Moonwalk 2019 - Walk The Walk

We did it!

We completed our 26 mile power walk challenge at 08.46 on Sunday 12th May, raising over £1500 for Walk the Walk.

Why

When I mentioned in the office last October that I had signed up for my second Moonwalk, though I could see they were curious and impressed there was definitely no intention to join me. The thought of walking 26 miles through the night seemed like quite a challenge, I had had double bunion surgery in the summer and was only just getting back to full mobility.

Christmas came and went and in the new year I started my training and was out pounding the pavements. In a moment of solidarity Tracy decided that we would put together a C&C team, after all, this walk is all about women and supporting each other, and that is one thing Cashmere & Cotton are good at. Hattie, Tracy and Steph (one of our models) all signed up.  On the day we were joined by great friends Jane Butt and Mandy Okell.

Training

We started with 3-5 mile regular walks with the dogs, that was fun, and reasonably easy.  By March we had to up our training and moved onto 7-10 mile along the local roads, leaving the dogs behind, they weren't that keen on being on the lead the whole walk.  The cars didn't seem that keen on us being on the roads either, there were a few close shaves, these country roads are not made for walkers. Two weeks before the event we did our big walk of 20 miles.  For some of us it was pouring with rain the whole time and it was quite miserable but we powered through, we let Tracy off as it was her birthday. Tracy and Hattie did their 21 miles in sunshine, which was far better, if only Hattie had chosen a route that wasn't quite so hilly!

The Event

We arrived in London by lunchtime, joined by some friends who were walking with us and checked into our hotel, the first time any of us have had a hotel room that we didn't actually spend the night in.  We had a chance to rest and prepare, which was to eat as many carbs that we could.  I have to say that we managed that task with ease!  By 9pm we set off for Moon Village in Clapham Common.  There were 15,000 women and some men, all dressed up with their decorated bra's and disco themed costumes in a large pink tent waiting to start.

We set off at 11.30, full of enthusiasm and energy...not for long, because some of us are no longer spring chickens the aches and pains started quite early and they stayed with us for most of the walk, ibuprofen was a godsend.  Bridget now has some cracking blisters to show off.  There was an amazing atmosphere of women coming together for a common cause, there were hundreds of volunteers handing out enthusiastic cheers, water, snacks and even hot chocolate at Sloane Square...oh and that was so well received! London supported us along the way, both the London Eye and Battersea Power Station was lit up pink, and so many cars and lorries peeped their horns in support.

We staggered across the finishing line at 8.43am, taking a total 9.13 hours (at least an hour of that was waiting in toilet queues) vowing to never do it again, but pleased as punch that we had completed our challenge and raised so much money for such a great cause.

Thank you

We have raised over £1500 and we are so thankful to all of you who sponsored us, from buying something pink, putting your spare change in our collection tin or sponsoring us directly.  We are so appreciative.

The Moonwalk 2019 is run by a charity called Walk the Walk, UK's largest grant making breast cancer charity set up by Nina Barough.  It started out as a one-off fundraising event in 1996 has blossomed into a striving multi-million pound charity, raising to date in excess of £128 million for vital breast cancer causes.

https://walkthewalk.org/about-us/where-the-money-goes

 

If you want to sponsor us, our fundraising page will be live until end of May.

https://moonwalklondon2019.everydayhero.com/uk/cashmere-cotton