Manxie(s) abroad (part two)

In the late 90s I used to have a No Fear t-shirt that had blazoned on the back a slogan "the older I get, the better I was". Now that could certainly be used for my football playing days, but if I twist it slightly to "the older I get, the better it was" I can easily use it for the most awe-inspiring walk I have ever been involved in.

In October 2016, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Robben Island, Cape Town was chosen as the inaugural South African Centurion walk. It was an incredible and ambitious project invested in by Parish Walk (PW) finisher Nour Addine Ayyoub with his company ZaiLab hosting the event.

The symbolic value of Robben Island lies in its sombre history, as a prison and a hospital for unfortunates who were sequestered as being socially undesirable. This came to an end in the 1990s when the inhuman Apartheid regime was rejected by the South African people and the political prisoners who had been incarcerated on the Island received their freedom after many years. To date, three former inmates of Robben Island have gone on to become President of South Africa: Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma. 

I was presented with the opportunity to go to see the office of my employer at the time, Capital International Group, which coincided with my 10 year anniversary with the company. I travelled the 6,000 miles down by myself and met up with Group Chairman Anthony and Helen Long who would be supporting me on Robben Island. Anthony wasn't exactly thrilled "at watching you walk around for 24 hours" but how things changed quickly once we got onto the island.

Up early on Saturday, 22nd October 2016 and the journey to the island began in the pouring rain. Once down at the V&A Waterfront, the now familiar home and abroad faces from Castletown & Schiedam all started to arrive. Added to this was the excitable South Africans. It made for a great atmosphere. With us all packed onto the ferry, we got out of the harbour and made our way across to Robben Island which was 8 miles away. It usually takes around 40 minutes but it took a little longer as the sea was pretty choppy and the ferry had to zig-zag its way through it. The majority of Manxies were ok as most have been at one time or another on the Ben heading to Liverpool in less than calm waters. One South African was whooping with laughter as the ferry rocked and rolled which I doubt was helping the ones turning green. 

Robbie Callister arrives in style on Robben Island

Once we got to the island the clouds had lifted and the sun started to beam down. Thankfully, the organisers had thought of staging this event at a time of year which wasn't going to be blistering hot, just hot.... As our kit and supplies were transported down to the support area we were given a tour of the prison by an ex-inmate giving us a personal and emotional reflection on what life was like living there. As we headed over to the start, I had a quiet thought to myself "if you start moaning that your sore later, just look over at that building".

The walk started in the midday heat under the sign in the picture above. We were on a 10km loop to begin with which took us over the now disused landing strip and around the majority of the 2.1 mile long by 1.2 mile wide island. Then after that first lap we had a 4.4 mile loop x21 to do. It was a varied course with a couple of inclines, a coastal road, through the residential area and of course past the prison.

My plan was as always to get the finish and to fulfil Hannah's last words to me before leaving the IOM - "just make sure you bring that pin back!". I was going to try to hit an average of 5mph as long as I could and then hold on to get me in hopefully faster than in Schiedam for a pb.

I started the walk with Suzanne and on our first lap, when heading down the coast, a couple of guys were setting up a camera drone. As it took to the air it proceeded to crash into the only tree within 200 yards. We both started laughing and it broke any pre-walk nerves we had.

As the race progressed, I found myself walking by myself but it certainly wasn't a lonely walk away from the vibrant and music pumping support area. As Robben Island is a nature conservation area the amount of wildlife was impressive. Heading across the island and down onto the coast there was a powerful smell of fish from the colony of sea birds and I instantly thought "oh my god, I've got that every lap!" but then I thought I needed to turn the negative into a positive. I decided to rename this part of the course after the 'motherland' - Peel! As I do a lot of my training walks down south around Cringle, I've seen plenty of wildlife up there over the years from rabbits & hares, sheep, cows, bulls to pole cats and yes, joeys/longies/R.A.T.s. So what was on Robben Island apart from the birds? Springboks, ostriches, lizards, snakes, spiders (big ones) and in the morning I had to wait for these guys to cross the path in front of me........

As twilight was coming upon us, the temperature suddenly dropped. At this time, the Manx walkers were looking strong and a while later Dave Walker passed me he asked if I was doing ok and he was a bit surprised when I said  "brilliant, I've made 50 miles at 5mph average for the first time!". He later told me he was taken aback at my reaction as "a lot of people are starting to have a mental dip by then".  Now to just hang on and push through to the morning. What helped was the view back to Cape Town. That vision will never leave me. At one stage in the middle of the night I was coming down past 'Peel' and onto the coast drinking my Yorkshire tea in my drinks bottle when PW winner Richard Gerrard was overtaking me. I just thought, we're here 6,000 miles away from home, walking around this island, looking at Cape Town all lit up like it was jewel encrusted. Crazy. I'm thankful of being one of the privileged few to experience this I thought.

Meanwhile, my support Anthony and Helen were doing a brilliant job. The course was great as you walked past your support (so you could let them know what you needed) before heading down to  where the start was and looped back around past the prison and then over to the lap finish where the support was. It worked extremely well as it wasn't a rush to ask for something. Anthony was getting into it and I could see his competitive spirit coming out. He was checking my times and giving me updates each lap. He mentioned I was up to 9th place and closing on 8th. This was unusual for me, I had never thought of positions before, it was all about "surviving" these ultras and finishing. This race consisted of 54 solo walkers from South Africa, Isle of Man, Netherlands, Australia, USA, UK, Belgium + 20 teams of 4 in the relay race. As the night wore on I came up to one of the Manx walkers who was firmly in a dip and was talking of calling it a day. I walked with him a bit and was trying to get him to change his mind. I left him to it after a mile or so as we neared the home straight for the support and wondered if he was going to continue. A couple of hours later, the next thing I knew he was back on it and overtaking me. Nice one I thought, that will be another high Manx finisher. I had overtaken a couple of walkers by then and found myself in 6th place. It was also getting tough and with around 25 miles left to go I turned to Anthony and Helen to say this is where the pin is won or lost and just need to get through this next phase. I think to be honest it was the chimp talking on my behalf. He must of been as inspired given the sense of occasion! As Helen started to thaw out after a bitterly cold evening supporting me, as Anthony got some sleep in the converted barracks(!), the end was coming into sight and the heat was coming back. Helen later told me "a South African was asking me if it was true that there were no cars on the Isle of Man?!". I smiled as I remembered talking to a guy when he said to me "all you Isle of Man and Isle of Woman (pointing at Janette Morgan) are really good walkers!". Yeah, that was me trying to convince him we walked everywhere on the island, as we didn't have transport. Helen was also relaying messages from back home as they were waking up, which was great to keep pushing me on. It was as good as having them there at your side knowing people were looking out for you from afar.

