Charity Events

Bungee Jump!

You would have thought that now I am a thirty-something sensible mother of two, I really ought to know better. But no.

I have always been the type of person to shun anything that may be classified as extreme. So when the email came round from Make-A-Wish about a sponsored bungee jump for their 21st Birthday you would expect me to have done the sensible thing and press delete.

Contrary to expectations, I said “yes”, signed up there and then and began collecting sponsorship. Of course when you agree to something 4 months before the event you can happily kid yourself that it is a long way off. However, September came round an awful lot faster than anticipated and before I knew it I was sat in a cage, 170ft above Wyboston Lake in Bedfordshire.

Here was my choice: look a complete fool in front of my husband, children and parents (not to mention all the people who sponsored me), turn into a quivering wreck, fall to my knees, arms wrapped around the ‘Bungee master’ begging to be lowered back to terra firma; or shuffle towards the open gate, look straight ahead and on the count of three jump.

I jumped! Not sure how or what came over me to make me do it, but I am extremely glad that I did. It was the most incredible experience of my life (other than child birth – at least it was nowhere near as painful as that!).

Once safely back into the loving arms of my family the sensible mother returned. Yeah right! I now catch myself thinking about what’s next. A wing walk, helicopter bungee, trek…….hmmm we’ll just have to wait and see. This extreme sport lark is definitely addictive. I think I shall certainly be doing something else before long.

Of course there is always a downside to this kind of thing. My eleven year old announced that he wants to do a bungee jump when he is old enough. Of course I can hardly try and talk sense into him having done it myself. So it may not be long before I am the one on the ground looking up through my fingers, heart in mouth as I have to watch my first born hurl himself into thin air. Maybe we could do a tandem jump?

Moonwalk 2008

 

After months of preparation and training walks, the big day of the Moonwalk had finally arrived. London’s Hyde Park was bustling with women dressed in decorated bras (and a few men too) all soaking up the atmosphere as the sun began to fade.

The huge pink tent in the park was home to the 15,000 participants prior to the start of the marathon. We were entertained by a Bollywood style band followed by a Rock group. Unfortunately, as we all waited outside for the countdown to start, the drizzle began to fall along with the temperature. We shivered for an extra 25 minutes as the VIP walkers were rather late getting to the start line.

Finally, at 11.25pm we were released onto the streets of London much to the delight of the crowd and walkers. The drizzle, thankfully, was short lived and I managed to walk the first 12 miles or so in my bra before it got so cold I had to don my jacket to prevent the onslaught of hyperthermia! The atmosphere was amazing and there were small groups of well wishers along most of the route – mainly men, strangely enough.

At the four mile mark we saw the Thames and headed along the North Bank towards Tower Bridge. London looked fabulous lit up. We then crossed the river and headed west along the South Bank past The Globe and Tate Modern. As we walked past the London Eye, the Half Moon walkers peeled off and crossed back over the Thames whereas the Full Mooners continued on through Battersea Park and crossed the Thames again at Albert Bridge.

After a six mile walk through the dark and rather uneven residential streets of Chelsea and Knightsbridge we arrived back at the Thames marking the 20 mile point. Our legs were getting tired but we knew we were on the home straight so dug in and continued along our merry way back towards the Houses of Parliament. As we neared St James’s Park we caught up with some of the Half Mooners who cheered us on as we wove our way through them.

At long last the 24 mile marker appeared as we strode past Buckingham Palace – only 2.2 miles left! The sun was now shining and we arrived at the finish line at 5.10am. It had taken just 5 hours and 46 minutes to complete the 26.2 miles. Completely exhausted but thrilled to have finished we grabbed our bags and made our way to Park Lane where a wonderful friend was waiting with Champagne and Croissant.

Despite the aching legs and sore feet it was a fantastic event to be involved in and who knows, I could be tempted to do it all over again (in a year or two). Thank you to everyone who sponsored me – through your support and generosity I raised £700!