By LCpl Bhim Isyo Subba, 246 GSS, Fwd Troop
“One of the most demanding team and personal challenges you could undertake. You will learn so much about yourself and your teammates!” Scott Cummines, Mounting Gorillas
Trailwalker is one of the most gruelling endurance charity events and is organised by Queen’s Gurkha Signals and Oxfam UK. The money raised is for The Gurkha Welfare Trust and Oxfam UK. This year Trailwalker 2012 took place over the weekend 14 -15 July, and consisted of a 100 km race across the South Downs; starting from Queen Elizabeth Park. Trailwalker is highly respected for the great determination and teamwork it demands – but in return, the sense of achievement is immense and the pride felt upon completion is unbeatable. The event calls for a team of four to complete 100 km within 30 hours.
QG Signals have been providing some of the finest runners to take part in this event every year and has achieved great successes along the way. This year, the training was held at 248 Gurkha Signal Squadron, Stafford, led by OC Lima Troop Capt Hudson; runners were selected from 246, 248 and 250 GSS. Sgt Kiran Gurung, Lima Troop was responsible for the overall training. Sig Pranesh Hembya, our PTI, was responsible for producing a training programme for 12 weeks; he was also involved in the training of the winning team for QG Signals in Trailwalker 2010.
Due to operational commitments, QG Signals could only enter one team. Out of nine volunteers four were to be selected – LCpl Kishor Gurung, LCpl Thamansing Rana, LCpl Bhim Isyo Subba, and Sig Kiran Limbu; their training was divided into three phases, Base Training, Training Camp and Tapering week. During Base training we trained in the local area; for Training Camp we went to the South Downs and trained on the actual route; the Tapering phase was the best as those last two weeks we reduced the training tempo to enable our muscles to recover.
On the actual day the weather was in our favour. Our race started at 0800hrs from the Queen Elizabeth Park. The South Downs has the most difficult terrain from start to finish and due to the continuous rainfall before the event, the route became more challenging.
We crossed through all the obstacles and managed to cross the finish line at Brighton Race course coming first and 40 minutes ahead of the team that came second, which just happened to be QG Signals from Phase 2 training, Blandford. Once again QG Signals were able to hold the title of “Trailwalker Winners 2012”. Our combined effort, hard work, determination and team work paid off. Our thanks must also go to our support crew, without whom, it would have been a much tougher day for all of us.
Trailwalker 2012 has been another successful event for Queen’s Gurkha Signals this year. As an experienced Trailwalker team member I am proud to say that Trailwalker is not just about finishing the route in under 10hrs or in 30hrs, its about accepting the challenge as a team, working as a team, competing as a team and for us, winning as a team.
