01:00

So with the challenges complete, miles of terrain traversed and rivers paddled - the teams lined up in the sunshine on Mudeford's charming beach to find out the winner of Source2Sea 2010!

The winning team, with an incredible total of 2156 and one of the most consistent performances over the 3 days is Team Procurement. An impressive achievement from a team who had to use their skills to 'procure' their way out of losing original team members, and although received some fantastic support from guest members also had to manage the situation brilliantly to get the best out of that support. The organisers and coaches witnessed a team with clear objectives, good communication and great cross-functional working, not to mention the ability to integrate team members at every stage to maximum effect!

"Starting with a bunch of individuals we turned into a team - we agreed a plan and stuck to it, and everyone played to their strengths. We built up trust and empowered team members which resulted in a truly committed team who delivered 100% at every stage."

Runners-up with a particularly remarkable final stage, were CI Method with 2067 points - on their strong finish, the team commented "We learned from our early mistakes, got organised and stuck to our plan. The whole event has exceeded our expectations and been a real learning experience which will be of great benefit back in the workplace."

After much deliberation and with really strong contenders in the running for the special Coach Award for contribution to Team Development, the trophy was awarded to team Royal Mail who made huge strides forward after a disastorous start. Led by their coach, their courageous conversations facilitated honest and open discussions among the team and enabled them to get themselves sorted, organised and motivated to work together. "Although we really finished on a high, the first night was the most significant moment of the whole event and we all learned so much - everyone's attitude through the low's is what kept us going and spurred us on to a credible 6th place finish!"

Congratulations to all teams who took part in this year's event - the final results were:

Make sure you return to the blog for photo's and post-event comments which are coming soon!!

Source2Sea 2010 - The Journey (final stage)

2010-09-20T12:13:00.000+01:00

Stage 8 - 1 1/2 hours of gruelling physical and mental activity, with teams split between kayaking, trekking and the support vehicle all with the aim of coordinating each other to check points, collecting points, and arriving at the finish line together in order to gain a maximum of 500 points!!

As the challenge was set...some notable quotes:

One team Toulouse member to another -

"But one of the maps is different to the other two..."
"Yes I know"
"How will we manage that?"
"I don't know - let's go."

"Hey, as well as going to the checkpoints, let's see if we can find a little old lady to rescue to win the heroes of the day award - and pinch it off team MK from day 2"

"We have a plan" - how reassuring!!

This time the East Kilbride provided the entertainment at the start by capsizing - but a thorough soaking didn't hold them back in terms of speed as they were first to arrive at the finishing line!

With all the teams back, thoroughly exhasuted but nervously waiting for the final results, what else was there to do but throw a few coaches and colleagues into the sea and drink champagne! (look out for the photo's!)

And the winners are...

Well the results of stage 8 gave the maximum points to team CI Method who checked every single control on route and came in with 5 minutes to spare!

1. CI method 500 points
2. Gent 449 and Royal Mail 449
4. Tolouse 408
5. Procurement 388
6. East Kilbride 347 and Morpeth 347
8. Milton Keynes 286
9. Midlands 265 and NLO 265

Source2Sea 2010 - The Journey (final day - stage 7)

2010-09-20T11:38:00.002+01:00

Spirits and confidence were running high on the morning of the final day, with teams eager to earn as many of the 700 points on offer over the final two stages.

Par for course all teams arrived at the start line with time to spare...except Royal Mail who scraped in just in time! Although it could be down to their map reading skills, "we're all rubbish at reading a map - we're the sat nav generation" was a result of one particular 'courageous conversation'.

Stage 7 and 8 both involved kayaking and trekking, which brought about some fantastic learning opportunities - not least of which were how reading the brief was key to success, it's not always the team who set off first that will win...and most importantly, UK rivers are freezing at any time of year, as witnessed first by team Milton Keynes!!

Unfortunately after a reported breach of safety, team Gent's brilliant effort to win stage 7 was shattered on the team's disqualification. Which meant that Royal Mail was awarded their first stage win with a maximum 200 points, closely following by CI Method on 199 points and team Procurement on 189.

This left the overall scoreboard looking incredibly close and it was all to play for in the final stage.

1. Procurement 1769
2. CI Method 1567
3. East Kilbride 1538
4. Midlands 1476
5. Gent 1377
6. Royal Mail 1198
7. Toulouse 1182
8. Morpeth 1080
9. CL & NLO 959
10. Milton Keynes 925

Source2Sea - The Journey (Day 2 - stage 6)

2010-09-18T09:51:00.000+01:00

Stage 6 was a gruelling trek/run which included finding and picking up markers on their way. Markers which would then give them the opportunity to win more points from a set of ten cerebral challenges laid out at the finish line! All teams arrived exhausted but full of enthusiasm to win yet more points.

