Katy's Mongol Derby Training Montage
Me, some chin-ups, some horses, some nudity, some strong language. Snigger!
Katherine
I talk like Marlene Dietrich,
And I dance like Zizi Jeanmaire.
My clothes are all made by Balmain,
And there's diamonds and pearls in my hair (yes there are)
<p>I knew this would happen!</p><p>I had just been scraped off the road by some gallant rickshaw wallahs, some 50kms from the finish line of the Winter Rickshaw Run in January, after an unfortunate rolling-rickshaw-and-bouncing-off-oncoming-truck incident. </p><p>I may have hit my head. <img src="images/gallery09/3938/400x400.jpeg" title="whoopsie!" /></p><p>The upshot was this: I was only half-listening, in a haze of adrenaline and tarmac-rash, when someone described the Adventurists' latest caper, which had been unveiled that morning. My ears pricked up at the word "horseback", and my eyes met the worried gaze of Tony, my beloved and rather broken rickshaw partner. "Drop it Willings, you're still bleeding!", his expression said. Too late. "I could do that. Definitely. Riding is about my only talent." I entered the Mongol Derby surreptitiousy from my desk, two days after returning from India.</p><p>Having initially made the reserve list and missed the final cut, I had resigned myself to a more pedestrian existence: taking normal holidays, re-visiting the life drawing classes I had been toying with, and growing a herb garden in our flat in Oval. But nurturing marjoram did not fill the emotional void, and so I went to New York for a week, stayed out really late, drank lots of cocktails and rode in lots of taxis. On my return, fresh in on the Red Eye, I almost overlooked the email from the Adventurists HQ to say there had been an unfortunate drop-out...</p><p>So, with more than two months of fitness, survival skills, publicity and sponsorship to catch up on, here I am, the late entry. I could hardly be more excited. In fact, below was about the closest I have got to being this excited, and actually that was due to artificial (but still legal Mum!) stimulants. This is the real thing. </p><p><img src="images/gallery09/6341/400x400.jpeg" /></p>