This year's Moonlight Stroll dawned yet another typical UK summer grey day and we feared another downpour as per last year. Driving over towards Oxford the omnious spits of rain hit the windscreen of the car and we all thought, "Oh no, not again". When we arrived at the school starting point, we purchased the obligatory wet weather ponchos and prepared ourselves for a drenching.
Then a miracle happened... the clouds parted, a nice breeze blew and it stayed dry... for the entire walk!
After our warm up on the playing fields we set off heading right this year towards the city centre of Oxford. They changed the route this year to make it more interesting and I have to say it was so much better. We kept a steady pace and there was so much more things of interest that the time seemed to pass really quickly. Before we knew it, we were at the halfway point on Magdalen Bridge. We ate our energy banana & flapjack, grabbed a bottle of water and set off for the return leg.Last year, everything started to hurt in earnest (and I mean everything) around about now. Sore knees, sore feet, sore ankles, sore back... you name it, it took it in turns to say "Are we nearly there yet?!". But this time, I don't know if it was the good weather or the revised route, but my only ache was a slight cramp in my toe. The last mile took FOREVER when we did the 2007 walk, but we were pleasantly surprised to see the last marshall, especially when he said, "well done, only 20 minutes to go from here"... then suddenly we were at the finish line!
We glanced at our watches. Not only had we had a really nice walk but we'd beaten last year's time by just under an hour. We set off at 10.40pm and finished at 01.10am. We collected our medals and signed back in, tired but happy. Walking across the playing field to the car park, wishing I had some Wizard of Oz shoes to whisk me home, I felt the ominous spots of rain... but our stroll was over for this year and we were still dry!Thank you to all of you who donated so generously to The Whinging Wanderers & Sobell House. This is an event that is close to everyone's hearts and your donations were gratefully received. Roll on next year :)
S x
