Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: LDWA

2025 LDWA 100 – Marshals’ Event – Greggs (Norfolk and Suffolk)

At Ipswich railway station waiting for the transport logistics team, also known as Richard’s car, to turn up. I was going to walk to McDonald’s to get breakfast but I genuinely forgot that this isn’t Poland and the breakfasts here are sub-optimal, so I needed another plan. And the £1 for a pastry offered by O2 Priorities has worked out nicely, here’s my chicken bake fresh from the oven. It’ll still likely be hot in about half an hour when Richard appears. Having some time here meant that I could request a chicken bake from the oven, but it’s currently hotter than the centre of the sun.

The main event kicks off at 09:00, so it’s all happening now. I might even provide some walking commentary at some point.

May 3, 2025
2025 LDWA 100 – Marshals’ Event (Norfolk and Suffolk)

The sun is shining and I’m at Norwich railway station nice and early for a train to Ipswich so that I can help at the Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA 100’s event for the marshals that is being held on the first Bank Holiday of May 2025. The main event will be held on the second Bank Holiday of May 2025 and it’s a great opportunity to test things out for the main event. This is the event which I thought that it would be a marvellous idea to hold back in the days when I was chair of Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA back in 2021 and then I’ve promptly done very little in terms of actually organising the thing. I’ll be merrily posting this weekend about the event including riveting commentary on the LDWA, Richard’s skill at managing the desk at HQ and the media unit which I have an involvement with since I’m once again the national comms officer of the LDWA.

I do have a page about the LDWA 100 and I’ll be spending some time today fixing all the broken image links so the pages there magically all work again.

For anyone interested in tracking the entrants this weekend then go here.

May 3, 2025
2021 LDWA 100 – Miles 1 to 10

[I originally posted this in May 2021, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

This is the story of my completing the LDWA 100, something which I didn’t actually always think I’d be able to do. Unlike the previous training walks, I’m going to tell this story in a different way, which is just my feelings about each section of the walk. I usually take hundreds of photos during walks, but when walking 100 miles there are different priorities. My friend Nathan also walked with me for the first 60 miles, but these are my experiences rather than his. These posts are more introspective than usual and there will be an index to these ten ‘stories’ on this page.

We arrived at Ness Point, the country’s most easterly point, ready to start walking at 06:00. We’d had a breakfast at McDonald’s in Lowestoft and the weather looked moderate and warm. My friend Liam was there to see us off on an adventure that had dominated my thoughts for the previous week, and been looming on my mind for much longer.

I could say that I was full of excitement and awe about what was to come, but, in many ways I didn’t want to do this walk. I’m not actually one of the LDWA’s finest walkers, I don’t go out every week on long walks and stride through challenge events without issues. As Simon Hodgin noted to me after the walk, I usually complain my way around most of the challenge events I’ve taken part in. If I’m telling the truth, I’d have rather spent the weekend in the pub going through their dark beer selection or meandering through a city centre in Poland or similar, in the hunt for the best history, cakes and coffee. That’s what I’d naturally be doing, not walking for what could be up to 48 hours.

I did question at this point who I was doing this walk for. It wasn’t for Nathan (it was more the other way round), it wasn’t because I needed to prove anything and it wasn’t as a result of some bet. I dwelled on this question for some time and so why was I doing the 100?

Actually, not for fun, but maybe because this was a way of testing myself in something that I thought I could perhaps do. Other walkers will say how they can overcome huge mental obstacles and physical pain to complete events like this. I’m not one of those, I’m inherently a little lazy and have for years rejected the idea of completing the 100. But, life brings opportunities, and this seemed a challenge which was doable, and if I could complete this, then I could finish other adventures too that I thought might be beyond my reach.

Walking in itself is not a love of mine, I nearly never go for a walk on my own (other than to get from A to B since I don’t drive). Many people walk to escape life, but I’m quite happy with mine and if pushed I’d have to admit that most of the things I love the most are in cities. But seeing pubs, history and meeting different people has brought me into the walking world, and the LDWA is a marvellous community. And there is certainly something about going on walks in the company of interesting people, seeing nature, coastlines, forests and even hills that can all prove to be addictive.

