Newsletter Article

Hitting the Wall!

In early July 2003 someone in our department had the great idea of organising a relay run along the newly opened 84 miles of Hadrian's Wall footpath in Northumberland , UK. Several members of the CAPP2 team decided this was a great idea and agreed to take part. The date was set for Sunday August 31, 2003. The local newspapers were invited to come alonmg and take pictures and Cancer Research UK agreed to provide the team with T-shirts.

The original wall was the idea of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. By the time he became Emperor in 117AD the Roman Empire had ceased to expand and Hadrian was attempting to consolidate and secure his boundaries. He visited Britain in 122AD and ordered a wall to be built between the Solway Firth in the West and the river Tyne in the East to " separate Romans from the Barbarians". Many sections of the original wall are still visible today and it is a major visitor attraction in Northern England.

For the run, we were organised into 15 groups of runners. The groups ranged from the old and motivated to the young and enthusiatic. Eeryone had a detailed plan of their route and we had a roman sword to pass on as our baton! The first runners set off at 6am from Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast having spent the night in a small tent. My part of the run was timed to start at 3pm and I was to run 5 miles with my husband as company. The run went fine, but what we hadn't taken into account was the natural obstacles we would have to deal with during  our 5 mile section.....24 stiles, 8 gates, 2 rivers and a bull in a field. We ran this last part quite fast!

The final runner was our CAPP2 Project leader John Burn and his wife Linda, they came into Segedunum fort in Wallsend on the east caost at just after 7pm that evening. It had taken us just over 14 hours to complete the 84 miles. Not a record but a fantastic event for all who took part. We had a celebratory meal together in the evening and some great friendships were made.

Gail Barker, CAPP2 Trial Co-ordinator.

September 2003.

 

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