View all the photos from day 6 | View the interactive map for day 6

After the wonderful evening the night before with Jude and her family, a fantastic cooked breakfast (the best black pudding ever!), and a leisurely start to the morning, Alex and I were in high spirits ready for the day ahead. It looked to be another warm and sunny day, my feet seemed much better, and Alex was even quite happy despite losing the coin toss (again)!

The first part of the day was mainly sheep fields and tiny country lanes, but we were eventually rewarded(?) with a steep climb up to the top of Llanymynech Hill. The hill has a golf course on its flat top, and we followed Offa’s Dyke around the edge watching the golfers.

The hill was the site of a battleground for Caractacus in AD 50, in his quest to rid the country of Romans, and the gold course straddles the English-Welsh border [Source - Wikipedia]. The south side of the hill has some picturesque cliffs, caused by lime mining in the area, where we met the support team who had bravely climbed part of the hill to escort us down to Llanyomynech village and lunch!

This stretch of Offa’s Dyke is renowned for being “the dull bit” – to be fair it is probably a nice little stretch in it’s own right, following the Montgomery Canal and the River Severn, but it is definitely the least interesting part of Offa’s Dyke path overall. The problems with my feet had also started to reappear, and without anything interesting to take my mind off the pain, every step became a struggle.

During the afternoon, we encountered several obstacles. The first obstacle was crossing a, fortunately not that busy, lorry park – the footpath, which cut straight through the park, was bordered by yellow lines which really did not leave you feeling very protected from the lorries all around you.

Almost immediately we hit the second obstacle as we tried to pass the edge of a cow farm – at first the ground seemed to just be dried mud, but when the dog sunk to her waist we realised in horror that it was actually deep moist cow excrement that had crusted over! The dog was completely covered in the stuff! We just about managed to negotiate the obstacle by jumping across floating hay bails, scaling walls and clambering on gates to keep off the ground.

To add insult to injury, once we had struggled through the excrement, we discovered that the Offa’s Dyke path had (sensibly) been routed around the farm – obvious if you were coming from the South, but impossible to see from the North! The dog was thrown into the next available river to clean off (but not before licking some equally unpleasant liquid being injected into a field we were crossing).

The remainder of the day was spent walking the Severn embankment, a flood defense built on top of Offa’s Dyke – it really wasn’t the same, and my aching feet made the last few miles pass very slowly.

It was with great relief when we finally made it to The Powis Arms in Pool Quay, where Alex’s mum was waiting for us – it took several beers and a huge plate of food before my feet started feeling slightly better! The food was great, and the owners of the pub are quite happy to let walkers on Offa’s Dyke camp in the beer garden (although they also have some bnb rooms for the less adventurous)!

Day 6 was tough – but nothing would prepare me for my struggles on Day 7… to be continued…

Sponsors of our Offa’s Dyke Challenge:

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View all the photos from Day 5 | View the interactive map for Day 5

After a light breakfast we climbed back up the hill to rejoin the official route. Alex summarised our morning routine (quite accurately!): “Settled into morning routine,get up,wash,dress,breakfast,lose the coin toss,carry the heavy bag.Set off.”

This leg consists of a significant amount of tarmac, initially following the picturesque high road above Llangollen before dropping down to Telford’s Pont Cysyllte canal aqueduct. The weather was cloudy but warm, and it was safe to say neither of us felt particularly inspired – we just kept on trudging to eat up the miles!

As we approached the aquaduct we decided to take the alternative route which takes us over the aquaduct, fortuitously this also meant we came across a tea shop – which meant a relaxing break in the sunshine drinking tea.

The aquaduct is the longest and highest one in Britain – a grade I listed building and a World Heritage Site (source – Wikpedia). To be honest I am not sure we thought about crossing it all the way through – there we were with big rucksacks (in my case with a big roll mat sticking out) and a dog which looks scary to children and is overly “friendly” to other dogs, trying to walk down a metre wide tow path (water one side and a big drop the other) filled with tourists, children and their dogs. We made it to the other side, but it was possibly the most stressful experience of my life!

