Overnight marathon

I was tremendously proud of my Marathon Walk achievement, supported by Karl and his gang, in June 2017. My walking activities continued, with an annual 1,000 mile target, achieved with mostly a daily 3 miles or so, and interspersed with the occasional (monthly-ish) hike in the double-figures of miles.

For some while, I'd wanted to follow the suggestion of my good friend James to complete a midsummer overnight marathon. Marriott's Way is a splendidly friendly local walk, being the site of redundant railway lines and which has been converted to a well-known walking and cycling route. I've walked various sections of it at different times of the day; it's an especial pleasure in hotter summer days, as much of it is through tree-lined shade.

Our plans to do a through-the-night walk were originally mooted some time before, but were thwarted by various circumstances - including Covid. However, finally, in June 2023 we finally got our act together. James has been my good friend and 'hiking big bruv' for many years, being originally a colleague from our local theatre group, and I can think of nobody I'd sooner have with me on such an outing: completely trustworthy, highly experienced with such 'expotitions', as Winnie-the-Pooh would put it, and always comes armed with first-rate coffee.

Marriott's Way is marketed as a marathon distance, with way-markers (decorated with metalwork from the original railway lines) at each mile. In fact, the way-markers are more like 0.9 miles apart, and the total distance is a little over 24 miles.

We started from the Norwich end of the trail shortly before 8.30pm, with a little while to go before sunset. We took photographs of each other at alternate way-markers, stopped for the aforesaid excellent coffee (freshly brewed on small camping stove) and pork pies at Whitwell Station, roughly halfway along, and emerged blinking like owls into a summer morning at Aylsham just after 7.30am.

The experience was a really special one. The sounds and atmosphere of a summer night are quite remarkable; the occasional glimpses of sheep, deer and confused pigeons; watching the progress of the sun and stars as we emerged between trees and open land. Plenty of time for chat and for silence, and to feel the land beneath our feet. 

We took the bus back from Aylsham to Norwich, where my husband collected us; James picked up his car from our house and went back home to sleep, while I went with my husband to enjoy a full English breakfast, and then crashed out for the rest of the day!

Photographs: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cs48i1Gx5gBu9tL49

Video route: https://www.relive.com/view/vYvrV324Nxv

Walking a marathon: training for a moonlight walk

My June 2017 marathon walk (actually 28 miles, in the end) - with nine of the splendid Mother Nature's Diet group, along part of The Ridgeway - remains one of my proudest achievements. I worked for it with my friend Kim, using the Norfolk Coastal Path for training, gradually increasing distances from 11.5 miles (Winterton to Happisburgh) to 22.8 miles (Wells to Hunstanton).

One of the team on the Ridgeway walk, and on one of our coastal training walks, was my great friend James, who was also responsible for me climbing my first mountains. A casual conversation about marathon distances revealed that James had previously walked the whole of Marriott's Way - a disused railway route in Norfolk which happens to be a marathon distance - but at night, at midsummer, taking in both the sunset and the sunrise and using a head torch.

We wanted to achieve this originally around midsummer day, but the onset of the covid-19 circumstances had messed up our original plans for training. By June 2020 we had got our plans sorted, we were allowed to exercise together, and reckoned that we could fit in enough long walks to do the overnight marathon before the summer was out.

In May I started to do some long solo walks, and in June, James joined me to enjoy a long (15.5 mile) loop around Felthorpe Forest, and we felt we were on our way. Unfortunately, a back injury on my part put a halt to longer walks and I stuck to short routes for the next few weeks. By the time I was back 'in harness', in August, we were running out of summer. However, we managed two excellent long walks in August - 16+ and 18+ miles - and felt we could probably manage the marathon before James (a teacher) returned to school duties.

On 26 August we aimed to train by walking half of Marriott's Way - out and back from the Aylsham end, lunching and turning back at Whitwell, bringing us to an intended walking total that day of about 22 miles. 

In fact, it turned out to be a total of 24 miles; and while it was a fabulous day, both of us were hobbling rather by the time we finished. My foot was in some agony for several days afterwards, and by the time it had recovered sufficiently (and I'd got back off a short holiday) we'd missed our pre-term-time slot - and the nights were drawing in. 