Daybreak over Cape Town taken by Anthony Long

During the course of the race I was able to recognise a few more (non Manx) faces from the walks I had done in the past; the Aussie John Kilmartin, Dutch walker Frans Leijtens, serial 100 mile walker Sandra Brown were amongst others. There was also another guy in the walk who was on a "simple" mission to complete all the Centurion walks around the globe, the American Rob Robertson. I had been fascinated reading his blog and he was an inspiration. I was pleased I had the honour of walking with him in one of his races.  He has now gone on to achieve his ultimate goal to claim all 6 Centurion status around the world. I've told him in the past it must be heavy carrying all those pins around on his chest! His astonishing story is documented here in his blog walk100miles24hours. He just needs the PW under his belt for the cherry on top! 😉

The walk had gone way better than I had originally thought (after the problems I had in Schiedam) and although tough through the dark hours, once that daybreak hits the mind starts to switch back on and you gear up for the finish. Helen handed me the Manx flag so I could walk with it for the last mile around the harbour & past the prison. Coming into the last few hundred metres and lifting the flag high, with a fist pump to the encouraging South Africans, it was my best performance to date. The finishing time was 21:44:29, which was an hour and a half quicker than in Schiedam 5 months previously.

It was a long night but we got there Helen!

The Manx walkers had certainly veni, vidi, vici with the top 7 looking like this:

1 Richard Gerrard (Manx) 19:42:01
2 David Walker (Manx) 20:31:29
3 Kerstin Mosig (SA) 20:37:46
4 Janette Morgan (Manx) 20:56:47
5 James Quirk (Manx) 21:36:33
6 Pete Miller (Manx) 21:44:29
7 Chris Cale (Manx) 22:11:01

Full list of finishers SA 2016
Video footage African Centurion 2016
Robben Island info http://www.robben-island.org.za/

The trip back to Cape Town on the ferry was thankfully calmer than the trip to the island and was a lot quieter due to everyone being exhausted. But there was one last special gift that South Africa was going to give us. A pair of whales surfaced behind us to perfectly draw the curtains to what was an extraordinary event I was honoured to be a part of.

I travelled back to the UK a couple of days later. I was grateful I was on the overnight direct flight from Cape Town (instead of going to Dubai first) and for the record, no, I wasn't in business class! With the flight taking 12 hours and I rarely sleep on flights, I had plenty of time to reflect and decide what the next challenge would be. It didn't take long, I needed to do the Parish again. One thing I had noticed on Robben Island that I hadn't seen before in walks was the guys at the "sharper" end were hurting just as much as everyone else. With you having to come back on yourself over the finish line you could see the faces of the other walkers coming towards you. Normally on a looped course the quick ones would just fly past. Now you could see their faces and the obvious discomfort they were in. They were in fact human! At the end in SA as we (Manx) were all in the barracks behind the finish area resting up in the bunk beds looking broken. Robbie Callister walks in and says "bloody hell, it looks like Nobles in here!". But the realisation was these walkers had developed technique to go quicker and get it over faster. I was going to have to go and learn some technique throughout the winter down at the NSC. Another thing dawned on me. If I was looking to get quicker, I was going to have to become more competitive and that didn't take long to kick in. I arrived at a cold Heathrow at around 5am and I found myself shuffling along what felt like a mile from the terminal to the baggage carousel. As the majority of other passengers disappeared I found I was in a foot race with an 80 year old woman. I have to admit I was disappointed in coming off second best but I did run her close to finish a few seconds behind her!

It feels only right to leave the chapter with a quote from the great man.

“There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living”. 

― Nelson Mandela 

Manxie(s) abroad (part one)

In April 2016, I supported Sam (Crazy Frog) in the annual Fireman's walk which is a 50km walking race from Peel to Ramsey fire station and is effectively on the Parish (PW) route. It's a good marker of fitness and I know a lot of people use it to try out things like new apparel or food and drink for the PW. A month or so before the race we had done a test run on the course. The aim was to cover 40km to see how he felt with the pacing he had set himself and what he was planning on taking calorie wise on the day. The winter months training had got him technically walking well, very fit and he was focussed on challenging for top spot on the day. For me, this was a whole different dimension and the pace he was talking about was certainly an eye opener. Although being battered by the wind and rain for nearly 4 hours he was happy with how he felt and I could tell his confidence was flowing.  The actual race day couldn't have been any different (weather wise) and glorious sunshine beamed down onto the island. Still a bit nippy but with his racing vest and paper shorts Sam was ready! It was the first time I had seen a walking race of this kind at the "sharper" end and although it was so much quieter on the roads the feeling of being part of it seemed that more intense. The time flew by and with Sam keeping controlled in 3rd place for the first 30km, he started to apply the pressure and got himself into 2nd behind Dave Walker. He then overtook Dave heading into Andreas and the lead was swapped a couple of times before they eventually agreed to finish together in a time of 5:02:47, which was over 6mph average for the whole walk. *

With the boost he had got from the Fireman's, Sam swept into that years PW with confidence of posting a pb but it would end at Hibernian (just beyond Maughold) after running out of steam. This setback made him even more determined for the rest of the year. He registered a 2nd place in the island's End to End race in September and earlier in that month had travelled to Guernsey to do the church to church race and won in style. It wouldn't be the only off island walking race the Manx would triumph in that year.....

Looking back, in addition to supporting Sam, going out with the experienced "southern" walking group each Saturday morning was having a profound effect on me. It was a source of knowledge that was there to be tapped into plus trying to keep up with them to ask questions was pushing me on to become quicker! 

