Jan Davies and Jake O’Donovan from ESS Defence recently completed the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity Race Across the UK, to raise much-needed funds for the organisation which supports sailors, marines and their families for life. Having never met before, Jan and Jake were introduced at the start of the event in Edinburgh and spent the next four days navigating their way to the Britannia Royal Navy College in Dartmouth.
Beginning at the Scott Monument in the Scottish capital, the pair received their first riddle to get them to their next location. They had a £500 budget for the duration of the race and there were strict rules around the types of transport that could be used – no flying, no hitchhiking, no getting a lift from one checkpoint to the next and no using trains within Central London.
The race took them via major checkpoints in Liverpool, London, Portsmouth and Bristol, with diversions to Chester, Oswestry, Chatham and the Isle of Wight. They also had tasks to complete in a variety of locations, such as taking a photo outside the Cavern Club in Liverpool and tracking down the Seven Noses of Soho.
When describing the logistics of the journey, both commented on their focus of remaining within their budget.
Jan described how they made their funds stretch when it came to mealtimes:
“We went for anything cheap – the first night, we managed to get some reduced pizza, a sausage roll and a doughnut from Co-op, and we used my Sainsbury’s Nectar points on a couple of occasions. I had cooked a batch of flapjacks to take along with me and I don’t think either of us want to see another flapjack for a while! We were allowed to call on our networks during the event and were lucky enough to be treated to a meal in Nando’s courtesy of a colleague in Portsmouth, which was gratefully received! We also had members of the public donate fruit and hot drinks, which was lovely to experience.”
Jake talked about the challenge of budgeting in relation to accommodation:
“Lack of sleep was probably the biggest thing I struggled with during the race. We ended up taking overnight transport to save on costs, but it’s very hard to sleep on buses – I think we had a single night’s sleep in total, across the four days. As we approached Portsmouth, Jan reached out to a colleague who was able to help with transit accommodation rooms on an ESS site. It was incredible to have a bed for five hours, and it was the only time we spent apart during the course of the challenge!”
Jan and Jake – known as Team ESS – successfully finished the race, arriving in Dartmouth on the Friday as planned. Having used buses, trains, Uber, a hovercraft and a passenger ferry during their journey, they completed the route with £4 to spare! On the Friday evening, they attended a celebratory dinner with their fellow competitors, sponsored by ESS.
Both described the lasting impact the event has had on them:
Jan commented:
“I believe doing something like this always changes you for the better. I think I will travel differently in the future and take my time getting to places rather than always going the most direct route, knowing that I might enjoy parts of the journey. You’re rarely time-rich in life, but our travel schedules meant we were able to see the best of places while we waited for budget-friendly transport options. As an ultra-runner in my spare time, I love being pushed out of my comfort zone and I loved the self-sufficiency of this event – it reminds you that you don’t need as many material items as you think, and that you can survive for several days with only what you’re carrying on your back. It also helped with problem solving and confidence which are valuable skills to take into my future life.”
Jake added:
“The sense of adventure was brilliant – you rarely get the chance to be challenged in such an unfamiliar way, being pushed to think differently to achieve success. I learnt that you can travel quite cheaply when you’re not in a hurry and, like Jan, I think this will influence my future behaviours. Throughout, we were both overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers – whether they were taking an interest in what we were doing, donating to the charity or buying us snacks and drinks to help us on our way! It’s easy to feel negatively when you watch the news and the race did a lot to restore my faith in human nature – it was an amazing reminder of something you can too easily forget.”
Both Jan and Jake agreed that one of the high points of the event was meeting each other and building a new connection within the business. Having spent four solid days together, they were clear that the challenge felt like fun because of the company and camaraderie between themselves and amongst all the teams. When asked if they would do it again, it was a unanimous yes – with the advice to any future competitors to look after their feet!
