I am so behind updating my blog.  The last three weeks have simply flown by.  I have not have had any infections, which is good; I have just been lacking energy.  I am not sure if this is due to the cumulative effect of chemo, or delayed reaction to the move, or maybe I am still recovering from the hike we did to raise money for the Maggie’s Centre in London exactly a week ago.  Could be all above.

Suzie, Steph, Ali, Emma, Silvie and I walked 20 miles (32 kilometres to those who like me only understand the metric system) through London through the night.  This was a charity event to raise money towards the Maggie’s cancer care centre in London.  Those who have been following my blog will know that Maggie’s has given me amazing support since my diagnosis.  It has been a pleasure to raise money for such a good cause.  All cancer patients should have access to a place like the Maggie’s during their illness.  Our initial target was to raise £1,200, but thanks to all the marvellous generous people, we reached this target within two weeks, so our new target is £2,500.  We have raised £2,260 so far, and we have five weeks left to raise more money!

The hike was fun but far tougher than any of us could have anticipated!  We all gathered by the City Hall where the starting point was at about 8pm last Friday.  Our scheduled starting time was at 10pm, so we had plenty of time to some of us get to know each other, as well as to get changed into our Night Hike T-shirts that were given to us free, and ‘style’ the T-shirts to suit our look!  Minna was there to support us and to take some group photos of the Team Piia, the name give to our team by Steph whos idea the hike was in the first place.  Earlier that evening I had picked up a wheelchair, which I had hired for the weekend for the hike.  20 miles is a long way to walk even without cancer, and we thought it would be a good idea to have the chair just in case I would get tired.  The most important thing for me was to finish the hike one way or the other!

Team Piia and the wheelchair set off at 10pm.  Our first destination was the London Eye where we were treated to an exclusive night flight with our very own private capsule!  The view was breathtaking.  From there we had a three mile walk to the next stop, the Chanel 4 building.  We got there about midnight.  Outside the building, I bumped into Anna who works for the Maggie’s Centre in Glasgow as a Media Manager.  She is the one who organised the interview for the RIBA Sterling Prize with Kevin McCloud.  Anna was there to make a film of the hike with a cameraman, so we all ended up being filmed.

After a very quick cup of tea and a couple of dark chocolate digestives, we continued our hike towards the Royal Geographical Society, which was another three miles away.  There we had a slightly longer break enjoying more tea and biscuits and a special performance from a string quartet.

The Maggie’s Centre was the third stop at 8.8miles.  We arrived there about 2.45am.  After some green and white tea and some yummy flapjacks, Suzie and I had a neck/head/shoulder massage.  Ali had reiki.  I think we were the last group to leave the Maggie’s at about 4am.  After this, we practically did not see any other hikers as they had left way before us, so it was just us walking in London night.

Our next destination was the Fulham Palace.  This was at the 10 miles mark, which meant we were half way through the journey!  There were no other hikers in the palace, just us and the volunteers.  At least they waited for us!

From there we started our longest journey (4.9 miles) between the stops towards the Battersea Power Station.  This was without the doubt the hardest part of the hike.  We were all sleep deprived and alone walking this route without the support from the other hikers.  It felt like the whole London was asleep apart from us six girls trekking in empty Fulham streets, pushing along this wheelchair.  We must have been a sight!  This was the time I needed the wheelchair…

We arrived at the Battersea Power station at about 6am.  It was still dark but soon the sun began to rise.  It was quite beautiful.  We were supposed to be served some sandwiches at this stop, but as we were the last ones to arrive, they had run out food by the time we got there.  At this point we knew we had done majority of the hike.  There was light at the end of the tunnel.  For some reason, I felt quite energised after this stop, and ready to continue our adventure towards the Horse Guards Parade.

It was so nice to arrive in the familiar Westminster after trekking hours in the unknown Fulham streets…  We were greeted by some cheerful volunteers at the Horse Guards Parade, who treated us with some doughnuts and juice.  Also, naturally, we got some great pictures posing with the guard!

At this point the hike was nearly done, and we were keen to finish it.  The Savoy Place was our final stop before the finishing line.  When we got there, they had closed the building from us.  This was highly disappointing as we were expecting to be served free Champagne at this stop!

The last part of the journey was not pleasant.  The route took us via the not so nice side of the embankment (the north side, on the other side of the Tate Modern) where we had to go up and down through several sets of stairs with the wheelchair!  By the time we got to the Tower Bridge, we were extremely exhausted! The finish line was at the same place as we started, by the City Hall next to the Tower Bridge.  We finished at 9am, after trekking 11 hours!!  Crazy.  I have no idea how I did it, when lately I have not been able to walk even the smallest distances.  But, we did it!  My Team Piia was, and is amazing.

I have attached some pictures of the hike, but if you would like to see the whole album, please see this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=314892&id=825985304&l=ec5848cd4c

Steph also filmed the hike by this camera that was given to us just for the night by this company called Leap Anywhere that promotes and recommends charity events and activities.  They edited our film, and posted it on their website.  You can see it via this link:

http://www.leapanywhere.com/media/show/1411

It is a short but sweet film.  They left out a lot of good footage, so I am going to learn how to use iMovie on my MacBook and I will edit us a longer film!  Watch this space.

Team Piia minus Silvie, and the Tower Bridge in the background. From left: Steph, Emma, me, Ali and Suzie.

Emma and I warming up for the hike.

Team Piia ready to go!

Team Piia in the London night.

View from the London eye.

Suzie & I, and the Big Ben.

Anna from the Glasgow Maggie's and I.

Ali and I outside the Channel 4 building.

7 miles down...

Emma and I, and the wheelchair.

Team Piia outside the Battersea Power Station at about 6.30am.

Suzie and I at the 15miles mark.

The Horse Guards Parade.

Team Piia with the Horse Guard at about 7.30 in the morning! From left: Ali, Silvie, Suzie, the Horse Guard, me, Steph and Emma.

All those stairs at the last bit of the hike... Argh.

I made it!!