The Quad

 Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon

The Kindrochit Quadrathlonis a WildFox classic. Set in the stunning landscape of Highland Perthshire, ‘The Quad’ as it is affectionately known, combines four mighty challenges: a swim, run, kayak and cycle. Now in its sixth year the event has helped raise a staggering £3.6 million for good causes.

The fun starts at dawn on the 9^th of July with a bracing swim across the icy waters of Loch Tay, followed by a seven peak run across the Ben lawyers mountain range. The route across this steep and rugged terrain is a test to body and soul. Navigation skills in the typically misty conditions are required. It goes without saying that strength, endurance and bags of good humor are essential.

From the North shore of Loch Tay participants are then pushed off in kayaks to paddle seven miles back to our base camp. Most stop off on the way for one of our legendary pina coladas (sadly non-alcoholic) on bikini beach, before cutting straight across the loch.

Tired yet? Most participants are exhausted by the time they pick up their bikes for the last section, a gruelling 34 mile cycle ride around Loch Tay. Thankfully the lure of a fish supper in Killin helps keep motivation high.

Without the water rescue expertise, off-road response units, field hospital capability and overwhelming enthusiasm of British Red Cross staff, the Quad would not be possible. Working together with expert Matterhorn Medical doctors and nurses, the well-being and safety of all the event participants is given the highest priority. 

Most teams stagger rather than run across the finishing line. But this is just when the real fun starts. There’s a brief respite for a massage and a hearty hog roast before the evening’s entertainment gets into full swing. Quadrathletes are then expected to rise to one last challenge – dancing Scottish reels to a live band in the big tent.

At the end of the night everyone gathers on the loch shore to see a spectacular fireworks display over the same waters’ they swam across many long hours earlier. We are proud to say that most participants come away with a sense of achievement that stays with them for the rest of their lives. 

Here is what Simon Read, one of the top finishers in the 2011 Quad said about the event.  

Which section of the Quad did you found most challenging? 

Swimming across the loch in my ‘alvin stardust’ suit was surprisingly hard. It is made of the kind of material you normally find on hospital beds to protect mattresses. It was very cold: I had thought the organisers were probably catering from southern lightweights by insisting on wetsuits. But my test dip the day before the race in my speedos quickly made me realise that I was indeed one of those southern lightweights.  

How did you find the support that the Wild Fox team and volunteers provided? 

The support from the WIld fox team and volunteers was absolutely mindblowingly awesome. I had no idea that the event would be so well run. It was truly a military operation, but with lashings of tea, cake and more support than I would have thought possible: speed boats, spotter planes, mountain rescue on every remote turn, cocktails on the loch and huge amounts of enthusiasm.

What was your overall impression of the event? 

The day was highly energetic and seamlessly organized. Staff were efficient, enthusiastic, supportive and tremendous fun. Everything seemed geared around making it a safe, entertaining and well supported day. One of the big highlights for me was swimming across Loch Tay to the sound of bagpipes at dawn.

How did you find the food, dancing and that was laid on afterwards?  

After several large plates of pasta and double portions of chocolate cake I never returned from my post shower ‘five minute nap.’ The music and dancing was great and enjoyed by our whole ‘black swan’ support team (most of whom were under 5!). 

Where does all the money raised by the Quad go?

Like every one of our other challenges the Quad is all about raising money for charity. Participants have to work hard before they even cross the starting line, raising a minimum of £400 for good causes. So far their efforts have more than paid off with a total of £3.9 million (this amount includes leverage funding) raised by the Quadrathlon for Mercy Corps’ work in the world’s poorest countries since 2005.

2011: Timor Leste

This year we hope to raise at least £200,000 for Mercy Corps work in Timor Leste, Asia’s poorest country. With 80% of people in Timor Leste relying solely on agriculture for both food and income, Mercy Corps is working to support small scale farmers grow a higher quantity and quality of crops. The Quadrathlon will enable 22,500 people in two of the most vulnerable districts of the country to grow sustainable crops that generate income for their families. 

Money raised by the Quadrathlon will make a big difference in Timor Leste:

£10 will provide 125 vulnerable farmers in Timor Leste, with enough quality seeds to last an entire planting season.

£20 will enable Mercy Corps to provide three months of hands-on training in improved farming practices for ten rural farmers

£65 will provide a complete set of new tools for one community farming group

£110 will enable one rural household to establish a vegetable patch, complete with small scale water harvesting and collection system. This will improve the entire family’s diet and reduce the risk of child malnutrition

£350will provide one group of farmers with coffee-drying and processing equipment which will improve the value of product for over 30 farmers by an estimated 30%.

£600will enable 145 farmers to have access to improved irrigation for 210 hectares of land which will dramatically increase their crop yield.

The European Commission has already committed £872,000 (80%) of the total budget for this project, conditional on Mercy Corps securing the remaining £217,000. This means that every penny from the Quadrathlon will leverage four times its value for the project!

Mary's Meals

2011 is the first year that the Quadrathlon will also raise money to help Mary's Meals reach hungry children. The charity runs school feeding projects from its base in Scotland, helping children from Albania to Zambia.

