The Attempted Walk

A few weeks ago, Julie, along with Paul Avenant Jr. (WR’s brother) and Sybrand Swanepoel (WR’s good friend), attempted to walk the 90km from Murraysburg to Graaff-Reinet. WR unfortunately had appointments in Graaff-Reinet the next day and couldn’t join the walking. Sybrand had tried it before (with no preparation or supplies) and made it 45km before having to stop, so this time he was determined to finish it. This time we were a bit more organized, carrying backpacks with food and warm clothes, and WR was on board as our support/back-up to bring us food and hot drinks at key intervals. The three intrepid (foolish?) walkers set out from Murraysburg at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Thursday. Walked for about 5 hours, when a whole truckload of friends and family came driving up to supply us with a hot dinner. Paul was wearing very inadequate shoes, and at this point was already limping, but he kept going. After about another hour he called it quits at the 28km mark and was taken back to Murraysburg by a friendly farmer. Julie and Sybrand kept walking. It was a very dark, moonless night, and at times we struggled to see the centerline of the road. It was also very cold, and though the motion of walking kept us warm, every time we would stop to rest we would quickly get very very cold. We walked through the night, until 3am when WR pulled up with thermoses of hot coffee and tea. At that point we had walked just over 45km. We rested a bit, downed more Ibuprofin to ward off muscle pain, and kept going. From 3-6am the going was extremely rough. Fatigue set in badly, we were stiff, and both of us were developing wicked blisters on our feet, making each step painful. We hoped when the sun rose we would be re-energized and invigorated to finish, but it didn’t quite work out that way. WR came back at 6:30am, meeting Sybrand and Julie at the 58km mark. At this point Julie pretty much could not walk another step, due to excruciating blisters covering her feet. She was very ready to call it quits and hop in the truck. Sybrand was staggering from fatigue and pain but still didn’t want to quit. He walked to the 60km mark before finally stopping, and joining WR and Julie in the truck. So it was an extremely interesting experience. Not really “fun”, due to the amount of pain involved. But Julie and Sybrand are still both determined to finish the full 90km, so plans are being made for a future re-try of “The Great Walk”, and WR wants to join the walking next time. We’ve had plenty of helpful advice about blister prevention after the fact (soak feet in spirits in the days leading up to the walk to harden feet; wear pantyhose underneath socks to prevent chafing), so hopefully with these tips we’ll be able to reduce blisters next time and make it. It definitely was not fatigue or muscle pain that were the stopping factors, but blisters!