It took 50 days and eight hours, and in the end it was a race with a hurricane that hurried them over the line.
JLL surveyor Emily Blagden, along with three friends, Anna Hughes, Laura Kennington and Aoife Ni Mhaoileoin, successfully rowed 2,400 miles non-stop across the Pacific Ocean in the Great Pacific Race.
Successfully, besides breaking all four spare oars by day four, the bilge pump, stereo, steering footplate and safety rail on their 24-foot ocean rowing boat, that is.
But good enough to enter the Guinness World Records book as the first female four to row the route, from Monterey, California to Honolulu, Hawaii. You’ll find them under Team Boatylicious.
They managed to beat the fierce winds of Hurricane Iselle by just a few hours.
The team was raising money for WaterAid, Hope and Homes for Children and the Ahoy Centre. See www.boatylicious.org to donate and read a blog about their journey.
Ruck and ride
Property cyclists rocked their lycra in the presence of a rugby union legend at the Completely Amazing Bike ride.
More than a hundred property professionals joined Lawrence Dallaglio for either a 45-mile or 75-mile route from Teddington to Box Hill last month to raise money for the Dallaglio Foundation.
Riders taking part were from many of the industry’s leading firms and came from as far as Manchester and Scotland. They were feeling decidedly more fresh than Dallaglio, who had been at Jonny Wilkinson’s testimonial dinner the previous night.
The routes were mapped out by Andy Cook, who supported Davina McCall on her Sport Relief challenge this year. LondonMetric sponsored the event, while Halfords, whose team had just returned from the Tour of Britain, provided mobile technical support.
Cyclists took a break for lunch at Box Hill before a timed climb of the killer slope that formed part of the Olympic cycle route.
Some well-earned refreshments followed at the Lensbury club in Teddington.
Rivalries get the boot
Matthews & Goodman City office agent Luke Heracleous avoided fisticuffs this week as he claimed his prize for the PropSki League in the EG World Cup Fantasy Football competition.
PropSki organiser Rupert Parker of GVA, and also a City agent, put rivalries aside as he awarded Heracleous the prize of an iPad. Having being invited into the dragon’s den of GVA’s City office for the ceremony, Heracleous requested the neutral presence of fellow PropSki organiser Will Chambers, of JLL’s development consultancy. “This is a show of civility that reflects the inclusive nature of PropSki,” Chambers said.
Parker was quick to add that rivalries would play out on the piste in January, come PropSki Race Day. See www.propski.co.uk for more about the skiing and networking event.
Sunshine slog-along
All the sunshine in the world would never have made the Thames Path Challenge a pleasant stroll for a team of agents who finished the 100km feat on (blistered) foot.
So, while 13-strong team from commercial agency Cyril Leonard had unseasonably warm weather to help them go the distance from Putney to Henley-on-Thames, it was a gruelling hike along the river nonetheless.
Still, they raised £10,000 for the Mental Health Foundation and marked the firm’s 80th year in business. To donate go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CyrilLeonard.
Went up, let down
EG’s most active agents in Hertfordshire, Brasier Freeth, have taken the title literally by attempting to reach the top of Mont Blanc in the Alps.
But despite having acclimatised while perched on the top of Petite Fourche at 3,500 metres, the firm’s climbers – Peter Brown, Paul Raitt and Danny Fitzgerald – were beset by dangerous weather.
With wind speeds increasing and the hike appearing increasingly treacherous, the surveyors were forced back down after scaling 3,167m of the 4,810m mountain.
Undeterred, they took on the neighbouring Aiguille du Crochue instead, raising more than £4,200 for the Hospice of St Francis.
GVA ride away with top spot
A powerful GVA outfit were victorious in the 5th Annual Property Industry Velodrome Cycle Racing Afternoon.
The team were awarded the trophy following an afternoon of track cycling races with the industry’s keenest riders, who descended on the Herne Hill Velodrome on 11 September to raise money for the International Childcare Trust.
DTZ City and DTZ West End came second and third.
Aquilla Insurance, Valad, Yoo and Egan Property Asset Management jointly sponsored the day.