The entry fee, flights and accommodation was booked for May's trip to Schiedam in the Netherlands for the Continental Centurions WandelWeekend. There was a variety of races from 24 hours, 100 miles, 100km, 50 miles and 50km which was held around a very picturesque Princess Beatrix Park. For support, I had my usual pairing of Hannah & Wendy plus the addition of Sean and Aunt Susie. They would take the opportunity to make it a short break and see some sights of Rotterdam which was just down the road on the Friday. Upon arriving on Thursday evening at the hotel, which was a stones throw from the park, we met a couple who introduced themselves to us after recognising our Manx accents! It was Simon and Maureen Cox and are undoubtedly one of the most warmest and encouraging couples in the walking scene. I spent the Friday afternoon chatting to them by the pool and was fascinated by their achievements in walking which spanned back to the early 90s. Maureen had won the women's race to Peel in the PW three years in a row, was the 11th woman in history to finish the whole PW, was a centurion, had taken part in the Roubaix 28 hour walk and finished with 112 miles. Simon who had been a fell & marathon runner was a multiple PW finisher plus after finishing the PW in 1998 continued up and down Douglas prom for a further 15 miles to gain centurion status - as the annual 100 mile event was incorporated into it that year. They did tell me their ages and I was taken aback. They looked 10 years younger than what they had said and told them. Simon was here in Schiedam to go for his continental centurion badge as well, while Maureen was here to support. Throughout Friday, more walkers turned up at the hotel and it felt like an old friends reunion. Myself? I didn't have a clue who the majority were. Robbie and the other "southerners" were in a different hotel down the road. There was one guy I had been looking out for and hoped he was staying in the same hotel - Richard McChesney. This Kiwi had produced a book on his ultra walking (Walk! Going the Distance) which I had downloaded via kindle a few months before. In short, he's the craziest Kiwi I know but to be fair to Richard he's the only Kiwi I know. Myself and Sam had our Epic walk but this guy is on a different level and has got a back catalogue of them. Click on this link for a taster of what he has achieved.... Richard McChesney walks 44 hours nonstop. So, in the Kiwi strolled with his mate from Australia, John Kilmartin. Was John your archetypal Aussie, weathered and hard as nails? You bet he was. John had gained his Australian centurion in April 2015 before heading to the Isle of Man and getting through the one I had done in Castletown in the August. He was now chasing his continental one. Doing some digging has unearthed this document on John which sums up his character.... John Kilmartin. John gave me the nickname "young Pete" as I was deemed a minor compared to the ones that were going to be walking the next day! 

I had a decent nights kip and was up early next day. At breakfast, there was an excited atmosphere and a few walkers were eating fry ups to carb load. I can remember I couldn't stomach anything like that and stuck to a bowl of corn flakes! I was still feeling full from a bowl of pasta from the previous night. In the foyer, before heading over to the course, I met Lee Corkill. Lee was originally from Sulby and had relocated to the UK with his wife Kerry. His cousin was Karen Lawrie who is an exceptionally good endurance walker and he had supported her throughout the years. Now he wanted to get involved on the walking side. He looked nervous and I could sense he was going through exactly what I had been back in August before the Castletown 100. It is difficult to know what to say to people even though you have been through it before. Everyone reacts different and its one reason people enter these events to test themselves not only physically but mentally also. Walking across to the course the sun was shining but there was a chill in the air. We had a small two man tent to set up so the support had somewhere to kip if need be. The organisers had set up an "international tent" that we could use for supplies as well. As was in the Isle of Man, there was the official feeding area along the finishing straight and a drinks station a mile into the 2.5 mile course. I remember feeling a sense of pride being here amongst other Manx (+ based) walkers and it was like a band of brothers and sisters similar to that in the PW.

There are some miles in all them legs! Amongst them is this years other blogger, Bernie Johnson #48. I am #57 sandwiched in between Suzannah Corkill and Richard McChesney.

And on the other side, the all important supporters....

The 100 miler started at midday local time and there was a slightly longer lap to begin with before settling down into an approximate 2.5 mile course. The Dutch recorded it in kilometres so it was 160.934km that was required to achieve centurion status. I started the walk with Suzannah Corkill and we had done a few training walks together before hand. She was another experienced walker who had completed the PW a number of times and also the Castletown 100. She was the 5mph queen to me and could go for miles and miles and miles at this pace. I walked with her for the first 4-5 hours before she started to struggle with hay fever. The anti-clockwise course was a good one. Starting in a park you went straight up past some large trees on either side and then came out and was exposed to some wind coming at you, over past the lake and onto the main road which had a big pavement plus cycle lanes. Then back into the park via an estate, down over a footbridge (then the pollen hit you which Suzannah had struggled with) and around past a school before going over another footbridge. This headed onto a long cycle lane which skirted a motorway before turning back onto the finishing straight where the supporters were.

Coming up the finishing straight there was a woman who I think was called Veronica. She would take your orders for what you required and boom this over a microphone. All very efficient & all very continental. Veronica was a no nonsense type of character with a wicked sense of humour. During the late afternoon I could hear people calling for bouillon and decided to try it. It was essentially a stock cube which contained vitamins and most importantly salt which helps keep cramping at bay. I would ask her "bouillon" and she would shout down the microphone "soup!" and the next lap I would ask for "soup" she would shout "bouillon!". I think it was her way of finding the fun in a not too glamourous role. Anyhow, as the event wore on I would be thinking of different things to ask for which I knew were on offer but a different way to say it. "Pepsi" vs "Cola" that sort of thing. During the evening when it was starting to get dark I thought I needed to re-apply some cream to avoid chaffing. So when I came up to Veronica I asked for "chub rub!". She didn't have a clue what I was on about and I mentioned to my support what I needed on the next lap. Coming back around, I shouted to Veronica "chub rub!" again to see her quizzical face but she fired back with "bollocks cream!". I don't know who told her but I burst into laughter.

As this was another true international event there were the obvious communication problems and add to that us English speakers have the tendency to speak loud and slow to our continental cousins to get our side through to them. There were Manx, English, Australian, New Zealander, Catalonian's, Danish, Belgium, French, South African and of course Dutch walkers. The pair of Catalonian walkers were good fun. I came up to them in the night and they had been singing songs to help keep them going.  I said "Hola!" and they replied "Hola amigo!" and in my best slow but loud speaking pointed at my chest and said "Isle of Man". "Si, si Barcelona" and they pointed to each other. The next thing I knew we were belting out Freddie Mercury's classic "Barcelona, it was the first time that we met, Barcelona, how can I forget, the moment you stepped into the room, You took my breath away! BarceloOona".

Another notable thing that sticks in my mind happened around 10pm as I was coming out of the estate and heading back into the park. It was well lit in the estate but the park was a little darker. As soon as I turned a corner 3 local kids jumped out on me. There's no other way to say this but I nearly shit a brick. Trying not to swear by gritting my teeth I could feel my nerves tingling as I carried on into the park - about a minute later I could hear another victim but heard a few shouted foreign words that could easily be interpreted.  

