Shine 2012

My very first blog post, more than two years ago, was about 'Shine' for Cancer Research UK....my reasons for doing it last year, and again in 2012 remain the same - to help beat cancer.

I was really pleased that a whole group of us from twitter had signed up to take part - lots of banter on our 'Team Shine' facebook group in the lead up to the event helped to keep us all focussed and also to share our concerns and last minute panics!  #Teamshine was made up of @surzy, @theramblingduck, @tractorboy21, @thornykate1, @pottijo, @amandaattwoodh.

So, on Saturday 29th October, #Teamshine all met at the pub across from Battersea Park train station - joined by 2 of Kate's friends, my friend @Pennysophia25 and a friend of a friend Stuart - got ourselves all togged up in our red, white and blue themed outfits and we were ready to go!

It always takes a long time to get going at these mass participation events, but by 9:30pm we were finally over the start line and raring to go.  For about the first 4 miles, we managed to loosely stay together, but as Penny and I strolled through the first 'Pit Stop', not realising that the others had stopped until we had a text from Amanda, it became clear it was going to be tricky to stay together.  This is the main reason, I've decided not to do Shine again next year - having done Mt Snowdon with a group of friends just 3 weeks previously, I'd prefer to stick to events where we can stick together as a team.  Anyway.....

The next pit stop with toilets was at 10 miles, so we stayed in touch with the group behind by text and the plan was to meet up there - however, after standing in the queue for the loo, it suddenly became clear just how cold it had become.  We managed to meet up with Jo and after unsuccessfully trying to find out where the rest of the group were, we decided it was too cold to stand around and off we went.


The halfway point is always uplifting.....for about a minute.... until you realise it's cold, it's the middle of the night and you still have 13 miles to go!! The sign at the halfway point told us it was 5 miles til the next pitstop so we decided not to stop but march on the the 18 mile point.

At about 17 miles, Penny started to complain that her ankle was hurting.....the alleged 18 mile pitstop, turned out to be at 19 miles and by the time we got there poor Penny was really struggling - as were many other people!  This pitstop was quite a sight - massive queues for the loos, and the medical tent was over capacity, people sitting/lying all over the place with foil blankets.  Sadly, Penny had to make the choice to stop and to take the bus back to Battersea Park to have her ankle properly seen to.  Jo and I headed off, as the others were still a couple of miles behind.

The rest of the walk was uneventful (aside from a lovely sunrise as we approached Battersea Park) - Jo and I crossed the finish line about 9.5 hours after we started and I then stayed to wait for the rest of the team to finish.  Sarah and Amanda crossed the line after over 11 hours of walking and still managed this with a smile on their faces, despite lots of aches and pains - they were even on the telly!!


For me, it was a good night, I didn't really struggle physically apart from freezing whenever I stopped walking, but my biggest disappointment was the fact that we couldn't finish as a team.  We are planning on a #teamshine reunion soon.....in the pub!!


I did shed some tears at the end when I went to meet Amanda with a hug....we all had our reasons for taking part in Shine this year, but it's particularly raw for her right now - seeing her face brought back all those memories of helplessness while watching loved ones fight this awful disease.  One day we will #kickcancer.

Nx