Richard Langhorn Trust SAS Survival Challenge

By Vena Arnold
October 27 2005

At a secret location in Herefordshire the Quins’ team, consisting of Tony Copsey, Nick Hyde, Julian Ayrton, Vena Arnold and Bill Swayne met. Little did we know what trials and tribulations would lie ahead during the next 48 hrs with Ken Hames and his team providing the challenges.

My first thoughts were “Eek! I’m the oldest!”. My second thought was “well, I’ll show them”. I do love a challenge.

It was soon apparent the theme over the weekend would be 'not to expect the expected'.

After having certain items confiscated on arrival, ie sleeping bags, towels and horror of horrors, my secret supply of chocolate, we all gathered and were given a presentation showing Ken climbing mountains, only to jump off them (erm, ok Ken!) and then Ken in the ‘line of fire’. Boy this was a ‘real’ action man. I did wonder if this is what we should expect for the weekend but this would not be the case. There weren’t any mountains close by.

We marched to base camp whereby a difference of a 9” inside leg measurement between Tony Copsey and myself could create a bit of a challenge. Instruction on how to survive in the ‘wild’ followed. Instructor Tom taught us how to catch and prepare our food, light a fire without firelighters and matches, building our own bivvie from plastic sheeting, twine and tree trunks with straw, old clothes and curtains for bedding. Our effort was highly praised by the course instructors. Little did they know we had an engineer and builder amongst us. The years of surviving with three teenage sons’ squalor may yet be useful. Dinner was most welcome in the form of pheasant, rabbit and chicken casserole, cooked in paint tins. Well a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do. After supper we were conscious of the challenges that lay ahead the next day. Trooper Ayrton was heard to comment “nobody will ever believe that I am tucked up in bed at 21:25 hrs on a Friday evening SOBER!!!!!”. Trooper Arnold was heard to say “and NOBODY will believe I slept with four guys either”. Just as well we all had a good sense of humour. It was going to be needed.

Throughout Saturday, mostly in wet conditions, the team covered approximately 9 miles running backwards, forwards and sideways, complete with backpacks (and a dead rabbit, don’t ask) and being tasked with eight challenges along the way. One hour was designated to reach each challenge, complete and onto the next. No probs!

The first challenge was target shooting whilst ‘patrolling’ a gully. Unfortunately, due to Trooper Copsey literally ‘blowing away’ the targets we ran out of time due to new targets having to be positioned therefore only four members completed the task. I did wonder when I was going to stop shaking. This was certainly a bit different from using a .22.

On to the next challenge which was probably the hardest mentally. Anyone with claustrophobia stop reading now. All five members with Trooper Copsey leading and one blindfolded, Nick Hyde, had to negotiate a tunnel in single file, one way, in darkness, negotiating dead ends and at times at very strange angles. Potholers eat your heart out. Tasks included putting a torch together by touch and finishing with our blindfolded member having to type the correct answer to a question and done superbly. Anyone requiring a touch typist should contact Trooper Hyde and I believe Trooper Ayrton may require some dentistry after receiving a boot in the mouth on more than one occasion. Mine! After 30 minutes of wondering if we would survive we at last saw light of day, only to be faced with interrogation as to why we took so long. Plenty of unrepeatable responses came to mind however, having been told we were not to give anything away except our names, rank and number all team members passed.

Another trek across country took us to the low ropes and working together we all succeeded without falling off. So far so good.

Onto challenge two, the assault course. By this time the weather had deteriorated and it was obvious this challenge was going to be rather wet and muddy. Should I really have worn a white vest and pale blue shirt that morning? Aha! Instructor Charlie must have been creasing himself. All the team succeeded in negotiating the obstacles including gates, net, electric wires and a very wet tunnel. I do admit to having been dragged out of the tunnel as I kept sliding back down. The final obstacle saw the team having to traverse a ‘minefield’ complete with ‘booty’ and using only two planks. Mental and physical agility were certainly put to the test and yet again the team were successful.

