Walk The Walk was the best way to put health troubles behind me

A month on from The MoonWalk London, Caroline Geraerts from Wimbledon, reflects
on her experiences of the original and best night-time Marathon, and encourages
Londoners to sign-up for next year:
“My bestie who lives around the corner from me, Elizabeth Bessant, is a couture designer.
She moved into couture 20 years ago following a successful art career exhibiting at the
Royal Academy and around the world. Her instinctive eye for colour and detail – plus her
insistence on perfection – led to a loyal following of celebrity and society clients. Elizabeth
and her partner Paul (one of team ‘Boob Buddies’) looked after me throughout my cancer
journey, and Elizabeth attended every single appointment and whilst she wasn’t able to do
The MoonWalk herself, she wanted to do her bit to support us. We worked together on the
designs for the bras, raiding her workroom for all the lovely decorations.  Her partner Paul,
decorated his t-shirt himself, in keeping with the bras, being a dab hand with a needle too!
After a quiet day and an afternoon snooze, it was time for makeup, decorated bras and t-
shirts! There was a quick photoshoot at Elizabeth’s house for team ‘Boob Buddies’ before
we caught the bus and tube to MoonWalk City. The tube had us buzzing already as we met
so many fellow MoonWalkers, each with a story to tell. MoonWalk City was vast and
amazing, and the sheer spectacle of all those people who had trained so hard for weeks and
months looking superb in their finery made us very emotional, especially as three days
before I got the all clear on my first mammogram post-op.
The atmosphere was electric and so much fun with all the entertainment and the tremendous
warm-up guy, it seemed like we were at the biggest party ever!
After weeks of training, we were raring to get going! At last the rain had stopped and we
were wild with excitement! There were so many highlights – the entertainment in the parks,
the London Eye and HMS Belfast glorious in Pink, reaching St Pauls Cathedral at 10 miles,
when it started to get light just after Marble Arch – the halfway point – and the joy we felt
reaching the 20-mile marker.  Having hit our wall about 4.00 am as it got light and the finish
became closer our energy was revived and we stepped up the pace.
It was humbling and very special to see much of London lit up pink.  We live in a beautiful
and historic city which was all the more glorious in pink!
I felt very emotional crossing the Finish Line, what with my ‘all clear’ 3 days before the event,
the Boob Buddies all pushing 60 or over, we felt a huge sense of achievement and that we
had done our wonderful sponsors proud and in the process raised nearly £2,500 between
us.
The atmosphere, spirit and sense of unity makes The MoonWalk completely different to any
other event I have done.   It was truly amazing to join with 15,000 other people all with the
same goal to reach the Finish Line and raise as much money as possible to help fight breast
cancer.
The volunteers deserve the biggest thanks of all – every single one of them was fabulous.
They constantly gave encouragement and selfless help for hours on end with grace, humour
and kindness. For me it was the prefect end to the chapter in my life that had been my annus
horribilis and I could not have done it without Elizabeth, Paul and Signet.”
The MoonWalk London 2019 takes place on Saturday 11 May. Don’t delay, sign-up today www.walkthewalk.org