Organised and supervised by the British Army’s legendary Gurkhas, the Trailwalker 2007 event started at 8am on 14 July and required competitors to follow a 100km course along the South Downs Way to finish in Brighton at 5am the following day.
The trio – chief executive officer Colin Sanders, national accounts manager Jim Nash and sales support manager Lee Carling – trained hard ahead of the trek but still found it a challenge unlike any other they’ve taken on.
Sanders recalled: “I consider myself to be in pretty fair nick and have recently completed endurance tests like the Iron Man Challenge. But this was something else. It’s certainly not a jolly stroll in the country, and I’ve some vivid memories of the longest 21 hours of my life. Chief among these is the flint paths you have to negotiate. Tough to get any purchase on, your knees soon feel the strain. And then there was the weather. Not long after enjoying the most incredible sunset I’ve ever seen, a bolt of lightning missed us by feet as the heavens opened. And as for the state of Lee’s feet, I’m not even going to go there.”
He added: “Despite everything, the experience is fantastic. As a bonding exercise, it’s as good as it gets. And to know you’ve done it for a cause like Oxfam makes it well worthwhile. I’d recommend it to anyone. I think.”
