Diary of a marathon: John Curtis walks for the SRBF
Latest News Saturday 27th August 2022, 12:19pm
JOHN Curtis' epic 265 mile plus cross Britain walk was a monumental financial boost for the Speedway Riders' Benevolent Fund....
John was still bathing his swollen feet in an ice-bath last week but happily also seeing his fund-raising efforts continue to grow.
A fortnight after setting off from Foxhall Heath Stadium and seven days after completing the marathon trek from Ipswich to Cardiff with a celebratory lap of the Principality Stadium track, John had smashed his initial £5,000 target – and by the end of this week could have doubled that amount.
He will be presented with a £1,000 cheque at Ipswich on Thursday night and that will see the total ease past £9,000 mark and heading for five figures with the justgiving.com account open until the end of September.
For John, a one-time team member at Sittingbourne and for junior league Anglian Angels (a combined Ipswich/King's Lynn side), kept his Facebook followers informed of his progress throughout the nine day walk.
DAY 1: Finally arrived at my destination, 33 miles and a tougher day than I'd expected but good to get it done. Now time to get some rest ready for tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for the messages of encouragement. It is really appreciated. Next stop Bishop's Stortford!
DAY 2: Huge thank you to June, owner of @drapershotel for her hospitality in letting me stay there last night and sorting breakfast for me and all generously free of charge. Really friendly pub & hotel and I will definitely make the effort to call in and see her and her team again.
Finish line nearly in sight. About an hour's walking left so game face on! Nearly £3.5k raised now which is amazing. Thanks to everyone who has donated so far, shown their support and for sharing the link. Bring on day three and who knows, I might not be alone!!
DAY 3: A quick stop for a lunchtime drink and really happy to welcome @dkingy86 of @ipswichwitches and @poolespeedway taking time out of his busy schedule to join me for this afternoons session and for some great company. Another 28 miles completed.
DAY 4: A long hot afternoon walking what at times felt like the whole Grand Union Canal and finally in Aylesbury. Unfortunately only a shower available so we'll see what difference that makes tomorrow. Another 30 plus miles today and tomorrow will get over the half way point. Need to get an even earlier start tomorrow as it's going to be another hot one! Now time to get cleaned up and get some rest. Can't believe this time tomorrow I should hopefully be in Oxford.
DAY 5: Time for a break, cool down and some foot maintenance. Had an early start today at 5.40 to take advantage of the cooler temps and get some miles done before it got hot and to hopefully get to Oxford at a decent time to maximise rest time.
Took the opportunity to call by @oxfordspeedway hard to believe I was there last Tuesday with @lol_hare watching @scottnicholls78 and @dkingy86 of @poolespeedway and now I've just walked here. I asked the staff on reception at @headoftheriver for a bucket and some ice and boy did they deliver. Hopefully this will set me up well as I've got some big miles to cover over the next three days.
DAY 6: A 3am start, the longest day and about a third done, taking advantage of the cooler temperatures and hard to get back to sleep when you know what's ahead of you. A quick breakfast stop before getting going again before it starts getting hot.
A hot and thirsty day with blocked footpaths to deal with but stunning views of the Oxfordshire countryside. Oh, and a long one. Was not looking forward to today but glad of the early start so 36 miles later I'm ice bathed, showered and ready for food. Legs felt tired from the first mile today so tonight they can have as long as they need and tomorrow will start when tomorrow starts.
DAY 7: Managed to patch up feet and get out by five this morning just over four hours in and ten miles done with about 22 to do. Legs and feet have never felt like this before and I can forget trying to set any speed records today. Slow and steady with as few stops as I can manage. Getting going again is not as easy as it was this time last week. Don't think left big toenail is going to make it all the way to Cardiff. Now getting some breakfast and provisions before the crossing into Wales.
Sun is starting to behave so may dispense with the blue mullet. All dignity gone now if it means I get to the end. Hopefully, only another three-ish hours walking left today but there's no rush and plenty of views to keep my mind off my aching limbs. Think aches from mile one are a thing now but not too much longer to Cardiff.
DAY 8: Well that's Day eight complete and another 31.5 miles done and now time for the improvised ice bucket challenge. Plenty of ice and no bucket so had to use my room's waste bin. Not sure how long it will hold water for, hence thought it best in the bathroom. A challenging afternoon with less obvious footpaths here in Wales. 250 miles done with only the last 14 or so to do tomorrow morning to get me to the Principality Stadium for 1pm, sharp. Can't believe a week ago I'd just about completed the first day and had all of this ahead of me.