Annoyingly, we'd walked just two miles short of the marathon distance on that last occasion! However, we know we can do it; and when the summer returns, we'll give it another go. We're determined that 2021 will see our moonlight marathon at last - watch this space!

Walk a marathon: we did it

I did it. I walked a marathon - or, as it turned out, 28 miles - with nine amazing people (and two support drivers).

It all started last August, when my good friend and mentor Karl Whitfield, of Mother Nature's Diet, spotted my ambition on this life list to 'walk a marathon'. Basically, he called my bluff. He sent me a choice of routes, a choice of dates, a training schedule, and made sure it happened. And I'm so glad he did.

I started gradually increasing my walking mileage, and was proud of a fifteen-mile walk across the bridges of London in September 2016. However, in late February 2017, training began in earnest, with my good friend and fitness partner of many years, Kim.  Click here to see details of our training along the Norfolk Coastal Path.

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Having spent the four months from the end of February to the end of May following Karl's schedule of walks, from 11.5 miles to just under 23 miles, we felt ready and confident for our 'marathon plus'.

We met up the night before to share supper in Wendover, spent the night in an agreeable AirBNB a few miles away, and then gathered for a 6.30am start on the Saturday morning. Our two drivers, Joe and Selwyn, bid us farewell, and we set off on a mild, initially cloudy, warm morning (the sun came out very soon, and remained with us right until the final half-mile).

As Karl had predicted, there were some moderate hills in the first few miles. It was well worth it when, after just 1.5 miles, we arrived at the Coombe Hill monument, with its sensational views across the countryside - I believe at least three counties were visible.

I was excited to see large numbers of red kites - brought back from the brink of extinction in just the last few decades - above us for much of the walk.

Earlier I mentioned a 'marathon plus' ... Karl didn't want to run the risk of us coming in just under the 26.2 mile marathon target ("another quarter of a mile! Round the block!") - so in planning the route, he aimed for 27 miles. However, at the last minute we also agreed to add a short diversion (about six miles into the walk) half-a-mile each way off the path down into Princes Risborough, where there was our final chance for a shop, a cafe and a public loo - as opposed to the dodging-behind-trees we did for the rest of the day. Which brought it up to 28 miles. (Or 28.8, or 29, or 29.5, depending on which walker's GPS you choose to believe! Mine was 28.07, so that's what I'm going with.)

Our planned lunch stop was (somewhat unromantically) just after walking through a sub-M40 underpass. This, in fact, was well over halfway, being at just under 16 miles in. Our drivers met up with us - Selwyn having got there some time before decided to walk out a mile or two to meet us and then accompany us to the cars - and we restocked with sock changes, extra water and food. Before setting off again. we took what's probably my favourite group photograph of the day.

As we moved into the final five miles, the dogged determination is evident.

As Jason pointed out, at least when you're coming down a mountain you have a clear idea of where the finish line is! But we kept going...

Finally, we reached the bridge over the river at Wallingford, where family and friends were waiting for us in the riverside pub.

This was a completely remarkable day and an amazing achievement for all concerned. Five men, five women, ranging in age from 30 to 65, all levels of fitness but one level of determination, and we all made it. We arrived about 12.5 hours after setting off, although around 10 hours of that was actual walking time. Many of us knew each other already, but new friendships were forged. Once again, the lovely Karl had initiated, bullied, planned and encouraged, and we managed an extraordinary feat.

For Chris, Jane, John, Jason, Karl, Cristina, James, Kim and Rebecca - my heartfelt thanks and love for joining and supporting me in this endeavour. It's a day I will never forget and an achievement of which I will always be deeply proud.

If you're interested, you'll find the full album of photographs here, including some provided by my fellow walkers.

Update: the wonders of technology allow me to add the route in 3D using the geek-heaven Relive.

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One final comment. I initially took on this challenge for myself personally. However, as various folks asked me if I was accepting sponsorship, I decided to donate any monies raised to Clare's Legacy Fund (details in this posting). At the time of writing (mid June), £520 has been raised online plus a further £98 in local cash donations. I know that Clare's indomitable spirit was with us, and she would have loved the day - being, as it was, fairly close to her own home near her beloved Cotswolds.

