Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” is constantly playing in the back of my mind lately.
I’m doing my best to train my body and mind for next month’s Hadrian’s Wall race from Bowness to Wallsend.
The last time I took on this incredible challenge was in 2018 with my friends Chas Allen and Jason Wright, when several things went wrong early on.
Starting at midnight on September 29 at a time of year when the sun sets longer than it rises was not a good idea.
Then, discovering that there were several detours due to works in sectors of the Wall caused a lot of confusion.
However, it was all my fault for choosing the start date and time and for not checking before leaving home about deviations.
Trying to meet up with our support crew of Baz Hipwell, Mark Hewlett and John Fensom during the race was also difficult at times as we tried to find specific designated spots along the route which was not helped by some of the diversions.
However, getting lost in a field after a few kilometers in the dark and then looking up to see the eyes of a herd of cows glowing in the light of our headlamps was a bit of a surreal moment. Even more so when we realized that we had circled the field and were back where we started.
This was not the only time I also had to take care of the cows. It was about 65 miles when I said we had to be careful only for Jason to say “no we’ll be fine” and then change his mind once in the field when a cow chased us which resulted in us running back. We had just arrived and Chas Allen literally threw me over a fence.
However, perhaps the funniest mishap was when just a couple of miles from the finish line, when I think it’s fair to say mind and body were completely exhausted, John from our support team joined us for the last 15 miles or so and he had it mapped out on his phone and said “this way” as we headed up this huge hill.
My mind kept telling me, “This isn’t right, I know it isn’t,” but since he was ahead, I didn’t argue. For the next 45 minutes or so, we found ourselves weaving through nightclub-goers emerging from bars looking more disheveled and weary-legged than when we’d crossed the street.
Needless to say, it wasn’t long before we realised we’d taken another wrong turn, which also meant another mini detour as we headed back in the direction we’d just come from. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it, and it’s definitely there,” John kept saying. At this point he was desperate to get to the finish line. “Just a little bit further,” he kept saying and then “there you go lads, you’ve done it.”
“What did you do?” I replied. Then I looked at the sign we were standing next to that said Welcome to Wallsend.
I really didn’t know whether to laugh or burst into tears in the middle of the road.
“Not Wallsend the city, it’s the bloody end of the Wall where we should be,” I said in a somewhat stressed manner and even more so when I saw the time passing on my watch.
We were aiming for a sub-24 hour time, and were now 23 hours in. A couple of quick calls to Baz and Mark in the support vehicle which, to be fair, was only half a mile ahead, had us arriving with 42 minutes to spare.
As I said, I take full blame for not preparing properly last time and as always, it’s one thing to make a mistake or two and another to learn from it. I think so, or at least I hope so.
Last Saturday evening Karen Grapes, Craig Bowen Jones, who will also be taking part in this year’s challenge, did a 31 mile walk from Cromer following the Weavers Way to Blickling before taking the Marriotts Way back to Felthorpe.
I’d never ventured out onto the Weavers Way before, but now that I’ve done the first 27 kilometres of this incredible 98-kilometre trail, all I can say is that I’m so glad I did. The views and scenery were incredible until the sun finally set at around 10:30pm. After that, it got a lot harder, particularly as I hate running in the dark during the hours when I’d normally be in bed. However, it’s all part of keeping those wise words from Mr Franklin in mind in preparation for what’s to come next month.
At the same time, watching the sunrise for the last few miles through Felthorpe Woods back to my house and hearing the birds chirping was just one of those priceless “life really is for living” moments.
I also realized that with another 50 miles to go plus all the climbing, there is still a lot of work to do.
Four weeks to go and the countdown continues… I just have to say a huge thank you to Steph Jones and Tracey Bowen Jones for all their support last Saturday night.
Regarding fundraising, as I write this we are already over £1,800 so I hope we can reach our target of £3,500 by the time we hopefully get to Wallsend… this is the end of the Wall!
If anyone would like to help us reach our goal and raise money for important causes, a donation of as little as £1 would be greatly appreciated. You can donate here.
Have a great weekend wherever you are racing.