I think that means that unlike many other 100 entrants, I started this walk as a way of pushing outside of my comfort zone to take on a challenge and see what I could learn from that. Whether that was deciding I’d do every 100 (never likely), or just ticking it off and embarking on a new challenge (I haven’t finished drinking in every Good Beer Guide pub yet……) was maybe my real motive for this walk.

There’s something about dawn and the sun rising which the body seems to positively respond to, the start of a new day and the opportunity to begin afresh. Lowestoft in the morning was still, quiet and at ease. I told myself that in 48 hours it’d be over and I’d have a memory that would stay with me, although I was still fearing the whole event. But there was gentle pressure on me to finish, from friends and members of the LDWA, who were all willing me on in a supportive way. If I was doing this walk on my own and no-one knew about it, I’d have no pressure and wouldn’t have got beyond about two miles though, I was conscious of that.

So, there was an element of “but yet here we are” to the reality of my questioning the logic of what I was doing. On that basis, it was time to start walking.

The first ten miles of the walk took us from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth, via Hopton and Gorleston. Our pace was quick and I was confident that I was doing all I could in terms of being fully prepared. I paid more attention to the weather than I usually ever bother to, perhaps looking for evidence that things would go wrong, but the morning remained warm. We saw Liam in the support car a couple of times during this stretch of path, before meeting up with him again in Great Yarmouth where he was filming us going into Greggs.

There’s not much I can really write about this ten-mile stretch between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. Plenty about the history and pubs, but not much about my feelings about the walk. The end was nowhere in sight, so the priority was just ploughing on to see what happened. I remained confident, but unsure.

May 3, 2025
LDWA 100 – Completed 🙂

[I originally posted this in May 2021, but have reposted it in May 2025 to fix the broken image links]

After a year of planning, lots of training walks and thinking about this whole crazy idea, this was the weekend of the LDWA 100. I’m going to, of course, write much more about this over the next few days, but I’m pleased (and a little proud) to say that I completed it.

Thanks to Richard and Liam for being the support team who were present for the entire weekend. Thanks also to Kathleen, Brian, Paul, Chelle, Rob and Jayne for walking sections of the route, they were all great company. And to Leon for his support at the end, and Dylan for his commentary during the drone section.

I’m pleased to report that I didn’t have any injuries or pain, and am now (the following morning) back to normal, so that’s a swift recovery I’m grateful for. I’ve spoken to lots of people who provided support and advice, and their tips were crucial in getting me through. Thanks also to the very many people who were tracking my route and sending messages of support, there were so many that I might have missed thanking people individually, but those kind words were much appreciated.

And biggest thanks to Nathan for his involvement in the whole project. He completed 60 miles of the route, an incredible achievement for someone who hadn’t walked any longer distances until a year ago. Nathan’s humour, complaining and determination were essential in getting me through to 60 miles.

INDEX:

Miles 1-10

Miles 11-20

Miles 21-30

Miles 31-40

Miles 41-50

Miles 51-60

Miles 61-70

Miles 71-80

Miles 81-90

Miles 91-100

Final Thoughts

May 3, 2025
LDWA 100 – FAQ

[I originally posted this in April 2020, but have reposted it in May 2025 to fix a broken image link]

OK, I admit that these aren’t FAQs (frequently asked questions) because no-one has asked them yet. But they might, so I’m ready with the answers as the background to my attempt to walk the 100 in 2021.

Why are you doing the LDWA 100 event?

Because if Simon Hodgin can finish it, it must be doable. And, he’s said he’ll buy me six pints of craft beer if I finish.

The LDWA are?

The Long Distance Walkers Association.

And how many days do you get to complete the 100?

2 days, so 48 hours.

Is this a good idea?

No.

Are you excited?

