Hughes: Malin to Mizen Head walk emotional and amazing

CROSSMAGLEN’S Stephen Hughes says you can get him at the house but he won’t be answering many phone calls or going too far as he from his 548k walk the length of the country.

Hughes covered the distance in 16.5 days, which is impressive and he has raised over £5000 for Southern Area Hospice.

Stephen made the trek in memory of his late Dad Pat, who passed away in July last year after receiving care from the staff at Newry Hospice.

Hughes is back and said he couldn’t get over the difference between the counties.

“Overall, I feel great. When I finished, I didn’t know how to feel because of all the emotions of the whole challenge coming to an end, the reason why I was doing it for the Hospice and how great everybody has been. Also, the fact the support I got and the sponsorship. I had a load pf emotions, but I feel great now, it was such an amazing thing to do and I had such a good time,” said Stephen.

“What I really enjoyed was meeting people along the way and seeing how nice people were in the small villages. That was what I really enjoyed, just seeing how different this county is in each county when you walk it. Each county changes, when I started off in Donegal it was very hilly and mountainy and it was a small community and really nice, then I went into Derry and it was cool meeting people in a big city and then I went into the county’s it started to get a little flatter. Even in Fermanagh there were small I suppose Could describe them as one-horse towns, that only had the post office and it was the shop and coffee shop as well. Wee things like that was great to see and then I went more central and into Cavan and on down to Tipperary where everyone just seemed to be selling turf or digging turf.

“It was just mind-blowing to see how big the changes are in such as small country. When you went to west Cork it was more mountains and big farms and it was different an experience. To think, 548k is the length of Ireland and you wouldn’t think it would change that drastically but it does and it was amazing.

“When and Tip or Cork seeing the old houses, schools and churches from around the time of famine that aren’t used any more it was amazing to see it .”

Hughes admits that his plan of sleeping on the land he lay his hat on was scraped after the first night when a watching the sunset along the river at Enniskillen seemed the ideal place to pitch a tent, but the subsequent storm that night put and end to camping.

“My Mum is really good at that’s sort of stuff so, she booked me into B&Bs and hotels,” Hughes said.

“As a family we covered that expense because we want all the money to go to charity but when my mother explained what I was doing along the way they were nice enough to give me a discount most of the times.”

Hughes promotional poster said he would aim to compete the walk in under 20 days, which is no easy feat as he averaged walking 35k a day, but he said getting a good nights rest with the fluffy pillows in hotels no doubt helping, helped him reach his target in only 16.5 days.

The south Armagh man thought he was ahead of time when he walked through Enniskillen but then hit what marathon runners describe as the wall.

“So, when I started being able to eat and ice my feet and stuff you can’t do when you are camping, I started to pick up the pace and when I got down to Limerick, I thought that would be able to do it in 17 days and it ended up being 16 and a half. So that was nice,” said Hughes.

“I thought it would be really hard to do it under 20 days but once I got under and when I got to the last stages I really got my second wind and I was able do 41k for the last three days no problem because physically I felt fit. It was surprising that I felt how I did but I am happy that I met the target.”

Hughes said that listening to his late dads favourite tunes helped him make it to the finish line at Mizen Head and says the emotional toll has overtaken the physical tiredness but he is glad to have made his contribution to the Southern Area Hospice.

“Over the past few days, it has stopped being physically tiring but I am getting emotional because a lot of people are saying nice things about my dad and telling me about the family members they have lost to cancer and stuff like that. Coming towards the end of the walk I listen to a lot of the traditional Irish music that my dad like and a lot of his favourite songs so it was an emotional battle towards the end,” said Hughes.

“At the moment we are around the £5000, which is just mind blowing, last year it was £3000, so to think I have raised £8000 for the hospice is amazing. They were so nice with the support they showed me while I was doing it and I am so happy that the money is going to such a good charity.”

Stephen would like to thank all those who supported him and New Beginnings Relexology in Crossmaglen who worked wonders for his feet.