I reckoned walking it fast would be enough to make the 24hr time limit but I wasn’t at all sure I could keep up the speed on the steep ascents and descents. There followed several months of hill and distance training and recces of the route, alone and in a small group, going out in all weathers, always including as much ascent as possible and walking as fast as I could. The group’s encouragement was constant, and their willingness to go out in rain, wind, hail, snow, storm and even occasional sunshine through the months from November to June was astonishing! Mostly the weather was very bad but then in early summer a drought set in so that the route was very dry and bog-free for my attempt - very lucky!
Moments I remember :- in the pitch dark on the summit of High Street, very inconsiderately and not thinking of the sleeping occupants, shining our dazzling head torches on a little tent and saying loudly (several times) “ooh look there's a tent” - I hope we didn’t wake them up but we probably did. Sunrise on the way up Red Screes. The ascent of Bowfell. my family and friends all at Styhead. Seatallan - I’ve always liked the climb up Seatallan for some unaccountable reason.
My road/Styhead support was wonderful, my family made sure they could be there despite living far away and having busy lives and either walked with me or did the logistics. I had a brilliant team of pacers and helpers, they kept me going, carried more food and water than I needed just in case, they found all the routes we’d recced and some we hadn’t, they paced me up the hills and always seemed to say the right thing at the right time to keep me feeling positive.
I’m sure everyone says it but I’ll say it again, I owe my success to them, I couldn’t possibly have done it without them.
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