With exclusive access to the blister count and tales of trainer-troubles, Mike Gatting, Paul Thwaites and David Morgan - the SOFAST (Striding Out for Addenbrooke's and Sargent Together) charity walkers let us in on their daily diary... For more information about the SOFAST charity walk, see our Features section or visit the website at www.sofast.org.uk. Day 10 - Sat 25th Sept: It's Ladies' Day! As the coach drove up to the start, at the gates of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, the rain clouds arrived with the 20 or so ladies on board. This meant that the pink baseball caps they had came in very handy but the pink tabards that they were also wearing were mostly hurriedly covered up with waterproofs.  | | Give it up for charity! |
The ladies brought all of the walkers out to the starting line, as Paul, Mike and David all walked today. Steve Bryan was the daily sponsor today from Ashwell Homes, who decided not to wear the pink ladies outfit. Lawrence, Pink Geranium, had catered accordingly for the ladies with lots of tea, coffee and home made flapjacks. One thing that was a little more challenging for the ladies than the normal male walkers was the lack other facilities, as was commented upon “ There’s not even a bush here we’ll have to go behind those oil storage cans”. As the rain continued to fall and the ladies picked up the pace (they were cold and wet) the decision was made to change the finish point to the hotel, apologies to all at Newmarket Town Council and the band A4teen who were going to be meeting the ladies. However the Mayor of Newmarket Michael Jeffreys presented all of the ladies with their medals and Mary Archer came to congratulate all those who took part. Sarah Thwaites, who organised Ladies Day, commented “The ladies showed real determination as they all completed the stage today despite it being a very grey and wet day.” Everyone is now looking forward to the fun of the procession into Cambridge and “The Jamboree” on Parker’s Piece.
Day 9 - Fri 24th Sept: The end is in sight! There was a bit more of a spring in the step as the sun was shining as the walkers set off this morning. Paul was there leading the way, using his new smarties from the hospital, as the starting gun was fired by the Mayor of Diss. There were two walkers from FPD Savills, today’s daily sponsor, Mike Shaw and Will Stanton. Richard Chaplin, the SOFAST accountant, came to walk another day and had his own reception committee at the finish line as his work colleagues came out to see him. Mike’s infected toe is getting much better and he should back out with the walkers tomorrow. Dave Morgan walked the last leg today and will be walking tomorrow. Wortham school singing was a welcomed boost on route and “thank you” to the children for their donations. The pace really picked up throughout the day so much so the walkers arrived early, before the Deputy Mayor had arrived, so he joined the walkers in the bar for a drink.
Day 8 – Thurs 23rd Sept: Craig and Mark carry the SOFAST Flag  | | Gatting, Thwaites and Morgan |
It was another wet start on the steps of Norwich City Hall but made bearable with the presentation of a cheque for £600 to SOFAST from some of the Norwich Council employees. A disappointing day for the three main walkers as Mike needed immediate medical attention in the morning which resulted in him not being able to walk today and both Paul and David only managed to walk a little at the start - however, Craig Reader and Mark Langley still continue to cover the mileage. To keep spirits up bacon sandwiches appeared like magic at mid-morning thanks to Lawrence from the Pink Geranium liaising with a man in a layby snack van. And with that the day gradually brightened with the sun eventually coming out. The walkers were given a warm welcome at the Diss Cricket Pavilion where the cricket committee together with the Mayor of Diss, David Cooper, greeted them and there was a typical cricket tea waiting, which was very much appreciated. Day 7 – Weds 22nd Sept: Here comes the rain The start from Great Yarmouth set the tone for the rest of the day as the rain started as the Mayor of Great Yarmouth, Mike Taylor, fired the starting gun and accompanied the walkers down the pedestrian town centre - and the rain did not stop play all day. So the walkers really needed some inspiration and encouragement and this came just in time from the school children of Filby who were outside to wave and cheer the walkers, add money into the collecting buckets and sing to them. As the rain continued to come down the walkers reached Fleggburgh where more school children came out to cheer and boost the walkers. All of which helped to make for heavy collecting buckets, which were the responsibility of today’s daily sponsors, Chris Elliot from Barclays Capital Equity and Simon Gardner from Tucker Gardener Partnership. Paul, however, struggled today with his shin splints and spent a lot of the day receiving medical attention. As the bedraggled walkers crossed the finished line a tray of pint glasses was waiting for them - that sort of water they don’t mind! It was a quick turn around and off to the TV and radio studio (BBC Norfolk plugged