The Weekend We Walked 100km Part 3

...continued from Part 2 (if you haven't read Part 2 yet, check it out here).

Off on our way out of CP9

We said our good byes to everyone for now and headed up the hill from Kingston. To keep themselves going, Julie and Jo came over all philosophical and tried to think of some inspirational quotes to keep the team going forwards.  Julie decided that our moto should now be...

'Pain is only temporary, but the achievement lasts forever'.


They shouted this back to the boys to give them an extra incentive to carry on up the big hill. Then disaster struck... Josh's other knee (the right one) gave way. He was swearing at himself. Not now, why now...

There were no more support crew checkpoints to pull out (though I doubt it even crossed his mind), and there was no way he'd turn back. It was just a case of getting through it.

Jo and Julie were in fine form (i.e. just had to keep powering on otherwise they would collapse in a heap and give up!) and were laying down some decent pace in front of Gubbs and Josh. They were getting cold when stopping so they headed on to a point where they had some shelter from the wind while they waited for the boys to catch up.

Once we were at the top of the hill we knew the worst of the stage was over and we made a good time into checkpoint 10 where we were met with a group of cheering Gurkhas supplying squash and crisps!

Josh spotted an ambulance and so went over to get his other knee bandaged up. When he returned the team downed their last energy shot of the day with a chaser of mini eggs supplied by Julie and set out on the very last stage of Trailwalker UK 2012... up another hill...

We took it nice and slow, Josh's knees allowed him to only have one gear now, but that was fine, we were going to make it to the finish before the 4pm cut off we had been warned about at the previous checkpoint.

Nearly there...

We met a couple of teams on the way in, one - the Walkie Talkies had knee injuries also so while Gubbs was Ice spraying Josh he offered it around the group. It turned out that one of this team went to school with Gem, small world ay!

At the car park at the end of the footpath part of the stage, Jo and Julie came across the sorry sight of two members of another team lying on the floor in agony.  They managed to get themselves to their feet again, but were bent in two with the pain in their knees and feet.  Jo offered them some of her pain killers, but they said they were already topped up to the max.  Julie overheard one of them mention that they wish they had brought walking poles with them.  The sight of two grown men, in agony, staggering hand in hand towards the final stage of this epic adventure brought tears to her eyes.  Julie asked the guy with no poles if he'd like to borrow one of hers to the finish.  His face lit up like a beacon and he gratefully accepted.  Jo and Julie gave guys some encouraging words and told them that they only had around another 20 minutes to walk until they reached the finish.  We didn't find out the name of this team, but we were very pleased to see them hobble across the finish line behind us a little while later.

Victory is ours!

We reached the start of the race course to much delight. This was now a time of getting the job done. As we came closer the emotion was high. Josh had a final spurt of energy to get himself closer to that finish line, which took the rest of us all by surprise. The 500m to the finish line sign had to be the best sight we had ever seen in our lives!! The bagpipes started up and so did the tears in the eyes. Jo was pleased to see that her father-in-law and his wife had made a suprise journey and were waiting at the finish line along with the rest of the support crew, friends and family

We made the line and fell into loved ones embraces. There wasn't a dry eye at that finish line.

The job was done, we had walked 100km and all we needed to do now was to walk up two steps to have some pictures taken. I think we could just about manage that!

Our finish time was 31 hours and 26 minutes. Just a shade over the 30 hours originally set, but we didn't care, it was about finishing the challenge. We didn't sleep or anything! All those hours were for walking. Minus the 4.5 hours that were spent at the checkpoints altogether, so 26 hours and 56 minutes of walking. Wow.

Julie & Jo sign the support crew up for next year.

Lots of hugs given around, popped opened a bottle of champers and then there was just one last thing to do... Eat some Gurkha curry!! Best part of the day by far! That's when we met the Blister Sisters who had come in just after us. Another team we had met prior to the event via twitter. Such a sociable event this! Then it was home to our beds via our baths.

So that's it. The last walk of the Hardcore Four that you, the reader, will have to endure.

Team with support crew
minus night support Tracy & Peter

If you have been a regular reader, thank you for sticking with us. If you are a sponsor, thank you for sponsoring, your donations have made this easier to do, believe it or not! It also goes to a great cause don't forget. Additional thanks need to go to the people who called, messaged, text and tweeted us throughout the event - that really helped, thank you.

Also thank you to Oxfam, the Gurkha Welfare Trust, the Queen's Gurkha Signals and the volunteers who made the event what it was.

But biggest thanks go to our long suffering support crew! Without you guys we would not have been able to complete it... and we would have also needed bigger backpacks.