For friends, for challenges, for fitness, for love and for nature, I give grateful thanks.

Walk a marathon: the Norfolk Coastal Path

When I committed to training to 'walk a marathon', I was already walking a minimum of 70 miles each month by that time, usually around 3-4 miles per walk, with the occasional 5 miler, and a couple of 13 milers to train for the 15 mile sponsored London Bridges walk in September 2016.

Starting in February, work began in earnest when my fitness buddy Kim joined me. We decided that we would train by walking the whole of the Norfolk Coastal Path (around 85 miles, Hopton to Hunstanton) in sections, which we achieved in six chunks. We were joined on one of these by James and on two others by Rebecca - both of whom completed the final marathon walk with us.

Click on the links to see photographs of each of the walks, and on the map to view at larger size.

Sunday 26 February: Winterton-Happisburgh (11.5 miles)

Sunday 12 March: Winterton-Hopton (14.5 miles)

Sunday 26 March: Happisburgh-West Runton (16.1 miles)

Sunday 9 April: Stiffkey-Cromer (19.4 miles)

Sunday 14 May: Wells-Hunstanton (22.8 miles)

Saturday 20 May: Wells-Blakeney plus Blakeney Point (19.6 miles)

Each time we'd completed a walk, we said "we can't imagine walking any further..." - but we always did. Interestingly, the final five miles of the 'real thing' were the toughest - from mile 23 to 28 - and that was unknown territory at that point, as 22.8 was our furthest until then.

The coastal path is an extraordinary and wonderful landscape. Each section that we walked had its own remarkable character and atmosphere - and level of difficulty. The shingle beaches were the hardest, especially Blakeney Point - three miles in each direction mostly on heavy shingle. There's the uninspiring Great Yarmouth town centre, which then gives way to the rather lovely path alongside the industrial boatyards and down to glorious Gorleston. There's the fabulous marshes to the western end of the walk, around the Stiffkey-Wells stretch. There are hills (yes, really, in Norfolk!) in the Sheringham area, and Beeston Bump. There's the only bit of coastline in Norfolk where one can see a sunset directly across the sea: Hunstanton. There's the alarming coastal erosion around Happisburgh and west of there. There are walks across beaches, on dunes and inland, on shingle and on hard sand and on soft sand.

This was a pilgrimage of nature, enjoying and appreciating our beautiful county, pushing our physical boundaries further than we believed possible, and learning all the while. I am so delighted to have shared this remarkable experience with my lovely friend Kim, every step of the way, and look forward to new challenges together.

Walk a marathon: making a difference

My #walkamarathon training is going well. I've walked three sections of the Norfolk coastal path (11.5 miles, 14.5 miles and 16 miles), so far covering from Hopton on the eastern Suffolk border round to West Runton in the north. Next up is around 18 miles from Cromer to Stiffkey, this coming Sunday. All being well, I'll be all set for the full 26+ miles on 3 June.

I've always said I'd choose a charity for this event, and the inspiration has come from my dear friend Clare,who passed away on 30 December. You'll find her elsewhere on this blog, sharing a walk on a glorious day in Wiltshire, and when I attended her memorial service in February.

During the final weeks of her life, she worked hard with her family to set up Clare's Legacy Fund, which will offer opportunities for "eight places on an annual 3-day “Clarify Retreat” for people who face some kind of radical transformation in their life". Clare changed her own life, moving from journalism to home staging and decluttering in her fifties.She has asked for a 'living memorial', and this is entirely in tune with the generous and innovative way she lived her life. For more details of the Fund, please read this document.

When I walk my marathon on 3 June, supported and accompanied by my dear friend Karl Whitfield and others from the wonderful Mother Nature's Diet group, I'm doing it first and foremost for my own challenge. However, if anyone would like to recognise my attempt by sponsoring me, please visit my GoFundMe page.

