Story
James Penaluna, aged 16, Isaac Sim,15 and Ryan Beavis,15, intend on walking the full length of Hadrian’s Wall, from the shore of the Solway Firth to Wallsend - this is a total 80 miles - in less than 24 hours, this will prove to be the most difficult, challenging and demand task we have carried out to date, however we will not let this stop us, we will finish this. Money that is raised for use doing the event will all go to ABF The Soldiers' Charity, as we feel that this is a very important cause and would like to help to provide much needed aid to our soldiers.
We did it !
After we'd driven to carlisle, we started at 10:32AM on monday the 31st of may on the shore of the rural village bowness. the team, fresh for anything Hadrians wall could throw at us was raring to go. At first we had a minor issue, we hadnot yet purchased a map of Carlisle and surrounding area, so our navigator isaac, made up the route to carlisle only to find out that the rather large mound of earth running parallel to the road was infact the wall itself :)
We hit carlisle at approximatly 12:30 - 1:00 ish where we had a much needed replen of water, a quick intake of food for energy and a few photographs. We had 20 mins stoppage time there. We tried not to include this is the actual 24 hours itself but it was hard to think that this wasnt in some way a different interpretation of the rules, so we ploughed on as soon as we could :P
The first disaster struck just after carlisle almost as soon as we'd left the city. There was (presuming i have the details right at all) a motor show, where people could bring along a motor, be a car or infact just an old engine mounted on a trailer, situated in Rickerby park. The entire park and surrounding roads were cordonned off for the event classed as a no acccess route. What was worse there was a fee to pay to get a wrist band to enter the show grounds. Isaac wasnt too happy about having to waste alot of time and extra effort going round the park because of issues with navigation, restrictions including a river, the show itself, and not wanting to go back towards carlisle. So, in true Isaac fashion we walked through the gates, past the unmanned ticket stall and continued through the park. Sorry to anyone this may have annoyed, but at the time it had to be done.
Unfortunatly, James had been experiencing some severe discomfort in his chest, combined with the enormous blisters on his feet cause by german para boots. This ultimatly led to him being unable to walk. As a team, we came up with the decision to allow james to rest on the support vehicle and would be able to join back up later on. This was considered to be within the rules. Anything was, aslong as someone was walking the wall at all times. :(
Without james, the team was down to two boys. At first we made up some unbelievable distance averaging a little more than 4 miles/h. Over tarmac roads and on a gradual downhill streach, cadets well renounded 'Colts Canter' competition came into effect. Walking as fast as you could on an easy part of the route made up alot of ground we had lost in the heat of the midday sun. Before long, at approximatly 4:00pm, Isaac and Ryan were at Birdoswald roman fort. James' feet were in worse condition than first thought, he was unable to walk. : /
it was nearing 6 or 7PM and Isaac and Ryan had blitzed through to walltown quarry. Between Birdoswald and Walltown Ryan had developed the mother of all blisters on both feet. Isaac and Ryan stopped at th milecastle just short of Walltown where we checked the blisters. "As soon as Ryan took his fist boot off, i could smell the toe jam. So i pulled put my first aid kit and opened the roll of equipment i had. On looking inside i found i had one last blister pad. A blister pad which was for me when my feet started to die. i looked at the bleeding hole in ryans foot and i said here bud, have this. The blisters were bigger than a 50 pence piece, they were about the size of the base of a coke can, and deeper than id seen before, even in my cadet career. I pulled on some ruber gloves and treated his feet. Im glad i dont get phased by the smell of rotting feet ;)"
When we got to walltown quarry, Ryan also couldn't actually walk. Even the littlest blisters can stop a man in his tracks, never mind these bad boy blisters. As we stopped for 30 mins to have corned beef stew for tea, we had a team discussion. Ryan and James couldnt walk, they wanted to and they would have tried if they'd been asked. But they physically couldn't walk. Isaac being the only member of the team who had not had blisters was faced with a decision. The minibus had to transport Hannah, Isaac's sister back to cramlington as she had to sleep, not be in the mad minibus all night. The boys could no longer walk at all. This was the end of the road for them. As unfortunate as it was, through no fault of their own they had been hampered by sun stroke, exhaustion, dehydration, blisters and sores. Non of these could have really been prevented effectivly at all. The decision was for the team to make. Ryan and James could no longer walk at all. They could go back home to rest over night, a well deserved rest. This would mean Isaac would have to walk alone and unsupported for a while in the evening over the crags in poor light. The most dangerous part of the journey in fading light by himself.
