Where do I start!!! If I didn't know what I was letting myself in for before - I do now !! Oh my god!!
Firstly - it's bloody hot! Of course I never factored in 32 degree heat in early July - in the UK!!! Did I bring headwear? No.
Secondly - I've run marathons without so much of a hint of a blister - what do i get on day one - a bloody blister !!!
Thirdly - my backpack ! What the hell was I thinking !!! I may as well of been carrying Lucas on my back for 21 miles !!
(Needless to say, I've shed half of my load now!!)
Oh and my bag I'm carrying around waist has split !
Other than that - its been a great start ;)
The flags have been great - got stopped by at least 20 people enquiring about what we were doing - which is the ultimate aim here ! Whether they understood my strange South-Walian accent is another thing !
So we (myself, Nick and his father Steve), finally complete day one - a 21 mile trek in the blazing heat and all along a Tarmac path - the ideal thing to do next ? - ice bath and early night! What do I do? - Drag Queen night !
As you can tell - that is not a real smile :)
My stop over for the night was the Esplanade Hotel, Llandudno.
The owner, Daisy Silcock is someone I first met via Twitter when the hotel answered my plea for assistance with accommodation. Now this is one remarkable lady!
An ex-owner of the hotel sadly passed away with MND in January and Daisy and the staff have committed themselves to raising funds and awareness for this terrible disease.
Daisy had organised a drag night/disco in memory of John.
Now I know what you're thinking! Drag night - probably the worst possible scenario for Justin !!
I tried, and miserably failed, to avoid any humiliation or embarrassment.
Before I unravel the nights events - i met some great people :
Roger Sowersby - Roger was diagnosed with MND 7 years ago and has kindly arranged my accommodation for Sat night.
Sarah - aka @MerseysideMND - a truly magnificent lady who herself has devoted her time and life to MNDA.
The Macdonald family - hotel owners and Jonnie's family.
Mike & Debra Silcock - who have kindly taken a load of my stuff with them - to pick up in a few weeks ;)
And of course Daisy herself !
So, I foolishly sit there thinking they wouldn't pick on a guy whose just slogged 21 miles with no hat on :) - first item - me on the dance floor !! Cringeworthy rendition of 'Hot Stuff' by Donna Summer and that was me done - total embarrassment - but all for charity ;)
(Video to follow unfortunately!)
I've had a great night, a lot of money has been raised for the association and I've managed to survive the first day's walk!!
Daisy - what you do for this cause is fantastic, you're an amazing person - thankyou very much.
Tomorrow I'm walking with a local GP who apparently runs marathons - I will slow her down no doubt !!
Hopefully the blister comes and goes, i now have a cap (thankyou Sarah!) and it's ONLY 16 miles tomorrow :)
I'll prob add to this blog in the morning mate - I'm sure there are more embarrassing photos somewhere ;)
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