My walk takes place on The Ridgeway, starting at Wendover and finishing at Wallingford. I know that Clare would have been up for the challenge if she'd been able, and I know she'll be with us in spirit.

In celebration of a dear friend and colleague, and a life supremely well lived.

Photograph: Matt Mulligan (Clare's son)

Long walk: the London Bridges Trek

The aim: to be able to walk a marathon distance in June 2017 without keeling over. The training: gradually increase the distance of my longest walks, and add in more medium-length walks, for the intervening 9 months. The additional benefit: sponsorship to fund-raise for my choice of charities.

Having managed two 12-13 mile walks in recent weeks, this was my first 15 miler: a walk across the bridges of London, from Putney to Tower. Roughly 25K (15 miles). I publicised it, asked around, and was rewarded with generosity and support from many friends.

I lost two dear friends to pancreatic cancer - which is (I believe) the fastest, least often detected, lowest survival rate cancer in that ghastly cast list - during the last couple of years. So - as much for awareness-raising as for scientific research - I chose to support Pancreatic Cancer UK.

At the time of writing, I've raised £610 (plus in many cases gift aid). Thank you, all, so much. (The link to my fundraising page is here.)

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Additional bonus: meet up with work colleague of (whisper it) almost 30 years ago. The fabulous Janice was walking with some present-day workmates, in aid of Small Steps (helping young children with disabilities). I hadn't seen her since a reunion in 2011, and before that since I moved jobs in 1988 or so. We won't leave it so long next time.

So: off we went. My 'wave' set off at 11:45 from Putney.

It was a very damp day. By the time we reached the 5K mark, it was raining heavily - although thankfully, most of the rest of the day was no more than a drizzle. Still pretty soggy by the end, though. Funnily enough, it didn't bother me too much. If it had been very cold or extremely windy, I think it might have been a different matter; but warm rain isn't too unpleasant.

I took just under five hours to walk just over 15 miles - hence a pace of a bit under 3 miles/hour. Which I thought was pretty good over such a long distance - until I realised that Janice had got in about half an hour before me having started 15 minutes later!

I chatted to a few other walkers along the way; but mostly was quite happy with my own thoughts. Observing the busy life of Londoners and visitors alike, seeing areas of the capital that I'd never seen before (to my shame - having been born a Londoner); appreciating some magnificent architecture, buildings and bridges alike. I took a photograph at each bridge - some selfies, some of the bridges; you can see the whole album here if you're interested...

I have to say that the one disappointment of the day was the poor quality of food supplied at the lunch break (Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens). This being a major physical challenge, and considering that in many cases we were fund-raising for health-related charities, I was baffled by the lack of healthy food.

Apples were the only items that weren't stuffed full of sugar or additives. Danish pastries? Mars Bars? Haribos, for goodness' sake? Even the cereal bars, when one examined the contents, were overloaded with sugar (which is, after all, one of the main causes of cancer). And no, you don't need sugar for energy; far higher-quality carbohydrate can be obtained elsewhere. Where were the bananas? The plain nuts? The green stuff? At the risk of drum-banging on this topic, I wish that the organisers (Action Challenge UK) would think a little more carefully about this element of  their event - which was otherwise pretty well organised. They could learn a lot from my colleagues at Mother Nature's Diet. OK, rant over.

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Finally, shortly after 5pm, I was greeted by the aforementioned speedy Janice, together with my lovely husband. T-shirt, medal and congratulations all round. (I had a nominal mouthful of pink fizz but declined the free hot-dog...)

I was thrilled and proud of what I'd achieved. I've learned that London pavements are a good deal harder on the joints than Norfolk country lanes and beaches; that I have more resources and determination than I thought possible; that I don't mind walking in the rain; that many hundreds (and thousands) of people want to challenge themselves and often to support charities at the same time; that there is a great deal of open-hearted generosity in the world. I was proud to be part of it all.

Long walk: training with a friend

It was a real pleasure to share this walk with a good friend, Christine, who I met through the fabulous Mother Nature's Diet. We spent the whole walk - around 5 hours, including a pause for lunch - chatting nineteen-to-the-dozen about all aspects of food, exercise, health - and life in a holistic sense. It's fabulous to exchange thoughts and experiences when you're so much on the same wavelength - and seem to share quite a few life experiences!

