7th Parish Finish

Well the day soon came round, and passed just as quickly!

We had a lovely meal on the Wednesday before, with a group of people I met mainly through running who all had decided to have a go at the Parish. We had been doing various group walks since the beginning of the year so it was a great opportunity to get together and talk about any last minute bits before the big day. We all went to Just Pizza and Pasta and I think everyone will agree it was a lovely meal. (check out the chef in the picture)

The day before the walk wasn’t the best preparation made worse when my youngest Dotty appeared to have the “bug” never the less all of our kit was packed up and split into two piles - day and night support! Then after tea our two support teams arrived to collect their bags (great service not only did they drive around after us all day and night but they also provided a collection service too) after a couple of glasses of Prosecco we were all set ! Kerry probably didn’t need any top ups as she had come straight from a work night out!

Lee and I were in bed for 11, and whilst he slept like a baby I just couldn’t nod off - it’s like I visualise the whole route out in my head. I must of nodded off at some point as it felt like I had only just closed my eyes before The 6 am alarm was going off and lee and I were out for our run.

Once back I went to get my shower, standing in the shower probably day dreaming and without thinking I noticed the water dripping down my face, the last thing I had wanted to do was wash, dry and straighten my hair before an 85 mile walk but the damage was done, so whilst it did throw me off schedule having to dry my hair, the rush took my mind off what was ahead of me!

We drove down the NSC with Jack from next door, it was his first entry in the Parish and being under 21 he was walking to Peel, I believe he had only started his training the Saturday before, but it worked for him as he got to peel in 7.40! Well done Jack!

When I arrived I saw so many familiar faces, there were lots of hugs and well wishes passed on to everyone. The only photo I got was of Me and Steph

We all lined up and before we knew it the gun went off and we were heading out on the Parish Walk ! Lee and I set off where we were joined by Steph, we happily walked along and chatted till we hit the new Castletown Road and Steph picked the pace up.

I never really remember much about the first 19 miles they always go pretty quickly, but this year I started to have a bad patch around 17 miles, I wasn’t sure what caused it but I just didn’t feel right. Our support Kerry and Charlie turned up and by the time we were heading out of Dalby and my bad patch had gone. We were getting back into a nice rhythm and I started to enjoy the walk again.

German, Peel, Kirk Michael and Ballaugh flew by, but by the time we were coming up to Jurby Lee had started to have a bad patch - we just tried to crack on and I kept saying it would pass just like mine had and it was just a matter of riding it out.! It had been such a hot day, so no doubt the sun had played a part in making the walk so much harder. About 4 miles after Jurby the vomiting started for Lee, ( with me when I’m sick I usually start to feel better) but this didn’t happen for Lee he just couldn’t keep anything down. We carried on but after a while Lee told me I had to carry on without him, a few people had taken over us when we were stopped but I told him it was fine we would get back into it when his bad patch passed, we carried on but it wasn’t long before the vomiting started again at which point Lee insisted I left him.

It broke my heart leaving him behind, as he had stayed with me through numerous bad patches the year before, and we are a team - but lee told me that feeling he was stopping me wasn’t helping him either. Michelle and Allan and just arrived at this point, but Charlie and Kerry said they were happy to stay out all night if we were to separate, so with the tears flowing I walked on ( it still upsets me thinking about it now).

I was really looking forward to getting to Ramsey as my friend Jamie would be there with her famous soup, which I have to admit was just as good as I remembered from last year!

I carried on at first in a good speed, I walked from Andreas with Graham Jackson, a lovely man who was being supported by his cousin Paul Jackson, and it was lovely to keep seeing Paul’s friendly face. I enjoyed chatting to Graham and his ready salted crisps! I did try to tempt him to walk to the finish with me, but he was adamant Maughold was his goal, he doesn’t live in the Isle of Man and was going on holiday on Monday and he didn’t want want to be wrecked for that ! By the time I arrived in maughold all my school friends waiting for me, and they followed me all the way to the finish. It wasn’t long after Maughold till I was experiencing another bad patch, whilst I didn’t think about stopping but I wouldn’t say I enjoyed any of the walk from Maughold home !
In Laxey Helen was waiting for me in the bus shelter with some soup, and some sugary tea for Lee in a flask ( I had left soup in my fridge at home to be heated up, but there was some confusion about this and Helen spent the whole day panicking about what soup she was going to make for me - it was however so tasty she did a good job so may have to make it a regular thing now).

Lee had managed to get to Ramsey but the sickness was so bad and he was dehydrated he had to stop, I didn’t know this though as everyone kept telling me how well he was doing! I kept expecting him to catch me up! Helen even bringing his tea threw me a surely she wouldn’t of made up a flask of tea for someone who had stopped hours before? No she really did!

