Since 2022 I’ve taken part in four of the many walking events organised by the Ultra Challenge team, the London Bridges Trek twice (I only did it twice because the first year they closed one or two of the bridges and I considered that unfinished business!), Windsor Easter Walk and the London Winter Walk and this would turn out to be my fifth. Originally, I’d planned to take part in the Winter Walk again in January 2026 but an accident while walking from Seaford to Eastbourne in the summer of 2025 put paid to that idea and I had to defer my place in the Winter Walk and transfer to a place in the 25km Summer Walk.
Back in June 2025 I’d done the difficult bit of getting over the early hills of Seaford, over the Seven Sisters and was heading towards Beachy Head when it all went wrong. I was guilty of the cardinal sin of trail walking, paying more attention to the views rather than where I was going, and because of that inattention my foot found a rabbit hole causing my leg to go one way and my ankle the other. Ouch! I probably did more damage walking on it for what felt like half an hour to get off the clifftop and back to a bus stop!
I didn’t break the ankle, it was much worse, I severely damaged several ligaments and tore a tendon. Despite the nurse in the hospital telling me to rest it for two weeks and then start walking on it, the recovery period was much much longer. My physio told me more than once that I’d have been better off breaking it as the recovery period would have been a lot shorter! It was a full year before I could even complete a five mile walk and before the event the furthest I’d walked was eleven miles so this was to be a voyage of discovery as to how far the ankle had come and how it would react to a 25km walk.
The morning dawned and I headed out to catch the train at 6.15am. After a fairly painless journey (which is unusual for me and rail travel) I arrived at Woolwich station just after 9 o’clock. There were a lot of people kitted out for the walk so I followed them up the hill to Woolwich Barracks, eventually seeing the flags and tents and headed straight into the registration area already with three miles of walking in my legs.
After registering and receiving my number I headed towards the area where the charity I was supporting Dementia UK were, where I had a nice chat with Natasha and Philip, who are two lovely people. I’d only decided four weeks before the walk I’d definitely take part and two weeks later that I’d try to raise some sponsorship for the charity. My reason for choosing Dementia UK was simply that I’d lost a couple of friends through this horrible disease over the last year and only found out the night before the event that another friend who has been in a hospice with dementia for a while had passed away the day before. That news certainly focussed my desire to finish this challenge in their names. Natasha took a couple of photos to put on social media before I headed towards the start area ready for my 10am start time.
While waiting in the start area I received a message from Fiona, a lady I’d met on a previous walk who has been doing these events for nearly ten years now and we’d kept in touch with on the Ultra Challenge group Facebook page. I’d thought I might see her after, she had a 10.30am start time, but she’d got there early so we were standing chatting while the warm up was going on in the background.
Just before ten o’clock we had the countdown and moments later we were on the way, my first walking challenge in nearly two years. Down the hill and off towards a first view of the Old Father Thames. There we headed into the Woolwich Foot tunnel heading under the Thames and out again on the other side. There was a downwards spiral of steps going down which meant the same on the other end, there was an elevator you could use but it was early in the walk and that would be cheating. Right?
Here I met Michelle who was walking for the same charity and was taking part in her first Ultra Challenge event. We chatted for a while and before she moved off ahead into the distance.
Next up after crossing the Sir Steve Redgrave Bridge was London City Airport on the left of a large expanse of water which caters for several sports including rowing. We headed over the other side, a long path alongside the water past the University of East London, the Royal Albert Dock and ExCel, with Canary Wharf looming closer in sight.
Here I chatted to another couple who were experienced Ultra Challenge participants resplendent in their new Summer Walk tops. Jokingly I asked if we’d get a go on the cable cars to which the lady told me they had actually done that on the first walk there back in 2015. It goes to show there are people out there that must be masochists, they just keep coming back for more. Hang on, that’s me too! We chatted for a while as we went past the floating hotel and London City Hall before taking a right turn towards Canning Town and followed the main road going over the River Lea.
Next, we went around the perimeter of East India Dock before joining the Thames Path to Blackwall. On this stretch I’d got talking to Lyn and Nicola after I’d used them to pace myself for a while. They had started as solo walkers, started talking on the way and decided to stay together for the rest of the walk. Things like this tend to happen on these walks with many people staying in touch long after the event.
Across the water was the huge site of the O2, a great photo op! We weaved our way along the waterfront past the Isle of Dogs pumping station, saw the Uber passenger boat speed past, all the while on the other side of the water the halfway point stop at the University of Greenwich was coming into view.
For a second time we went under the Thames, this time via the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which is badly named these days. Despite there being no cycling signs every ten metres in the tunnel, bikes were zooming past with most being takeaway delivery riders on electric bikes. Not a great experience made worse by another annoyingly steep flight of steps up from the tunnel (again they had a lift which again I declined to use so can’t grumble too much), it was not the ideal thing to encounter just before the rest stop!
