Ivan, head coach of DC Boxing and Justin, a long running senior boxer and coach, both had words of encouragement at the start of the trip, which Phill and Heley took with them, along with their 20kg bags. Now at the premature end of their journey, we asked them again for their thoughts.

1) Now that Phill and Heley have officially announced that they will not be able to complete the trip, what are your thoughts?

Ivan: Disappointed for them. But if you’ve given your all, you can’t ask for more. Logic has to take sense.

Justin: They’ve done amazing.

2) How do you feel about what they have managed to achieve for the club, in terms of both raising the profile of the club and the money they have raised?

Ivan: Whether they raised £2 or £2000, it’s not about the finance. They’ve given their time for the club, and put something back in. It’s generated a lot of interest. It’s a shame people just don’t have the money to sponsor more.

Justin: Brilliant. They’ve gone out and done it, and it shows what the club means to people.

3) Despite Phill and Heley’s clear achievement, if they were to feel disappointed or a sense of failure in anyway, what would you say to them?

Ivan: They haven’t failed at all. We can only imagine how hard it was out there from reading the stories. They didn’t fail, they just didn’t reach the goal they set out to. If failure is raising money for the club and raising awareness for the club, then call it failure. It has got a lot of people talking and money for the club towards the much-needed new ring.

Justin: Injury takes over the braveness. You’ve got to be realistic. Your mind is trying to work over your injury, but sometimes you can’t carry on.

4) How else do you plan to raise money for the new ring? 

Ivan: Last year we had a shave night. ‘It’s a knockout’ is coming up to raise awareness, but not a lot of money. Dunno – ask Justin!

Justin: ‘It’s a knockout’ is on this week. There’ll be a stall and scaffolding with bags. 30 seconds. £1 a go. So hopefully we can raise a bit of money there.

On the site alone, Phill and Heley have raised £862.70 so far. They’re still planning to reach £1000, with a welcome-home-empty-your-pockets bucket bash. With Ivan’s wisdom and experience, and Justin’s duracell-positivity, I’m pretty sure we’ll reach the target £1500, because it’s not about the money. It’s about the club. 

Phill has kindly (!) asked me to be his and Heley’s ’emergency support co-ordinator’ and internet dogsbody – roughly translated, to be on standby if anything goes wrong in them hills, and to keep everyone updated on how they’re getting along when they’re unable to update the site themselves. Sounds simple enough, yet my panic-stricken face betrays the knowledge that he has picked entirely the wrong person for the job. Anyhow, the votes have been cast – one, Phill’s. And I’m it. So this is a brief introduction; mainly my first experiences of the club they’re trekking 380 miles for, and are leaving me in the proverbial shit for.

I went to DC Boxing for the first time last week. Followed by a second time. If first impressions are anything to go by, I was and am impressed. I attended as a complete beginner, and as one of only three females that night (one being the other girl I’d dragged along). I was understandably intimidated. Surprisingly however, and much to DC’s credit, somehow the club manages to absorb you. The atmosphere, due primarily to the coaches, and as a result the people, is strangely friendly, despite a lack of much chat. The two giddy beginners were taken aside after the warm up to be taught the basics by a smiling and reassuring David, and instructions not to call him Dave (although it seems that everyone does..?) We rejoined the group later, a little better informed of how to punch properly, even if we were a long way off delivering anything resembling a jab. Not to mention my stubbornly static feet. Sweated out the end on ropes and bags, and attempts to develop guts of steel. Left that night feeling excited about returning.

The second session arrives, but I left my balls at home, fearing all the same things as before, despite my good impressions. Turn up at Phill’s in the rain, thinking that the weather will mean people don’t turn up, and I’ll have less to fear. Wrong. I think the numbers may have been double! Maybe that’s more telling than anything else I’ve said. People love the club, and I can see why. I fell out of a tree last night, twisted my ankle running through bushes in a failed attempt to miss the sprinkler, but it’s kind of like the rain.. not enough to keep me away.. :)

So this is who Phill has left everything to in his absence. I wish him and Heley a safe and successful trip, and may my services need not be required! I wish them even more luck if they are. Trying to locate somewhere suitable for them to spend the night by way of coordinates and googlemaps as daylight fades and panic sets in, when Phill’s dodgy knee can’t hobble any further and Heley’s all but throttling him anyway, is something of a responsibility. Shame they left it to someone who can’t tell a mountain from a swamp, ‘cos they all look like squiggles on a map to me! :s