Walk for Willow

On Saturday 5th May I took part in a charity walk called "Walk for Willow" to raise funds for the Willow Dog Rescue charity (website) which helps pay for kennels for stray or unwanted dogs until they are rehoused.

The walk started at 9am in Wath and we had 8 walkers and 7 dogs. As I wasn't leading a dog I offered to carry all the water (12 litres = 12Kg) in an attempt to help but also to push myself that bit harder.

It was chaos at first, with all the dogs, but we soon settled down into a decent pace and headed West along the Trans-Pennine-Trail (TPT) through Dearne Valley, Wombwell and then Worsborough where we stopped for our first break at about 7.75 miles. At this point I realised we had a support vehicle waiting for us so I gave up with the water and handed it to the driver - thank you!

For those that read my last blog, and have spoken to me since, you might be aware I had accidentally left my running trainers at the Bootcamp hotel and having proceeded to do three runs back at home in my day-to-day trainers I had really hurt my knees and ankles, also giving myself shin-splints - so much so that I could hardly walk last Wednesday and Thursday.

So as you might guess Saturday was a bit of a test, especially with the extra weight of the water. I'd only been walking 15 minutes before my knees were hurting so was very glad to offload it all after 8 miles.

We continued past the southern edge of Dodworth and then Silkstone Common before arriving for our lunch stop at the Car Park of the Travellers Inn just on the outskirts of Oxspring. It had turned cold and I really wanted to keep moving, not wanting to get cold and aches, but of course it made sense to stop and refuel.

We then carried on West through Oxspring and Penistone, passed by Thurlstone and Millhouse Green before the long and quiet stretch to our final destination - Dunford Bridge.

In the end it was 22 miles of chatting and doggie chaos but a good achievement as it raised about £600 for charity. My calves were sore by the end and I was glad it was over but also very glad we'd all made it.

En-route I had managed to find 6 Geocaches but also had to leave 4 I couldn't find quickly enough because the group weren't waiting for me and I can tell you that being 15 minutes behind a group of walkers seemingly takes forever to catch up!