Why I Started Walking in Circles — And Why I Haven’t Stopped
I’ve always been happiest outside.
Long before Walking in Circles existed, before the long-distance challenges, before Everest and Nepal, before I’d even contemplated writing a book about any of it, there was simply something about being outdoors that made me happy.
As a kid, in those wonderfully carefree days when you could disappear for hours without anyone quite knowing where you were, I loved being outside. Sometimes on my own, often with my brothers.
I was fascinated by the world around me.
Nature. Wildlife. Scenery. The way the seasons could completely change a familiar landscape.
Being outside sparked my imagination. It made me curious. It made me want to explore.
But it wasn't until I got older that something quite obvious finally dawned on me.
Of all the things I could be doing, walking was the thing I loved most.
The walk that changed everything
When Marissa and I married, we moved to a home in the Essex countryside.
And that's where something changed.
I could walk out of my front door and, within a few minutes, be on a trail completely on my own, heading through farmland and woods towards Hainault Forest.
There was nothing particularly epic about it.
No mountains. No medal waiting at the end. No finish line.
It started as a walk of around 10km.
But I loved it.
So I did it again.
And then I started wondering where some of the other paths went.
Ten kilometres gradually became longer as I familiarised myself with OS maps. I'd look at footpaths disappearing off in different directions and start joining them together, searching for longer routes and seeing where they might take me.
There was something enormously satisfying about looking at a map, creating a route and then going out and actually walking it.
Without really knowing it, I was beginning something.
My search for longer walks eventually introduced me to the world of organised long-distance walking challenges and, through that, Action Challenge.
One of the first proper training walks I remember doing was 25km along the Thames Path.
Twenty-five kilometres seemed quite a long way then.
It's funny how your definition of "quite a long way" changes.
The warning signs were probably already there
Over time, the distances got longer and the challenges got bigger.
And then Covid arrived.
Like everyone else, suddenly the world I was able to explore became considerably smaller.
But apparently that wasn't going to stop me walking.
I decided I was going to walk 50km.
There was one slight problem.
I wasn't going anywhere.
So I walked it around my back garden.
Over two days.
Fifty kilometres.
Around a garden.
Walking in Circles didn't actually exist at this point.
But looking back, the warning signs were probably already there.
It’s my oxygen
There's plenty of evidence about the physical and mental benefits of walking and being active.
But I don't need a study to tell me what walking does for me.
It's my oxygen.
It recharges me. It makes me feel alive.
Walking is an emotional experience for me. Not sadness, but pure joy.
Every time.
Even when I don't particularly feel like going out beforehand.
I can leave home feeling happy, sad, anxious, frustrated, tired or with my head full of work and a hundred other things.
Walking somehow resets me.
After a while, the noise starts to disappear.
There's the path ahead, the landscape around me and the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other.
And I almost always come back feeling better than when I left.
How far can you actually go?
Physically, walking has given me an enormous amount too.
Although after some of the punishing hikes I've subjected myself to over the years, my poor legs might have a slightly different opinion.
But it never stops surprising me what your body can do.
Walking has taught me that some of the boundaries we put around ourselves aren't really boundaries at all.
You walk 10km.
Then 25km.
Then perhaps 50km.
You climb a bigger hill. Then a mountain.
You attempt something that previously sounded ridiculous.
And gradually your perception of what you're capable of changes.
That's one of the biggest things walking has taught me.
There aren't many boundaries.
Apparently, I need to scare myself occasionally
I've learnt something else about myself over the years.
I need a challenge.
I need something ahead of me that stretches me, pushes me to my limits and takes me outside my comfort zone.
Even if I'm quietly terrified about doing it.
In fact, that seems to happen quite a lot.
When I have a challenge ahead of me, I'm motivated. I train. I plan. I've got something to work towards.
And I've noticed the opposite too.
When I don't have a challenge planned, my motivation can drop. My mood can dip.
So I keep finding the next thing.