It costs only £6.15 for Mary's Meals to provide a daily meal of likuni phala porridge for a child in Malawi for the whole school year. It is a simple gift that really can change their lives.

Mary’s Meals is now feeding pupils in some 260 primary schools in Malawi. Research shows that 7% more of these children will pass their exams now that Mary’s Meals has been introduced into their schools.

Fiona Vallance, a Glasgow University Mary’s Meals volunteer described her experience of the charity in action in Malawi.“Many of the children we met were orphans whose guardians have several other children to feed, so they really relied on the food that Mary’s meals provided.

“Once the bowls were lined up, we gave them to the children and they sat and devoured the food. While the children ate, the Mary’s Meals monitor, Regina, checked every child’s attendance. If a child was off sick. She was asked about their whereabouts and health – every child was a vital member of the class.”

2010: Guatemala

In 2010 the event raised £201,000 towards Mercy Corps’work with indigenous people in Guatemala. As a result of this work, 8,946 families have  been able to secure land and with it their dignity, identity and future. This project is now at the vital next stage of teaching farmers how to maximise the use of their land.

Mercy Corps used funds raised from the Quad to began working with the community of Chitap in Guatemala to initiate a life-changing process.  

Chitapis a small rural community, located in the district of San Pedro Carchá, in the area of Alta Verapaz. For years, the 32 indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ families who call this place home have made their living by farming. Their main crops are corn, cardamom, and coffee.

However, constant fluctuations in the market prices of coffee and cardamom, together with regular droughts in recent years, have made this community extremely vulnerable. Many community members are forced to migrate to other communities to find work as poorly paid field labourers.

With support from Mercy Corps, families began to hold meetings to identify new crops to grow that would diversify production, generate a higher income and improve their family diet. These meetings led them to conclude that the best alternatives to plant would be potato and white chayote (similar to a squash).

Community leader Juan Yat have seen that, aside from the profits, these two new crops help to improve their diet and their economic stability. Juan said:  “Thank you, Quadrathletes and Mercy Corps, for helping us fulfill our dreams. We are planting the seeds of our future.”

2009: India

The AGKQ raised £171,000 to support Mercy Corps’ work with tea farming communities in Darjeeling, India

The funds raised were put towards a new strand of our established and highly successful project: Community Health Advancement Initiative (CHAI). CHAI works closely with local communities in the Darjeeling and Assam region to identify and address common problems to improve quality of life through health, economic development and youth initiatives.

Building on our experience working with agricultural and trading communities, we are working to further improve living standards on small holder farmers through market information using mobile phone technology and improved production and value addition.

In its last 5 years of working within the community Mercy Corps has identified spices (ginger, cardamom, turmeric) and dairy as some potential livelihood activities in the communities that can increase income and employment opportunities for households. The Market Chain Intervention (MCI) will focus on addressing the financial, technical and market constraints of spice and dairy farmers in Darjeeling. MCI will manage its own credit funds, link with government and non government institutes for technical and input support and the use of mobile phone network for market information.  This project reaches at least 2000 households in 3 years and benefits at least another 5000 households through the ripple effect.

2008: Nepal

In July 2008, the quadrathlon raised £178,000 for two Mercy Corps projects in Nepal. The Cardamom Project and the Disaster Risk Reduction Project.

The cardamom project worked with small scale cardamom farmers to increase their income through improved technologies, techniques and marketing. This meant that these cardamom farmers could finally compete in the competitive global market.

Nepal is prone to floods, landslides, fires, earthquakes and droughts, affecting 10,000 families every year. Mercy Corps’ ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’ project worked in susceptible areas with vulnerable communities and local government to increase people’s awareness and ability to prepare for and respond to frequent natural disasters.

2007: Pakistan

The quadrathlon raised £165,000 to support Mercy Corps’ groundbreaking tuberculosis programme in Pakistan.

Thanks to this support, Mercy Corps was able to examine and test 70,733 suspected TB sufferers and of these 10,896 positive patients were successfully treated. A further 6.3m people benefited indirectly through improved TB detection and treatment services.

2006: Ethiopia

The quadrathlon raised £116,000 and continued to support innovative microfinance projects in Ethiopia - one in rural Wolayta and the other in Addis Ababa. In Wolayta funds helped 1,666 vulnerable households form Savings and Credit Cooperatives, which for the first time offered people the chance to save for a secure future.

In Addis Ababa, the Quadrathlon funds supported over 1,300 people through another micro credit pilot. This successful pilot helped people to increase their low incomes by receiving business advice and small microfinance loans. With these loans many were able to start small businesses such as tea stalls.

2005: Ethiopia

The quadrathlon raised £21,500 to support a microfinance pilot project in Ethiopia. Mercy Corps provided essential technical assistance to support the formation of 10 savings and credit cooperatives for farmers and small business owners.

Mercy Corps also provided tools and training to small scale farmers to help increase and improve production. These cooperatives and improved farming practices helped 500 vulnerable households and 2,500 people to change their lives for the better.