No.

Why are you doing it?

To annoy Simon Hodgin that he has to buy six pints of craft beer. And, I’ll enjoy the food and drink whilst walking around the 100.

How much training will you need to do?

I drink craft beer on a regular basis.

What about the walking?

The technical minimum is to get a 50-mile qualifying event, but I’ll need to do more than that to feel fit and confident. My 50-mile qualifier is a little out of date, so I do need to get another one, as will Nathan.

Who is Nathan?

Someone who had the opportunity to turn down my plan to walk this 100 with me, then neither of us would have to do it.

Isn’t 100 miles a long way?

Yes, it’s not ideal if I’m being honest.

It must be a great achievement?

Yes, if I finish, my certificate will be mounted (well, blu-tacked) to the wall and I will send copies of it to everyone I know, and quite a few that I don’t.

If you do complete the 100, will you do another one?

No.

Shouldn’t you be more positive about this challenge?

On a more serious note, the LDWA 100 is a great event and is the pinnacle of the organisation’s challenges. I am conscious that this will be very difficult for me, so hopefully if I can work out how I’m going to do this, at least others can see that it’s perhaps more achievable than they might think. However, if I fail, that ruins that plan. We’ll worry about that in May 2021 though when I’ve quit after the first checkpoint as I’m tired.

Is this a physical or mental challenge?

Both. Many people who have completed the walk believe that anyone who has regularly walked 40 or 50 miles should be able to make the step up to the 100, but they have to have the mental attitude to allow that.

Do you have the mental attitude required?

Not really. I’ll work on it.

Are you allowed to drink craft beer at the checkpoints?

Yes.

Are you meant to?

Probably not.

It must be amazing to be able to walk for 48 hours with someone you can trust and can support each other.

Yes, it would be. But, I’m doing it with Nathan. If we can avoid a punch-up we’ll be doing well.

Will you get sleepy?

I think so, the first night at about 3am is apparently difficult, but when sun rises, the mind resets and then it’s just a matter of keeping going. Ideally we won’t take the maximum 48 hours as that takes us through two nights, but it’d be very difficult for us to come in under 44 hours.

What can go wrong?

Absolutely everything.

Medically?

Blisters are a potential problem, but Sudocrem is apparently recommended, as is careful wrapping of the feet and a regular change of socks. I’ll wear knee bandages as well. Hopefully the practice 50-mile events will be guide on what needs fixing before the 100.

Are there two events?

There is a marshals’ 100 and the main 100, on the first and second Bank Holidays in May 2021. We’re hoping, if space permits on the event, to do the former, as we wanted to be marshals for the main event.

What about the weather?

I hate hot weather, but it’s Wales, it’ll likely rain for 48 hours. But if the weather is hot, I’ll have to be careful to drink enough. Ultimately, I never really worry about the weather, just have the appropriate clothing then the rest fits into place.

How many people from Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA group are taking part?

There are probably two others from N&S group doing the marshals’ walk, and around six from N&S group doing the main event.

Isn’t this all a bit self-promotional?

Yes, although I’m the Publicity & Communications Officer of the LDWA, so I’m meant to be promotional. That’s my excuse anyway.

I think I want to read something more motivational.

I would. This is the book by Julie Welch which gives a more erudite and positive account of what is required.

May 3, 2025
LDWA 100 – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

[I originally posted this in April 2020 but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

LDWA 100 in 2021 – What a Lovely Idea

OK, some background first.

So, that’s me. Rugged, determined, brave, courageous and understated. I spent ages finding a suitable photo that wasn’t taken in a pub or a pub beer garden. This one is from the Isle of Skye. I can’t use the ones of me after challenge events, as I look bloody exhausted. Although, to be fair, I look fair done in before I’ve started the challenge events.

That’s Nathan. That photo will do.

Anyway, we’ve had a marvellous idea, which is even better than our GeoGuessr trips (there’s no denying just how carefully we plan everything). OK, we forgot head torches there. And suitable footwear. But, otherwise all was well. Other than we got told off by some landowner and got stuck in mud. That route was around 250 metres.

