Thanks for taking the time to visit my '100k in a day' JustGiving page. I'm taking on the challenge to walk 100km in a day (inside 24 hours) to raise money for the mental health charity - Mind.

The route I'm following is along the Kennet & Avon canal, starting near Reading and ending in Bath. Previous to this the furthest I've walked is 50km in 9 hours, earlier this year, so this will be a challenging step up in distance to say the least. I'll set out at 2030 on Friday 16th June, taking full advantage of the milder nighttime temperatures and longer daylight hours at this time of year.

Whilst the idea of undertaking this challenge arose out of curiosity to see if it's possible, and as a personal challenge, I also want to take the opportunity to raise some funds for a fantastic mental health charity - Mind.

Mind provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. By donating to Mind you’re helping more people with mental health problems get the support they need.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

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Post event report:

The idea to walk ‘100k in a day’ came about after I walked 50km in April this year in wet off-road conditions and wondered whether walking 100km was possible in better conditions. I thought it might be but didn’t really know. Regardless I added it to my bucket list and decided that if weather and scheduling allowed I’d give it a go in the weeks around mid-summer. Having researched route options that involved doing circuits from my house I decided that a 1 way route would be better to remove the option of an ‘easy out’ if/when the going got tough. 

Some plans to bring my kids camping the weekend of June 16th fell through earlier that week and the weather was great so I decided to go for it. Having done a few 24 hours bike races I had already decided to stick with the timing that experienced event organisers use for such events and to start around 6-8 pm. The main route requirements I had decided on to cover that distance fast were that it must be a flat & simple route requiring little or no navigation, and on walking/cycling paths therefore removing any traffic dangers. I had previously heard friends talking about cycle touring long distance along canal paths so it seemed like an obvious option for my route. When i measured 62.5miles/100km along the canal path from Bath the route ended right beside a train station that I could get to in under 2 hours from the train station near my house, so the pieces were falling nicely into place. At this stage I tried to talk a few others into joining me but it was too short notice, with only 3 days to go.

I arrived by train in Thatcham at 2020 on Friday 15th. After taking a  quick selfie in front of the station, I started my garmin and headed off Westward along the canal. It was a beautiful evening perfect for a walk. Along the first mile I also shared my location using garmin livetrack and WhatsApp - to appease the understandable concerns of family members about me walking alone at night along a canal! The first 10 miles were pretty eventless aside from realising that the path after Hungerford onwards was mostly unused. I didn’t anticipate this being an issue however it did mean that the obscene number of spider webs on the 30 mile section from Hungerford to Devizes were all in tact spanning the path in every direction. Initially I was wiping the webs off my face a few times each minute which got very iterating very fast. After a half hour of this I ran out of patience and instead broke a bushy branch off a tree with the plan to wave it in figures of 8 in front of myself at head height to clear the path. This went on for the next 10 hours, but was better than collecting webs on my face. The branch became the ally of my sanity throughout the night and, as my only company, I named him Watson in honour of Tom Hank’s ball in the movie castaway!

Despite having the branch to clear the cobwebs the repetitive nature of clearing the path was very very monotonous and around 1am I saw on the map that there was a road that ran parallel to the canal for a few miles - relief from cobwebs for even 10 minutes would be a huge win, thankfully it give me an hours worth of reprieve! Returning to the path around 2/3amI found myself on a 10 mile section that I was convinced hadn’t seen foot traffic in years. Significant parts of the path had subsided into the canal. This wouldn’t of been an issue if the path had been more than 1 foot wide with a favourable camber, but being alone in unknown territory, unsure of the proximity of the nearest person, in the middle of the night these things tend to play on your mind. For the 6 hours of darkness my view was a 5 foot diameter beam of light along a path that seemed on an infinite loop, as I had no perspective outside that beam, and it induced varying degrees of disorientation depending on how often I braved to look up away from the constant focus on the path and the canal which was .5-1 meter to my side. I had assumed incorrectly that all canal paths were well travelled and maintained. Lesson learned!

When I hit 26 miles I stopped for a moment to take some painkillers to preempt the pain that I knew was overdue. Runrise arrived which was very welcome. It was accompanied by heavy rain which was less welcome. It hadn’t been forecast so I hadn’t packed wet gear to minimise the weight of my backpack. Phone calls with my mother kept me company through the night, combined with listening to some comedy podcasts I had decided to download to ensure I stayed in good spirits during that leg. The last few miles into Devizes (the ~40 mile mark) were through what could be best described as canal-side jungle. With no foot traffic to keep it back, the foliage/bushes/grass grew to 7-8 foot and towered over me in places. Any parts of me that weren’t already soaked from the rain soon were from brushing against the rain-soaked foliage for too many miles. I had had enough of this section.

Reaching Devizes had been one of my main milestones as I knew the town, had cycled through it before, and felt that it was where I was re entering the West Country again. I topped up on water and kept moving. The famous canal locks in Devizes gave me a very welcome distraction after what I could only describe as a very frustrating first 40 miles. It was now morning time and others were out on this part of the path walking dogs and jogging. Brilliant - other humans for company, what a relief!

