Saturday 19th July - Stages 4 and 5 - no longer footloose and blister free...
Stage 4 was a rather nice walk in the afternoon sun; stage 5, however, was where things began to come unstuck. Stephanie had been struggling with the hills from the outset, but has huge amounts of stamina. The loan of a set of walking poles from Katya ensured that the hills became more manageable, but halfway through the stage, her pace slowed still further even on the flat. A quick inspection of feet revealed that Stephanie had somehow developed a huge blister on her left heel which had then burst – too late for Compeed! With a similar blister emerging on her other foot, the only possible course of action was to get the team to CP5 as quickly as possible and to hand Stephanie over to the first aiders of St John’s Ambulance. Whilst poor Stephanie spent 45 minutes having her feet tended to and strapped up, the rest of the team feasted on more goodies from the cool bags. Finally we were able to get back on our way. Stage 6 begins with a long, steep hill, testing everyone’s resolve, before relenting into a beautiful meander across some beautiful countryside. Fortunately, the heat of the day was beginning to abate meaning that we were finally able to enjoy the scenery. Notwithstanding the gentle downhill incline of this stage, we were all starting to tire as we walked into CP6 at Botolphs.