Walking From Memory, A Walk to Remember
 |
| Let's DO this Photo by Gesina Kunkel on Unsplash |
Aren’t kids hilarious? In a cute and 'don’t come too close
to me if you aren’t my child' kind of way, kids are brilliant. Especially when
you are walking through Hyde Park on a beautiful early September morning.
Watching as they find happiness in stomping through crunchy leaves (I mean, who doesn’t?) and
waving merrily at the aeroplanes in the sky. Believing, without doubt, that the
pilot is waving back. It’s a magical life as a kid.
On Sunday of last week, the second Sunday in September
the sun was shining down on London. Encouraged by the weather, Londoners of all
shapes and sizes ambled through the streets and delighted in the delicious
scenery of Primrose Hill, Regents Park, Hyde Park and London’s streets. Dani
and I embarked upon our longest walk yet and had the pleasure of spotting a
little boy dressed in a gorgeous shirt onesie situation, entertaining his adult
and all passers by, by waving happily to all aeroplanes he spotted. The sight came just at the right time too, because we were definitely flailing at that point. But more to come on that later.
 |
| Primrose Hill - the perfect photo spot |
We saw many things on Sunday, during a walk which Dani
aptly named “brutal”! As we left the streets of Golders Green and full of
energy took the path to the Heath Extension, we were full of beans. Happily
chatting away we smiled at passers by and kept walking through to Hampstead
Heath, the beauty of North London. By Hampstead High Street our spirits were
still high and we joyfully bumbled down to Belsize Park, passing some of the
wonderful walking team - Shine for Shani. Primrose Hill was perfectly peaceful
and Regents Park boasted happy families rowing and pedalling away. We saw
ducklings, swans and birds a plenty. We saw scantily clad lads hoping for the
last few rays before Autumn set in and fashionistas in Autumnal colours that
made me want to go shopping for the latest garb.
Out of the park and back on the streets we charged
towards Baker Street like women on a mission to make it to Selfridges in time
for store opening. Except shopping wasn’t on our cards, unless you count the
banana we bought for sustenance.
Hyde Park was waiting for us in all its glory. The
streets were getting quite busy by now and we had walked over 10km by this
point but we were still happily trudging forward. Hyde Park: a London
Institution. Posh people, poor people, people pondering life, love and the
pursuit of happiness. Tourists, locals, runners, walkers, Hyde Park is open to
all.
Young and old people are drawn to the beauty and the vast
expanse.
If I’m really honest, and it’s always best to be, I don’t
think I’d ever walked the entire park before. Oh what I had missed! The
gorgeous lake, the lovely memorial to Princess Di and the swimmers in the lido!
The serpentine, the playgrounds and the little boats. So much to see!
 |
| Princess Diana Memorial Fountains |
Time and tide waits for no man and this walk wasn’t going
to walk itself. So we reached into our inner Rocky and just kept going.
Out of the park and back through the streets we paced.
Back through the other park we went.
As we approached Marylebone High Street it all came into
focus. This is why we were walking, this is what we were doing.
At the top of Marylebone High Street sits the London
Clinic. The hospital that treated our mom in her final weeks. The place that
fills us with dread.
With our heads held high we pushed on, remembering that
every mile we walk we do so in her memory. Every ounce of effort we put in is
nothing compared to what she went through trying to fight cancer.
We survived the training walk, exhausted and drained.
Questioning how we will make it for the final marathon, but we did it. 30km -
the longest training walk yet and the furthest, the longest, the most brutal
walk I have ever done. We are determined to complete this with the same
attitude she had to life, if you are going to do something - do it well. This
marathon is going to be a challenge but we will do it with all our might.
 |
| The final stats |
Given the duration of the walk I have combined our top
tips for this week, between Dani and I:
- Eat when hungry, small bland bits along the way - don’t wait till starving because you’ll probably end up like we did, knee deep in Nando’s and regretting it instantly.
- Take nurofen before and during the walk. Don’t risk a pain in the bum.
- Walking through parks is pretty but to keep your spirits up you need some variety. Shake up a long walk by mixing street and park for optimum enjoyment!
Thank you for reading this far, I am so grateful to both of my readers for keeping with the blog!
If you are (by some miracle) reading this for the first time... WELL DONE! And just a reminder, we are definitely not doing this training for fun. Each and every step means so much to us and every ache and pain is a reminder of the woman we lost. The woman we miss. The woman we wish was still here.
If you, like us, have been touched by cancer, do take a look at our fundraising page. Every penny helps towards the fight against cancer:
Comments
Post a Comment