1 night, 2 days, 16kg on your back, walking for 25+ km in total. Duke of Edinburgh.  

On a cold Saturday morning, groups of 5-7 set off with 16kg on their backs with a map and a compass. The first 30 minutes of it are fine - surrounded by friends, excited to explore and there isn’t much discomfort apart from a tiny ache in the shoulder. That’s when it goes wrong. 

If one takes their eye of the map for more then a few seconds, they end up going the complete wrong way. Having to backtrack on oneself is the worst part. 40 minutes wasted. The group starts blaming it on each other but you carry on. People get tired, fed up and want a break.  

Now the expected time of arrival is in around 3 hours time. Okay that’s not too bad. However they get lost for a second time, just making a small wrong turn can cost 30 minutes. They got back on track, trying to stay motivated. 

The group get to the campsite and collapse on the floor. No one says anything.

The tent is put up and a sense of achievement is created. They lay out their paper thin mattresses and sleeping bags. Dinner is made and the pasta is raw in some parts and overcooked in others, It’s not nice but they eat it.

It’s only 7:30 pm now but they are exhausted they lie down and feel a sense of relief. It takes a little while to get to sleep but they manage. They wake up. They check their watches. It is 9:45 pm. They thought it was the morning, but no, they had been asleep for just 2 and a bit hours. They lay there, it’s so cold that they can’t sleep.

It’s the next day. 6:30 am. The most restless night they have ever experienced. A total of  3 hours 10 minutes of sleep. Breakfast is eaten, the food so cold that it is nearly inedible. The grass has flakes of ice. 6 layers on but still freezing. The group pack up and leave. 

Silence. No one wants to talk they all had the worst night ever. They reach the first checkpoint and soon after that get lost, this time only for 10 minutes. They are confident on the route they are taking and start to try to motivate each other. They have lunch and plan to not have any more brakes. 

Still roughly a good 6km to go. The sun is now beating down and they are too hot but it is a nice walk along a river. They group slows down, everyone is complaining but they try to not stop. 

They reach the end. Hips are bruised, legs and shoulders are burning. Finally, the end.