Dear supporter/sponsor/sender of good thoughts
We actually finished the Hong Kong Trailwalker. All of it. We knew it was going to be tough (30hrs) but had no idea exactly how tough (37hrs57mins). As the day became night (twice), the sun turned to rain, all the checkpoints were passed, all the energy gels finished and we were running empty - all we had left in the tank was the sponsorship money raised for Oxfam and our pledge to deliver it the whole way. For this we thank you.
Unknown to us until we arrived at what we thought was the finish line, they added a few bonus miles. According to the organisers it was 2km longer but the GPS seems to think it was closer to 5km. Therefore, if you'd like to add a 2-5% bonus to your sponsorship money (or you missed the chance last time) we'll gratefully receive any more donations before the end of the month.
Only 75% of the people who start finish it - and we were amongst the mighty few who tackled it continuously without sleep. We'll leave you some finishing quotes from the team, and a couple of shots (taken with my iPhone) along the way.
Drew: "Not even the breathtaking scenery over Hong Kong, forest paths and dawn wildlife, carnival atmosphere along the route, phenomenal podiatry support or free-flow peanut butter sandwiches could detract from this being the hardest, most horrible event I've ever taken part in"
Alex: “HK slapped me in the face with a white glove; the mountains were steeper, the rain fell, the ground turned into mud that seemed to want to eat my shoes, the anti-blister socks let me down 8km in, and the peanut butter sandwiches stopped tasting good. Never has my body and mind been in such disagreement. But we found the extra crumbs of energy to bring home the sponsorship money. Thanks to all who gave so generously and especially those along the way who brought us McDonalds and pizza.
Stef: “First I want to apologize to my pinky toes, to my poor flat feet and my knee caps for all the suffering I put them through. This was the toughest walk I’ve ever done in the worst weather you can imagine. Surely even if Chow Yun Fat pulled his Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon stunt, bouncing from one peak to another, he’d be blown away in seconds and become disoriented in the thick mist. Many thanks to my family, my friends, my teammates and my mint color walking stick whom all supported me through this insanity. This walk has left scars on me mentally, physically and financially, I have absolutely zero desire to repeat this experience. However, there is one thing I do want though, can all the 4800 people who had seen me zombie walking in a big black garbage bag erase their memory…like permanently? ”
Peter: “I went for a walk in the mountains of Hong Kong and came back as a changed man… This could have been the tale of an epic spiritual journey where one finds his true self – well it was not! I did change though, I now have what looks like leprosy struck feet; knees like a cow that can’t walk down a flight of stairs because of its mis-aligned joints and a constant yelling inside my head ‘to never ever to do such a stupid thing again’. What’s next?”
