The 100km Oxfam Trailwalker Challenge
... mission completed successfully ... inside time and without blisters!
A date indelibly imprinted on my memory – 19 July 2008 – the day our team ‘Corporate Soles’ began their adventure across the South Downs in aid of The Gurkha Welfare Trust and Oxfam, armed with Feelmax toe socks, Chung Shi All-Weather Boots and Leki Nordic Walking poles. Organised and enthusiastic, we stood in the 6 am gloom, in a well-known campsite close to Petersfield, alongside 2000 other ‘Trailwalker UK’ mad walkers. I say walkers, but the first finishers RAN the 100km course – they were finished by the time we reached checkpoint 5 of 11! Pipers saw us off, and we disappeared into the heavy drizzle.
Snug and dry inside my beloved Patagonia Stretch Latitude Jacket, which has seen off the worst the Brecon Beacons, Peak District and the Lakes has had to offer over the years of product testing, we began the long hike towards Brighton. It was really interesting to see what others wore, carried (or not!) and how they began the endurance event in terms of their gait pattern – given my life is all about wearing and carrying the most versatile and appropriate products, and moving in the most biomechanically sound and efficient way possible.
We Nordic Walk’d the course with our carbon Leki poles. My team-mates (all blokes) were very sceptical during the first training walk, until they saw how easily I scaled the hilly bits of the Chilterns (and there are some real killers around Chequers!). Soon they had all trialled the Leki Nordic Walking poles and there was no going back – they didn’t actually ever mention the Leki poles and how good they were – they just never returned them!!
We were alone in our Nordic Walking – bar one other lovely lady Claire who had come to the shop 2 weeks prior to the event … and envied by many as we strode out with an even 4 mph stride even after 60 miles. At that point, with so many miles under our belts, but still too many to go, it was wonderful to be able to take so much weight off our legs by driving through the arms and upper body. What is incomprehensible to me is why the UK in general hasn’t embraced Nordic Walking. One pole has never made sense to me – we have 2 legs and 2 arms and should move evenly, not lop-sidedly – and pulling yourself along is much harder than pushing from behind, so why ‘trek’? With so much positive research behind Nordic Walking (britishnordicwalking.org.uk) in terms of more muscle activity with less perceived effort, less pressure through the joints, improved range of motion with neck and shoulder issues, safe for heart patients, etc etc, you would have thought that Nordic Walkers would be two a penny – like in many other European countries. Time to try it? Give us a call!
With the back-up of our amazing support crew, we slowly ticked off checkpoint after checkpoint. At each, we changed toe socks. Yes, toe socks! Another of Ten-Point’s great discoveries – this time, from Finland, where they have perfected the intricate knitting techniques required to make Feelmax technical seamless toe socks in 6 size ranges. We all wore the very thin Feelmax Cool-Sport with Aerosilver for maximum coolness and wicking. No blisters! Solidea Silver Wave compression shorts kept chafe away meaning lube wasn’t necessary (that would have been a tricky job in the spatially challenged portaloos!), and blood circulation going. I was going to use everything I could to make those 100km as comfortable as possible!
And our pieces de resistance? Firstly, Superfeet insoles to help correct the function of the foot and stabilise the ankles via the sub-talus joint, and Chung Shi All-Weather Boots – custom-fitted by the expert staff at Ten-Point, and positively and unequivocally, the best walking boots I have ever come across. After 100km and 23 hours 50 secs, we crossed the finish line WITH NO BLISTERS AND NOT EVEN SORE FEET! After sleep, my feet were back to normal, and apart from hip flexors like steel rods, I was fine – back to work in my MBTs as usual and regaling anyone who would listen to our success story.
Since then, Ten-Point have fitted several teams for the Three Peaks Challenge, TrailTrekker Challenge (100km across the Yorkshire Dales) and Kilimanjaro using either Feelmax Toe Socks or Falke RU3 socks, Chung Shi All-Weather Boots and Leki Traveller Nordic Walking poles – the teams have achieved great personal successes in their challenges, raised lots of money for good causes and had happy, blister-free feet. Our latest head-line grabber is Claire, successfully completing Trailtrekker in 29 hours of blistering heat …. but feet so happy they wore ‘black tie attire’ the next day!!! Now that's impressive, isn't it?
