Ollie Phillips, IRB World 7s Player of the Year 2009, is about to embark on his toughest challenge to date... The Clipper Around the World Race. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the details let me enlighten you; The Clipper Race starts on Sunday 1st September from Tower Bridge in London, 12 crews will circumnavigate the world covering 40,000 miles taking 11 months and visiting 16 different ports. Many involved in last year’s race described it as the most ‘epic year of their lives’ and I’ve no doubt that Ollie, as part of Team GREAT Britain, savour every single moment of it – the good and bad! Ollie is undertaking this monumentous task to continue to raise awareness and funding for the Alzheimer’s Society. It is true Ollie Phillips style to choose something so huge and taxing in order to push himself to the limits and generate the most huge coverage and funds for his charity. If the Clipper Race wasn’t enough Ollie and a team of friends are off on a small, 379km, warm up cycle next week to Brussels before he joins the race in France on 9th September.
With so many challenging times ahead it was only right that Ollie was given a huge send off party and allowed to let his hair down before the serious work starts. Libertine (Old China Whites) was the venue... Rainbow Warrior was the theme and celebration was the order of the night. There were some strong pieces of Rainbow Warrior attire, including a very tight lycra rainbow top from Ollie’s former Stade teammate James Haskell, however it was Mr Phillips who stole the show. He was on superb form sporting an outrageous Foul Fashions Suit, one that I doubt he will be taking on the boat, however perhaps it might be useful to pull out during the more difficult points to put a smile on everyone’s face. The celebrations continued long into the night, the band belted out hit after hit, the drinks flowed and everyone there partied hard in true Ollie Days fashion.
I cannot sing the praises of Ollie Phillips enough, not only is he undertaking one of the most daunting tasks you can do, all for an outstanding cause, but he is also continuing to develop the sport he loves on the way. During his 40,000 mile race he will be leading a programme of rugby 7s events at many of the stopover destinations to continue to raise the profile of the sport. Don't worry, playing wise Ollie isn’t finished yet, his sights are firmly set on Team GB and Rio 2015.
Last night’s event was a fitting send off to a true legend who is doing outstanding things to raise awareness and funds for a charity so close to his heart. The total continues to rise for the Alzheimer’s Society (Just Giving Link Here) and to follow Ollie’s progress throughout his ride to Brussels and the 11 month Clipper Race with Team GREAT Britain head onto Twitter.
All that is left to say now is Bon Voyage Mr Phillips... stay in touch and have the time of your life!
