On Wednesday 25 February Mark is presenting “Mountain Rescue in the City” at 11.30am on Radio Scotland. Mark discovers the work Mountain Rescue teams do in our town and cities. He really enjoyed this new challenge of being the presenter!
Last Thursday, 4th December, Mark was invited to the Scottish Sports Awards held at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow. It was a glamourous evening honouring Scotland’s sporting legends, local heroes and great sporting achievements.
The best amateur award went to golfer Callum Macaulay and Mark was delighted to present this award.
Mark was nominated in the “Inspirational” category along with Andy Murray and Chris Hoy – Andy Murray won for his win over Nadal this year, and his brother Jaimie Murray was there to receive the award on behalf of Andy.
Then came the award for Sport of the Year and CYCLING won!! Mark went up to receive the award on behalf of Cycling. He spoke of the huge momentum within cycling and compared the speed of Chris Hoy around the track with his own cycling “at a slow pace for a long time!”
Chris Hoy won the Sports Personality of the Year Award and Sir Alex Ferguson received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The following evening Mark was at the University of Glasgow Christmas Dinner, where he was presented with a trophy as joint winner of the Young Alumnus of the Year Award. Mark shares the award with John Tiffany for his outstanding acheivements in Scottish and international theatre. Both John and Mark spoke well of their time at University and the remarkable experiences in their lives since graduating in 2006.
Two great evenings – MANY CONGRATULATIONS Mark – Fantastic Achievements!
A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL who voted for Mark to win this coveted award last night at Prestonfield in Edinburgh.
It was a WONDERFUL night and we had no idea who had won until the envelope was opened and the winning name was declared! Short films were shown on Mark, Andy Murray, Chris Hoy and Sir Alex Ferguson and you can imagine they were all so very inspiring. Mark was really taken aback when he heard his name and took a moment to get to his feet, then walk on stage to receive his trophy!
Many congratulations to Chris Hoy who won the Top Scot Award!
STV were there to film the evening and will be showing the programme this Sunday evening – 30th November 2009
Thank you all again!
You may have seen in last Saturday’s Scotsman that the Sport nominees for the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards includes Mark. If you would like to vote for Mark you can use this link for online voting
http://uk.glenfiddich.com/every-year-counts/glenfiddich-spirit-of-scotland-awards/index.html
or call 09016 560159 and follow the instructions – code 1015
or text SCOTD followed by the code for Mark – 1015, and send to 81800
There’s stiff competition with Chris Hoy, Andy Murray and Sir Alex Ferguson CBE in the same category!
We have until November 7th when voting closes – PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!
Many thanks,
Base Camp
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The new Guinness Book of Records is launched this week and Mark’s fastest cycle around the world is included in amongst a large entry. To launch the book Reporting Scotland will feature Mark on tonights programme at 6.30pm on BBC 1.
A huge thank you to everyone who watched the documentary last week on BBC One. The viewing figures were around 2.75 million each evening! Thank you also for the GREAT messages in the Guestbook and Contacts – this runs into hundreds and I am nearly up to date reading them all. Many are asking about the book and a DVD. I am writing the book at the moment and it will be published next June. A DVD is not in the pipeline at present but keep an eye on the website for news regarding this.
Another big thank you to everyone who has donated to my charities through Just Giving or by purchasing a replica cycle top – I really appreciate this fantastic support for these great charities. Cycle tops are still available and the Just Giving account is still open!
Tomorrow, Saturday 30th August, I am co-presenting Sports Weekly with John Beattie on Radio Scotland from 9 am to 10 am. Having been interviewed on Sports Weekly from the roadside around the world, then in the studio on my return, it will be an interesting experience to be on the other side of the table/conversation and I’m very much looking forward to it. Cheers All! Mark
On the first anniversary of Mark leaving Paris on his around the world cycle, Mark heard the good news that his documentary “The Man who Cycled the World” is to be shown again, this time on BBC One from Monday 18th to Thursday 21st August at 22.35.
On the same day Mark finished the TUSK Cycle of Life 2008 challenge with Barty and the team who started from Namibia mid April and have since cycled through Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi finishing in at the Lewa project in Kenya.
