I promised those kind people who sponsored me to walk 17 miles that I would produce in return some sore feet. Those kind people have given Maggies £900 in cash. The reason I haven't written since the walk ended at 6am yesterday morning is that I didn't realise what level of soreness £900 demands.
A lot.
To walk 17 miles around the route of the Circle Line, it turns out, takes 8 hours. It doesn't seem that long. At least, it didn't seem that long until mile 10, at the moment of the cheery bike marshal handing out sweets outside the Argentine Ambassador's Residence. Then the pain began, because I had wavered between choosing to wear my comfortable trainers or my old and trusted comfortable Salomon walking shoes. I chose the Salomons. But they seem to have shrunk. For the last seven miles, my toes were bruising with each step. For the last five miles, my heels were blistering, and - when I carefully removed my shoes after limping home - two holes had formed in the shoe lining.
The shoes have to go.
The walk began at the Guildhall. I thought the Guildhall is one of the only buildings that survived the Great Fire of London, but my Rough Guide to London is sneering about the “grotesque” 1970s cloister and the “hideous modern extension.” I thought it was pretty, though the wooden beamed vaulted ceiling in the main hall - where Lady Jane Grey was tried for high treason - now has the added decorative feature of several green balloons - handed out to walkers but prone to freeing themselves - lodged amongst the rafters. At the launch ceremony, pasta was handed out. It was spectacularly tasteless. Tastelessness, I suppose, is a way to cater to all possible tastes. There were about 1000 walkers. Diversity was minimal, and though the logistics turned out to be excellent, letting everyone set off at the same time means the first couple of hours entail pushing people out of the way and developing charity pavement rage. Not very charitable, but necessary.
A third of my team has long legs, and the other third walks at least two hours a day. So the walk was on the edge of sprinting. As we moved swiftly through the streets of London, we learned the following: London by night is busy. The walker with the bagpipes was much less annoying than most bagpipers. Especially at Whiteley's Shopping Centre in Bayswater, in the early morning hours, when the sound of bagpipes suddenly echoes around the closed shops and tired walkers, and you look up to see the bagpipe walker strolling with grace around the second floor balcony of a shopping mall. Stylish.
Also, money and silence go together. Though we walked through residential areas in Notting Hill, it was only in Chelsea that this sign appeared. The “Rich People Are Sleeping” part was silent.
The walk was done in conjunction with the Open House initiative. This is an excellent thing in daytime, but at night it's better. Particularly to find yourselves at 3am having cup-a-soup and sandwiches in HM Treasury, with its white glazed bricks and Foster-and-Partners-ed roofs, and lovely circular courtyards. And security guards who accompany you to the toilet door, when they're not standing in the lovely circular courtyard making sure you leave the premises.
Then - the Eye. I've resisted going on the London Eye because I could never be bothered. But this was the first time it had been opened at night, and it was free. It was marvellous in a slow way. And it was 30 minutes of not having to walk.
Next, City Hall. By now I was whimpering silently, but I hobbled up to London's Living Room, which has this view at 4am:
In the lobby, a man with a strong London accent said, “I can't be bothered to go up to the top. It can't be any better than the view we've just had.” I said to him, “It can. You should go.” The long-legged team-mate then said with awe - being a fan of X-factor - that I had been arguing with a famous person. Sorry, Steve Brookstein. I don't think he went.
Anyway, thank you to all who sponsored me. You are kind and generous people. Now I will arrange a sponsored walk to raise money for some new walking shoes.