Leanne Chambers

The 50km Challenge 2026 is on the horizon…

What started as a simple 50km challenge last September quickly ran away with me (and my legs!) during the 2025 challenge! It turned into a full-blown Norfolk-meets-London adventure, spanning 13 walks, 127km, and a hunt for hidden stories in lanes, ruins, and riversides.

I began that challenge with a golden-hour stroll in rain-washed air, but soon found myself time-travelling on foot. My routes took me past Roman ruins and Saxon burial grounds, round-towered churches and lost chapels, through tangled woods and along the fading trail of Norwich’s medieval city walls. I discovered flint towers nestling beside busy roads, wounded WWII radar masts, rumours of UFO sightings, and ruined churches said to shelter moonlit angels. Village signs whispered centuries of history, and one memorable 4:30am start under a star-scattered sky made me wonder how many sunrises others have watched over millennia.

London added its own layers to the journey - from the old pleasure gardens of Battersea to the iconic chimneys of the power station, and a zoo where pigs now roam underneath flocks of wild parakeets. Each walk peeled back more than just miles; they revealed the hidden past in places I thought I knew. I may have signed up for the challenge, but I stayed for the stories.

The best part of last year's journey? Thanks to your incredible support, I raised £227 for the Royal Marsden!

Building on that adventure, I am so excited to do it all over again. I’m looking forward to clocking up the kilometres this September, blogging about my walking adventures, and exploring even more of the fascinating history around the Norwich area!