When my best friend Tricia asked me if I fancied doing something a bit mad, I had visions of another 100km non-stop trek somewhere in the UK and immediately replied: “OK, cool, what are we doing?” Never in a million years, did I expect that she meant racing across all but two of Canada ’s provinces and territories over eight weeks for series three of the BBC’s Race Across the World . Canada is the world’s second-largest country and is culturally and geographically diverse – each province or territory is like a different nation. Ultimately, we had to get ourselves from Vancouver, on the Pacific west coast, to St John’s in Newfoundland – Canada’s easternmost city – on the Atlantic coast.
There were rules: we were not allowed to fly; our phones were confiscated; and we had a limited budget (about C$125, or £71, a day for two). Oh, and we were racing against four other pairs. We didn’t have the best start.
Our stress levels rose during the first three-and-a-half hours as we wandered aimlessly around Vancouver’s Stanley Park trying to find the way out. Had we bitten off more than we could chew? Was our friendship going to survive under this much pressure? The relief at finally getting out and into the city was immense. In British Columbia, Tricia, who is severely sight impaired, became emotional when she could see some of the features of the snow-capped Rockies.
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