The Big Marsden Trek

September 2026 Yesterday I took part in the Big Marsden Trek. This is a 26.2 mile trek across the Surrey Hills in aid of the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Whilst I think I have probably covered this kind of distance on one or two of my longest coastal walks I tended not to measure most of them so I can’t be sure. In any case that was a long time ago so I wondered if I can still cover that kind of distance in a day. Whilst this is a walk not a run unlike most marathon routes this is not exactly a flat route, going over the Surrey Hills including the summits of Box Hill and Reigate Hill so it is not an easy route. I did it as a group of 7 (some of whom I’d never met before and some of whom I’ve been friends with since school). The logistics are a little tricky since there was no public parking at the start, being at Milton Court between Dorking and Westcott. The charity instead allowed you to park at the hospital and then provided coaches to the start. However the start is some distance…