But, inspired by how we manfully tackled that 250 metres, we are moving onto the next logical step of walking 100 miles. In one go. I can’t really imagine what could possibly go wrong.

I have an impeccable walking record of completing around 20 challenge events, including one fifty-mile event organised by the Essex & Herts group. It would have been more, but I found out that if you volunteer with the LDWA to print the certificates, then you’re placed near the kitchens at the start/end point of the challenge walk. And because the LDWA community is so friendly and helpful, they rarely complain when I pop in to get food. Actually, I’ve sort of been banned from the kitchen in case food stocks are threatened, but there’s no shortage to the sustenance offered.

Anyway, I got distracted there thinking about food. So, as I mentioned, I’ve completed a fifty mile event, and I remember how inspired I felt at the end of that. “I’m never doing that again” were the words I actually uttered, but I think I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the food anyway. Which reminds me of the doughnuts on the Smuggler’s Trod and the BBQ on the Birmingham Canal Canter. The LDWA do food and drink very well.

Nathan hasn’t done any of this, but he works on the principle that if I can do it, so can he. This is the problem with the youth of today.

So, before I drift off the subject matter again, this will be the story in text and video of the practice walks, the qualifying events (yeah, neither of us have done qualification events yet, so that’s another challenge) and the march towards the big day in May 2021. The location of the LDWA 100 walk in 2021 is Wales, postponed from 2020 when sadly the virus thing ruined plans.

The aim is for us, if there’s space on the event (and I’m hoping it’s full, since my attempts to get banned from the event by threatening to eat all the food have already been refused), to complete the Marshals’ Walk for the 2021 100 so that we can both then spend the actual event marshalling and drinking craft beer from Tiny Rebel whilst shouting encouragement at Simon Hodgin as he faffs along the route.

One interesting video was made by Jamie Hearing, which gives some background to the people on the walk. They’ve blocked embedding, but it can be seen at https://vimeo.com/402157343.

The video below was produced by David Morgan, the current national chair of the LDWA, and is from the 2019 Hadrian’s Wall event. He’s one of those inspirational figures who strides up mountains faster than I go when marching along on the travelators at airports. Positive and motivational, his videos capture the wonderful landscapes of the countryside and the characters of the LDWA. Well, just so no-one expects too much from the videos I’ll be crafting this year, I won’t be distracted by that, my videos will feature food and complaining. And probably a video of some bloody sheep that is in the path that stops Nathan and me from progressing along the route.

Final thing, for anyone who wonders why there’s a dog lying down in the main photo of this blog post, it’s Simon’s dog as he thinks that what I’ll look like at the end of the 100. Well, at the first checkpoint more likely….

May 3, 2025
2025 LDWA Capital Challenge

Someone, which I accept was likely me, thought that it would be a great idea to complete the LDWA Capital Challenge event again. So, after getting up way too early, here’s Liam on the train all excited for the day of traipsing around London. The event has three different routes, although we happened to be doing the same route that we had completed before.

An early morning Tower of London.

The Tower of London with a pond in the moat.

Old and new, it looks a little AI created, but is authentic.

Walking over Tower Bridge to the start of the event, which this time was at a community centre. The first London LDWA marshal we saw was Pete C and it’s always a delight to catch up with him.

The fog on the Tyne is all mine all mine…. It’s the Thames, I accept, but I don’t know any songs about the foggy Thames.

Liam at Canary Wharf.

Some decorative elements at Canary Wharf.

One of the two city farms that we walked by.

Some pigs.

Looking back to the city.

Liam in the Greenwich foot tunnel. I would say that there’s a fun fact that the tunnel was bombed during the war and the heavily patched up area in the middle is testament to that, but I’m not sure that is quite a “fun” thing… Incidentally, we had to walk up and down the stairs as the lifts were broken. However, as Liam and I are just natural and accidental Olympian types, we would have walked up and down anyway.

