We had a fantastic day and walk, not only did we achieve the challenge in the allotted 12 hours but also managed to run through the village at the end, to the pub we started from in order to break our personal target of 11 hours - anything for a pint!! Thank you all for your sponsorship with the injuries and pain we were suffering it really was not wanting to let anyone down that drove us on especially in the latter stages.
An early start
Up at 4.30 in the morning and headed off up the motorway to the Yorkshire Dales still half asleep we took a stop at the motorway services and after good intentions of a healthy breakfast I couldn't contain myself after seeing the full english laid out in front of me - it looked so nice! We had a great trip up with very little traffic and arrived at the B&B at 7.30. It gave us a good chance to prepare well - i'll not go into the gory details of Vaseline! but when we came to pick up the rucksacks they weighed a tonne. I reckon the wine gums were a couple of pound at least and the other food was lying heavy in the pack. Must be mad!
With a last photo for the start and final motivational comments we were off.
Pen-y-ghent
A quick walk down the river and through the farms and you were straight into the climb. It was a comfortable walk and path and you could see it all stretch out infront of you.
Not my strong point going up hill and the pack was heavy but we kept making good progress although the closer you got the more you could see it was going to need a scramble to the top.
Another push and we were at the top in just over an hour.
A quick photo and we were on the way down. The sun was now coming through and the temperature warming up although as a quick reminder of the conditions we were in as there was still snow lingering around!
The path headed into the peat bog now and lucky for us the weather had been good and it had dried out a little. There were still pools and burns around and there was no choice but to push through and fortunately it only came up to the top of our boots at worse. Why did we carry so much water?
This was a hard slog but it wasn't a big climb just smaller up and downs, head down and keep going. It was really the first time we got a scale of the enormity of the walk when yo can see that to get just half way we had to climb the mountain in the distance.
Whernside
With the start of the next climb infront of us we took a quick break with running repairs and strapping on the feet. I had a hard look in the rucksack and the wine gums made their way into the farm rubbish bit, that feels lighter! This was a picturesque part of the walk with a gentle incline that got steeper the further you went.
We had to really dig deep now. Doms gym work paying off and and for me I think this is where i hit my "wall" and have a stop. A quick stop and the determination returned to start again. But as we did both of us hurt more than before we had stopped and we realised this was going to hurt now. AS we trudged on i kept as close to Dom as I could and chased my shadow - I just couldn't catch up with the thing!
It did the trick and with loads of encouragement we made it to the top and I felt relieved that there was a good downhill spell to come.
As we came down off the top it was a dramatic steep slope and with Dom's ankles and knees already giving him jip. The expletives were now getting stronger and the air turned blue as Down went through the pain barrier. This was his wall and as we neared the bottom another rest was in order. Additional knee supports, compedes, ankle bandages, tape on the feet, it looked like A+E on a Saturday night!
Strapped up we headed across the valley chatting as much as we could to take the thoughts away from the pain it was now that the thoughts of the sponsorship kicked in and how we felt we couldn't let anyone down. As we walked up the road and past the pub it was very very tempting to order a pint instead. Our pint was waiting in Horton and on we went.
Ingleborough
Our sights were set now on the last mountain.
Across the fields and a great path and boardwalk through the limestone. Every now and again there was a massive crater to remind you that there are caverns underground and occasionally collapse. The path was obviously there for safety. The treck into the face of the mountain was tough but more determination and an ignorance of the feet and when there we took a brief stop to contemplate the climb.
It was a daunting scramble but I knew that if I could get to the top then that would seal me getting to the end as the downhill for me is the easiest part. For Dom it was the opposite getting to the top would be hard but getting down would be harder. Dom took off and it was a true scramble using hads as well as feet.
Once on the top it was then an easier climb to the summit.
We knew we were on 11 hour pace so a quick turnaround and we were heading down. Not a great choice of mine but we went straight over the edge to pick up the patch and the noises coming from Dom were curdling and a mixture of swear words and pain all mixed together, this was going to be a difficult decent. It was about 5 miles but seemed much longer. Both of us were hobbling now but we had to keep up the pace, when he could stride out a bit on the flat or up a rise he would pace it out, when going down i would find the least rocky path and between us talking all the way to keep our mind off it we gradually made progress. We picked up the pace more as we got closer but when we reached the edge of the town Dom thought we were behind time so we started run, I was absolutely shattered and after a quick walk we were running again but when Dom said 5 minutes left and I thought we were only a couple of hundred yards away that was it I couldn't run any more. As we rounded the corner we were there with 3 minutes to spare and another photo to record the moment.
Dom may have looked no different but I can assure you that was not the case and for me I was happy but shattered!
The finale
What a relief as we flopped on the bed you could feel the emotion wash over you, it was a real effort now to keep going. We assessed the damage and Dom had strained the ligaments in both knees, his ankles looked as though they both had a boiled egg attached, his toes had blisters on the tips, feet soles were red raw and a some more blisters. For me the Plantar faceitis was painful, I had massive bruises on my ankle, blisters on my feet, two missing toe nails and some chafing where i couldn't explain. A pub meal, a few beers and a bottle of wine later and it was all worth it. We were even planning next years challenge on the way home. Brilliant!
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