It wasn't all fun and games though, far from it. As midnight hit I just thought right lets bed in and get through this. It was getting colder (down to 8 degrees from 20s during the day) and we were exposed to the wind once you got out of the protection from the trees. Each time I hit the wind head on I thought I need to ask for a snood when I go past the support. But by the lower part of the course I had warmed up a bit and never remembered to ask! Then the rain kicked in which made it more miserable. At least I was on schedule and walking ok..... That was until about 3am when I started to feel my right ankle starting to swell. Uh oh what was this. Never had this before. I tried untying my shoe and then some anti-inflammatories but it wasn't getting any better. I had enough time in the bank to see if I could get through it. The next four hours was probably the toughest I had ever walked in. I had to keep a bit of pace up otherwise it would be curtains for the finish in 24 hours. At one stage I remember getting some soup/bouillon (!) and keeping hold of the plastic cup and then getting another one on the next lap. I used these cups to squeeze each step I was taking to take my mind of the pain I was in. As daybreak was coming we eventually found the solution in using deep freeze which had done the trick and settled down the swelling. I still wasn't walking particularly quick but was getting through it. As I turned onto the main road at around 5am I could see a figure in the distance I recognised and they were staggering about. I caught up to them and it turned out to be Andrew Titley who was aiming for his 10th 100 finish. I nudged him and he looked at me over his sunglasses and I asked him whether he was f*cked or just sleepy. He said he was sleepy and so I walked with him back to the supporters and asked Hannah to get the Vicks vapor rub out and he stuck it on his top lip to give him "a wake up call". We then carried on walking together and it took us the whole of the next lap to work out how fast he needed to go to finish. He was 2 laps down on me as he had walked with Suzannah for a bit when she had been struggling earlier in the race. We worked out the pace he needed to do and with the help of my watch we paced it for about half a mile. It was quicker than I had been walking and I wasn't comfortable and I told him I had to hold back. He carried on at that pace and got in before the deadline. That's what multiple centurions do I thought. Grind when they need to.

I was assured I was going to finish and at the start of my last lap I asked one of the judges if it was okay if Sean walked it with me. As we strolled the circuit for the last time I thanked the lap markers, marshals and feed station supporters around the course. I eventually crossed the line in 23:08:27 and was rewarded with the following pin.

During the two days, as mentioned previously, there were other races going on and local walker Matthew Haddock took the honours in the 50km. He was then supporting Stew Jones who had an exciting finish to his 50 miler which he ended up winning. The 100 miler was won by Vinny Lynch and first woman was Janette Morgan making it an extremely satisfying weekend abroad for the Manx based walkers.

Now there was just one more hurdle to get over, to get back through customs at Amsterdam Airport looking like I haven't smuggled anything inside me...…

Next month the PW was upon us and Hannah was attempting to get around on her third attempt. After dropping off Sam, after he bowed out at Hibernian, I went to find Hannah and her support Wendy, who were at Lezayre, where she had come unstuck in the two previous years. I rolled up with a cappuccino from McDonalds for her and when I drove up by the side of her she gave a thumbs up. It was obvious she was in a far better place physically and mentally this year. What was different this time around? She had walked a fair chunk of it with Pauline Clague who was adopting a few stops strategy. This could account for not seizing up like in previous years. As we got past Maughold and the 18 mile to go marker I spotted Lee Corkill standing with his hands on the back of his car with his wife Kerry next to him. Lee had completed around 55 miles in Schiedam before having to call it a day with an injury. I stopped and went over to them and Kerry came up to me and said "his head's going & he's not listening to me, can you have a word?". Lee was struggling and in a massive dip and was ready to call it a day. I simply said to him "do you want to finish the PW in the future?" to which he replied yes of course with a nod. "Well the next time you do it you will have to get all the way around to this point again and you might feel even worse. 18 miles is a training walk for you". I wished him good luck and went back to my car and drove on to find Wendy. We parked up and waited for Hannah at Glen Mona and just like a phoenix rising from the ashes along comes Lee with the bit between his teeth. He was back on it and it made me punch the air. He went onto finish and thanked me afterwards but had also explained Kerry just drove off from him! Thinking about it, that probably did more for him than my words of wisdom!

Hannah was slowing coming into Laxey and crawling up to Lonan. My stomach was twisted in knots thinking she wasn't going to make it. I got up to her at Lonan and reset her watch and told her to keep at 3.5mph average over the next 6 miles to the finish to get in.

Did she make it? Of course she did.....her finishing time was 23:33:25 and as Wendy says "never in doubt!" 😃

A pivotal moment occurred on 9th October 2016. There was an one hour challenge around the outer ring at the NSC sponsored by the Welbeck Hotel. This race is aimed at the newcomer or novice race walker and the challenge is to cover as many laps of the 800m loop within the hour. A gun goes off to mark the end and the part laps are counted up and the novice with the most distance covered is deemed the winner.

I was starting to know a couple of the walkers now and thought it would be good to get a taster of doing some of the shorter quicker walks. The gun went off and away we went. However, it wasn't long until I got shown a yellow paddle with an arrowhead ^ on it from one of the judges. This was for bent knees. In other words, I was being told to slow down as I wasn't walking properly for this type of race. I came back around for another lap and another judge made a slow down motion with her hand. I was like a duck out of water here and when I got around to where the bridge which leads to the bowl, Steve Taylor the chief judge, walked in front of me and raised a hand, stopped me dead and said "that's not walking!". I could hear a couple of sniggers from some walkers behind me. I just wanted the tarmac to open up and swallow me. I carried on but slowed as instructed and lots of things raced through my head for the next hour. Do I just stick to the long distance and sack the shorter quicker distances off? Do I look for some help throughout the winter and go to the coaching sessions Sam had so often talked about? I would think about it, but first....

100 milers were accomplished at home and in Europe, how about the inaugural one in a different continent.....South Africa, Cape Town on Robben Island in October 2016?

The Crazy Frog Chronicles

So where are we up to? I've dragged myself through the Parish (PW) in 2013 and the 100 in 2015. It hadn't been pretty but I got finishes and most importantly (to me) I was showing I could get through them. The thoughts of never walking again had left me in those last few laps down in Castletown and its never entered my mind since.

As my body recovered from the 100 miler, a strange and new experience was playing out in my mind. I was getting congratulated for becoming a Centurion and I found I was putting a positive face on when replying to the question that I must be over the moon. I certainly didn't feel it. I felt like I had fallen off a cliff edge and had an almost empty feeling. I done some digging on the internet and quickly realised a big goal gives us a powerful sense of direction and order. Having targets directed towards the goal gives us the feel good factor and a sense of purpose. So why didn't it happen after the PW? My guess was that given the 100's bigger miles, sense of occasion, the nerves I had shown before it & having to kick at the end to get in, I was completely spent emotionally. One question I like to ask people, that have done both the PW and 100 milers, is which is harder in their eyes. I am surprised when the majority opt for the PW with the answer mainly due to the hills. My own view is its "horses for courses". I get excited about the idea of attempting to walk around the whole of the Isle of Man on PW day. Walking around a loop 25/50/100 times doesn't ignite my imagination in the same way - but then again one did in October 2016....

