Our new sponsorship target

Brilliant news! We've almost reached our target of raising £1500 in sponsorship (£1,417 in the bank at the last count). So now we've upped our target to £2000.

This is great news for Oxfam and the Gurkhas, who'll benefit from the money. And great news for the team if they meet the new target - they'll get a free official Trailwalker t-shirt each and a commemorative team photo taken by the official event photographer!

The team test walk the Downs

This weekend 4everfriends has been finding out more about the challenge in store for them and doing some test walking on the Downs.

Oxfam organised a get together for participants at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park to tell them more about the walk and to answer all those pressing questions. Helen, Heather and Alison went along for the team  and found it really useful. A member of the Queen's Gurkha Regiment was there giving tips on endurance and safety and what to wear, to eat and drink etc, as well as other do and don'ts. A previous participant of Trailwalker gave a talk. She'd done the challenge eight years ago and only one of her team completed it. Her message was DON'T UNDERESTIMATE the challenge!

 

And while they were there Alison managed to fit in a 16 mile walk along the start of the trail, and on Saturday all three did a seven mile walk from Harting Down - now we know how steep (very) and chalky the Downs are; a good test of the team's fitness.

We walk a marathon!

With just over two months to go to the big event, training is getting serious. This weekend 4ever friends walked 27 miles, just a bit longer than a marathon, and managed to do it in 10 hours and 15 minutes. That's nearly half the distance we'll be doing in July, so we're pleased with how the preparations are going so far. And the unseasonal hot weather gave us a taste of what it might be like in July.

Two of the support team joined in for the first part of the training walk, an eight mile circuit of Alton Water, and decided a support team for the support team would be handy. They left mid way through the afternoon so missed the lovely sunset.....

Sunset over Alton Water

Fiesta Italiana!

Our money raising activities go all Italian in June.

On Saturday 11 June, with lots of kind help from Denise, we're organising an Italian themed  fundraising night.   The evening will include; a delicious three course authentic Italian meal plus live music, an auction of promises, a raffle and other activities. And you won't have to go all the way to Italy for this experience; just as far as  Debenham in Suffolk. Tickets are £15.00 each, but hurry - there's only space for 50 people and half the tickets have already gone!

To purchase your ticket contact Alison at alison.sept1st@btinternet.com

And we must just mention those lovely people at Raspberry Village in Norwich who've donated a clock for the raffle....

Ciao!

Now we're cooking!

Progress towards our sponsorship target is just amazing - we've now raised nearly £1200 towards our £1500 target. So a big thank you to all those who've sponsored us to date.

As well as handing over money, people are also helping in kind and so special thanks to Susan, Alison's workmate, and her sister Caroline. Together, they have prepared our big book of recipes which we're now selling for the cause. Not only have they given their time but also, through Caroline's printing business, they've donated the paper etc to get the books printed. And copies are now selling like hot cakes (sorry)!

Sponsorship update

The great news is that we've now raised £915 towards our target of £1500. As we're walking 100 kms, that means we're aiming to raise £15 for every kilometre we walk which in turn means we've raised the equivalent of  61 kms so far. And when we have walked 61 kms we'll have passed Steyning, the end of the sixth stage of the walk, and be on our way to Devil's Dyke.

Devil's Dyke

According to legend, the devil was digging a trench to allow the sea to flood the churches in Sussex. The digging disturbed an old woman who lit a candle. This made the devil believe that it was already morning and he fled the site leaving behind a large V-shaped valley in the chalk grassland. According to one website, it is the largest dyke in the UK and here's a lovely view of it.

The photo has been copied from the National Trust website. Devil's Dyke is just one of many sites managed by the Trust - click here for more info www.nationaltrust.org.uk

If at first the boots don't work.....

When you have a bad boot day, as Heather did recently on the 20 mile training walk, then what you have to do is have another walk to make friends with your boots again. Which is why Heather and Helen were eating fish and chips on the Norfolk coast this weekend. To be fair that came after the 10 mile walk from Warham to Wells and back. The walk went well, Heather's boots came through with flying colours and she said she could do it all over again.

Flip flops - not necessarily Heather's

Another thing we've learnt is how much changing footwear helps the when doing long walks. Heather changed into flip-flops  at the end of the walk which really helped her. Now to see whether the team will do their next training walk entirely in flip-flops. Somehow......

We get the goat!

Helen, Aly, Timmy, Alison and Heather

4everfriends thought it would be nice to have a mascot to bring us luck on the walk. And what better mascot to have then a goat. Goats are nimble on their feet, which is what the team will have to be over the South Downs in the dark. And here are the team with their new mascot Timmy the Goat at Jimmy's Farm, near Ipswich (Timmy's the one in the middle).

Thanks to Jimmy's Farm for letting us 'adopt' Timmy. He won't be with us on the walk, although we'll be thinking of him. Should also add Jimmy's Farm is a great day out and they do lovely sausages. Click here for more info.

More training

4everfriends met up for another training session this weekend. While all have been training separately, a joint session is great for team building - crucial if they're going to get through the highs and, especially, the lows of the real thing. Walking 100 kilometres together non-stop is not just a test of physical endurance, it's also about mental stamina.

4everfriends pause/pose in training

Sunday's walk was another 20 miler around Alton Water, Tattingstone in Suffolk and the surrounding countryside. And more lessons were learnt about how to prepare for the real thing.

