Peddars Way walk 60 miles in 22 hours

7th March 2022 Update; The Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast walk 60 miles in 22 hours challenge has started –

No description available. — 4pm and at the start of our 60 miles in 24hrs challenge for charity

First mile and I am trying to keep my brand new Under Armour HOVR Machina running shoes clean. Lets see how long this energy lasts for.

The clean shoes didn’t last long. 3 miles in and the route is flooded, we are having to follow the Peddars Way alternative route; certainly not the best start to the challenge.

It’s now 7pm and we are struggling with the darkness. The head torches are out due to minimal moonlight and the thought of 10 hours of this is certainly getting us down.

Update AM 8th March; We made it to McDonalds in Swaffham at 11.30pm and enjoyed a coffee to warm up. It’s been a very cold night and the ground is frozen, which is good for hardening up the mud. The path has been rough though and it’s been difficult to keep up a good speed. The challenge has got easier as it got lighter this morning but we are feeling the distance. We just passed the 40 miles and are on schedule to make it 60 miles in 24hrs, if we can keep this up.

Over 40 miles done and on schedule just, was difficult in the dark but feeling better now it’s light.

We are nearly to Holme-next-the-sea and that’s 50 miles complete. We’ve got gorgeous sunshine to finish the walk along the Coast Path.

Zoe will write a full account of the challenge shortly – once she wakes up…

Full Account of the challenge

Many many hours later I woke up…

07.03.22

We set off in good spirits from Knettishall Heath at 4pm on Monday 7th March with the sun shining. The first few hours were fairly easy going, lots of signs to easily follow the Peddars Way and good ground to cover the miles easily. Areas were slightly boggy but nothing could stop us at this point. We hit a fairly challenging part 3 miles in with the path being flooded, but thankfully this is common issue and there’s a Peddars Way alternative route. This hit us mentally but once we had realised we only had to cover 60 miles and didn’t need to reach Wells to get home, the added distance made no difference to us.

When the sun set we began to struggle, the headtorches were out due to minimal moonlight and the mood massively dropped. At this point we realised we had 10 hours of darkness to get through. Each hour ticked by and the miles were passing slowly, we were really struggling to stay motivated. Swaffham McDonalds seemed to appear from nowhere as we came off a track onto the A47. Stopping here was a mood changer, some hot food and a coffee motivated us to carry on.

As we left we realised just how cold the night was, all the clothes we had were on and at times it felt like they weren’t going to be enough. No breaks were possible due to these low temperatures, it certainly pushed us through the miles. Navigating these dark hours would have been a huge challenge but thanks to GPS we were able to stay on route.

08.03.22

A few phone calls with friends and family kept us going and when the sun began to rise, the mood picked up again. At this point we knew nothing could stop us finishing, we were well over half way and were finally warming up. Despite the distance covered we thoroughly enjoyed the morning with the sun shinning and the frost under foot. The route was easy to follow at this point, plenty of signs and well walked paths. This made covering the miles much easier once again. In the moment the rolling countryside and gorgeous views were missed, but looking back on photographs this is certainly a walk id love to do again in a much more reasonable time frame. Thank you to everyone who supported me with donations, motivational messages and travel on this immensely challenging walk.

The why behind Zoe Webb’s charity walk

A mental and physical challenge for charity…

My name is Zoe Webb and I’m 19 years old. In March 2022 I will be walking from Knettishall Heath in Suffolk for 46 miles along Peddars Way to the North Norfolk coast at Holme-Next-The-Sea, and then along the Norfolk coast path a further 14 miles to Wells-Next-The-Sea. The aim is to complete all 60 miles in 24 hours to raise money for the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation (JTYAF).

Zoe Webb in Cadet Uniform at Remembrance Parade

As part of a leadership course taught through the means of fieldcraft through the Air Cadet organisation, I will be fundraising for JTYAF. This foundation honours the life of John Thornton who was tragically killed in Afghanistan in 2008. The charity supports young people from a wide range of youth organisations, providing them with scholarships and bursaries to support their personal development and the pursuit of their ambitions. Click here to find further information about the course and foundation.

I have chosen to set myself the goal of 60 miles in 24 hours. Many ideas came to mind when I was set the task of raising money for this foundation. I felt as though I needed something big, something challenging. The course it is part of is all about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and really focusing on bettering yourself. I felt a challenge like this one would really follow suit and hopefully enable me to reach my £500 goal for such a deserving foundation.

Any donations would be really appreciated and will help to support a great cause. Please click here to read more and donate.

As a cadet of 6 years, this course means a great deal to me. It is classed as the toughest, most rewarding leadership course within the RAF Air Cadets. The organisation has had a huge impact on my life and has given me a great deal of opportunities. As I approach the end of my cadet career I want to end on a high; give back to the organisation as much as I can and complete this fantastic course to really push me out of my comfort zone. Donations from this walk will raise money for JTYAF, which in turn, supports the RAF Air Cadets to enable other individuals the opportunities I have been lucky to have.