This completed the stages for day 2, with all teams picking up significant points towards their totals. After an overnight re-count, with some honest feedback from all teams, Team Toulouse were declared winners of the stage first thing this morning and awarded the maximum 500 points, but were closely followed by Procurement with 491 points, Royal Mail with 457.

So before the final two stages the top of the leaderboard stood at:
1. Procurement
2. Gent
3. East Kilbride
4. CI Method

But it's all to play for with 700 points up for grabs in the final two stages.

Source2Sea - The Journey (Day 2 - stage 5)

2010-09-17T19:06:00.003+01:00

Stage 5 was called Split Decision, with teams searching for controls containing puzzles which they then had to solve - skills required here were problem-solving, logic and orienteering.

Success in stage 4 obviously went to the heads of the MK team, who had disastorous result in this challenge scoring no points. While Royal Mail finally got this team-working thing 'sorted' with a magnificent effort to secure the runners-up spot, just behind team CI Method who put in a decisive performance to win the stage outright.

Learnings from day 1 were applied by a few teams to varying degrees of success, some examples include:

The Toulouse team decided to leave their TV on all night to subconciously absorb the language and improve their English...we await to see the results from absorbing dialogue from night-time television!

One team member from CI Method had a Eureka moment in the night and spent an hour writing team rules to be used on day 2...who's to say if it was time well spent, but it could have made all the difference in them winning Stage 5!

Team Gent claimed JIT process improvements in their planning was behind the extremely close shave against the clock in today's stages - who are we to doubt that?

Source2Sea - The Journey (Day 2 - stage 4)

2010-09-17T18:37:00.004+01:00

The teams went back in time this morning with a Trebuchet challenge, which started with searching the woods for kit to make a giant catapult, to build a structure that would launch a missile the furthest.

Pressure was on the coaches as they were given the responsibility of releasing the trigger mechanism.

A sterling result from the stage winners, Team MK, who put all their operational know-how to good effect when their missile launched off the trebuchet like a rapier missile! At the other end of the scale the Morpeth coach was left to pick up the pieces of a thoroughly demoralised team after their impressive contraption actually sent the missile backwards, nearly killing an unsuspecting bystander...zero points for the team.

A strong performance again from Gent narrowed the gap with the top team Procurement - after this stage Procurement are on 864 points, Gent on 821 and in third place Midlands on 689!

At this the halfway point you may want to add your messages of encouragement for the team you support...they will be passed on, and it might just make a difference!

Source2Sea 2010 - The Journey (Day 1) stage 3

2010-09-17T08:41:00.000+01:00

Team Procurement had a stonking stage, getting 300 points - more than 3x that of any other team. So after Day 1 and 3 stages, the team put together after some begging and poaching in the last minutes of registration, are now top of the leader board with Gent in second place. An overall successful stage saw the Royal Mail team also pick up their first points.

Some quotes from the highlights of stage 3 -

In a moment of premature self-congratulation the Morpeth team were overheard saying "We've done really well to find such a sheltered spot"... only for a millisecond later a gust of wind blew all their papers away. The expression that followed cannot be repeated here!

"This is a great team and deserves to win" says a guest member in the Procurement team, originally in team East Kilbride.

On reflection the Royal Mail team decide "Youthful exuberance and orienteering do not go together."

Great strategy, not so great execution from the Milton Keynes team..."Fantastic idea to take a photo of the map so the team could split to win more points....shame we couldn't read it, so got lost!"

A change of mind from team Midlands "We thought we'd take a shortcut - until we heard the farmer's dog"

And finally a translation of the Tolouse team's summation of the stage "B****r, B****r, B****r!"

Here's to day 2!!!!

Source2Sea 2010 - The Journey (Day 1) stage 2

2010-09-16T21:09:00.000+01:00

I can't begin to pass on how difficult stage 2 proved, but suffice to say that in a challenge where the team's had to find, and pair up symbols on cards hidden throughout the forest - even the winning team could only find 3 pairs!

Congratulations goes to the stage 2 winners..team Gent with 500 points. In 2nd place was team Procurement with 380, while CL & NLO were 3rd with 333 points. Midlands, Toulouse and CI Method scored 222 points, Milton Keynes, East Kilbride and Morpeth scored 167, and unfortunately the Royal Mail team is still yet to score.