In my head I had decided that 50 miles was my pseudo finish line - I thought if I could get that far the last 10 miles would look after themselves. I left Devizes feeling upbeat and positive. The daylight felt a bit like a tail wind, a very welcome one arriving at just the right time. A few miles outside Devizes I was surprised by my friend Paula who had been tracking me and had arrange a small crowd of people to cheer me on. She had generously brought electrolytes and fruit, as well as some hugs and pats on the back. This was awesome and upped my spirits even more.

My legs decided at about mile 45/46 that they had had enough, I had hit my first “wall”. My legs weren’t moving as instructed and my spirits started to fall apart, fast. Lack of sleep no doubt was starting to have an impact also. I think the reaslisation of how much I was struggling at this point, and how far I had to go, started to concern me a lot. I knew I had to and would finish but was unsure how I would do it with the amount of pain that I was feeling in my hips and feet. A phone call with my parents put me back into a better mental space - with some guided breathing exercises provided by my mother and some traditional Irish songs sang by my dad in a rhythm that I could time my steps to - I felt I could hit 50 miles with their help. I hit that milestone with the realisation that the last 10 miles would “look after themselves“ was fictional. I collapsed on a bench and after a desperate call with my wife for wisdom/advice I agreed with her that I needed to send out an SOS to my crossfit ‘6am crew’, who I train with every day. Crossfit takes a lot of abuse but the community spirit is unmatched and I knew I could rely on them. Literally within 1 minute of my message into our WhatsApp group asking for help, one of the group, Amy, walked around the corner - pretty much exactly as you would expect a super hero to arrive to save the day - full of energy, positivity and encouragement. I didn’t understand how she had responded so fast at the time but later learned she had been planning to surprise me at that location anyway to provide support. What a relief. She’s as tough as nails, and no stranger to endurance exercise, so I knew with her support there was a chance of making it.

My reward for hitting mile 50 was that I would allow myself to start using my walking poles - that would provide some support for my very fatigued legs. I had preempted worse case scenario where I needed to lean large portions of my body weight on my walking poles by sewing about 10 layers of additional stitching into each pole’s straps so I could wrap them around my wrists and reliably use them as extra limbs. Off Amy and I went, her carrying Wilson and my walking poles carrying me. I knew the remainder of the route as I had walked it many times and therefore knew what was coming - both a blessing and a curse. I had to stop a few times just to relieve the now excruciating pain in my feet and hips. The more I stopped the worse my hip pain got, but the less I stopped the worse the pain in my feet got. As we approached Bath a few other friends joined to support to the point where I think I had about 10-15 people behind me providing encouragement on the last home stretch. Coming into Bath my arms now started to cramp badly as I had been relying on them so much to maintain forward momentum - this was manageable until the last mile when they were cramped into rigidity and I could no longer rely on them and the poles. I had suspected during the night that I had done “extra miles”, compared to my Komoot route at least, so now in Bath we realised we could take a short cut up a hill to the finish line. The last mile must of looked pitiful to any onlookers as I was now only able to hobble in inches. I was using any walls or handrails available to propel myself forward. Pace was a distant thought at this point. I laughed at the thought of my initial ambitious plans setting out from Thatcham 19 hours earlier at holding a 3.6 mph average throughout the 100km. Nothing was less important at this point. I only wanted to stop walking. I had agreed with myself that if necessary I could crawl the rest of the way if my legs gave up entirely as I had plenty of time to spare to hit my 24 hour time limit. 

In the last few minutes before the finish line my wife Anne and kids Eleanor & Adaline, and Joey the pup, joined to provide support. This felt like the last minute support I desperately needed to just keep moving. I don’t recall feeling relief before to the extent that I did when I saw my Garmin watch hit 62.5 miles - a few tears and hugs later and we headed to sit down and have a celebratory pint with other friends who were waiting for my arrival. It felt very surreal to have stopped and not feel guilty for not moving. My kids, whilst delighted to see me, were both quite upset to see me in the state I was now in - shaking incontrollable whilst trying to take a drink, moaning with pain at every movement and unable to stand. A few hugs and words of reassurance later and they were fine, but possibly too young to appreciate that Dad’s self inflicted issues were all in a good cause for Mind, for whom I had now raised 700% of my initial fundraising goal.

I initially planned to attempt ‘100k in a day’ out of a personal curiosity to see if it was possible, and what it might feel like, whilst also trying to raise funds for an awesome charity doing wonderful things for people with mental health challenges. I consider myself a physically fit individual, certainly for 42, training 5 days a week at Crossfit and walking/cycling/running every weekend, but I had literally no preconceived idea of just how torturous that last 17.5 miles of 62.5 would feel on my body. I don’t recall feeling pain like that before and I know it’s illogical to self inflict it given the choice - BUT, walking 100km and feeling high levels of physical pain temporarily for a days is a very small price to pay to be able to contribute even a tiny amount to help ease the suffering of those with mental health challenges. With that said, thank you so much to all those that have donated to this fundraiser for Mind, and turned my otherwise silly challenge into something worthwhile that helps others - it means a lot to me that so many people have contributed so much money. I want to thank my friends who came to join me for their support in getting me across the line, and in particular superhero Amy. Much love goes out to my mum, dad, brothers, my wife and kids for middle of the night phone calls to keep me distracted from the monotony, guided breathing to keep me mentally on target, and calls of encouragement when they knew I was struggling towards the end. ‘100 k in a day’ - who knew?!