After a few more miles of trudging along canal tow path (interestingly at one point we were 50m from a layby we broke down in the year before on the way to a training weekend in Snowdonia) we came upon Pete (@Pete_Knight on Twitter) who was walking with us for the rest of the day. Pete is a veteran of Offa’s Dyke, having walked the path the previous year. We found Pete very knowledgeable and personable – and we were very grateful to have him along on what had so far been a day of trudging.

Another motivational pick me up was our first encounter with the actual Offa’s Dyke (thus far we had been following the Offa’s Dyke route with no sign of the Dyke!). It does not look like much at this point – but it put us back in touch with the history of the route we are following!

After several more miles of hard earth and tarmac, we took the permissive route to Chirk Castle to meet up with the support team. At this point I was starting to really suffer from sore and painful feet – so a break was much needed.

Chirk Castle, now managed by The National Trust, was built in1295 as part of King Edward I’s chain of fortresses across the North of Wales (source: Wikipedia). A permissive route on Offa’s Dyke is open April to September which takes you through the grounds and right past the castle itself.

From Chirk Castle, and a fairly steep climb, the route rejoins Offa’s Dyke which it follows for several miles.

To be honest the rest of the day was a bit of blur – my feet were absolutely agony and all I could do was focus on keeping going. There was a lot more roads and the remains of the Oswestry Racecourse. By the time we reached the pub in Trefonen (which is also the location of the Offa’s Dyke brewery) I could barely walk and my feet felt like they were on fire. After a quick pint, we bid farewell to Pete – I was very grateful for his company, as his conversation kept me distracted from the pain in my feet!

We had struggled to find a campsite anywhere near Trefonen, but thanks to the wonders of Twitter, we had arranged to camp in the garden of Jude (@JabberingJude) who lived nearby. I came across Jude after doing a local search and asked her for recommendations of local campsites – without hesitation she had offered us space in her garden!

Alex and I had a thoroughly top evening with Jude, her husband Gary, and their lovely children – and we were spoiled rotten: home cooked dinner, fresh flapjack, beer, and a cooked breakfast in the morning (with possibly the best black pudding we have ever had). We had a lot of fun – and it was definitely our latest night to bed of the whole trip!

Jude is a fantastic artist, and you can see some of her work on her website: http://www.artbyjude.co.uk/

Gary runs his own business GWR Fasteners – http://www.gwr-fasteners.co.uk/

Sponsors of our Offa’s Dyke Challenge:

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Since Alex and I completed our challenge two months ago to hike Offa’s Dyke in aid of MS Society – things have been pretty hectic. Dropping back into normality was surprisingly difficult and, along with my health scare, has meant tying up loose ends has progressed slowly.

Well – I have finally finished collating all the cash and cheques we received..

The total raised was:

£3845

(not including gift aid, made up of £606 received in cash and cheque donations and £3239 collected online)

To say we are totally blown away would be an understatement – when I originally came up with the idea (and bullied Alex into it) – we would never have believed that we could raise so much.

We would like to thank every single person who donated – you have all been amazingly generous, and your money will help make a real difference to everyone whose life is touched by MS.

We would also like to thank our sponsors, who helped make the challenge possible:

We would also like to thank everyone on Twitter and Facebook for supporting us before, during, and after our challenge – especially @gwenoldy, @jabberingjude, @pete_knight and @hoptonhousebnb – all your support really helped us keep going!

Finally I would like to thank Alex – @winkysmileyface. Thanks mate!

About the MS Society

The MS Society is the UK’s largest charity dedicated to supporting everyone whose life is touched by MS. They invest in innovative research with the hope of finding more effective treatments for MS and ultimately the cure. They also provide respite care, a freephone MS Helpline (0808 800 8000), a website packed with information about MS, grants for home adaptions and mobility aids, education and training, specialist MS nurses and a wide range of information.

What Now?

Fear not – I still have plenty of write-ups and reviews to complete from our challenge… and then? …. we will see!