The Cutty Sark, a majestic clipper ship launched in 1869, embodies the romance of the high seas and the fierce competition of the 19th-century tea trade. Built for speed, with the odd name “short shirt” (Scots for a short undergarment, the name of a witch in Robert Burns’ poem) was designed to be the fastest vessel on the China tea route. Though she never quite clinched the title, her sleek lines and impressive sail area allowed her to achieve remarkable speeds, later dominating the Australian wool trade. It became a training ship used by the Royal Navy and it then became a museum ship before a sub-optimal situation when it caught fire a few years ago. There’s a bit of the Ship of Theseus about all this, I wonder how much is actually original….

The first snack of the day, from the Tesco Meal Deal we had obtained earlier in the day.

The River Thames and my fun fact about this is that the river has its very own species of seahorse, which is a short-snouted seahorse that has been found living in the tidal parts of the river, particularly in the area around Greenwich.

Looking back on where we’d walked earlier in the day.

Clever, if you walk in that direction for 24,859 miles then you end up back in the same place. There are some technical reasons why that might be quite challenging, but I like the theory.

This is the ‘Demon with Bowl’ sculpture by Damian Hurst located on Edmund Halley Way and designed to look like a Ancient Mesopotamian demon.

I used to live over there…….

Liam enjoying the exciting view. We were making a good pace at this point, trying to keep other walkers in sight to help with the navigation. As a little treat for him, I let Liam do all the navigation on this event. Actually, I’ve let him do that for the last 23 events, which is a reminder of how we work so well together.

Approaching the Thames Barrier. As today’s fun fact, the design of the Thames Barrier’s rising sector gates was actually inspired by the humble taps on a gas cooker. Reginald Charles Draper, who conceived the idea, based the rotating cylinders on the way gas cooker taps work.

A close-up of the barrier and Liam studied its engineering. I wondered if there were any nineteenth century clay pipes in that beach area.

Volunteers at the second checkpoint which was the first one with some little snacks to keep us going. As usual, thanks so much to all the volunteers who make events such as this possible.

My delicious lunch from the Tesco meal deal, fortunately not heated up too much in the blazing sun. I haven’t yet mentioned, but it was too hot.

Some fields. If I’m being honest, I’m more of an urban walker.

A bridge at Eltham Palace, once a favoured palace of kings, including Henry VIII who spent his childhood there, it fell into disrepair which wasn’t entirely ideal. In the 1930s, eccentric millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld built a stunning modern home onto the existing Great Hall, creating a unique architectural hybrid.

Anyone looking closely will see Dave M filming one of his videos. Dave started later than Liam and I, catching us up just before we reached the Palace. We walked together until the next checkpoint ensuring lots of gossip, but then he had to have a long rest at that checkpoint so Liam and I bravely walked on our own. I initially assumed that he just couldn’t keep up with the pace of us athletes, but it transpired he was waiting for his wife…. I wondered how much attention Dave actually pays though, we walked up about 12 enormous hills near Charlton and he didn’t even notice them. Actually, Dave was also reading from the route description, something which is completely beyond me, I’m more of a GPX person. But, I sometimes think I’m not a natural navigator….

Beckenham Place Mansion and time for another fun fact…. Despite its rather grand appearance as a Grade II* listed Georgian building, the impressive portico on the north-west side wasn’t originally part of the mansion. It was added later, around 1806-1812, and was actually salvaged from another demolished house in Blackheath called Wricklemarsh House showing that they had a desire for recyling.

Not that I’m one gossip, but it was evident to me that Liam was limping slightly, but he denied it. We are very different, at the first sign of pain or discomfort with me, then absolutely everyone knows about it, including members of the public who happen to be walking by. Liam is braver and doesn’t like to make a fuss, whereas I rather like a dramatic monologue, why be subtle when there’s an opportunity for a theatrical production?

