Oxfam Trailwalker 2008

Well - that was something else!! Anyone considering something like this, please read on!

Met up with Trev, Julie and Gary at the B&B we had booked for Friday night (no camping malarky for us!!!) (lightweights or heads screwed on.... time will tell!).

We set off to register and to meet Sean and Claire. On arriving, we saw Pabs which was lovely. Shortly after Lou. Always smiley of course! Annie and Laura hadn't arrived at this point. We filled in all our forms and queued up for the kit check. I must say that from this moment and throughout the whole event, the Ghurkas were absolutely first class. Fantastic guys and incredibly dedicated. These are the chaps who can complete the Trailwalker in 10 hours. Yup - 10 HOURS!!

Once we'd kit checked we went down to the camp site and helped Sean and Claire put up their tent. It was at this point that it started raining (and it was bloody freezing). Still, tent looked quite cosy (!). Got our race numbers and timing chips and then went and had lovely steaming hot food (spag bol) made and served by the Ghurkas.

Once we'd eaten we decided to go back and try and get some shut eye for the task ahead!
After a fab cooked breakfast, we returned to the campsite ready to go with Trev's car loaded to the rafters and Claire and Sean's also pretty rammed (mostly with food!!). Nick Sirs appeared to wish us well. He took photos and then proceeded to record us for posterity. Well, as I'm sure he may already have mentioned he wanted to film me - well he only filmed my back. Sorry Nick - hate my voice on film and was full of jitters thinking about the following 24ish hours!!
They had a loan piper at the start (very moving) to get us going.

We started at 10am (it was raining!). Then we were off. Within 10 minutes the sun was shining and it was actually quite hot. We had agreed with our lovely support crew that we would see them at checkpoint 3. They could then have a bit of time in a pub (typical!) and we could cover a bit of ground while we still felt fresh. First few kilometers flew by and we didn't stop for too long.

We met Claire Julie and Andy at checkpoint 3. The kettle was on and we had a lovely cup of tea and biscuits etc. More Vaseline was put on feet, general maintenance and we were off again. We said we would meet them again at checkpoint 5.

We were having a real laugh and making really good time. Because the legs were pretty tired, when we saw a downhill stretch that wasn't full of stones we actually jogged down them. It's bliss for the legs when you've been trudging away for hours and we got some very strange looks too! We got to the checkpoint and had more refreshment. Decided not to hang around too much, change of socks etc....

From this point we decided we wanted to see our support crew at each checkpoint. I can't remember what time it was at this point, but we knew darkness would be with us by the next checkpoint. We left torches etc behind and made it our aim to get there before dark. We saw Annie, Laura, Pabs and Lou (team JBJ) en route. On the way I heard from Phil K. Bless him and Mrs K - they said they would come and meet us at checkpoint 6. They had seen the JBJs earlier on in the day. It was lovely to see them - treated them to a bit of blister popping etc. My heel was at this point really sore and so was my hip (walking strangely to stop the heel hurting). Kept popping pills and felt slightly sick but still in fairly good spirits. So we donned our head torches and hi-vis vests (yeah baby!).

Now things started to change. It was probably about half ten at this point and cold. Walking in the dark is NOT easy!! Sean also had blisters on his heels and I think Trev was suffering slighty (Gary's made of steel by all accounts!). Sean and I walked on tip toes when we left this checkpoint and I have to say I felt crap. Still felt sick.

By the time we got to checkpoint 7 (which was the hot meal checkpoint) I wanted to cry. I'd held it back for quite a while (walking with 3 manly guys does put you off slightly - not that they would have minded!). Anyway, we got our food and went to join our team. Claire offered me her blanket because I was shivering and that's it - the tears started!! I felt low and I think we were all feeling the same. Our support crew were bloody freezing too but lovely as ever.

Onwards and upwards, we carried on. Fairly uneventful (and very quiet) for a while. Between checkpoints 8 and 9 was the longest stretch. We knew it would take about 3 hours (mostly in the dark). It was bloody hard and we were very quiet. Sean was brilliant because he kept us up to date with what we should be seeing, which way we should be going and how far we had left. It all helps. We saw our lovely support at checkpoint 9 and it was at this point we knew the next time we saw them would be the end (no cars could stop at checkpoint 10). It was approximately 11 and a bit kilometers to the finish now. It was at this point that we had (yet another) very steep hill. Torture!! One thing about the South Downs it seems is that you are either going up hill (for what seems like eternity) or coming down one (which was more painful!). Bearing in mind the Trailwalker covers an ascent the same as climbing Ben Nevis (twice!).

The end was in sight and at checkpoint 10 we just grabbed a drink and left. The first aid guy told me I was looking very pale and did I want to sit down - HAVING A LAUGH OBVIOUSLY. If I sat down I wouldn't bloody get up again! We pressed on and after was seemed like 4 hours (probably just over 1) we saw Brighton race course. We'd cracked it. We crossed the line in 22 hours and 22 minutes on the clock. We got in at 8.30am. I think I can speak for the guys when I say we were so chuffed with that time. The second half had been bloody hard and we all struggled in some way or another. I sobbed quite a bit when we finished and I think even my lovely manly chaps were a tad emotional too....! We had our pics taken and then I went to get my feet bandaged. Ouch ouch ouch (and more tears)

I want to thank Trev, Sean and Gary for being fantastic team mates. They kept me going when quite frankly I felt like shit. I wouldn't have quit, but they gave me the boost to try and walk that little bit quicker when I could. Thanks you lot - couldn't have done it without you. Also a massive thank you to Julie, Andy and Claire. What brilliant support - you stuck with us for the entire race, despite being knackered (about 2 hours sleep between them) but still managed to smile and get us everything we needed.

Also massive congratulations to the JBJs. Great to see your finishing photo. Next year? Good to see Lou and Pabs at the finish.

I will leave you with some pics (including some corking ones of my feet). I can't actually put weight on my heels and my legs are so stiff I can't bend them. But I loved it. Would I do it again. Of course I would!