This seated holy bishop from Lübeck is one of those objects which manages to look both battered and quietly magnificent. It probably once formed part of the carved decoration at the Schiffergesellschaft (or the shipmasters’ guild) at the Burgkirche. The figure sits in full episcopal dignity, wearing a mitre and raising one hand in blessing.
In the period around 1380 to 1400, it was carved in oak and would originally have been much richer in colour, with traces of paint and gilding although that has mostly all gone now. I get intrigued by pieces like this because of their heritage and the journey that it has had through history. It’s thought that it’s probably St. Nicholas who is the patron saint of boatmen, although there’s some guesswork there.
The Burgkirche in Lübeck was the church of the Burgkloster, the former Dominican monastery. Unfortunately, and in a rather sub-optimal manner, it mostly fell down in 1818 and so it was thought best to demolish the rest. Bits of the building have survived, but it’s the surviving decorations and sculptures that almost feel the most authentic part of the whole arrangement now.
This is a group of three stumbling stones located at St. Annen-Straße 12 where the Emmering family lived and had their shop.
Eva Emmering was born in Lübeck on 27 October 1909, the youngest of Benjamin and Sara Emmering’s three children. Unlike her older sister Elena, who had been born in the Netherlands, Eva’s earliest life was directly tied to Lübeck and he attended St. Marien Girls’ Primary School from Easter 1916 until 1922, then St. Jürgen Girls’ Middle School, and took religious classes in the synagogue diagonally opposite her family’s home.
Eva became a sales clerk, while her brother Aron Adolf also entered commercial work and later ran his own business. After their father Benjamin died in 1932, Eva and Elena returned from Hattingen to Lübeck to support their mother, Sara, whose illness led to her admission to Strecknitz Mental Hospital. In 1933, Eva fled to the Netherlands with Elena, and by 1941 the two sisters were living in Amsterdam at Govert Flinckstraat 98. After what must have been a hugely challenging few years, Eva and Elena must have felt some safety in Amsterdam away from the Nazi horrors. Unfortunately, the invasion of the Netherlands put them in danger once again.
Eva was interned at Westerbork and deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered on 29 August 1942. She was 33. The death certificates for both sisters recorded Auschwitz I, and the doctor who signed them was Johann Paul Kremer (1883-1965), notorious for his involvement in experiments on prisoners. I don’t think I want to know what happened there, this family suffered terribly over the years as it was. Kremer was sentenced to death for his war crimes, but it was commuted to a prison sentence before he was released.
This is a group of three stumbling stones located at St. Annen-Straße 12 where the Emmering family lived and had their shop.
Sara Emmering, born Sara Goge, came from Moisling, now part of Lübeck, where she was born on 25 April 1871. She married Benjamin Emmering, a Dutch cattle dealer from near Groningen, in Lübeck in 1903, and through that marriage she and her later children became Dutch citizens. Sara and Benjamin eventually settled at St. Annen-Straße 12, where they lived with their family and ran a shop dealing in clothing, linen and furniture.
By the early 1930s, the family had already been shaken by loss. Benjamin died suddenly in September 1932 after long-standing heart problems, and Sara appears to have been seriously ill by then. She was admitted to the Strecknitz Mental Hospital, while the family home was rented out to fund her care. Her daughters Elena and Eva, who had been living in Hattingen, returned to Lübeck after their father’s death, but they fled to the Netherlands in 1933 following the Nazi oppression they suffered from. Sara remained in the hospital until 1936, when the Lübeck authorities declared her an “unwanted foreigner” and deported her to the Netherlands. The family home was then lost through enforced auction and it’s unlikely that they received anywhere near a fair price.
In the Netherlands, Sara was admitted under her maiden name, Sara Goge, to Het Apeldoornsche Bosch, a Jewish psychiatric hospital. After the German occupation, even that place of care was not spared from the Nazi hate. On the night of 21 January 1943 and into the following morning, the institution was emptied, the patients were beaten, forced onto trucks and then into cattle wagons heading for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Sara was murdered on arrival on 25 January 1943. She was 71.
