July festivals: the Hadrian’s Wall Trekathlon

Hadrian’s Wall was a Roman frontier built in the years AD 122-30 on the command of Emperor Hadrian. Running from Wallsend-on-Tyne in the east to Bowness on the Solway Firth in the west, it was originally 73 miles long and built as a stone barrier to separate the Romans and the Picts tribes in Scotland. It allowed Roman soldiers to control the movements of people coming into or leaving Roman Britain.

The annual Hadrian’s Wall Trekathon, which takes place in July, is a walking event organised as a way of raising money through sponsorship, for people with cancer. Although you can take as long as you like to complete the challenge, 26 miles is a fair old distance and with some stretches of the path being quite hilly, not something to be sneezed at!