Mark joined them for the last two weeks and has had an amazing experience cycling with people from the communities on their route and seeing the work of TUSK in the conservations. On a day off the bikes they were up at 4am and travelled two and a half hours to reach an elephant who had its foot trapped in a snare. The elephant was sedated, the foot released and the wound treated. They then made sure the elephant recovered from the sedation before heading back. www.cycleoflife2008.com
The third event of 5th August 2008 was the launch of the Orange Campaign featuring Mark and his world cycle. This is being shown across all media including TV, cinema, online, interactive, poster and print. Feedback so far has been excellent.
| 02 August 2008
Malewa Trust Community Cycle ‘Race’ Update A team of around 20 cyclists varying in abillity from serious Kenyan competitive cyclists to Barty’s mum bicycled 40 or so kilometres around the shoulder of Longonot to Malewa, taking in Giraffe, Impala, Warthog, Zebra and some good bumpy roads en route. The day was a serious success – we got the chance to cycle alongside some brilliant characters and chat to them about life in Kenya. Greeted by a beer upon arrival at Malewa, we then settled into a wonderful evening talking to Chris and Christine Campbell-Clause about their fantastic efforts here with the wildlife trust, and also to meet fellow Tusk expeditioners, who are driving from Alexandria to Cape Town, running across the Kalahari Desert on the way. Why not, eh? Having crossed the Kalahari ourselves on bicycles, we were able to tell them one thing – IT’S BLOODY SANDY. Our sincerest thanks go to Chris, Christine and everyone else at Malewa who’ve made this possible and given us such an enjoyable and interesting few days. Also, best of luck to the Kalahari runners! J |
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Mark cycled around 40km in the company of Kenyan cyclists,
raising awareness for the Cycle of Life and it’s philosophy. It was a
great day – cyclists ranging from competitive Kenyan racers to various
mums and supporters.
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| It’s been a busy time since Mark’s last blog covering the Mont Blanc to Mont Cinto event; he has given a number of talks up and down the country, been to Spain training and writing his book, filming for a documentary advertisement, taken part in the Artemis Quadrathlon in which he and his partner Rick finish 5th, and last Saturday lead out and took part in the Artemis Highland 100. On Sunday he flew to Kenya to join Barty and other cyclists on the TUSK Cycle of Life 2008 challenge.Text from Mark this morning after second night of bush camping, said ” great sleep – zebras in the camp”
30 July 2008 Kenya, Mark Beaumont and ‘end of term’ delirium Jessica Hatcher Kenya. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya. We’re in Kenya. Shall I say it again? Kenya, the one at the end of that list of countries that for so long sounded, and quite literally was, miles away. In other news, we have been joined by Mark Beaumont! For those of you who don’t know, this beautiful mountain of a man recently hit the headlines for smashing the round the world cycling record by something ridiculous like 100 days. I think we were all secretly hoping that Mark would exactly fit the criteria that Barty was most afraid of when he contemplated describing himself as a ‘cyclist’. But Mark is, somewhat disappointingly, interesting, charming, entertaining and generally very good at stuff. We were gleeful to discover he shaved his legs… but then when asked whether he really thought it made him go faster, he had frustratingly good reasons for doing it… i.e. rather hardcore, sporting fitness and health reasons. On arrival, Mark’s baptism of fire was… well… pretty embarassing for us. All set for hardcore African terrain and a punishing cycling schedule, he arrived to find us sipping sodas and nibbling roasted cashews on a terrace overlooking the plains of the Masai Mara game reserve. We were staying with Ron and Pauline Beaton, and visiting the Koiyaki Guide School, a project supported by Tusk that is breaking the mould of the traditional, khaki-clad, white safari guide with a public school accent. The Koiyaki Guide School is yet another example of a truly exciting project that Tusk is behind. It trains young Masai men and women to be world experts in African wildlife and to get well-paid, highly respected jobs as guides in the travel industry. Each of the students has to be partly self-funded, on the basis that this is neccessary to engender in them the compulsion to succeed. Some come from communities where jobs are alien prospects, where daily life is a battle for survival against an arid climate and the threat of predators to their cattle. Instead of seeing wildlife as a competitor in the fight for life, they come to understand its’ value. And that understanding proliferates – it is a slow process, as Dickson, one of the young Masai students tells me, but one that is empowering. “I feel proud to be able to go back to my friends and family with all this knowledge, and the ability to help them understand the value of wildlife”. Seeing the success of community involvement in preserving wildlife in the Mara is just icing the cake for us, in terms of the work we have seen on this trip. It’s almost like onion layers of understanding are forming around our core mantra of ‘community-based education’ with every project we see, and I’m thoroughly excited to visit Lewa, our final stop next week, which has been billed as the most successful community conservation project in Africa and is a perfect showcase for Tusk’s work. There are around 400km to go ’til we get there, but they will be kilometres filled with fun: local folk joining us for various legs, celebrating Barty’s 27th birthday on the 31st, savouring our last ever bush camp, and over-excited unions with the various friends and family who are coming out to see us. I’d love to know how many times each of us has wearily turned over the phrase ”are we nearly there, yet?” in our minds on this trip. Right now, for the first time, I think it’s safe to say “yes, we’re nearly there”. |
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