Icebreaker - Pure Merino

I’ve always wanted to experience boot camp, but without the drill sergeants and with the opportunity to sleep in my own bed at night, so I jumped at the chance to take part in the inaugural Portland MS Mud Run, sponsored in part by Icebreaker.  10km of muddy running, with some extreme obstacles thrown in for extra fun, sounded like a good way to spend an overcast Saturday morning.  Plus, I’d get to be part of the Icebreaker team and run for a good cause: Multiple Sclerosis research.

Powered by a few bananas and fuelled by Gin and Gatorade from the ever-present Icebreaker sheep drench, I set out with my teammates to conquer the course.  The course was extra muddy by the time we started in the third wave and I found myself sliding down the first hill.  My Icebreaker GT200 Leggings were covered in mud and I thought I was already pretty dirty by the time I crawled under the first easy obstacle, but I had no idea what lay in store for me and the team.  Up ahead there were slides, tunnels, rope swings, and treacherous pits of mud that attempted to steal your shoes.

Then there were the climbing obstacles – not so great for someone with a fear of heights.  I didn’t even think about the first one . . .  until I got to the top, looked down, and realized I was 25 feet above the ground on a rickety wooden structure!  The second one, a 30 foot wall of cargo netting, wasn’t any easier, but with the team encouraging me, I found myself on the other side of the wall in no time and heading for the finish.

After crossing the finish line with my teammates and an extremely big grin on my muddy face, I celebrated the run with a beer, Korean tacos, and a cold shower from a fire hose.  The team discussed our favourite obstacles: the mud slide and the platform jump into a pool of freezing water were both big hits.  Then we started making plans for Mud Run 2012!

- Matt Hazel, Icebreaker US Customer Service Rep

RIP Shrek – not the curmudgeonly green ogre, but the woolly colossus who made headlines around the world after evading mustering for six years.

Shrek was no ordinary merino. If anything, he looked more like a giant cauliflower than a sheep.

By the time Shrek was discovered in a cave on Bendigo sheep station near New Zealand’s Southern Alps, he had avoided the shearer’s blades for six years. His 38cm (15ins) coat of merino wool had kept him alive despite the region’s harsh, snowy winters and searingly-hot summers.

Shrek had the full Brazilian – and more – on an iceberg off the coast of Dunedin. Shrek’s fabulous ‘fro yielded 27kg (59lb) of merino wool, which is six times as much as the average sheep.

Icebreaker stepped in to keep the newly-naked Shrek cosy with a specially-made coat, which he wore for an audience with then Prime Minister Helen Clark in Wellington. He flew in planes, visited hospitals and was immortalised in best-selling books, and in the process raised money for a children’s charity.

Fame never turned Shrek’s head, and his owners said he was a sheep of exceptional personality.

Alas, Shrek’s dream run has come to an end. At 17 – almost double his life expectancy – Shrek had to be put down after suffering health problems. Station owner John Perriam described him as “a great old mate” who was ready to go to sleep.

John wants Shrek’s ashes to be scattered at the top of Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain, so he can look out over his old stamping ground. A service for Shrek will be held at the appropriately-named Church of the Good Shepherd.

“Layer up for warmth” is one of our favourite phrases at Icebreaker, and we’ve never met anyone who did it as well as Shrek. Farewell, old friend – we’ll miss ewe.

Last Saturday, on one of the sunniest days of the year, the very first Icebreaker Dragon Boat team hit the Wellington Harbour to compete in the NZCT Dragon Boat Festival.  Dressed in their green IcebreakerGT Tees, they redefined what it meant to stand out in the crowd.

Consistency was their strongest asset – placing THIRD out of five in all five races – always within a metre or, in the case of the Social Grand Final, 0.03 secs of the top placing teams. Not only did their crew improve in each race, but they shaved seconds off their personal best time too. Beating Piri Weepu (an All Black) in a race was a highlight also.

As a virgin team, up against corporate teams with 10 years or more to boast in the sport, Team Icebreaker did (to quote Trevor our IS Manager), ‘Bloody well.’ Bronze medals now line respective mantelpieces and the team is already dreaming of next year.

From the Icebreaker Dragon Boating 2011 Crew, we hope you will join us next year!