So feeling empty and in need of something to kick start me again, Sam Fletcher and co arrives like a whirlwind into Ballabeg to live. I first met Sam when we were work colleagues a few years before and had kept in contact through our love of walking when he had left. He had previously lived 'down' north and we had sometimes gone on longer walks together. Sam was learning how to "race" walk and was becoming good technically and with that his pace was much quicker than mine. I was trying to think of a few words to describe Sam and have come up with; heart of gold, strong, fun, not ego driven, unpredictable and a bit mad. My nickname for him is Crazy Frog after the character in the mid 2000's ringtone adverts.

Sam would regularly pass on tips to me of how to walk more efficiently, but the only problem being he would tell me something different to contradict himself each week! Without fail, he would always say to me before heading out for a walk or run - "can you do this?" and with that he would put a leg out straight with his heel on the floor with toes pointing upwards. I would copy and he would flick me with his hand, point and say with a grin "you can race walk!". He would also say "come down to the NSC with me mate and we can learn to walk technically together". At that time, I wasn't interested in this type of walking. I was an ultra walker and the vast majority of people in the events I had been in didn't walk in the traditional "race" walking style. That's only for people doing the smaller distances is what I was led to believe by my own observations. 

So, once the body had recovered from the 100 in September 2015, we were going to push each other out training around the south of the island. One thing you would not be able to accuse us of is doing things by half measure. To build up our fitness we started with some running first. During the week we would leave at 6am and go up and around Cringle and would run/jog the whole way. Sam would then do some technical training down the NSC after work. One day Sam brought one of his pharaoh hounds (Mud) out with us with a lead that would be attached to his waist. The hound made light work of the run and I was asked if I fancied taking one out. I'd give it a go.

It was enjoyable running with Mud and I formed a good bond with him. While out on these runs we frequently thought of ways we could up the ante through the winter and the BBB was coming out in both of us. I had bought a 10kg weighted vest the year previously. The vest would certainly raise your heart rate and you would sleep well at night after using it believe me! Sam had invested in one and we had already used them to walk to Peel in 4 hours from Ballabeg via the Sloc back in January of that year. Yes, it does sound extreme but at the time I was thinking I had 3 of those weighted vests in body weight on me when I first started losing weight in 2013! We vowed to park the vests for a while after that walk as it took a few days to recover.... So now, the weighted vests cropped back up in conversation. Why don't we see if we can run the 10km up around Cringle in them. The goal was to not stop even if we were at snails pace we would still jog and keep each other going. So that Saturday I turned up at Sam's and he looked as nervous as I did. Laura, Sam's other half was pissing herself laughing - "enjoy!" as we gingerly trotted off. Just over an hour later we returned and crashed out on Sam's garden, started to laugh and vowed not to do that again in a hurry. 

We could feel the running (without vests) was getting us fitter and we continued to run or walk before work throughout the winter together in all kinds of weather. The fear of letting the other person down made us get out. I would be wrapped up with running tights and thermal kit including gloves. Sam would usually have his paper thin shorts on and moan that it was "pretty cold today isn't it mate?!". As we were running in the morning when it was dark we needed to have head torches. Mine was a Pretzl brand that I had got before the PW and was light weight. Sam bought his from ebay and it was shipped from Hong Kong. One morning he excitedly pointed out his new bit of kit and switched it on and the whole of Friary Park nearly lit up and this was on the lowest setting! I thought how big are the batteries as it won't last till the bottom of the road. There was a big battery pack on the back of his head - "it'll make my neck muscles stronger mate!". I can't tell you the amount of times I nearly fell over when we were out because when he talked he would look at me and I would be blinded. I was surprised planes didn't try to land in front of us! However, what was handy with this torch, if any cars or vans were heading towards us with full beam on, he would flick the switch to full power and they quickly dipped their headlights!

As Sam was in the Manx walking circles, coming into the new year (2016) he found out that a southern group of walkers would go out early on a Saturday morning. He asked whether we could go out with them and were welcomed along. I had sometimes seen the group out in the past year but knew they were a lot faster than me and hadn't even entertained on going out with them. In the group they were all good walkers; Andrew Titley, Janette Morgan, Werner Alberts, Suzannah Corkill and Robbie Callister. As we headed out the pace was pretty quick for me and I was thinking - this is them warming up! Soon enough the field was spread out and at certain points of the route the faster walkers waited for the others to catch up. This was all new to me. It was brilliant going out with these guys and I remembered thinking that they didn't make you feel inferior but encouraged you along the way. On one particular walk they had mentioned they were all going to Schiedam (in The Netherlands) in May to do the 100 miler in an attempt to get their Continental Centurion pin. I looked into it and decided that if I wanted to raise my game and prove to myself that these ultra's didn't have to be on my doorstep - then lets go abroad and do it. The PW would have to wait a year before getting back into it. I told Sam I would be available this one year to support him during the PW. Our targets were set and this would push our training on. I continued to train with the southern group on Saturday mornings and with Sam during the week before work. 

Some of the more memorable walks myself and Sam went on usually involved big miles and big hills. None more so than the one we dubbed The Epic. We still talk about it now and have a laugh when recalling it. I would always tell him about the Glen Maye old post office hill (GMOPOH) being very tough and possibly the toughest road to walk up on the island. He would say Injebreck. How do we decide? Why not do both of them.....on the same day. We started at 5am one cold Sunday morning from the Waterfall pub car park in Glen Maye. Baptism of fire to begin as we headed up GMOPOH and headed down to St Johns via the Slieau Whallian back road. Then over to The Hope and up the hill and past Archallagan plantation and took the left which headed down to the Garth. Down into Crosby via old school hill. Up the back of Crosby to get onto West Baldwin road and after that warm up (!) went up Injebreck. Once at the top we headed down Sartfeld road and cut down Little London and over to Cronk v Voddy which took us onto the Staarvey road till we got onto the Poortown road. Through St Johns and retraced our steps up the Slieau Whallian road and down GMOPOH. I'm knackered just typing that route! Some highlights of the walk; it turned out being a nice day to walk and other than that it was brutal. We had hid some drinks in hedges the day before but had run out of supplies with about 4 miles to go and boy did we feel it. Walking down GMOPOH towards the end a woman was walking up it with her little dog. As we could both feel the bottom of our knees and we were literally broken the woman started laughing saying "isn't it supposed to be harder walking up the hill?". I softly muttered that we had done a few miles. It was around 49km to be more precise. As we got back to the car, Sam being the ever professional had to round the distance up to the full 50km. So, as I was sat on the bonnet of the car drinking coffee I watched him do about 5 laps of the car park in his best race walking style albeit after the hills we had just conquered. We never did decide which was tougher GMOPOH or Injebreck. Maybe we should do the circuit again? Er no. 