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In April 2010, Alex and I (and my dog) undertook an epic adventure to walk the Offa’s Dyke National Trail in aid of  MS Society. This is my account of leg 1, The Clywdian Range – Prestatyn to Llangollen (5th April to 8th April 2010).

Day 1 – Prestatyn to Rhuallt (9 miles)

View all the photos from day 1 | View the interactive map for day 1

Prestatyn has few positive reviews from other walkers of Offa’s Dyke, so we made the decision to travel up (from Northampton) and make a start on our adventure on the first afternoon to get us out of town and into the Welsh countryside.

My dog, who could tell something exciting was happening, was very grateful when my parents, who were acting as our support team for the whole trip, turned up at 7.30am – the car was quickly loaded, and we were off! By 12.30pm, we were at the start and ready to go – the dog, whose excitement had reached mega-levels, was to be honest a bit of a nightmare with all the other dogs around, so, after a few quick photos, we headed off (sadly neglecting to wade into the sea or collect any pebbles).

The first few miles are straight through the fairly dull town center, but being fresh and eager we quickly left the town behind us and climbed up to the Prestatyn Hillside Nature Reserve. We past a couple of people just finishing Offa’s Dyke who, quite alarmingly, looked exhausted!

It was cloudy and windy, but the sun was straining through, and there was no sign of rain. There were amazing views across the valley to Snowdonia – and the snowy peaks of Snowdon were just about visible! The last few miles were through farm land, with fields filled with lots of baby lambs. Just as we had got into our stride, we left Offa’s Dyke to head to our campsite – Penisar Mynydd Caravan Park.

The campsite was the most expensive of our entire trip – partially this was due to an incorrect booking on my part, but even with the £5 donation they gave towards The MS Society (they couldn’t do a refund), it was still expensive. The facilities were pretty good, but compared to cheaper better campsites later in the trip, it was a disappointment.

After a dinner of Wayfarers Chicken Tikka and flavoured rice, we settled down for the night. We were sleeping in a 3 man Vango Banshee 300 tent (review to follow) – we could just about fit both of us, the dog (who had the most space of course!) and our two backpacks, but it was certainly cosy (although comfortable). It’s a good job we are good friends!

Day 2 – Rhuallt to Bodfari (9 miles)

View all the photos from day 2 | View the interactive map for day 2

Sleeping in a tent with my dog is a pain. At the end of a day’s walking, she will curl up and fall asleep straight after her tea – but this lulls you into a false sense of security. Her recovery time seems much quicker than ours, and once it gets light (any time after about 4am), she interprets any movement as a sign that something exciting is about to happen. This involves her leaping to her feet and trying to lick the face of the person who stirred (she has long ago perfected the art of getting her snout into the tiny opening of a sleeping bag) – the other person has the pleasure (?) of her big hairy tail whipping them in her excitement! On the morning of Day 2 we both agreed that the dog needs to be more tired!

Whilst Alex was in the shower I recorded an Audioboo – I had hoped to do this everyday, but to be honest I hate the sound of my own voice (and apparently sound unexcited), so this was the only daily update I did. Here it is:

We had quite a relaxed start, and left the campsite about 10am – in the evening we had arranged to camp in the garden of Elizabeth (@gwenoldy) who had walked Offa’s Dyke in 2009, so again we had quite a short day ahead of us.

The terrain was fairly hilly, but with some amazing views showing The Clywdian Range in the distance – we would be walking them properly the following day! The weather was mainly dull (occasionally the sun shone through) – but the rain seemed to be keeping away!

The “highlight” of the day was relating to snacks. At our first stop, Alex pulls out a solitary Crème Egg – I was a little disappointed that there was only one, so I unveiled a solitary Pepparami Hot – which I deem a far superior snack. A brief debate followed on Twitter as to which was the best snack, which Alex won (although subsequent discussions have shown that the people are with me on this!)

For the last few miles we could see the hilltop radio mast which marks our finish for the day. As we dropped down to Bodfari, we met another Offa’s Dyker – he was on his last day, and had to put up with snow, heavy rain and lots of mud during his walk, but had thoroughly enjoyed it. We both hoped the environmental conditions would fair better for us!

