The Enduroman Arc 2 Arch Relay Teams - 26th Aug 2007

The City Banks relay

This year saw five-city banks (Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Barclays Capitol and UBS) relay from London to Paris under the banner of Enduroman.

The banks were all raising money for charity through sponsorship.

As in previous years the run starts at Canary Wharf and finishes at Dover. The weather conditions were fantastic, maybe a little to hot, but after the weather this summer no one complained. The first bank to reach the finishing post in Dover was Deutsche Bank in a very respectable time of 9hrs 39 mins closely followed by Morgan Stanley , Credit Suisse, UBS and finally Barclays Capitol.

The teams all started the swim at the same time from Sanfire Hoe beach Dover. A great sight to watch all five boats heading into the Channel guiding their swimmers. The first team to touch land on France was Credit Suisse in 10hours 16mins; approximately 30mins later came Morgan Stanley., with all teams finishing in respectable times.

At this point the race for first place was very close (13 minutes) between Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley with just the cycle ride to come.

The cycle ride started from Calais in 10 min intervals with the slowest team going first. Credit Suisse arrived at the finish. after only 8 hours 36 mins to take first place, followed by Morgan Stanley 23 mins later .

The total time for the event was between 29hours and 33hours. A great time was had by all participants and support crews. Many thousands will again have been raised for charity.

It has been a fantastic season for the Enduroman organisation, many thousands raised for charity and two successful solo athletes reaching the Arc de Triomphe.

The Enduroman Arc 2 Arch Relay Teams - Previous Results

Two London Banks, Credit Suisse First Boston, and Morgan Stanley chose the Enduroman London to Paris race as the tool to enable their employees to raise large sums of money for charity.

A team of six athletes from each bank 5 male 1 female spent the whole August Bank Holiday relay running swimming and cycling from London to Paris under the watchful eyes of two Enduroman referees, Eddie Ette and Eddie Clark. Their job to ensure that the Enduroman relay event rules were adhered to and all changeovers were done on time and safely.

The Endurobank London to Paris relay race started by the fountain in Cabot Square Canary Wharf, Friday morning August 26th 05. Many interested employees from both banks watched the start, as there had been a launch day and many thousands of pounds pledged to the teams on completion.

The competitiveness of both teams could be seen during the final preparations for the days ahead, the loading of bikes, food and kit onto the team vehicle etc. With both vans ready and in place at the first check point the run and clocks started. The format for the Endurobank event was simple, each member of the team had to run for an hour then change with the next team member. The team order was written down prior to the start of the event and given to the Enduroman Referee. This made it interesting as tactics came in and the two teams chose to run there stronger runners at different times. Which at times caused catch up and over taking during the run. Both teams finished the 85-mile run in Dover less than 5mins apart, in very respectable times of less than nine hours putting the Morgan Stanley bank team in front. The swim not due to start until the early hours of the next day allowed time to get to accommodation shower eat and sleep before the next days labours.
With all the preparations finished and the team order handed to the referees, the English Channel swim, which comes next, started in the dark at 04 30hrs from Shakespeare Beach Dover. The swim section
Is the hardest part of the event, Tide flow, Motion sickness and cold being the main things to overcome? CSFB were recognised by Morgan Stanley to have the strongest swimmers and were expected to win the swim by many hours. CS&PF boats were guiding both teams across the Channel, The CSFB swimmers with Mike (Father) and the Morgan Stanley swimmers with Lance (Son). Lance with the weaker swim team knows his swimmers are undeterred and will give everything to keep the time they expected to loose by to a minimum.
Enduroman event raises over £75,000
He will work the course to there ability. Both skippers have years of experience and know the Channel waters, so the teams are confident if they keep swimming they will get across this very fickle stretch of water.


The CSFB at one stage were estimated to be about 3hrs in front of Morgan Stanley, which is what was expected. CSFB could be seen through out the crossing from Lances boat and as the two boats approached France CSFB looked to be very close to the French shore probably 3hrs in front and able to finish. But for some reason seemed to take an age to get across the final few miles. The CSFB finished in a respectable time of 12hrs 08mins on beaches below Wimeraux France.

Morgan Stanley team came in at Petite Cap Blanc Nez 1hr 36 mins later in a time of 13hrs 44mins. Delighted to have regained a lot of the time expected to be lost as they were lucky enough to have had there strongest swimmers in the water for the final push. Both teams met at Calais the start point for the bike the final section of this massive triathlon relay.

All was now on the bike. The realities being that if the CSFB were not to have the misfortune of getting a breakdown they should win. This did not stop their determination they wanted to beat the Morgan Stanley bank by as much as possible. The Morgan Stanley Bank team were not going to allow this to happen the outcome being a fantastic 170-mile cycle race seeing both banks at the finish within 3mins of each other.
Credit Suisse Federal Bank became the winners of the first Endurobank London to Paris event in a respectable overall competing time of 29hrs 39mins beating Morgan Stanley by 1hour 34mins only.

Both teams met in the evening at a Paris Café for a presentation meal, drinks and much friendly banter. Both teams returned to England delighted with their achievement.

The dream behind the Enduroman London to Paris was to find a tool to enable companies or individuals to raise money for their chosen charity. The banks involvement proves the idea was sound and as a result Teenage Cancer Trust and Age concern are going to be donated more than 75 Thousand Pounds between them.

www.csfb.com/endurochallenge
www.justgiving.com/EnduroTeam
www.ace.org.uk/AgeConcern/support_4885.htm