In March 2016, we had decided the Cringle run in the morning was becoming a bit samey and we thought of something, yes wait for it, a little more extreme. For a month, each Wednesday we would head out with the hounds at 4:45am and run around 12 miles in total. That's big miles even if it was on the flat but this route wasn't flat. It took us from Ballabeg to Round Table via the PW route and back down Ronague. So this included Ballakillowey and the Sloc. We did it in all sorts of weather and the few cars or vans we did see up the sloc must have thought they were still in bed dreaming. On one particular Wednesday, Sam had brought one of his other dogs which was an Ibizan hound named Ice. It was like a small horse but wasn't particularly thrilled of being hauled up the hills at stupid o'clock. Myself and Mud waited at the top until Sam and his running partner finally caught up and he explained Ice wanted to run in the opposite direction!

I could go on and on about our experiences but one final walk that will always live with me was one I did by myself a couple of months before the Schiedam 100 miler. One Friday after work I had planned to go up and around Cringle 5 times in a row which was 30 miles. I drove the route first and dropped off bottles and food in hedges. At around 6:45pm I took a deep breath and set off from home. It was always going to be tough but I made good progress and was determined to get through it. At around 11:00pm a car drove up behind me and then went slowly to the side "hey boy! how you doing mate?". Sam had come up with Laura and the kids and told me he'd brought me some coffee. I stopped and thanked him and got the red hot black coffee down me. It was a brand called Rocket Fuel which states that it is an intense dark roast coffee with guarana in it to give an intense double energy hit. I poured the last remains on the ground after thinking I better keep moving - I had one last lap to do. I thanked Sam and he headed off home. I thought that it was good seeing some familiar faces and the coffee had certainly given me a boost. Half a mile down the road I could see Sam's car and when I got up to it he shouts through the window "mate, can you do us a favour? Can you give us a push?". He'd broken down. So here we were, me with around 20 odd miles done up in the sticks and I was pushing his full car to get it going again. It burst into life and off he went with a cheer from the occupants. I finally finished past midnight and couldn't get to sleep and put it down to the Rocket Fuel. I was back up Cringle the next week and could still see the coffee stain on the road. I thought what the hell had that done to my insides. 

Welcome to the world of Crazy Frog, never a dull moment...……

Billy Big Balls

In our household, Hannah has to cope with three males; me, Sean and our Bengal cat Buddy (Holly). There is a phrase she uses that surfaces every now and again to describe the show of too much testosterone flying about from one of us - Billy Big Balls (BBB). Now entering the 100 miler I was afforded the BBB tag. I had just scraped through the PW in 2013 and I had done no other events since I crossed the line at the War Memorial nearly two years previously. I blame Sam for getting me into this. It certainly wouldn't be the last time I thought that....

I had continued to walk a couple of times a week and also run to keep my fitness up but this was generally by myself. The new dynamic now would be walking with Hannah on the PW. We started to train together a couple of times a week and go on longer walks at the weekend to get into a groove. Id run or swim on the other days. Walking with others has plenty of benefits but can also bring its fair share of difficulties. You need to iron out any potential problems way in advance of the big day. In our case we were walking together, no matter what. If Hannah started to show signs of slowing significantly I would try to get her through it and if she had to withdraw so would I. BBB here didn't even contemplate I would struggle.... 

If your walking with someone in this year's PW, you need to have a game plan. If one of you is struggling badly when or do you separate? Do you have scheduled stops together for eating/comfort breaks? Majority of walkers have dips but these might not be at the same time as your partner in crime. This is when the other walker raises the game to keep the other going, as no doubt the favour will need to be returned. If you can; train, train and train some more with each other as you will get your pace more in line that you are both going to be comfortable with on the big day. The mental side of it comes when the slower walker thinks they are holding the other one back, but this can potentially be the other way around too. The faster walker is going too quick at the start and might blow you both up a few miles down the road. Get talking about potential hot spots now and don't leave it till the day. There are plenty of success stories of people training/walking together and I thank successful endurance walkers Karen Lawrie and Tony Mackintosh for their insights mentioned above. 

Myself and Hannah had a day off around 6 weeks before the PW and we used it to get one big walk in to test out timings. I had dropped a car off in Peel the evening before and then in the morning, after dropping Sean at school, we drove our other car into Douglas and parked up at the NSC. We then headed off on the Parish route. We got to Ballabeg and topped up the Camelbak's, had a comfort break, before heading on towards Rushen and up over the Sloc to finish in Peel. We had agreed beforehand that the idea of this walk was to do it in the estimated time we wanted to do it on the day. We could then gauge if it was too slow/fast and adjust accordingly. Of course, the weather might be different on the day. Plus, the occasion usually gives you more of a spring in your step but it was good to get this walk in and cover the 32.5 miles to give us some confidence in the pace we were aiming for.

The PW15 arrived and I was back on the track at the NSC. We were feeling confident that we could join the list of a few married couples that had finished together. Wendy was back supporting and we came through Peel bang on schedule. The weather gods were on our side and we were now on the way up the coast heading towards the white church of Jurby which could be seen in the distance. It was all going well with 53 miles in at an average speed of 4.3mph and with over 12 hours of walking done. Then coming into Andreas, where Hannah had stopped the year before, she started to walk slower. Her hamstrings were getting tight. We had a stop for 5 minutes to try stretch them out and continued on. Walking to Ginger Hall her worry was that she was going to seize up completely and fall over. With over 26 miles to go it was evident that it was going to be sensible to call it a day. I have since learned - around these parishes it is a common PW graveyard for people attempting to go the full distance for the first time. Is there a magic formula to get past it? I honestly don't know.

As Hannah got in the car a mile or so before Lezayre church, I told Wendy I would walk to the church and check out there and meet them back on the main road. As I walked by myself for that mile I felt strong and the thought flashed across my mind to continue and finish it. That was overridden by the thought of potentially getting badly blistered feet and more miles in my legs meant more recovery time before the 100 in 8 weeks time. Oh and Hannah would be extremely uncomfortable sat in the car for the next 8-9 hours and having to endure watching me cross the line! That was my first thought obviously.... I got to Lezarye church and said I was finishing here to the marshal who asked if I was sure as I looked in good shape. "I have bigger fish to fry in a couple of months time" was my response. Even I thought it - BBB.....