Some street art somewhere near Crystal Palace. Liam’s foot wasn’t in the best of states by this time, but I rushed ahead to inspire him to walk quicker. As they always say, “the sooner you’re finished, the less time you’re stuck out there”. I accept I’m not sure who actually says that, but there’s some truth to it and tough love is important. I did say we could slow down if he wanted, but we both knew that I didn’t really want him to.

I did wonder about visiting a pub at the end of the walk, but the one near to the end point is operated by Sam Smiths and I can’t be navigating their odd rules and regulations.

The end of the walk and I think we were very brave. It was good to see Gavin at the finish with a smiling face and I announced that Liam was suffering a little in the hope that we might both get extra cake although that didn’t work. Although, and unusually, I thought Liam should win the ‘bravest walker’ out of the two of us as he had been a bit limpy but kept going. For anyone interested, the results are here and that was over twenty minutes faster than when we did it before. We never really worry about times, but we were surprised at how fast we got round, we must be getting fitter and healthier.

My certificate and my third pack of Mini Cheddars as I can’t be near them without eating them and I also needed sustenance after the long walk.

Liam and I at the end, with Sarah who trod on my shoelace but I was too polite to say. We then walked back to the nearby Overground station and then nearly boarded the train before I remembered we hadn’t touched in, so that would have been sub-optimal to have been fined. Luckily I remembered, we boarded and Liam soon recovered and didn’t collapse. As one of the finest athletes in the LDWA, I was uninjured. This tends to happen on urban walks, I like firm and flat surfaces, which isn’t the usual terrain of a challenge event. I should say we didn’t see much of the other walkers from Norfolk, but it was good to catch up with Andy and others at the end.

It was another lovely day out and marvellously organised. There is less food and drink than other challenge events, but the theory is that entrants walk by hundreds of food and drink options, so the need is a little different to a rural walk. I’ve now put my certificate on the wall at home, I’ve once again gone for blu-tac rather than a frame as that’s just, well, within my DIY skills.

April 18, 2025
LDWA – 2025 AGM

Well, how exciting, the LDWA AGM weekend was an exciting event as ever and more on that when I’ve finally finished writing up Athens, but it’s good to be back on the NEC as the National Communications Officer.

March 10, 2025
Smuggler’s Trod 2023 – LDWA Challenge Event

What better way to spend an August Bank Holiday Saturday than by going on an LDWA challenge walk?

Hayley and I were fortunate that our B&B owner kindly got up early to make us a quick breakfast and Simon and Jane picked us up after having a night at their luxury hotel and we set off on our adventure. The breakfast ensured that Hayley and I were fuelled for the day with an air of excitement to the whole arrangement. This is the third time that I’ve entered the LDWA’s Smuggler’s Trod 26 mile challenge event operated by Yorkshire Coast group, this time I would again be walking with Hayley, Jane and Simon. Richard was also at the event, but he was taking part in the shorter 17 mile version of the walk as he was keen to have a drama free event and an easy completion for his first challenge event. Richard parked around one mile away in the free car park, whilst Simon swept into the car park at the hall itself where the walk started.

Here we are, Jane, Hayley, Simon and myself, all ready for the off.

There are many reasons why this is one of my favourite challenge events, but the views right from the start are one of them. The walk starts up something of a steep hill, not something that I’m particularly used to in flat and steady Norfolk.

There’s a fair amount of walking over the moors, but we were fortunate with the weather which wasn’t too hot and there was plenty of breeze from the North Sea.

Snaking (and I’m pleased to say that I didn’t see any of the snakes that are running wild and unsupervised across this area) through the heather just before the split of the short and long walks. We hadn’t seen Richard on the walk as he decided to take it leisurely to ensure that there were no disasters on his expedition.

This is a tremendous walk, such a change of scenery for me compared to Norfolk.

This event is organised by the LDWA’s Yorkshire Coast and they had plenty of checkpoints and always friendly and supportive volunteers. We were wondering at this point at how Richard was getting on as he was walking alone, but we were confident that he was gliding through taking it leisurely. I was fortunate enough to have Simon and his technology guiding me around the event, saving me from doing the navigation.

