EVEN in perfect conditions the Itex Rotary Walk is a formidable and daunting challenge.

After all, it involves hiking – or, in the case of a few exceptionally fit and hardy souls, running – 48.1 miles around the Island. It also includes long stretches of switchback cliff paths guaranteed to sap energy and morale.

This year, however, the walk was tougher than ever. Gale force winds and heavy rain meant that the 1,200 people who set off had to contend with extreme weather as well as the long and gruelling trek. It is a tribute to the walkers’ determination that they actually turned up at the starting line at three o’clock in the morning in such awful conditions.

In the event, 677 of those who set out completed the course. They can be very proud indeed of their achievement – as can those who gave it their all but had to drop out along the way.

Few people undertake this annual test of endurance without putting in hours of training, and this, too, can be regarded as part of the endeavour and evidence of great commitment.

This year’s walk, the 21st, was, meanwhile, an especially poignant occasion for Nigel Crocker, who took part in memory of his baby daughter, Grace, who died of a heart complaint. But his personal challenge consisted of much more than walking around the Island. Before setting out he had, in succession, kayaked and cycled two 48-mile courses.

This remarkable display of resolution and strength was a fitting way to launch a new charitable body set up by the Crockers, the Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation.

The Itex Rotary Walk is not a race, but it is inevitable that some of those taking part will try to beat the clock. This year the first person across the line was 42-year-old Michael Charlton, who took just over eight hours to complete the course, a time which means that he averaged a very impressive six miles an hour uphill and down.

The new foundation was not, of course, the only organisation to benefit from the walk. It also raised funds for a number of other worthwhile causes, including Age Concern, the Abbeyfield Jersey Society and Silkworth Lodge. As well as taking pride in confronting tough terrain and the elements, all those who took part can congratulate themselves on contributing to a fine fund-raising effort.