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The day started out quite damp, but not the heavy down pours of yesterday afternoon; just gentle rain for about an hour and then the sun came out to play!

We were on the late start today (5.15am UK time!). I have found that the extra hour in bed on 2 days made a huge difference. The crowds were out in their masses. The locals of Nijmegen don’t seem to sleep and are out on the streets drinking beer cheering us on as we start the walk each day!

From Curijk onwards (14km from the finish) the pace slowed right down, and the public were handing out Gladiolli to all the walkers. I enjoy walking through Mook (my Mother family originally hale from this area of Holland and take the towns name as their family name)

There was lots of messages for people doing their nth Nijmegen March, the highest I saw was 56, but on the news there was an 85 year old chap who was walking his 60th March – impressive!

The medals for this event are well worth earning. The medal for two years has a crown, after that you get pins with numbers to go on the ribbon, until your 5th walk, when you get another special medal. I am not sure John and I will be progressing beyond two!

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It was an early start today. At the beginning of the week Day 3 was meant to be very wet, but with the exception of a very heavy down pour as we approached the finished, it was a hot sticky day!

Having not seen much of the Military Marchers yesterday we saw lots today & they walked with us for all but the last 5km. They are very motivational with all their marching songs – but my favourite today was a unit from Denmark which played the pipe and drums. It was lovely to listen to and ensured you kept a good pace!

We stopped for coffee and lunch, with an additional unplanned stop at the Military Red Cross, where I had my ‘mean”blister from day one re-dressed. A nice young Dutch soldier looked after me very well! This one blister is causing me huge discomfort (mainly when I stop walking!) It really needs a few days rest from heavy pounding of the streets to let the bruising and swelling go done …. still only one more day.

Day Three is the Day of Groesbeek, and we walked the seven hills (probably the only seven hills in Holland!) They were steady inclines, which were quite hot work in the heat of the day, but do not compare to the likes of Offa’s Dyke!

Ten minutes before we reached the finished the heavens opened and the rain poured down. By the time we had checked-in and got back to Vanessa & Dirk’s house we were soaked! Luckily I have some dry boots for tomorrow; I am not sure how long they will remain dry as we have rain forecast for the morning!

Tomorrow is our final day – Our last 40km! 3

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We had a slightly later start today (they alternate the start times for the 40km march because there are so many participants!); the extra hours in bed made a difference and I found the going much easier today.

We had a couple of firsts today!

• Saw our first person doing the event in clogs — yep proper wooden clogs. You can hear them well before you can see them
• Met up with 27 UK Bobbies from different constabularies in the South of England. They looked very smart in full uniform including their helmets.

The weather was much cooler today and we had the odd spot of rain – but it was warm rain, so not unpleasant or tough going. More rain is forecast for tomorrow, fingers crossed it does not start before we finish.

We took today with a more leisurely attitude stopping for a coffee break and lunch. The bands and local disc jockeys were out in force, so we were suitably entertained along our miles. Day 2 is known as the Day of Wichen, because you spend a large amount of your walk going in and around the Dutch town of Wichen!

No new blisters today, but we did pop into the Red Cross Tent to get yesterday’s blisters re-dressed (not sure if this was a wise move or not! – will let you know tomorrow). We are back on the early shift in the morning – so must away to my bed now.  Goedenacht!

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An early start, crossing the line at 5.30am (4.30am UK!). The weather was better than forecast and the sun was out most the day, which made it hot work in my Hotpants. The atmosphere was great with the locals supporting us well with music and refreshments. We were interviewed by Dutch TV and asked  how walking together in the Nijmegen Marches was growing our love for each other …. John admitted to being an un-romantic type of chap and hadn’t thought about the marches in this way!!

We completed the 40km in 7.30 hrs; visited the Red Cross tent where a couple of blisters were sorted; then had a little lie down in the sun!

We have now replenished the carbs, and about to retire ready for another early tomorrow!

We started the event at 10.00am, it was a damp drizzly day, which got progressively wetter! The views were fantastic and the hills challenging! I love the ups, but found the very steep declines were starting to cause my knees (mainly my good knee!) problems ….

I teamed up with a nice couple as it got dark and we climbed Offa’s Dyke. Navigation was difficult at times and I took two falls and lots of slips on the almost vertical descents. As dawn approached and I hit the 50 mile marker I decided that the I was likely to do some long term damage to my knees if I kept going (unusably sensible of me I know!), so I reluctantly pulled out of the event. Most of my training had been on gentle inclines and rolling hills with the odd steep challenge. I had not trained for this level of ascent and descent! We covered 9,000ft in the 50 miles completed!

