Eve Armstrong, who suffers with chronic illness, gets by on her TGOC with a little help from friends.
One, two, three… I’m counting my steps as we slowly, slowly climb our way out of the corrie. It is not a good sign. Counting steps is what I do when I’m so exhausted and struggling so badly that I need something to focus on but don’t have enough brain power to think anything interesting. I reached thirty before, panting and coughing, I had to stop. It was a miracle that I made it to the TGOC start point at all.
Main image: A low point on Eve’s TGOC coincided with a beautiful camp | Credit: Eve Armstrong
I had been plagued with complex health problems for over four years which were exacerbated by a nasty car accident. I was eventually diagnosed with, among other things, fibromyalgia and asthma but not before my fitness had taken a nosedive. Then, just five days before we set off from Shiel Bridge, I was hit with a pain flare-up which left me unable to sleep and in need of some strong prescription painkillers.
So, there I was 14km into my 277km TGOC journey, breathlessly puffing into my shiny new inhaler grasped in shaky hands. I was underprepared, out of practice and cursing myself for even thinking I could try something like this. Wild challenges were for the old me who was fit and healthy. They were not for this new, chronically ill, washed-out version of me.
Jeni and Kirsty crossing landslides in Glen Feshie. Credit: Eve Armstrong
Then something amazing happened: we just kept walking. We did have to stop to cook dinner and then we walked a little further, but we successfully made it to our planned campsite that night. The next day, we got up and did it again and again the day after that. At some point, I realised I was actually having fun!
I never quite believed I would finish until, just north of Montrose, my aching and blistered feet crunched onto a pebble beach and I could feel the east coast sea spray on my face. I didn’t really need to bear the burden of belief alone though because I was part of a team.
Kirsty and Jeni lifted my spirits when I was down, sang songs with me when I needed distraction, were infinitely patient when I climbed up hills at a snail’s pace and provided unwavering support, never once suggesting that I couldn’t finish. There’s something joyful and powerful in being part of a team and I am thankful to not only have completed this challenge but to have completed it with them.
Taking part in 2024’s TGOC gave me back the mental and physical confidence I lost through chronic illness and pain, and I owe it all to my brilliant friends.
Eve (right), Jeni (centre) and Kirsty (left) reaching the East coast. Credit: Eve Armstrong
What is the TGO Challenge?
The TGO Challenge is a non-competitive, self-supported backpacking event in which you have up to 15 days to walk across Scotland from West to East on your own bespoke route through the spectacular Highlands using the benefits of Scotland’s unique access code to wild camp in some wonderfully remote places. It is not a race. The focus is on savouring your environment, exploring places you can only reach by foot and enjoying rather than enduring the experience. There are no accolades for high or fast routes and the infinite possibilities for routes, variations in weather and different characters encountered on each crossing make each journey unique.
Visit tgochallenge.com to learn more about the TGO Challenge or read more tales from the TGOC24 in the November 2024 issue of The Great Outdoors.
