LETJOG is Nick Heath’s Charity Website, set up in Spring 2021 ahead of my 58-day unsupported solo walk from Land’s End To John O’Groats (LETJOG) in aid of Mind, Parkinson’s UK and The Hospice of St Francis.
I COMPLETED MY 2025 WALKING CHALLENGE, THE CAMINO FRANCÉS ACROSS NORTHERN SPAIN, IN MAY OF THIS YEAR – YOU CAN LOOK BACK ON MY JOURNEY ON THE BLOG TAB ABOVE.
As well as my LETJOG trek, my previous walking challenges include the Wainwright-inspired C2C (Coast to Coast) path across northern England, participation in the R&S (‘Ride & Stride’) Team that cycled, ran and walked the North Coast 500 in Scotland, and my PEAKS climbs to all the 50 County Tops of England. Then in Spring 2024 I completed my E2W challenge, another solo and unsupported walk that entailed 675 miles over 40 days, East to West across the British Isles from Lowestoft in Suffolk to end of the Dingle Peninsula in western Ireland.
With your kind help these challenges have raised over £30,000 for various charities, and you can read more about my adventures on the LETJOG, C2C, R&S, PEAKS and E2W Tabs above. Or for a more detailed look at all these treks and more please hit the BLOG Tab.
My current challenge is a shared one – walking the 184-mile Thames Path with my wife Rachel, following the river from its source in the Cotswolds, down through Oxford and eventually through central London to the Thames’ North Sea estuary. We are undertaking the walk in stages, arranging our own transport and accommodation and carrying our own packs. Please follow our progress on the BLOG tab above.
About Me
I’m Nick Heath, a young ‘60-something’ who loves trekking, nordic walking, and just being in the outdoors. This passion has led me into some ambitious endurance events and to undertake some wonderful journeys on foot around the UK and overseas.
Based in west Hertfordshire, my trekking experiences over the last decade, aside from LETJOG 2021 and my other charity walks outlined above, comprise many of the UK’s long-distance paths, including the Pennine Way, Offa’s Dyke, the Ridgeway, and some significant overseas walks such as climbing Mount Toubkal in Morocco and completing the Gokyo Lakes and Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal.
I have enjoyed trekking since my teenage years, and in 2008 I took up nordic walking (with poles), initially as therapy for a lower back condition. In recent years I have participated in a number of endurance and competitive nordic walking events, including the 2019 Nordic Walking UK annual marathon around Purbeck, where I somehow managed to stride to second place!
My solo and unsupported LETJOG 2021 (Land’s End to John O’Groats) nordic walk in early Summer 2021 was kindly sponsored by a great many generous friends, family and followers of my Blog. In total we raised nearly £13,000 for three wonderful charities in the healthcare sector, namely Mind, Parkinson’s UK, and The Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted. More details of my LETJOG walk can be seen on the LETJOG tab, and on my BLOG tab, above.
The next year, in April 2022, I completed the C2C walk alongside my old schoolfriend Rob Stubbs, raising over £3,500 for Parkinson’s UK. Again, our journey can be followed on the C2C tab, and on my BLOG tab, above.
In September 2022 I joined the Ride & Stride Team of ten friends to complete the North Coast 500 route around the northern coast of Scotland. Together we raised over £13,000 for Cancer Research UK, Mind and Parkinson’s UK. More details are on the R&S and BLOG tabs above.
On the bridge in Inverness, at the end of our R&S journey around the Scottish North Coast 500 route on 15 September 2022
My most ambitious escapade for 2023 was my LETJOG Peaks challenge, completed over six months between March and September, that entailed climbing to the top of all of the Counties of England (50 in total), whilst raising £700 for the British Red Cross’ Ukraine Crisis Appeal. All told, my ‘County Tops’ walks totalled 609 miles, with nearly 70,000 vertical feet (21,225 metres) of climb. You can look back on all of these ascents on the PEAKS and BLOG tabs above.
And in November 2023 I completed the 87-mile Ridgeway trail from Overton Hill in Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon, Buckinghamshire, in just under 98.5 hours – again my journey can be followed via the BLOG tab above.
My challenge for 2024 was to cover the 675 miles of walking between the eastern and western mainland extremities of the British Isles, namely Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk and Dunmore Head on the Dingle Peninsula in western Ireland. I completed this solo and unsupported walk in 40 days, raising £3,300 for Parkinson’s UK in the process. You can find further details on the E2W tab and follow my journey on the BLOG tab above.
My challenge this year was the Camino Francés across northern Spain in April/May, a 32-day trek that I undertook solo and unsupported. Having said that, I was joined along most of the route by dozens of other pilgrims, all heading purposefully for Santiago de Compostela in the north-western province of Galicia.
As for the future, I am always looking out for new walking challenges, so watch this space! Meanwhile please feel free to follow me on Instagram: @ nickletjog where I post photos of my regular walks in the Chilterns and further afield.
Walking for Fun, Challenge and Charity! 