Georgie Gibbons

Taking place on the beautiful Isle of Wight, the spectacular Isle of Wight Challenge is a classic endurance event.

Participants can decide whether to walk, jog or run a route that takes in views of the island's white cliffs, sandy beaches and stunning scenery.

This year Plan International UK supporter Georgie opted to take on the full 106km and fundraise to support brave young women worldwide.

Georgie joined other challengers to set off from the village of Chale in the south of the island, where participants join the coastal path. This is one of the most spectacular parts of the walk with spectacular coastline and dramatic cliffs.

Heading onward and east past Yarmouth Castle, before reaching East Cowes marked the halfway point for Georgie. This, she says was one of the toughest parts of the challenge as the halfway challengers completed the event.

It was the middle of the night, her feet ached and she still had 53km to go. But she says that as soon as she “put on my head torch and I got going again I felt better”.

Georgie’s head torch also helped when she took a wrong turn and came very close to a cliff edge. The route markers can look very much like warning signs, especially after walking for hours!

As a solo walker Georgie says that other participants are incredibly friendly and there is a lot of camaraderie to help keep you motivated along the way.

To stay hydrated Georgie sipped water at every kilometre and used the anticipation of each kilometre marker to spur her on to the finish.

With the finish-line in sight, and after 26 hours of walking, Georgie could hardly contain her excitement and even managed “a sprint finish to the end!"

Walking 106km solo is, Georgie says, a "bit of an emotional rollercoaster” but absolutely worth it. Georgie is so glad that she did it and would absolutely recommend the challenge to anyone.

We think she's amazing – and if you want to be one of our amazing fundraisers too, and experience the spectacular scenery of the Isle of Wight, registration for the 2018 event is now open.

You can register for this and any event in the Ultra Series and push yourself whilst also raising funds for Plan International UK's work with young people worldwide.