Saturday 18th June dawns; yet another weather check to decide whether wet or warm clothing will be required. Decision made, take both just in case. Is it me, or are our weather forecasters getting younger and less precise?
Early evening en-route to Southsea Castle Fields for the start , weather looks OK , a bit breezy perhaps. Meet up with the two friends I will be walking with and on completion of registration get into character, that will be a Queen Bee then! Don Bumble Bee wings, Bee antenna’s and magic wand (?) and immediately attract the attention of the local press. On completion of the photo shoot (ok it was just a single photograph,) retire to the Army tent to top up with tea and cakes.
The hour approaches and at 22:30 a group warm up exercise was started, swinging arms around with gay abandon and singing to music, Gosh thats enough we still have to walk 12 miles !
The mass start commenced at 23:00, with just under 2000 walkers; cheeering and clapping and great support to send us on our way. We set off near the front of the mass and maintained a good speed, it was now no longer breezy, but very windy. However, it was still dry and spirits were high. At the five mile point the torrential rain started, deep joy! Husbands of our group were marshals at 5.6 mile point cheering us on with platitudes such as ‘remember skin is waterproof’, no help there then!
Approaching the welcoming lights of Portsmouth Cathedral at 01:00 after nearly 8 miles, we were meet by somebody at the door who said “ Welcome to our cathedral, come inside”. This reminded me of the occasion when I visited a dear friend in Taunton Hospice where I meet a lady who said walking into that hospice felt like somebody had wrapped a blanket of love around her. I had a similar feeling of being surrounded by God’s love and peace on entering the cathedral. We were able to light a candle, say a prayer and write a personal message onto a post-it note, which we could place on the cathedral wall with other messages.
After the welcome respite provided by the cathedral, we continued the walk through the historic dockyard past HMS Victory which was fully illuminated for the occasion. Through the dockyard gate and on to Old Portsmouth despite the hour there were still supporters and marshals to guide and cheer us on.
Along the front from Old Porsmouth to Castle Fields, the final push.Still very windy, but at least the rain had stopped; a smattering of light in the eastern sky. At the finish medals and goody bag in hand, we register completion and are then invited to tuck into tea and hot dogs, again supplied by the Army, they even catered for me by providing a veggie option, well done Army.
There were nearly 2000 walkers that night, all participating for many reasons, but, all for the same cause, the Rowan’s Hospice, supporting the wonderful work that goes on both within the hospice and in the wider community. Once again thank you for all your support , together we raised £302 for this great cause. Also well done to David Collins, who also completed the walk for the first time this year.