WALK 1000 supplement

#WALK1000MILES2019
DO IT FOR YOU
Where will
1000 miles
take you?
A health scare prompted
Iain to take up W1K,
and the rest is history.
BEFORE
AFTER
Take up the challenge and you
could see your life change in some
wonderful, unpredictable ways.
HEART ATTACK TO HERO!
‘Something
had to change’
Three years ago builder Iain
Willis, 44, from Eastbourne
suffered the biggest wake-up
call imaginable. He’s used
#walk1000miles to take him
back to health… and heroics!
T 41 I HAD a heart attack.
AI’d lost my father when he
was 43, so I suppose I should
have kept a better check on my
health. I was over 20 stone. In
hospital I had a stent fitted, and
started cardiac rehab not long
after – by far the youngest in a
group which contained some
old school friends’ parents.
I started to suffer from
depression, especially coming
up to my 43rd birthday. My
weight kept increasing and
my blood stats were as bad
or worse than before my heart
attack. Something had to
change.
I joined Slimming World in
2017 and after losing a bit of
weight, I decided to get back to
walking. Something I used to do
years ago, but I always lacked
the energy over the last few
years. I took out a subscription
to Country Walking magazine
and after being struck by the
heartfelt stories of how hiking
was changing people’s lives
I decided to sign up to the
#walk1000miles challenge.
Within six months I was three
stone lighter and all my stats
were perfect – I was astonished
and tearful. I asked my
Taking up #walk1000miles could
expand your horizons and see
you take up further challenges.
wonderful rehab nurse Pip a
crazy question. Did she think if I
kept on like this I could consider
something unthinkable like a
100km ultra challenge? To my
amazement she replied that
if I trained correctly I had her
blessing. I felt like my heart
was as good as new.
I trained and trained and
trained, on walks over the
Seven Sisters and Beachy Head
ranging from four miles to 30,
getting friends involved,
meeting new people, even
saying hi to other #walk1000
milers on the way. All weathers
– wind, fog snow, rain and then
heat waves across the country.
The sights I’ve seen and likeminded
people I’ve met along
the way have really humbled
me. It was fantastic.
On 25th August at 8am I set
off from Eastbourne, over the
South Downs on my 100km
challenge. I’d committed to
raise money for Combat Stress
– both my grandfathers were
in WWII, and knowing of the
many who suffer from the
mental scars of conflict I felt
I could not fail. The first 55km
by daylight were tough but the
weather was perfect. I took an
hour to eat, dress my blistered
feet and kit up for the night
stint. It was by far the hardest
thing I have ever done.
But at 8.57am on the 26th
August I was greeted by my
family and with my four-yearold
son walked over the finish
line, where my 14-year-old
daughter gave me the hug I’d
been craving for the last 20km.
I had completed something
doctors said I couldn’t do,
friends said I was mad to try
and even I doubted at times.
Chuffed is an understatement.
Now I’m 15 stone 7lb and
in the best shape of my life.
People have asked me how I’ve
turned this massive setback
in my life into a positive and
I always say strength comes
from within. Even when you are
at your lowest you can always
fight back out of it. How? With
support. Support from groups
like #walk1000miles, my nurse
Pip, my friend Joe Townsend
and my family. And something
to work towards – like 1000
miles. But most of all for me
WALKING has given me back
my sanity and motivation.
Even on the days you don’t
want to get outside, just two
minutes into the walk and
you are so glad you did!
12 WALK 1000 MILES 2019
WALK 1000 MILES 2019 13