00:00Here in Kent, the weather isn't always our best friend, but one man from Broadstairs
00:04seems to have made it his personal enemy.
00:07Dragging a tyre from Broadstairs Beach along the coastline to Ramsgate is a regular task
00:11for Rob Wilkinson, who was born and raised in the town.
00:15The weight of the tyre and the friction of the sand is supposed to mimic the resistance
00:19of a sled being dragged across snow.
00:21All to make sure Rob is ready for hauling his food, kit and survival gear for 10 days
00:26across the Arctic.
00:28So it's called the Lapland Arctic Ultra, it's just over 500km across the Arctic, fully
00:34self-supported, I'll be pulling a sled, it's going to be pretty chilly, they've told me
00:39to prepare for temperatures down to minus 40, which is no joke, it feels a bit like today
00:45I think, and yeah, it's going to be interesting that's for sure.
00:52As I said I think it's just a combination of constantly pushing myself out of my comfort
00:57zone and seeing how far I can go.
01:01Rob's been told by others that the Lapland Arctic Ultra is quite a difficult challenge,
01:06but Rob has done others that he hopes will prepare him for the gruelling distance.
01:11So I've done quite a few different endurance events.
01:15In 2019 I was part of the No Man Campaign and that was a race with eight ocean rowing
01:21boats, four man teams and over five days we rode across the Mediterranean or part of the
01:27Mediterranean.
01:28A couple of years ago I took part in something called the Fat Viking and nothing to do with
01:35how I look, it was an ultra endurance bike ride on mountain bikes with fat tyres, hence
01:42the name.
01:44I rode non-stop for 24 hours and 40 minutes and that was pretty brutal.
01:51The challenge isn't just for Rob to see if he can complete it, but also to raise money
01:56for Kent Search and Rescue as well as Fallen Fields Special Needs School.
02:00When he heads off in March temperatures will reach as low as minus 40 degrees and he'll
02:04have to cover around 500 kilometres, which is equal to roughly 10 ultra-marathons back-to-back.
02:10Naturally, this had me wondering, is training on Broadstairs Beach with a tyre really enough?
02:15Well, I would come to regret that question, as well as not checking the weather before
02:19I set off this morning.
02:20Well, it's definitely quite heavy and I can't really imagine dragging this across the Arctic,
02:26let alone across Broadstairs Beach.
02:30Finn McDermid for KMTV in Broadstairs.
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