It’s been a funny old year. I virtually gave up blogging and focussed my energy (quite literally) into something completely different, something that never got a mention here on my blog. But, that something was possibly the biggest challenge I had ever undertaken…

Last January I began training for the challenge of my lifetime. My best friend and I had signed ourselves up for the London 2 Brighton Challenge, an ultra marathon in which we would walk, non-stop, from London to Brighton. 100 kilometres in one day. 63 miles. No sleeping, no rest days. Set off, walk, re-fuel, arrive.

We knew it would bring us closer to breaking point than we could ever imagine, but we knew we had to do it, not only as a personal challenge, but also to raise money for a cause close to both our hearts – Cancer Research UK.

So we trained like mother-truckers, and worked our derrières off to be race ready. We ate, drank and breathed our training programme.

On Saturday 24th May 2014 the starting klaxon went off and we embarked on the singular most challenging event of our lives. There really was blood, sweat and tears. We experienced just about every human emotion possible and went from soaring adrenaline highs, to tearfully depressed lows. We laughed like maniacs, and sobbed our hearts out.

We waded uphill, for hours, through almost knee deep mud in the pitch black night. We supported each other, and walked, and walked and walked, until 29 hours and 47 minutes later, tears of exhaustion, pride and joy streaming down our faces, we crossed that finish line on Brighton Race Course.

It was utterly overwhelming.

It was absolutely amazing.

Astonishingly, thanks to the generosity of so many kind folk, we raised almost £2000 for Cancer Research UK. We cannot thank everyone enough for their support, especially our families, who not only donated, but also allowed us the time to train.

As we crossed the finish line we both said never ever again, but as the pain of our injuries became rose-tinted through the mists of time, we may have signed up to do something very similar again…

Roll on September 2015 and The Thames Path Challenge!

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