Bucks Free Press reporter on walking to Adams Park for charity

I decided that when Wycombe Wanderers took on AFC Wimbledon on December 11, instead of taking the car to cover the match, I would walk the 15 mile trip from our house in Aylesbury to Adams Park in memory of our late grandfather, with all the money going to the British Heart Foundation.

My grandfather was an avid walker and he died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 67 in June 2009, just days after returning from a three week holiday in South Africa.

His sudden passing was something that our family was not expecting and he was often spoken about.

We began our walk from Aylesbury at 9.09am on December 11

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Back in 2019, in honour of the 10th year of his passing, my brother and I organised a pub quiz in aid of the BHF, where he raised over £400.

The night itself was entertaining, but we knew that we wanted to do more to help those with cardiac issues.

So, I suggested to my brother, Edward, who said that he would like to join me, and that was that. It was time to prepare for the big day.

One of the many checkpoints we gave ourselves

By the time that second Saturday came along, our target of £670, which is in remembrance of grandad who died at the age of 67, was well and truly beaten, as we had reached well over £700.

After we set off in our warm winter clothes at exactly 9.09am with two goals in hand; get there in under five hours and get there by 1.30pm.

We trekked from Aylesbury, to Stoke Mandeville, to Little Kimble, to Great Kimble, to Monks Risborough, to Princes Risborough, to Saunderton, to West Wycombe, to Sands, to Adams Park.

On the 15 mile journey, we had several people honk at us, we had donations coming on a regular basis and we even had someone stop us for a photo.

It was a brilliant experience for a brilliant cause.

Just over three hours to get to West Wycombe

As the walk went on, there were one or two moments of tiredness, but collectively, Edward and I must have stopped for total of five minutes, as we just persevered.

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We had no toilet breaks, we drank water as we walked and talked about everything and nothing kept us sane on this trek.

And just like in a video game, every sign we saw was a checkpoint as we knew we were getting closer to our destination.

There was a brief hit of the wall when the six-and-half pavement between Risborough and West Wycombe where our pace had decreased, but knowing that we had a target to hit, we knew we couldn’t slow down.

Then, there was a moment of now or never.

Within touching distance

We looked at our watches and realised the time was 1.21pm…and we had EXACTLY nine minutes to try and reach our goal of getting at Adams Park before 1.30pm.

The walking pace increased before we started to jog and before we knew it, we were running all the way down Hillbottom Road.

We were out of breath, sweat was flying everywhere and we did get some very questionable looks from Wanderers fans enjoying their pre-match beer and burger.

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However, we ran through the gates and quickly looked at the time.

And we did it! Four hours and 15 minutes!

We had done the walk in four hours and 15 minutes…and had arrived at AP with five minutes to spare at 1.25pm.

There was a round of applause from several supporters with Rob Couhig offering his congratulatory words, whilst donations were still coming through.

In the end, we raised £801 for the British Heart Foundation, and we are very grateful for the support Edward and I received.