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An early wake-up call for all the boys saw us stepping into the colourful halls of Great Ormond Street at 8:15. After some motivational talks and final goodbyes to parents, we set off at 8:45 for the first part of our walk. The first 10km stretch to Putney Bridge was filled with historic landmarks, great conversation, and eagerness for the day ahead. We made good pace and found ourselves in the green fields of Richmond Park, alongside what seemed to be a National Convention of Sausage Dogs. Our next landmark was Bushy Park, roughly 25km into the expedition. At this point, morale was high and our bodies were still holding up.
The halfway point found us lying flat on our backs outside a lovely couple’s house who took our photo. The pivotal checkpoint for us was 43km into the walk at the Old School Café, which followed treacherous roads. Between the halfway mark and there, the sky had darkened, the heavens had opened, and the winds were howling. At this point, both our bodies and minds were exhausted, but with 20km to go, there was no option but to keep our heads down and put one foot after the other.
A surprise appearance from Miss Gomez and Madame Barat was just what we needed to give us a little push before running into Mr O’Neil at 52km. He saw us through the next 10km until we were confronted with ‘Swinley Forest,’ a place we all vowed to never visit again. We all confirmed that the next 10km was the hardest thing we had ever done. It was as if time had stopped, and we were left to endlessly traverse the undulating and windy paths of the forest. After 5km, we came to what we thought was the end; however, our moment of victory was cut short as we quickly found out our task was not over. Another 5 km and we emerged out of Swinley and took our final pitstop outside M&S. 2km later we had finally arrived at Mordaunt Gate, where we were warmly greeted by a plethora of Pictonians and other Wellington students.
Initial requests that we walk first to the other gate for photos were speedily shut down by all of us, and we made our way to the dining hall for the grand finish. As we stepped into that room, we were all overcome with a mix of triumph, relief, and joy. With Zimmer in the background and our supporters in the foreground, we knew that this was something we would never forget. – An account by Miles, Ryan, Ed, Baz, Oscar, and Charlie.
Jack Murray, House Master of the Picton commented – A phenomenal achievement from all the boys involved with the CPT and the house. Added together with the tracksuit bottom profits and the boys have managed to raise enough for ONE MORE SDR surgery at Great Ormond’s Street Hospital.
