Team Esteem – Doin’ it for the kids

Never shy of assuming a tough challenge when it means supporting a worthy cause, three of our intrepid team have signed up for the 2021 Buccleuch Property Challenge which will take place on Friday, 10 September at Drumlanrig Castle on the Queensberry Estate, Dumfries and Galloway.

Operations director Martina Höfner, Programme delivery manager David Currie and Assessor Rosie Neill – ‘Team Esteem’ – have been in training all summer, gearing up to compete in the six-hour adventure race, aiming to finish the day as the fastest team with the most accumulated points. All proceeds from the day’s racing will be donated to the Borders Children’s Charity (BCC). Run entirely by volunteers, BCC helps to relieve poverty, sickness and distress while advancing education for under 18s living in the Scottish Borders.

David and Rosie explain: “Almost anyone can enter as part of a three-person team, whether mixed like ours or as part of an all-male or all-female team, provided they been exercising to gain some degree of fitness. Absolutely, it can sound a bit daunting but it’ll be loads of fun too since the race takes in a 50km mountain bike ride, 5km run, paddle boarding, archery and orienteering with teams collecting points as they pass through multiple activity checkpoints.

“We’re really looking forward to the surprise activities, though we’ll have to wait to learn more about those on the day. In past years, these have included obstacle courses, kayaking and sumo suits, so anything’s possible!” 

Operations director Martina Höfner added: “Naturally team fitness will feature strongly, and we’ve been working hard to raise our game on that front. However team strategy is every bit as important, and we’ve been mapping out some special tactics though we can’t share too much, at least not yet, since that would be giving the game away!” 

Though firmly focused on representing Esteem Training and delivering a solid team performance, Rosie, David and Martina aren’t underestimating the breadth of the challenge. The Covid-19 pandemic forced cancellation of the 2020 event, which has extended extra training time for ultra-competitive participants. Teams collecting medals at the 2019 event included staff from Burness Paull LLP, Colliers International, Buccleuch Property, Gladman Developments, CDA Architects and Chris Stewart Group. Quite the roll call. 

David, Rosie and Martina welcome all sponsorship funds, with donations made through ‘The Steemies!’ JustGiving page.