More About Team Ivan
Team Ivan was set up by people who trained for and ran in the gruelling Tough Guy extreme endurance challenge in 2007 and 2008, raising money for the Oxford Children's Hospital. Some of us then went on to run in the Zermatt Marathon (a marathon with altitude!) and generally caught the extreme running bug. We've gained so much from our personal sense of achievement — both in completing extreme events, and raising money for charity — that we wanted to get organised and share this experience with other people who might not have thought they could do it. We are incorporated as a Community Interest Company and are members of the Association of Running Clubs through which we get insurance and CRB checks.
We are named after our friend Ivan Lissin who ran with us in Tough Guy 2007. Taking on this challenge awoke Ivan's passion for adventurous sports, so as part of his training he joined the Oxford University Mountaineering Club and took up rock climbing. A year later, on the day that we were running in Tough Guy 2008, Ivan was climbing the cliffs at Anvil Point in Dorset when he was fatally injured after he slipped and fell into the sea.
Ivan had recently graduated from Oxford University and was a talented scientist, musician and writer. We remember him for his quiet determination, sharp wit and his spirit of adventure — qualities we hope will inspire Team Ivan to success!