Rebecca’s first walk of her challenge. Brr!
On the morning of 31st December, 42-year-old Rebecca Johnson from West Yorkshire was still a daunting 18 miles shy of 1000. But after giving her an amazing year – nothing was going to stop her.
‘I joined #walk1000miles on 1 January 2021, and since then it has become my life. This challenge has given me a focus – I’m definitely not a quitter so once I started, I had to put everything into it.
‘At the beginning of that year I was co-parenting and going through a divorce which was all a strain on my mental health. Walking gave me a release from dealing with what I was facing, including when the girls were away at their dad’s.
‘Throughout the whole challenge I was always just on track. But in mid-November I got Covid, which put a stop to any walking miles. I started December with 136 miles to go, and got news that due to Covid (again) the girls wouldn’t be able to see their father as expected. I had two days’ holiday from work so dropped the girls off at school at 9am and walked until 3pm.
…and the start of her last!
‘I managed to get my target down to 28 miles with two days left, which felt just about achievable. On the final day I had 18 miles to go and I’d planned a canal walk. I got the train to Leeds and walked back, setting off at 10.30am.
‘During this final walk I thought about how it would feel to press that finish button on Strava and get notification from the Walk1000miles+ that I’d completed the challenge. This thought actually brought a tear to my eye. I met with a friend and, as we closed in on the final miles, darkness was upon us, and we finished just before 5pm with a pint in the pub. I felt so proud of myself. I’d spent 12 months walking, talking about walking, and thinking about walking, and I’d finally done it!’
The definition of a well-earned pint!