The route we followed was the one that I tried out on my own three weeks ago, starting in Holt, up past Greshams School and Voewood, off through Kelling Heath and past the steam train line; and up to Salthouse for lunch. Then back out of the village and heading south, back into Holt through the forest.

Here we are at the fabulous lily pond on Kelling Heath early in the walk.

The day started beautifully sunny, and our paths across Kelling Heath and up to Salthouse were wonderful. Butterflies everywhere, and we're moving into blackberry season, so did a fair bit of scrumping along the way...

We stopped, of course, at Cookie's Crab Shop to buy dressed crab for lunch as I had last time - delicious.

We felt a few spots of rain as we left Salthouse, and it turned into a gentle drizzle as we made our way along the footpaths that cross the fields running parallel with the sea, then turning sharp left along the edge of the fields. By the time we reached Kelling village and the road past the church it was raining fairly insistently, but the forest provided a fair amount of cover. By the time we reached the outskirts of Holt again we were fairly soggy...

However, the rain couldn't stop us continuing to enjoy ourselves, swapping thoughts and ideas, and delighting in the fact that we were (notwithstanding a few aches) both pretty comfortable walking what was very nearly a half-marathon. 12.6 miles (if you're observant you'll see that's half-a-mile less than last time; having tried it before, I got lost far less!), over 950 calories burned, and a respectable pace of almost three miles per hour, which wasn't bad.

As Christine has observed: not bad for a pair of Norfolk broads...

Next week: the 15-mile sponsored walk across seventeen London bridges, from Putney to Southwark!

Long walk: in training

Back in May, I spent a fabulous day with Karl and several of our Mother Nature's Diet colleagues on a long hike in the Wiltshire countryside. The 12.25 miles we achieved that day was the longest walk I'd done in several decades.

One of my aims for this list being 'to walk a marathon', I booked myself onto a 25 km (approx 15 mile) sponsored walk for September. I decided a couple of training walks of that sort of duration were in order, so asked among the group on Facebook if anyone wanted to join me. As a couple of friends are up for a long walk on 3 September, I reckoned that I needed to try out said walk before I dragged anyone else around it.

Today was that try-out day. Having discovered the very useful GriffMonster site, giving lots of different walks around the country but specialising in East Anglia, I selected a circular walk of around 13 miles, starting in the rather nice (and very smart) market town of Holt, walking through Kelling Heath and up to the edge of the marshes at Salthouse. I drove the hour from the east coast to Holt, parked in the main car park, and set off at about 11am.

It was, unlike recent weeks, a rather cool and cloudy day when I started out. I left the town centre and passed the impressive Greshams school, walking up the Cromer road for about a mile. The route then turned off the main thoroughfare, passing some houses in a quiet unmade road on the outskirts of town, and bringing the walker into the Kelling Heath Holiday Park. Plenty of holidaymakers in there, of course, and many walking the forest paths. It took me a couple of attempts to find the correct path up onto the heath out of the camp (my sense of direction is not the best!) but once there,  I was into one of the most enjoyable parts of the walk. The fabulous North Norfolk railway, complete with genuine steam trains, passes through the Heath, and makes you expect a visit from Jenny Agutter at any time - and the tiny station stop has a glorious view of the sea. A complex network of paths meanders through gorse and heather.

After crossing the main road just outside Kelling, I followed the footpath northwards towards the marshes at Salthouse. I realised that I'd overshot the turning that the route took to the left across the fields and retraced my steps to find it. Despite the footpath being clearly marked on the map, there was no point that appeared to be accessible, presumably due to the heavy foliage growth in the summer. So I continued northwards and instead followed the alternative footpath closer to the marshes, which brought me in to the same place anyway.

Being around 7 miles into the walk by this time, it was time to pause for refreshment. I knew from previous visits that the centre of the village included the splendid Cookie's - a cafe and deli specialising in all kinds of seafood. 

I bought a delicious dressed crab and retired to the grass next to the stream.

