R. Paul Bateson - Director Team Axarsport - originally from England born 5/1/51 in Lancashire but lived mainly in Yorkshire, has been a resident of Spain since 2001. He is now living near Santa Cruz del Comercio and Alhama de Granada in the region of the Poniente Granadino. With a background in marketing and promotion, publishing and outdoor pursuits he brings a rare blend of talents to Team Axarsport s.l.

RunBikeHike a Sports Training / Holiday Programme now in its fifth year in Andalucia. He comes with a background of 13 years of cycle racing, road, track and cyclo-cross experience plus fell and adventure racing in the UK. His cycling career in England was ended by a hit and run accident. As a result of this accident, he has gradually lost his hearing over the past 15 years, but this in no way has kept him from achieving great success.

Other Experience :

• 3 years as a Civilian Instructor with Air Training Corp, teaching navigation
• Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme supervisor
• Mountain Leader Training Board approved first Aid Certificate
• Mountain Leader Training Board (summer conditions) trained

• 6 years in outdoor retail trade (Base Camp Ilkley)
• Organized road races and North of England / Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross championships
• Competed in 5 Three Peaks of Yorkshire Cyclo-cross races
• Fell running at all distances from 3 mile to marathon

• Raid Sahara 1984 (2CV) drive across the Sahara Desert Morocco, Algeria
• Raid Laponie 1986 (2CV) drive across the Arctic, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland
  in winter
• Backpacked Tour of Mont Blanc, France, Italy, Switzerland
• Hiked Israel, Jordan and Tunisia

• Backpacked Sierra de Gredos, Central Spain
• Horse trekked in Andalusia
• Marathon Running, best, Seville 2001 (3:50)
• Marathon des Sables, Morocco

• Regional Duathlon and Mountain bike races
• Ronda 101 Duathlon, 2003 1st Vet
• Half Marathon Malaga 2004 (1:34)
• Half Marathon Malaga 2005 (1:33)

• Half Marathon Malaga 2006 (1:32:35 7th vet)
• 2006 Andalucian Mountain Running Champs. 2nd, ( vet over 50 cat ) ( 67 / 290 overall )
• Half Marathon Malaga 2008 (1:31:07 7th vet)

• Since moving to Spain participated in duathlon as a veteran, winning or making first
  three in all events contested. Also competes regularly as a runner in
  mountain / road / trail races and participates in mountain bike / road cycling events
• Regular contributor to STREETWISE magazine, TRAIL RUNNER and other publications

Penny Edwards - born Manchester 22/11/54, grew up in London and then settled in Norwich. Now spends part of each year in Alhama de Granada where she has a house. Has also lived and worked in Berlin, Galicia and Ecuador.

As a languages teacher, she is fluent in Spanish and also teaches German and French. She has also worked in residential social work, mental health, youth work and counselling and is currently employed as a teacher of modern foreign languages at primary level and as a youth counsellor working in the voluntary sector.

Penny's athletic career began only about 10 years ago. She started with triathlon and has more recently focused on cross country and road running where she has had success in all distances. She now ranks 4th nationally in her age group.

Athletics Career

• 1999 London Triathlon
• 2001 World Triathlon Championships, Edmonton, Canada
• 2003 London Marathon 3:31
• 2003 Llanberis Half Iron Man

• 2004 London Marathon 3:15
• 2004 Sherbourne Half Iron Man
• 2004 New York Marathon 3:26
• 2005 Norwich Half Marathon 1:27

• 2005 Best 10k time: 39:51
• 2005 Best 5 mile time: 32:30
• 2005 Best 5k time: 19:46
• 2005 European Triathlon Championships, Lausanne Switzerland, Silver Medallist

• 2005 Escape to Alcatraz Triathlon, qualified for 2006
• 2005 Vitruvian Half Iron Man 5:20
• 2005 Level 1 Triathlon Coaching qualification
• Member of E.A.S.T. Masters Swimming Club

• Member and on committees of Norwich Road Runners and Tri-Anglia Triathlon Club
• Awarded " Best Female Athlete of 2004 " by Norwich Road Runners.

John Bateson - Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire on the 16th April 1971, John moved to London to go to university and stayed there for sixteen years. He now lives year-round in Huetor Vega, a village in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range on the outskirts of the city of Granada.

John is fluent in Spanish, and currently works as writer and English teacher. During almost a decade in NHS management, John became expert in team development, goal setting and improvement processes.

As a teenager John swam competitively at county standard, captained his city's team on successful tours to Germany and Canada, and represented Yorkshire in the Modern Triathlon. He also qualified and worked as a swimming instructor and life guard. His interest in running was awakened when he unwittingly got involved in a run-walk attempt at the Three Peaks of Yorkshire, though it took him some years to realize it...

John has walked and climbed all around the UK and in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, China, Germany, France, Spain and Morocco.

John currently runs around a three hour marathon and a one hour twenty three minute half, but is counting on improving ! Some highlights from 2005 include:

• January 2005 Almeria Half Marathon 1:26:12
• February 2005 Seville Marathon 3:05:36
• August 2005 The " Subida de Veleta " ( a hard 50km ultra marathon with close to 2800
  metres of height gain, finishing atop the second largest mountain in the Sierra Nevada
  range ) 5:29:13 and 32nd place overall

• September 2005 Yorkshireman Off Road Marathon 3:59:48, 11th place in the overall
  solo race
• October 2005 Granada Half Marathon 1:23:54

Samantha Elliott - born in London but lived for many years in Hertfordshire and then Bedfordshire. Before moving to Alhama de Granada she ran an Holistic Therapy and Yoga retreat for 2 years in Nechite in the Alpujarra.

Known in Spain as Sami, she is an Holistic Therapist / Teacher and Yoga Teacher utilising skills gained through the study of many different types of bodywork systems and over the past 12 years she has run training and therapy sessions in the UK and abroad as well as facilitating workshops and yoga classes.

She has travelled extensively throughout India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia and worked in retreat centres in Asia and Spain as both a therapist and Yoga teacher.

Sami is trained in:

• 1992 Crystal Therapy, ( Teacher / Practitioner ), - UK
• 1993 Vinyasa Flow Yoga, - Rishikesh, India
• 1994, 1997, 2003 Hatha Yoga, Integral Yoga, Dynamic Yoga, - Various countries
• 1994-96 Reiki : Tibetan and Elestial forms, ( Teacher / Practitioner ), - UK

• 1998 Therapeutic Body Massage, - UK
• 2000-2002 Shamanic Sound Therapy, ( Teacher / Practitioner ), - Various countries
• 2002 Reflexology and Indian Head Massage, -  Kerala, India

Sami regularly updates her skills with short courses run throughout the UK and Asia.
She currently runs " Bodywork " a private training and therapy centre, from her home in Alhama de Granada.