What a fantastic day that was! The weather would have been described by most as lousy, but constant drizzle when walking 26 miles is refreshing. The rain never got too heavy...or did we become acclimatised and just didn't realise? I'll apologise in advance for this awful pun, but it certainly didn't put a dampener on the day, boom boom!
It was apparent from the start that 38 of us walking together was never going to be an option. What did begin to take shape was team members setting into little groups of those who walked a similar pace...except poor Amy, who had to go whatever pace Talulah the dog decided she would go, often running!!!
Lisa Alexander was the Team VX version of Usain Bolt, taking little over 7 hours to complete the gruelling 26 mile course. There were a number of excellent personal and little team achievements within our ranks:
Kim Small - started the course unwell and with blistered feet. She decided to try and make the first 14 miles and turned down numerous offers of bailing out and ended up completing the section in flip-flops, so bad were her feet. It was a herculean effort, that was obvious to anyone who saw Kim on the route.
Amy Woodhead - was another starting the route with an ailment...and a dog to ruin any pace she may have wanted to set. She managed about 20 miles, sensibly taking a few miles out on each section and crossing the finishing line with a group of us.
Barbara Dale and husband John were our oldest 26 mile entrants, and made the marathon look easy. It was a fabulous effort. Barbs wasn't even stiff the following day.
Clare Restall also deserves a mention, as she hardly prepared well...walking in plimsolls was probably not advisable and 3 bottles of dry white the night before was certainly not advisable!
Jake Pemberton was another to make the 26 miles look quite comfortable, ably partnered by girlfriend, Clare Davies. Jake's day was different in that the rest of his family joined at halfway. They all did splendidly.
As for our 12 mile participants, I'm sure that Jill Finden, Maddie New and Paul Harding would all be happy to admit that they all nearly fell at the first! The hill going out of Broughton is a brute, probably the worst on the course. When we passed them flaked out on that first hill, I was concerned for their completing the course. How chuffed were we to later find that all finished at Salisbury Cathedral as planned. They summed up the spirit and determination shown by all of the 38 participants.
Other 12 milers included what is now to be known as "The Two Ann's". I saw them leave Broughton at what I considered a furious pace. I'm told they did extremely well, but there was little chance of catching them to find out!!! Take a bow Ann Dix and Ann Banks.
As for me, well I enjoyed every step of the 26 miles, ran a couple of miles along the way and warmed down with a run at the end. Where that energy came from I will never know, but I think it may have come from the pride I got from seeing the fantastic efforts mentioned above, and walking with some extremely awesome people! Walking with Team Munro was far more sociable than challenging. Again, the efforts of Sue & John Munro and Lou & Brian Little typified the efforts seen across the larger team, with all 4 suffering with different ailments.
A few people have not been mentioned here, for which I apologise. 38 pen pictures is too many, but your efforts have not been ignored. Thank you all so much for your fantastic contributions.
BUT...we have saved the best to last...
At 6pm, into Salisbury Cathedral Close came our last mini team of 26 milers, all arm in arm. Was it in celebration? Possibly, but what was obvious is that all three were helping one another to the finish line, showing the grit and teamwork that so embodied what had gone before. The group of three really were the stars of the day. STEVE OWEN is one fit fella. However, today he struggled with knee problems and also had to adjust his pace to his companions, not easy. At the finish line, I've never seen Steve look so shattered. Next to Steve was his girlfriend CAROL NYE, who had suffered the usually fatal (at least in competitive terms!) condition of having pain in the hips. When your hips go on a course of this nature, then usually, that's the end. Propping up Carol's other side was the hero of the day. DENISE GARDINER was out to prove herself, and alot of others wrong...that she could walk 26 miles. Denise suffers from Diabetes and has had problems with medication, as well as a bad back in recent months. Add to this, the dreadful weather of the past few months has severely hampered any training she wanted to do. After 12 miles, Denise almost had to pull out, as a steep hill in King Somborne saw her close to collapse. She had to address her diabetes and stopped for some suitable food and drink. Despite all of her obstacles, Denise remained incredibly positive throughout. She told me that she'd crawl over the line at 3am if she had to. When the final three came across the finish, Denise looked the strongest of all of them. I suspect that the teamwork and focus on her friends was what made Denise so strong. The final group of three were truly inspirational.
The efforts of everyone were quite incredible and should be recognised, so if you haven't...GIVE!!!
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/VXWinchester
