Supporters visit Also look at info on visiting Sharon. Photographs from our visit It was great to walk a few miles with Sharon and we were well impressed with how she is coping with the Challenge. We also got to have a look round the bus - it's very cramped, there's barely room to pass each other in the aisles. Just seeing the organisation of the event was also interesting..

We found Sharon at the Decathlon car park at Canada Water at just gone 7pm on Saturday night and walked the next two miles with her. All the athletes are currently walking their miles with just a little bit of running thrown in here and there. Sharon's helper carries a folding chair for her to sit
on between miles - as you can't risk cutting it too fine to complete your mile near the end of an hour you have to hang around for upto 5 minutes. Even this amount of rest can help Sharon recover for the following mile.

Without ceremony the competitors and walkers set off from the petrol station forecourt for their next mile, along a busy road with a lot of traffic. You have to keep a constant eye out for cars turning into side roads, broken paving slabs and other hazards as well as making sure you are
still on route. After earlier scares where Sharon and Lloyd have both gone off in the wrong direction the organisers have now put markers on lamp posts along the course.

During the next stop at 8.20pm - 9.40pm Sharon went off to get some sleep, her first hour of the night. Luckily there was a nice pub called 'The Foy' directly opposite the bus. We followed Sharon for the next 2 miles to where the bus was parked at a fire station. Sharon likes to keep pretty quiet during the miles between sleep sessions. This saves her voice, and means
she doesn't have to wake up as much and finds it easier to get back to sleep.

Her night-time helper Nannette seemed very on-the-ball and well organised and knew exactly what Sharon needed and when. Her job is an important one as Sharon relies on her to wake her up just at the right time for the next mile.

We left the bus at that point and were very kindly offered a lift to the nearest tube station by Jerry, one of the drivers.

On the Sunday they happened to be parked near The Foy pub again, but going in the other direction this time. We did another two miles with Sharon and Bill back to the Canada Water stop.

We had to leave them there and start on the long journey home but it was a well worth while trip and so great to see how well Sharon is doing. It's impossible for anyone who hasn't tried an event like this to understand what it must be like, but seeing it all happen gives you a much greater
understanding.