There were a lot more people around in this section than we’d seen so far with many there to visit the Cutty Sark but for me it was all about getting to the halfway point, which was actually 15km in on the 25km course so a little more than half way, for a sit down and something to eat.
I’d not eaten much in the morning so was already running low on energy so needed some more fuel but there didn’t seem to be much available and all I managed to get was a doughnut and slice each of water and honeydew melon. I did manage a couple of electrolyte drinks and to refill my water bottle but I knew the second half was going to be a challenge despite only having 10km left to complete. At the stop I did catch up with Michelle again as well as Philip from the Dementia UK charity who was also taking part.
Had I thought about it I should probably have stopped at one of the food outlets we passed on restarting but my thoughts were now just focussed on getting to the finish. I did walk past the couple I’d met earlier who were having a sneaky drink outside one of the pubs on the riverfront and it wouldn’t be long before they were back ahead of me again as fatigue really started kicking in.
There were not nearly as many sights to take in one the second section and it wasn’t the most scenic with diversions and roadworks puncturing the route. Once we’d rounded the O2 from this side of the river we left the works behind and had a nice section of riverside walking in front of us. I couldn’t believe there were a big group of people actually walking up the side of the O2 or were they abseiling down? I couldn’t tell. My only thought was that you wouldn’t catch me doing that in a million years!
By the time the Thames Barrier appeared I was really flagging as my body seemed to descend into survival mode and had to stop just for a quick rest and to take on some more fluids. It was really nice how many people taking part checked to see if I was okay as they went past, this pretty much sums up this walking community for me.
A right turn at the Thames Barrier and we were on the final 5km or so. I started talking to Serena from Essex as we walked through a couple of parks, one of which had some evil steps that seemed never ending, we shared the pain of that with both of us stopping halfway up! She told me she was also doing the London Bridges Trek in a couple of weeks’ time so I gave her a little info on what to expect, if you’re reading this good luck next month! We kept talking throughout the closing stages of the walk and I thank her for that, the level of excitement at seeing the tents and flags in the distance was probably a bit excessive but I’m sure it was that distraction that got me over the finishing line.
It’s always a great moment to walk over the line to be met by the fabulous cheer squad and the sense of achievement upon receiving the medal is a great feeling. I headed to the food counter and ordered a burger which was lovely but I couldn’t eat it all, although I knew I needed to eat something my body just didn’t want to, I guess I’d teetered over the edge of exhaustion. I talked to Amy from Cambridge who had just completed the 42km course which I later found out was her eighth event with Ultra Challenge. Fiona came in around fifteen minutes later in a new personal best time and we all sat around chatting for a while exchanging challenge stories and cursing the course designer for putting those steps in at the end! It’s always a pleasure to speak to Fiona and great to meet Amy, I hope her journey home to Cambridge went smoothly.
I also caught up with Philip when he finished but it sounded like he had a torrid time, picking up a foot injury before halfway and struggled to finish but finish he did. A top man!
It was then time for me to head off back to the station where the journey home was a little more eventful but that’s another story.
The main thing I’ve learnt from this walk is if (more likely when!) I take on another challenge I’ll definitely look to book a hotel near to the event headquarters so I can make sure I am fully fuelled before the start! Leaving very early in the morning meant I didn’t have time to prepare or eat anything and went into the walk under fuelled which as I found out, isn’t a very clever thing to do.
In the end it was just pure bloody mindedness and remember my friends on my part as well as Serena talking to me that got me over the line. I’m also pleased to report that although my ankle was aching from around the Excel area onwards, it didn’t break down or cause any issues with walking at any point so I’m optimistic it’ll be fine to take on another challenge next year, it’s just which one? I don’t think I’m ready yet to take on any trail courses as I’d still be paranoid about getting acquainted with another rabbit hole!
Looking back on the day, I can say I really enjoyed it. The organisation was excellent, the trek masters were very helpful and I met so many wonderful people on the course. Everyone has a story to tell and it is just a wonderful community of people who can get along while enjoying a walk and also challenging themselves. A lot of the participants were using the event to raise funds for many different charities and it’s great to see so many worthy causes benefitting from these events. I think I saw t-shirts from most charities I know and a few I knew nothing about so it was good to talk to those people to find out more. I’d just like to say thanks again to everyone involved for making this such a memorable day!
Footnote: The saying on the Ultra Challenge Facebook page is that when you finish an ultra your first words are usually never again. But later, it could be hours or days, but you do find yourself starting to look at and booking other events. They are strangely addictive!
So, no pretence from me this time, here’s to the next one wherever and whenever it may be!