After resting for about half an hour, off I went again. I managed to find the tiny footpath just up the road from the Dun Cow pub; this path emerged across the middle of the crop fields, running parallel with the marshes and giving beautiful views towards the distant sea. By now the clouds had mostly lifted and the day was much warmer.

The path then turns sharp left and continues for about a mile along the edge of the fields before emerging onto a quiet road. I stopped briefly at the junction for breath and to enjoy the splendid view of the sea between the trees. 

The main road finally dips into the forest. Unfortunately there is no footpath through the forest that I could find; it's densely wooded and covered with ferns, so the safest place to walk was along the road. From here, the last 2-3 miles down back into Holt are mostly on the road, except for a short length of footpath, cutting behind the first residential area of the town.

I arrived back at the car park, a bit footsore but very happy with my achievement, around 4pm. I had plenty of time to change out of walking trousers, guzzle lots more water and gear up for the hour's drive home. According to my OutDoors app, which I'd used for the route for this excursion (and was later able to export to my usual Runkeeper), 13.2 miles (which happens to be my total mileage for the whole of the previous week), 983 calories burned (apparently) and well ahead of the game on this month's 70 mile target. Oh, and an average pace of around 3 miles per hour, which isn't bad for the distance and some fairly rough and narrow paths around the fields.

When I started the walk I was a bit dubious about it being interesting enough for other folks joining me on my next 'training walk'. However, I think that the lovely Kelling Heath; the splendid railway; the option to walk down to the beach at Salthouse; the beautiful paths from Kelling, and the bonus of Salthouse itself, all more than compensate for some slightly dull residential bits for the first and last mile of the excursion. And now that I'm familiar with the path and less likely to need to retrace my steps and constantly check the phone, I'll be able to spend more time myself appreciating the beauties of the Big Norfolk Skies.

Reasons: do something useful

I'm doing all these daft things for my own pleasure / challenge / satisfaction. However, I also reckoned that I could be useful at the same time: a bit of sponsorship wouldn't go amiss.

So my "walk a marathon" target now includes an incremental event: walking across all the London bridges from Putney to Southwark (that's 25 km, about 15 miles). This is on Saturday 10th September, and I'm doing it in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK. My initial target is the obligatory £125, but I'm very much hoping to be able to increase that once it's achieved.

Two very dear friends of mine were taken by this especially awful disease - a particularly cruel form of cancer, as it's so hard to detect in time for preventative measures to be taken. Both Alic and Peter were dead within two months of diagnosis. So anything that I can contribute, no matter how small, to research that may improve matters, will be an achievement.

If you feel that you'd like to support this present endeavour with this good cause in mind, please click here to visit my JustGiving page.

Thank you.

An amazing weekend

I'd decided quite a while ago that 'walking a marathon' would be on my list, and blogged about it here more recently (while watching the London Marathon). As such, some increased distances (over my regular 3-4 miles and maximum of around 5-6 miles) were definitely on the cards.

I've been an increasing enthusiast for the work of Karl Whitfield at Mother Nature's Diet for about eighteen months. He's an inspiring, enthusiastic, passionate advocate of healthy living, with an approach that's a superb combination of commonsense, motivation, his own experience, humour, inspiration and integrity. I 'found' him and his group on Facebook back in November 2014, as I was entering the final phase of my weight loss journey and the beginning of my improvement / maintenance / learning curve (you know, that one that lasts for the rest of your life).

Karl provides huge volumes of information, loads of support, advice and encouragement, seminars and webinars, and many more chances for learning and sharing. Among all these possibilities, every so often he arranges a 'walk and talk' day, and this is the first one I've been able to attend. This one was a walk of around 12 miles in wonderful hills, through fields and villages and beside rivers.

At some distance from my home in Norfolk (which, let's face it, most places are), this one was based near his own location in Wiltshire. So I combined the trip with a long-overdue visit to fellow professional organiser Clare, who lives in Oxfordshire, and was delighted when she agreed to join in with the mad weekend - even when it became clear that we'd be spending a night under canvas (this being another item on the life list).

