Trailwalker: Nigel's impressions

"The first thing that I thought when we arrived at the walk was that we would never be able to do it. We were surrounded by people who rippled with every step and had all the right walking gear, boots, bags, thermals, sticks, etc,and there we were strolling round in shorts and T shirts shooting the breeze. When the event kicked off this was accentuated by the fact people started running round the track! I thought we'd be lucky to walk it let alone run it, but still we plodded on, got into a rythmn and set on our way. By the time we hit checkpoint 2 (18km) it was clear we were feeling good and in high spirits. I was surprised by how well the team had bonded and how jovial we all were, though we had only covered a fifth of the course and possibly the easiest part at that, we were all in high spirits.

By checkpoint 4 (39km) it was starting to get dark, and the trail was begining to sort the men from the boys. Many were stopping to camp for the night, have bbq's, and rest, our team in all its wisdom had decided to walk through the night and get to CP7 (77km) before resting. Our support crew, who we were so grateful for got us fed and watered for the next leg, and after a brief 30m rest we set off, headlamps secured into the cold foggy night. This has to be the most memorable part of the whole walk, as well as the hardest. As we started the ascent up not one, but 3 mountains combined, we attached ourselves to another team beginning the 1200m ascent. However, spurred on by such great conversations as "Whats your top 3 biscuits?" "Top 3 Crisps?" "Top 5 Films/Books?" we followed the bearable visible feet up the slippery muddy slope. I found it amusing that we had all put fleeces and thick jackets on for the ascent as it was getting so cold, yet 500m in we were all back into T-shirts, yet reaching the summit, in fog so thick we couldn't see more than 10ft and being buffeted by icy winds we were soon reaching for the woolies again. I certainly wasn't expecting the descent to be as tough as it was, being dangerously wet, every step had us calling "are you ok?" as we heard the sounds of or team mates slipping, it was so steep in places climbing gear would have been more appropriate, and the pain in our knees from the continual descent was agony.

By checkpoint 5 we were all exhausted, Joseph's knee was strapped up tighter than a gnats chuff, my clothes were sodden from sweat so I couldn't get warm, and the rest were trying to shelter from the howling wind. Again after a brief rest we plodded on, to what was to prove on of the hardest stages. We had all looked forward to CP5-6 as it was only 10k and all downhill, but doing it at midnight, the monotony of following a road on and on was possibly the most tiring thing we had encountered. I personally preferred wandering aimlessly through the woods. It was also the most disheartening as Joseph's knee gave out during this stretch, and we were forced to Oxfam for a collection. However, we had to push on before the other team members legs started stiffening from the cold and exhaustion, so down to 5 we continued to CP6. Again, 15 minutes after arrival we pushed on.

About 2 hours after CP6 I think the team must have hated me. I reckoned we should head to CP7 (16km) so we could get to the stretching service and to the decent sleeping area. however, this was the longest section of the course and boy did we feel it, 16km felt like 60km. We saw no other teams throughout this section and we were constantly worried about missing the route. In addition we were exhausted, aching and hardly able to speak, so spirits seemed to be flagging. Also, injury was beginning to hound myself and other team members. The continual descents were lethal on the knee joints and every step was sending pain throughout our legs so we were hobbling more than walking. At 7am we limped and hobbled our way to CP7 for a nice stretch and a brief rest.

I was thanking the gods when we stopped at CP7 as the moment we entered it poured down. Thunder and lighting lit up the mountains we had just walked and the rain proceeded to make our next stretch all the more treacherous. Yet the support crew were life savers here, we slept for about an hour, and they saw to us, getting us fed, watered and motivated before sending us off to slaughter. Joseph had his knee strapped by a physio and was rejoining for the last two stages. What had us in high spirits was that a team who hadn't practiced as much as they should've, let alone done a TW before, was 41/150 at CP7. How could it be possible that this rag tag team could be beating all these well kitted out well prepared people?

Penultimate stage was tough, with some mad ascents which had us pulling ourselves up with the rope at the side of the steps rather than climbing, but we had nearly done it, and Vicky's cry of "I can see Checkpoint 8!" had us running on our knackered knees to an oh so depsperatley needed rest stop. 8km to go, and we were dreading the last climb. The two tallest mountains of the whole course right at the end. Thanks Oxfam. Hong Kong get a nice straight stretch, we get 2 huge mountains and a descent to kill the knees completely. The first mountain was so anitclimatic. It was a tough climb, but then we hit the top and were surprised we had reached it so soon, and then there was nothing to see apart from trees. So we cracked on, charging ahead of another team trying to wag a place from them (it was a contest after all) but then they ran past us 2 minutes later! They RAN! how the hell they managed that I have no idea.

As we began the final ascent, Vicky and myself had knee damage, Jon had ankle problems. Me and Jon watched in awe as Vicky belted up the final hill, so focused were we on the trail ahead and watching our step that it wasn't until the trail turned 90degrees that we saw the most impressive view of the whole course. Mt Fuji. It was breathtaking to say the least, and so surprising as it seemed to appear out of nowhere. How the hell does a 3500+m mountain hide? It made an excellent motivater though, as the end was near Fuji so we began to half jog, half hobble our way to it, 1.5 hours later we were done. I think the hardest thing the team had to endure was my awful sense of humour for close to 31h.

Still find it hard to believe we beat so many teams, and we heard several had dropped out too. Maybe our training routine of running up the stairs to catch the train, a few games of tennis, and the odd 25-35k stroll did the trick. Next time I think a training session of a week long binge drinking session, on a diet of kebabs and chips will see us completing it in a time of around 20 hours."