Welcome to “100 years walking”: a blog mainly about walking, with some other stuff thrown in.
It began as a record of the everyday adventures I had with my friend Caralyn, as we trained for various marathons and ultramarathons.
It also became a way of adjusting to the English countryside after several years of living in Africa. For some time after returning, I had found it difficult to see beauty in England; so as I walked, I began to look more intentionally at my surroundings and tried to capture what I saw in words and pictures.
In this way, I learned to see beauty in my little patch of England. Even so, the connection with Africa would not go away.
In September 2017, I moved back to Mozambique with my husband, to work as volunteers in the children’s centre where we lived before. A few African themed blog posts followed, but it was hard to find time to think, let alone write!
Now I’m back in England, walking mainly for pleasure but with challenges planned for 2022.
If you’re just dropping by and want a quick read, my favourite posts are:
A letter to the man on the towpath
Thank you for reading!
100 years walking 
Hi Sally – Love the blog. You are an amazing and inspirational person, Im so lucky to have you opposite me!
I like your positive approach to life; simple pleasures
You might be interested to think of Australia for extreme walks like you do – go to the 100km Anzac Day march details at http://www.greatwalks.com.au/news/2016-anzac-day-challenge-entries-open?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20-%20Yuraygir%20coastal%20walk%20%20Camino%20de%20Santiago%20-%204%20MARCH%202016&utm_content=Newsletter%20-%20Yuraygir%20coastal%20walk%20%20Camino%20de%20Santiago%20-%204%20MARCH%202016+CID_09ea5fa83fa554595dd4000eaf9743a6&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=2016%20ANZAC%20Day%20Challenge%20entries%20open
That looks amazing. I have travelled a lot, but never to Australia (or Tasmania!) – maybe one day!
Perhaps I am sowing a seed??????
Hello Sally and Caralyn, Pete here from Race to the King. Just read your blog and was very impressed. Great photos and Shakespeare quotes, so relevant and very much appreciated. Many were new quotes to me so we’ve all benefited. Some good research there!! I have never been included in a blog before and I must thank you for being so diplomatic. I also really enjoyed those first 8 miles and our discussions, things never reached the same intellectual and amusing high for the rest of the day. So thank you for your company. I was interested to read your account of the day. It must have been so frustrating not making those last 10 miles. That flooded path was not expected and in the dark would have been much worse. The mud was an issue and again always worse in the dark. So actually the last quarter of the walk was, I think the hardest, from many points of view. I am in no way being condescending here but I think you did really well. You got my walk off to a great start and those first couple of hours flew past.
If I just let you know how i got on. After leaving you at stop 1 things went well and I walked solo to stop 2. I thought stop 2 was the best one. After that i caught up with a lad named Tim and we were setting a similar pace, although news that he was taking parts in triatholons phased me to begin with. Anyway we continued through the heavy showers. The heaviest saw us in the half way stop. What kind of school,was that?? I liked your reference to it “roof and all…..”. Not good having to wait for your food to be cooked. I wasn’t too impressed with the food at that stop. Didn’t have pasta and wasn’t much else. Still I avoided the carrot cake.
Left the school at about 5 ish I think. All went well good stop on Butser Hill. Began hearing Welsh score at this point. After this i lost touch with Tim as I found myself unable to stop going down the muddy hillside!! Onto Old Winchester Hill to discover Wales had won!! Continued on my own with lovely views and Winchester in the distance. Still on my own at this point but enjoying it. A couple more stops with coffee and ……. I then spent time walking and can you believe talking!! with Claire and Tom, although Shakespeare was never mentioned. They were actually running some of it so they eventually took off and left me to finish on my own. I arrived at the cathedral at 11:45 which gave me a time of 15:16.
It was a great day but I must reiterate that the start with yourself and Caralyn was the highlight and gave me a boost for the rest of the day so thank you for that. That is not as sycophantic as it may sound!! I hope that you are now both fully recovered and that Caralyn’s niggles are a distant memory. Good luck for your next challenge ( as I am sure you are planning one). Having found your blog I will read more of your adventures.
All the best and as Henry V once said “Once more unto the breach dear friends once more…….. ”
Pete (the Welsh Brummie)
Hi Pete – absolutely lovely to hear from you. I’m so glad you found the blog. I spent ages researching those Shakespeare quotations and it was so absorbing – I loved it. Anyway, it was great to hear about your version of the walk – we had wondered how you’d got on. Well done – phenomenal! I thought of you with the Wales football result too – must be a fantastic time 🙂 Both Caralyn and I really enjoyed that first part of the walk – we were so glad to have met you again. No more events planned for this year but there will be more walking and more blogging in time. Caralyn’s knee is slowly on the mend so I’m sure we’ll make some plans soon. All the best, Sally
Just discovered a new reason for you to consider visiting Tasmania – http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-25/gone-nuts-101-adventure-run-in-tasmania-popular-with-racers/8303684
Sounds fantastic!!