Last weekend, our Marketing Manager Tom finished the Tough Mudder London North 12 mile assault course, as part of an ongoing charity campaign. The event is described as a hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by Special Forces to test your all over strength, stamina, determination and camaraderie.

‘Mudders’, as they are referred to, have to overcome a combination of freezing water, physical barriers, electrocution and extreme mud based obstacles over the course that bar their route to the finish line. The event is unique in the fact that it is not a race, but focuses on teamwork and solidarity, which really highlights the causes that many participants are running for – you cannot complete this event alone.

Tom ran for the charity CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably, who aim to prevent male suicide in the UK.  Suicide accounted for the deaths of more young men in England & Wales in 2011 than road death, murder and HIV/AIDs combined, CALM aim to provide general awareness and provide support to those in need.

Tom has this to say: “Before the race I was really quite nervous, I have never attempted anything like this before, but that was the main appeal for me. To be honest, for at least 8 miles I really enjoyed myself, the obstacles were challenging and what boy doesn’t like getting a bit muddy! The other 4 miles, well they were not fun…A combination of constant wetness, hail and electrocution (my most feared obstacle), I was definitely ready for home!”.

At Amara we actively encourage fundraising activities such as this and are proud to support our staff with these challenges. Tough Mudder is Tom’s 2^nd of 4 events this year – next month he will be cycling from London to Paris in 24 hours! More details can be found at http://www.justgiving.com/Thomas-Freeman.

Well done Tom from everyone at Amara!

On July 21^st our very own Olympians (in our eyes anyway) will be taking part in the National Lottery Anniversary Run. The course will take them on a five mile route through the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, past iconic Olympic & Paralympic Games venues such as the Velodrome and the ArcelorMittal Orbit and finishing on the track inside the spectacular Olympic Stadium.

Image courtesy of the National Lottery Anniversary Run

Jane, Tom, Adam, Freddie, Emily, Dave and Jack have decided to don their finest running gear for the exciting race that will see them join 10,000 runners to take part in the first event in the Olympic Stadium since the memorable games last year. With a few marathon runners in the mix, speculation has been flying in our offices as to who could win out of the Amara Team and a bit of healthy competition is being fully encouraged.

Stay tuned for weekly training diary updates…

Who do you think could win?

On Sunday 15^th April our very own Copywriter and LuxPad Editor, Jane took part in &  successfully completed the Brighton Marathon. This was the culmination of months of determined training and fundraising to successfully complete the 26.2 mile race along the beautiful Brighton seafront. We are extremely excited to announce that Jane raised an outstanding £2012.31 for the British Liver Trust during her training, which has sparked a lot of fundraising fever in our office.

Amara hosted a series of events to support Jane along the way, including the ‘Christmas jumper competition’ which is set to become an annual tradition.

To say thank you for this support and in true Amara birthday style (Jane celebrated hers just after completing the marathon), we arrived this morning to two delicious homemade cakes, just what we needed to get us through the last few days before the bank holiday weekend.

A huge well done Jane from everyone at Amara!