post mortem
That's how it started. Nearly eleven months later – on Thursday 28 April 2016 – I began my defib run across the country: two-hundred and something miles from Stourton to Buxworth, bagging defibs in Ewen, Paxford, Cotesbach and Barrow-on-Trent on the way. In the end, I ran out of gas after four (of five) days, in Barrow.
Sheila Armstrong, from the High Peak review has asked some questions about the run. Here are my answers, with photos.
What was the most difficult part of the run for you?
Things started going wrong early. By lunchtime on the first day I was struggling. I shouldn't have been: I’d run much further than that in training, and the conditions were fine. Perhaps, psychologically, I found thinking about the remaining miles tiring. Or perhaps, physically, I’d spent too long resting with my feet up, eating cake. Whatever it was, by the end of day one I was already hanging on.
But my worst moment was followed by my best. Nursing my breakfast at 6am on day four, I was very low, worrying about how I was going to get through that day. Then my phone buzzed: a surprise text from the father-in-law saying “On main street” – the name of the road where I was staying. He’d driven down from Newcastle to accompany me. I’ve never been so pleased to see anyone!
Thanks for all the support!
What sort of reaction did you get from people in the villages along the route? For example what sort of hospitality did they show you?
I was overwhelmed by the support I received from the villages I visited. I arrived in Kemble, a couple of miles from the end of day one, in the dark, in torrential rain. A car window wound down: “Are you the runner?” The car drove behind me, headlights illuminating the final stretch to Ewen. Despite the weather, one of the villagers ran the final mile, and a group of them were at the phonebox to cheer me in. I felt like a rock star!
The Sessaregos in Paxford, and the Adcocks in Cotesbach, made me tea, and gave me a bed, and got up at the crack of dawn to make me breakfast, and gave me a packed lunch. On top of this amazing generosity, they were great company in the evening. It's just a shame I had to do the daytime bits too!
The Adcocks and the Burgoines in Cotesbach
What influenced your decision not to complete the last day? Where had you planned to run from that day and how long would it have been? Also when do you hope to go back and complete this last leg?
The final leg – from Barrow to Buggy – is 52 miles, plus a couple of miles to the start, with 4000 feet of climb. I’d scheduled running from 7am to 7pm: around 5mph, plus some time for stops and hills. In reality, by the end of day four, I was out of gas, and my “run” had become a 2mph waddle. I was tired, and I was sore, but the main reason for giving up was that I was so slow. It would have taken me 24 hours to complete the final leg, if I'd made it home at all.
The final leg was scheduled for the first May bank holiday Monday. I'd hoped to finish the challenge on the second bank holiday, four weeks later. But Ruth the physio told me not to be an plum. She was right, I was still hobbling then (and now), and might have done myself an injury. Instead I'll wait until I'm fully recovered; perhaps the next bank holiday Monday in August.
Bradford-on-Avon: Still smiling!
Finally, how do you feel about actually raising enough money to buy two defibrillators?
I'm over the moon. I'd originally hoped to raise £1500 – enough for a defibrillator in my local phone-box on Western Lane in Buxworth. At the final count, we'd raised over £3000, enough to install a second defib in one of the six decommissioned phone-boxes around the parish.
The Lower Lane phone-box where the first
Chinley & Buxworth defib will be installed
(Two for Joy photography)