JAMES CRACKNELL
JAMES CRACKNELL has confirmed he will head the fine line up of speakers at this year’s Keswick Mountain Festival, sponsored by Jennings and Ordnance Survey (13-17 May 2009).
The former Olympian turned adventurer will reveal all about his recent race to the South Pole during his talk at the Theatre by The Lake on Saturday 16 May 2009, at 8pm.
He has also jumped at the chance not only to start the Triathlon on the morning of his talk, but to compete in it as well!
James Cracknell
James Cracknell said: “I’m delighted to be involved in this year’s Keswick Mountain Festival – a fantastic few days of activity in a glorious part of the world. I was honoured to be asked to be the headline speaker on the Saturday night and am looking forward to talking about my recent experiences in the South Pole Race. In addition, I will be taking on the challenge of the triathlon on the Saturday morning. It’s great to be able to bring the family along and spend the weekend in Keswick – particularly with so many activities going on.”
James is one of Britain’s most successful athletes with two Olympic Gold medals and six World Championships to his name. Both his Olympic rowing finals, in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, were epic, hard fought contests.
Since retiring from international competition James has taken on a number of successful challenges.
In the 2005 Atlantic Rowing Race, for example, James teamed up with TV presenter Ben Fogle to row across the Atlantic and Ben and James were delighted to be the first boat to arrive in the Caribbean, after 49 days at sea. The challenge was filmed for the BBC documentary Through Hell and High Water and raised money for the BBC’s Children in Need.
In March 2008, James successfully completed his solo Cross Continent Challenge in aid of Sport Relief and raised over £340,000. Over ten days he travelled to Africa from the UK -rowing the channel, cycling through France and Spain and finally swimming the Strait of Gibraltar, accompanied by David Walliams and four pilot whales.
In December 2008, James once again teamed up with Ben Fogle, this time to take part in the Amundsen Omega3 South Pole Race. Together with third team member, Dr Ed Coats, chosen from the public after a hard fought selection process, the boys successfully reached the South Pole on 22 January 2009. They travelled 473.6 miles during the race and finished in a fantastic second place, just over 20 hours behind Norwegian long distance ski experts ‘Team Missing Link.’ Everything was filmed for a primetime BBC documentary series to air later in the year.
James regularly takes part in marathons, triathlons, cycling races, adventure races, not to mention setting a record for paddling the Channel on a surfboard, completing the Mark Webber challenge in 2006 and he is currently training for the 2009 Etape and the 2010 Marathon de Sables.
But first he will be competing in Keswick, Rob Wilkins, Race Director of Keswick Mountain Festival Triathlon, said: “It’s naturally a thrill to have a high profile athlete taking part in the event, but to have a double Olympic Gold Medal winner and multi-world champion is simply brilliant. James is clearly an outstanding athlete, but the fact that he is willing to take part in other events away from rowing demonstrates that he is also a true sportsman. It will be fantastic for the other competitors and spectators. I really hope he has a great day because he will be making ours.”
He released two books in 2006; James Cracknell’s No Gym Health Plan and The Crossing- Conquering the world’s toughest rowing race (co-authored with Ben Fogle) and is currently penning his story of the race to the South Pole.
James’ media work includes a long term contract with The Daily Telegraph as well as television presenting for ITV and Channel 4. He is an entertaining corporate speaker and is an ambassador for Nokia, Red Bull and Adidas.
James is married to television presenter and journalist Beverley Turner, with one young son Croyde and another on the way!
James joins an impressive line-up of speakers from across Britain who have the most incredible tales of adventure to inspire the audiences at The Theatre by The Lake.
