Who & Why?

Lavinia is on a journey to become the first known female to walk the length of Europe, over 5000km from Norway to Spain, passing through 6 different countries; Sweden, Denmark, France and Germany, whilst raising awareness of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Mental Health.

She hopes to inspire others to start fulfilling their crazy ideas and not let their mental or physical health issues stop them.

In 2021 Lavinia was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Ulcerative Colitis is an auto immune disease where the immune system attacks the large intestine causing ulcers. The main symptom is bloody diarrhoea and abdominal pain, plus many more, which can change quality of life overnight. Lavinia felt weak, ill and barely left the house for weeks after diagnosis whilst waiting for medication to work, she began building up strength by walking. Walking to the end of her road, then end of the village, then to the next village. It gave her a renewed focus and hope for being healthy again.

In 2022, whilst in another flare (active inflammation) and on another course of steroids. Feeling fed up, she decided she needed a challenge.... To walk the Thames Path, she lived near the Source of the Thames in Gloucestershire, so why not walk the path to London... Dressed as a Poop Emoji, to raise awareness of Ulcerative Colitis and vital funds for the charity Crohn's & Colitis UK. The charity website is a wealth of information and news on all things IBD, which helped Lavinia and thousands of others on a daily basis.

Lavinia at the Source of The Thames River

Starting at the Source of the river Thames, near Kemble, Gloucestershire, she walked the 187 miles to Erith, London along the Thames Path whilst dressed as a poo. The walk took around 10 days over several weekends, whilst Lavinia was still experiencing symptoms. Whilst walking through 27'c in a brown fleece costume, got Lavinia thinking about what the body is capable of. When her feet hurt from pounding the hard footpath entering London, and her sweaty swollen feet were screaming for her to stop, she didn't, not until she reached her finish point. What can we achieve when we put our minds to it?

Lavinia at the Thames Barrier, London

By 2023 multiple areas of her life had collapsed and she hit rock bottom mentally and her body reacted by going back into a flare. Feeling at her worst, one of the main things which kept her sane was the walking group which she ran locally. Planning the monthly walks forced her to get outside checking footpaths, being in nature, breathing in fresh air. Plus seeing the other walkers for a chat at the monthly walks really helped her find positives to keep moving forward in life. To aid getting life back on track she took on the challenge to a Olympic Distance Triathlon with only 10 weeks of training. Working through abdominal pains whilst running, post training fatigue and a temperamental digestive system, all provided an added challenge to work through and overcome. This gave her focus mentally and a purpose to work towards.

Lavinia at her first Olympic Distance Triathlon

Completing the Olympic Distance triathlon and wanting to up the challenge she signed up for an Ironman 70.3 in Germany in 2024 giving herself 6 months to train. In June she sold her car and bought a VW Caddy with a fold out bed in the back. In August 2024 she drove 1000 miles from the UK to Germany solo van camping in service stations and carparks to take part in the Ironman 70.3 Erkner. A 70.3 stands for 70.3 miles, which is 113 km broken down as a 1.9km /1.2 mile swim, 90km / 56 mile bike finishing with a 21.1km / 13.1 mile run, yes straight after each other on the same day!

Lavinia crossing the finish line at Ironman 70.3 Erkner, Sept 2024

Lavinia finished the Ironman 70.3 and whilst she recovered the next day began looking at a full distance Ironman, it seemed the natural next step in challenging herself mentally and physically. A full Ironman consists of a 2.4mile / 3.8km swim, 112mile / 180km bike followed by a full marathon... yes 26.2 miles / 42.2km run, all on the same day with cut of times for each section.

Whilst driving the 1000 miles back home she started thinking about walks, wanting a longer challenge, complete a national trail, she still has the final 306km of the Camino de Santiago to walk but that didn't seem big enough. She got talking to a couple of friends who said, if your going to walk a long way across Europe, why not take a bit more time and do something bigger. She found the 'length of mainland Europe' was defined as Northcape, Norway to Tarifa, Spain, between 5000 and 7000kms. There are only currently two records of this being travelled on foot both by men, none of women. This became the itch which needed to be scratched...

Continued on What and When?