Just keep right on to the end of the road

Published on Monday 15 June 2009 22:47

'UNITED we conquer" read the plaque on the Commando monument in Spean Bridge near the start of the 54-mile Caledonian Challenge.

As we posed at the inspiring location for a team photo, it seemed an appropriate motto to adopt as we took on one of the most gruelling – and maddest – events of our lives.

The phrase was to ring through our heads as we took 108,000 increasingly-painful steps along the West Highland Way from Gairlochy, near Fort William, to Auchtertyre, near Tyndrum.

The Caledonian Challenge is an event for which little could truly prepare our team of four, or any of the 1,085 walkers taking part.

All the training walks in the world would not quite have primed us for the feeling of agony as we trudged along a distance equivalent to walking more than two marathons, and scaled heights similar to climbing Ben Nevis twice.

Added to this, which would have been challenge enough, was a 24-hour time limit. Throughout the entire 54 mile walk we took just four half-hour rests.

We started walking at 9am on Saturday. We saw the sun set, we saw it rise again, and we were still walking at 7am on Sunday.

On Saturday morning, we woke early at our lodge near Fort William filled with excitement and trepidation, and were horrified to look outside and see rain. Fortunately, this cleared and, amazingly, held off for the entire 22 hours and seven minutes of our walk.

The midges that swarmed that morning in clouds outside the windows of our lodge like miniature vampires waiting to attack were more relentless.

Like other walkers we regularly donned black veil-like head nets, so at times participants resembled troops of bizarre mourners trudging through the mountain landscape.

However, after a few dozen miles even the irritation at the midges had paled into insignificance compared to the one, over-riding, never-ending focus of our pain... our feet.

Feet quickly became the dominant topic of conversation. Which footwear would work best to prevent the dreaded blisters? How often should socks be changed? Would Vaseline help prevent rubbing, or just add a sensation of slime?

To sum up the feeling in your feet after pounding on hard paths for more than 20 hours, it was as though your soles were being repeatedly pierced by thousands of tiny shards of glass.

In an attempt to take my mind off the pain I listened to short stories on my Ipod. The experience of walking in the dark across eerie Rannoch Moor listening to Saki's tale Tobermory, about a talking cat, was probably the most bizarre of my life.

At other times I fantasised about a hot bath, about removing my heavy boots, about simply sitting down.

There had been many words of foot wisdom and warning in advance of the event. "Wrap them up with Duct tape," said one person. "Tape them up and smother them in Vaseline," said another.

Horror stories included an eye-popping tale of a walker forced to resort to driving home using a stick to compress the clutch due to the agony of his feet.

In the end I filled my bag with socks and changed them five times during the walk. I slapped Compeed – magic plasters – on any area that started to redden. The product, which resembles a second skin, was in such high demand among walkers that a trek-side Compeed salesman could have made a small fortune.

And I had my own trick up my sleeve, one that I am still convinced saved my feet from almost-inevitable disaster.

At every possible moment I slapped on athlete's foot powder, not due to a fungal condition but because a mountaineer friend had promised it would help prevent blisters by soaking up moisture.

I became so convinced that this pot of talc would be my saviour that when at one stage it went missing, I nearly felt myself crack. I sat aghast, and only when our team's brilliant support crew discovered it hidden in the back of our van was all well again.

Each of the 235 teams taking part in the Caledonian Challenge were made up of between four and six walkers, and, crucially, a support crew who met them at rest stops with treats and encouraging words.

In Team Scotsman were two "lucky" readers who won the chance to take part – Wendy Pate and Hugh Niblock – as well as Ben Wallace and myself from the newspaper.

In our fantastic support crew were James Tulloch, who doubled-up as cameraman and served up steaming piles of delicious beef stew and pasta with panache, and Kelvin Pate, who never failed to meet us with a grin and a joke, and showed his utter devotion by surely going beyond the call of duty for any husband by patching his wife's blistered feet.

At each of the designated rest stops we scanned in electronic wrist bands that allowed friends and families to monitor our progress from home.

Then we honed in on our support crew, who had laid out a feast of food on our makeshift table – a stretcher (Ben had also put a pair of crutches in the boot of the car in case things became really desperate).

