From Diagnosis to Determination: My Journey Through Mountains, Miles, and Meaning 

Meet Judith, a lifelong walker who found hope and healing through walking after a breast cancer diagnosis - from the Pennine Way to the Dales Way and beyond. 

I’ve been a walker all my life. I first went to the Lake District at the age of 15 and fell in love with mountains. I’m lucky that my husband, Nigel, shares this passion, and together we’ve completed numerous long-distance and classic day walks in many different countries. 

We first came across Macs Adventure in 2011 when we completed the Coast to Coast Walk - the first of many National Trails that the company would organise for us. We were 53 years old at the time and were inspired by the many walkers we met who were in their late 60s and 70s. In the following years, we went on to walk the West Highland Way, the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Laugavegur Trail, and enjoyed wonderful walking in La Gomera. 

A Life-Changing Diagnosis

In March 2016, at the age of 58, a routine mammogram picked up something suspicious, and I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After surgery to remove the lump, the pathology indicated that I should have chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and then take hormone medication for ten years. 

We had just booked another walking holiday with Macs - the Alta Via in the Italian Dolomites - which had to be cancelled. Instead, I spent that summer having eight sessions of chemotherapy and, in the autumn, 15 sessions of radiotherapy at the specialist cancer hospital The Royal Marsden, in Surrey. 

Planning a Path Forward

During my treatment, we often talked about what we would do when it was all over, and we decided that a really good way to move forward would be to walk the Pennine Way - the original and possibly the most famous long-distance footpath, following the fells and mountains from Derbyshire through Yorkshire and Northumberland to the Scottish Borders. 

In late June 2017, just over six months after I completed my treatment, we set off for Edale, the start of the Pennine Way. Raising money for charity meant that lots of people were really interested in what we were doing, and people were very generous. Our elder son turned up unexpectedly at Euston Station to see us off, and Nigel’s stepmother bought the walking guidebook and followed our route closely every day. It seemed to touch a chord in people’s hearts - that I could pick myself up, dust myself down, and set myself a significant challenge. 

We walked 256 miles over 18 consecutive days, with no rest days! The weather threw almost everything at us. There was a lot of rain, but there was also beautiful sunshine - often on the same day. 

We met so many interesting and inspirational people: B&B hosts, farmers, local tradespeople, and of course, other walkers. The terrain was made much easier across the boggy upland moors by the large number of York stone slabs, originally from former cotton and wool mills in the region, set into the trail to prevent erosion. 

We stayed in B&Bs, hotels, and pubs organised by Macs, and our heavy luggage was transported ahead for us. Nigel carried a larger day pack than I did, with most of the water, and often in the afternoons, he would take more things from me. He helped me lift my pack on and off numerous times each day to protect my vulnerable side - and, most importantly, he navigated the route. 

All I did was walk! We reached Kirk Yetholm in good shape and high spirits, and we raised £6,500 for The Royal Marsden. 

It’s now been nine years since my diagnosis. The medics never say you’re “cured” after a cancer diagnosis, and hormonal breast cancers, like many others, can return years later. Instead, they use the phrases “no evidence of disease” or “in remission.” That in itself can be difficult to come to terms with. 

So too can the wider vocabulary often associated with cancer. We aren’t warriors fighting a battle - we simply get on with it because we have no choice. It is what it is. 

Continuing the Journey

Walking has been one of the best ways of helping me accept this situation, seizing the day, and using every opportunity to experience life. 

Since the Pennine Way, I’ve walked the Dales Highway, the Ridgeway, Offa’s Dyke Path, and the 630-mile challenge of the South West Coast Path. The last of these was completed in four sections, and we reached Poole in September 2024, having started in Minehead in 2021. 

Most recently, in September this year, I walked the Dales Way with Macs - another beautiful addition to my growing list of walking achievements. 

We’ve also completed four of the Great Walks in New Zealand and walked in Iceland and Greenland. 

Booking a long-distance walking holiday motivates me to keep walking day to day. It keeps me fit, it keeps me motivated, and it helps me cope with whatever life throws at me. 

Now that I’m in my mid-60s, I hope I’ll inspire people younger than me - and those who’ve been affected by this horrible disease. I consider myself to be very fortunate indeed.