Guest Blog Noel Smith, Swinford & Birmingham
Below is an account from my great friend Noel who recently took the time to come out and join me on my walk from Canterbury to Rome with 2 other friends Joe Mellett (Swinford) & John Culhane (Ballinrobe & Birmingham)
Noel & Joe joined me in Pavia on the morning of Tuesday 3 September where we immediately hit the path and walked together over the next 6 days (being joined by our great friend John Culhane from Ballinrobe for the weekend)
Noel and myself are regular walking buddies who sometimes also meet up for the occasional sup of Guinness. Noel has been a fantastic friend to me over the last 20 years and It was very special for me to have him come out and join me on my VF adventure. I look forward to more walking adventures with Noel going forward.
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Noels Account
The Rolling Hills of Lombardy!!!!!!!!!!
I, like so many others in Cathal’s social network, followed his Camino adventures two years ago in Spain
and was looking forwards to this year’s adventures across western Europe on his way to Rome from
Canterbury. Having trained with Cathal on numerous walks over 20km at the end of last year and up
to his departure in June this year, I could tell this was not going to be another walk in the park, and we spoke at length about the route and when might be a good time to join him. Some of the lads joked that it was the longest pub crawl in Europe, if only they knew.
With weekly phone calls and texts to catch-up on his progress, I could tell that the travels through
France were both lonely and tough for him particularly on his day’s off. So Joe Mellett, John Culhane and myself decided to set a date and meet up with Cathal for a week’s walk in Italy, planning around mid-September and bring a bit of fun and laughter to Cathal on his walk. The dates were important but more important was the route as we wanted to avoid the mountains around Parma, so we brought it forward a week to early September for a more leisurely walk.
The walks we completed, mainly covering around 23km at the end of each day, were both exhausting, but also pleasingly satisfying upon completion. You quickly get into the recovery mode of sleeping for an hour or two after each walk and then looking for somewhere to eat and drink to while the evenings away. Mornings were an early start, getting up at 6:30am to be on the road at 7am, to try to beat the mid-day heat of the sun and a lovely time to be walking in Italy it was. I’ll not forget the heat, the biblical rain that soaked us right through that nothing we were wearing or carrying remained dry, the laugh’s, the beautiful view’s, the stories we told each other, the lies we told each other, the barking dogs, the warmth of the Italian people in bars and restaurants, the food, the beer, the wine, but above all the craic and comradeship of our group of walkers that week.
This was no easy feat that Cathal took on, far from it, it was both challenging physically, but also
mentally, to keep going through the diverse terrains and weathers conditions was truly an epic feat.
They say “human endeavor” is one in which humans strive to achieve something of significance,
which can only be achieved via human willpower or intelligence. This is one of those rare occasions,
that the people both inside and outside of Swinford have realised the epic proportions of human
endeavor completed by Cathal, where around a thousand people turned out to welcome him back
home into Swinford, complete with a Garda escort, Midfield marching Pipe band and numerous
dignitaries from across Mayo, whom all marvelled at this unique task completed over nearly 4 months.
At the forefront of this walk were the charities that Cathal had chosen, the fundraising was immense,
a significant amount has been raised for The Children’s Health Foundation Crumlin and the Mayo Parkinson’s Association for which meant so much to Cathal.
I look forward to his next challenge, but I fear it may take Cathal a few years to get over this one first, but to finish, he must have a surreal sense of achievement to walk 2,200km from Canterbury to
Rome, well done Cathal !!
Noel Smith 15th October 2024