Story
First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time for visiting our fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor us online.
Late last year, Al(team captain) asked a few friends if they would like to take part in the Trailwalker 2008, he had a few leaflets and told us about when he did it before. The thought of doing 100km in 30 hours sounded like a good challenge, especially as it is for such a good cause. Team Map Reading Error was created.
Once we had put our names down and said yes, Al then told us he wants to do it in under 20 hours(no backing down now) so that is our personal challenge. 100km in under 20 hours, hopefully we will be able to do it, but just finishing will be an achievement.
The team consists of the 4 taking part plus 2 people who are the support staff(one of who is a reserve should anybody get injured, or has to pull out for other reasons before the start, these people like the team are voluntary).
When you are considering how much to donate, please don't just think about the walk, we are arranging to have 2 major training weekends on the south downs(the first of which will be early march) also a lot of solo training, building endurance so we can keep going when our brains tell us not to.
08-09 March 2008
You will all be pleased to know that we all survived our first training weekend on the South Downs, which was surprising considering the weather conditions, we had visibility down to 40m, horizontal rain and wonds of upto about 30mph.
08 March 2008
We started our walk just south of Upper Beeding at a car park on the A283, we crossed the River Adur, then headed west aiming for the quaint little village of Washington (which was about 6 miles away) where we planned to have some food.
Although the hills seemed quite gentle, we hit a hit point of 238m above sea level at Chanctonbury Hill, unfortunately due to the weather, the view was a little less than spectacular (well it was raining after all). We reached Washington then spent 15 minutes walking round to find somewhere that sold food, we found the village pub and had some hot food. At this point we all agreed to push on a little more to try and get a few more miles in before we would turn round and head back to the car.
Off we went up another hill, heading into the bracing wind (at least the rain had stopped) and we managed to walk approximately another 3.5 miles to the car park just past Sullington Hill, the time was now 3.30pm and we knew we had to get a move on to get back to the car before darkness fell.
Just for a change, it was raining, the wind got up, the cloud cover was very low and at times we had no visible markers to rely on, so we hoped the track we were taking was the South Downs Way. On a few occasions, we got blown sideways, so ended up walking, leaning at quite a steep angle into the wind.
We made it back to the car just as it was getting dark (quite handy as we only had 1 head torch), soaked and tired ( we would like to say sorry for the mud on the hotel bedroom carpet), both rooms looked like a chinese laundry, as we tried to try our kit out ready for the next day.
Please use the link below to see the route we took, when the map opens, on the left you should see a bit that says map settings, if you click on map type, you can change the view to the Google earth map.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/upper-beeding-near-brighton/353603349
09 March 2008
We started this walk just south of Saddlescombe. We headed East and our destination was a nice little hill called Blackcap. The weather was nice, a little sun and a breeze, but no dreaded rain.
After initially going down hill, is was straight into some climbing reaching a point of 210m above sea level on the first hill, we then had a little map reading error (we live up to our name anyway) and went in a little circle, said hello to some bulls and got back on track rather swiftly, we crossed the road, went past a golf course heading for Ditchling beacon, we made it to the beacon (which is 248m above sea level) slightly tired but still willing to push on.
After passing a few groups of people who were doing more of a leasurly stroll, we made it to Blackcap, had a rest and a chat to an old couple who said they had been meaning to walk the whole of the Downs for 20 years and wished us good luck for July.
We headed back to the car and due to the direction we were going, we could see the storm clouds getting closer and rain actually pouring in some parts. We stopped for a minute at Ditchling Beacon, but unfortunately the Ice Cream man didn't do hot drinks, so off we headed.
It was only when we got to New Barn farm, that the heavens opened and for about 15 minutes, we had to put up with the rain, but fortunately the sun came out and we managed to dry off a little before we got back to the car. We made it to the car, put our gear in and then the heavens opened again, at least we saw a beautiful rainbow.
Please use the link below to see the route we took, when the map opens, on the left you should see a bit that says map settings, if you click on map type, you can change the view to the Google earth map.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/car-park-near-saddlescombe-near-brighton/13522528
Keep an eye out as we are planning another training weekend for the 10-11th May, hopefully the weather will be better, but as the say, If it's not raining, it's not training!!!!
UPDATE
The above training weekend did not go to plan, so it was rearranged for the weekend of 20-21 June, yes we did it, with a little sun burn, so here is the update.
