SUCCESS – 26.2 miles completed and my fund raising goal for Breast Cancer achieved – and exceeded! I have raised £1611 which is an amazing result!
WOW – what an experience it was. I have never seen so many men and women walking in decorated bras and such a fantastic atmosphere. I cannot even start to explain what it was like other than utterly mind blowing, especially knowing that what we were all doing was for such a good cause.
Just talking to people, finding out what had prompted them to do ‘The Moonwalk’ and listening to their individual stories and experiences was very emotional and also very motivating and uplifting.
I used my coaching skills to set small goals along the way by choosing a selection of my favourite London landmarks (London Eye, St James’s Park and Harrods) and when I got to the first one I set my sights on the next one. The half way marker of 13.1 miles was a real ‘biggie’ for me, but the realisation that I still had miles to go was hard. I heavily relied upon my support network of friends around me and together we lifted our moods by chatting, playing a few games and using our music playlists to help us focus on the final stretch. Dancing in the toilet queue certainly helped to pass the time as well!
This is the first time I have done anything like this so it was a whole new experience for me. Crossing the finish line was both painful and amazing at the same time. The mixture of emotions was unbelievable going from sheer exhaustion and desperation to an inner explosion of happiness, satisfaction and huge achievement.
I am so proud of what I have done to achieve my goals. I have learnt so much about myself and what I am actually capable of. I will be taking what I have learnt with me into both my personal and work life and aim to use my experience to enable others to achieve their goals too.
There are a number of people responsible for inspiring me to do The Moonwalk London 2016:
- Nina Panesar-Woods – thank you for asking me to spend time with you this year and do The Moonwalk with you.
- Steve and Holly Smith – you inspire me everyday, I love you both very much and wanted to make you proud of me.
- Jan Steward – My gorgeous and lovely friend who dealt with breast cancer in such a positive and awe-inspiring way, you are simply amazing.
- Curly Martin – my inspirational mentor, friend and life changing coach, trainer, speaker and author of the soon to be released book ‘Achievement: Cancer free for 20 Years!’ (A very worthwhile read for anyone that has experience directly or indirectly with cancer). Curly was diagnosed with breast cancer by The Royal Marsden Hospital and was told she had 8 months to live – 20 years later she is still here to tell the tale, and now in her new book!
- Stephanie White – An amazing person and teacher in our local community who lost her cancer battle in March 2016. My Moonwalk is dedicated to Steph.
- Jan, Phil, Isobel and Toby Turner-Wilson – this last 9 months have been hard for you all and I wanted to make you smile because you mean the world to me.
I have raised over £1600 for breast cancer which is such an amazing amount of money and I hope that goes towards making a difference for people now and in the future. Thank you so much to everyone that donated to my Moonwalk fund. I really am very very grateful and touched by the generosity and support that people have given me.
Thank you to all my friends and family that have walked with me during my training and got me over the finish line, I could not have done it without you. I am resting this week and recovering from my long walk and hope to be back to full fitness over the next couple of days with the help of Epsom Salts, Arnica cream and massage. Have an outstanding week everybody and see you next week when I am fully recovered.
#MoonwalkLondon
