One down, 2 to go.

At 12:30am we were passing through Chelsea and the local Fire Brigade had come out to from their station to cheer us on. Whilst the rain stopped before the walk began it was bitterly cold. There was a biting wind that chilled us right down. I was so glad of that poncho, I’d worn one once before but ditched it as it became a greenhouse, no chance of that this walk!The calf compressors that I’d bought seemed to keep my grumpy calf happy but unfortunately my knee kept getting a stabby twinge through it.

The toilet stops at mile 10 were in a small semicircle, not many of them so most people walked on and the queue was kept short. Stood in the centre queuing provided a very welcome warm break from the wind! 3am we hit the half way mark, Half mooners had split away a mile ago and the pace was moving quicker. Usually the time between 3am and 4am is the hardest, it’s cold, it’s dark and your body is fighting the urge to sleep. This time it wasn’t too bad. Conversation in general had dulled to quiet infrequent chats punctuated by the call of “bollards” when easily walked into hazards popped up.

Between miles 13 and 17 we passed St James Park, Buckingham Palace (the queen didn’t pop out to cheer us on), Horse Guards Parade, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Victoria Embankment (where some idiots had been driving past throwing eggs at walkers!).

4:15am, we were 17.5 miles in, the sun was beginning to rise, toilet queues were short and the increased pace was allowing a tiny bit of warmth to build up but still not enough to ditch the ponchos. Usually by mile 20 I feel horrendous and am willing the miles away however this time, we were still quite chirpy, awake and whilst mild aches still able to maintain a good speed. We kept finding ourselves with lots of space as we overtook bunched up groups of walkers and then walked to catch up the next bunch.

Passing the Tower of London and onto Tower Bridge the wind really picked up, thankfully it dropped as we did the final miles along the Thames as we passed HMS Belfast, London Bridge, The Golden Hinde, Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, the London eye, the Aquarium and the SIS headquarters. It turned into a beautiful morning in London as the sun began to shine, it really makes all the difference for keeping you going in those last few miles.

At 6:30am, 7 hours 40 minutes exactly after we started, we crossed the finish line. Tired but happy, reasonably well and not hobbling, not feeling sick, not wanting to curl up and die. We hadn’t even had to resort to the earphones in, music on distraction method either! First point of call was the Three Land Challenge checkpoint, we got our time recorded and our “passports” stamped. These are our most important pieces of kit, they are not replaceable and are the only proof of us completing all three of the challenges.

We picked up our bag, devoured the lovely (dairy free) tablet that friends had given us before the slow walk to the bus. A huge thank you to the London Bus Driver who was letting Moonwalkers on for free, we only had a few stops to go but it was really appreciated!