“On the night of January 21–22, 1943, the occupying forces brutally evacuated Het Apeldoornsche Bosch. Over 1,100 patients and staff members were put on a transport to Auschwitz and murdered. On January 22 and February 1, another 282 people, including five pregnant women, were taken to Westerbork. Ultimately, only 21 people from these two transports survived the war.”
Without these stumbling stones, these stories might start to be lost and the individuals forgotten about.
This is a group of three stumbling stones located at St. Annen-Straße 12 where the Emmering family lived and had their shop.
Elena Emmering was born on 25 August 1906 in op ’t Zandt, a village near Groningen in the Netherlands, but her childhood belonged to Lübeck. Her parents, Benjamin Emmering and Sara Goge, had married in Lübeck in 1903 and moved between the Netherlands and Germany before settling at St. Annen-Straße 12, where the family lived above and beside their business buying and selling clothing, linen and furniture. Elena, her sister Eva and their brother Aron Adolf grew up in Lübeck and their family became part of the local community. Elena moved to Hattingen with her sister Eva, but returned in 1932 after their father’s sudden death.
This was a difficult time for the family which was already marked by grief and illness as Sara was suffering from serious mental illness and was admitted to Strecknitz Mental Hospital, while the family home was rented out to help pay for her care. In 1933, as Nazi persecution intensified, Elena and Eva fled to the Netherlands where they thought that they would be safe. They later lived together in Amsterdam at Govert Flinckstraat 98, forced away from their home but trying to stay secure.
The German occupation of the Netherlands meant there was no lasting refuge. Elena was interned at Westerbork and deported from there to Auschwitz, where she was murdered by the Nazis on 30 September 1942. She was 36.
This interview is with Helen Strong who has been closely involved with the organisation of this 100 and she’s also on the NEC. She mentions hallucinations and that the hills on this event are brutal, although I personally think all hills are brutal but I might have mentioned that….
Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself and say how you came to be involved with long-distance walking, along with how many LDWA 100s have you entered?
A. My name is Helen and I am currently General Secretary of the LDWA and am also a committee member for the Kent Group.
I got involved in long distance walking in the early 2000s. I wanted to get fit after my second child and joined a local power walking group. I completed my first Moonwalk in 2003 and completed two others after that. In that group was someone called Susan Cannell, she walked with the London group and she encouraged me to do the UK Three Peaks Challenge and the Beachy Head Marathon. I was also a bit of a runner, but a recurring injury in 2016 meant I needed to stop running for 12 weeks. I wanted to keep fit, go back to walking long distances and asked Susan who she walked with. She put me in touch with someone from the London group and I joined their walk. I loved it from day one. I have entered and completed five 100s now.
Q. As someone from the Kent group, what does it mean to have this year’s LDWA 100 taking place on home territory?
A. Well, although the event is in Kent, it isn’t a Kent group 100, and we actually spend a fair amount of time in Sussex too. What it means for me is that I have been able to recce the route – and actually this has been invaluable. It is rather a complex route and I was particularly glad I had recced the Ashdown Forest sections – they are not easy to navigate in the dark! The other benefit was knowing how tough the last 30 miles are and preserving some energy for that.
Q. You were entries secretary for the event. What has that involved, and has it changed how you look at the 100 from the organiser’s side?
A. As Entries Secretary I have been busy for a whole year. I started by constructing a database for all the qualifying events and then working on the SiE pages. I have been involved in my partner David’s challenge event, so know my way around SiE, but there’s much more to consider with a 100. The team at SiE are very responsive and helpful in answering questions. When entries opened, it is my job to check the qualifiers, and have had a constant stream of questions from participants. I have had to deal with cancellations and the waiting list, but everyone on there was offered a place. As the weekend of the event gets nearer, there’s a lot of admin to do, sorting the entrant list, ordering the tally cards, trackers and writing the joining instructions. I’m leading the Registration Team too – so I have been communicating with the volunteers for that.
