So, 100km in 30 hours! Yes, we have lost the plot and boy is that fact sinking in now that we have been training in earnest  ( even if most of our walks involve a pub or other type of eatery at some point during the day!) !

So we may be slightly unhinged but we would still like to say a huuuge and mahoosive thankyou for visiting our fundraising page! Any amount, big or small, will make all the difference to us reaching our target  and will prevent us from having to sell one of Jon's kidneys on the black market!

UPDATE!!!!

We did it, we really really did!!!

The Walkers: Me, Manda, Helen and Jon

The Support Crew: Chris (Manda's Dad) Scott (Manda's brother) Pascal (Helen's boyfriend)


We arrived in Petersfield early Friday evening but by the time we had pitched our tents and registered it was gone 10.30 by the time we sat down to eat. We finally crawled into our sleeping bags by about half elevenish. None of us got that great a nights sleep, I think I possibly got the best but then I can sleep anywhere.

So we were all pretty tired when we got up at 4am to sort out kit bags and get some breakfast, kindly supplied as the previous nights dinner had been by the Gurkhas. It wasn't high cuisine but it all tasted pretty good. A bit more fiddling about with kit and by 6 am we were on the start line ready for the off!

The scenery was just beautiful and for the first part of the walk we made seriously good time and we were all feeling pretty good. Unfortunately at the half-way point my sisterbecame ill and was advised to withdraw. This was pretty horrible, for her mostly, but we decided to stay positive and marched on out.

I would say things were really pretty good until the last twenty miles which was when we really slowed down. our feet hurt, our legs hurt and we were exhausted. It was the kind of hurt that made you want to cry and there were many times during the walk that it was only sheer mental will and determination that kept me putting one foot in front of another. I can honestly, truly say that it was the most physically and in many ways mentally demanding thing that I have ever done and that includes giving birth to my four children!

Our support crew were fab though even when we lost Pascal (he had to drive Helen home) and were always there waiting for us at checkpoints to get us a cup of tea and at one point they were armed with Cup-aSoups which was at the time the best thing I had ever eaten!! We were also cheered and clapped and high fived in to every check point by either Oxfam volunteeers or by the Gurkhas which I found really lifted your spirits and by the end when everything was more than a little emotionally over-wrought was capable of reducing me to tears.

The last few stretches were just tough and by this stage Mand and I kept bursting into tears. At one point she gave me an enormous hug and kept repeating how proud she was of us. By this stage it had stopped being a case of 'if' we could finish the walk but when we would finishe it!  I think the only thing that would have stopped us was serious injury and we all felt that we would crawl over the finish line on our hands and knees if we had too. This very nearly happened when coming out of the last checkpoint and up the very last hill that we had to climb and I twisted my knee and twanged something. It hurt but I had my walking pole and so was able to hobble on.

The finish line was at Brighton Racecourse and as we rounded the corner and our team name was announced all our kids came hurtling down the race track to meet us. Cue lots more tears and then we crossed the finish line and Neil just gave me the biggest hug which really did finish me off! Then we got our medals, a Gurkha curry and I a) visited the first aid tent who reckoned I had strained my knee ligamenst and slapped an ice pack on me and then b) had a sports therapy massage for my feet (bliss).

The journey home didnt take long but by this time though I had totally seized up and was reduced to crawling up the stairs because my legs just couldn't do it. I felt much better the day after though and went for a walk (!!) with Manda and her dog around the local park which actually really helped to loosen all those stiff and achey muscles out. I had a few blisters but nothing too serious.

It is really hard to put in to words the sense of achievement that I feel. We did it, we walked 62 miles in 28 hours.and 55 minutes. We are not an athletic or sporty bunch (trust me!) but we still did it and that thought is still enough to make me want to cry while grinning form ear to ear at the same time!

Kathxx

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Oxfam Trailwalker gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Oxfam Trailwalker gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.