Walk 10k in Richmond Park, for Marie Curie

Well, that's a first - Nordic Walking around a Royal Park in the dark, on a Saturday night.

Along with several hundred 'normal' walkers,  6 Nordic Walkers decided to walk the 10km (7 miles) around Richmond Park to help raise funds for the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity.  The Marie Curie nurses do wonderful work and deserve support. For more information and to make donations, please visit their site -
http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/whatwedo/

Once we had warmed up, we listened avidly to some words of encouragement from TV's Julia Bradbury-

Walkers, and cocker spaniel,  warming up

On a warm and dry evening, we set off about 7pm, heading in a clockwise direction to Kingston Gate, then climbing to Richmond gate, before returning to Roehampton gate.

Orange-clad walkers start the walk

The route was a mixture of woodland, meadow and hills, with beautiful views over the lights of London at the end.

Nordic Walkers, with  Sophie the cocker spaniel leading the way

Striding through the woods.

The park gates shut to traffic at 8pm, so it was very peaceful to walk through the park without the normal stream of cars  - just walkers and deer.  Marie Curie had an agreement that the walkers could stay in the park till 10.30pm.

After a few miles, the poles came in handy for the long uphill stretch to Richmond Gate.  However, the exertion also caused one of group to slightly 'overheat'.  As it was getting dark, we merely averted our headtorch beams, and she was able to adjust the layers of clothing to a more comfortable level, without attracting a crowd or frightening the deer!

Then it was downhill the last few miles to Roehampton gate and the finish.   10 kilometres in 2 hours!  We were looking forward to the picnic!

At 10pm, one of the Marie Curie nurses came on stage to explain their work.  The timing was significant - they start their shifts at 10pm and visit cancer patients who prefer to be looked after at home.   The nurses' visits  allow family members to have a break and get some sleep.

The walk raised about £35,000, which equates to about 1,750 hours or 215 nights of Marie Curie nursing care.

If you wish to help this worthwhile cause, please go here to find out about donating, fund-raising  and volunteering  -->  http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/supportus/  

If you want to find out more about Nordic Walking, please do give me a call, or search for a local Instructor here -->  http://www.nordicwalking.co.uk/

All in all, an energetic, interesting and humbling evening in Richmond Park.

Peter

07703-404-931