The finish!

The last couple of days of the trip were a lovely wind down. Because there's quite a lot of farmland in the area I was mostly using trails and roads and although the terrain isn't so charming it was really nice to be able to estimate timings with some confidence. 

The penultimate day was 20 Miles and it goes to show how strong I'm feeling that I considered this a short day! Infact, the daily mile ages haven't felt too intimidating for most of my journey; more daunting is the prospect of over 10hours covering that distance. If 20 miles takes an entire day you know the going is seriously character building!  This particular day was over in 4 hours and it was nice to have a relaxing afternoon, contemplating the finish the following day.

The final day consisted of 12 miles along road and a final 3 along the spectacular cliffs up to Duncansby Head. The weather was damp but spirits were high! When we got to the start of the trail I was already buzzing. I was torn between admiring the scenery or sprinting to the end. I compromised a little but by the time I could see people in the distance I found my fast legs which have been missing for the past few weeks! Rob called to me to go ahead and I was really grateful as I wanted to race to the end.

Although I could see people from a few hundred metres away it was hard to see exactly where or who I was aiming for.  It was only in the last 200 metres along the path that I could make out a bit of a scene - Mum, Peter, Emily, Emma, Maisie and her mum were all waiting with a huge banner, balloons, fizz and a ribbon for me to run through! I hadn't expected this at all and when Emma presented me with a beautiful tankard with 'watershed survivor' engraved I felt pretty emotional! It was promptly filled with champagne.

The ending didn't have quite the feeling of relief or enormous feeling of achievement that I had expected. I think that's because each day of the adventure had a bit of this and each day was so different from the previous one and held its own challenges. Mentally I'd had to think of the journey day by day, otherwise it wasn't manageable. The adventure was all about the journey and not the final feeling at the finish anyway. How sad would it have been to get to Duncansby Head and think, 'thank goodness I'm done'.

Because the last few days were much easier than anything during the 4th week or earlier, I'd had plenty of time to let the tough days filter out of my mind. 1 week on from the finish my memories are of wonderful rugged scenery, beautiful ridges, tough climbs and the peaks (in both senses) which they brought. I know there was horrible weather, I know my ankles hurt and I was really tired and grumpy some days. I know I got cold and struggled to read the map efficiently some days. Some days stretched well past when they should have but what I'll actually remember is the sense of achievement every day, the people who were there with me helping it all happen and the minor celebrations each day as I succeeded in getting closer to my destination.

Although I'm the only one to have run the whole journey (which turned out to be 659.7 miles And 40,405m of climbing), it was far from a single handed effort.

I'm hugely grateful to all the following people:

Peter Wright for inspiring the whole trip, helping me plan, encouraging and advising me as well as supporting during week 4 and carrying my camping equipment to 2 wild camps. This feels like a major understatement for all his work!

My mum for being on hand all the time I was away, coordinating support drivers and runners, and supporting the final week.

Tom for putting up with me in the run up to the event and for supporting the first week and for keeping in touch and saying all the right things when I was tired.

Emily and Emma for supporting in the last week, being massively cheery and spreading the cheer and for making a scene at the finish.

Stuart for his part in organising the trip.

Maisie for all her help with fundraising and for coming to cheer me in at the finish.

Gary Tompsett for teaching me to navigate and for lending me his GPS 

Aunty Fiona and uncle Richy for their time supporting and doing an immense job of feeding me and everyone who came to join me.

Richard Bannister for his generosity in changing his plans to help me out several times so he could run with me and for his banter.

Colin Meek for all his advice and for joining me on a particularly tough day

Stuart Chalmers for running with me, especially the day after the Devil race.

Elizabeth Adams for her company, her help during the wild camps, especially for pandering to my needs and preparing my food so quickly and for the new socks.

Ruth Howie for her company and incredible patience during one of my worst days.

Rob Reid for making the last week so fun and for giving cause for a celebration for his 70th.

Brian and Amanda Macfarlane for supporting for a week

Paul McArdle for a very restorative massage when I was staying at home and after the event.

Lorna Sinclair for her company during a run as well as a massage in the evening!

Kay MacWilliam, Helen and John Bennie, Fran Young, Angela Barron and Jane and Willie Turnbull for coming to join me, either for social or running.

Arnold Clark, OMM, Cotswalds and all the accomodation along the way who gave us discounts. 

John o'groats guest house who gave me a bottle of prosecco on my arrival and who were wonderfully impressed by my trip, despite all the heroes who they see regularly arriving at John o groats

Finally thank you to everyone who sponsored me and helped me raise over £8000 for Funding Neuro, too many to mention but I'm very grateful to you all for your generosity.