My name is Nicola Jones and I completed the Trek Fest challenge to fundraise for Winston’s Wish. Thinking of the words they wrote and the children who will benefit from the money I’ve raised really helped get me through the toughest parts of the walk.

The weather was incredible; very sunny and almost too warm! I like the hot weather personally, but climbing summits in the heat was hard at times, but it made for the most amazing views! We were very lucky and I’m thankful it didn’t rain!

I loved seeing the peak district up close and personal and seeing so much of it! I also loved meeting so many positive people en route and finding out why other people had chosen to do the challenge and the charities they were doing it for. Another great thing was keeping in mind why I was doing it; the children and families I want to help and remembering my own personal reasons. I felt my Dad was with me the whole way and we even passed through a town called ‘Perryfoot’ and Perry was my Father’s name so it was nice to take a moment for reflection when I reached that point.

The first half was very enjoyable, I felt strong and in high spirits as I bossed the summits and took in the scenery. Unfortunately, one of my team really struggled and became injured very quickly. This held our time back massively and I think it’s safe to say her decision to retire at 25km was a good thing. However, as mentioned, it did hold us up a lot and so we did the second half desperately trying to make up for the time we had already lost.

It meant that we had to pick up our pace quite considerably and as a result we felt very tired at 15km away from the finish. By this point it was also pitch dark but we teamed up with 3 others who reached the final checkpoint when we did and I think the 6 of us sticking together until the end really gave us some much needed support and encouragement to get to the end.

We finished after 14 and a half hours in the end – started at 9am and finished at approx. 11:30pm!! Just half an hour away from my birthday!

And despite crossing the line feeling very worse for wear, I was beyond thrilled to have completed it and spent my birthday relaxing in our lovely cottage, conveniently not far from the finish line!

It was one of the proudest experiences of my life and I’m so happy to have done it for Winston’s Wish.

Through my fundraising efforts, I have raised £1,198.41 so far to help Winston’s Wish support more of the bereaved children and families who need them.

If you would like to fundraise for Winston’s Wish, please visit our Supporting Us page.