Orchid exists to save men's lives from testicular, prostate and penile cancers
through pioneering research and promoting awareness

Hadrian's Wall Challenge

At the beginning of June an intrepid team of 6 took on the challenge of walking Hadrian’s Wall, equivalent of 4 marathons, in just 4 days.

Supporting Orchid in celebration of friend and team mate Gary’s fight against testicular cancer this is their story..........

Gary and the team at the start of the walk.

Day One

We stayed the night in Bowness-on-Solway on the West coast so we were fresh for our first day’s gruelling walk. We were walking at a good pace with fresh legs so decided to walk a good 26 miles before stopping for our first night. There were quite a lot of ups and downs as we navigated the steep river banks but the scenery was worth it, this is where we encountered our first injury, the steps down the embankments were quite damp and steep and Paul was unfortunate enough to twist his knee. At this point the feet were starting to feel the effect of road walking and heavy rucksacks, it would have been quite easy to just jump into the river to cool down. As we finished lunch the skies opened, the rain was bouncing off the ground but we had a long way to go so the boots went back on and out came the waterproofs.

The rest of the afternoon wasn’t really worth talking about and there weren’t any smiling faces as the rain came down. When we reached our accommodation we were met by the owner and his troop of dogs and shown to our bunk house. First things first, a bucket of warm water was sat on the step outside by the owners wife and myself and Gary sat with our feet in it, bliss.

Day Two

The second day started with a hot shower followed by a fantastic farm style breakfast.

It was then time to get the boots back on and head off for our second days walk, another 22 miles and the most challenging day by far.

After only three miles we came across Hare Hill, this is the first visible sign of the actual wall, and it did lift our spirits to finally see it.

As the morning came to a close the pain was setting in from previous day’s injuries and blistered feet, but there were still one or two more miles to go before lunch and it all seemed to be up hill.

Paul’s knee was playing up more and more, Darren had pulled his Hamstring, and the rest of us were pretty much limping due to the build up of blisters from day one. At half way point we spent a good hour strapping up our injuries and getting some food down us.

Late afternoon and we were all finding it tough. Gary was really struggling but hey, he was recovering from cancer. The proprietor at our accommodation offered to come and collect him and we agreed that he couldn’t go on. But, Gary has grit and determination and decided that he wanted to go on. We all agreed that we were doing the walk on his behalf and it didn’t matter how long it took to get to our destination, we were a team and the team sticks together. We finally came over the top of the Crags and received a phone call from our accommodation; he could see us on the hill top!

Day Three

We started our third day with another 23 miles. Late morning it started, the rain I mean, it was like a monsoon and within minutes we were soaked, not even time to put on the waterproofs.

At times like this we just thought about Gary and how he must be feeling so up we got and off we went again. I must admit, we were really looking forward to the 4 day walk but at times like this it no longer felt like we were having fun. By the time we arrived at our hotel, we could hardly walk, our legs felt like led. After dinner we had a well earned shower, cup of coffee then bed.

Day Four

We only had a few miles to walk before we arrived into the outskirts of Newcastle but already Gary was falling behind, we therefore made a team decision to help him along. We figured if we all took turns in carrying his gear and giving him our walking sticks then it would help him along.

As we headed along the river we left Newcastle and entered Wallsend, we knew we were getting close. As we turned the corner onto the town centre, there it was, we had finally made it and as you can see from the below picture it was such a relief after our four days of gruelling walking and climbing over the English countryside.

So, 90 miles in four days, what a fantastic experience.

I would just like to say at this point that we are all very proud of each other for what we have accomplished but mostly for Gary, he was in a horrific car accident and spent three years in hospital, then in his later years he finds out he has Testicular Cancer. I won’t say he found the walk easy, but with grit, determination and a helping hand from his team he did the unexpected and he touched our hearts. Who better to be an ambassador for ORCHID .....

Thank you Gary, you’re our Hero........

Follow us on:
Legal
Contact Us
Designed and maintained by Anytime After 9 Ltd

Registered with the Charity Comission No. 1080540 and registered in England 3963360