TRAILWALKER 09

Well, 2 weeks after the event and I’m ready to write! I was worn out physically and drained emotionally after doing Trailwalker, and that must explain the delay.

STAGE ONE 9.6 km Queen Elizabeth Country Park to Harting Down Ascent 300m; Descent -210m

Up at 5.30, after a night under canvas. Peter thoughtfully provided some whisky and lemonade after our delicious pasta meal and a slug of this helped us to sleep for , ooh at least 5 hours! We tuck in to a hearty military breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, hash browns and fill our bottles. Our absolutely fantastic support crew, Steve and Peter, wait around at the campsite after we leave until the tents have dried out and then take them down and pack them away. Start time for the walk is 7 am and we are raring to go. The huge number of walkers starting at the same time as us (about 500) means that for the first few kilometres we are walking at an uncomfortable pace, but about halfway through this stage we drop back and settle into a pace that suits the team and we reach Checkpoint 1 after about 2 hours.

STAGE TWO 10.4km Harting Down to Hilltop Farm. Ascent 290 m; Descent -390m.

After a quick refreshment stop at CP1 we're off again, fortified by a range of hot and cold drinks made available to all Trailwalkers by smiling Gurkha soldiers who co-organised the whole event with Oxfam. One third of the proceeds donated by generous sponsors will go to the Gurkha Welfare Trust and fund community projects across Nepal.

During this stage we gain height quickly, and enjoy views right across Hampshire to the north and south. We are now in the South Downs that we have seen in photographs - huge, rolling hills, barley stalks waving in the breeze and sunshine all the way. Around 500m before CP2 we phone Peter to say we are nearly there; he replies that he can already see us from the checkpoint, looking up the hill through his binoculars. At CP2 we feast on bacon rolls that Steve and Peter have prepared for us earlier. Mmmmm. And an exuberant heroes' welcome from the Oxfam greeting people when we register. Thank you - it feels GOOD.

STAGE THREE 8.3km Hilltop Farm to Littleton Farm. Ascent 190m; Descent -170m

This stage is really pleasant. Most of it is high up and we have beautiful views over the downland and villages of Hampshire and West Sussex. More rolling barley fields, more distant lines of trailwalkers as far as the eye can see. To the south are glimpses of the English Channel. We read a sign put up by Oxfam - a conversation reviver asking if you can cry underwater. We don't need a conversation reviver - we are buzzing anyway and enjoying what feels like a weekend stroll although we have already walked nearly 30 km .

STAGE FOUR 9.3km Littleton Farm to Houghton. Ascent 180m; Descent -300m.

At CP3 we help ourselves to cereal bars and fruit and can top our water bottles up with Bottle Green elderflower cordial or Ocean Spray cranberry classic, all generously provided free for us walkers. Or just plain water. Alison is in constant touch with home by phone and we hear that there will be cake at CP4. We hope it's chocolate cake. Oxfam's website has a live feed of comments and photos posted by organisers and supporters and Sue keeps us informed of what is happening. We hear from her that the first team have already crossed the finish line in Brighton. Their finishing time is just 10 hours, 44 minutes and 30 seconds, and they are Queen's Gurkha Engineers Team 2. We are in awe of their very fast completion of this tough course. By the time we reach CP4 the cake has gone.

STAGE FIVE 12.5 km. Houghton to Washington. Ascent 280m; Descent -220m.

This is the longest stage so far, and the end of it marks the halfway point. Now wearing reflective clothing we cross a river and walk a little way along a main road before we are climbing again - a hamstring pulling ascent. On the way up many walkers stop to get their breath. We are walking with some really friendly Irish walkers at this stage and there is still plenty to talk about. Favourite topic of conversation is whether the next checkpoint will have a shop selling replacement knee caps! A long stretch along the hilltop is followed by a very long descent down to the picturesque village of Washington. We suggest to Alison and Lee that they have their wedding in the pretty church in the village. I cannot publish their reply. Alison is beginning to have trouble with her knee and Lee discovers some horrible blisters. At CP5 our amazing crew are there to help and Peter nips into the nearest hedge and fashions two decent walking sticks to help her through the next stages. He is like a cross between Puck and Bilbo Baggins and can produce what we need from thin air. Night is falling as we leave CP5.

STAGE SIX 10km Washington to Botolphs. Ascent 210m; Descent -270m.

As darkness falls across the Downs we walk on. A trail of lights ahead of us marks out our route, and behind us another procession like threaded fairylights weaves its way up and down the hills. In the distance we see bright city lights; we guess it is Brighton and Worthing. We wrap ourselves up; the night air is cooler despite the fact that we are moving at a good pace. At CP6 we go to the Red Cross Tent. The nurse looks at Alison's knee and says it looks like a pulled cruciate ligament. This must be where the term excruciating comes from. She is in a lot of pain, but decides to carry on. We applaud her courage. Lee discovers that he has some toenails hanging on for dear life. He tends to his feet and we set off again at around midnight.

STAGE SEVEN 9.4km Botolphs to Devil's Dyke. Ascent 330m; Descent -130m.

It is very dark and quiet. Hardly any walkers are speaking now, and when we do it is with hushed voices. The darkness is telling my body to shut down and rest, but we have to keep going. We continue through the night. Without daylight we have no landmarks to aim for and little sense of where we are going. Trailwalker torches ahead of us prevent us from losing our way. Our pace slows and with both knees now hurting Alison is finding it very tough. At CP7, Devil's Dyke she retires from the event after walking at least 20km in constant pain. We eat a hot meal in a draughty mess tent at Devil's Dyke. Steve brings warm clothes for Alison.It is the only check point on a hill top and we arrive there at around 3 am in the chill of night. Warm pasta bolognese feeds our minds and bodies and Lee, Diane and I set off again, very sorry to have left a fantastic team mate behind.