The Weekend We Walked 100km Part 2

...continued from Part 1 (if you haven't read Part 1 yet, check it out here).

It was at this point in the journey that Julie decided enough was enough and she needed to change into her second pair of walking shoes. Her boots had been causing her significant pain in her little toes for the past few stages and she really couldn't take it anymore. Blisters were starting to form! Help! She taped up her feet even further and swapped shoes. Her feet immediately felt a lot better in these as they were much roomier. No doubt her feet had started to swell from the continuous walking.

The muddy stretch into CP5

Starting stage 5 we were discussing about how the weather had changed and how peaceful it was on the Downs at this moment. The views were much clearer and we were given views that we were more used to from training walks. It was still VERY muddy though. Saying that, we were used to avoiding mud and puddles and now it had become the norm to wade through given our limited options.

The mud coming into checkpoint 5 was probably the worst of all the checkpoints. You could probably slide through it like skating. We couldn't imagine how difficult this would be for the runners today. As Josh said, you'd go backwards with each step. This was also another point for Josh to perform a comedy fall.

Anna & Gem at CP5

We entered checkpoint five where Jeff and Gem met us at the check in tent. Gem was telling us all about being towed in by a tractor and being assisted by a very hunky soldier. I'm sure he didn't mind helping out Gem and Anna too much...


At this checkpoint the support had the gazebo up, with bunting made by Gem and her friend Nat with inspirational messages and also pictures from our training walks. Ah happier days, when the walks were shorter and the weather was generally better! Thanks guys! Jo took the opportunity to use the pop up tent to get changed, part of her half way point plan. The change of clothes immediately brought comfort and warmth.

Motivational bunting

We also got our surprises here. Josh and Gubbs got message boards from friends and family from home, while Jo and Julie got video messages via Jeff's iPad, and email messages of support from friends and family. A great morale boost there, thanks.


This was half way and also the checkpoint to put on our head torches and reflective gear as darkness was quickly descending on us.


At the start of this next stage Julie shared her Hardcore Four song with the rest of the group.


To the music of Tom Jones - "Delilah":

Why, Why, Why, are we doing this??

Time to get reflective!

Why, Why, Why, are we doing this??

This is why we're called the Hardcore Four

So P**S OFF rain, we just cannot take any more!

And she also gave us the different options to substitute for rain - pain, mud, etc.

As the darkness fell, the mist also started to close in around the team. Often at points it was difficult to work out where you were going as the light from the headtorches just got lost in the fog. Then, out of the misty gloom we saw the dark shadows of the trees of Chanctonbury Ring. Julie had done some research on this ancient landmark on the internet, coming across stories of witchcraft and ghosts. The team took the opportunity to lift spirits, and possibly scare a nearby team or two by making 'Woooooooooooo' noises in the dark!

After the long climb up to near Chanctonbury Ring, Josh was having some real trouble with his left knee. It was aggravated when sliding around on the mud just before the checkpoint and now it was painful. We slowed the pace right down to enable him to be as comfortable as possible. He wasn't happy, worried that this may put him out of the event. Gubbs got out his iPod in an attempt to change Josh's focus and increase morale. First song on, Highway to Hell - AC/DC. Pretty well summed it up.

A trail of Trailwalkers

Jo was also starting to have trouble with her ankle, which had swollen up and started to bruise.  Limited as to what she could do to help ease the pain, Jo stuck a trusty Compeed blister plaster on it and crossed her fingers. If they could work for blisters, surely they might be able to heal bruised ankles, right??...

Although we had a struggle, the head torches behind us before we headed down to the checkpoint was a sight to behold, it's not everyday you can see such a sight and so it was a special one.

After a few more songs, ranging from Michael Jackson and Queen to Foo Fighters, we eventually found our way into Botolphs, another closed checkpoint to support crew.

Here Josh seeked help in the medical tent only to come out shortly after saying "I feel a lot better now - there are people in there passed out! I'm not so bad really!" I guess it provided some perspective.

A common sight of the weekend; Gurkhas pushing cars
out of muddy checkpoints!

We exited the checkpoint via the bog of the field and walked along the side of the river, equally boggy. Then we met night support crew Tracy and Peter at 1am in a petrol station in Upper Beeding. They were there without Jeff this time as he headed somewhere to catch some sleep before the next checkpoint. They had been waiting patiently there for hours ready for us to arrive. When we did eventually arrive we dealt with all our ailments and also picked up the glow sticks/rings that Tracy and Peter had supplied us. They even tied on the LED filled balloon onto Gubbs' backpack so he could be found in the dark!