Sadly the pub was shut in Bodfari (so there goes our plan for a pub lunch), however we discovered the local shop did some excellent homemade pies, so we stocked up ready for the following day. As we trudged up the hill from Bodfari, the rain began (fortunately quite light) and we were met by Elizabeth – who escorted us to her lovely sixteenth century farmhouse on the hillside with stunning views across the valley. To see how wonderful it is, have a look at her blog: http://welshhillsagain.blogspot.com (they also have a holiday cottage available for hire).

There are several fantastic advantages to camping in people’s gardens: firstly, it is wonderful to meet people who you have been chatting with during the months of preparations (especially someone who has walked Offa’s Dyke before!), secondly, you have somewhere to dry out, and thirdly (and possibly the most important)….. tea and cake after a day of walking. Elizabeth had baked some fantastic lemon drizzle cake which we devoured for a few mugs of tea!

In the evening, Elizabeth’s husband drove us to the local pub, where we sheltered from the now quite heavy rain, had a lovely dinner and a few pints of “Wainwright” – indeed it is beer worth walking for! The pub, despite a no dog policy, very kindly let us come in with my dog as long as she was quiet and well behaved!

Day 3 – Bodfari to Gweryd Lakes (14 miles)

View all the photos from day 3 | View the interactive map for day 3

It rained throughout the night (the only time on the whole trip), but by morning the rain had stopped to be replaced by a bit of drizzle and a mist that clung to the hills around us.

After a wonderful breakfast – Elizabeth’s homemade damson jam was particularly delicious – we were given a lift back to where we left Offa’s Dyke the day before. It was a miserable morning – the stunning views from the hills we had hoped to see were replaced by an ere gloom. As our first proper day, we were keen to not push ourselves too much, so the plan was to get as far as Gweryd Lakes camp site, just North of Llandegla – about 14 miles of going up and down hills! Our muscles were feeling a little tight but, fueled by the breakfast, we headed into the mist.

It took a few hours, but eventually the mist began to clear, the sun appeared (admittedly accompanied by the wind) and the views around us started opening up – and wow…. the views were truly amazing. To the West we could see right across the plain to the peaks of Snowdonia in the distance – we could even make out the snow still on top of Snowdon!

After munching down our left over pies from the previous day, and a slice of Elizabeth’s left over lemon drizzle cake each, we headed up to the Jubilee Tower. The Jubilee Tower was built to commemorate the golden jubilee of George III in 1810. The tower was never finished, and a storm in 1862 blew the incomplete tower down. To make it safe, the tower was demolished down to the unsheltered base. See more on Wikipedia about Jubilee Tower and Moel Famau.

From the Jubilee Tower we followed the gently descending path down the hill – this was definitely the busiest part of the entire Offa’s Dyke, especially in half term with parents dragging their kids up to see the tower. As we descended, we met the support team, who accompanied us down to the car park to resupply us with water and flapjack – we have met them everyday so far to resupply dog food, but this was the first time they joined us for part of the walk.

For the rest of the day, the weather continued to improve – we actually even had a chance to sunbath during a break just off the A494 – there was supposed to be a restaurant, but sadly it wasn’t due to open for another two weeks (again our plans for a pint lay in tatters).

After a few more miles of sauntering along the edge of hills with wonderful views back the way we had come (even as far as the coast), we once again left Offa’s Dyke to drop down to Gweryd Lakes (review to follow), a campsite on the edge of a fishing lake tucked away in the middle of nowhere. By early evening the temperature started to drop quite suddenly, so after our boil in the bag dinner, we headed to bed.

Day 4 – Gweryd Lakes to Llangollen (13 miles)

View all the photos from day 4 | View the interactive map for day 4

Both Alex and I are in agreement that Day 4 was definitely the best day of the whole of Offa’s Dyke. Throughout the day there was such an amazing variety of landscapes, the weather was amazing, the distance just right and there was not too much climbing to do.

After a full cooked breakfast at the campsite cafe, we headed back to rejoin the Dyke. The first few miles were painful – my body had obviously started rejecting the punishment I was giving it, and my hips were bruised and my calfs were very stiff. A few miles in through, and all the aches and pains faded away!