Observations from the coaches on team Gent's success were that they learned to plan a lot better, including 2 reconnaissance sorties - but then when the chips were down squeezed the last bits of their energy in the final 15 minutes to pick up a 3rd pair.

Team Procurement were also specifically mentioned not only for their careful planning and thorough sense checking, but also how they took care of one another all the way through the challenge!

As you might imagine, the stage inspired some interesting, funny, and brutally honest quotes so in the words of the participants:

Q - "How did you not manage to get a pair?"
A - "Cos they didn't 'bleep, bleep' match!"

In complete frustration, "Let's go fishing!"

Q - "How did it feel being the leader?"
A - "Pretty vacant!"

Q - "Does this happen at work?"
A - "All the time."

"Now I have true respect for triathletes"

"Can't believe how many warning bells were ringing, without me hearing any!"

"Donna is the wicked witch and Phil must have been a traffic warden"

Source2Sea 2010 - The Journey (Day 1)

2010-09-16T15:12:00.000+01:00

The teams have completed stage 1, the results are in, have been checked and verified and we're pleased to announce the current leaders are...CI Method with 200 points!!

The challenge was to build a structure out of drain pipes which could keep a ball off the ground and in constant motion for as long as possible - most teams rose to the challenge well, with 8 out of 10 teams managing to get points on the leader board!

So what made the difference between success and failure...

CI Method went for an all or nothing strategy which involved the majority of time given spent on planning and testing a very complex design...which fortunately for them paid off with just seconds to spare. Whilst the Royal Mail team steamed ahead on building the structure, until frustration took over as it failed to work and an 'accidental' slip of the foot brought the whole structure crashing down...'nil points'!

An interesting strategy for team Toulouse resulted in a credible second place finish - they are flying the flag for democracy with a concious decision not to appoint a leader for this stage.

Special mention has to go to team Gent who designed the 'sexiest' structure of the day, which provided a real distraction for the coach and other teams who were swooning over the finished product. Contrary to the points tally, it wasn't just style over substance, if more time was allowed to refine the design it could have 'apparently' wiped the board.

The teams are now taking part in an arduous cycling challenge in the forest...we'll be back with an update on how that affects the leader board.

Source2Sea 2010 - The Journey (stage 1 photo's)

2010-09-16T12:13:00.000+01:00

Stage 1 and the Midlands' team engineer looks worried!

Ambitious design from the Gent team!

Source2Sea 2010 - The Journey (Day 1)

2010-09-16T10:06:00.001+01:00

We are pleased to report that all teams arrived safely. There was a slight concern for the Royal Mail team, but once they'd got the right postcode for their caravan it was soon sorted - in true style the 'package' was safely delivered...if a little late!

Competition on the eve of the event was already in evidence, with the Procurement team using their well-honed negotiation skills to 'poach' members from other teams to make up the numbers for their own; whilst cross-border rivalry was being demonstrated by the Gent team who were found prowling around the stage preparation area in the hope of a glimpse of what was in store...and then claimed to be the Toulouse team when challenged! Quelle Horreur!!!

The words 'Ignore the Event Brief at your Peril' is now haunting the First Ascent team, who all arrived with no towels...but not thwarted by any challenge, the team soon resolved the problem with a a sock, a flannel, and a stray towel! No prizes for guessing which northerner miraculously 'found' a towel...like you do in the middle of the New Forest!

With the morning now under way, all the coaches reported that all teams are in good spirits and were poised like coiled springs after their hearty breakfast...so watch this space!

Source2Sea 2010 - The Journey (D-day -3)

2010-09-13T13:16:00.001+01:00

Trainers and gym kits have been dusted down, the lads are sucking in waistlines, puffing out chests and asking if their backsides look big in 'these' shorts...

Spouses and partners are rubbing their eyes at the surprising sight of their white-legged loved ones jogging stiffly down the road for the first time in 3 years...

Brain training games are being overworked throughout the land as participants do a bit of last minute cerebral cramming...

The rusty old bicycle has been rescued from the back of the shed and is now being used for the daily paper shop run....

Regulars are eagerly anticipating putting their experience to good use and targeting a higher finish than last year, while new recruits are anxiously wondering what they've let themselves in for...

Team performance coaches are busy organising objective setting conference calls and the Source2Sea team are fielding last minute queries on kit, accommodation, food and logistics...

It must be that Source2Sea time of year again!!!

Yes, we're counting down to 3 days of mental and physical challenges that make up a fabulous learning and development experience (and we'll definitely have a bit of fun along the way!)