The 2015 Challenge, post script (4)

The award that REALLY matters, however ... the one which PROVES that you are, in fact, a Leg End ... is the plaque which the event organisers present you with. It's been a long time coming, and there have been a lot of ups and downs along the way ... but BOY does it feel good finally to have THIS little baby in my possession.

Better than when I first ran sub-1 minute for the 400 metres? Yes, certainly.

Better than scoring a try in my first game for the school 1st XV, against arch-rivals Netherhall? Absolutely!

Better than winning my first County athletics title? Indeed.

Better than making my first AAA national championships final? I think so.

Better than narrowly failing to lift the Southern Counties under 17 title in 1984? Without a doubt.

Better than receiving my A level results, and realising that I had secured my place at Cambridge? Unquestionably.

Better than coxing the Cantabs gentlemen's VIII to an overbump on the first day of the Town May Bumps (or is is the May Town Bumps??) in 1991? I should say so!

Better than being admitted to the Roll of Solicitors of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (as the correct title was, back when I was admitted)? Yes, that as well.

Better than passing my ML assessment at the first attempt? No contest!

Better than lifting the Pony Riders' Association rosette for the highest placed under 15hh at the British TREC championships in 2004? Again, yes.

Really and truly, of all the personal achievements I can point to in my life, I think this one ranks above all the others. And hopefully, if you have read this blog all the way through to this point, you won't need me to explain why. You'll have been with me through the ups and downs, the highs and the lows, and you'll have at least an insight, an inkling of an idea, as to just what it is that makes an otherwise normal, well adjusted individual (don't say it, Sloman ... just don't say it!!) go out year after year into the wilds of Scotland and battle the terrain, the weather, the solitude, and keep going no matter what until he runs out of land. And if you have, then you'll understand what it means to be a Challenger, and just why it means so much to me that, after all I have endured, I am, finally, a Leg End of the Challenge.