I had been due to complete another hilly event at the start of July – The Welsh 3000, but we have had to post-pone this due to bad weather. This has been re-scheduled for Oct half term!

The immediate challenge now is The Nijmegen Marches. We are registered and ready for an early start tomorrow – 3.15am! One hundred and sixty kilometers in 4 days (40km/day)!

MoonWalk 2011 Finish

The London MoonWalk 2011 was much colder than last years event – there was a bitter wind blowing that was sometimes head on! I wore my attractive plastic poncho for at least half of the walk – it did a great job as a wind shield! Many people are asking if I am enjoying the warmer weather of the UK – but I have yet to feel really warm, and have only managed shorts once, for a quick dog walk, I am often wearing gloves, as my hands in particular are still quite sensitive to the cold!

I Pottered round the MoonWalk, taking lots of pictures of London at night – you can see most of these HERE. The London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament are particularly attractive landmarks in the night sky. The first 16 miles were easy, and came round very quickly. 16 – 20 dragged a little – probably the early hours of the morning. Then the finish was quite quick!

London MoonWalk 2011 - Buckingham Palace

I was very pleased that the organisers had changed the final route back  into the Park. Last year we had a long drag along Rotten Row, across the bridge and back down Serpentine Road into MoonWalk City, which although just over a mile, seemed to take an age! This year, we came down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, along Constitution Hill back into Hyde Park – a lovely welcome back, and a great landmark especially against the bright blue skies we had that morning.

The theme this year was ‘walk on the wild side’ – there were some great costumes, but I didn’t think as much effort had been made as last year with the bra decoration, and outfits.

I was back home just after 9.30am. It was The Andover Rugby Club Presentation Day, and both the boys did John and I proud winning awards; having been away from home for five weeks – it was a moment not to be missed! After a healthy lunch of a rather dry burger and a Mr Whippy 99, I was tucked up in bed by 1.00pm. I got up briefly later that evening, but was in bed for the night by 11.00pm, and had my best nights sleep for at least 8 weeks …. no skiing and no loo stops!

I was surprised by just how tired I was in the days following the MoonWalk. I don’t think I have really appreciated just how much my Arctic ventures have taken out of me physically. This does worry me slightly as next weekend I have a REALLY long walk. One Hundred miles in 48 hours. It is a very challenging walk, with many steep hills, in Shropshire and North Wales! The good news is that I have no walks planned for June!

MoonWalk 2011 The London Eye

Polar Racers 2011

All the 2011 Polar Racers are now back home!

Rob, Lucy, Lee and the checkpoint crew, who narrowly missed the plane back with the rest of us had to spend a further night on the ice. They all piled into one tent (five in a four man tent must have been very cozy), and drank champagne! The plane picked them up the next evening and they all got back to the UK by Thursday 5th May.

When we arrived in the Arctic, we were warned about Arctic Shock, which can occur when arriving in such a cold, white environment. I think because our journey to Resolute was a prolonged journey with plane troubles, we were pretty well adjusted by the time we arrived! I think they should have warned us about ‘Home Shock’! Having not been to bed for at least 3 nights out of the previous 5 before returning to the UK, I arrived home well but shattered. I have found sleeping in a big spacious bed difficult, so my nights are still very broken. I don’t think it helps that I am in white bedding, so most nights I dream that I am still skiing!

The Tent

In the High Arctic we slept in Rab Down filled ‘Mummy’ sleeping bags, which with the fleece liner were generally very warm, but there was not much room to move, particularlywith all your bed partners!