To start the day, the terrain was moorland as we left the last of The Clywdian Range, but we quickly dropped down into lush farmland, following the course of the River Alun – the path weaving around trees and tributaries. As the temperature rose, I put the “fetch the pebble” trick to good use to encourage the dog to go for a swim to cool down.

At Llandegla (148 miles to go) we treated ourselves to an ice cream and a bottle of Lucozade, before heading up the hill towards Llandegla Forest – a wall of trees in front of us! Although just a conifer plantation, there was something very pleasant about the few miles spent in the Forest (forests always remind me of The Forest of Fangorn from Lord of The Rings). There was plenty of sunlight coming down through the trees, and the track gently meandered through the trees.

Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, we were out of the forest and in moorland following board walks over the bogs. Looking behind us, there was this amazing line of trees where the forest just stops.

We followed the path through the moorland, before meeting up with a single track road that drops down to Worlds End – here we met the support team who escorted us to the car park, their car, and more flapjack!

The final part of the day was truly stunning – from World’s End until we dropped down to our campsite on the outskirts of Llangollen, we were walking halfway up the hillside through the scree – there were wonderful views to the West, and imposing rocky crags above us.

As we approached Llangollen, we began to see the remains of, the presumably easily defendable, castle Dinas Bran (which means Castle of the City of Crows), towering over Llangollen. A castle has stood on the site since an iron age hill fort was built there in around 600BC. The visible remains are of the castle built in 1260 – it was destroyed by the Welsh in order to stop the English capturing it. Read more about Dinas Bran on Wikipedia.

After setting up camp at Tower Farm (review to follow), we headed down into the town for dinner and beers, at the very dog friendly Bridge End, to celebrate an awesome day!

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In a nutshell, and you can read the full details on “The Unexpected Physical Consequences of Offa’s Dyke”, within a week of returning from Wales I started experiencing lower half numbness. Initially I thought it was a repeat of an inwards slipped disc from four years ago (which had similar symptoms), but after a clear scan it was suggested that it was inflammation around the nerves – no doubt caused by Offa’s Dyke.

To be honest I was pretty down – I enjoyed Offa’s Dyke, my first taste of multi-day hiking, and the thought of my body not being able to cope with a similar strain again was hard to take. It was also difficult to cope with having no diagnose as symptoms got worse to the point where I needed a walking stick to even walk down the street!

Well the good news is that my symptoms are fading – I can now walk properly (a big relief!), and every day the numbness seems slightly reduced. I should make an almost complete recovery! It also seems to be a complete coincidence that it occurred after Offa’s Dyke – so there will be no problem with hiking in the future!

The only sting in the tale is that it is not such good news if it happens again – but as there is nothing I can do, or not do, that will make that any more or less likely, it is time to get back out there and enjoy the wonderful British countryside!

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The concept was simple…

When we made the decision to take a single tent to share – we had to decide who would carry it. To make it as quick as possible to pitch, the tent broken down into three parts – the fabric part (inner and outer attached together), the pegs (lightweight titanium ones) and the poles. We also had a joint stove (including pot), a gas canister, and a few other bits (tiny pot of washing up liquid etc).

This could be split into two loads – the fabric part of the tent (about 2kg) and everything else (about 1.5kg). I didn’t really like the idea of just taking it in turns – one of us would bound to feel hard done by! So I decided that we should take it in turns to choose and flip a coin to decide the heavier load bearer- surely it would work out about 50/50 ?

Day 1 – I won

Day 2 – I won

Day 3 –  I won

Day 4 – I won

Day 5 -  I won: Hmm 5 days won in a row so far – Alex was starting to be unimpressed: “Settled into morning routine,get up,wash,dress,breakfast,lose the coin toss,carry the heavy bag.Set off.”

Day 6 – I won

Day 7 –  Alex finally won his first coin toss, but his luck didn’t last…

Day 8 – I won: “Considering today is the hardest day, quite pleased @winkysmileyface lost the coin toss. He sees it differently.”