By the time we reached ‘blind' driving we were ahead of time by approximately 15 minutes only to be informed by the instructor that we had to wait until the designated time of 3pm before commencement. You cannot be serious!!!!! They were! The challenge involved a team member instructing a blindfolded driver around a course, having to park, reverse and obtain ‘secret’ information along the way. Trooper Hyde was noted as giving the best instruction overall and after three circuits with only one bump the team completed another challenge successfully and obtaining bonus points for the extra circuits.

The high ropes certainly required a team effort and again a good result obtained without anyone missing their footing. I had to admit the hardest part was jumping off the platform and being scared of heights it did take some time for my legs to stop shaking. Perhaps it was the look from Instructor Mac that finally persuaded me. I certainly wasn’t going to mess with this guy.

Next came the 10 ft wall and beam. I thought I’d stand and watch but told ALL team members had to get across and back. Yikes! I’m only 5’ 2 ½”. Troopers Copsey and Ayrton in true rugby tradition were ‘lifted’ onto the wall. I followed immediately, straight over almost taking Trooper Ayrton’s crown jewels with me and successfully landed on the instructor. Unfortunately, no bonus points for that. Troopers Hyde and Swayne swiftly followed. Then it was over the beam taking the team 2 minutes 27 seconds to complete the task. The record set for the day by another team was 46 seconds. Perhaps they had eaten magic mushrooms for breakfast.

Onto the Observation Post and at last time for a rest. Nick Hyde and myself took first watch with my biggest challenge of the weekend operating the binos and keeping my backside down. The aim was to pinpoint foreign objects hidden in the undergrowth. It’s surprising how tiring concentrating can be. On exiting the hide I was told “get your fl**ping head down, or words to that effect. Oops! This was followed by a quick look at items on a blanket and recovered almost immediately. Spoilsports! Points to Trooper Ayrton for remembering the wine gums and we polished off the remainder. Unfortunately, we were not 100% successful as we were brainwashed by a Leicester Tigers’ shirt amongst the items. Instructor Alan has a very perverse sense of humour. How could we concentrate with such an item on display? This being the last challenge it was then back to base camp for supper.

By Saturday evening the team were in the lead though closely challenged. We were awarded a six pack and feasted like kings on chicken and veggies cooked in a deep pit. What! No champagne and caviar? Some of the instructors came along to check we were still living and Instructor Alan admitted to being a Tigers’ fan. I did suggest he should be taken out and shot at dawn but he seemed a nice guy really. He also admitted to being codename ‘Alan’s pants’ on the board. Brave man! It was then another early night ready for the next day.

Sunday’s 'escape and evasion' began, complete with full backpacks AND our returned sleeping bags. Charming! After 3 hours of evading the enemy we completed our mission. Unfortunately we weren’t successful in finding the ‘patriotic item’. Surely two teams couldn’t get the rendezvous wrong…could they? We were caught, blindfolded, taken for interrogation, and subjected to torture consisting of ‘white noise’. At least it wasn’t a recording of “Tiiiiiigeeeeers!” That would really have tipped me over the edge. Hats off to the ‘real’ SAS guys who have to endure this experience for up to hours, days and weeks at a time during training.
I must admit I was quite chuffed to bits to hear some of the other girls chatting whilst cleaning up. I felt tired but to hear them admit they were exhausted and had problems keeping up with their male counterparts made me feel great. Having been yanked over walls, dragged under electric fences, thrown over hedges and being hand held through a field of cows (well, they were bigger than me) it made me realise that perhaps on the whole I didn’t do too badly. The team were finally placed 5th (joint 6th) having completed all challenges.

Teams were provided with a superb hog roast courtesy of Broadfield Vineyard. After a couple of pork rolls, choccy brownies AND flapjacks to die for I began to feel human again.

I can thoroughly recommend that people watch Ken Hames’ programme, Beyond Boundaries, on Tuesday evenings, BBC2 at 9 pm. He is one of the most genuine people I have ever met and a true inspiration.

To date I have raised a total of just over £1150 for the Richard Langhorn Trust supporting disabled and disadvantaged children in a sporting environment. To say I have been humbled by people’s generosity, including people I don’t know, is an understatement and all I can say is “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU”

Action Woman (complete with eagle eyes and scar on cheek) signing off until the next time. Kate Adie, eat yer heart out.