Sharp Sponsored Walk for Prostate - June 11th 2009
Well we prayed for a break in the weather and boy did we get it, the clouds parted and the sun shone down on what would be a great day. The day started with a normal snarl up on the M4 (London Tube Strike) so there was a delay in reaching the Surrey Hills. This was further compounded by one of the coaches ending up in a ditch at 45 degrees (woops), thankfully no one was hurt and with everyone's help the coach was eventually back on the road.
Once at the Parrot Inn the venue for the start of the walk everyone tucked into bacon rolls and coffee. The teams were briefed on road safety and the team competition, the teams were.
- Northern Heights
- Surrey Hill Billies
- No Payne No Gain
- The Bee G G's
- Do It For Dad
- What a Bunch of Walkers
- Woody's Wanderers
- Empire
- The Rock 'n' Strollers
- Wii Un-Fit
After much squelching of Sun cream the teams went off in three minute intervals into the Surrey Hills. The first 30-40 minutes were definitely the most challenging as it was all up hill, but once they reached Stage 1 the walk became much easier.(although not helped by team Empire changing the arrows!!!) Stage 2 was in the lovely village of Holmbury St. Mary, which was designated as a 'loo stop' in the Royal Oak Pub for the ladies. (To pee, or not to pee that definitely was the question!) The 3rd Stage was in the beautiful village of Peaslake with its famous Village Stores used in numerous TV and film sets. Most of the team Questions were centred in the village the most challenging of which was the Compass clue (easy for ex Scouts and Girl Guides!) To get get the compass each team had to find out the cost of a cheese straw and tell Nolly the answer. Not a problem and many of the excellent cheese straws were eaten. There was also an opportunity to send a Postcard of Peaslake to a well deserved sponsor.
Once out of Peaslake it was only 45 minutes to the finish at Stage 4 where everyone was picked up and ferried back to the Parrot Inn for a fantastic BBQ lunch. During the afternoon there was an Archery competition held and a chance for each team to increase there points tally.
After lunch Paul introduced Bill Elliot a Prostate survivor who regularly speaks on behalf of the Prostate Charity. Bill was engaging from the start and even when it began to rain captivated the audience with his personal tale of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and how he managed it, and finally beat it Talking to everyone afterwards they all agreed that Bill was one of the most inspiring people they had ever meet.
It was then time for some funny awards:
- Biggest Blister award went to Melissa Stevens
- The Slow Coach Award went to Siobhan Miller
- The Sherpa Award went to the coach drivers whose Sat Nav sent them the wrong way.
- The Robin Hood award went to Aiden McGlew for his Bulls eye in the Archery competition.
The individual who raised the most money on the day went to John O'Neil who raised a fantastic £505
- Well done the wee man!
The final team placings were:
- Northern heights 148pts
- Empire 146pts
- What a bunch of walkers 137pts
- Woodys wanderers 135pts
- Wii Un Fit 135pts
- Rock 'n' strollers 131pts
- B GG's 131pts
- Do it for dad 128pts
- Surrey hill billies 113pts
- No payne no gain 105pts
A BIG thank you to everyone who took part, especially the Marshalls who gave up their time to help run the day, to Bill Elliot for his exceptional and inspiring talk and to Linda and all of the staff at the Parrot for looking after us so well. It was a great day and helped to get our campaign to raise £50,000 for the Prostate charity off to a fantastic start.
See you all at the Hoedown at Sundown on the 25th July!
Paul and the S4P Team
If you wish to participate in any of these events, or if you have questions, you can email me for more information or to book, at lisa.clark@prostate-cancer.org.uk