Day 9 - I won

Day 10 – I won. By this point accusations were flying around that I have a “special” coin which is why I keep on winning! “It’s rigged I tell you, it’s rigged.” (@Pete_Knight)

Day 11 – Alex finally won again!

Day 12 - Alex won.

Day 13

Day 13 was our longest day, so we decided to try something a bit special… this audio file explains more about the coin toss on the final day and features a re-enactment of the final Offa’s Dyke coin toss!

That gives me a 77% success rate – so glad we didn’t just take it in turns

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I would like to argue there has been mitigating circumstances (see The unexpected physical consequence of Offa’s Dyke) – the last few weeks have been pretty traumatic! My condition has improved slightly, and I am on the path towards getting a diagnosis, so my mind has drifted back to these blog posts.

It is a bit daunting to make a start though, as so much time has passed, and I need a little kick up the backside. So like all good procrastinators, here is a list of all the blog posts coming up – please hold me to it!

Challenge Write-ups

• The coin toss – it seemed to be a popular feature, so it probably deserves it’s own post
• Leg 1 – The Clywdian Range: Prestatyn to Llangollen
• Leg 2 -The Middle Bit: Llangollen to Brompton Crossroads
• Leg 3 – Hills & Ridges: Brompton Crossroads to Pandy
• Leg 4 – The Last Bit: Pandy to Sedbury
• The Best and Worse Bits of Offa’s Dyke 4 MS
• Offa’s Dyke 4 MS – A dog’s perspective

Equipment Write-ups

• Viewranger & Nokia X-Press Music
• Powermonkeys
• Brasher Supalite GXII Boots
• Primus EtaPackLite Stove
• Vango Banshee 300
• Orikaso folding plate/bowl/cup

Campsite / Pub Reviews

• Gweryd Lakes
• Tower Farm, Llangollen
• Powis Arms Hotel, Pool Quay
• Mellington Hall
• Panpwnton, Knighton
• Radnors End, Hay
• Rising Sun, Pandy
• The Beaufort Hotel, Chepstow

Wow what a list…. I had better get started!

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What I didn’t expect was to end up in hospital……

History

In April 2006, I started going numb in my lower half, which was progressively getting worse. After a chat with my dad, who is a doctor, I went to see my GP who quickly sent me to A&E. After an MRI scan I was diagnosed as having an inwards slipped disc (which probably has a much better medical name), which was putting pressure on my nerves and ultimately my spinal cord. A week later I had a semi-emergency micro discectomy to prevent “neurological disaster” (according to my consent form).

If you really want to, you can view a video of what they do during a microdiscetomy L5-S1 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8fBh-WKdl4

The operation was a success and whilst leaving me with slightly numbness /pins and needles in my toes, and mild back pain (if I don’t sit correctly), left me fit to resume normal life – in fact the surgeon said I would be able to play rugby within 6 weeks (I don’t play rugby, but I got his point).

4 Years On

In the last four years – my back has been fine. It is sometimes a little stiff in the mornings if I have been particularly active, and is a bit painful if I don’t sit properly – but ultimately there was nothing worthy of concern.

During the build up for Offa’s Dyke I was actually quite surprised how well my back coped with walking for long distances – I purposely chose a slightly heavier backpack which offered maximum lumber support (the staff at White and Bishop were very understanding as I tried every single backpack they had in stock several times before settling on the Berghaus C7 65l+10l Bioflex Backpack), and I had no problems on any of the training trips.

During Offa’s Dyke, I experienced a little bit of uncomfort going up hill towards the end – but that disappeared at the top, and each morning my back felt absolutely fine.

After Offa’s Dyke

Four days after returning from Wales however, I started going progressively numb again. My GP, who felt that I had probably slipped a disc again, decided to arrange a MRI scan, but in the meantime I was told to go straight to A&E if symptoms progressed.

Two days later, as symptoms progressed, I was admitted to hospital, after quite a few hours spent in A&E. The MRI scan the following morning revealed that my discs were fine, and that there was “no surgical cause” for my symptoms, and a few days later I was discharged with a view to having an outpatients appointment with a neurologist.

