TNT Hotshots winner

Full on - The what, where, why...

The What?

Full On is a New Zealand based company that currently has six sites around the world. We have a client called People to People who run trips across the globe for American youth. We spend one day with these American youth. Our programme has been described as a life changing experience. Both for staff and students. It's focused around personal development, utilising outdoor activities as a medium for that. There are many opportunities provided in the day to overcome fears and create a greater understanding of our own potential. This is supported by a variety of presentations that provide tools to assist us in taking these steps and understanding the experiences and how they relate to our lives.

Where?

Bangor, North Wales

Why?

Last season I heard a quote that has stuck with me ever since: 

"Today might be the day that you change someones life". It might be today, and you might never even know the difference you've made, but live like you mean it. After all, you only get out of life what you are prepared to put in." And another reason... ping pong.

Some text kindly taken from the World Wide Climbing Blog.

The Great Santa Run

The Great Santa Run, Battersea Park, London

Celebrating the All Whites victory

Everyone born in New Zealand converged on TV sets in all corners of the globe to watch sporting history.While some fans were getting pie-eyed in New Zealand, at breakfast in London they were merely munching pies. Watch video.

Guardian Blind Date - part two

Published in The Guardian weekend magazine. To read the full article click here. For my side of the story click here. 

ISP Netball Tournament

23red Rhino's winners of the plate competition at the ISP Netball Tournament and I managed to pick up player of the tournament for my efforts. 

Hotshots Winner

Winner of the TNT magazine weekly Photo Competition.

Once upon a time in Wales!

What I have been learning to teach at Full On, Wales.

Full On 2009

One part of my summer adventure for 2009. I will let Tara explain:

"I could say we take American youth abseiling off a castle in Wales, but that wouldn't even come close to the true gist of what we do. I could even add that we do a variety of presentations based around personal and social development but I'm still not sure that really explains it. In fact, sometimes I wonder if the only way to really understand it is to experience it yourself... but here goes...

Full On is a New Zealand based company that currently has six sites around the world. We have a client called People to People who run trips across the globe for American youth. We spend one day with these American youth. Our programme has been described as a life changing experience. Both for staff and students. It's focused around personal development, utilising outdoor activities as a medium for that. There are many opportunities provided in the day to overcome fears and create a greater understanding of our own potential. This is supported by a variety of presentations that provide tools to assist us in taking these steps and understanding the experiences and how they relate to our lives.

... Before the season started I heard a quote that has stuck with me every day, on and off programme. "Today might be the day that you change someones life". It might be today, and you might never even know the difference you've made, but live like you mean it. After all, you only get out of life what you are prepared to put in."

Kindly taken from the World Wide Climbing Blog.

McVitie’s Penguin Bar - The reply

Dear Mr Flack,

Thank you for contacting us via email regarding McVitie's Penguins* and your suggestion for a competition for the Best Joke and also for sending in several jokes to us. We are passing a copy of your emails onto our Marketing Department so that they can take your jokes and idea into consideration for the future...

Yours sincerely

Consumer services

United Biscuits

_________________________________________

*Some more evidence about the popularity of Penguin Bars. 

"Further notable about the packaging of a penguin bar is the ever-present joke or funny fact. Contrary to what you may expect, these jokes and facts are not always about penguins and usually appear to be out of place on the wrapper of a penguin bar. Despite the fact that these jokes never make your sides split, there is something special and nostalgic about reading the beginning of a penguin joke and then pealing back the wrapping to find the punch-line. It seems strange saying it, but these quirky jokes on penguin wrappers can lead to all sorts of conversation, joke sharing and can spark social situations!"

McVitie’s Penguin Bar - The letter

To the almighty McVitie’s Penguin Bar creator,

As a major fan of the culinary delight that is the McVitie's Penguin Bar. I have been amused and delighted by the jokes to be found on each pack. Every day at work my colleagues look forward in anticipation to 'Penguin joke time' – when I read out the joke from the back of my daily McVitie's Penguin Bar.

They then try there best to get the correct answer to the joke, which always leads to great amusement and quite a few chuckles. We all think the jokes really help to brighten our day - especially in the current economic climate.

We love the jokes so much we have started coming up with our own. We would be honored if you considered our jokes for the next time you print the McVitie's Penguin Bar packaging.

