Ignite UK Walkathon

by ragadmin | 30 Dec 2020 | Chorus Life

Heads together, what can we come up with to involve every chorus member and be healthy? I thought, why not a marathon? So after discussion, we decided to make it a joint walkathon – with 51 members of Ignite UK, we would walk a collective 1336 miles over five weeks. Each member to do their best to achieve a marathon. Every step to count towards the total.

We normally perform at a charity concert for our local branch of Cancer Research. Obviously this year, that isn’t happening so we wanted to do something to help a very good cause and for it to be something everyone could be involved in and healthy to boot.

As autumn drew to an end, the bad weather certainly made it hard to get out and about to enjoy some long walks. It was just as well then that every effort counts, whether that’s walking whilst at work, doing the house work or indeed putting Christmas decorations up. It all helps and are valuable contributions to our challenge.

Just how far have we walked? Well…

Starting from the Mills in Belper we have walked to:

Aberdeen – a virtual ‘hello’ to the singers of Aberdeen Chorus
From Aberdeen to Wigan and Milltown Sounds
From Wigan to Stockport where we find the lovely Nancy Kelsall and Heartbeat UK chorus
From Stockton to Macclesfield, a virtual shoutout to Backbeat A Cappella
From Macclesfield to Sheffield where you won’t be surprised to find the ladies and gent of Sheffield Harmony

Ignite UK member poses for the walkathon

At this point, we needed to take a well-deserved rest. A hot cup of tea and foot massage would be nice.

But we are not done yet. Not in the slightest!

From Sheffield to London and wave to the London City Singers
From London to Plymouth and the singers of Mayflower A Cappella
From Plymouth to Saint Austell, a virtual ‘hi’ to Acappella Sound
From Saint Austell to Somerset and Singsational chorus
And finally, our last leg of the walk takes us from Somerset back to London and the fabulous Valerie Taylor and Vocal Dimension

Phew, this is exhausting! That’s a lot of walking.

So how many miles is this Region 31 name drop? Only an awesome 1527.14 miles. Yes, that’s right, we were only 16 days into a 36 day challenge and BOOM! We smashed out target of walking, as a chorus, 1336 miles.

Ignite UK has really entered into the spirit of this and into the bargain they are getting fitter, getting plenty of fresh air – all for the good of their mental wellbeing.

Maybe this could be something the whole country could get involved in next year, a virtual relay walkathon for the whole region. Just imagine the total miles and where it could take you and the money raised for different causes. I can feel myself getting excited at the thought.

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