MTC

Dr Ed Coats was plucked out of obscurity and thrust into the limelight, when he was chosen to join James Cracknell and Ben Fogle on their epic race to the South Pole in early 2009.  The race was the first of its kind since Captain Scott was beaten 97 years ago by Norwegian Amundsen.  Ed completed a two day training course and aptitude test to win his place on the expedition, beating more than 650 applicants from across the UK for a place in the team.  After racing for 473.6 miles, having faced crevasse fields, battled blisters, frostbite and hallucinations as well as catching pneumonia,  Ed, James and Ben, otherwise know as Team QinetiQ, crossed the finish line in second place, just 20 hours behind their Norwegian rivals.  The trio, who had little cross country skiing and no polar experience between them prior to the race, trudged up to 20 miles a day in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius all the while pulling 70kg pulks behind them.

The trip was followed closely by the Daily Telegraph and BBC Breakfast and was filmed for a primetime BBC documentary series, which aired last July.

Even before taking part in the South Pole Race, the intrepid doctor was no stranger to physical hardship.  His achievements include representing Great Britain as a decathlete, captaining two teams that swam the English Channel in 2003 and he has completed the Karrimor Mountain Marathon. He has a degree in Aerospace Physiology from the University of London and completed a law degree whilst juggling his day job.

Ed is now back working as a doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology in a busy Maternity Unit in Bristol and he is also concentrating on his corporate speaking work, delivering motivational and inspirational talks, both on his own and with fellow team mates James and Ben. However, the next 12 months will see Ed face a new challenge - 30 in fact. To celebrate his 30^th birthday, Ed is challenging himself to tackle 30 of the UK's toughest and most quirky events in a year to help raise money for the charity Wellbeing for Women. Events such as the Dartmoor Classic, a 106-mile bike ride, and the Nokia Thames Swim, a two-mile swim down the River Thames are included in his list of challenges where he is expecting some familiar faces, James and Ben, to join in with the some of the events. For more information on this, please visit his website.

When Ed does get any spare time, he regularly enjoys keeping fit through running, swimming and road biking and took part in The Bristol Half Marathon in September 2008.

2009
On Thin Ice - BBC 2

Testimonials

"Ed has been a great ambassador for QinetiQ as the third team member in the race to the South Pole. From a hospital doctor to a polar racer in 9 months, he can motivate and inspire others to achieve their life objectives. He has a real charm and charisma which warms and engages anyone who is lucky enough to be in his company. He adapts his style and content on the specific audience he is talking to, combining serious fact and danger encounters with light hearted humour stories very well."
Steve Hollidge
Marketing Integration and Sponsorship Manager
QinetiQ Ltd

"Dr. Ed Coats has already amassed more adventures and experiences than most people three times his age.  We were delighted to hear of his exploits of trekking to the South Pole and were amused by the stories of the training regimes employed prior to this challenge of a lifetime. Ed's easy manner made for an entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable after dinner speech - would not hesitate to use him again."
Phil Smith
Director, Goodacre UK

"Thank you so much for for giving such a wonderful presentation about your impending polar expedition.  Your lecture was one of, if not the, best attended lecture in the series and it was great for us that you could attract such a wide ranging audience. I have had nothing but good feedback from your talk.  You managed to engage and enthuse our undergraduate physiology and sport and exercise sciences students and many of them were really excited after the presentation and have carried that enthusiasm into their studies. You helped to place what they are learning into the context of a current challenge to human performance."
Harry B Rossiter PhD FACSM
University of Leeds
Faculty of Biological Sciences

 "Many, many thanks for a superb talk at our Ten Topics meeting.  I am sure you realised from the feedback on the day how well it was received, and it was just what we needed at the end of a fairly heavy medical day"
Professor Graham R V Hughes MD FRCP
Head of The London Lupus Centre