Day 4 - Swindon to Cheltenham

Another early start that I almost missed.  I'd silenced the notifications on my phone so I didn't get beeps in the middle of the night when junk e-mails arrived.  What I hadn't realised is that also silences the alarm!  The flashing of the screen did wake me but about 10 minutes late.  

The blister that developed yesterday was extremely painful as it's quite deep - in fact it woke me in the night when I rolled over and it pressed against the mattress.  So padding that was something that had to be done before I set off.  Which ate (pun intended) into my time for breakfast.  In fact Scott and I both left with breakfast in our hands sourced from Neil's wonderful supplies as the hotel didn't start serving until an hour after we wanted to be off.


Scott was really suffering from the beginning.  Overnight his left shin had swollen to double its normal size and was bright red - a worrying development as it can be an indicator of a serious problem.  We hobbled out the door at 0640 as Jez took a picture for the twitter feed.

Leaving Swindon - only just daylight

Jez had warned us that there were a couple of wet fields to cross - he wasn't kidding.  Within 15 minutes of leaving our feet were soaked.  We quickly fell behind schedule as it wasn't possible to run in the mud and Scott was struggling to run even on solid ground.  He also had a problem with the insoles of his trainers moving around and sliding out of position.

Within a few miles we were back on the Thames Path, though here the Thames looks very different from when we'd last seen it.

River Thames near Cricklade

It quickly became apparent that we were in serious calorie deficit from yesterday and suffering from lack of recovery time.  Even though the day was warming up we were both still cold and wearing hats, gloves and windproof jackets.  That was to get worse during the day with both of us suffering the dreaded "bonk" at around the 20 mile mark, even though we'd refuelled whenever we'd met Neil.  

Wild cyclamen growing along the path

With all the different problems we were barely covering 3 miles an hour at times.  That wasn't good when we had a team of people waiting to greet us at the finish who still wanted to get home in time for tea.

Jez caught us up around lunchtime, shortly before we met up with Neil.  That didn't stop us diving into Rendcombe post office for sustenance.  

Meeting Neil came just in time for me as I now had wet feet for over 6 hours.  When I came to change my socks and trainers the sole of my right foot was just beginning to turn white.  Another hour and I'd have been in serious trouble.

Jez kept us moving during the afternoon counting down the miles until we would meet the team rather than miles to the finish - good psychology there.  It seemed like a long time but suddenly we popped out onto the road and there they were a hundred yards away.  There were high fives and hugs as they took us under their wing to help us over the final three miles.  

At the supporters meeting point

We'd done it! We had run, walked, shuffled and (in Scott's case) limped all the way from London to Cheltenham.

Made it - Jez, Neil, Scott and I at the finish

Today's reasons to be cheerful:

- first female finisher of the Westminster to Cheltenham run
- oldest finisher of the Westminster to Cheltenham run 


Today's stats:

Distance: 31 miles (141 miles from Westminster)
Elevation gained:701 metres



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19/09/17 - edited to add additional photos