There are many sections of the walk that I remember from previous events, not least this walk through the ferns.

We battled through, although Jane had a little falling incident here.

Our first checkpoint and I was delighted to see Yum Yums available at the event once again.

Shortly after this Hayley had a little incident and Jane dropped her cake, both disasters in their different ways. To cut a long story short, after some more walking and some debate, Simon and I then went on together to storm through the event because you can’t hold natural athletes such as us back.

This cave is rumoured to have been cut out by George Chubb in 1790, although I’m not entirely sure that I believe this local legend.

A boardwalk through the forested area with a drop down to the river on the left. This was on the long route only, so I was pleased that Richard didn’t need to concern himself with falling down and having an incident. We once again wondered how he was getting on with his short route walk whilst we were enjoying the variety of terrains that we were walking through.

This is new since I last walked the event in 2019.

Fortunately, no flooding at the moment.

The second checkpoint where I stocked up on jelly babies.

And flapjack. I also remembered there’s a substantial hill after this, something that I considered sub-optimal to say the least.

We reached the top and were treated to some more fine views across the moors.

Before we knew it, we had reached the next checkpoint which was operated by the formidable East Yorkshire LDWA.

We also had some rain for around fifteen minutes, which I rather enjoyed as it cooled matters down somewhat and it didn’t look like it would settle in for long.

Simon and I marched off through the trees and somewhere around here the short and long routes rejoined. Richard, who was walking nine miles less, seemed to be making good progress as I could see his location on Friend Finder. It was evident at this point that unless he walked very slowly, we wouldn’t catch him up.

There was some debate here about which way to go across the moors, but between us and despite me, we found the way to go.

There were now limited other entrants in view.

We safely reached the third checkpoint and it reminded me that last time I reached here in 2019 it was a hot day and I was delighted to restock on water. This is the campsite checkpoint and the more substantial along the route in terms of food and drink.

I was pleased that there was plenty of cheese for me to work my way through.

As well as jaffa cakes, sandwiches and more jelly babies. Could I just mention that this event costs just £15 to enter and I feel that I get my money’s worth just from the food and drink which is provided. For those on the long route, there was a checkpoint on average every 3.8 miles or so.

A small river crossing and I took great care here to prevent slipping in. I mentioned to Simon that I couldn’t see any evidence of Richard falling in, so we were confident that he had been safely getting himself around.

There was a stretch where it had been hot and a little unpleasant, but soon enough we were back by the coast. Then something exciting happened, I realised Richard was just 35 minutes ahead of us and there was potential that we could catch him. Simon and I discussed matters and the race was definitely on.

There’s just one blurry photo of a railway bridge as we had just over two miles along a former railway line into Robin Hood’s Bay. There are no more photos as Simon and I decided to up the pace to well over four miles an hour, plus just a little running, to try and catch Richard up. We saw the distance falling, 25 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes and we wondered whether we could even dream of overtaking him. It’s not a race of course, but it is under circumstances such as this.

Unfortunately, despite even more running, we just ran out of distance to catch Richard up. It transpired that he come in just three minutes before us, a gap which haunted Simon and I as we could have caught him. We sat and talked about our events for an hour or so, whilst I gorged on beef stew, a dessert of rice pudding and then more Yum Yums and cakes. The event had been impeccably run, Yorkshire Coast once again did themselves proud.

I won’t upload the photo (although it’s available on request of course!), but we discovered when we got back that Richard had been on one hell of an adventure. He had run out of energy after six miles and then whilst using his pole to navigate a route through the moors he snapped it and then slid straight into a bog. Up to his waist in the bog, he freed himself using his elbows and then soon enough the sweepers supporting the event found him trudging along in a dazed state. Worried he might jump in another bog, they then walked him to the end of the event, waiting patiently whilst he stood at the checkpoints charging himself back up on food and drink.

