The Treloar Trail

Week 1

What Ultra Running Taught Me About Leadership and Teamwork

So it’s been 9 years since I ran the Atacama Desert Race with 4 Deserts. It still stands as one of the most amazing experiences I have had, not just for the sheer physical challenge, but for what it unlocked in me about running! That event sparked my love (and obsession) for running in extreme environments. There is something so raw and real about being out in a vast, unforgiving desert, stripped of all your comforts (no WiFi or moisturiser!) and purely relying on your own grit and importantly, relying on others around you.

Fast forward to this year and I have been training towards another big milestone. Both professionally and personally, the Ultra X Jordan, 220km through the Wadi Rum desert. Another incredibly vast landscape. Another test of my limits. Another opportunity to learn.

These events, as extreme as they are, have shaped how I view leadership and how I know we can build resilient teams.

It might sound like a stretch (or an impossible adventure!) to some….but in the middle of nowhere, under the intense heat with sand sores, dry lips and exhaustion, you do start to see things clearly. You learn quickly that even in something that may feel like an individual adventure or path, you are never truly doing it alone. The community that forms during these events, from fellow runners to volunteers is absolutely unreal. Everyone wants everyone else to succeed. You check in on each other, share supplies, offer encouragement and literally push through the pain together.

That sense of a shared mission is something I have carried back into business. Whether it has been building a team, leading a project, or supporting peers. I have seen how essential it is to create a culture where people look out for one another and stay connected to a greater purpose - the outdoors really does support this. 

For me, the idea of building a business that unites people, a blend of personal drive, care for others and shared ambition is such a core culture!

This has made me reflect on the better businesses of today, a company’s ethos can’t just live in mission statements…it has to be lived through how the team operates, how challenges are tackled and how success is shared.

And these ultra races…they are more than just finish lines. They are proving grounds for resilience, humility, leadership and above all, teamwork.

Here is to the next step forward in running and in business.

09/10/2025

week 2

Not always chasing the summit  

Last week, I shared my story about running another ultra marathon in the desert testing my body, finding calm in the chaos of life and embracing the unique community that exists in these extreme endurance events. 

There is a certain beauty in the intensity of those moments, but there is also something just as powerful in the quiet but intentional choice to connect outdoors without a goal in mind.

In the Atacama Desert in Chile, nine years ago, I met Christian during my first ultra marathon. Two strangers drawn to the same experience who left not just with a medal, but with a lasting friendship.

Since then, we have made a point to reconnect once a year. Not always to race hard or hit new PBs, but to share time together in nature, doing what we love running, exploring and catching up. This year, it was the Budapest Marathon and we ran soaking in the sights of a new city, in conversation.

And that is the point.

Not every adventure or meeting needs a finish line. Not every gathering or team event needs an agenda. Sometimes the best connections, in both work and life, come when we simply make space for them.

At TTAdventures, we talk a lot about fitness, health and the power of adventure. But, at the heart of all of it is about connection, professionally and personally. 

Whether it is a team adventure or a retreat without flip charts and targets, creating moments of shared experience opens doors that no formal meeting room ever could.

Some of our team events have goals - yes, such as team challenges and strategic sessions. But some are just about showing up, reconnecting and letting the environment do the work of bringing people together.

Because when we take the pressure off, when we go outside just to be, we often find what we didn’t know we needed: inspiration, insight, even unexpected breakthroughs in life, in friendship and in business.

So let’s not always chase the summit. Sometimes the most meaningful part of the journey happens when we slow down and walk the trail with someone else.

15/10/2025

week 3

Building Better Decision Makers

Over the past few months, our team recently worked on something entirely new, a shift in how we approach performance, leadership and decision making.
For the first time, we partnered with an expert outside of outdoor adventure and media to create an experience built for 80 business executives, all centered around one theme - decision making under pressure.

In the outdoor world, we understand the importance of calm, clear headed decisions. But this time, we wanted to step beyond the mountain and into a different kind of arena and that is why we partnered with Sara Cox, an international professional rugby referee. Sara operates in an environment where pressure is constant and emotion is everywhere. When the crowd goes, when teams challenge decisions and when every decision can shift the outcome of a match, she must rely not on instinct or emotion, but on a process.

Sara’s role was a powerful reflection of what great decision makers do, they return to their process when emotion peaks - clarity comes from preparation and structure.

This idea was at the heart of our new event. We were exploring how leaders can strengthen their decision-making process before the pressure hits developing frameworks that lead to consistent, high-quality decisions, even when emotions run high.

In the outdoors, process saves lives. When lightning strikes on a ridge, there is no time for debate, you follow procedure. When a client has paid to reach the summit but conditions demand to turn back, emotion must take a back seat to judgment. It is not about instinct alone; it is about informed, disciplined decision making.

Sara’s world was no different. When chaos unfolds around her, she doesn’t respond to emotion, she responds to structure, training and process. That’s where consistency lives. That’s where leaders can thrive.

Our goal was simple at this event: to help leaders make better, more consistent decisions when it matters most. Whether you are standing at the base of a stormy mountain or in the middle of a boardroom negotiation, the outcome depends on what you do under pressure and the process that gets you there.

Ending this weeks blog with a huge congratulations to David Love in our team on his MBE for his contribution as Chief of Staff at the Centre for Army Leadership, more about our team and associates next week…..

25/10/2025