Reporter goes walking after midnight

May 22 2009

OUR big-hearted reporter Lorraine Howard was one of the hundreds of people who took part in the midnight walk. And the experience was unforgettable.

“FANCY taking part in a walk to help the Ayrshire Hospice?” That seemed like a good idea in January when it was raised in the office, I mean who could refuse that offer.

But as we hit the nine mile mark in the early hours of Sunday morning, there was a fleeting moment when it all seemed too hard to reach the 13 mile mark.

I should add at this point that, like most people I spoke to on the run up to the Midnight Walk, I thought it would be, dare I say, a walk in the park.

And I had almost laughed off the notion of training for the walk, I mean, it wasn’t a marathon my co-walkers, S&UN sub-editor Vivienne McNeil and S&UN front counter star Nan McGill were attempting, it was a WALK.

We did attempt one stroll on a sunny night and felt confident that after four miles we could stop and be rest assured that we could proceed another nine – but as we reached the Pavillion in Ayr and my bladder began to fill and my feet started to throb, I regretted dismissing the training sessions.

But despite the pain and the rain we kept marching, along with the 1727 other walkers who marched proudly in memory of their loved ones and to commemorate the astounding work of the Hospice team.

In among the tutus, bunny ears, glow-sticks and fancy dressed participants, we walked proudly, even gathering a lot of speed to keep our pace and perhaps reach our end target a little quicker.

The banana, bottle of water and Mars bar we were given half way through were a real boost for everyone and you could hear the sighs of relief as the portable loos came into view.

And everyone, armed with their free waterproof ponchos, spurred each other on as we walked through Ayr and Alloway.

Vivienne’s common sense attitude, “let’s get the job done,” kept us walking and poor Nan’s feet ached at the seven mile mark but she soldiered on, proudly carrying her map round her neck and finding her pocket torch just the job for negotiating her way inside the portable toilet.

As we neared the end of the walk, we asked ourselves if we could go on for another 13 miles, a resounding, “oh no,” was spouted in unison from this trio who were sore and tired but kept on marching till we reached the racecourse and were given our medals.

We skipped the bacon roll and cuppa as we couldn’t face a queue and the weary walk to the car park seemed liked an eternity – it was the best seat in the world when we got there.

But as we hoped to we got the job done and it was worth the blisters and aches to help this worthy cause.