Coming out of Laxey I asked again how Lee was and I noticed the response was he is still doing really well, so I asked where he was and Michelle said oh I’m not sure I haven’t heard from Kerry in a while .. I looked at her and said he has stopped hasn’t he? She said he had, she hadn’t really fibbed as technically he wasn't having a bad patch any longer but this was probably due to him being asleep in bed at home 😂 I understand they didn’t want to upset me, I was truly gutted he hasn’t made it, but in a way I felt less guilty for leaving him as he had known how ill he was feeling and he had ensured that I had carried on!

I got to the finish in 18.32 not a bad time given the conditions and was surrounded by all of my favourite friends so it was a great end to what felt like a never ending walk !

A massive thank you to all of my Amazing Support Crew! New and old especially Michelle, Allan, Kerry and Charlie for their constant trips between each other to collect things from each other’s cars. (as the kit had got muddled up by the split!) Especially when I had my little hissy fit about having the wrong head light! Being the support is as hard as being the walker, constantly in and out of cars waiting on us hand and foot ! Everyone always says how well I have done but I truly couldn’t of done it with out you guys, you all did a fantastic Job!

Also the friendly faces who came out to See me! Nelson, Ali, Sarah, Caitlin, Amy, Anne, Paul, Margie, Eamon, Lou Lou, Caroline, Helen, Jamie and Alice. Knowing people have made a trip out to see you when they could be in bed at home really lifts your spirits !

I got home and found Lee asleep in bed with his hat on, he said he was freezing I on the other hand was so hot I couldn’t even get under the covers I just climbed on to the bed and rested my head on Lee and Caitlin brought her blanket to cover me and I had a little nap! Not for long though as I was adamant I would see my friends walking.

At 6 am I drove out to lonan to find my friends, and I have to admit driving up Whitebridge I got quite emotional it’s a very different sight seeing people walking still at 6 am and the road was so busy with people. When I went past the LA walking through to the prom I didn’t see another person or light but this was incredible ! There were people and Cars everywhere ! I saw Liz, Anne Marie, Dee, Denise, Chloe and Rachel and stopped to say hi to them all before driving back to Onchan to sit with Caroline and Rob to wait for them to go through ( yes I was the crazy girl in flip flops and PJ’s)

You could see the pain in the faces along with a the relief of getting to the last parish before the finish line ! So much hard work goes into getting to the finish line but they were all about to finish it!! Such and amazing day that I was proud to be a part of !

I think I put a lot of work into training for an event but I can only try to imagine the kind of work that goes in to putting on an event the size of the Parish Walk, so a great big thank you to all of the organisers and marshals that put this amazing walk on!

Looking forward to the presentation tomorrow night !

10 days to go...

I can hardly believe how quickly the big day is coming round ! It’s been a while since my last post, and I’m glad to say that my training hasn’t been as slack as my writing skills!

Sunday night saw my final long walk before the day! Me and the two Lee’s did a lovely loop down south starting in Ballasalla walking out past the sea side of the airport through to Castletown, Port St Mary, Port Erin and back the parish walk route from Rushen to Ballasalla. It was a lovely evening, similar to when I last walked it just before last years parish - very different to the weather that the Island experienced during the TT! It was a comfortable pace and I felt great at the end which is always a bonus.

We missed the bad weather by escaping to Alcudia and it was really hot! We decided to have a week off training, and just enjoy some sun and relaxation with the girls. So whilst we were there, there was no walking training, we still kept up our run every day, often after a few glasses of Prosecco (I was surprised to see that miles got quicker the more I had drank - but I’ll not try this in the parish). Dotty also let me take her for a daily walk down the seafront, it was a 3 mile walk to the marina and back and was supposed to be for her to nap, but she didn’t agree that she was supposed to sleep. It was an amazing holiday and I definitely came back feeling rested.

At this stage in training I always find it hard not to stick to my usual routine, and rest is something I am not very good at! I find that I start thinking about the course and how I am going to walk 85 Miles, it’s such a long way! All this time that I would usually spend training gets replaced with thinking about the walk.

Some one asked me how I count down the miles on the day, and I don’t as such nor do I count down the parishes. I split the walk into three to Peel, Ramsey and Home it sounds shorter this way! Each section I have walked many times before so it’s just a case of putting them all together.

It’s now time to get everything ready for the walk, it’s always hard to know what you will feel like on the day so in my experience I take lots of things, just in case! My trainers had their first walk on Sunday and after 17 miles they felt great, which I’m really glad off as my others are pretty worn out!

It’s now time to say bye to the trophy I have been holding for the last year, I am very proud to have my name on it, where it will always be, but it is all ready to go to a new home and I know the person who receives it will enjoy having it as much as I did!

10 days to go..