21-22 June 2008
21 June 2008
We decided to focus on walking the bit that we would possibly be doing at night, also the bit that we will be doing, when it feels like we are on the edge of hell(so they say).
We started off at Ditchling beacon(this is about 2 miles after checkpoint 8) and headed towards Blackcap(this is the furthest we had walked in the previous walk). At Blackcap, we headed across the big field towards the Old Racecourse( a nice bit of downhill here) finding the racecourse was nice and easy (don't envy the people trying to find it at night though as could have a few problems), woohoo this is checkpoint 9.
Carrying on, we followed the directions across a main road, under the railway bridge, up a very steep field heading towards Kingston near Lewes( i have to say it was a beautiful view). Then our world fell apart, the hill from hell was in front of us, this hill rises over 100m and took us about 10 minutes(maybe more) to get up. At the top, we had a breather then carried on, down the otherside of the hill, then on to where checkpoint 10 would be.
The last leg was coming up, which started with, yes you guessed it a hill, only about 100m climb, then it went flat, then up a little bit more, we could see the racecourse(which is the finish) now, so spirits were high. With about a mile to go, we decided to have a little jog(which we will be doing on the day), this was ok, but i had the map and trying to read the directions while jogging is not that easy. Rounding a corner, crossing a main road, we were there, the start of where we would join the race course. This took us about 3 1/2 hours.
We decided to stop here for a food break, during which time we had an energy gel, banana , some drink and a muslei bar.
Then we had to just go back the way we came, which seemed a lot shorter. In total we think we walked about 25 miles.
We spent the evening at a camp site, well i say that, it was actually a field with an area fenced off, the toilet and washing facilities were about 2 minutes walk away, the washing facilities were actually an outside tap(which you would use for watering the garden), AL and Ash went off to get the food, they came back with 2 little BBQ packs, one of which we used for our dinner (we had steak and bacon and cheese burgers), the other pack we used for breakfast (bacon in a roll and burger in a roll).
Please use the link below to see the route of the day;
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/london/229043400777
22 June 2008
We came up with a cunning plan, to walk the only bit of the 2nd half of the route, so that we knew where we would be going.
We started at Devils Dyke heading towards Upper Beeding(this is checkpoint 6 to checkpoint 7). The weather was a little worse today, the wind was quite strong and the clouds didn't look too good.
Heading into the wind(for a change) it was looking good, we were going down the hills(then you think, oh no, i have to come back up this), the trip down to Upper Beeding was quite nice, wind, a few hills, a few more hills then we ended up down by the River Arun. We had a little break here.
The sun was now shining, some sunburn was feeling a little tender.
We were now following the directions on the map, as the trip takes us through Upper Beeding, so that we don't have to cross a busy road. (Once again, i wouldn't want to have to do this at night, as there are a few roads you have to go down and it is not that straight forward). Leaving Upper Beeding, we had to go up a little track(what they fail to warn you about is that it is steep and long) at least we will be aware of this now.
At the top of the track, you have to turn and walk along side a road(think we will do the road as the track is narrow), this takes us all the way back up to Truleigh hill, passing there, we got to go down a little hill, then yes you guessed it, back up another one, Ash commented that he didn't think the hill we had walked down on our way out was steep, but looking at it looming up on us, we realised it was.
At the top of the hill, we knew we didn't have far to go back to the car park, John decided on a little jog to stretch his legs, the rest of us didn't hink it was a good idea and carried on walking.
We think we did about 12 miles, coming back was slower than going out as we took things steady.
Once we got to the car, we had a little break, then Ash dropped us as Brighton station and we headed home.
The next update to our page, will be from our exploits on the Trailwalker, less than 4 weeks to go now.
Please see below the 2 links for our routes, there are slight changes as coming back, we followed the Trailwalker route exactly.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/london/784849647032
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/river-arun-upper-beeding/915182163467
Please note, we have been given a 7am start, so when you are all tucked up in your beds, we will be working hard for the money you have given us.
Just think, you are a special person, you have the ability to help improve somebody's life with just a little donation and help us reach our target goal of £1500, so please give generously and smile or even laugh(especially on the Trailwalker weekend, when you are tucked up in your bed and we are freezing on the hills
). As said above, the team thank you for taking the time to visit our site.
To get an idea of the task we have ahead of us, please copy and paste the link below to go to the Trailwalker page:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/fundraise/trailwalker/index.html
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Oxfam Trailwalker will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor us now!
Many thanks for your support.
