Allez Marche

Go walk my mind said.

Walk far, walk high, walk hard and walk tall.

That was the seed of the idea that created Allez Marche, an odyssey in memory of two great friends, Andy Coles and Damien Natale who were killed while out cycling on June 1st 2020.

It is hard to believe that it was 2 weeks ago today that I finished 30 days of what felt like continuous walking.

Continuous walking, tough and unceasing but equally something only a catastrophe could have stopped me from completing. There were setbacks to overcome; a seriously damaged toe on day 1; a form of norovirus on days 3 to 8 which stopped me eating; blisters the size of which I had never seen before; muscles in feet complaining at the relentless nature of it all; knees creaking and groaning, but these were just hurdles to overcome. The focus though was the end game.

The end game, something that we often talk about, but it is not the end, it is only the end of the beginning as the legacy of the walk will continue into the future. So far just over ￡20,500 has been raised for CFC Cyclists Fighting Cancer and I hope to get this to my initial target of ￡24,000 which will enable this fantastic charity to support 30 children fighting cancer with 30 specially adapted bikes to help aid their recovery.

Recovery, that is the key as cancer treatment without the ability to improve recovery is just so less effective. The challenge removed the normal recovery time for me as walking 12 – 14 hours most days meant that the body just had to keep going without proper rest until the odyssey was completed.

Completed. 672 miles, 115,000 feet of climbing and descending, which was rarely made on easy surfaces as rocks, boulders, shale, shingle, and steps made for giants were normally the order of the day. Effectively back-to-back marathons for 29 days with a 10k finish. But I was never alone.

Never alone as I had fantastic support from friends who walked with me on different days, strangers I met on route, those that transported luggage between hotels and helped when tides were wrong and ferries missed, those that provided complementary accommodation and those that worried and cajoled me around planning and logistics. A huge thank you to everyone who supported me and love they have shown me, so appreciated. Even with all that support though, I did walk 9 days solo.

Solo but I was never alone. Two people were there watching over me, they even ensured I only had 40 minutes of rain in a whole month, mind you they probably laughed when I fell over in the bog on the way to Land’s End. But throughout, they urged me to walk on.

Walk on, well I did and with hope in my heart that this would create a great legacy for them, for all the children it will help, safe in the knowledge that if you have the right mindset you’ll never walk alone.

#KidsFightingCancer #southwestcoastpath #Allez

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/allezmarche