Barefoot walker completes 1000km trek to the Rock

Ilse Longuet completed her 1,000km barefoot walk from Barcelona to Gibraltar this weekend, arriving on the Rock at midday on Sunday.
Walking across the runway in gale force winds and lashing rain, she told the Chronicle she felt “amazing, but so glad it is over. It’s wonderful to be here, but three months is long enough.”
“I cannot believe I have done it,” she added.
To date she has raised over €5,500 for less privileged children in Kenya.
She left Barcelona three months ago with her two year nine month old daughter Helinah, whom she carried the whole way in a traditional Kenyan “kitenge”.
Helinah weighs 12kg and in addition, she carried a 8kg backpack. This has caused Ms Longuet a lot of back pain, so much so she said he feet were ok and it was her back that is hurting her the most.
“I thought I might have problems with my feet because I am not used to walking barefoot, but I just took my shoes off and went, and even though I carry her [Helinah] all the time back in Belgium this was nonstop and it was too much. I hope I have not done permanent damage,” she said.
Ms Longuet did have sore feet at various moments during her journey. “I had big cracks on my feet, the skin got so dry and at one point it broke and I deep wounds, I had no one else to walk with it was just me and Helinah, so some parts were very hard.”
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