Phew it is over. For several days before the event I found myself to be very nervous and had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach if I dwelled on the challenge ahead. I am quite a logically person naturally and my mind was having a mental tug of war with itself. One half was saying rightly so. They would not let you do this if you would hurt yourself. The other half of my brain told me that if I walked on something that was circa 550 degrees (over 5 times hotter than boiling water) that would hurt.

On the day there was rain :-)  so my rain dance had paid off but only enough to wet the ground rather than cool the temperature of the fire. :-( I drove there and found myself confronted by multiply police cars and cones galore on the roundabout about 200 meters from my destination. There had been an accident. Not knowing the area I did wonder for a moment how late I was going to be. But fortunately for me the police reopened the road and I was the first car through.

I do not recall the last time I listened quite so intensely to someone as I did that night for the glass 'ice' walking training. It all seemed so simple when explained and then demonstrated. Before I knew it it was my turn and there was a strip of broken glass ahead of me made up of over 200 smashed bottles. Normal glass, no tricks. With a deep breath inside me I placed my first foot on the glass and applied some pressure. This action provoked cracking and creaking noises followed the sound of breaking glass underneath my foot. This was slightly unnerving. I pressed on and put all my weight on that foot for the briefest of moments to allow me to get my trailing foot forward. Both feet on safe and sound. This process was repeated a number of times in a very deliberate way at a slow and steady pace. Stepping off was my goal but that is not allowed until you have had your feet brushed off. This makes sure you have not got glass stuck on your feet so when you step off the glass onto  "safety" you find the hard floor pushes the shard of glass into your bare skin. I'm off and I let out a large sign. One challenge down one to go.

Time flew and soon it was back to listening 100% or you could get hurt later. Knowing that helped to focus my attention as you can imagine. We were told about the history of fire walking, which counties and tribes around the world do their own different take on the challenge and what it meant to them. All very interesting I must say but I did find myself thinking "when is he going to tell me how I am going to get across without badly hurting myself". That time came and went soon enough.

We were escorted outside to stand next to the fire and feel the heat as our teacher Scott Bell (double world record holder for the longest fire walk) measured the hot embers at 546 degrees. That's nice I thought to myself.

When ever I have seen or been involved in doing something dangerous there is always some one keen to go first I find. Be rest assured that was not me. I was more fearful of this than the glass and was happy to see a few of my fellow victims sorry volunteers go ahead of me. The first couple of people made it look pretty easy and rejoined the back of the queue (were I was) to have another go. The queue went down really quickly as you can imagine people do not take that long to walk over red hot embers. Funny that. Before I knew it I was at the head of the queue. Now normally being at the head of the queue and being served next would put a smile on my face but not so then. The theory was over and it was a case of deep breath, focus, confidence and walk swiftly with purpose. I was off and the first couple of steps seemed OK but I felt an intense heat on the soft skin on the arch of my feet with each step that I then took. I had to push on. After all stopping was not an option. Suddenly my face was taking on a new shape and sent out a very different message of what I was feeling. Stepping onto the grass at the far end was a mental relief but not a physical one. For that joy I needed to rub off the embers that seem to have got stuck on the soles of my feet. Agghh relief.

Scott had said it gets easier the more walks you do as your body and mind have a better understanding of what to expect. It is the first time and the unknown that is the hardest part. These comments were echoed my other first time fire walkers as they undertook the walk again. To put this theory to the test I also undertook the fire walk a further two times and would concur with those thoughts. It is the fear of the event rather than the event itself that is the greatest hurdle to success.

So a big thank you from me and everyone goes to everyone who kindly sponsored me. If time went quicker than you before the event my JustGiving page is live now and your details are safe with JustGiving.