The New Lyke Wake Club

Crossing report – 16th June – slaying the dragon!

The start

We departed at 7:15am on Saturday the 16th of June 2018, in a team of two brothers from Bishop Auckland, Chris (33) and Daniel (36).

With Chris leading on navigation, we sailed through the first 10 miles having walked this section before on a practice walk many years earlier. This was somewhat of a dragon-slaying mission, you see.

We’d had two attempts at the walk before, and both times we didn’t even make it to the start – the fuel crisis of 2000 and the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001 stopped us in our tracks, before life left the walk behind.

Fast forward 17 years, and having achieved our first goal of getting to the start, we met our parents and their picnic chairs at our 10-mile checkpoint, and then thundered through to our girlfriends at our 20-mile checkpoint.

The heavens opened nearing our 30-mile checkpoint, and, alas, our girlfriends were nowhere to be seen due to a timing mix-up. We continued on, sliding down the valley side in a raincoat-penetrating storm.

With 33 miles on the clock, we still pretty much felt like we’d just got out of bed. That feeling would crumble fast though, the hidden ‘valley of doom’ sapping the last of our strength as we stumbled and dragged ourselves to the tower on the horizon, arriving at the hallowed stone 13.5 hours and 41 miles since departure.

A great walk – and a slayed dragon!
Daniel

Still smiling at the finish……………………….