A Quick Word

I recently bought a Jawbone UP fitness band, and since buying it I’ve been excited about the idea of doing a fitness challenge for 2012.  I thought about trying to walk the equivalent distance from one city to another, or around the world, but then thought: Wouldn’t it be interesting to walk somewhere I could never go in real life?

Within a minute, the Walk To Mordor challenge was cemented into my head. The goal is simple: walk (or run) the equivalent of the entire distance from Hobbiton to Mordor (2224km) before Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit comes out on Boxing Day 2012.  The challenge starts tomorrow, Monday the 9th January 2012, and if you can maintain an average of 6.5 kilometres a day, you should get there without any trouble.

To sweeten the deal, I have calculated various landmarks and key events in the novels, and which kilometre of the journey they occur in.  So as you go, you can enjoy the precise moment when the fellowship enter the Mines of Moriah, or when Gollum reveals himself and is kidnapped by Sam and Frodo.  Using the official hashtag #WalkToMordor, we’ll be able to compare our progress in real-life by following key moments in the books, and, hopefully, encourage each other to make it through.

I’ve written a 7-page guide to my version of Walk To Mordor which will tell you absolutely everything you need to know to join in.   You can find that here:

http://dft.ba/-WalkToMordor2012

And I’d love to hear if you’re going to join us!  You can contact me through the comments here on Tumblr, and through Twitter or Facebook.  The more people we have, the more enjoyable the experience will be, so I do encourage you to give it a go! And feel free to tweak my ideas and make it something that works for you!

If there is one thing to learn from The Lord of the Rings, it is that the road goes ever on and on, and it is company that makes it worthwhile.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope to hear from you soon that you’ll be participating in 2012’s nerdiest fitness challenge!