Fourteen of us met by the duck-pond in the picture-postcard village of Biddestone on an improbably glorious May morning. Most were folks I'd met before on previous MND events, a few were new friends, and the 'talking' bit was as delightful as it always is. Here we all are before setting off.

Along the riverside we went, through fields full of buttercups, greeting cows and horses, between rows of nettles (tough on those who were wearing shorts!), over stiles and small bridges. There were also stunning avenues filled with beautiful, pungent wild garlic.

We paused for slower walkers to catch up; Karl obsessively counting every so often to ensure we were all still safely in the group. We stopped for group photographs every so often, including on 'the beach' - a fabulous corner of the stream.

Then, at roughly halfway, we stopped for lunch. We took our boots off to walk in the grass for the last few hundred yards, enjoying the feel of the grass under our bare feet, and sat by the stream (feet in for some of us!) before gathering round with our lunches. Getting going again was a bit of an effort!

After lunch there were more hills than in the earlier parts, including some pretty steep climbs; a particularly narrow path between more nettles (which Clare managed to do a spectacular prat-fall [her words] into, when she took her eyes off the path to look at the view). Most of us took a trip into some caves - fascinating and eerie. And we saw some of the local red kites circling.

Finally, after approximately 5 hours and ten minutes of walking (I paused the Runkeeper app for any major stops for breath or lunch), and a clocked distance of 12.25 miles, we returned to the green at Biddestone. The last couple of miles were quite an effort for all except the fittest of us, and the feet were sore; but the sense of achievement was tremendous - not to mention the camaraderie. We'd all learned, exchanged hugs and support and motivation, made and renewed friendships, and had the most amazing time.

So: I'm well on my way to my target of 'walk a marathon'. This walk was just a little under the distance of a half-marathon; my aim is to do a sponsored 25 km (15 mile) walk across the bridges of London, from Putney to London Bridge, in September; and then incrementally to increase my 'longest distance' so that I'm ready for the full 26+ miles at some point in 2017. Given that my previous longest distance EVER (except that 24 mile sponsored walk when I was just eleven years old) was around six miles, I'm pretty pleased with progress so far!

Thank you to the lovely Karl and all other members of the MND family for such a special day.

Full album here.

Walk not run

Back in 2007-08, I was an enthusiastic runner. For some eighteen months, running - albeit very slowly (a sub-10 minute mile was a big achievement) and not far (5K was about my sensible limit) - was a big part of my life, and my main tool in keeping my weight under control. I'd got to a stage when I would run for around two miles about 3-4 times each week. It was an efficient use of time - I could do a decent workout in around thirty minutes - and of course, the adrenalin hit was always special. I ran a couple of the Wroxham 5K races, and my personal best was 31'45" (August 2008).

Unfortunately, a nasty episode of plantar fasciitis in my left foot in the autumn of 2008 (which lasted for two very painful years) messed me up; and as I started to get back to serious walking, in June 2013, I had an argument with a pothole in the road, took a serious sprain to my right ankle (yes, that's one injury each side), and I knew that my days of high-impact activity were probably over. Even now, nearly three years on, the right ankle has a constant niggle of discomfort. So I stick to walking.

Watching, as I type this, the inspiring London Marathon, I feel somewhat wistful. It would have been such a brilliant entry on my Life List. So I was encouraged to find this article, which explains why there is no reason why one shouldn't power-walk a marathon. There are some wonderful events that encourage walking rather than running. I'd already added a similar idea to the List: "charity trek, e.g. Great Wall of China".

In both cases, I'll need to bump up the training. My present schedule is 70 miles per month, which I'm proud of achieving (I did 60 miles minimum per month for 12 months, and then last month was my first 70 mile achievement; on course for April success too). My usual walk is around 3.5 miles, with the occasional 5-miler when I get the chance. To successfully walk a marathon in a day (taking, I would guess, around 7-8 hours) I need to ramp up those distances!

One last thing. I have, in fact, walked a marathon (or very nearly) once before: when I was just eleven years old. It was a school sponsored walk, and I managed 24 miles. You can read about it here. So if I could walk that distance aged 11, I'm damn sure I can manage it more than forty years later.

Watch this space. Or come and join me.