How I Completed 'The Wall' Ultra-marathon - Jim's Story
30 Jun 16
The Wall
30 Jun 16
The Wall
That being said, it was an awesome experience, and as the physical and memory of pain fades, I am left with some incredible memories which will always remain. The strong sense of camaraderie from those that were in our team, and those that supported us along the way in many ways – all of whom were caring and selfless in giving their time, and in the way in which they looked after us. The genuine support from the people that I met along the way gave me faith in the humanity within us; from our fellow runners to the strangers sat outside The Angel Inn pub, in Corbridge on a Saturday evening at about the fifty mile point, who without exception clapped and spoke words of encouragement a we went past. The smiles of welcome from our team that were ahead of us and the words of encouragement as we met them at the pit stops were great, and with those words there was an underlying sense of determination.
There was tangible feeling that we were going to complete this challenge; there wasn’t any talk of failure, or pulling-out (although I am sure those thoughts weighed on many minds – it certainly did on mine). Why did I keep going, what made me complete The Wall? Well much of the drive came from what I have written above, and the desire to not let those that had trained so hard, and those that were supporting us down. To me there was the individual aim, but there was also a team involved here, and it was one that was close-knit. We were part of the orange and black Inzpire family, and I genuinely think we try our best, we try deliver, we do the right thing, we do things from the heart because they are the right thing to do. It is true to say that many were carrying pain, taking medication, and just getting on with it; not just within our team, but across the whole field of runners. My pain was from my feet, and simple though the injuries were, they made me ask myself if I should stop a number of times. I had told myself that doing this distance was going to be about mental rather that physical strength (although ‘yes I should have trained harder, or even trained at all to be honest!), so the need to have to tell my body to continue when it did not want to was part of the expectation.
The mental strength required by the many people that need the aid of our charities was the next in my thought process to continue. There was a realisation that no matter how hard The Wall felt, I could just stop at any time, or that in completing the challenge my difficulties would be short-lived and would quickly dissipate at the end. I thought that the varying difficulties of those who need the help of our charities are for a much longer and often permanent duration, and so a contributing factor that drove me to the finish was that they deserved some more effort on my behalf.
Finally, my thoughts were of my family, who had supported me since I had signed up, and who were waiting at the end. As I look back I feel proud of what I personally and we collectively have achieved, and whilst I will not run The wall again, I know that I loved the challenge it gave, and in my mind I am looking for another Ultra Marathon challenge already – hopefully with at least some of the people with whom, for me, this adventure has created a strong bond and many memories!
28.03.24
GECO
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