Day 20

Title: Pier pressure

I’m still here….just. Well over a million steps, 20 kilos of Soreen, endless wine gums ( some not Maynard’s - I know) one blister, ten metres of rock tape, a vat of factor 50 and five hundred miles. And a few tigers and local villages better off.

At the finish at Southend pier, we were welcomed by the Welwyn Garden City male voice singing … The Proclaimers 500 miles. Obvs.
They sang many others but their rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone was incredibly moving. Thanks David, thanks team: unforgettable.

So many other thanks but particularly to Trevor and Dawn for 100% attendance - a gruelling and seemingly impossible shift. Barry and Rachel for masterminding this from last December but also all the tiger walkers for enduring an increasingly irascible tiger fighting muscle fatigue, heat, nettles and demons.
Jenny showed six times when we needed her most, just indefatigable. Sara you are a genius as is Rob, Explorers Against Extinction a truly marvellous organisation. Sorry I forgot your daughter Liv in Saturday’s round up. The rest you know who you are, heartfelt praise, it would have been impossible to complete without you. Michaela, you're a proper trooper, changing your flight to put in a grown-up 25 miles today.

Lenses For hire, Steppes and Duckworths, your sponsorship has been invaluable.

For all the eulogies, it is still only half a loaf as the song goes. We have had hundreds and hundreds of messages and donations, people understand what this is about, their generosity is overwhelming.

However enough chatter, August 20 it all starts again. Can I ask for boots on the ground again please. Thank you, Paul…. and the tiger... and rest...

500 miles completed, 500 miles remaining. How far did you walk today?