After we put the tent up, we would get changed from our ‘day gear’ – changing our stretch bottoms for fleece lined tent trousers, our racing hat for our tent hats, our boots for down filled tent booties, and hang all our wet / damp kit up to dry in the top of the tent. When the stoves were not being used for cooking, they would be pumped up and the temperatures in the top of the tent would easily reach mid – high 20 degrees (Roasty Toasty). As soon as the stoves were switched off, the temperatures plummeted, and would often drop to minus 26 / 28 degrees, so anything left out froze! To ensure I had dry kit for the next day, most of it would came into bed with me! My boot liners (seen hanging above my head) would go at the bottom of my sleeping bag between the bag and the liner. My gloves, hat, face mask, and socks would come into my sleeping bag. My wash bag came into the sleeping bag (otherwise any moisturisers, sun cream or toothpaste would freeze!) All my electricals which hung round my neck during the day on various lanyards, were put into a small bag and bought into the sleeping bag. The electricals were: The iridium phone (think old fashioned chunky first generation mobile phone!), My video camera, my ipods and all spare batteries for phone, and cameras,  and my GPS; in my top pocket was my small digital camera and the plastic bullets (for scaring bears – which wouldn’t work if they got cold!) And left round my neck was a lighter, which we all carried and was used for lighting the stoves! This didn’t leave a whole lot of room for me! We slept on two layers – a foam mat (about 5mm thick) and a thermalite ‘mattress’ (about 20mm thick). I generally sleep on my side, with only 25mm between me and the hard ice, I woke up regularly with sore hips and would have to turn onto my other side, shuffling all ‘my stuff’ so that it was behind my knees! I generally slept in my thermal underwear, my fleece tent trousers, dry socks and booties, my stretch top and my fleece. I kept my gloves and a supply of toilet paper in my fleece pocket – needed for nightly toilet dashes out of the tent! On really cold nights, baffling down in this gear, with your fleece liner pulled tight over your shoulders, your hat pulled down over your nose, and you neck gaiter pulled up to your mouth wasn’t enough. On these nights I pulled my Down Jacket (my Downey was probably my best friend!) into the sleeping bag and wrapped it round me.  Early in the race (before spring arrived) when you woke up in the night or early morning (we were generally up by 6.00am) the zip on your sleeping bag would be frozen, and the only way out was breathing on it, and there would be ice on your sleeping bag, which showered you as you sat up. This is cold!

I will update you with more information on daily life in the Arctic over the next few weeks … Many people have asked what next?! I have no major challenge planned (yet!) but I do have a few small events! The first is this weekend. I am doing my second MoonWalk – 27 miles through the streets of London on Saturday night in my bra, kindly decorated by Katie (again!). If you you would like to sponsor me for this event, please visit my fundraising page HERE! As ever, thanks for your continued support – it is much appreciated!

Published: Sunday, 1st May 2011 09:30

The plane is on its way and with any luck our remaining racers and staff will be off the ice in the next couple of ours. Weather has been a bit poor in Resolute and various pick ups from local Hamlets have not happened. So fingers crossed we may yet get away from Resolute only a day late as there may be free seats on the plane out We need to wait and see. All I think will be glad to be “winging” our way back to the UK.

It is never over however till the “fat lady sings”.

Keep watching this space for more on our adventures and the final results. Early next week after the May break we will also be making an important announcement on the future of the Polar Race.

As they say “watch this space” – especially those who feel they are up to the challenge!

Published: Saturday 30th April 2011 09:30

Ice rubble goes on for miles

For once the Gods did not smile on us and we were unable to get some of our Racers off the ice!

Weather was beautiful for once but when the plane flew over our camp at the Pole the pilot decided that the ice was just too rough to land on even if considerable work was further done to smooth out the landing strip. In a highly dangerous part of the world where a bad landing can be disastrous it is left to the pilot, (quite rightly) to make the final choice.

The decision was then taken to try and move the racers to an ice strip where we knew the plane could land on some 13 miles away. The Racers although “dog tired” were asked to try and ski to this position in about 5 hours. To their credit, 3 made it in time (Rob Platt, Ryan Malfara and Jo Winchcombe). The pilot stayed much longer than normally allowed but in the end had to lift off leaving Rob MacAllister, Lucy Maizels and Lee Swan being escorted in by Steve Pinfield and Neill Williams.

I would like to reassure everyone that they are all safe and well and emergency food was left for them but they will not now make tomorrow’s flight to Ottawa and London. Having “got their Pole” (and there are a lot of people currently sitting in Resolute who have not, and how disappointing can that be?) it is in a sense a minor isue and we hope to be able to lift them out in the next 36 hours nevertheless it is disappointing we are not all going back together.

However it just helps to show what a “tough place” this is and just how tough you have to be to survive.

Jo & Rob on the Plane to Resolute

I am writing this email on a very small plane from Deer Bay, back to Resolute Bay. We have had a very challenging week or 2! You should have got my update for leg two, as I was leaving Check Point 3, where things all started to go a bit wrong!!