our cause – a big thanks to Nikki) to help push for more donations. Day 6 - Tues 21st Sept: oh to be beside the seaside! We were virtually blown off the start this morning as Richard Smith, Chairman of the Town Council fired the starting gun. And that was how it was for most of the day, which made the going tough and meant that we all had to pull together as a team to help get everyone round. Our Operations Colonel did a sterling briefing this morning and he gave us some helpful advice on how to keep going, which was gratefully received. There was an interesting lay-by stop and collection from a social services bus where all eight lovely pensioners donated. Mark Langley is drumming up further support from his business contacts, with Driftwood Construction donating £1000.  | | Arriving at Salthouse Harbour in Ipswich |
Today we reached the halfway point - and not a moment too soon - and we celebrated with some Scottish fruit cake that Jim Boags, who was walking today, had brought with him. We were also joined by Tom Bentley, from Capital Structures, the daily sponsor and a work colleague of Mark Langley’s, who is walking the whole 11 days. The blister count has now been overtaken by the “Agony Line” as blisters are now actually bearable in comparison. The Agony Line – Paul’s shin splints are getting worse with Raoul, the physio, having to ice and bandage at 3am in the morning. The pace increased as we got closer to the end as Mike and all the cricket fans wanted to watch the cricket – wasn’t it great to beat the Aussies. We received a warm welcome as we came down the esplanade and were accompanied by the Mayor, Stephen Ardley, and the Town Centre Manager as we crossed the finish line. Day 5 - Mon 20th Sept: things are going swimmingly Being a Monday morning and traffic being very busy in Ipswich, we had a lie-in this morning and didn’t set off until 9:30am. We were sent off by the Mayor of Ipswich, Roger Fern, and had Karen Pickering joining us for the first part of the walk. Our luck with the weather took a bit of a turn today, starting extremely windy with a few bursts of showers along the way. Walking into wind really had an impact on the pace and made the going tough. The daily sponsor was a familiar face today, George Bradley of TP Associates, who had been worried about ensuring he had the right footwear did very well on the walking and shaking the collecting bucket. Paul had a medic stop early on to have a blister explode under his left big nail and his shoe needed cutting, the surgery was performed in a petrol garage and he was then back on the road. The blister count is now standing at 12 and our physio Raoul Pauw is being kept very busy each morning and evening as well as throughout the day. We received a very warm welcome in Saxmundham with many of the locals coming out to meet the walkers and take photos. There was also the presentation of three cheques from The Rotary Club, The Lions and the Town Council, which was fantastic. We were invited into the Saxmundham Museum, which had been opened specially for tea, coffee and biscuits - unfortunately the walkers couldn’t stay long as they needed to get back to the hotel for long baths. Day 4 - Sun 19th Sept: it’s National Walking Day! How well timed is that? It was a slightly different start to this morning as the starting gun was fired by Marcus Favonius, a Roman Soldier from Colchester, in his full outfit. Unfortunately he didn’t have the right footwear to accompany the walkers all the way to Ipswich. David was there at the start with the walkers too, he is currently on crutches to keep the weight off his feet to help heal them quicker. Our daily sponsor walker, Richard Chaplin, Grant Thornton, who is also the SOFAST accountant, was carrying one of the collecting buckets and contributing to what he would then be counting later. As part of the "Britain on the move" campaign - and it being National Walking Day - there were a number of walks taking place around Ipswich to get people out and exercising so it seemed a very appropriate destination. The second leg of today - of 8.3 miles - was covered in record breaking time of 1hour 45mins, the fastest leg of the walk so far. Mark Langley of Capital Structures said "for goodness sake don’t give the Chairman (Paul Thwaites) any more power gel supplements - he’s going to fly next!!" The blister count for tonight is looking not too bad at 14 (no David or Craig Reader, who left for a tennis final, today) between us and five near-toe-nail-losses for Paul. As we turned into the quayside we had quite a procession following us and encouraging us to the finish point where Abigail Horne and family welcomed us over the finish line. Abigail’s story is told in the SOFAST souvenir brochure (this can be purchased from the SOFAST website at www.sofast.org.uk. Day 3 - Sat 18th Sept: one blister too many Unfortunately the walking boots of Thursday took their toll on David Morgan’s feet and the cumulative blisters after day two has meant that for medical reasons he cannot walk today and probably not for the next few. However, David wished us all well as we set off this morning from the main High Street in Chelmsford, where we hit our