First of all, a big thank you to all the people who have supported this event.

Special thanks go to Pikey and little Pikey for being our support crew.

The biggest thanks go to Harvey, who was the only one ______ enough to walk with me. (Please insert from the list – mad / stupid / gullible / brave / enthusiastic / fit)

So it was a fine Saturday morning at 7:30am in Wellingborough Fire Station’s yard where we met up and made our first mistake, but more of that later. We picked up our route map and checkpoint cards from the start line at the Castle Theatre, collected a few donations in our collecting tin from well wishers, and strode off purposefully across Castle Fields along the RED ROUTE. For those of you not into these things, that is the 26 mile / 42 kilometres route. Doesn’t sound much when you say it quickly!

Walking along the Wellingborough Embankment, we were very quickly overtaken by the Dutch Army team. Well I say overtaken, what I really mean is nearly trampled underfoot. Well I say they were Dutch Army, but they were camouflaged so we didn’t really see anything.

Soon afterwards we gave assistance to a nice chap called Mike. He was German and was about to go the wrong way after only walking about half a mile. We called him over and set him on the right path. Mike was a chatty bloke who introduced us to his friend Günter. Now, Günter was wearing a very tight electric blue t-shirt and very, very tight electric blue cycle shorts. Mike seemed to prefer to walk behind Günter for some reason. Fortunately Günter was walking a lot faster than Harvey and I wanted to, so thankfully he and Mike disappeared into the distance as we entered Irchester Country Park.

There followed a nice brisk walk through the park and out the other side into a large yellow field. There’s more about them later. Eventually we made it to our first checkpoint at Parsons Hall in Irchester. That was 3.7 miles done. Easy this walking lark. As we left there we saw Russ Harmer on a bike going the opposite way. A typical Training Department tactic to confuse everyone. We exchanged a few words of friendly banter and carried on our way through Irchester.

As we made our way into Farndish we were overtaken by an odd chap who walked in the strangest way. Almost a run but not quite. A bit like he needed the toilet really urgently but didn’t want to draw attention to himself. He was definitely drawing attention to himself!

After Farndish, we entered a large yellow field. In the distance was the water tower in Wollaston. Something to aim for. Harvey got chatting to a couple who announced that they were the official escort to the Lady Mayor of Wollaston. In fact the Lady Mayor of Wollaston was just in front of them. I didn’t expect to be walking amongst royalty. Mr official escort to the Lady Mayor of Wollaston told us about when he ran the London Marathon. Mrs official escort to the Lady Mayor of Wollaston told us how wonderful the Lady Mayor of Wollaston was. Several times. Thankfully we soon entered Wollaston’s Bell End, and reached checkpoint number two. That was 6.5 miles done.

We left Wollaston, where we were overtaken by toilet man again, took two left hand bends and went back into Wollaston. We disappeared into an industrial estate and then through a gap in the hedge into a large yellow field. Now as you can see, we were wearing our nice white ‘helpBen’ t-shirts. I would suggest that on the hottest day of the year so far, a t-shirt is the best thing to wear. Nearly everyone agreed with that. However just in front of us was a lad wearing a coat and a hoodie over his t-shirt. His face was red. The sweat was running from his forehead. “Aren’t you a bit warm in that coat?” said Harvey. “Not really” said sweaty, red faced lad. We overtook him. Left him in our dust.

We left the large yellow field, crossed a little bridge over a brook and went through a gap in the hedge, into a large yellow field. Can you see a pattern emerging here? Good because after that large yellow field we went into a………………… large yellow field!!!

After what seemed like miles of yellowness we ended up on Harrold Road in Bozeat. The church steeple was our next aiming point. We made it to the church which was the third checkpoint. That was 10.5 miles done. Our support crew had contacted us and agreed to meet us there with supplies. We took the opportunity to rest a while, sort out our socks, take on some liquids and generally chill out. Pikey and little Pikey were a welcome sight. Full of encouragement and mars bars.

The next couple of miles were by road to Easton Maudit. We were overtaken by toilet man again. We then entered a large yellow field. Two or three more large yellow fields later we appeared in Grendon. The Half and Half Moon public house was checkpoint number four. That was 13.6 miles done. HALF WAY !!! We rested for a while to take on some more fluids and allow Harvey time to stick a plaster on a blister. The next mile was up a steep hill. Not fair. The legs were starting to get a bit sore by then.

It was in Grendon where we had our best piece of luck of the whole day. As we strode out of Grendon we heard a voice say: “Excuse me. I think you are going the wrong way.” A lady was standing by a route marker that we had missed, pointing in a different direction to the one we were going. After expressing our deep gratitude we found out that the lady’s name was Lia. She was Dutch but had lived in Australia for 27 years. We also found out that Lia spends the summer months in Australia training for long distance walks. She then travels around Europe in our summer taking part in walking events. The week before she was in Belgium and the following week she was going to Luxembourg. There were we, trying to keep going and get the miles under our belt, and there was Lia stopping to admire the countryside and take a few photographs.

