I loaded with tea and corned beef sandwiches, while Anne grabbed a ham sandwich.

Discussed en route:
- I should have worn two pairs of socks
- why we like Pop Idol and Chris Tarrant
- the magical properties of blackberries
- the state of our feet
- Anne's marathon training run in Tottenham

The next section took us through some woodland - my fave kind of walking, and through Hylands Park. 

Very beautiful. We walked passed the house...

...then through more woodland. I thought we'd taken a wrong turn, so we cut through a field, but some kindly locals told us we were very near the right route, so didn't lose time. Then a frightening dash over the dual carriageway of the A414 to checkpoint 3 and the best fruitcake I've ever eaten. One of the checkpointers said it was made by her dad specially for the event.

Last section - as ever - the hardest. We got lost near the end, as we'd done at Southend, which is a lesson for the future.

We walked though a wood and shouldn't have done, and ended up with an extra couple of miles road walking. We learnt later that this saved us a couple of ploughed fields, but by this time we were both beginning to ache. Poor Anne had a knee twinge and suspected she'd cultivated a new blister, and I suspected I had a couple on my foot. We staggered into Blackmore, and a couple of other competitors, departing in their cars, cheered us on.

Oh bliss! The village hall was there, and we arrived back. 29 miles in 9 hours 13 mins. We were almost the last, but the lovely ladies of Essex LDWA provided a homemade meal of quiche and salad. Yummy. Then there was the ceremonial revealing of feet - a nasty blister for Anne, and five blisters (one the size of a dinner plate) for me. But as Anne said, we did the miles. Boy, did we do the miles!

Thanks to Ultra Anne for brilliant company as ever.