The Big Blister - This is Becky's Story...
The weekend of TrailWalker had finally dawned. All those hours of training and fundraising
were all about to come to a head. It was
no longer months or weeks away…and I was slightly nervous to say the least. The Monday before, I had been in a ringo on a
school field day (an activity which had not been approved by our team leader,
Sue) and pulled a muscle in my neck, also compressing some vertebrae. Perhaps not the best thing to have done just
before attempting a 100k walk! I could
not move my neck from side to side or up and down – but my legs were still
working, fortunately!
We all had a fun evening together before the walk and
enjoyed the entertainment provided by the Ghurkas. None of us could quite believe the officer
who merrily stood up and told us that he had run the course the previous
evening and it was a “bit” muddy underfoot.
How on earth could he RUN 100k and then be standing and walking normally
that soon afterwards?!?
With rain forecast, I was very glad to be sleeping in a
hotel the night before and not in a tent like my poor husband! Goodbyes said, we headed back to the hotel
for a good night’s rest… and I managed to sleep for all of half an hour due to
a very painful neck and nerves. Needless
to say, I did not wake up bright and breezy but did giggle when I found out
that Sue had forgotten her boots! The
Ghurka breakfast also put a smile on our faces, especially the way that Sandra
arranged hers! Having waved off the
men’s team, it was time to put our best feet forward and head off
ourselves. The atmosphere at the start
line was brilliant and it was inspiring to see the Ghurka teams who would be
running the course. We were all decked
up in full weather gear and they only had on singlets and shorts! After singing a loud “Happy Birhtday” to
Sandra, we were finally off, setting a good pace.
The first stage of the course passed relatively smoothly,
despite some drizzle. We were all in
good spirits and I enjoyed hearing the chatter of other teams as we walked
along. Many people wished Sandra a Happy
Birthday as they walked past, and we made it to Check Point One in very good
time. Check points two to four merge
into a bit of a blur for me as the tracks underfoot got very muddy and the
going was tough from quite an early stage.
The support crew were fantastic at the check points they could get to,
and it was great to have Karen to join us for one stage. I think my favourite part of the walk was
getting in to checkpoint five to have warm soup and chocolate provided by Emma,
Karen and Lyn. The baseball caps with
our “idols” hanging from them also gave us some light relief!
Going back to the mud and rain, I honestly think that this
was my downfall. Despite never having
had a blister through training walks, I was the first to develop one on my left
heel, only about ten km in. I did dress
it early on, and change socks too, but the conditions meant that clean socks
were saturated shortly after changing them and boots were soaked through as
well. One of the checkpoints was more
like a war zone than a welcoming sight, with mud up to our shins and nowhere
dry to administer attention to our feet.
At around Check Point four, the blister turned from being a nagging pain
to real agony with every step. However,
despite hearing that Rich had pulled out from his team due to severe blisters,
I was determined to keep going as long as I could.
At Check Point Five, I did nearly give up,
but the team spirit and support crew kept me plodding (or hobbling on!). However, halfway between CP 5 and 6, I knew
that I could not continue any further and told the others in my team. I could tell they were upset and they did try
to keep me going, but I knew that that was my lot. It was not a tough decision to make as I
still feel that walking 60km in those conditions, having not slept the night
before either, was an achievement. I am
also incredibly proud of the amount of money we managed to raise as a team, and
the support that we gave each other.
Therefore, at CP6, I handed over my electronic tag and squeezed into the
back of the support crew van, surrounded by delicious cakes and other
paraphernalia!
Steve and Paul had now
taken over as crew, and they lovingly prepared pancakes for the others as they
came through the Jack and Jill Windmills.
At CP9, Vicky really seemed to be struggling with blisters, but Steve
and Paul had gone to walk with them, providing moral support, whilst I prepared
tea and bacon sandwiches for all. They
had completed the longest stage of the course and there were now only 10km
left. The support crew headed down to
Brighton, and, having been reunited with my husband, I walked the last
kilometre back to join them as they crossed the finish line. Admittedly, I was wearing Paul’s flip flops
as I didn’t want to see my walking boots again for a long, long time.
Even though I didn’t walk the full 100km with
my team, I still feel a huge sense of pride for what we accomplished and am
amazed and their willpower for powering on in such difficult conditions. I am also very grateful to all the members of
our support crew for keeping us going and to Steve and Paul for putting up with
me for the final stages! Sue was a
fantastic team leader and was incredibly organised for both walks and
fundraising. Sandra certainly had a
memorable 40th birthday and I couldn’t believe that my younger
sister made it to work the very next day and completed a thirteen hour
shift. At one point, I really thought
she would stop too, and am delighted she found the strength to continue. As a team, we enjoyed several giggles
together and never ran out of things to talk about, also managing to raise a
huge amount for charity.
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