Al, Ash, John and Mark
Team Map Reading Error
Late last year, Al(team captain) asked a few friends if they would like to take part in the Trailwalker 2008, he had a few leaflets and told us about when he did it before. The thought of doing 100km in 30 hours sounded like a good challenge, especially as it is for such a good cause. Team Map Reading Error was created.
Once we had put our names down and said yes, Al then told us he wants to do it in under 20 hours(no backing down now) so that is our personal challenge. 100km in under 20 hours, hopefully we will be able to do it, but just finishing will be an achievement.
The team consists of the 4 taking part plus 2 people who are the support staff(one of who is a reserve should anybody get injured, or has to pull out for other reasons before the start, these people like the team are voluntary).
When you are considering how much to donate, please don't just think about the walk, we are arranging to have 2 major training weekends on the south downs(the first of which will be early march) also a lot of solo training, building endurance so we can keep going when our brains tell us not to.
08-09 March 2008
You will all be pleased to know that we all survived our first training weekend on the South Downs, which was surprising considering the weather conditions, we had visibility down to 40m, horizontal rain and wonds of upto about 30mph.
08 March 2008
We started our walk just south of Upper Beeding at a car park on the A283, we crossed the River Adur, then headed west aiming for the quaint little village of Washington (which was about 6 miles away) where we planned to have some food.
Although the hills seemed quite gentle, we hit a hit point of 238m above sea level at Chanctonbury Hill, unfortunately due to the weather, the view was a little less than spectacular (well it was raining after all). We reached Washington then spent 15 minutes walking round to find somewhere that sold food, we found the village pub and had some hot food. At this point we all agreed to push on a little more to try and get a few more miles in before we would turn round and head back to the car.
Off we went up another hill, heading into the bracing wind (at least the rain had stopped) and we managed to walk approximately another 3.5 miles to the car park just past Sullington Hill, the time was now 3.30pm and we knew we had to get a move on to get back to the car before darkness fell.
Just for a change, it was raining, the wind got up, the cloud cover was very low and at times we had no visible markers to rely on, so we hoped the track we were taking was the South Downs Way. On a few occasions, we got blown sideways, so ended up walking, leaning at quite a steep angle into the wind.
We made it back to the car just as it was getting dark (quite handy as we only had 1 head torch), soaked and tired ( we would like to say sorry for the mud on the hotel bedroom carpet), both rooms looked like a chinese laundry, as we tried to try our kit out ready for the next day.
Please use the link below to see the route we took, when the map opens, on the left you should see a bit that says map settings, if you click on map type, you can change the view to the Google earth map.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/upper-beeding-near-brighton/353603349
09 March 2008
We started this walk just south of Saddlescombe. We headed East and our destination was a nice little hill called Blackcap. The weather was nice, a little sun and a breeze, but no dreaded rain.
After initially going down hill, is was straight into some climbing reaching a point of 210m above sea level on the first hill, we then had a little map reading error (we live up to our name anyway) and went in a little circle, said hello to some bulls and got back on track rather swiftly, we crossed the road, went past a golf course heading for Ditchling beacon, we made it to the beacon (which is 248m above sea level) slightly tired but still willing to push on.
After passing a few groups of people who were doing more of a leasurly stroll, we made it to Blackcap, had a rest and a chat to an old couple who said they had been meaning to walk the whole of the Downs for 20 years and wished us good luck for July.
We headed back to the car and due to the direction we were going, we could see the storm clouds getting closer and rain actually pouring in some parts. We stopped for a minute at Ditchling Beacon, but unfortunately the Ice Cream man didn't do hot drinks, so off we headed.
It was only when we got to New Barn farm, that the heavens opened and for about 15 minutes, we had to put up with the rain, but fortunately the sun came out and we managed to dry off a little before we got back to the car. We made it to the car, put our gear in and then the heavens opened again, at least we saw a beautiful rainbow.
Please use the link below to see the route we took, when the map opens, on the left you should see a bit that says map settings, if you click on map type, you can change the view to the Google earth map.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/car-park-near-saddlescombe-near-brighton/13522528
Keep an eye out as we are planning another training weekend for the 10-11th May, hopefully the weather will be better, but as the say, If it's not raining, it's not training!!!!
UPDATE
The above training weekend did not go to plan, so it was rearranged for the weekend of 20-21 June, yes we did it, with a little sun burn, so here is the update.
21-22 June 2008
21 June 2008
We decided to focus on walking the bit that we would possibly be doing at night, also the bit that we will be doing, when it feels like we are on the edge of hell(so they say).
