The Three Forts Challenge T Shirt Design 2022

I was given the opportunity to re-design the latest Three Forts Challenge T Shirt!

This is the best I can do until I get my own (ironed) one in a week or so when the actual run happens.

This is the reverse design - having spent some time running behind people with well-designed shirts I realised that this was an opportunity to give people something to reflect on… I tried to summarise both courses (and the thrill of it) in one simple image. Thanks Duncan Anderson for the opportunity.

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In May 2018 I ran the Three Forts Half Marathon with one of my best mates. Billed as ‘The Tough One’ the course is not a standard marathon course - it rejoices in exhausting steep hills with spectacular South Downs views. Forget standard times too - this is not ideal if you are watching the clock - it is more about the experience. That day was unusually hot and I am still unsure how I managed to get round. I produced this very personal infographic celebrating the event. Overall we had a really brilliant time.

We ran it a second time in May 2021 - some appropriate post pandemic relief and a chance to catch up. Here’s a roughly chopped public edit of something I shot on the day with a 360 camera. Excuse the rough edges but you’ll get the general idea. I highly recommend this course if you haven’t tried it before - we had such a blast.

So my next adventure begins in two weeks’ time. I am stepping into my first marathon as I take the full 27 mile course onboard. To be brutally honest I don’t really care for marathons - it’s all about the experience of those hills. The cut-off time is 6 hours(!). I figured that since I’ve been doing 20 miles in just over 4 hours, if things get really bad and I walk for seven of those miles I should hopefully get to the end… will post an update when it’s all over.

A religion and worldviews approach

I had hoped to produce an extensive and exhaustive blog post on this project but I just don’t have enough time. Something shorter will have to suffice for now.

Main thought: I love this project.

I worked for many years as an RE teacher and this project reflects a number core-convictions that I had developed over that time. The Religious Education Council of England and Wales asked me to create a short film based on their research that would provide an accessible hook into deeper material that they had produced. Similar to the approach I took with Emma’s story, I spent time interviewing people close to the subject material and then forming something that sought to convey the essence of their perspective in an inviting way. When Professor Trevor Cooling officially launched this piece at the Strictly RE conference (at the end of January 2022) I was so happy with the response from delegates. The REC official page can be found here.

The paradigm shift represented in this film feels really important to me - throughout my time as an RE teacher I sought to try and find examples of real people and help students to form authentic and compassionate responses as I attempted to model it myself. Everything I love about cultural engagement seems to eventually find its way back to this idea of exploring small and personally meaningful details with an open-minded sense of curiosity.

From a design perspective this project enabled me to develop my skills with infographic explainer videos. What you see is a combination of iPad screen capture, Final Cut Pro, Motion and Clip Studio Paint. What you don’t see are years of teaching experience filtered through the many members of the team that produced this - but whether you see it or not is immaterial - I think most people can feel it.