On Friday 2nd November, Commando paintball hosted the 5 winners of Beacon Radio's competition on Mark Peters' Breakfast show. Each winner was allowed to bring along 1 guest to join him for the day, and they were also joined by 'blond bombshell' Mark himself. The group was led by Mike Holloway, who runs Commando paintball along with his family.
This is our story of their day....
Time was limited as the minibus picked up the prizewinners for the short journey out to Bulthy, just outside Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
None of the guys had ever met before and anticipation was running high as they journeyed out, but once they arrived and were 'suited & booted' ready for the day's first activity - Quad biking - they soon realised that this 'Team Safari' called for them to work together to cover the challenging course.
Within minutes they were whooping and hollering like old friends as Mike and Mark took them up some of the steepest and roughest terrain in Shropshire on their ATV's.
Even Bike Nut Dan was impressed by the handling of the quads as they raced off at speed up hill and down dale, before they rested at the highest point of the course, and took in the spectacular views. Mike pointed out the sites as they spanned round the panorama and are there any more spectacular in Britain? Even Ellesmere Port on Merseyside is visible when the weather is sound enough.
The guys were soon descending again down gravity defying slopes, returning to the yard ready to take on the perils of the cleverly designed paintball arena.
After changing into their safety gear and following instructions from the Marshalls they were soon playing real-life Action Man amongst the burnt out wrecks and treehouses constucted especially for the purpose.
By now the guys were well and truly 'bonded' and worked together in teams to 'capture the flag' of the opposing team members. Sniping was soon the order of the day as each team tried to outwit the other to win the day. Of course, the winners also took great pleasure in taking on Mark who heroically and single-handedly took the lot on from the safety of the treehouse.
After a quick change back into civvies, the gang returned to the minibus for a debriefing at a Town Centre Hostelry. I caught up with them there as they recounted there heroics over the ubiquitous bottles of Bud, and soon we had moved on to saluting each other with Vodka chasers! Strange how Quad Biking and Paintball had turned these strangers into friends in just a few hours, but Mike will tell you it happens all the time ...
I left the gang whilst I still had my sobriety, as they were preparing to go off and eat. They certainly had built up an appetite ...
To see a gallery of pictures from the day, click here.
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