The extreme walk to work
01 Jun 2009
On Saturday, 20 June 2009, Georgina Sheldon, a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell LLP, will be attempting a gruelling 45 mile walk from Manchester to Sheffield across the Peak District. As if the distance itself is not enough of a challenge, she will be aiming to complete the walk in less than 24 hours.
Joined by her friend, Rachel Cousins, a trainee solicitor at Weightmans, Georgina will be walking from Weightmans office in Manchester to Irwin Mitchell’s Sheffield office. The friends will be walking in support of their respective office charities, as Georgina, the 30 year old medical negligence solicitor explains:
“The walk started out as a personal challenge for us but we both liked the idea of raising money along the way to help our offices nominated charities, namely Cavendish Cancer Care and Great Ormond Street Hospital.”
The friends are not strangers to setting themselves physically demanding challenges. They successfully completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks in 2005, raising money for Sheffield Children’s Hospital and they both climbed Mount Fuji in Japan in 2006. However, this is the first time they have undertaken anything like this without the support of an organised event. As Georgina explains:
“We have had to learn how to read an Ordnance Survey map, use a compass and become familiar with trekking equipment. Having never been a Girl Guide, this in itself has proved quite a challenge!”
With several months of training under their belts, Rachel and Georgina are hoping they are now fully prepared. A recent training walk of 35 miles in the Peak District really brought it home to them just how difficult the hike will be.
“The blisters were unbelievable and I have now resorted to soaking my feet in surgical spirit on a daily basis in the hope that the skin will harden. It might sound extreme, but at this stage I’m willing to try anything!
The hike is a daunting task, for which I feel an equal mixture of excitement and dread. Most of my friends think I’m crazy to even be attempting it, but I know how good we will feel when we reach the finish line. I think the most difficult part for me will be walking past my house, 4 miles from the end!” said Georgina.
Cavendish Cancer Care is Irwin Mitchell’s Sheffield office adopted charity for 2009. The charity provides supportive care to cancer patients, their carers and children. It helps people find ways of coping with the physical and psychosocial effects of the illness, helping them to live through the illness with maximum independence and optimum quality of life.
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