Saturday 23rd March 2002
This didn't get off to a very auspicious start, coming as it did at the end of an extremely busy week and coinciding with a painful flare-up of my arthritis, giving me my first medical need for strong painkillers for quite some time.
Fortunately, only my right wrist was affected, so walking was OK. I was particularly exited about meeting John - we'd been exchanging emails since Christmas, but had never actually met. We're both members of the Long Distance Walkers Association and a chance email to John had led to an invitation to take part in this challenge walk.
The event was due to start from Goathland, a delightful little village in the North York moors. I duly arrived at about 7.30 am, to find John already there waiting for me - and the hardest part was over!
The organisers (Cleveland Search and Rescue) arrange a staggered start and we were due off at 8.10 am. Thanks to a last minute rush around looking for the actual start line, we got away a few minutes after that, but over 26 miles that's nothing!
The walk itself was very enjoyable. The weather couldn't have been better for late March - cool, sunny, with hardly any wind. I would have liked a few more hills and our eventual time of 9 hours 19 minutes possibly reflected the flattish course, although the going could hardly be said to have been easy, and a lot of the time we were bog-hopping over muddy, uneven ground. The route (which differs every year) had been a little confined this time, due to uncertainty over possible foot and mouth restrictions still being in force.
John is a much faster walker than I am, and would certainly have completed the course in less time than he took having elected to accompany me. However, I felt we walked at a respectable pace and were far from last when we eventually got back to Goathland. I was still rejoicing at having discovered we didn't actually have 11 checkpoints to visit - the card we had to present at each one was obviously a universal design, intended for use at other, longer events!
At the finish, after having our photos taken, we were treated to cups of tea and a supper reminiscent of school dinners (but exceedingly welcome)! The came the bit I'd not been looking forward to at all - the long drive home. Tired, after a day which had begun at 5 am and included a fast 26 mile walk, I was hoping I could stay awake on the A19. Eventually though, I made it home and started on the inevitable unpacking.
The Cleveland Survival is little more than a memory now, but I very much look forward to next year's event and John's company again!
8 April 2002