Next year, Simon and I are going for 26 miles in under 8 hours as we can’t let Richard get in before us, even though he was only walking 17 miles. I had a marvellous time and I didn’t want this event to come to an end, definitely one of my favourite challenge event from all those that I’ve walked. I was also honoured to be at an event where a muddy and wet entrant was walked around nearly the entire event by sweepers, I’ve never heard of that before. Congratulations to Richard for finishing in such trying circumstances! And also of course thanks to Simon, Jane and Hayley for walking with me, especially Simon for be willing to run bits towards the end as we rushed to catch up with Richard.

August 28, 2023
LDWA – Daffodil Dawdle 2023

The Daffodil Dawdle is one of the challenge events that is organised by Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA and one that I’ve been marshalling for several years having previously walked it numerous times. My role in the whole event is managing the registration and IT side of the operation, aided by Richard who I’ve trained up to do just about everything, which is allowing me to focus on my additional role of food tester. The start is Stradbroke Community Centre where we were made welcome by the particularly engaging and personable caretaker.

Here’s Richard entertaining some of the entrants before they get ready to start the event, which this year had two options, an 18 mile and a 26 mile route. He has been getting much better at recent events following my extensive training programme which I’ve been offering, although he’s yet to walk a challenge event himself. There were many negative comments about that during the course of the day, although to be fair, they were all from me. Being the brave athlete I am, I’ve already signed up to complete the Smuggler’s Trod later this year, the third time that I would have entered.

I put myself in charge of signage and an example of my professionalism is visible here. Richard claimed that this was would blow away within minutes, but I’m pleased to confirm that it lasted for the entire day.

Some of the 08:00 starters ready for the off, with plenty of Hike Norfolk members in there as well.

The 08:30 starters.

And the 09:00 starters who were mostly runners.

After the registration process is completed and the entrants are all on their way, Richard and I do two things. Firstly, we double check the entries to ensure we know how many people are out on the route and we update the checkpoints with this information using WhatsApp. Secondly, we get breakfast, which is my case was a delicious beans on toast prepared with care by Hayley in the kitchen.

Jayne excelled herself in the kitchen with this delicious leek and potato soup, which was prepared in honour of South Wales group. Actually, I’m not sure if that’s true, but it’s the sort of thing that we should do. Many entrants commented just how good this was and I’ve requested that it makes a reappearance at future events.

Peach crumble, also prepared by Jayne and this is another one of my favourites.

When entrants come in I tell them how brave they’ve been, if I think that’s appropriate, before writing down the time and entrant number for Richard to process. He then prints a certificate, which I carefully take over to the certificate table. Richard and I think that this is the mostly highly streamlined element of the event, although the kitchen staff are also nearing perfection as well. We run such a tight knit little enterprise in the corner that it gives me time to go and sit with entrants who have finished the route to gossip about numerous things.

It’s always great to hear feedback from entrants and I only received positive comments about the route, the volunteers and the food and drink. For LDWA members, the event fee was £14 which gets you drinks and biscuits at the start, numerous checkpoints all laden with food, such as sandwiches, crisps and the like, as well as the soup, beans on toast and peach crumble at the end. You also get a certificate and the warm feeling of completing a challenge, all for a very reasonable price I think.

We had just under 140 people walking the event this year and we were pleased that a slightly soggy area on the route had mostly dried out by the day of the challenge. Entrants navigate around the route using either GPX, the route description or a combination of both, but there are nearly always people around to follow if anyone does get muddled up. The group’s next event is the Summer Poppyline in Sheringham which will take place on Saturday 22 July 2023, with entries open at https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?elid=Y&event_id=11026.

And for anyone interested in volunteering for the LDWA in Norfolk and Suffolk, contact Hilary or Ray. Unfortunately the food testing role is filled, but help is always appreciated in other areas, whether that’s in the kitchen, at checkpoints, checking the route or in many other ways.

March 27, 2023