Apologies to the geese and sheep of Oxfordshire for my exhausted midnight rants. It turns out that walking 65 miles in one go can send you completely nuts.
Thank you so much to everyone who supported me in raising £1,550 for Cancer Research as I somehow managed to finish the 100-kilometre Thames Path Challenge ultra race at the weekend. It's far and away the hardest physical thing I've ever done and it just about flippin' did me in.
Some amazing people actually RUN the whole race but I was among the majority who walked most or all of it, setting off early on Saturday morning from Putney. It's a stunning route following the River Thames all the way to Henley – incredible views, and the weather was perfect.
However, by late afternoon, I'd developed horrendous blisters and was really struggling. Night fell and I continued plodding along in the middle of what felt like nowhere. It was pitch dark, very foggy and the rest of the competitors had long since dispersed. I mostly just had the odd sheep or goose for a companion, and I don't think they enjoyed my bants. But amazingly, despite having taken a few wrong turns earlier, I didn't get lost in the dark. The illuminated way markers kept me on track and I stayed close to the river.
I had my feet re-dressed for the second time by a wonderful first-aider at a rest-stop around midnight, but was also feeling pretty sick by this point and couldn't keep any food or drink down. To be honest, I think I went a bit mad for sections of the last 10 miles, and can't remember much about it. A volunteer had to come running after me near the end having noticed that I had inexplicably taken a wrong turn. Eventually, however, I crossed the finishing line at 3.40am (20 hours and 39 minutes after setting off) – pictured below in a total daze.
My Strava told me I had walked a total of 66.5 miles but the worst was yet to come. After picking up my bag of belongings I then had to hobble another half a mile to the hotel. I was in a really sorry state the next day.
I believe that just over 700 of us started the full 100km (there were options to do shorter routes) and I finished 220th out of the 556 finishers, which I was pretty chuffed with. And it was all for a great cause. Naturally, I've already signed up for next year – it's a very enjoyable day out.
Postscript
I did compete the following year and was much better prepared. However, the race coincided with a freak September heatwave in London with temperatures above 30°C in the shade from early morning. I couldn't cope, and along with 35% of the field, had to drop out – in my case at the halfway point.