Now What?

As there is no surgical cause, it is quite likely (although I am still waiting for my outpatients appointment with the neurologist) that my symptoms are due to inflammation around the nerves, and should ultimately fade. Until then I can’t walk on uneven ground (there is a high risk of breaking my ankle due to my numb feet) and walking is uncomfortable and tiring.

It is too much of a coincidence that it came just a few days after we finished Offa’s Dyke. Who knows whether it was sleeping on a roll matt for 13 days, walking such long distances with a pulling dog, carrying the heavy weight or a combination of factors, but what I have to accept is that my body couldn’t cope with it.

And that is hard to accept – I really enjoyed walking Offa’s Dyke, and had hoped to do more long distance walks… but at the moment that seems very unlikely.

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You can view the whole map of our route, as well as photos and tweets sent during the walk at http://www.socialhiking.org.uk/map/offasdyke4ms/offas-dyke-4-ms (it takes a moment or two to fully load).

I had not, in my wildest dreams, expected to raise that kind of money, and I would like to thank everyone who donated – no matter how small, your donation will help make a difference to people affected by MS.

I want to share a couple of touching stories with you:

At one of the campsites, I was approached by a lady who was camping next to us, who had spotted our orange challenge t-shirts. After a brief chat about why I was supporting MS and what our challenge was about, she told me about her best friend, who she used to go regularly hiking and camping with. Her friend was diagnosed with MS a few years ago, and in the subsequent years has rapidly deteriated and is now in a wheelchair. Her friend finds it so frustrating that being out and about in the countryside, something we take for granted, is now beyond her reach.

On another occassion, in a pub, I had a conversation with a man whose father had MS, which he ultimately died from when his son was about 14 years old. His story was so emotional that he was in tears telling about how is dad wasn’t able to do the things dad’s are supposed to do due to his condition.

These are just two of countless stories I have heard about how people, their friends and their families are affected by MS.

So What Now?

Although our challenge is now complete – I have a whole host of blog posts to do: some thank yous, campsite reviews, equipment reviews, write ups on Offa’s Dyke itself, as well as sorting out all the photos. I also have my pet project, Social Hiking, the app which was developed especially for this challenge – I would love to get it in a state where it can be used by others for their challenges.

It seems ages ago now since we climbed the final ascent to the end of the Offa’s Dyke path, to be met by my parents (who were the support team) and @Pete_Knight with a bottle of bubbly. That evening was spent in the company of friends celebrating the end of the walk in a dog friendly hotel in Chepstow, before returning home to Northamptonshire to spend some time with my dearly missed girlfriend.

I feel a bit empty though…there is probably a syndrome that affects people who complete charity challenges – after all the planning (over a year) and the challenge itself, it seems like such a steep decent back to reality, and after hearing so many stories about MS, and how it has affected people, I just don’t feel like I can sit down and say “job done”.

There is already a seed of an idea for the (quite distant) future…..!!

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There are several ways you can follow our progress, keep updated with how we are getting on, and interact with us as we walk.

Live Updating Map

You can find our live updating map at www.od4ms.org.uk – the map will initially load with our progress for the current day (it automatically updates), but you can select previous routes from the drop down on the right hand side.

The page also has our latest tweets, photos and audioboos – both around the sides and on the map itself!

Twitter

Everything we get up to will be posted to our twitter account: offasdyke4ms. You don’t need an account to follow our “tweets”, but you will need one if you wish to reply.

Alex will also be tweeting from his account: winkysmileyface.

All our replies are texted to us – so they will be read and will help us keep motivated during the walk! We will try to reply to as many as possible as we are going on.

Facebook

Unfortunately the Facebook Group is quite hard to update remotely, but both Alex and I have linked our twitter accounts to appear on our personal Facebook pages – we will try and catch up with comments during breaks!

Blog

Every couple of days the plan is to do a short blog post updating you on our progress!

Justgiving

It is still not too late to donate – every “You have a new donation” email will really help us keep going in the rain and wind!

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