Last year Amanda and I decided to participate in the Isle of Man Parish Walk to raise money for the Penny Brohn Cancer Centre.  Since the end of January this year Amanda and I have spend much of our time at the Isle of Man hospice, where they are trying to manage her pain, due to tumors in her cervical spine.  The squeezing on her nerve roots causes excrutiating, debilitating pain across her shoulders, neck and down both arms.  It's been very tough for her.  Hospice have been kind enough to allow me to stay with her.  This year I've got even more company.  Carl & Kate-Anne are coming over from Wales to participate.  They are looking at getting to Peel within the time constraints.  We will all be raising money for the Isle of Man Hospice.

What is the Parish Walk?  It consists of a group of almost 2,000 like minded mentalists who one day decided that it would be a good idea  to walk to each of the island's parish churches (county to county for you UK folk and state to state for those USA'ers!) over a period of 24 hours.  Many of these wonderful money raising mentalists aim to get from Douglas to Peel, 32 miles, a fair old trek in itself.  I'm aiming to complete the full 85 miles.  Last year Amanda covered 45 miles before her heels turned to water balloons.  With constant calorie refuelling and words of wisdom, such as 'oooh it's lovely and warm here in the van', whilst it rained on me all through the night I completed the task, with four minutes to spare.  There are a lot of variables in the Parish Walk.  Firstly there is the training aspect.  Last year we attempted it with 5 weeks of training under our belt, having been travelling around SE Asia for the preceeding 4 months.  This time I'm looking at a similar training time frame, except that the previous 4 months have been spent sitting in hospitals or the hospice.  My legs are like over cooked strands of spaghetti.  This time I have new trainers.... I need to break them in.... I need them to look like a pair of trainers that I've lived in for 5 years.  They need to offer support, but be as comfortable as an old pair of slippers.  And then finally there is the mind...... Last year I walked with my beloved.  We kept eachother strong.  Even when she could no longer carry on, Amanda jumped in to the support vehicle (her sister and brother-in-law) and stayed with me through the dark wet night until 8am the next morning.  She was wonderful.  Many times she jumped out of the van along side me, shovelling food down my throat as she sloshed along in her socks on the wet road.  Without her support I will find the task much more of a challenge.  This year some friends from the UK have decided to walk with me.  Thanks to Stu, Carl and Kate-Anne who have all committed themselves to the insanity that is known as 'The Parish Walk'.

If you fancy supporting the hospice make a donation.  They all count, however small they all add up.

Thanks to you all in advance.

Big love and healing energy to anyone out there that needs some!

Mark, Carl & Kate-Anne

Mark Boyd Photography at Facebook.com