A split-second epiphany led a former database analyst to ditch his job and trek nearly 1,000 miles across an entire country for charity.
Bob Carr, 59, from Hatch Warren, walked 920 miles through Spain in less than 12 weeks to raise cash for Cancer Research UK and its Spanish equivalent, CNIO (Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas).
Speaking to the Basingstoke Observer since returning home from his mammoth adventure, he said the trip was an experience of a lifetime.
“It was absolutely exhausting, but I love walking, and I love Spain," said Bob. "It was a tough challenge - but the toughest challenge was mental as I was walking on my own for all but nine days of the trip.
“I like the knowledge that you're somewhere that perhaps no one else has been. It's a route that not many people have done.”
The father-of-two kicked off his trip on May 7 this year, and averaged 18 miles per day in peak Mediterranean heat before finishing on July 23.
The three-month odyssey started on the north coast of Spain at Santander. Bob then worked his way south, including trekking through the 2,000m high Sierra de Gredos mountain range, before finishing six days ahead of schedule in Tarifa, continental Europe’s southernmost point.
His route avoided the big cities, and he said there were many nights when he would enter a town without knowing where he would stay that evening, but he praised the hospitality of the people he met along the way.
Bob said: “The Spanish are so generous in terms of giving you help and food. I was blessed with good fortune. God willing he put me up somewhere, but it was a close call on many occasions."
The final push of the journey saw Bob walking through Andalusia where daytime temperatures peaked in excess of 40 degrees celsius and sapped his last remaining dregs of energy.
But 78 days and 1,844,649 steps later the determined walker arrived exhausted at the southern coast.
He said: “The adrenaline was flowing on that last day. I never felt tired due to the adrenaline and I must have walked 25 to 30 miles that day. My pedometer rather spookily broke the instant I reached Tarifa. It was saying that I’d done enough."
And now Bob is appealing to big-hearted people to help him reach his fundraising target of £5,000, to split equally between the two charities.
To donate to Cancer Research UK, visit www.justgiving.com/bob-carr, or to donate to the CNIO, visit www.walkwithmethroughspain.co.uk