It was decided, Ryan and James travelled back. Isaac made his way to the next RV - housesteads alone.
"the walk from Walltown quarry was quite weird, my dad said time was ticking whilst i was eating my evening meal, and was best to be off asap. In the rush to move off i forgot to remove my ipod and headphones from Ryans daysack. Crucial error. As i walked from the car park of the quarry i was immediatly faced with bordom. I wasnt looking forward to walking on my own as if i would be less prone to accident or injury with another person with me, but it happens. I got so bored infact that i rang one of my friends ; Mr Lee Middlemiss ;) and had a short chat with him. With Lee's inspirational words i pressed onto the first acent up Walltown crag. I must admit the bordom was short lived and replaced with amazement, the Romans sure thought of a stunning place to put a fortification. But then again with the use of the crags as a natural barrier, it was sure to be impassable. The theory proved true :(
Constant uphill and downhill climbs and scrambles eventually took their toll and i was starting to become a bit fed up with the uneven ground, it wasnt the big hand and feet climbs that annoyed me, just the grassy trail with dints in. The light was starting to fade fast and the beautifil scenary started to dissapear into the black shroud of darkness.
I passed quite a few interesting places, some small little picturesc houses and Aesca fort. I passed another quarry aswell, however this is the point where it really started to get dark and a bit cold. As i climbed yet another steep bit, i checked the map for the 40th milecastle. The halfway point. There was a triangulation pillar at the summit of the 40th mile crag. This pushed me and motivated me to ignore the pain in my knee and the sore back, to reach the 40 mile marker would be a success in itself. and with plenty of time, it was only about 11:30pm and if i could reach 40 miles by midnight i would be on time. As i neared the top of the crag i saw a small mound, with reflective strips on. This was the triangulation pillar and id made 10 miles by myself in the dark. Great success.
Iv never been a person to be scared of much, iv conquered an assault coarse in the tops of the trees, and bungee jumps from cranes, even rowing accross kielder resevior! But iv never been so scared as when this triangulation pillar stood up, and then ran away. I was shocked. And confused? Was i extremely sleepy? Or had i gone mad?
It was evidently a sheep that i had disturbed, but it had creeped me out alot. When i did reach the real pillar, and i checked that it was a pillar i decended the crag feeling much better.
Who Are We?
We are a three good friends froth the North East of England who have known each other for a long time now. We are all members of the Army Cadet Force. We all have a keen interest in the military and plan to join at later stages in our lives.
A Bit About Us:
James Penaluna: I am 16 years old and am currently employed by Zenos Academy where I am undergoing a IT apprenticeship where I am gaining many computer related qualifications such as: ADITP; MCDST and CompTIA A+. Once my current course ends in July 2010 I am going to enlist in the Territorial Army as a officer in the Royal Military Police and then in the years to come eventually the Regular Army. I've been a part of Northumbria Army Cadet Force since 1st March 2007 now and am currently a Cadet Lance Corporal. My hobbies include: spending time with friends, listening to music, watching films and reading.
Isaac Sim: Although i am what is considered to be an experiened cadet, im still only 15 and learning how to tackle hard challenges, not only hard walks like this, or other charity events such as runs and bungee jumps. But also exams :) I'v been in cadets just a week or two longer than james, we went through our basic training together, most of our onestar training too untill i transfered to another company all together. We still kept in touch though. My hobbies include : playing on the Xbox with my friends, running, gyming it out ;) and ofcourse, the music.
Ryan Beavis: ...Profile not yet written...
The Army Benevolent Fund - The Soldiers' Charity:
The mission of The Soldiers' Charity is to provide support to the men and women of the British Army. They are here to provide them with lifetime support whether they are still serving or are veterans.
"Soldiers are our family and the support we give makes a huge difference to their lives." (quoted from: http://www.soldierscharity.org)
The values of The Soldiers' Charity are:
"Trusted We trust each other and our supporters trust us"
"Respected We respect all people and their needs"
"Inspirational We create new opportunities and inspire others"
"Responsive We are approachable, effective and quick to respond"
Your donations, no matter how big or small will prove most beneficial as we are doing this to provide support to our soldiers and to gain this they need our help.
Thank you. For your donations before the event, and also your support shown before and after the event XD
James, Isaac and Ryan.