On Saturday 10th September I walked a 26 mile marathon for Julia’s House. Back in February, three of us decided this would be a great challenge and so it proved.
Over the months we have gradually increased the distance we could cover from an initial 3 hours stroll to 10 hours up and down hills. We learnt how to stay nourished and hydrated. We established that stopping for more than 10 minutes was a very bad idea but most of all we discovered that would need each other. So it proved, except that staying hydrated was less of a problem as the rain lashed down for the first 6 hours! The weather was the first stumbling block but we kept going, the walk from Chesil beach to the far side of Weymouth was extremely tough for me but 2 bananas, a good old cuppa and a change of shoes gave me a new lease of life.
We reached the last checkpoint with 2 hours to spare which was our target as the last 5 miles were the steepest of them all. Even when we set off I was not convinced we could do it and certainly on the seafront at Weymouth I had severe doubts. I could never have managed this on my own!
All told it was 11 hours and one of my greatest personal achievements. The three of us have raised approximately£800 between us and that just adds to the feeling of success. I am happy to say all of us are still moving, there are no blisters and we now appreciate the sunshine more than ever!!!!
