I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here before, but I have signed up for a bit of a challenge this year. Together with some friends, I’m going to do Trailwalker UK, which is a 100km walk across the South Downs in 30 hours (we’re aiming to do it in 24) in aid of Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

While I’ve always enjoyed walking and hiking, I’d never really gone further than about 10 miles, and even that would have been with a lunch stop in the middle. So what made me sign up for this insanity?

Well, I am not particularly young any more (no, you don’t need to know exactly how old I am). I figure I’m only going to get older and more decrepit as time passes, so I’d better get on with any mad aspirations I have as soon as possible, before it’s too late. When a friend asked for volunteers to take part in Trailwalker in 2012, I decided this was my chance.

What’s great about our team is that we’re all mothers! Not hard core athletes, not young adrenaline seekers, not even seasoned hikers – mums! Some of us are fitter than others, some have been parents for longer than others, but we’re all of a similar age and know that any challenge we take on won’t be anywhere near as tough as the challenge of raising kids…

Yes, we’ll be walking through the night without any sleep, but hey, what mum hasn’t already stayed up all night many times because of a crying baby or sick kid?

OK, so we will have blistered feet and sore muscles, but then again we managed 9 months of pregnancy followed by giving birth – at least this will definitely be over within 30 hours!

We may have to coax (or drag) each other along at different points, but all that practise getting unwilling toddlers strapped into a buggy or persuading them to try “the green stuff” on their plates should help.

Us mums are actually a lot stronger and more resilient than we give ourselves credit for, and cope with a lot of stuff that would be unthinkable if we didn’t love our children so completely. I can’t wait until our team crosses that finish line to prove to ourselves and to everyone else just how tough mums can be!

If you fancy sponsoring us then you can do so here on our sponsorship page. Obviously raising as much money as possible for Oxfam will help make all our blisters, aches and pains more than worthwhile!

For those of you who might be tempted for next year, here’s a video about the event…