Q: What's a penguin’s favourite song?

A: Ice ice baby

Q: What's a penguins favourite band?

A: Snow Patrol

Q: What's black and white and red all over?

A: A sun burnt penguin

 

We look forward to hearing from you soon

Chris & the team

A Marathon, The Wall & Gordon Ramsay

Prologue: I have been told I suffer from G.T.D.S.B.S syndrome = going to do something a bit silly syndrome. As part of my training for the London Marathon I clocked up 4,335 minutes of training covering about 867 km (539 miles). A marathon is 26 miles 385 yards. A bit silly really.

The Marathon

Well the day had finally arrived and my hopes of an typical overcast London day didn’t happen. I looked outside at 6:30am and it was a beautiful day – not a cloud in the sky. It was going to be a hot one (19deg – the hottest London Marathon on record).

One of the hardest parts of the London Marathon is getting to the start line on time. The tubes are packed and there are people everywhere. I managed to find my friends at Greenwich Park and we all got into a pre run routine. Applying Vaseline to those areas that are likely to rub and tape over our nipples.

Before the race you should have a couple of words that you keep saying to yourself to help stay focused and not let the ‘race’ beat you. Mine where simple – pace yourself, stay calm and remember to keep hydrated.

The race starts and it just a massive sea of people - 35,747 runners to be exact. It can take up to 20mins to cross the start line. The first half of the race went along beautifully. My pace was a little bit fast but my body felt really good. The crowd was amazing there were people on the side of every part of the course chanting your name. My workmate and I had a competition to see who could get their name called out the most. I won easily… no one could pronounce his name properly.

The halfway point (13 miles) was just past Tower Bridge. This part felt like a dream with the Thames and London's famous icons in the background. I felt really good and was running at a good pace but this being my first marathon I knew there was still much to come.

The Wall

I have heard of the wall but never experience it. The farthest I have run in training was 21 miles. So I expected from that point on to be very hard. (It has been proven that the wall affects most people between 2.5 – 3 hrs). As I past the 21mile marker I started to feel my concentration and energy levels drop. It was getting very hard to run, my legs were feeling heavy and I was tired. So this is what I call the robot phase. Basically I conserved energy and just concentrated on putting one leg in front of the other saying to myself “one, two… one, two”.

Gordon Ramsay

The crowd must notice when you are looking tired because they will really start motivating you to keep going because all I could hear was ‘C’mon Gordon, C’mon’. Wait my name isn’t Gordon, what is going on here I thought to myself. I then noticed just in front of me was Gordon Ramsay. I am not going to get beaten by Gordon Ramsay so I decided to pick up my pace and went right past him. I thought about shouting something like – ‘C’mon Jamie Oliver’ but realised that I didn’t even have the energy to talk.

There was only 2 miles to go and they felt like the longest two miles of my life. I started running faster trying to make sure I put everything into the race. I entered 'The Mall' just before Buckingham Palace and saw the sign 635 yards to go sign. Yes – I knew no matter what happened, even if my entire body cramped up I would still be able to crawl across the line and finish. 

I was so excited and proud as I crossed the line – 6 months of preparation and 3hrs 53mins 21secs after the starters gun had gone off I was finished. My aim from the start was to complete the marathon in under 4hrs and to walk away in one piece (i.e. without damaging my body for future use). I was amazed when I checked my body later on for battle scars – no chaffing, both my nipples where still in one piece and best of all I didn’t even have one blister – not a scratch. (The next day I literally fell out of bed as my legs had cramped up while I was sleeping. But one day later I was playing touch and scoring tries.)

Chris Flack ran the 2009 London Marathon for the Whizz-kidz charity. Click here to donate to this worthy cause.

I run to become

This is my ode to running:

I have run in snow, hail and rain.

I have run in 4 different countries.

I have said 'no' - too many times.

I have eaten a whole weeks worth of groceries in 3 days.

I have become a 'running bore'. 

I have found the zone and ran right through it.

I have trained with attitude and at altitude.

I have run to focus and all I hear is silence.

I have run across London and back.

I have run to become.

Viva 23red

Thank you for the opportunity.

One month to go until the London Marathon

One month to go until I run 26.2 miles... scary. I have given up alcohol and now consume a weeks worth of groceries in three days. I am constantly hungry and find myself running after people at any opportunity.

