50km Thames Path Challenge - Sep 2014

For years I’ve thought that one of the best ways to discover the true character of anyone is to get drunk with them. Well, slightly less drunk so you can observe properly. 10p Mark is proof positive – that’s a story to be shared over a pint and not a blog. Another school of thought is to get exhausted through a physical challenge, and maybe that thought lay at the heart of the 2014 ICICI Bank Senior Manager Challenge.

This was to walk 50km from Runnymede to Henley along the river Thames. 50km! The furthest I’ve ever run is 22km. On the other hand, I’ve knocked out 100km plus sportives on a bike so how hard could it be to walk, I stress walk, 50km?

So one Sunday in June five senior managers from ICICI Bank congregated on the start line to commence the walk. I can’t really add much to the photos – we simply walked and walked along the river and it was beautiful. There were a handful of food stops, and they had great treats for us.

At least, I can’t until we got to approximately 38km in and it changed from being 'a walk in the park' to ‘becoming an effort’. At this point muscles were groaning, blisters were forming, and boredom was setting in. Just how many cute fields and gorgeous houses are there alongside the Thames?

It was odd; my legs were seriously complaining and all I’d done was walk, albeit a fair distance. Anyway, at this point I noticed that about 100 yards ahead of me was another guy from the bank who’d put a bit of a push on. I decided to catch him up by jogging (for the first time that day). And as I did so I had a kind of epiphany. All the pain went from my legs, and I caught him in seconds. As I caught him I decided to keep going as there was a food stop a few km up the path. How could it be easier to run than to walk after 38km? This was strange.

At the pit-stop I grabbed some food, and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. When they did, I quietly mentioned to the experienced walker in our group, Layth, the lack of pain that my last 2km jog/run had caused. When we came to leave for the last leg I felt a dilemma. Walking with the others was causing significant pain, but to start running now after 40km would basically be showing off, as most of the others in the group didn’t have decent fitness levels and wouldn’t be able to join me.

Luckily Layth came to the rescue by announcing that he and I would from now on be running as we wanted to beat 8 hours for the challenge. Praise be – we ran off. Incredible but true – after 40km it was easier to run (slowly) than it was to walk.

When we got to Henley I had a fit of the giggles. As the walk was alongside the river, the course was basically flat. However at Henley the organisers clearly hadn’t obtained the rights to go through the centre so we had to bypass the town. That involved a very steep hill. 


I haven’t mentioned it, but on the same day there was a 100km Thames Path Challenge involving runners. What sort of sadist organises a running race of 100km where the first 98km are flat, and the last two involve a ridiculous hill?

We saw some poor suffering souls on that hill – I didn’t have the heart to get out my camera. My sadistic side rose to the fore as I wanted to wait and watch a few more runners appear, and to laugh at their expressions when they saw the hill.

My better nature prevailed, and Layth and I simply finished the walk and drank some beers. And enjoyed the extra 30 minutes drinking time we had over the others as they continued to walk.

And wondered what the 2015 Senior Manager Challenge would be.