To help buy essential medical equipment for remote hospitals in Nepal, we decided to take on 100km walking challenge on our 16th Wedding Anniversary.
We started walking at 5:30am on Saturday 3rd July from Lake Fark County Park, Hayes, and 37hrs later, we crossed the finish line at Reading Station. To give this further perspective, there were only two of us started out on the challenge without any extra support as you would expect in an organised event, and with some determination, both of us did manage to finish this epic challenge.
The initial plan was to finish at Oxford but we finished at Reading instead for a bit of convenience of traveling back home. So I decided to change the route from Nettlebed. After walking 58kms that took us more than 15 hours, we arrived at Nettlebed just after 9pm. We decided to take a break as we were super tired. Sunday early morning, we had a quick breakfast and followed the Thames Path to finish at Reading Station.
We have never walked so long before and it was very tough physically and mentally. It has been said that the only training for long-distance walking is long-distance walking and we only had a few weeks of training but that's life! We never have enough time😀.
As best as we could, we tried to learn how fast/slow we could walk, how to tackle hills, manage fuelling and hydration, learn when to take a break and rest, and build up mileage. It helped us to be realistic with our plan and what we can achieve rather than just trying to finish within a fast time and struggle. It definitely required planning route/pace/navigation, preparing, and get ready for the walk in any weather. To pack as light as possible wasn't an option for us! We had to carry everything we needed from enough water to a first-aid kit and everything else.
With your contribution, we were able to buy two Oxygen Concentrator machines for Aruchanaute Primary Health Care Center in Aarughat Rural Municipality. We also helped to buy a Concentrator for Gorkha District Hospital in Gorkha Municipality and ECG machine for Baghauda Hospital in Madi, Chitwan.
Your support has been overwhelming and without a doubt, your donations and support motivated and inspired us to complete this challenge successfully.
Thanks to Ashmina (Mathura dai) bhauju and Sumina didi for joining us for the last 6 hours walk and for keeping us busy/distracted from our pain and the struggle with all the good conversations and the company.
I cannot stress enough how much planning, preparation, and effort you have to put into an endurance challenge like this but certainly, it can be done.
For Raphi, it was probably the hardest thing she has ever done. Was it the worst or the best ever challenge - that's for her to comment (honestly), but it is not something I can just recommend to do to everyone.
However difficult you think walking 100km would be, it was definitely harder. But pain is temporary, while the joy of completing a challenge will last forever! I certainly would like to take on 100 miles challenge next!
If you’ve got any spare change and would like to recognise our achievement and encourage us to go far and beyond, our *fundraising page is still open. All the rest of donations we have and will raise, we would like to pledge to a non-profit sharing organisation, **National Innovation Centre which is actively working on different projects to meet current and future needs with technology and developing the culture of research, technology, and innovation in Nepal.
Thank you.
