A Sunday Escape #6

Why women walk

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A Sunday Escape #6: Why women walk

Dear NE-One

It’s Sunday morning and I have walking on my mind. Not a casual stroll in the park, but the kind of walk that, step after step, forces you to dig deeper and deeper and deeper into the very core of your being, to that place where strength and grit and true resilience lie.

You see, I’m lazing in bed with a(nother) cup of coffee beside me and for the past two hours I’ve been dot-watching, tracking teams’ progress as they hike over rugged mountains on the second leg of the Adventure Racing World Series’ world champs in Ecuador. You might remember the interview piece I ran last year with Shale Biggs, the mum of three little girls who is one of South Africa’s top endurance athletes… Shale (who is also my sister) is competing in the world champs again, tackling what will probably be the most physically demanding race she’s ever done. As they trek, mountain bike and paddle across the 580km course, teams will climb a total of 16,858m and descend 16,830m – that’s the same as ascending and descending from Base Camp to the very top of Everest FOUR TIMES – over what will likely be five or six days. (If you’d like to follow her team’s progress on WhatsApp, join Team Merrell’s supporters group here.)

Another reason I have walking on my mind is because three weeks ago Mark and I finished our (incomplete) Camino Frances. So often as I walked, I’d thought about Shale and her upcoming race because while the distance we’d both cover would be almost the same, our experiences would be a world apart. I’d walk for around six hours each day; I’d fuel up on fresh croissants and hearty meals, enjoy hot showers and get at least eight hours’ sleep in a comfortable bed every night for 26 nights. Shale, however, will be on the move almost constantly; she and her team will eat rehydrated meals and steal a few minutes for rest occasionally. If, during the entire race, they get a total of eight hours sleep on a hard floors, makeshift shelters or under trees, it will be a lot.

This contrast between these physical experiences – one a gruelling endurance challenge and the other a reflective pilgrimage – has had me thinking about what walking represents beyond its physical demands, and I’ve been drawn lately to stories of women who walk not for fitness or fun, but to claim space, to find themselves, or to leave something behind. There’s something profoundly transformative about the act of walking – about, one step at a time, redefining limits, rewriting stories, and rediscovering what it feels like to truly be alive.

And so with this in mind, here are a few things you might like to read/listen to/watch…

…if you have 8.5 minutes

In September 2022, just four weeks after summiting Kilimanjaro, Sarah de Lagarde slipped on the London Underground and was run over by two trains. She lay on the track for 15 minutes before anyone found her. In the two years since Sarah lost her left arm and leg, the mother of two girls has become a motivational speaker and advocate for safety on public transportation – and in August this year she became the first woman with a prosthetic arm and leg to summit Kilimanjaro. Click here to watch an interview with Sarah shortly before she and her family left to climb Kili, and here to see some of Sarah’s Instagram footage from the climb.

…if you have 14 minutes

When Srishti Bakshi was 14 years old she went to the movies with friends for the very first time. Before she even found her seat, Srishti was sexually assaulted – and became one of the 45 women and girls who face varying degrees of violence every hour in India. Years later, at a TED Talk in 2017, Srishti told the story of how that moment impacted her life. ‘I wanted to prove to the world that I could face my demons,’ Srishti said. ‘Not just for one, but for 230 continuous days. So I decided to walk across the length of India.’ On that 3,700km walk Srishti realised that you don’t see many women out and about in her country, ‘because it’s simply not safe’. Determined to change this, Srishti is now working to create ways for women to get outside, be mobile and embrace freedom – and in doing so, take control of their lives. Srishti tells her remarkable story here, in a TED Talk.

…if you have 13 hours

I came late to the

Cheryl Strayed

party. She first dropped onto my radar when her book Wild – A Journey from Lost to Found was made into a movie, and the trailer had me quietly rolling my eyes. A film about a woman hiking with a pack that size? Get real, I thought, mentally chucking the book and movie onto my ‘not interested’ pile. I don’t know, then, exactly why I downloaded Wild on Audible two months ago – but I’m so glad I did and it’s been one of my top listens of the year. The book (beautifully written) covers Cheryl’s 1,100-mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail in the west of the USA; it’s a journey during which she grapples grief, loss and self-discovery. Told with brutal honesty – and a sense of humour – it is, ultimately, a story of courage.

Here’s to the paths we choose to take – whatever the reason.

Until next time