STAGE EIGHT 6.9km Devil's Dyke to Jack and Jill. Ascent 190m; Descent -230m.

We set off at a cracking pace after CP7. The sun is beginning to rise and we no longer need our torches to pick our way. We all feel energised by the meal and the dawning of the new day. We have been walking for about 22 hours as the sun comes up. We still have some way to go and the clock is ticking. However, we reach CP8, the windmills at Clayton, and have a short break. Peter has made a delicious hot chocolate; Steve is as solicitous and cheerful as ever.

STAGE NINE 12.5km Jack and Jill to Juggs Road, Lewes. Ascent 264m; Descent -325m.

This stage is long and arduous. I am feeling really tired now and my mind is looking for excuses to stop. I feel grumpy and negative. Unfortunately I cannot shake these feelings off. I plug into some music which lifts my mood a bit. I am snappy with my team mates who have done nothing to deserve it. We continue the trek to Lewes and enter the town down a bridleway. Local horse riders are not amused at having to share their Sunday morning ride with dozens of walkers. They complain that our hoods are scaring the horses. It starts to rain. After a steep climb up to CP9 I feel finished. A quick team discussion in the car and we decide to call it a day. We have walked 90 km in 27.5 hours. The mood is sombre as we leave CP9. Despite all our efforts and the fact that we have achieved a great deal in just 3 months it is a huge disappointment not to have completed the full 100km. I know we would like to try again. And we still have some way to go to reach our fundraising target of £2500 by the end of September. If you have read this, please donate online now. Your money could help Oxfam provide disaster relief or help fund long term development or campaigning for changes to make the world safer and fairer for everyone. Thanks to the generosity of our friends we have already raised over £1700 - can you spare a little to raise our total further still?

Pictures of an unforgettable weekend

The South Downs Way – this is what Wikipedia says about it.

The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway.^[2] The trail has about 4,150 metres (13,600 ft) of ascent and descent making it a challenging route.

The undulating path begins in Winchester and moves past Cheesefoot Head, the towns of Petersfield and Arundel, the village of Steyning, Devil's Dyke viewpoint near Brighton, and miles of chalk downland, finally ending in Eastbourne. Several youth hostels are along the route to accommodate walkers. It also passes Birling Gap, a beach area with hotel and restaurant. At Rodmell on the trail, Virginia Woolf drowned herself in the River Ouse in 1941.

Much of the South Downs Way is on high chalk downland and the views are dramatic. The Way is solely within the Sussex Downs and East Hampshire Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, soon to become the South Downs National Park. There is plenty of historic interest along the way. Without exception it is a very well maintained and signposted route. While it crosses various villages for provisions much of it is surprisingly isolated and quiet considering the density of the population in south-east England.

It can be walked in about a week while a horse rider or cyclist would take two or three days. It is closed to motorised traffic along the route and this rule is generally observed.

Various events are held along the route; the most popular of which is the British Heart Foundation's annual Randonee. Part or all of the 100 miles is cycled to raise funds for heart disease, the fastest times are sub 8 hours with most riders taking under 14 hours.

We just walked a MARATHON

Keswick – Latrigg. Latrigg – Skiddaw House. Skiddaw House – Great Lingy Hut. Great Lingy Hut – High Pike. High Pike – Wood Hall. Wood Hall – Hesket Newmarket. Hesket Newmarket – Sebergham. Sebergham – Rose Bridge. Rose Bridge – Dalston. 26 miles in 12 hours.

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We’ve been building up to this long walk for weeks and now we’ve done it. An early morning start was a good idea because we saw two young deer on our way down to Keswick, as well as scores of rabbits. As we drove over the fell road round Caldbeck we had to slow down and go round a new calf feeding from its mother in the middle of the road. A lovely start to the day.

Keswick to Latrigg was a steep climb and we’d barely had time to warm up before we the ascent began, but we quickly gained height and beautiful views out over the peaceful waters of Bassenthwaite and Derwentwater. Once at the top we skirted round Lonscale Fell, heading towards Skiddaw House where we had a good rest and feed.

From Skiddaw House it was a pleasant 3.5 mile trek over moorland and peat bogs to a tarmac road before the arduous pull up to Great Lingy Hut. The path was hard to follow and although we didn’t lose our way there were times when we weren’t sure we were going the right way. Lee had enough energy to go on ahead and check that we were going the right way. Eventually we saw Great Lingy Hut, which looked like a glorified garden shed from the outside. Inside it was very cool with a wooden sleeping platform and a visitor’s book. We were feeling quite chuffed by now, at having done most of our climbing, when we saw a retired teacher from Caldew who put us firmly in our places by telling us he once ran the whole of the Cumbria Way in just two and a half days. We covered the 26 miles to Dalston in 12 hours; he did the 31 miles to Carlisle in about 4 hours!

High Pike was not far from Great Lingy Hut and we reached the top easily. Then we got lost. Not badly but we ended up going back to the Cumbria Way in Hesket Newmarket instead of Caldbeck. It gave us an excuse to get some much needed liquid refreshment at The Old Crown. From Hesket we covered the remaining 10 miles back to Dalston with increasingly sore feet and a bit of help from Abba, Michael Hutchens and Scissor Sisters. Now, where did I leave that foot spa?

Climb Every Mountain!

We thought Sussex couldn't be any hillier than Cumbria. But look at this! It looks like Warnell Fell. Better get some hill practise in!