Moonwalk 2011: The walk that broke me

So, we did it! And it was, without a doubt, the longest, most painful night of my life. 36 hours after crossing the finish line and I'm nursing two blisters, achey hips and a sore lower back. And I'm feeling miles better now than I was then! Thank you if you were following us via the live blog (God bless the iPhone!) - if you were busy sleeping, here's a quick recap.

Our fabulous little team - amazing costumes (complete with tails!) made by Gemma's fair hand (THANK YOU GG!):

Inside the confines of the Moonwalk Village, everything was great - lots of entertainment, great food, and look who we even found the lovely Justine!

There was a lot of waiting around, especially for those of us leaving in the last wave, but nothing we weren't used to (a common theme in races, non?). The problems started when we started walking:

We'd been at the Moonwalk Village since 8:15pm, so we were already pretty tired!

 You know when you start a race and there's a bit of a bottleneck for the first kilometre or so? That's what happened here, except it lasted about 18 miles. No roads had been closed to accommodate us, so we were left trying to squeeze 17,000 women (and some very brave men) down lots of teeny pavements. Throw in traffic lights and crossings every few hundred metres in the first few miles, and what do you get? Gridlock.

Somewhere around Mile 7 - there's a crossing at the front of that crowd!

 Let's skip ahead to Mile 10, where the Half-Mooners (those walking a half marathon) split off onto a different route at the London Eye. A painful moment for us as tiredness was starting to set in, and had it not been for the sponsorship we'd received, I'm ashamed to say that we probably would have opted out of the Full Moon. But we plodded on, passing Big Ben as he chimed 3:45am. 

About an hour later, we reached Battersea. Hip ache was starting to set in, and we were praying for this:

Apologies for the blurry pic - my photography skills are poor at the best of times,

add walking to the mix and you're asking for trouble.

If you look closely at that picture, you'll see someone on the pavement on the other side of the road. See them? That's one of the Moonwalkers, walking in the opposite direction to us, 9 miles and 2 and a half hours ahead of us. Heartbreaking. But then, there was this:

By the time we got to Battersea Park, the sun was coming up and we no longer had to worry about falling into ditches/over bollards. Plus, we could finally take in the gorgeous scenery and indulge in a bit of house/houseboat porn. But even 16 miles in, there was still a crowd problem:

We got tantalisingly close to Hyde Park a couple of times, but knowing we still hadn't reached the point where we'd seen the speedy Moonwalkers at Battersea (and therefore weren't about to turn into the park for the final half mile) was torturous.

I'm sorry, I've just realised how moany I sound. Let me put that right with a few of the amazingbrilliantfantastic things about the Moonwalk:

• The volunteers: Every single one of the volunteers we passed had a massive smile and a kind word/encouraging cheer/round of applause for us when we walked past - even the ones at miles 23-26 who received nothing but death stares from me. I'm sorry about that, you lovely people. I was really tired and in a lot of pain. They were up all night with us, standing in the cold. For free. Total stars (why didn't I get a picture of any of them?!).
• The supporters and drunks: Some of the lucky Moonwalkers received a lovely surprise when their friends and family showed up to support them - seeing the tots with banners at 6am was particularly adorable. And the drunks - long live the drunks. Especially the posh guy in Chelsea proffering a bottle of brandy to the passing ladies.
• London by night: The route took us through some of the prettiest parts of London - Hyde Park, along the Thames, Tower Bridge, South Bank, Battersea Park, Chelsea, South Kensington, Sloane Square, Horse Guard's Parade, St James' Park, The Mall and Green Park. I love seeing people fall in love with my city, it makes me love it even more!
• The costumes: This year's theme was 'Walk on the Wild Side' and there were some brilliant costumes. As well as lots of animal print and Flinstone types, there were light-up bras (inspired by My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding), a man walking in handcuffs (who has my eternal respect) and my favourites - the pandas:

•  THE FIREMEN: I asked for firemen, and at Mile 19, we got firemen. If you live in Sloane Square, set fire to your house. You'll see.

All those things kept us going through the pain. And it was pain like I've never known before. I felt like the skin had worn off the soles of my feet, my hip flexors were on fire and my neck was made of stone. I really don't know how people do things like this - Justine and Hannah, you are my heroes!

I'm pretty sure I've blocked the last 6 miles out of my mind, but it's safe to say they were filled with pain, swearing, and a few tears. But at last, a little over 8 hours after we crossed the start line, we dragged our tired, stiff and broken bodies across the finish line.

I'm pretty sure that we would have enjoyed the experience more if the organisers had arranged for roads to be closed. The waiting around and walking at a snails pace (we did very little actual power walking) ruined it for me. I really hope they're a little more organised with the route next year, because it's a great idea, and raises a huge amount of money for breast cancer charities. But for now, I think I'm going to stick to running.

P.S. On behalf of myself, GG and Charlotte, I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who sponsored us: Liz, Guy, Cassie and Mary - you all have a share in the calories burned, so have some cake.