Athletes & Adventurers

Tom Evans is a 21 year old adventure enthusiast aspiring to make a living from adventure after completing his Geography degree at Newcastle University. Tom writes a popular blog called Exceed Possibility about the adventure and outdoor world, including his own adventures; he has also written for several other blogs and websites and reviewed everything from adventure holidays to clothing.

Having been a keen sportsman from a young age Tom decided to cycle across England at 18 before climbing Kilimanjaro a year later, having spent four months teaching in, and travelling around, East Africa. The following year saw him trekking in the Himalayas and travelling through Nepal and India. Tom has been lucky enough to have travelled to 28 countries on 5 continents and definitely has the travelling bug!

This Summer Tom paddled 1,120 miles on a Stand Up Paddleboard down the Mississippi River as part of British Adventurer Dave Cornthwaite’s expedition from Source to Sea. With over a month of paddling and a World Record to show for it Tom returned from his first major expedition with the desire for greater challenges in the future.

2011 has been a busy year already as it has seen him skiing in Italy, carrying out field work in Iceland, trekking in Morocco and paddling in America, but there’s more to come. Tom hopes to carry on writing about adventure, including writing a short e-book about his paddle, before field work in New Zealand this December and a number of planned adventures and bigger expeditions in the near future.

David Stokes is an inspiration to us all; at the age of 61 he caught the bike bug, passed his motor cycle test and now divides his time between photography, writing and carrying out seemingly impossible challenges.

So far David has rode from the UK to Morocco on a 50cc moped, driven a Piaggio 3 wheeled Ape 50 from Italy to Burntwood, England, as well as a smart car to Istanbul and Marrakech. On his latest adventure he decided on a round trip from the UK to Aqaba in Jordan, on a Honda CD25O.

David admits to an unconventional look on life and loves to ride or drive any vehicle that is designed for local use and see if it will go the distance. His adventures have seen him published in a number of magazines and in 2007 he was given the Caravan Club’s Explorer of the Year Award in recognition of his adventures.

Sarah-Lou isn’t just part of Gelert’s amazing product development team; she is also a keen Celtic Rower of ten years.

Celtic rowing is now a huge part of Sarah-Lou’s life, training at least once a week to take part in events such as the Celtic Challenge, 96 mile race across the Irish Sea from Arklow to Aberystwyth, the London River Race a 22 mile challenge down the Thames and the Menai Straits Race.

With the new rowing season about to kick of Sarah-Lou and her team mates will be taking up a few new challenges outside of the league.