Raaamsey Yessir!

This week we decided to complete Parish walk completely & trek from Ramsey to Douglas. Admittedly we completed the course over 4 different walks which perhaps may not quite be in the spirit of the competition but it’s still a good feeling :).

We had a guest walker in Mr James ‘Pasty’ Russel who has also entered the Parish this year. It was good to have him along for the walk as it helped to pass the time with another person to chat with, but more importantly than that he actually knew the way!

My directional sense is pretty poor at the best of times, but this combined with my poor knowledge of the roads ‘up north yessir’ is actually quite a worry for me in the latter stages of the Parish, so James’ knowledge was greatly appreciated.

The weather varied from being sunny & hot to wet & cold over the day each making a noticeable difference to the ease of walking & the amount of layers needed, something I will have to make sure I’m prepared for by stocking my support car with everything I could possibly need.

Some people refer to this stretch of the parish as the “home straight” as it is only a mere 23.5 miles to go until you reach the finish line on Douglas promenade & this became a running joke throughout this walk, every village we passed through meant we were on the home straight & it wasn’t long until we finished (I realise any readers must be disappointed at missing out on such wit).

Fortunately (perhaps not the correct term), we also killed a few hours of the walk by playing the song name game. This consists of naming a band that ends with the previously stated bands last letter, needless to say, this game drives you mental, but it does take your mind off the walk & also made me realise how inventive Dave & James are at making up band names!

We finished the walk in a very reasonable time & although it wasn’t as far as previous efforts & my feet were sore I felt good after it & felt like I could definitely have continued on a lot further.

Amazingly enough I went a whole week without an injury, woohoo. This combined with the face that I am now on an alcohol & take away free diet until I have completed the Parish walk, should hopefully help with the month or so up to the first event!