The lovely Tina and Lizzy Needham picked me up with their Peter and we drove into London very excited, and alighted at Hyde Park. In the distance, a big Pink Tent loomed, with lots of other Moonwalkers in their White hats (Half-Moon) or Pink Hats (Full-Moon) queued (in very British, orderly fashion) to get through the entrance to Playtex city.
The wonderful Volunteers, who were ever present throughout the night, ushered us in, with big smiles and good luck wishes. Once in, we made our way to the food section, and collected a yummy pasta meal, which I knew would be vitally important later on in the night, especially for me. I was too nervous to eat last year, and only had a few mouthfuls, and later on I paid for it. So it was eaten, followed by the flapjack. The volunteers had also given us our space blankets and weather capes, and I was just wondering how on earth I was going to pack them into my already straining bum bag, when Tina came back from the stall with a present for myself and Lizzy - a lanyard and a WalktheWalk pin. The lanyard had a catch on the end, so the cape (and bizarrely) my sunglasses were put onto that, and my pin into my bag.
I had another friend participating the half-moon - Marissa, and met up for a quick chat and good luck hug. Then back to Tina and Lizzy, for the warm up and introduction to the evening by Nina Barough. I raced off to put my bag away and I was ready.
The power of Twitter
I had made contact through Twitter with a full-moon walker called Amanda (@MandyPandy32) who had been fundraising using Twitter. I had initially responded to a tweet (from Jonathan Ross - @wossy) saying I was doing the Moonwalk, and good luck. We kept in touch, and she had asked lots of advice, and we kept up to date on our training.
Once she learnt that I was walking the Full by myself, she asked me to join her and her friend Nicky, so I had company. The Full and Half Moon walks split at 9 miles, and as Tina, Lizzy and Marissa were also in a different group, I decided to walk the whole thing with Amanda, as I would have to face 17 miles on my own!!
Lizzy, Tina and myself wished each other luck, and I set off to find Amanda. The three of us got on straight away, and we headed to the start line. We crossed at 23.50 (sent off by Nina and her team) and headed out into the dark London streets.
Once thing to learn about the actual event, is that you don't walk as fast as your training walks, purely as there are thousands of people on the path with you! The Moonwalk stays to footpaths as far as possible, so overtaking slower people can be tricky. We settled into an easy rhythm, talking and contributing to Amanda's phlog - a phone blog which is run by ipadio. They were also geotagging our walk as we went. We averaged out about 18 mins per mile, and enjoyed the sights of London as we went. To see the phlog click here
The Fire Brigade lend us a loo... At about 10 miles we passed the London Fire Brigade on the Embankment, and Amanda pointed out that maybe they would let us use their amenities. It looked almost deserted as we approached, but we stuck our heads around to see about 6 other Moonwalkers' with the same idea! The firemen were very welcoming and showed lots of damsels in distress to the various loos around the station!! Thanks guys!
Loo of death
After another stop in Battersea park for the loo (you do need to go a lot..) we found our next convenience in fashionable Chelsea... too far to the next organised, loos, so we queued (very British again..) but only had 2 x20p for 3 of us... Nicky and Amanda bravely squeezed in together and got out in time before the loo cleaned itself!
The three of us trundled on, and took pictures as we went. At 22 miles we made our last loo stop (again a very accommodating concierge at an apartment block) and we noticed that the "Powerwalking" technique had gone from most people, and everyone was walking with a slight waddle! (Can I point out that WalktheWalk did provide loos at different points, but there are never enough!) At this point I got a burning pain in my shin, then in my thigh. Muscle pull :-( Basically I gritted my teeth and got on with it - but boy it hurt!
Along the way at this point, many were redressing blisters by the side of the road, and there were a few tears being shed, mainly through pain or exhaustion. The amazing volunteers kept us going with encouragement throughout the night. We passed Big Ben for the 3rd and final time and headed on the home straight.