In an attempt to replace about 9,000 calories burned during the walk we made our best efforts to defeat mounds of cakes, piles of fruit, buckets of sweets, packs of pastries, energy drinks, cookies and chocolate bars.

However, even when tempted by such an array of treats it had become difficult to eat by about 2am when, with bodies overdosed on sugary drinks, all that really inspired were visions of the finish line.

Of the 1,085 walkers from as far afield as China, Bermuda and Australia, who set off from Gairlochy, near Fort William on Saturday morning, 900 finished. The event raised 1.2 million for the Scottish Community Foundation.

As each team took step after step, surrounded by dramatic and stunning Highland views, the peace was often broken only by the sound of boots crunching on gravel and metal walking sticks click-clacking on the ground invoking images of a giant knitting circle.

The occasional super-fit team jogged by, prompting murmurs of incredulity. The fastest finish time, by army man Don Campbell, was an incredible nine hours and six minutes.

Spirits in Team Scotsman remained high throughout the event but by mile 50 the walk had become more of a shuffle, the chat had been replaced by the occasional pained groan or whimper, and the awe-inspiring views faded into insignificance in comparison to the sight of the horribly-long path stretching into the distance.

The four of us stared grim but determined at the ground and slogged on. The final three miles felt as hard as the first 20.

Eventually, joyously, the finish line came into view. We saw James and Kelvin waving proudly. We linked arms and, united, we smiled through a few tears as we finished, clutching a bottle of champagne in victory. We had conquered – and it felt good.

&#149 The Scotsman team would like to thank Lex (the UK's leading contract hire company) and GM Vauxhall for the use of a Vauxhall Zafira .

Thank you from the Scottish Community Foundation

WITH the dust having settled on this year's RBS Caledonian Challenge, I would like to thank you on behalf of the Scottish Community Foundation for your time, dedication and commitment to taking part. It's a hugely rewarding experience and no mean feat, so you should be very proud of yourself for taking part.

In 2008, participants raised nearly 1 million. This year, we're hoping your fundraising will help us break the 1m barrier. The great thing about the Challenge is that every penny your team raises will be awarded to community projects across Scotland by the Scottish Community Foundation.

As one of Scotland's largest independent grant-makers, the Foundation specialises in funding smaller charities and community groups that work with local people to improve their lives and their neighbourhoods. The money you raise will support people of every age and ability, and empower them to change their lives and communities for the better. The Foundation connects people, ideas and resources to create lasting change. Our day-to-day mission is to inspire giving in Scotland, giving that will change lives.

We support a wide range of initiatives, including youth work and initiatives, helping those with disabilities, encouraging environmental sustainability, supporting the development of training and employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups, promoting health and well-being through sport, leisure and care, and many more. As the aches and blisters begin to heal, you should take great pride in all you have achieved in supporting the work of the Foundation and the community groups and small charities we support.

Having completed the Challenge myself, I understand what an undertaking it is, but having also experienced that huge sense of achievement when you and your team cross the finish line, I am sure you will be back for more in 2010!

To everyone who has taken part, supported a team, volunteered or donated sponsorship this year, a heartfelt thanks from the Scottish Community Foundation.

Message from the sponsors – Royal Bank of Scotland

RBS employees have been taking part in the Caledonian Challenge for several years now and we are pleased to have been the title sponsor for the last three years.

During the course of RBS's sponsorship of the Challenge, the contribution of which we are most proud has been that of our employees around the globe. More than 170 RBS teams participated in the 2007 and 2008 events, contributing more than a quarter of the 2 million that was raised for the Scottish Community Foundation in the process.

This year, more than 300 RBS employees will push themselves through the pain barrier between Glairlochy and Strathfillan with 1119 fellow participants in a bid to help the foundation reach its target of 1m to be donated to communities across Scotland. Their efforts will be appreciated for months and years to come by the community groups and charities the length and breadth of the country which will benefit from the money raised.

As we complete our three-year term as title sponsor, we at RBS would like to wish the Scottish Community Foundation all the very best for the future. We hope the benefits of the RBS Caledonian Challenge will continue to serve Scottish communities for many years to come.