I’ve also been involved in committee meetings and general discussions on pretty much everything to do with this event. What I have learnt being on the organiser’s side is that there are many elements that need to be perfect, but a few elements which do not. I’ve had some lovely emails which reflect the appreciation of all the time and effort as well as some frankly rude messages which are clearly from individuals who have absolutely no idea what is involved.
Q. You completed the marshals’ event, but had to walk through a second night. What was going through your mind during that second night, and how did you keep yourself moving?
A. Nobody likes going through a second night. On the Flower of Suffolk 100 we came in at 01:00, this year it was gone 07:00! We walked a steady slower pace from the 50 mile stage at Horsted Keynes.
Going through the second night you just get more tired and I had a funny hallucination which involved me thinking a cut tree trunk was someone’s rucksack. What kept me going was the knowledge that we were going to finish but accepting it would be daylight.
Q. Having walked the route yourself, what parts do you think entrants will particularly enjoy?
A. The start is particularly nice. I happened to have a social walk which takes in some of the first five miles. I love walking through the Silverhand Estate and as I only live a couple of miles down the road from CP1, it’s very much home territory for me.
Q. What do you think entrants should know about the Kent landscape before they arrive, especially if they are expecting it all to be gentle and civilised?
A. It’s hilly – both slow climbs and steep ones. I can see the North Downs from the back of my house. When people on the 100 think they are going up the North Downs – after Ide Hill – it’s actually the Greensand Ridge they are skirting, that’s before the route goes up and down the North Downs several times. Brutal.
Q. Food is an important part of the event, what kept you going on the marshals’ event, and what food do you most look forwards to seeing at a checkpoint?
A. Food is critical – what kept me going was a good stash of my own sweet snacks which I needed to eat between CPs. At the CPs I had mostly savoury food. I missed the fish finger sandwich this year, and generally the food was poor. I don’t like tea or coffee on the 100 but have developed a penchant for full fat coke which I never drink any other time.
Q. How important is the support from volunteers, marshals and checkpoint teams when people are getting tired, hungry or a little bit existential?
A. The support from the volunteers is fantastic. I like it when we chat with Brian Layton about everything LDWA. When people offer food and then run off to fill your order while someone else offers to refill your water.
Q. If you could give one piece of practical advice to someone heading into their first LDWA 100, what would it be?
A. Take it easy – you have 48 hours to finish and so they should concentrate on finishing, not getting a good time. Especially on this route.
Q. Finally, after being involved with the event so closely, what are you most looking forward to when the 100 weekend itself arrives? Seeing the main crowd depart at 10am, then 12 & 2pm starters.
A. As I am responsible for the Registration Team, I hope that goes smoothly. I’m also looking forward to visiting all the CPs – but this time, by car.
This epitaph for Margarethe Wittinghoff was painted in Lübeck in 1552 by Hans Kemmer, who was also the artist behind the Hans Sonnenschein artwork. It has that slight Reformation-period tension where everyone is clearly trying to work out exactly what devotional art is now allowed to do as I can imagine that the rules weren’t exactly clear. I’m not sure why two faces are blurred out, but I suspect that it’s something to do with those rules not being very clear….. I’m genuinely fascinated about this period when everything changed and all the religious traditions were thrown in the air and it wasn’t clear how it would all settle.
The artwork came from St Mary’s Church in the city and was made at a time when old Catholic visual habits had not simply vanished, but were being carefully rearranged into something that could sit within the new Lutheran world. The painting shows Christ’s baptism, with John the Baptist standing beside him and a crowd of onlookers gathered on the right. Above, the Holy Spirit descends as a dove, while God the Father appears from the clouds, completing the theological arrangement rather nicely. Margarethe herself is shown kneeling in prayer at the lower left which feels a little bit self-indulgent to me.