Josh applied enough ibuprofen gel on his knee to put a small animal to sleep and also used Gubbs' knee strap to try and improve his situation.


Improve it did, we scaled the tough hill climb out of Upper Beeding without any issues and our stage 7 speed was looking good. Tackling this monster of a hill in the dark seemed to make it easier than when it had been scaled in training walks, possibly because you couldn't see how far away the top on the hill was! Going downhill was the only thing slowing us down a little with both Josh and Gubbs having some knee issues on the slopes.

The team entering CP7

We could see checkpoint 7 in the distance, lit up by a massive flood light. We could hear the beat of a drum as we approached too. Jo's plan for us all along had been to reach checkpoint 7, as she had heard from another team's blog that one of the Gurkha's had said, 'if you can make it to checkpoint 7 and get going again, you'll make it to the finish'.


Stopping for a quick break before the checkpoint we made conversation with a couple of lads in another team. They were telling us that they were going to have to call it a day as they were in so much pain. We were feeling relatively upbeat, we certainly weren't stopping now.


That's until we got to the car at the checkpoint with a plate of pasta. That's when the tiredness hit us. It was 4am. We all hit the wall. Jo's injuries were still causing her grief and we weren't in the best of shapes. Julie had taped her feet up so much that you could even see a square inch of skin any more! It was all tape and plaster!! Checkpoints now were becoming a place to sit and take the weight off your feet, which were getting more and more painful. There was less food being taken on with our stomachs really not wanting any more, and less stretching being done.


As darkness turned into light, we were not treated to a nice sun rise, just the grey got lighter. Not that we cared too much, we were cold and tired and would have done anything to the finish right now.

Almost there... CP8

The next stage was tough. We started worrying that we may not make some of the checkpoint closure times. We were going to finish this one way or another. We just wanted there to be some people left at Brighton Racecourse when we arrived that's all!!

We got into Jack & Jill to a wonderful welcome by the volunteers! A great bunch of people. We checked in and asked about the checkpoint closure times. One of the Gurkha's informed us that there would be some flexibility in the times today and so we weren't to worry.

CP8 Sock changing

Here Jo & Julie sorted out some new socks  and got a quick shoulder massage from support crew Jeff. Josh sorted out his undies (his undercarriage was getting very chaffed poor lad) and Gubbs just sat and stared into space.

We said goodbye to Tracy and Peter here. They weren't to see us at Brighton Racecourse as they were to head back home for sleep. They deserved it too staying up all night and morning waiting for us.

CP8 and knackered

We knew the next stage would be a killer. It goes on for what seems to be an eternity and when you are in pain it just doesn't help. Josh's injuries were getting the better of him and unfortunately that meant he slowed to keep the pain at bay. Gubbs was now suffering a lot more from chaffing and was desperate to get some new pants on at the next checkpoint!

Jo and Julie put on their MP3 players to give them a little extra motivation and it worked with Julie humming the Jackson 5 immediately!

As we neared the middle part of the stage we could see the windmill to mark checkpoint 9 in the distance. Though it was good to see it, it also looked sooooooo far away. One good thing was that the sun decided to make a long awaited appearance at this stage. At least it looked like the rain was gone for the time being.

About two thirds of the way through we had a stop and checked to see if Josh would be OK to go on. There was worry in the team and also from the support crew, who were keeping abreast of the situation, that he might be doing himself some real damage.

However, asking Josh whether he wanted to pull out was like a red rag to a bull, immediately after that and a fresh underwear change, Josh was in a different gear, determined to show everyone that he would finish this, pain or no pain.

We cracked on and met Jeff walking towards us about 40 minutes from the end of the stage and he offered a bag carrying service for the way into checkpoint 9! This was good news for Jo as her knee had started to become painful too, as she'd joined Josh and Gubbs' club! Although being a girl she shed a few tears at this point, while the boys took it like men! (Editorial note: This was Jo's text, not Gubbs' at the fear of being given some abuse!)

A busy CP9!

Heading into the checkpoint we could see some new faces here to welcome us, some surprises - Lucy, Josh's girlfriend, as well as Lilian and Steve, Gubbs' parents, all of whom were supposed to meet us at Brighton Racecourse by now if original plans were correct!

It was a nice surprise and a welcome boost to morale. To add to that, Gem and Anna were making bacon rolls! This was the checkpoint we wanted to get to. We knew that after that last killer stage we could finish this.

The racecourse was only 10km away... What could go wrong??

The final part - Part three can be read here.