These boots were made for walking

I realised that I hadn't had chance to blog about the Mum's Midnight Walk I took part in last Saturday. It was a 6 mile walk, around the town, starting at midnight. The walk was in aid of Rainbows Hospice, a place where children and young adults with lime-limiting conditions can live life to the max.

Although I'd heard of Rainbows, I didn't know much about what they did until I got the walk leaflet through the door and decided to investigate. My initial reason for participating was to challenge myself physically (I hardly walk anywhere) and mentally (being in town on a Sat night with loads of drunk people and skinny women in short skirts does not appeal to me!). In the past, when I weighed considerably less than I do now, I was shouted at by a group of lads in a car as I crossed the road. They called out 'F*ing Hell - wide load!!' and another said 'Watch it, she might come back and sit on you!'. I was absolutely mortified. I knew I wasn't Kate Moss but I was only about a size 14-16 at the time. Since then I've hated walking because i've felt like a target for abuse. This walk was a way of facing up to that fear and deciding I wouldn't be afraid anymore.

As midnight approached I was really nervous, especially as I was doing the walk on my own. When I got to the Town Hall, where the walk was to start, I was told to find a walking 'partner' as they didn't want anyone being on their own for safety. Fortunately the group of women behind me asked if I'd like to walk with them, and so I was now part of Team M (Melanie, Marianne, Michelle and Maxine). We were given bright yellow t-shirts to wear, which wasn't so bad as everyone looked the same then.

I'd heard they were going to have sports massages available on the night so I plucked up the courage to have one done. It was a back and neck massage, where you sit on a sort of leaning chair. The woman was really putting her weight into it and my aniety-ridden muscles thanked her for it. I felt so much looser afterwards and it proved a conversation starter with others too.

Eventually midnight came and, after a brief aerobic warm-up, we were released onto the streets of Loughborough! I say released because that's the most appropriate term when 200 excitable women suddenly come pouring out onto the pavements. To start with, everyone was in a big group and we ended up walking down the middle of the road. The marshalls had quite a job keeping everyone a) quiet and b) safe from the traffic. Poor guys!

After a mile or so everyone had found their pace and fortunately mine matched Team M's pretty well. We all chatted and talked about why we were doing the walk. Some of my group had lost children and had used Rainbows in the pace so it was motivating to hear the good which would come of my fundraising. Halfway round the TLC minibus (what a great name) was handing out glasses of Pimms. I shared one with Mel and it put a spring back in my step. Before I knew it we were on Queens Road and just one corner away from the home straight. It went really quick and I was so proud of myself when I completed the 6 miles in 1h 55mins . We were all given goody bags containing Next toiletries and a medal, followed by a very welcome OJ and danish pastry.

As for people saying nasty things to me, well, a few people spoke to me but it was all things like "Who are you raising money for?" and "How far have you got to go?". No-one said anything that wasn't supportive and pleasant. Even walking back to the car afterwards I passed several drunk people who didn't give me a second look. A great result :)

Best of all, I raised £135 for Rainbows (with possibly more on the way) and the walk raised a total of £14,500 for Rainbows. Happy me!