It wasn't long after the PW that I got the message from Sam that he wasn't going to walk the 100 miler but instead walk the early bird 20 miler which started on the Sunday morning. "I can walk with you mate to help get you home!". I recovered quite quickly from the Parish and with my feet not being destroyed, like they were in 2013, I was able to get some specific 100 training done. The course in Castletown was going to be flat, so I kept to relatively flat loops to do. Three walks during the week between 6-10 miles each and then at the weekend 20+ milers on the Saturday starting around 6am. To get used to walking around Castletown I made a loop which took me from Ballabeg up towards Grenaby and then cut back towards cross four ways, over past the football club, traffic lights, down Malew Street to the square, then Arbory street past the swimming pool and headed back to Ballabeg via the Ballakeighan straight. I'd do this 3 times trying to get my pace even each lap. I always remember seeing farmers on the first lap, posties on the second and then Saturday shoppers heading to Douglas on the third.

My two weeks annual holiday were either side of the weekend of the 100 (14/15th August 2015). I hadn't told many people I was doing it as I seriously didn't know how it was going to play out. A couple of weekends before it, Robbie Callister one of the main organisers, had offered to walk participants around the course in groups. I went down one Sunday afternoon and there was a handful of us. I recognised a guy I knew that was from Peel, Stew Jones. I hadn't met Stew for a number of years but I had seen his name with regard to walking when I was looking at previous PW and 100 records. He mentioned he was the current Isle of Man Open 24 hour challenge title holder when he carried on after completing the 100 mile in 2013 at the NSC and registered 103 miles. I'm guessing he still holds this title as I can't think of another 24 challenge being held here since! It slowly dawned on me that the walkers that were going to be in this event were going to be of a certain calibre and have quite a bit more experience than myself. This was firmly cemented in my brain when a woman rocked up at pace in her walking kit. She then said "afternoon y'all!" in an American accent and proceeded to do some leg stretches. I hadn't a clue who it was but it was an impressive entrance I thought. Turned out to be Karen Chiarello (KC). As we walked around the circuit I got chatting to Stew and KC and the conversation turned to the PW a couple of months before. Stew completed it in 19:20 hours & KC got in around 17 hours. I mentioned I got to Lezarye before stopping to save myself for this event. Inside, my chimp was having a field day "they think you have no chance of finishing this", however, it was more worrying that I actually started to think "I've no chance of finishing this!" when driving home.

The day before the 100, myself and Hannah went down to check out the area on the bypass where we could set up the support tent up the next morning. When we got there it was cordoned off and then Robbie appeared and asked "how are you feeling?", I replied "yeah great, looking forward to it". It wasn't exactly what I was feeling but I was trying to keep positive.

So the day arrived - Saturday 14th August 2015, 24 hours to get through 100 miles (one hundred, one zero zero). Fifty times around the Castletown 2 mile circuit. The prize? To gain Centurion status. We headed off to the town hall to register and I collected my Tower Insurance bag of promotional merchandise and was asked my nationality so the correct flag could be stuck to my number. This was going to be a true international event and with that, in came the Dutch. Four guys looking like they had just strolled from Netherlands to get here. One had legs up to my head. I gave them a nod and they collectively nodded and off I went back to the car and the bypass to get the tent set up. We had a two man tent set up in about 10 minutes, meanwhile next to us there was what looked like a small house being constructed for one of the Irish walkers support crew. Start time was at 2pm which was just under 2 hours away. We headed back to Ballabeg so I could get changed and tape my feet up. I was told to try zinc oxide tape. So I covered my feet in it. I then had a look in the bag and found the programme. It listed the names of the 101 competitors and had a paragraph of bio on most of them...

• I have walked 14 times the Deathmarch at Bornem and 7 times a 200km walk during 40 hours in Audax.
• Has completed many 100 miles events in the UK and abroad
• 6 Parish Walk finishes with a best time of 16hrs 25 mins 30 sec's
• 1 Paris to Alsace finish - 1 Centurion finish - 2 French 24 hour race finishes - 5 Parish Walk finishes 
• 14x Parish Walk finisher

You get the drift. Mine read "Parish Walk debut finisher 2013". My heart was thumping and I was seriously fretting about what I had gotten myself into. It was then I told Hannah that I needed 5 minutes to myself and stood looking out of my front window. Come on pull yourself together, you've done the training, stick to the pace plan, there's no pressure on you - just go out and show them what a little hick from Ballabeg can do. My chimp must have liked that last bit (about being a hick) as it calmed me down. Right, time to get down to the start. I went to the toilet for a pee and then 5 minutes went again. I was still nervy. This felt so different to the PW. It felt way more serious. There were some exceptionally good/experienced walkers I was rubbing shoulders with here. I reminded myself whatever happens at the start just try keep to the plan. 

Here's the original plan with workings out by my support.

You will notice I had put zones which refer to places found in my favourite movies and the idea behind that was my support could tell me I was in a certain zone. I could think about the film to take my mind off any potential tedium of walking on the same route over and over. Nakatomi still makes me smile as you maybe aware that the building features in Die Hard and the hero has to walk barefooted through broken glass towards the end. I might have to go through similar pain I thought.

As you can see to get in the 100 miles under the 24 hours you need to complete it in a minimum average speed of around 4.2mph unlike 3.5mph in the PW. The course is flat though? If you pushed the hills down in the parish that would probably equate to about 7-8 miles - so I just need to find an extra 8 miles....... If you can convince yourself of this your onto a winner. I don't think I even bought into that one. Flat looped circuits can bring its own problems; using same muscle groups (ie no hills) can bring on repetitive strains, can fall into the trap of going off too quick, boredom could set in, etc. 

The chief judge and one of the organiser's Steve Taylor gave a welcoming speech and started the countdown. We were starting at the town hall and I sneaked to the back of the field. The watch connected to GPS and bang we were off. It was a lot quicker than the PW start but I was grateful there were a few slower walkers like myself in a pocket at the back of the pack. Out along Arbory Street, down around a loop in Buchan school, over to the bypass and past the support tents before cutting down the back of the first few houses on Malew Street and then into the square up to the town hall and over the timing mat. A dull bleep registered each lap and a screen gave confirmation of your time and laps completed. It was here that the official feeding station was and the toilets. The only other place you could get aid was at the bypass where your support tent was. The rules stated you couldn't be handed anything but had to collect it from a table. This was to make sure that there was no overwhelming advantage for locals over the international walkers who may not have had support. 