We started off at Ditchling beacon(this is about 2 miles after checkpoint 8) and headed towards Blackcap(this is the furthest we had walked in the previous walk). At Blackcap, we headed across the big field towards the Old Racecourse( a nice bit of downhill here) finding the racecourse was nice and easy (don't envy the people trying to find it at night though as could have a few problems), woohoo this is checkpoint 9.
Carrying on, we followed the directions across a main road, under the railway bridge, up a very steep field heading towards Kingston near Lewes( i have to say it was a beautiful view). Then our world fell apart, the hill from hell was in front of us, this hill rises over 100m and took us about 10 minutes(maybe more) to get up. At the top, we had a breather then carried on, down the otherside of the hill, then on to where checkpoint 10 would be.
The last leg was coming up, which started with, yes you guessed it a hill, only about 100m climb, then it went flat, then up a little bit more, we could see the racecourse(which is the finish) now, so spirits were high. With about a mile to go, we decided to have a little jog(which we will be doing on the day), this was ok, but i had the map and trying to read the directions while jogging is not that easy. Rounding a corner, crossing a main road, we were there, the start of where we would join the race course. This took us about 3 1/2 hours.
We decided to stop here for a food break, during which time we had an energy gel, banana , some drink and a muslei bar.
Then we had to just go back the way we came, which seemed a lot shorter. In total we think we walked about 25 miles.
We spent the evening at a camp site, well i say that, it was actually a field with an area fenced off, the toilet and washing facilities were about 2 minutes walk away, the washing facilities were actually an outside tap(which you would use for watering the garden), AL and Ash went off to get the food, they came back with 2 little BBQ packs, one of which we used for our dinner (we had steak and bacon and cheese burgers), the other pack we used for breakfast (bacon in a roll and burger in a roll).
Please use the link below to see the route of the day;
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/london/229043400777
22 June 2008
We came up with a cunning plan, to walk the only bit of the 2nd half of the route, so that we knew where we would be going.
We started at Devils Dyke heading towards Upper Beeding(this is checkpoint 6 to checkpoint 7). The weather was a little worse today, the wind was quite strong and the clouds didn't look too good.
Heading into the wind(for a change) it was looking good, we were going down the hills(then you think, oh no, i have to come back up this), the trip down to Upper Beeding was quite nice, wind, a few hills, a few more hills then we ended up down by the River Arun. We had a little break here.
The sun was now shining, some sunburn was feeling a little tender.
We were now following the directions on the map, as the trip takes us through Upper Beeding, so that we don't have to cross a busy road. (Once again, i wouldn't want to have to do this at night, as there are a few roads you have to go down and it is not that straight forward). Leaving Upper Beeding, we had to go up a little track(what they fail to warn you about is that it is steep and long) at least we will be aware of this now.
At the top of the track, you have to turn and walk along side a road(think we will do the road as the track is narrow), this takes us all the way back up to Truleigh hill, passing there, we got to go down a little hill, then yes you guessed it, back up another one, Ash commented that he didn't think the hill we had walked down on our way out was steep, but looking at it looming up on us, we realised it was.
At the top of the hill, we knew we didn't have far to go back to the car park, John decided on a little jog to stretch his legs, the rest of us didn't hink it was a good idea and carried on walking.
We think we did about 12 miles, coming back was slower than going out as we took things steady.
Once we got to the car, we had a little break, then Ash dropped us as Brighton station and we headed home.
The next update to our page, will be from our exploits on the Trailwalker, less than 4 weeks to go now.
Please see below the 2 links for our routes, there are slight changes as coming back, we followed the Trailwalker route exactly.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/london/784849647032
http://www.mapmyrun.com/hike/united-kingdom/river-arun-upper-beeding/915182163467
Please note, we have been given a 7am start, so when you are all tucked up in your beds, we will be working hard for the money you have given us.
Just think, you are a special person, you have the ability to help improve somebody's life with just a little donation and help us reach our target goal of £1500, so please give generously and smile or even laugh(especially on the Trailwalker weekend, when you are tucked up in your bed and we are freezing on the hills
). As said above, the team thank you for taking the time to visit our site.To get an idea of the task we have ahead of us, please copy and paste the link below to go to the Trailwalker page:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/fundraise/trailwalker/index.html
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Oxfam Trailwalker will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor us now!
Many thanks for your support.
Al, Ash, John and Mark
Team Map Reading Error