With some trepidation I reported at the starting line for the Leaden Boot Challenge yesterday.  My family were there to make sure I didn’t bottle out at the last minute.

 The day started with ‘The Blessing of the Feet’, a slightly strange outdoor service presided over by the local vicar.  As a confirmed atheist, I found it a little awkward to be singing (ok, mumbling) “Morning Has Broken”, but appreciated the sentiment!  I had holy water sprinkled on my feet then made my way to the starting line.

 At 9:30 we were off, and I experienced some ‘jostling for position’ as I tried to get past those participants (roughly 70% of about 320) who were walking rather than running the course.  I caught up with the ‘serious runners’ with their fancy looking clothing and slotted in at the back, with my goal at this point to finish somewhere between the runners and the walkers.

After the first mile downhill into Milldale, the route abruptly turned into a steep uphill climb (ignoring the perfectly good path along the river), and to my relief all the runners started to walk / scramble!  During the ascent I realised I was walking a bit quicker than some of the others, so went past.  This spurred me on (I hadn’t realised what a buzz I would get out of overtaking people), so I kept going, warning myself I was no doubt going to burn out before the end.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to describe every mile…

The Leaden Boot Challenge course covers a variety of terrains, from country roads to muddy woods, through villages and farms, on the top of hills and the bottom of valleys.

My family were there to cheer me on at Ilam House and Wetton Mill.  It was great to see them, I just couldn’t stay to chat!

There were some horrible climbs on the way, and some equally horrible descents, where I almost went head over heels.  I gave myself a mental round of applause when I passed someone, and a boo when I was overtaken.  My knees started to complain by the half way mark, particularly on the downhill parts of it, so I took a couple of paracetamol and carried on…

The realisation that I might actually complete the course, and possibly finish in under six hours (a goal I’d discounted very early on in my training), gave me the boost I needed to keep going.  In the last mile I saw two guys up ahead who were walking.  I spotted that one of them was limping and thought to myself, “You can take them!”.  With one final spurt I trotted past, with a slightly condescending “Well done!” over my shoulder.

And so, with a pounding heart, screaming legs, cows**t in my shoes and a variety of dead insects up my nose, I crossed the finish line to massive cheers from all assembled, with my fab family the loudest of all!  (I was told later that my kids had run up to congratulate the third place runner with cries of “Well done Daddy!”, before realising that it wasn’t in fact me).  I was absolutely astounded to hear that I’d finished 12th, with a time of 5 hours and 40 minutes, and I still can’t believe it.

Although I have no other experience, I have to say that this was an extremely well organised event from start to finish.  Everyone involved (all volunteers from the local community) was really friendly and supportive.  There were six manned checkpoints on the very well marked route, with drinks, snacks, sponges and words of encouragement.  It’s clear that all concerned take pride in this day, which raises money for local good causes.

 After all my whinging in the run up to this event, it went much better than I expected.  (I realise it looks like I was hamming it up, but I was really scared!).  I knew that come what may, I would finish it, not for me, but for Tom and his family.  A day later, my legs are still very sore and I have trouble going down the stairs, but I’m glad I did it and I’m pleased with the result.  However, much more than that, I’m humbled by the amount of money that has been raised.  At the time of writing the total stands just short of £3,000*, which is frankly amazing.  Thank you for your support.

But wait, we’re not finished yet!  Nicki is up next with her hellish walk and she needs our support too.  100km non-stop is a massive undertaking.  Given the choice, I’d do the Leaden Boot again like a shot rather than take on that challenge.  Go Nicki!

*I’ll donate £10 for the first person who can identify the theme running through my blog titles.  Leave a comment with the answer! And let’s see if we can push the total over £3000!