We headed out of Grendon through the largest yellow field of the day. It went on and on and on. The sun by now was beating down on us and the temperature was soaring. As we approached Castle Ashby House, there appeared a surprise checkpoint, the fifth, that wasn’t on the map. From this point we walked uphill and entered Castle Ashby village. The Falcon Public House was at the 14.9 miles stage. An ice cold pint in the Falcon was very tempting, but we knew that it would be the end of our day because we wouldn’t want to leave!

The following directions were next on the route: “Straight on past road junction and up steep hill to Whiston.” They weren’t joking. That hill was a killer. However once we reached the summit of mount Whiston the view was of the Nene valley below, with Earls Barton in the distance. We knew that once we reached Earls Barton we were well on the way home.

Next came the bit that really knackered me. It was a steep downhill section, on gravel, into Whiston, via the churchyard. Uphill is hard work but for some reason downhill seems harder to me. Gravel is worse. It was also on this section that I felt some blisters bubble up.

Being in the Nene valley was the most picturesque part of the day. We walked across the valley until we reached the river by a lock. Several people were sitting on the sides of he lock dangling their feet in the water. It looked like a wonderful idea, but we both knew that to stop for too long now would make restarting a real challenge. So we turned right and followed the river bank for several miles until we reached the pocket park near to Dunkley’s. This was checkpoint number six. That was 18.6 miles done. There was no shade at all. What a good idea to have a checkpoint that far into the walk with no shade. The side of the St Johns Ambulance became our temporary shade while we sorted out our socks and feet once more and took on more liquids. Guess who arrived while we were there? Yep toilet man, still going strong!

A couple of miles further on and we crossed the river to head towards Earls Barton. It was at this point that many of the different routes of different lengths joined together. There were suddenly loads of walkers, all walking at different paces. This was the hardest section for me. It was a long uphill piece on gravel with no shade. We decided that each of us should walk at our own pace and meet up at the checkpoint in the distance at the top of the hill. At that stage I had one pace and needed to stick to it. It meant dodging around slower walkers and trying to keep going at a steady rate. It seemed never ending up that hill!

The Earls Barton checkpoint was number seven. That was 20.5 miles done. We found some shade under a gazebo and drank lots of water. You could see all around us people were struggling in the heat. As we rested, Lia the Dutch Australian lady appeared looking like she was on a gentle Sunday stroll. I think that when she saw how we were both feeling, she took pity on us and asked if we would mind her joining us for the rest of the way. We were more than pleased to have some company.

Thankfully the rest of the walk was on the tarmac of paths and roads. This was much easier on the legs and blisters, but by now we were both suffering a bit. However with Lia’s encouragement we carried on into Great Doddington. At one point Lia asked: “How much training did you both do for the walk?” When I told her that it was actually none, she replied: “You are both very brave.” We knew what she really meant was that we were both a bit stupid.

Great Doddington’s Working Men’s Club was checkpoint number eight. That was 22 miles done. Some bright spark had decided to put the checkpoint desk at the end of the car park at the back of the club. Unfortunately this was down a very, very steep slope. It did mean, however, that everyone had to walk past their bar-B-Q stall, their sweets and drinks stall and the entrance to the bar. Perhaps the bright spark wasn’t so stupid after all. We both needed a decent rest here. There wasn’t far to go now. Our support crew got in touch and wanted to meet us for the final ‘run-in’. When we left, for some reason, most probably psychological, I didn’t feel so tired or stiff. We were on the last section of the walk and the finish line was ‘in sight’.

On the way into Wellingborough, we passed by a team of Army Cadets flaked out on the grass, most of whom were really struggling. They were years younger than us and we were going past them. That’s a good ego boost. Pikey, on his own by now, appeared in his car with drinks and mars bars. It was good to see him again. Thinking back to Bozeat where we saw him last, you could see how far we had walked. He disappeared to park his car.

The Royal Oak Public House on Doddington Road was checkpoint number nine. That was 25 miles done. We carried straight on, heading down the hill into Wellingborough town centre. Pikey came up the hill to join us for the final few hundred yards to the Castle Theatre.

The theatre was buzzing with people. Hundreds of people. We entered the theatre doors to the cheers from Pikey! The only problem was, we had to get the finish line stamp on our cards, get into the main auditorium and exchange the cards for certificates and medals. After walking all that way it took us about 20 minutes to cross the finish line.

What does one do on completion of such a feat?
Get some beer down your neck!

When I emerged into the sunshine again with my medal and certificate, my family were waiting for me. A wonderful sight. We found a spare space on the grass; I took off my boots and enjoyed a pint or two whilst listening to the fantastic Oompah band. We rested and enjoyed the entertainment for an hour or so until we decided it was time to make a move. Sickeningly, Lia looked as fresh as if she had just walked across the car park.

At the start of this story I said that we made our first mistake in the Fire Station car park. What a mistake that was. Parking our cars there meant that after walking 26 miles we had another hike back to the Fire Station to get the cars. That walk was agony. Why didn’t we park closer? DOH!

My blisters have gone and my legs are working properly again. The pain is a distant memory. I might start training soon for next year. Who knows I might meet old friends on the way round? Mike and Günter, The Dutch Army wherever they are, Toilet Man in a rush, The official escorts to the Lady Mayor of Wollaston on their bodyguard duties and of course Lia our coach and mentor.