first traffic problem, which meant the walkers had to be skirted around the incident by vehicle. However, once on their way they were happy to be blown along by the wind but not so happy when walking into the wind. The pain threshold was really being tested today with a long distance and a good number of hills; it’s lucky there is lots of water on board from Cambridge Water Company as we needed to keep replenishing liquid levels very frequently. Our daily sponsor walker, Charles Webb from Kester Cunningham John solicitors, was not expecting such good weather and had to borrow a pair of shorts as it was so warm early on. So far we have been lucky with the weather with only a few spots of rain. The weather also helps with collecting en route, which went very well as we went through parishes such as Tiptree and Great Totham - they were brilliant. There was a touching moment of the day in Maldon when a little boy came running down his front garden path with his penny jar and said “you can have all my savings”. Surprisingly, although the High Street in Colchester was busy, the collecting didn’t go so well – maybe they are all donating online. The blister count for tonight is not looking good at 22 between us and Paul has three loose toenails. In the end we did actually arrive earlier than predicted at the Memorial Gates in Colchester, where the Mayor and Mayoress were just in time to receive the walkers. After a long day like today it is important to remember why we are all doing this so please do your bit too. Day 2 – Fri 17th Sept: bumbling Bunbury’s We had a very good start this morning, as we were presented by the Mayor of Great Dunmow, Cllr Miller and the Town Clerk, Mr Wilson, with a cheque for £2000 from Dunmow and District Community Fund. It was a noisy start as the Town Crier from Great Dunmow came to announce and greet the walkers and continued to do so up the High Street. The starting pistol was fired by headmaster Simon Knight and some of the school children from Helena Romanes School were also there to see us on our way to Chelmsford. Great Dunmow is on the leader board for monies raised in an area so far. Along the route we were joined by Richard Bevan, Professional Cricketers Association, who has been raising a lot of sponsorship in preparation for this walk. Also joining today to encourage the walkers was David English as well as some of his team mates from the Bunbury’s celebrity cricket team including Paul Grayson (local Essex cricketer) and David Smith (Surrey and England). Today’s daily sponsor walker, Lee Melin from Bidwells, kept up with the pace very well. There was also a major donation from G & M Exterior Profiles along the way.
We finished in High Chelmer shopping centre this afternoon to a good crowd all of whom were interested in how the walkers were faring. Mayor Ian Wright walked the last section into the shopping centre and presented all of the walkers who had joined us for the day with a medal. The blister count for tonight has increased slightly to 20 between us, having covered around 43 miles and a total of 18 marathons to date - given all of the walkers involved. Day 1- Thurs 16th Sept: and we’re off! We couldn’t have wished for better weather for the start, bright blue skies, nor a better send off from Addenbrooke’s. We had quite a crowd gather to see us off including the Mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Robert Drysden, Lady Archer and Malcolm Stamp, Chief Executive of Addenbrooke’s, and many of the patients from the wards also came out. We also had the company of Mitchell Leggett for the first part of the walk out of Addenbrooke’s. In November 2002 it was discovered that Mitchell had a Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which is a cancer of the lymphatic system. After a programme of chemotherapy at Addenbrooke’s Hospital to shrink the swelling, which was starting to obstruct his airways, all of his three month regular check-ups have resulted in good news. Now, as well as playing in goal at football he also enjoys riding his motorcross bike. We were also joined today by several walkers for today’s leg - Rob Ross Russell from Addenbrooke’s, Dick Burge, Bank of Scotland and the daily corporate sponsor who is today Chetwood Associates and their walker Clive White. For the first day it was a long one, a gruelling 28 miles. At mile 10, Paul Thwaites had a shin splint problem but physio Raoul Pauw taped the ankle up and he was able to continue. The day was helped greatly by the food provided en route by The Pink Geranium, which managed to combine quick 'on the move' food that was tasty – as well as being easy to grab while walking. Finally we were downhill towards the duck pond, where we were very grateful to see the finish sign and the Great Dunmow Mayor and Mayoress and Town Clerk Owen Wilson there to congratulate us at the end of the first day. The blister count for tonight is looking at a total of 17 between us. Looking forward to a slightly shorter walk tomorrow and some familiar faces joining us including David English and some of his Bunbury’s celebrity cricket team as well as Richard Bevan, Chairman from the Professional Cricketers Association. | 