'Keep your feet happy'  - that's the message from the official preparation guide. Unfortunately Heather's feet were not at all happy in her newish boots and she had to retire hurt before the end of the walk, but they'll be worn in well before the big day. We've taken note that the guide recommends having a change of footwear; trainers for day and boots for night.

An integral part of the training routine

Socks are also important and both Helen and Alison had problems with friction resulting in nappy rash on the ankles. The advice is to change socks at every checkpoint - going to get pongy in the support car!

And you just keep on giving.....

You're continued support through sponsorship is doing wonders for the team's morale. As of today you've helped us raise £830 - that's more than half way to our target and we've still got 4 months to go until the big walk happens. So a big thank you to everyone who's donated so far.

And the great news is, it's kept us on Oxfam's top 20 fundraising leaderboard - we're 12th overall - but, even better we're 4th in the 'teams of friends' category! The leaderboards are updated weekly - watch our progress here  (the boards are based on money received so there's a bit of a lag between the amounts shown and actually raised).

Chanctonbury Ring

And making our usual calculation that if pounds raised were kilometres walked, then we've reached the end of Stage 5 at Washington and are 3 kms into stage 6. We should have passed Chanctonbury Ring at this point - local legend says the Devil can be summoned by running around the clump of trees seven times anti-clockwise. Note to team - remember this, especially if we're here on the night stage.

First team training day - more pics

As promised in the previous post, here are some pics of the team during their 20 mile training walk on Sunday.

Helen and Aly en route and still smiling

The team take a well deserved coke and crisps break by the River Dove

The first team training day

Although 4everfriends have been training hard, either individually or in pairs, yesterday was the first day all the team have trained together. And look how happy and excited they were before they set off on their 20 mile walk through the damp and misty Suffolk countryside. No photos are yet available of how they looked during and after the walk but we'll bring them to you just as soon as we can.

 Not only was the walk useful for getting miles under their belt, but some more lessons on long distance walking were learnt along the way (recorded here so they don't forget another time):

1. Always carry hand warmers because you never know when you'll need warm hands;
2. Find out the difference between how footpaths/bridleways are shown on OS maps and how pylon lines and field boundaries are shown; and
3. Work out how to prevent friction burns - vaseline is not always the answer.

We're in the top twenty!

Great news on the sponsorship. For the second week running, 4everfriends are in Oxfam's top twenty fundraisers for the trailwalker challenge!  So, a big thank you to those who've sponsored us so far. You've got us off to a great start and seeing our name on the Oxfam leaderboard has given us all a bit of a boost. 

Most of the money we've raised so far has been through personal contacts, but we've started to plan some special events - watch this space for more news.

£500 and counting

What great news! We're already a third of the way towards our target of raising £1500 for charity. Taking account of money we've raised on line (click here to sponsor us), through other means and gift aid, we've reached the grand total of £506.66. Many, many thanks to all those who've helped us so far.

The view from Bignor Hill (thanks to southdownsway.co.uk)

 

A target of £1500 means we're trying to raise £15 for every kilometre we walk so if pounds were distance we'd have completed the first three stages of our walk and be walking along the top of Bignor Hill on our way to our fourth checkpoint at Houghton. This is the view we should have (weather permitting). Check out our progress on the chart below.

Training gets underway!

Some of the team have been on a training walk today. Aly, Helen and Heather tackled a 14 mile walk through the Norfolk countyside. Starting at 9.45,  they completed the walk in four and three quarter hours - that's an average of about 3 mph. And the good news is they finished feeling very fresh, which bodes well for the rest of the training.

Heather, Aly and Helen start their training

Training record
Date of walk               26 January 2011
Start time                    9.45
Finish time                 15.00
Total break time      30 minutes
Average speed           3 mph
Weather                         Overcast, occasional light showers

It's only £15 a kilometre!

Our sponsorship target is £1500 to be shared between Oxfam and the Gurkha Trust. That's £15 for every kilometre we walk. And after only a few days, we're off to a healthy start with about £250 collected. At £15 a kilometre we've covered 16.7 kilometres. That's well past our first check point at Harting Down and almost at the second, at Hilltop Farm. From here there should be fine views across the Sussex Weald towards Midhurst.

Just one step

They say every journey starts with a single step. But if the journey is 100k in under 30 hours then a little bit of preparation is needed. Over the coming months, 4everfriends will be doing lots of training to make sure they're ready for the challenge ahead. Oxfam have provided us with a 20 page guide on how to prepare for the walk. Phase one is intended to get us walking for 50 minutes comfortably. The team are already well past that target as they all do a lot of walking in their leisure time.

From here on in, it's a case of doing longer and longer walks - building up from three hours, to five, six and eight. And just to emphasise, the going could be tough, the Oxfam guide has a section on how to keep your feet happy and keep those blisters to a minimum!

Our challenge

This summer, Helen, Alison, Heather and Aly (aka 4ever friends) will be one of the teams taking part in Trailwalker UK. Their challenge is to walk 100 kilometres (60 miles)  along the South Downs in under 30 hours. That's the equivalent of two and a half marathons. You may think this mad but it's all in a good cause. The money they raise will go to Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust. Through this blog you can follow them on their journey, a journey which starts now.

Walking 60 miles continuously is not an easy task. Over the next few months the team will be going into intensive training. Not just making sure they'll be fit enought to walk the distance, but also to brush up on their map reading skills and to ensure they can find their way in the dark (they'll be walking through the night). The last thing we want is for them to tumble over the edge of Beachy Head!

And you can be with them every step of the way - just follow the blog!