24 hours after we stepped off the plane from Mallorca we were back on the first of two planes in our Journey to Lapland Sweden where Ali and I would be taking part in the 1300km Sunset Relay across Northern Sweden. There would be 4 whole days of daylight throughout the entire journey until sunset on the forth day where we would complete the final leg of the relay. TV presenters, Celebrities, Models, Olympic Athletes and Bloggers would all spend 4 days on the road either Cycling, Canoeing, running, kayaking or skating their way through their leg of the relay. Why? To shine light on and build awareness surrounding the devastating effects the sun’s harmful rays can have on your skin as well as the importance of protecting your skin accordingly.
The journey and the race was honestly one of the most incredible experiences, but also incredibly hard. I’ve never been so far out of my comfort zone and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish the 4 days out there, but the reason why we were all there kept me going.
As we arrived in Kiruna Airport it was 11pm and yet the Sun was still shining which I thought was beautiful at the time, I had no idea how this constant daylight would mess with my body clock. With only 3 hours sleep under my belt we awoke the next morning to torrential rain and boarded the Team tour bus which was equipped with beds and sofas for us all to lounge and catch up on sleep as everyone in turn embarked on their leg of The Sunset Relay.
The conditions were tough with the weather able to turn at any minute and a swarm of mosquitos which accompanied us all on the 4 days of travel (which regular readers will know, I’m not a bug person). But spirits were always high as we all got to know each others backgrounds which is understandable when you are surrounded by such highly decorated Olympic Athletes and Ultra-marathon Runners, who are able to endure conditions that quite honestly would leave me running and crying to the first plane out of there, who of course need the right protection not just for their skin but throughout their gruelling challenges.
But we all made it and completed the 1300km journey as a team, spreading the message behind the journey all the way. And as I type this from my seat thousands of miles up in the Sky I’m now looking back over these pictures in complete awe of what myself, Ali and every single person who took part, managed to achieve.
You can see more from the journey by following the hashtag #SunsetRelay and tuning in to my next post next week.
This post is in collaboration with Garnier.
