The night walk

There's a first time for everything. And none of us had done this before whether a night walk or a walk of this distance.

Houghton to Lewes (52km or 32miles)finally achieved in 12hours 15mins.

We started at midnight after securing the permission of the landlord of the George & Dragon pub Houghton. It was very warm and humid and the bugs did like the head torch beams. We set a fair pace from the start (which was checkpoint 4).

On this first section walked in the night we only slowed once to ensure we took the right fork in the tracks.

It was quite early in the walk that Stevie started to suffer an old knee injury that made the descents especially tricky and painful. The mid-trail prayer had an immediate effect and as the sun came up he was out in front with Cliff (the pacemaker).

As dawn overtook the sky however it became clear that he would not be able to complete the target distance this time. In our planning we had left a car at the beginning and end and one also at Devil's Dyke (on checkpoint 7) approx 2/3rds along this walk. That is were Stevie bowed out to preserve his knee - wrecking it this close to the event wouldn't be good.

By the end even pace-setter Cliff admitted he could not pick up the pace towards the end. I knew that the actual event would take a level of courage, grit and determination - I have been humbled and encouraged at the same time - the same being reflected by e-comments following.

I sense however a renewed determination by the team to make sure we finish, that we finish as a team of 4 and that we finish well. We are starkly aware that every training opportunity should be taken - every step will make a difference on Trailwalker 2009 -only 5 weeks away and counting.

Another 26k along the trail completed

in 5 hours and 20mins on Sat 18th April 2009. Not bad actually and I'm in full agreement with Piers. What's more - I can report that my legs weren't particularly stiff! Stevie seemed OK too and have received no complaints from Piers or Cliff.

I had been feeling a little nervous about adding another stage to the trail distance we accomplished last time we met as a team, owing to a lack of training opportunity over the last 3 weeks. An optical exhibition build-up, show and subsequent follow-up of interest took me until Easter which then involved a day of rest, a day's house cleaning, a days hospitality and a visit to friends for 2 nights. Hectic, really hectic.

Stevie P had suffered a seized back earlier in the week (house-mate found him on the stairs unable to move) through sleeping in a wrong position, though his performance this walk proved his resolve for training - running and cycling 12 miles to and from work each morning in Oxford. No pain no gain. Actually he had been wondering whether he should go for a run that evening. Apart from a little cramp on approx 24k he had a good walk.

The day started well, the light cloud stubbornly held against the sun, carried by the chilly NW wind, providing a comfortable walk from CP5 to CP8. This section will be our night sections on the event. We are looking to see if we can manage a similar walk in the near future at night so we are prepared - the night of the Trailwalker event is due a new moon and so we'll need to know each and every turn along the way. We found on this jaunt that there were a number of places where notes had to be taken to avoid a wrong turn - we don't want to walk any more than the required 100k!



Also, we were very pleased to welcome Terence and Kate Rosslyn-Smith, the pioneers of the support crew, to the day's proceedings. Whilst we walked they visited CPs 4-8inc to view each of the access points to the checkpoints and time the drives between them, so they know what to expect. That effort was very valuable. It is great to know that they are there - their attention to detail and commitment are wonderful. They are truly an integral part of the team.


We need to recruit another pair to help them, after all, they are going to be working for 24 hours in support of us. Any volunteers?!



Once we had worked out how to get there through the country lanes, the de-brief in the tea rooms in Steyning was both enjoyable and productive with more detail going into the logistics, kit and co-operation plan.

So we are looking forward to our next team walk on the 23rd May - we'll keep you posted on the training.