Day 1 of the Walk

Hi everyone!

I hope you’ve all had a great week. Well, the time has come – it's finally time to talk about the start of the Walk for Pia! Bear with me, though, as it’s nearly been three years since this all began, so I’ll do my best to remember everything.

We arrived in Essex the night before the walk was due to start, and the nerves I felt were like nothing I’d ever experienced. The anticipation was almost overwhelming, and as we got closer to the start, I realised just how big this was going to be. It wasn’t just a walk – it was a chance to honour Mum and make a difference.

The day before - our smiles were a lot bigger here!

 The Morning of: Emotions Running High

We all woke up early and came down to the hotel lobby in our matching Walk for Pia merchandise, and I remember feeling the biggest rush of emotion. The t-shirts all had mum’s face on them, and the love I felt for her was immeasurable. All these people were walking and donating for my amazing mum, and I remember thinking, I hope she is watching us right now, feeling loved and proud.

Joining the core walkers on Day 1 were Pernille and Laetitia, two of Mum’s closest friends. Having a small but close-knit group of people to start the journey with was perfect. It made everything feel more personal and meaningful, and we felt at ease with each other right from the start.

When we got to our starting point, we were greeted by journalists from BBC Look East and

ITV, which made the whole thing feel even more surreal. The first hour was spent doing interviews and taking photos, and it really made us stop and think about the magnitude of what we were doing. We were all so excited, and it definitely gave us a huge boost of motivation.

Interviewing for BBC

When we eventually set off, it was a beautiful sunny day, and the vibes were so good! We all had a spring in our step that first day, though little did we know, that spring would become a shuffle by Day 12!

The walk was great, we all felt really strong, and all were on the same wavelength as to when we wanted to stop for a snack break or lunch etc. The only tough thing about day 1 was the distance! I was under the impression that dad would have planned the route to start us off easy, but evidently, I was wrong! The route planned was 21 miles, and the thought of walking a few miles short of a marathon for the first day had me worried!

But despite that, I remember really enjoying myself. However, by about mile 16, it was very obvious a lot of us were struggling. But we all kept reminding ourselves why we were doing it, and the thought of mum kept us going. That, and the constant stops for sweets on the way!

I never knew my Auntie Paola was so obsessed with jelly babies until that day! Genuinely by the end, every 30 minutes someone was stopping at a shop and coming out with bags of sweets! And of course, they were all devoured within minutes. We got ice lollies, chocolate, sweet and pastries… basically anything with sugar was at danger of being inhaled by all of us.

One of my favourite memories from the walk involves my dad—and his classic, stubborn ways. After four months of intense training, he decided that today would be the day he’d try out his new knee brace. Now, I have no idea why he thought it was a good idea to test it out on the actual walk, but he was determined. We all tried to warn him that it probably wasn’t the smartest move, but being my dad, he chose to ignore us and plow ahead.

As the day went on, we noticed his calf slowly starting to swell. And by the end of the day, it was so inflamed that he could barely walk. But did that stop him? Of course not. He kept pushing through, limping along in agony just to prove a point. When we finally finished for the day and he took off the knee brace, he sheepishly admitted that maybe, just maybe, trying out a knee brace on a perfectly fine knee wasn’t the best decision!

The first day was also the day we discovered our anthem of the walk - 500 miles, The Proclaimers. We sung this on the first day maybe 10 times, and everyone’s spirits were instantly lifted. Of course, as the walk went on, the number of replays of the song increased! By the end, it was basically all we sang. And to this day, no matter where we all are, that song is a constant reminder of this amazing thing we all achieved and it will always remind me of mum.

I got my first blister that day, which I know is terrible, and by mile 18, I was really struggling to walk. The sight of that first hotel is something that is engrained in my memory. All we kept talking about for the last couple hours was having a hot bath, getting into comfies and meeting at the bar for a pint. So, it is fair to say we were so elated when we saw that hotel in front of us. And of course, being our luck, none of us had a bathtub in our room, so we all decided to head straight to the bar instead! The poor other hotel guests had to put up with us, all unwashed and sweaty, but we did not care!

Best way to end the day! 

Blister Clinic

By about 9 pm that night, after we all devoured a bowl of pasta and a couple pints of cider, we were exhausted. Before I could go to bed however, I had to sort out my blistered feet. And in true Donna fashion, she came to save the day. She brought her medical kit into my room, taped up my blisters and gave me some painkillers. That night, blister clinic with Doctor Donna was formed, and it became a daily necessity for the rest of the walk.

The feeling of getting into that shower and slipping into bed was the best feeling of the whole day, but it was massively tainted by the fact that we had to get up the next day and walk again!

Overall, day 1 was a perfect start to the walk for me. We were a small group of people who loved Mum the most, all coming together to take on this huge challenge in her honour. I’d never felt so close to her as I did that day. The memories shared, the stories told, and the constant talking about her made us feel like she was with us every step of the way.

Next week, I’ll be sharing all about Day 2, which was jam-packed with excitement – including a visit to the Houses of Parliament! Stay tuned for that!

Thanks for reading.

Love, Rhiannon