As I’ve accused Margarethe of being self-indulgent, I thought I’d ask AI to draw a little something up for me. I must say that I quite like this, although I don’t drink tea so I must have words with it about that.
This interview is with Nick who has been doing lots of training ready to aim for his first LDWA completion.
Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself and say how you first became involved with long-distance walking?
A. I first learnt about long distance walking and the LDWA through a friend Breeze Rowlands, some people frown upon walking in the world of running as its slower, I was a keen fan of Jeff Galloway who encouraged it but it’s nothing different for me, I think of it as a conversational pace, its still can be very tough. I have also been the support for Breeze on countless events over the past 10 years.
Q. How many LDWA 100s have you completed before, and do any of them particularly stand out?
A. I’ve only had one attempt, that was the EBB in 2023, got to 68 miles and my body just gave up, I had so much going on around me before, I learnt so much about myself in 2023 and with my preparation for this year. I’ve got lots of memories from various 100s with being the support for Breeze, one memory with her is meeting her up the top of Mam Tor with a coffee at 4am.
Q. What made you decide to take on this year’s 100 in Kent?
A. I was in a position to have a go at the Flower of Suffolk 100 in 2025, but a hip issue followed by a broken arm stopped that, So quite naturally the next choice would be the HP100, I am also a big Disney nerd, and to go over the pooh sticks bridge in a event is so cool, who know I might bump into Christopher Robin, or find a Heffalump or even see a woozle!
Q. How has your training been going, and have you done anything differently this time?
A. Training has been going really well, I’ve had lots of back to back events, also working out how i go on with the lack of sleep, and working out how to deal with, for example I did the Reverse London Marathon (starts at midnight nine hours before main event) had a hour to chill then I did the actual London Marathon. I did the Calverdale way over 2 days and last weekend I did the Marsden Moor marathon followed by Leeds Marathon, it’s all about being up and on your feet, getting your body used to doing crazy things.
Q. How prepared do you feel at this stage, physically and mentally?
A. I feel fab, ready to deal with it, bring it on!
Q. What are you most looking forward to about the event?
A. Pooh sticks bridge.
Q. Is there any part of the route, the distance, the weather or the logistics that you’re feeling slightly nervous about?
So just need the man upstairs to decide on the weather, and the ascent that we have overall, Kent and Sussex isn’t flat apparently.
Q. Food can become strangely important on a 100-mile event. What do you usually rely on to keep yourself going, and is there anything you absolutely cannot face after enough miles?
Food is a hard one, and a thing that I have had to experiment with a lot, I’ve got everything I need prepped, I am coeliac and I work in catering, and I really don’t get why the LDWA overthinks it, and makes it so hard. From experience if your saying you get a pie and gravy at a checkpoint or the end of an event, I want pie, folk around me are eating it , why can’t I have it? On the route I plan to have flapjack and jam sandwiches.
Q. When things get difficult during a long event, what helps you keep moving?
A. The conversations you have while you’re out, you meet some cool people, all doing the same cool thing, I’ve learnt that from doing a few 50s now and my experience from the Elephant, Bear and Bull in 2023, every person you meet is a friend that you haven’t met yet and and hopefully will see them somewhere else either in a few hours or weeks at another event.
Q. What would make this year’s 100 feel like a success for you?
There are a number of interviews with entrants of the 100 at https://www.julianwhite.uk/ldwa-100/ with more coming, but I thought that I’d summarise some of the interviews that have been received so far. And add my own commentary of my 100 in 2021 which I of course hardly mention…..
There are many reassuring things about the LDWA 100 such as Richard at the registration desk fending off a crisis, supportive volunteers along the route and a few sore feet. The entrants that I’ve spoken to already at the 2026 Hunnypot Hundred in Kent have already produced a splendid collection of optimism, experience, mild alarm and food-based strategising. I think it’s fair to say that a reasonable number of entrants are at this stage wondering what they’ve let themselves in for, but this is a big thing to do and it’s good to be prepared.
