Success........just !

As the old adage goes, there's nothing quite like your first time. I promised that I would give you an insight into my first successful attempt at the Parish and I will do that today.

First, however, let's get up to speed with training and this week. Following Sunday's final Winter League race, I have managed a couple of good sessions and on checking my weight this morning, I am now over a stone down from New Year's day and I have to say I am feeling fitter, and sharper. Monday night was the same as the last few weeks with a twist. We were afforded an earlier start as Onchan Cubs were embarking on a hike from the Creg back to the Scout Hall on School Road. So having dropped Archie at 6.15, we headed straight to the NSC and had an extra 30 minutes or so. After about 6 laps or so we decided to shake it up a little, and headed out towards Saddle Road. We then took the road up past Braddan School on towards Strang, and down the hill towards Union Mills. Back along the main road and right onto Saddle Road again and back to the NSC saw us cover a total 7.75 miles in just over an hour and a half.

Rest on Tuesday, and then a good, but blooming cold work out on the ever increasing Wednesday night session on Laxey Prom. I jogged down from mine which is about a mile and a half from the beach which was a good warm up, and then we did a good few laps of the prom at various paces ranging from almost strolling right up to full tilt, feeling like my hamstrings could snap at any point.

Having completed the kids bedrooms, and a start on our room, I was giving myself the day off today and was meant to play golf with a friend, however, the wind and rain soon put the mockers on that, so have spent the afternoon with my head in a book studying for an exam I have in April - GREAT !

So, after the unsuccessful attempt in 2008, I knew that I had to really commit to training and put a lot of miles in to give myself the best chance. Me and my mate Dan agreed shortly after the 2009 End to End that we would give the Parish a go, so training started in the January. We started with twice weekly, a Wednesday night and either Saturday or Sunday morning. It was at this point that I put my golfing career into mothballs, and to be honest, it has stayed there ever since. We had some cracking training routes, both short and long including a loop of East and West Baldwin (affectionately known to us as Mike & Alma) and a cracking circuit from Rushen Church up the Howe, back to Port Erin and finishing with a loop of Ballakillowey, the Sloc to Round Table, and back down to Colby.

One thing I have noticed from this years and previous blogs, and many conversations with Parish conquerors, several walkers used to be porkers, myself included. At my heaviest, I was knocking on 19 stone, and from the start of training in 2010 I went from over 17 stone down to 14 stone and in probably the best shape I had been since I embarked on a very short lived running career in 1999 which was put paid to thanks to my favourite right knee.

The day started well, the forecast was good, and we felt very confident that all the training and preparation we had done would see us to the finish. We were bang in the middle of the starting pack at the NSC and as always, the start was busy and it took a while to be able to get into our stride. We had agreed to start at a very easy pace until we had warmed up and then we could push on.

Disaster almost struck walking through Union Mills. The junction of Peel Road and Strang Road has sloping kerbs, and for some reason I chose to put my right foot right onto the kerb stone. Although it wasn't wet, my foot skidded downwards and it was a real test of my knee strength to keep it together. A few years previously my knee would have popped and my race would have been over there and then. If you look at Murray's video of that section, you can actually see it happen, and it really put the wind up me and taught me to concentrate and not do anything stupid.

As the day progressed, it got warmer and warmer, and by the time we had reached Rushen it was absolutely boiling. Heading up Ballakillowey we passed a young girl who looked as though she was almost going backwards, and me and Dan remarked that it was only a matter of time til she quit. We encountered her another 2 or 3 times during the day and it is fair to say that her fortitude saw her through. Because we had trained hard on the Sloc, we knew virtually every step, we knew the distance, the time and exactly where we were at any point and this meant that this usually dreaded section really was nothing more than a mere inconvenience (2011 was a completely different story). On the way into Glen Maye, we decided to stop for refreshments and a quick change of socks, and it was only at this point that we realised actually how sunny and hot it was as Dan's mum pointed out that the backs of his arms were red raw with sunburn. We made sure that we took on plenty of fluids, and set off towards Peel. Arriving in good time, Jackie Campbell was handing out cups of ice to cool the walkers.

The section between Peel and Kirk Michael was almost a different section to that 2 years previous as we just kept going at a good pace well in excess of 4mph. The church came and went, and next stop was Ballaugh where I quit in 2008. Again, we managed to keep a good pace, and we both felt extremely comfortable, apart from I could start to feel a little blister type pain on my right heel. We pushed on past Ballaugh, and both celebrated passing the church with a high five as we had passed my previous best and were now into virgin territory. At Jurby we had another rest, and I decided to tend to my heel. Unfortunately, the blister had already popped meaning that my heel was wet and it was impossible to get a compeed to stick. Nothing a bit of surgical tape couldn't fix though, and I bandaged the plaster into place with the tape and off we went again. It was at this point where we bumped into Dave Fereday who is a Parish Walk legend. As it was the 50th anniversary event, Dave decided he was walking again as he took part in the inaugural event in 1960. He told us a fascinating story about his life and how he is one of only few to compete in and complete every single London Marathon, although recent years have seen him walk the distance rather than run because at the age of 75 his knees weren't up to running any more - amazing bloke. He made it to Jurby where he was stationed with the RAF in 1960, and it was his objective to make it there quicker in 2010 and if possible, push on and go further. Read Murray's feature from 2010 here which is all about Dave, what a top guy he really is.