In St-James's park, Nicky's brother met us, and at the entrance to Hyde Park, there stood was Pete, Dad and my main reason for putting myself through this - my Mum. She wrapped me in a big hug, and I limped off having a little cry as I went. Pete shortcut through Hyde Park and photographed our big moment - getting to 26 miles.
Crossing the finishing line was fabulous, and there were more tears shed! We had been on the move for about 8 hours and on the course for about 9. We crossed the line at 8.45 am.
Eventually, Amanda, Nicky and myself hugged each other goodbye, and I set off to meet my family, to limp to the car with them! Home, hot bath, sleep... roast dinner (thanks Pete xxx).
Next day, I woke up, and I could MOVE! More than last year that was! So 3 days later, and some early nights I feel elated for the achievement, and in good nick.
Last year I walked by myself, plugged into my ipod, and although I was amazed I did it, walking with 2 others to chat with this year, made me realise that I was quite lonely last year, and it made it more mentally challenging. Thank you Amanda and Nicky, you were very lovely and good company xx
I spoke with Marissa the next day, and she really suffered blisters, but completed the Half-Moon in 4 hours, and Tina and Lizzy walked their part in 5 hours. I have to note here, Tina had shoulder surgery 2 months ago, and walked in a sling, so well done Tina!
So if I was to do it again: 1) Definitely invest in your trainers and socks - they have ensured I did not have too many blisters or aches and pains
2) Do the training - the big walks and at least one other training walk per week.
3) If you do it by yourself, have an ipod full of cheery tunes!!
4) Make sure you have energy bars - fruit and nut does the trick!
5) And as the compare said - "Tits n Teeth girls!" Chest out and keep smiling!!
The three of us trundled on, and took pictures as we went. At 22 miles we made our last loo stop (again a very accommodating concierge at an apartment block) and we noticed that the "Powerwalking" technique had gone from most people, and everyone was walking with a slight waddle! (Can I point out that WalktheWalk did provide loos at different points, but there are never enough!) At this point I got a burning pain in my shin, then in my thigh. Muscle pull :-( Basically I gritted my teeth and got on with it - but boy it hurt!
Along the way at this point, many were redressing blisters by the side of the road, and there were a few tears being shed, mainly through pain or exhaustion. The amazing volunteers kept us going with encouragement throughout the night. We passed Big Ben for the 3rd and final time and headed on the home straight.
In St-James's park, Nicky's brother met us, and at the entrance to Hyde Park, there stood was Pete, Dad and my main reason for putting myself through this - my Mum. She wrapped me in a big hug, and I limped off having a little cry as I went. Pete shortcut through Hyde Park and photographed our big moment - getting to 26 miles.
Crossing the finishing line was fabulous, and there were more tears shed! We had been on the move for about 8 hours and on the course for about 9. We crossed the line at 8.45 am.
Eventually, Amanda, Nicky and myself hugged each other goodbye, and I set off to meet my family, to limp to the car with them! Home, hot bath, sleep... roast dinner (thanks Pete xxx).
Next day, I woke up, and I could MOVE! More than last year that was! So 3 days later, and some early nights I feel elated for the achievement, and in good nick.
Last year I walked by myself, plugged into my ipod, and although I was amazed I did it, walking with 2 others to chat with this year, made me realise that I was quite lonely last year, and it made it more mentally challenging. Thank you Amanda and Nicky, you were very lovely and good company xx
I spoke with Marissa the next day, and she really suffered blisters, but completed the Half-Moon in 4 hours, and Tina and Lizzy walked their part in 5 hours. I have to note here, Tina had shoulder surgery 2 months ago, and walked in a sling, so well done Tina!
So if I was to do it again: 1) Definitely invest in your trainers and socks - they have ensured I did not have too many blisters or aches and pains
2) Do the training - the big walks and at least one other training walk per week.
3) If you do it by yourself, have an ipod full of cheery tunes!!
4) Make sure you have energy bars - fruit and nut does the trick!
5) And as the compare said - "Tits n Teeth girls!" Chest out and keep smiling!!
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