Mira Nair is approaching it with the correct level of determination, saying that “my mindedness is as bloody as ever”, which is perhaps the most useful quality to possess when the event involves 100 miles, hills and the inevitable moment when the human body asks whether a shorter hobby might have been available. Ercole Lugari, taking on his first LDWA 100, is looking forward to the “unique atmosphere” of the Hundreds and seeing the Kent countryside, while Mark Pennington offers the wonderfully realistic answer that he is most looking forward to “Saturday and Monday”, which does at least have the advantage of leaving out most of Sunday which is something of a sub-optimal day for many entrants.
A strong theme running through the interviews is that entrants are not simply looking forward to completing a route, but to being part of the intriguing village, if I may refer to LDWA groups in that way, that forms around the 100. Sab describes the event as his “annual pilgrimage”, with the camaraderie, new friends, marshals and the chance to see another part of the country all pulling him back.
Phoenyx Harritt, taking on their first Hundred, is looking forward to Pooh Sticks on Pooh Bridge, Ashdown Forest and “the camaraderie of the shared achievement”, while Graham Sherwood is anticipating “shared adversity and pain, and hopefully a few laughs”, which is a beautifully LDWA sentence because it manages to make discomfort sound like a perfectly legitimate social activity. Actually, don’t quote me on this as I’m the national LDWA comms officer, but this is perhaps why the LDWA has never needed a comms department in the conventional sense, the product rather proudly advertises itself as uncomfortable and people still keep signing up merrily.
This reminds me of when I asked Jayne Cook, one of the heroic Norfolk & Suffolk entrants, how much of the challenge walk 100 that she actually enjoys. Her response a couple of years ago was “you’re not supposed to enjoy it, it’s a challenge”, but I know she secretly loves every moment.
Simon Hodgin, having supported the marshal’s event, thinks entrants will especially enjoy the last 100 metres, before generously conceding that there is also plenty to enjoy before then, especially anything in daylight. But he’ll have to be careful not to let his mind wander too much with his thoughts of entering one of the Spine races….. And I wonder whether Chelle, who completed her twentieth LDWA 100 this year at the marshals’ event will be back next year. She says not, but I think in early 2027 we’ll see her studying the route with a suspiciously interested look in her eye.
The route itself is also getting plenty of attention, not least because this year appears to contain more hills than some recent Hundreds, which may come as unwelcome news to anyone who had mentally filed Kent under “gentle orchards and nice tea rooms” which is what I had perhaps done. But, I mentally block out hills, they’re bad for the mind (well, and calves, morale and general happiness, but I’m from Norfolk and we’re not hill trained). David Morgan, who has walked, marshalled and organised more 100s than most people have owned pairs of walking socks, says the route feels surprisingly rural given its proximity to London, with the North Downs particularly pretty, although he also warns that the steepest rises come in the final third and that entrants should not go too hard too soon. I think that piece of advice is one of the most sensible, this is not an easy 100, although I accept that none of them actually are.
Rebecca Lawrence, who has started 15 Hundreds and completed 11, says Hunnypot feels special because she loves trees and the area is full of them, while Enfys Bosworth is looking forward to a hillier route after last year’s flatter event, as well as the community and a healthy bit of FOMO. Jane Bates, meanwhile, offers a useful reminder from the back of the field which it is not about speed, it is about doing what is needed to finish within 48 hours, even if that includes accepting a second night and perhaps a cheeky little power nap. And, it really isn’t about speed, this isn’t a race but a personal journey. Quite a long personal journey, but there we go.