We were a bit disappointed over the next stage, as during our training we had talked about how likely it would be that England would be playing that night in the last 16 of the World Cup and we could listen to the commentary on the radio. This would alleviate boredom on the long stretch out to Bride, however they had finished 2nd in the group and would play Germany on the Sunday afternoon so we had idle chat and mickey taking to keep us going. Reaching Bride was an amazing feeling as there were several family members and friends there to cheer us on which really gave us a lift. Andreas came and went, and I have to say that I felt every single stone on the path up to Andreas Church as my feet were now feeling pretty tender and as anyone who has been up that path will agree. On the way out of Andreas, I hit a pretty rough patch but managed to quickly snap out of it as I put some inspiring music on my iPod. It was at this point that we spied the girl from Ballakillowey again, and if she looked in a bad way before she was in a terrible state here. She was literally staggering from side to side. I asked her if she was ok, and she responded positively, but said she was just a little tired. Dan and I agreed again that she would be packing up soon as it was inconceivable she could continue any further. We both got our heads down, and headed towards Lezayre. The light was failing, and the whole thing sarted to feel a little surreal. I had the world's worst head torch and as my head was bobbing, the torch was wobbling and the whole motion of the light made me feel decidedly queasy. The main drag into Lezayre was mental, they had just resurfaced the Lezayre Road, and as anyone will tell you, the pavement on that stretch is terrible so I was hopping from road to pavement and back to the road again to try and make the experience as comfortable as possible.

Various people had warned me about seeing things late on, sort of hallucinating I suppose, and I wasn't to be disappointed. As I headed along the dark stretch of road, I saw what I thought was a small boy crouching against a wall with his hood up. This unnerved me a little as I couldn't work out out what the heck he was doing. I couldn't take my eyes of him,and it was only as I went past I realised it was actually a Ramsey Commissioners bin - I felt such a fool, good job I've kept that story to myself and never told anyone...........oops.

We headed out towards Maughold, and about a mile from the church, me and Dan separated. I was going quite well still, but Dan had started to slow. At the top of Ballajora, I had a second wind, and in my mind I knew I was going to finish. I had around 16 miles to go. I think this attitude is the reason behind what happened next. I really upped my pace, and caught several other walkers and passed them thinking I was invincible. How wrong could I be, by the time I had made it back to the main road at the Hibernia, my pace had slowed again as the recent little spurt had really taken its toll. It was at this point where I started to question whether I would finish, and the more I dwelled on it, the more negative my mindset became. I was starting to worry that I was going to run out of time, what compounded this was as I passed the Glen Mona, I thought I was a mile further down the road than I actually was, and this reinforced in my mind that my efforts were futile.

I stopped dead in the road, and shouted across to Caroline who was waiting in the car that that was it, I could no longer put one foot in front of the other, and I wanted to get in the car. She said that she wasn't letting me in the car, and I needed to get going again. I replied that it was physically impossible for me to move and that I was getting in the car. It was at this point she told me in no uncertain terms where to go and drove off into the night leaving me stranded and extremely cross. Looking back, this is the best thing she could have done, if she had pandered to my toys out of the cot moment, I would have been home within 15 minutes and 2010 would have gone down as a failed attempt. I summoned the strength to get going again, but I ached from head to toe, I was exhausted and just didn't want to be on my feet any more. I got about another mile down the road, and Caroline handed me the phone. On the other end was my sister Lou who had just supported Julian to his tenth consectutive finish (he's actually done 11 now so my title page is actually slightly incorrect), I don't remember the full conversation, but the cut an thrust was that she was on her way to support me to the finish and if I wasn't walking at a decent pace by the time she arrived then there was going to be hell to pay !!

Sure enough, as I approached the Dhoon, there she was with her entourage and a single goal in mind - making sure I finish regardless of the consequences. She literally bullied me all the way from there to the bottom of Royal Avenue at which point I knew that barring my legs falling off I was going to make it. All the way my overriding concern was that I didn't have enough time, however Lou kept reminding me that I had bags of time, and was well within the cut offs. What also helped was how she broke the last 5 or 6 miles down into easy to manage sections. From Lonan Church, the next aim was to get to Baldrine. In Baldrine it was to get to the clock. From the clock it was to get to the Liverpool Arms and so on until it was to get from Royal Avenue to the Summerland at which point the finish would be in sight. Although I do remember breaking the last section down, it really is to this day just a blur. The clearest part was walking along the Prom and various friends and members of family appearing out of nowhere and encouraging me to keep going. I crossed the line in 22 hours 51 minutes and 58 seconds, and my emotions were a mixture of relief and absolute elation, it was also tinged with an element of regret that as we had walked so far together, Dan was a few miles back and we didn't cross the line together. That said, reports from his support was that he was going like a train and would finish soon, and that he did in 23.04 exactly.

What was absolutely remarkable however, was that the girl we saw struggle on Ballakillowey and then again in Andreas came through to finish a couple of minutes later as did Dave Fereday - not bad for a first time finisher aged 72 !

I think it really goes to show how much of a mental challenge this is and not simply physical endurance.

The one comment that kept me going.......

'Just think about how bad you are feeling now, and how much worse you will feel tomorrow if you quit after all the effort you have put in'.

I carried this with me in 2011 as well, and although my time was better, you just cannot replicate the feeling of the first time !!