HERE WE GO .. well almost

Super slimmer Charlie Walduck is taking part in a Coast to Coast walk challenge starting in St Bees and finishing at Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire

Charlie Walduck

Off to St Bees via Bath City and Crewe.
My feet are aching my back is sore and my left knee has swollen up – and I’ve not even set off yet. I start my coast to coast walk this coming Monday I must admit to being fairly excited and a bit scared at the same time. My biggest fear is not being able to complete the walk, but I am fairly confident that unless I get injured I should be OK. My walking buddies are ready and raring to go. Mark’s bought himself new shoes; Graham is a fit as a fiddle and Chris is a seasoned professional when it comes to walking – he is also my inspiration because he has leukaemia and has even overcome a broken back in the past. I am sure by the end of the walk we will all be either very close friends or never speak to each other again. I have known Mark for 24 years we were at Barrow College together and then he followed me to Manchester Polytechnic he got a good job and a nice house I got fat and became a bingo caller, but I am not bitter!
Mark’s mum and step dad Pam and Brian are helping us out by carrying our kit from place to place, making packed lunches and washing our underpants. Brian is even hoping to join the team and do the whole walk.
So it’s Friday afternoon I am sat at home in Manchester I have packed by bag – not sure I am going to need to the leather trousers and fur coat but you never know. But in all seriousness it is important to be well prepared when taking on a challenge of this type so I have a decent a pair of shoes, some good socks and waterproofs. Tomorrow I will be up early and travelling to Bath to see my last Barrow AFC game for a couple of weeks, before heading off to Mark’s house in Crewe tomorrow night for a final briefing before we all meet up on Sunday night in St Bee’s ready for the start of the coast to coast walk. Officially it is 192 miles but according to Wikipedia its 220 miles and I am looking forward to every mile of it.
While I am away I won’t have to worry about over eating, feeling depressed or being lonely and I certainly won’t be worrying about the bills pilling up at home. I’ll leave all those things at home and get on with the walk to raise money for my charity. In 2 weeks time Graham and Chris will be heading home and Mark and I will off to Newcastle for a small jog to finish off the adventure or maybe just finish us off.
I’ll blog again on Monday night after day one – off now to polish my walking sticks.