And then, inevitably, there is food, which is perhaps my favourite topic which might not mark me out as an elite endurance athlete, but it does make me unusually well suited to checkpoint-based commentary. I was delighted to become an official food tester at the marshals’ event, but that’s not the first time I’ve selflessly taken on that role. No civilised discussion of the LDWA 100 can avoid food, because after enough miles catering stops being a practical matter and becomes a branch of moral philosophy.
Mira is hoping for mac and cheese, homemade flapjacks or cake, crumpets, pizza and little yoghurts. Ercole gives perhaps the purest answer of all “tea and cake” because a cup of tea always makes things better, or a 15% stout, whatever suits the individual’s mindset. Mark looks forward to cereal, rice pudding and tea in the small hours, while David praises crumpet with tomato purée and melted cheese, plus homemade dhal and naan breads. Enfys looks forward to macaroni cheese, fish finger butties, fresh fruit and sandwiches, and Phoenyx is making a beeline for cola while avoiding anything spicy, which seems sensible when one’s digestive system is already being invited into several days of negotiation.
The food answers also reveal the deep tactical wisdom that only long-distance walking can produce. Sab finds melon and orange easier to eat when other food becomes difficult, with peanuts and crisps working well too, though bread sandwiches become hard to face after about 70 miles. Jane is clear that food is key, warning that not eating enough early on can cause problems later, and says that anything homemade is what she really looks forward to. I think this is a good point, nutrition is hugely important although I accept that if I ran the event every checkpoint would just have pies.
Graham needs plenty of salty food and stresses the importance of eating at every checkpoint before nausea makes it harder. I remember on my 100 that I sometimes genuinely didn’t want food and was bemused why my body didn’t crave more, but eating is important. Rebecca’s advice is equally direct which is to eat and drink as much as needed, take rehydration salts and, perhaps most importantly, do not go into any pubs en route until the end. This is a cruel rule, but probably a necessary one, particularly for those of us who regard pubs as cultural institutions. There are few downsides to pubs in my eyes, but they are quite hard to leave after seventy miles and especially if they have delicious real ale, craft beer, Mini Cheddars and comfortable chairs.
What comes through most strongly is that the Hunnypot Hundred is not just a test of walking fitness. It is a test of judgement, humour, appetite, patience and the ability to treat each checkpoint as both salvation and a time-management threat. People are looking forward to the scenery, the trees, the hills, the company, the daylight, the finish, the conversations, the little acts of kindness and, quite reasonably, the food. There will be tough moments, of course. There will be sore feet, late hills, odd thoughts in the night, perhaps hallucinations and probably at least one personal conversation with a cheese crumpet.
But if these interviews show anything, it is that the LDWA 100 has a strange ability to turn discomfort into memory, strangers into companions and a very long walk into something people somehow want to do again. Which is either inspiring or medically fascinating, and possibly both. Most of all it’ll be fun, well, looking back, it’ll seem like fun and that’s the main thing.
This interview is with Sab and I liked how he refers to himself as a lazy runner, I think I’m not dissimilar to that! This will be his fourth LDWA 100 and he was kind enough to answer some questions for me.
Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself and what got you into long distance walking?
A. Myself Sab, moved to UK 8 years ago. I am originally from India, currently lives in Middlesbrough. As I was a lazy runner and didn’t do any solo running during Covid, I joined a walking group after Covid. My best friend from that walking group mentioned about LDWA and my first walk was the Kettlewell challenge event in 2022, there I met another walker who has done more than 20 hundreds by then. That was the first time we as a group heard about the 100, and 8 of us where at the starting line of EBB100 the following year.
Q. How many LDWA 100s have you completed before, and what keeps bringing you back to the distance?
A. Three hundreds so far. This is now my annual pilgrimage, if I can say that 🙂 Plan is not to miss out on one as long as I can do a 100. Plenty of reasons to do the event. To name a few, it is a great holiday where you spend time with friends, challenging yourself, hitting the wall, find the strength which you never knew you had, making new friends, meeting friends from allover the country and seeing another part of the country, the wonderful marshals etc.
