Hiking a marathon and two mountains!

I have had the busiest, craziest week, but it has been an absolute blast! Cancer you are a huge pain in the bum, but you have given me closer friendships, a better meaning of family time, and a hell of a lot of drive!

Lets start with the 26 mile Hike. My mum, sister, 4 other close friends and myself headed to Brighton on the 7th July to take part in the Macmillan mighty 26 mile south coast hike. The day started with a Zumba warm up, a count down from 10 and lots of cheering.

The first 8 miles were pretty good! for a group thats training involved going to go outdoors and walking around the shop for hiking boots, I was impressed with our momentum. Mile 8 meant a break. The Macmillan team put on a lovely spread of fruit and all different snacks. where usually I would stop and enjoy this utterly fantastic picnic, something about walking another 18 miles made us make it a quick pit stop before carrying on.

Mile 9 we were faced with the most disgustingly long hill. We passed about 6 people close to being sick, another 2 attached to a heart monitor, and I discovered I have asthma, but we strived forward and made it.

the rest of the walk was surprisingly good! ( up to mile 20) everyone was in good spirits, and to be honest looking at the thousands of people walking was pretty touching. It was a bit of a wow moment, knowing so many people are not only effected by cancer, but determined to stop it, and that thought process kept me going! no one walking was alone, we all shared one big fat ball of yuck, but the positivity from everyone and the determination defiently made the day amazing. like I said, up until mile 20. 20-26 was what only can be described as the longest, most exhausting walk of pain. ( im not joking, I now have swollen, infected toes!!) Never have I looked at hills with such sorrow. everyone we made it up, another appeared. Actually there were 7, the 7 sisters. I have never seen my mum so close to laying on the floor and waiting for seagulls to take her.

But..... WE DID IT! WE ABSOLUTELY SMASHED IT! GOT THE TSHIRT, PROSECCO, AND MEDAL TO PROVE IT!

I couldn't be prouder of our little group for overcoming such a challenge. We may have all been walking to help the fight, but I wouldn't have hiked with a more amazing bunch of inspirational ladies! Everyone was suffering but the funny thing is, everyone had enough energy to cheer on people around them, and that to me is smashing the positivity out of cancer!

Flicking over to the mountains....

My amazing pal Molly, decided she was going to take on the very crazy challenge of the 3 peaks AND a 480 mile bike ride in between. Nick and I joined 2 days after the Mighty hike, and had the pleasure of hiking two mountains :)

surprisingly both mountains were relatively calm, we eased our way up with stops and snacks, and I had plenty of time to show of my new "sports sandals." Unfortunately my toes were too painful to put pressure on them so sports sandals it was , and I can tell you now my feet were so comfy! to make it worse I wore them with socks, but lets not get too much into that, I still have a boyfriend and didn't get pushed of the mountain so I must have rocked the look, right?

Scarfell pike was beautiful, the views, the energy, everything just fitted into place and we all felt so good! people stopped us and spoke about Pancreatic Cancer, other people just said "Good cause" but that was all we needed! hiked up and down in 6 hours, ending in the a perfect little splash in the lake! A lot happened on that mountain that I dont think I can share! what happens on the mountain, stays on the mountain I guess?

Molly had two days of more biking whilst nick and I explored, ate ice-cream and swam! Snowdon was a lot busier! people of all ages absolutely everywhere! to be honest it was a bit of a shock just how busy it was, but still the people who did ask what we were doing were very supportive and we managed to get some more sponsor money! Molly never gave up, something that really made me stop and think wow you go girl. she was doing this challenge for my family, and seeing her in so much pain with her hip, and both mentally and physically drained, but never giving up! that is a powerful woman right there. and again, we got to the top, and drank a delicious bottle of champagne to celebrate! Molly if you are reading this, I am so proud of you. I will forever be so grateful for all you have done, the love and encouragement you give my family and the endless support. Thank you !

Hiking a marathon and two mountains!

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