Due to various reasons, (The storm, delayed planes, and slow progress by the other team), we were facing time constraints to finish the race in the remaining time available. The length of leg three was increased from 75 miles to 90 miles, if progress was slow, people would be flown from CP3 to the pole …..

Polar Slugs team moral dropped a little, but we rose to the challenge, and put in some long days, doing circa 20nm most days (on 5 hrs sleep). Our final day into CP3 was storm conditions again, and we were blown along at quite a pace. Luckily the 40 knot gusts were on our back! We reached the CP3 in good time (by 5.20pm), and after a challenging hour or so managed to get the tent up securely (We have some seriously bent tent poles!)

In the morning, we had to phone for an update on the Internationals progress, only to find we were not at CP3 …. the co-ordinates in our GPS were incorrect! We had also been verbally given the co-ordinates (The correct ones), but when asking the chap who had entered them, if they were the same, he said yes ……

We had to ski 4.75nm to the correct CP3, and our arrival time of 12.20pm was taken. The Internationals, had arrived at 2.00am, so this put them ahead of us again – very frustrating, but at the end of the day, it was ultimately out fault for not checking the verbal co-ordinates, with those in the GPS!

The final leg the Magnetic North Pole was 38 miles. The race was restarted at 2.30pm (no rest day!). We completed 11nm. We decided the only strategy to possibly win the race was to go for the final 27nm in one go ….

The next morning the weather was semi white out, so going was slow. We were walking by 7.30am …. another short night! The first 10nm took us to the mountains, which we then had to cross! The big ups & downs were very challenging, dragging the pulk. But I really enjoyed this section, and felt very strong. Eventually we found a valley going down the mountain and into Deer Bay – the location on the MNP! When we reached the edge of the bay, we had 5nm to our destination. It was the longest 5nm of my life; we were all very tired by this stage, having been on our feet for 14 hours. We eventually reached the MNP at 2.00am. It is 24hrs daylight in the high Arctic now, and there was a beautiful golden glow as we reached the end of our journey.

After a celebratory hug, we put the tent up and cooked supper. It was 18 hours since we had started & we were all shattered. Just as we baffled down into our sleeping bags, we heard the Internationals arrive; they had obviously found a shorter route over the mountains than us, and our lead on getting to the Pole was not enough to make up for the error at CP3!

We had a social day at the Pole, catching up with the other team; Steve & Neil, arrived late afternoon (The Check Point Team, who had completed this leg, rather than flying in!) We had a relatively early night, the plane was due to pick us up the next day …….

This morning, we got up and prepared a run way for the plane. We were told it would be in around 2.00pm. so were very surprised when a plane circled, and attempted to land just after noon, we hadn’t even packed up the tents! News came through that the run way, was not good enough, and we had to try and make it better! (less bumps!) After a couple of hour’s work of digging & stomping, we got a message that the plane was not prepared to land on that
site & the only option was to walk 12.8nm to a ‘fixed’ site across the bay. The plane would wait until 7.30pm, but would then be out of hours.

That was a huge ask … 12.8nm, in an unrealistic time scale, but we had no option but to go for it! We re-dressed in our skiing gear, packed the pulks, and set off. I was determined I was going to get this plane, one way or another, so I walked as fast as I could, with Rob and Ryan from the other team, doing nearly 3 miles/hour, which is an amazing speed pulling a pulk, and going over some long rubble fields. My moisture management was terrible!

I was just under 2nm away, when I saw the plane leave; I was gutted, but caught up with Rob and pushed on. Apparently Catlin was doing some research in that area of the Bay, and had a heated tent, and a cook!

As we approached our destination, we heard the plane; it had been on a recce flight to see where we all were. I was so pleased to see it land again, and very, very thankful! Only Rob and I had made it, and the two person crew, said it would only wait 20 mins, before it had to leave….. Ryan arrived just in time, but unfortunately, the other 3 Racers and the two check point team did not. It felt very wrong leaving them behind, but there was no way I was not getting on that plane – our scheduled flights back to Ottawa leave at 6.00am tomorrow.

I am not sure what will happen to the others, and it is not a great way to finish the event; but I am very pleased to be on my way back to civilisation. I am desperate for a shower (Annie would be a-shamed of my very greasy hair), and some clean clothes.

We are due to land in Resolute at 11.30pm, so I am sure this will be another night of little sleep, by the time I get clean, eat some normal food, and pack all my gear.