A question I have heard several times from various folks who know I am crazy enough to run long distances but crazy enough to do a round trip of 700 miles to do a long distance run, "surely even you aren't that mad?"
Well The Serpent Trail takes for me on what I would call hallowed ground. The route will take me across the South Downs way. Big deal I hear you say. Well if you were a certain generation of the Royal Military Police, this fact alone would take you back to recruit training. The infamous Combat Fitness Test which took in a certain hill called The Trundles (which by the way the view from which it is alleged inspired the words to the hymn Jerusalem). Up the Trundles, round the Trundles, down the Trundles whilst at no time trundling, but either speed marching or running - but absolutely no trundling allowed.
I had the privilege of serving at the then Royal Military Police Training Centre (RMPTC) and then school (RMPTS) twice in my career in the Corps. Once as a soldier recruit and then again as a Platoon Commander following my commissioning.
The friends I made during both those tours are still people I call friend today. Some of have journeyed with me for 26 years, through rain and shine. Some have suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of combat operations and a not insignificant number made the ultimate sacrifice.
I remember and yes love each one of my RMP friends, each in their own unique ways; their smiles, their dark, dark humour, their intimate knowledge of hangmen past, their smelly feet, their ability to laugh in the face of horrendous situations and almost immediately be back alongside you, supporting and caring for you.
So why the Serpent Trail?
Well for me it is a pilgrimage of sorts. I will spend Friday morning at the new home of my Corps. I will pray in the Corps chapel and hopefully light a candle not just for my fallen friends but all of my Corps family including their families. I will give thanks for having the privilege of having served alongside some of the finest humans ever placed on this earth and for what they taught me about myself.
I will then visit the Corps museum and hopefully see what has changed since I left so many moons ago, and simultaneously that which has not including the core values and ethos of the soldiers of the Royal Military Police.
When I lace up my trainers and set off from the start line on Saturday morning along that there Serpent Trail, I will be thinking, remembering and smiling (and most probably at some/lots of points have some tears) of the memories of days gone by, soldier and officer, wearing that red beret and armband.
With every km completed I will be mindful of those who have gone before me, their families and those who because of their service are forever changed.
I will probably have a wry smile at the fact I am voluntarily running with a backpack, whilst being timed up them there big hills, and will scour the tops for that Trundle as I trundle along.
So why the Serpent Trail?
Because sometimes we have to take the time in our lives to honour that which has gone before, recognise how it shapes us for the challenge of the future and be reminded of the strength within each one of us, which as a recruit was sometimes forced/cajoled/yelled to our surface by our Directing Staff at the Depot.
Exemplo Ducemus.
#ultrachaplain #johnsmiles
No comments:
Post a Comment