We have raised nearly £2,000 but still have a way to go to reach our target of £6,000. To sponsor us: www.justgiving.com/23red

London Lite Date

Published in the London Lite. To read the full article click here.

A newspaper, the dolphin trainer and a date

A newspaper
Every week the London Lite newspaper sends two people on a blind date. It's usually somewhere fun and quirky - they always take a photo and then interview them the next day to get the gossip. 

A couple months ago I decided to send my photo into the London Lite, answer a couple of quick questions and see what would happen. I had forgotten about it until two weeks ago when I got an email from them asking me if I wanted to go on a date with Katherine. They said they would pay for everything! Not one to turn down a free lunch with an attractive lady. I typed yes as quickly as I could and pressed send.

The dolphin trainer
I then remembered with slight horror what I had put in my application. Under the occupation section I had written art director (which is true) and dolphin trainer (which is not). At the time I thought it would be really funny but now I was slightly worried - what would happen if the only reason she chose me was to fulfill a childhood dream of dating a dolphin trainer. What was I supposed to do now? I could come clean, phone the newspaper and say that I couldn’t do it. I would admit that I was a liar and take it like a man. My work mates had better ideas. 

They suggested I do the ‘honest’ thing. Firstly enrol in the nearest DTA (Dolphin Training Academy) and hope that they run really short courses. Then secondly, practise making dolphin noises and inserting them mid-sentence during conversation - they assured me this wouldn't sound weird and reckoned it would make me more appealing to the opposite sex. Lastly make a dolphin trainer business card and keep it in my wallet at all times. Some would say it was a fool proof plan (I am not so certain about that).

The date
We planned to met at Zizzi’s restaurant near Baker St at 1pm. When I got to the restaurant I easily recognized Katherine as she looked exactly like her photo. I sat down and straight away the conversation along with the champagne started flowing. I quickly found out that we had a lot in common; we where both running the London Marathon, training hard and trying to raise money for different charities. We both promised to sponsor each other.

We talked about our favourite holidays, our families and what we would take to a desert island. We discussed who we would want to eat our last supper with and what was playing on each others ipod. I was really impressed that she was a fan of the kooks and had even made a trip to Glastonbury. Then came the moment of truth and the question I had been avoiding all night. She wanted to know about dolphin training and more importantly, how to train one. 

I had to think quickly. So I grabbed out my Dolphin trainer business card and casually flashed it in-front of her. I hoped this would distract her and give me some more time, but it didn't seem to be working. So I said the first and only thing I could think of- 'You train them like dogs, just throw a stick and they'll chase it - easy!' She looked at me in amazement and said 'really - that's cool' - I think I fooled her. 

I checked my watch and realised that we needed to hurry to meet the photographer. We where off to Madame Tussauds for a couple of photos for the newspaper article. I hadn’t been there since I was a child so I was pretty excited about it. 

When we arrived it was straight into the ‘cheesiest’ part of the day – getting a wax model of our hands made. We had to hold hands and then dip them into a bowl of warm wax a few times. They then removed the layer of wax from our hands and left it to dry. Once dried you had your own wax model hand to take away.  After this it was a very quick tour of Tussauds with even more photos. Imagine performing cheerleading poses with the characters from High School Musical or having a very close encounter with the queen - It made for a very interesting afternoon. In the end it took nearly an hour to take the photos, Katherine realized she was running late for a marathon charity fundraiser and had to 'run'... 

Now all I have to do is wait until next Tuesday afternoon's edition of the London Lite to  find out  what ‘she says’ about it all. (My guess for the introduction: ‘We sent two marathon runners on a date – will they run away with each others hearts?’)

Adland's top hottie

Article from IPA below. 

Who is adland's top hottie? The results are in!
The votes have been counted and it’s time to announce what you’ve all been waiting for…Who gets your heart racing, who’s sizzling hot, who is adland’s top hottie?!

(Pause for drumroll)

Adland’s top male hottie is Chris Flack, Art Director at 23red. Adland's top female hottie is Rachel Ferguson, PA to the CEO at McCann Erickson as voted for by more than 300 of you.





Congratulations to Chris and Rachel, who both win a bottle of pink champagne.



The "Scariest Man in the world" Skit

A classic skit taught and then performed at Pablo Ingles as part of the Speak English week. My first ever acting role.