Hikers stay bright and chirpy on the greyest of days

If Jane Tomlinson was looking down, through the thick grey clouds that dumped continuous rain and hail on those below, even she would have been impressed.

Despite the heavens opening for the inaugural Peaks Walk for All, fundraisers aged between two and 76-years-old kept going in the memory of her remarkable fundraising legacy.

“When I felt like moaning, I just thought about the cause and it made me feel a bit sheepish,” said 53-year-old Nuala Murphy, of Huddersfield, who completed the 12-mile route with a group of friends and at one point fell head over heels in the mud.

“It was very hard but we had a lot of fun, despite the rain and the mud.

“But it really pails into insignificance what we have done really.

“This is such a worthwhile cause and when you think about what Jane did it makes you realise this is a tiny fraction of it.”

Neville Wright, 68, of Sheffield, was similarly motivated by the efforts of the NHS radiographer who raised more than £1.85m through marathons, triathlons, the Iron Man contest, a tandem cycle ride from Rome to Leeds and a bike ride across America, while battling terminal cancer which eventually claimed her life in 2007.

“I have never done any Jane Tomlinson event before and was roped into this by my son,” said Mr Wright after completing the 12-mile route.

“But is a very good cause and I would sooner give to charity this way than giving money to someone knocking on my door.

“But it was pretty grim to be honest – I’m looking forward to dinner and a bath.”

Among the hundreds of walkers taking part in the event yesterday was long-term family friend Stuart Hinde, 48, who recently accompanied Mike Tomlinson for the Yorkshire leg of a 650-mile cycle ride sandwiched between two marathons he undertook on behalf of the appeal.

Mr Hinde is secretary of the Rothwell Harriers, a Leeds running club that Mike and Jane Tomlinson trained with, and took part in the 2,500 Istanbul to Leeds cycle ride in memory of Jane in 2010.

Yesterday, he was accompanying one of the more senior walkers to take part – his 76-year-old father Marcel.

“We’ve found it pretty tough in the wind, especially up some of the hills, but we are both keeping going,” he told the Yorkshire Post halfway up the rain-lashed side of Win Hill.

At the other end of the age spectrum, two-year-old Molly Hallam bundled up in a green anorak proudly collected her medal at the Hope Showground, after completing the five-mile route.

The abysmal weather conditions meant many of the walkers who had originally signed up to do the 24-mile route, dropped down to 12 after being advised by marshals at checkpoints that the winds were up to 70mph and they would be continuing at their own risk.

Marianne Yates from Hepworth, near Holmfirth, who walked the 12-miler instead of the 24-miler due to the horrendous condition, said: “It was very very wet and windy – we would never have managed the 24 miles in conditions like that.”

Although one walker not fazed by the elements was Linda Wales, 39, from Rothwell, Leeds, who entered the 24-miler as part of her training for a trek up the Himalayan peak of Ama Dablam.

The experienced walker, who has trekked to Everest base camp in the past, will be heading out to the world’s highest mountain range in November.

She said: “I’ve been doing a lot of walking, as well as running, weights and endurance work.

“Weather like this helps with stamina and endurance training.”

The setting of the second Walk for All in the Peak District rather than the Dales, where it was launched last summer, means many walkers from outside of Yorkshire took to the Hope Valley yesterday.

“It is very good to see walkers coming together from both sides of the Pennines coming together,” said Mark Pickup, 48, of Altringham, Manchester, who was taking on the 24-mile route.

“We wanted to do this because we enjoy walking and because it was a Jane Tomlinson event.”

Despite the brutal conditions, Siobhan Curtis, legacy manager for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal hailed yesterday’s event as a real success.

Although she admitted everybody was crossing their fingers for better weather during the other Walk for All festivals taking place in the Dales and Lake District later this year.

“The weather is the one thing we can’t have any control over,” she said.

“But despite all the wind and the rain, when they came over the finishing line, everybody was still smiling.

“It has been a great day.”