I had never taken part in anything like it before in my life but when my Dad died of cancer in March 2018, my whole world was altered and I knew that I wanted his death to mean something.
I signed up to the Jurassic Coast Challenge later on that year – a continuous 100km walk along the Dorset coast in June 2019. I was under no allusion at how hard this event would be for me to complete – I had years of terrible health, multiple major bowel surgeries resulting in a stoma bag. At one point I was on around 18 tablets of various medication a day, swollen limbs, no sleep, pain every single day, some days I could not walk at all, my weight soared – my life just became about existing – not living.
By the time I signed up to the walk, I had lost quite a bit of weight, I had used Dads passing as a motivator to start changing my life already!
I did nearly 400km of training in 4 months, I walked and walked and walked…then walked some more. The elevation for the Dorset walk was pretty significant and what’s more – I had to walk all throughout the night – that is a LONG time to keep moving!
I completed it. After 27 hours of walking/rest stops – I had done it. Over cliffs, beaches, shingle beaches, farm land, coastal paths, endless stiles, near castle ruins, through tiny villages – I had done it.
And I was hooked. I was hooked on the people I met along the way – the stories I heard, the laughter I had, the couple that became my family during the night where your mind starts to go a bit weird. We kept each other going, we told each other stories, we sung songs – we swore at things that tripped us up and talked and talked and talked. The 2 old rugby players who helped me get going near some cliffs by Durdle Door around 45km in – the lady who told me that she had booked the event with her best friend the year before, only for her to die of aggressive cancer 3 months later and leave her two young children behind – so she was doing the walk for both of them.
I was hooked on the indescribable feeling of being part of something so huge, of finishing something so huge, of knowing I pushed myself mentally and physically in every single way and WON!
I raised nearly £800 for the fight against pancreatic cancer, that walk helped me take back the power that cancer had taken from me, when it stole my Dad.
Doing an event will change your life – I PROMISE you that you can do it. It may seem hard, it may seem over whelming but your body will give up long before your mind ever will. If you keep your mind strong, if you know you can do it – then you WILL do it and it will be the best thing you have ever done.
Your life will change for the better, your whole perspective on the world will change so I say take a leap into the new and challenging – you never know where it may take you!
2019 – Ultra Challenge – Jurassic Coast Challenge – 100km Walk FINISHER
Schools' Active Community Coach 