Page 71 - The Chapka 2016

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 69
Some of the military’s strongest people who compete in pow- erlifting originate from The Royal Lancers. Year on year the sport is growing in popularity, be they experienced gym goers
or young inexperienced new Troopers who have just joined the Regiment. Lots of people ask about the sport and wonder if their lifts are good enough to enter a meet. The answer is, no matter who you are, most certainly YES! Anyone can enter a powerlift- ing meet so long as you have learned the techniques of the lifts and can perform them safely at somewhere near or above your ‘one rep’ max. You will often have others in your weight class, but ultimately the number one aim is to beat your own personal record. For this reason, and this reason alone, the sport is grow- ing exponentially, – The Royal Lancers, as ever, is right at the top of that curve.
Last year was a busy year for the Regiment and it was difficult to commit to a series of competitions. That said, the Regimental team did prepare for and enter the Army Single Lift Champion- ships. Sergeant Pennington won bench-press, deadlift and came joint first in the squat event, however he was pushed into second place due to the other competitor’s lower body weight. Corporal Milakovic’s first competition went really well and he set some personal bests. He gained loads from the competition experi- ence and is raring to enter his next. Lance Corporal Goodwin, also competing in his first competition, really impressed in his weight category, winning the dead lift and placing highly in the other two events.
The Army Single Lift Championships is great for showing off in one’s favourite category, but the real skill is being a master in all three events, otherwise known as the full power category. No significant results were achieved this year in ‘Full Power’, but those who entered have gained considerable experience and The Royal Lancers have laid the groundwork with the aim of being the strongest Regiment in the Army in 2017!
DP
Powerlifting
The Marathon du Medoc is a 26.2 mile run but with a slight twist; the route takes in many of Bordeaux’s ma- jor vineyards with free wine at each of the twenty plus stops. This year Captains Meeke, and Anani-Isaac, tutored by Lieu- tenant Gardner decided that running a marathon and sam- pling a large amount of red wine was the perfect way to spend a Saturday. They ventured to Bordeaux for the week and what the Telegraph has previously described as ‘the world’s most idiotic marathon’.
The route starts in the town of Pauillac, with a surprisingly jovial carnival atmosphere considering the distance everyone is about to run. The race is themed and this year the theme was ‘myths, legends and fairytales’. The Lancers decided this was the perfect opportunity to do show some leg and mor- phed seamlessly into Cinderella and her two step-sisters. Once the route leaves the town it winds its way along the
vineyard lined roads of rural Boudreaux, linking the major chateaux. This makes for a rather undulating but picturesque route, which visits twenty two different wine stops, not all of them an equal distance apart. There was, for example, an extremely painful eight mile stint with no liquid refreshment at all! Most of the stops offered pleasant red wines, with oth- ers offering speciality white wines and regional food dishes, including steak, foie gras and oysters!
Even with the wine stops the first runner finished in an ex- ceptional 2 hours and 23 minutes to win his body weight in wine. A few hours later, having taken a slightly more relaxed approach, Cinderella and her sisters crossed the finish line. The atmosphere throughout was excellent and Marathon du Medoc is definitely worth doing if you are a fan of wine, run- ning or both.
RJG
Marathon du Médoc
Looking surprisingly fresh at the finish
Ugly sisters meet their heros