Q. How has your training been going, and has anything surprised you about the preparation this time?
A. Training was great, done plenty of miles in April, including a few 50 milers. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but I was worn out by end of April.
Q. How prepared do you feel at this stage, physically and mentally?
A. Feels that I am extremely well prepared both physically and mentally.
Q. What are you most looking forward to about the event?
A. The camaraderie. Exploring the part of the country I have never been before.
Q. Is there anything about this particular 100 that feels especially challenging, whether that’s the route, the distance, the timing or simply staying cheerful at 3am?
A. The route got more elevation than my past 100s. So waiting to see how the body will cope with the ascents later in the event.
Q. Food can become strangely important on a 100-mile event. What do you usually rely on to keep yourself going, and is there anything you absolutely cannot face after enough miles?
A. I find it easier to eat fruits (melon and orange) even when I could not eat other food items. Peanuts and crisps work well for me too. I found it difficult to eat bread sandwiches after around 70 miles last time.
Q. Do you have any little routines, habits or bits of advice that help you through the harder parts of a long event?
A. “This too shall pass” true for both good and bad times, but remember it more when you have a bad time. The one thing I do when I feel sleepy while walking, just change the pace infrequently (walk fast, slow, change gait, cadence etc) so that the brain can’t find a rhythm to settle in.
Q. When you look back afterwards, what do you think will make this year’s 100 feel memorable?
A. New friends I made, any funny stories from the walk, the sunrise on Sunday and may be on Monday too.
Here’s entrant Simon Hodgin with me at the marshal’s event as we needed refreshment as supporting the Norfolk & Suffolk group was exhausting. There’s a long interview with Simon and volunteering on the podcast, of which much more very soon! But here’s a quick interview about what he’s expecting at the main event.
Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself and how many 100s you’ve completed?
A. Simon Hodgin, a member of the Norfolk and Suffolk group. I’ve entered and completed seven 100s to date.
Q. Having supported others on the marshal’s event, what were your first impressions of this year’s Hunnypot 100?
A. Like all 100s, it’s different to the others. More hills than the Suffolk 100, but with some spectacular countryside to enjoy.
Q. Are there any particular sections of the route that you think entrants will especially enjoy or that you’re looking forward to?
A. I think entrants will especially enjoy the last 100 metres of the route! Joking aside, there seems a lot to enjoy. For me, it’s anything in daylight.
Q. Do you think there are any parts of the route that seemed more challenging than expected, either because of the terrain, navigation, timing or the general little arrangements that make a 100 what it is?
A. There are more hills to navigate in the final section, so it’s a reminder to everyone to pace themselves. Generally, I really think it depends on who you are and, importantly, how you are feeling at any particular part of the route.
Q. What makes a good checkpoint or marshal interaction when someone arrives tired, hungry or wondering why they have made such a lifestyle choice?
A. It’s the support and encouragement you get when entering any checkpoint. The marshal role really is important, not only to make sure you are drinking and eating enough, but also to mentally help those who may need a little encouragement from time to time.
Q. What advice would you give to someone taking on their first 100, especially if they’re nervous about the distance, the night section or keeping themselves moving?
A. Walk at your pace and don’t get carried along in the early miles by faster walkers. Remember, if you’ve done the training, the chances are you can go the distance.
Unless you are very unlucky with an injury, it’s all about overcoming the mind in the later miles when it questions why you are doing this. Ignore the questions, put one foot in front of the other and keep going.
Q. What do you think makes the LDWA 100 special, both for the people walking it and for the people helping to make it happen?
A. It’s a unique event: the challenge, the atmosphere and the support you get all the way along the route. Ultimately, you are challenging yourself. Everyone there, be it other walkers, marshals or supporters, wants you to succeed.
Q. Finally, could you be tempted to enter one of the Spine races?
A. You’ll just have to wait and see! [I think he will, he’s still young enough to do it! – Julian]
