Waterlooville man does 100km continuous walk around Isle of Wight to raise money for charity

Gary Wilson, 49, from Waterlooville, took part in the gruelling challenge alongside his friend Michael Hudson.

Gary was on Facebook when an advertisement for the Isle of Wight Challenge popped up on his timeline. After speaking to Michael, they decided they would both take on the 100km challenge of walking around the Isle of Wight.

The challenge sees members of the public walking 100km, which they can choose to walk continuously or over two days, with only a break for food and drink. The duo chose to take part in the 100km, continuous walk in hopes of really getting a ‘challenge’.

The walk started around 8.20am on the Saturday morning and they walked around the island until 4pm the following day, only taking breaks for food and drink every 10-15km. Gary said: ‘It was extremely difficult, far worse than we thought it was going to be.

‘It really does push people, just as much physically as it does mentally.’

The duo aimed to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, a charity that had a direct effect to Gary. He said: ‘My father had suffered with heart problems.

‘Out of all the charities we could have chose, this was the one closest to my heart.’