My parents and auntie Susie had come down at the start to cheer me on for the first hour or so and sat in the S100 grandstand the commissioners had set up near the support tents. The last thing my mother said was "we're going now, don't stop". A couple of girls started laughing and said "that's you told!". Sam was down in the middle of the supporters and was shouting encouragement. I will refrain from telling you what I thought when he cracked open a can of cider and held it aloft with a smile as I passed by. He was going to be joining me the next day when he was doing the early bird 20 miler which was starting at 9am or so I thought. 

I was averaging around 25 mins for a lap which was a little quicker than I had planned but I felt I could keep that pace going for a good while. This crept up to 27 mins laps at around the 30 mile mark, 29 mins at 40 miles and then at around 1am I felt a pain in my right hip when I had done about 50 miles. I literally thought well that's that, its an injury I am not going to be able to shift. Up to this point the walk had been a lonely one, I hadn't chatted to anyone apart from the ones in the slower group for the first couple of laps. I was able to sit behind a couple of women that looked like they knew what they were doing and the pace was spot on for me. I must have followed them for a couple of hours before they both nipped into the loos. For a split second I thought of waiting for them but realised that would have probably freaked them out! I never did see them again. I had asked Hannah and Wendy after around 40 miles (10:30pm) was there a lot of people on the other side of the course and they replied quite a few had dropped out. Not to feel happy at others pulling out, but it gave me a boost to my own self confidence. So at the 50 mile mark I was coming into my first dip and the problem with my hip. Hannah suggested doing a certain stretch she had done before and with hands on her shoulders I proceeded to put my right foot over my left knee and squat down and held it for about a minute. I then stood up and went on my merry way. I thought wow, that's actually cleared it and im back in the game! Only another 50 mile to go.....

One of the more interesting aspects of walking through a town for 24 hours is the locals carrying on as normal. Shoppers & visitors on Saturday afternoon and then people going to the pub at night. On the circuit we went past the liveliest pub in Castletown - The Union. During the evening a couple of my work colleagues were standing outside giving me some encouragement, while supping a few beers. John Venables and Jon Leigh whose brother Richard was partaking in the walk. They headed off before the pub started to fill up, as its usually the last port of call for locals. It was all good natured and I looked forward to seeing if I knew anybody when walking past to get some interaction from them. It then went quiet at closing time but then an hour later the pub was heaving and it appeared as if there was a private party going on. Around 60 miles in (3:30am) I was walking up Malew Street and one of the marshals said to be careful going through the square as there were some drunk lads milling about. Sure enough, two guys staggering from the pub wanted to give me a hug "heeey mate, yoooo aaaare my f'kin herooo". I gave them a hug and was thankful they moved on. The next time I came around two police vans were parked up and the party was over. It was around that time I started to walk with another guy I knew Chris Burns (Stretch) and it only really came about as he was struggling with blisters. Chris was a much faster walker than myself but it was good to walk with someone especially getting into the bigger miles. I remember we didn't say much as I think we were just trying to keep our heads down and get through it. I then went to the toilet and Chris trundled on and I never caught back up to him.

My chimp was starting to rattle again, he was in pain, bored and becoming restless. I needed something to settle him down. I walked past the supporters which was very quiet now as majority were getting some sleep and I clocked some water melon on the table. As I reached in Hannah grabbed my wrist and shouted "stop! that's not yours!". It belonged to another walker, Mike Bonney. It felt like my chimp had been told off and wasn't happy. When I got back around, Hannah handed me a pot of rice pudding and off I went with a plastic spoon in the other hand. It tasted amazing and then threw the pot in the bin and I remember saying out loud "better?" and replying to myself "better". I was winning the little battles in my head but only just. As daylight was coming up I started to walk with a woman and we chatted about everything and anything for a few hours. She dragged me around and when I started having doubts on finishing as she was a couple of laps ahead of me my head dropped and was starting to moan out loudly - "im never doing another walk ever", "im done, im going to stop". She then turned to me and said "stop being a f*cking pussy and man up!". It was exactly what I needed at the time. A verbal slap in the face. My times were slowing and it took us a while (due to exhaustion) to work out what type of pace I needed to do to get in under the 24 hours. After a couple more laps together, I told her to crack on so she could get in and I could try win this final battle in my head. 

At 9am the early bird 20 mile challenge started. Sam flew past me with another guy (Richard Wild) in pursuit of a foreign guy who shot off like a rocket. I shouted abuse at Sam the few times they overtook me just so I could gee myself up. To be fair he took it well and it might have even contributed to him going quicker than what he was expecting to!

Outside the swimming pool which is opposite the Buchan school, Lesley Christian who I knew, was marshalling and shouted encouragement each lap. A few weeks prior to the walk, Lesley had told me she missed out on Centurion status by around 5 miles in the past. She now told me that she should have left at midnight but wasn't leaving until she seen me finish. The boost that gave me was incredible. I disappeared around the corner and as soon as I hit the bypass I put my ailments to the side and put in three quicker laps from around 92 miles in. It was like an arm reaching inside and searching for anything left to give. I went quicker on each one by around 2-3 mins than I had been doing for the past 8 (16 miles). She kept saying when I went past "don't let what happened to me, happen to you!". Michael George (who had won the PW in 2013) was also out on the course and said with a grin "inspire me Pete!". The woman that had walked with me, I overtook her on the course as she had a tear in her hamstring and she ended up walking around 4 mile in that state to get home. All of these things had an effect and it was this sink or swim moment to find the way to get through it that gave me a buzz I hadn't had since the PW. I headed towards the bypass for the penultimate time knowing I had done enough that I could crawl the last lap. I knew I was going to finish and started to well up. There was hardly anybody else on the course by now. Bleep! "Pete Miller, last lap!" the announcer notified me like I might have forgotten. As I came down to start the final 2 miles - Donna Cooper who had started the walk and dibbed out after 30-40 miles with an injured ankle, started to chant "Peeeeter Miller is a walker, is a walker!". Better than white van man's version a few years back. Over the chalk drawings on the road on Arbory Street for the last time - one of which read I ❤ walking. I thanked the marshals on the course who were brilliant, especially Lesley who gave me a big smile with a thumbs up. Over to the bypass and our tent was already packed up and Hannah and Sean were headed to the end to see me finish. Walking up the street and towards the line. I paused just as I got there and put the leg that had the timing chip on over to hear the final Bleep! My finishing time was 23 hours 38 minutes and 28 seconds. 

From 101 starters, 48 finished and there were 32 new UK Centurions with one of them being the little hick from the sticks that had just become C1159.

Isle of Man 100 mile walk information
Castletown 100 Mile 2015 YouTube video footage

A month later, Sam Fletcher moved down to Ballabeg with his family and menagerie. The walking was about to go into a whole different dimension...….