DAY 9: Well, it's finally here. Day nine is here, not sure if having the finishing line in sight today is a help or not. Legs struggling to get going today but taking it one step at a time, literally. Next stop, Cardiff!
Made it!
Can't thank @speedwaygp enough to end my journey with a lap of the track. Can't quite believe it's done and I don't have a day's walking ahead of me tomorrow. What to do, I think. So appreciated the support, shares, likes and all that over the last nine days and thank you for donating.
Only thought it fitting to round off by showing a pic of these two boys enjoying themselves. I have put them through hell over the last week, disfigured them for life (well, a couple of months for the nails to grow back) and they never let me down. Only have flip flops that fit me now so if I do see you in Cardiff, careful where you tread!
He arrived, spot on time, at the stadium on Friday and couldn't believe how the speedway family had, yet again, responded.
He told me: "It was a relief to complete it, it was such a positive experience for me. My vocabulary doesn't go into the number of emotions I felt throughout the walk, it was the most amazing thing. There was times I though this is mad and on Monday before I came home I saw the weather forecast on TV. They had the weather for Cardiff on the map, they didn't have Ipswich but they did have Norwich [the closest city] and I couldn't believe I'd walked across the country, it seemed a bit unreal."
John, who was in Mark Loram's pits crew when he won the 2000 World Championship, averaged around 30 miles a day, although some were longer than others.
He went on: "I had planned to do 264 miles but it ended up a little more, something like 265 and a half! I had never done anything like this before and, early on, each day the first ten miles were not too bad, the second ten miles was tiring, and the third ten miles I had to dig deep. When I got to day six, even on mile one my legs were tired.
"I wasn't every close to giving up but I was very close to thinking I'm not going to be able to physically do it. Walking from Newport to Cardiff on the last day, it took an hour and a half to get my legs going and as far as I was concerned it would have been someone else who would have to have told me I couldn't continue, a doctor, a hospital, and, fortunately, it never got that bad.
"The only thing I was concerned about was not being known as the man who failed to walk to Cardiff!
"My feet were getting overheated and I had to take a slowdown break and it took me about an hour each morning getting my feet together for the day ahead, making sure I had the blister plasters were in the right place. I did have spare pair of shoes but they were the same size as the ones I was wearing so I couldn't change and that's why I got a bad big toenail.
"I'd have been disappointed if I'd got to Cardiff and felt quite fresh finding I hadn't punished myself. I was asked would I do it again and I answered no, not because it was so terrible but because it was the experience, the whole thing. I know if I did it again I'd do it quicker, it would be easier but it wouldn't be the same experience.
"With the current environment, I'd thought I'd struggle to get to £5,000, money is tight for everybody, so to be where we are is incredible."
During the walk, John's Achilles began to bleed and his feet are still swollen to such an extent that he is still not able to wear his normal shoes, admitting: "As soon as I got back to the hotel I'd have an ice bath to try and get a bit of the swelling down and since then all I have been wearing on my feet is flip-flops."
And John did have to change his plans because of the scorching sunshine throughout his expedition but he refused to even look at the forecasts, explaining: "I knew I couldn't control the weather and all I could control was how I reacted to it so I don't know what was the hottest day. I never knew whether it was 24 degrees of 34 degrees and I didn't want to know but I did have some lovely sunrises and some lovely sunsets and some lovely scenery on the way."
That included having to set off from an overnight stop in Oxford at 2.30am to make sure he had time to complete his longest leg of the trek and most days he was on his feet for at least 12 hours.
John, who, who bar from the final stage into Cardiff, kept to country paths and away from main roads, added: "The way the landscapes changed was lovely to see and, at one stage, I had a herd of cows, there must have been about 20 of them, joining me. Normally animals would get out of the way but I think they thought I was bringing them food and they would not leave me alone!"
After it was all over, there was still a surprise in store for John as friends Lawrence Hare and Jason Crump called his room at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cardiff city centre to tempt him to have a celebratory beer down at the bar.
Revealed John: "It was the most productive pint of lager I have ever had. A really nice lady came over to me and asked 'are you the guy who done the walk? She went back to her group and then came back a little while later, saying that ATPI's Ian Sinderson, who was in the group, would give £1,000 to the fund."
Danny King joined John on the third day despite having been racing four nights in a row and, to welcome him across the finish line, former Cardiff winner Ryan Sullivan did the honours flagging him home after he'd complete the equivalent of ten marathons in nine days.
Paul Ackroyd said: "We are absolutely thrilled and delighted John accomplished that is such extreme weather conditions. It's a great fillip for the Ben Fund."
