London MoonWalk 2012

13th May 2012

5 pairs of trainers and 26.2 miles wiser!  Team DanSam RoodMan raised over £1,200 for Walk The Walk – more than 3 times what we’d set out to!

We joined the thousands of others queuing to get into MoonWalk City aka ‘the big pink tent’ in Hyde Park; what would be the start and finish of the walk. The night started out with entertainment from the fabulous Globe Girls to get us all moving and a pasta meal to build up our carb reserves. Nina addressed the crowds, informing us that so far we’d raised over £2.5m this year, MoonWalk’s 15th birthday!

A 1 minute silence followed, everyone joining hands in the tent. Now it hit home what we were about to do and why…

Then over to Roy Gayle to get us warmed up – OK, so we were a little bit too enthusiastic and joined in all 4 warm-up’s, with hindsight maybe this wasn’t such a great idea! We had fun none the less, the sight of us attempting to ‘wind our bodies’ with Roy’s body-rolls must have been quite a spectacle to behold!

I was nursing a pulled achilles tendon and Sam a bad back, but we were all game and ready for the off! At exactly midnight we departed Hyde Park. It seemed to take ages to negotiate the first 7 miles, (the first few marked with a celebratory Jelly Baby) the sheer number of people made it a slow start, plus queuing to cross some of the busy intersections. The 1st couple of loo stops had a 30 minute wait so we soldiered on…

Once the half-mooners split off at 10 miles, the crowds dissipated and the next toilet stop in Battersea Park was a welcome relief! The route didn’t really need to be sign-posted as you could pretty much navigate your way around Hansel & Gretel style, following the copious pink feathers, sequins, and discarded water bottles, plastic macs, foil blankets and the odd orphaned Jelly Baby! The London Eye, The Shard, the OXO building, Tate Modern, Battersea Power Station and Big Ben all marked the way.

By now the sun was beginning to show itself once more with the promise of another lovely sunny day as we hit the 14 mile mark, only 12 more to go. By now things were beginning to get sore and tired!

…By 20 miles you could really feel every step; feet were getting hot and muscles just screaming out for a hot shower and bed!

Still we carried on for what seemed like forever, with a promise of loo’s at 22 miles that never materialised, only to find they were at 24 miles! Thank god we’ve got strong bladders!

Thankfully there were no serious blisters for us to contend with, although we passed a lot of casualties sitting on the steps of houses – it must have been very hard for them to get going again. Even the window shopping in Kensington didn’t help take our minds off the task still to do. By now just about every fibre in our bodies was pleading to stop but we know that stopping will only mean it’s harder to get going again. We hit Constitution Hill, not far now! Those last few miles may as well have been 10. By now we were fighting tiredness having been awake for nearly 24 hours straight, plus muscle fatigue. If the devil had popped up and offered to whisk me to the finish line if I sold him my soul, I might very well have agreed!

We entered Hyde Park once again for the final lap. What we couldn’t have observed in the darkness when we started was that we could see the other side of the large lake, and walkers on the other side! Holy @3%&, we’ve still got to get ROUND THERE?

That last mile and a half seemed like an eternity

…but with the welcome addition of my brother, who had turned up to lend support and act as personal team photographer. By now it felt like we were moving at a glacial pace although in reality it was still a ‘normal’ speed!

At last we reached the mile 26 marker… Hooray! We were really on the home straight now and mustered enough energy to smile for a photo below the 26 mile board. A slight incline up to the finish line, cheered on with encouragement from the spectators, we joined hands for the final push across the line! We were greeted by volunteers handing out our medals, what a great job they must have; only happy customers! Tired but feeling very chuffed with ourselves we hobbled to the car for the long journey back home.