Inevitably, those things have become bigger.
Longer distances. Bigger mountains. More ambitious adventures.
And every time I've pushed beyond what I thought I was capable of, I've learnt something.
Things won't always go perfectly.
They rarely do.
But I'm usually capable of more than I thought.
The people beside you
And then there are the people.
When I first started walking seriously, I probably thought walking was mainly about the places I could go.
I've come to realise it's just as much about the people.
I've met some incredible people through walking, trekking and challenge events, and some have had a huge impact on my life.
There's something about sharing a difficult journey with someone.
You support each other. Motivate each other. Share stories. Laugh.
Sometimes you struggle.
Sometimes there are tears.
Sometimes nobody needs to say anything at all.
You just walk alongside each other.
I've built some incredibly strong friendships through walking, based on a mutual understanding and respect for what we've experienced together.
And then there's my friend Richard.
We've known each other since childhood and have shared countless walking adventures over the years.
That's one of the most precious things walking has given me.
Two childhood friends, decades later, still heading off together with backpacks, sharing experiences, laughing, suffering occasionally and inevitably discussing whatever adventure we might attempt next.
Walking hasn't simply given us places to go.
It's given us experiences we've shared together.
And every one of them adds something to a friendship that's already lasted most of our lives.
You can't put a value on that.
From Everest to Walking in Circles
Eventually, all those walks and challenges took me much further from home.
In 2022, I trekked to Everest Base Camp and Gokyo Lakes, crossing the Cho La Pass at 5,420 metres along the way.
It was one of the biggest adventures of my life.
And when I came home, I wanted to do something with it.
Interestingly, that something wasn't supposed to be Walking in Circles.
I started researching how I might write a book about the experience.
I had a story I wanted to tell and memories I wanted to capture. I knew I didn't simply want to file the whole experience away as something I'd once done.
But somewhere during that research, I took a slight detour.
Instead of writing the book, I decided to start a hiking blog.
And Walking in Circles was born.
The name just seemed to fit.
I'd spent years creating circular routes that started and finished in the same place.
And I'd once walked 50km around my own garden.
Perhaps there really wasn't another name it could have had.
Walking in Circles gave me somewhere to share the walks I'd done, the routes I'd discovered and the challenges and adventures I'd experienced.
More importantly, it gave me somewhere to hopefully inspire other people to get outside and have some adventures of their own.
And gradually it grew.
More walks. More routes. More challenges. More stories.
Then walking guides, organised walks and adventures in the UK and further afield.
All while that original idea of writing a book sat quietly in the background.
Until eventually I came back to it.
In 2026, Everest Base Camp & Gokyo Lakes: A Midlife Journey to the World's Greatest Trek was finally published.
So, in a rather appropriate twist, the idea that eventually became Walking in Circles began with a book I didn't write...
...until I did.
Apparently, even the story of Walking in Circles involves taking the long way round.
So what is Walking in Circles now?
It started as a hiking blog.
But I don't think that's really what it is anymore.
Yes, there are walking routes, guides, challenges, organised walks, stories, adventures and now a book.
But none of those things really explains what Walking in Circles means to me.
I think, ultimately, it's about passing something on.
Walking has given me so much that I'd like other people to discover what it might give them.
That doesn't mean climbing Everest.
It doesn't mean walking 50km.
And it definitely doesn't mean walking 50km around your back garden.
It might simply mean trying one of the routes I've written about one Sunday morning.
And enjoying it.
Then doing another.
Maybe walking a little further.
Perhaps getting fitter without really noticing it.
Feeling better.
Discovering somewhere new.
Signing up for a challenge.
Meeting people.
Or eventually standing somewhere you once couldn't imagine yourself reaching.
I don't really care how far somebody goes.
What matters is that they start.
Because I know what walking has done for me.
Yes, it's improved my fitness.
But it's given me far more than that.
It's given me happiness.
Friendships.
Confidence.
Purpose.
Adventure.
Memories and experiences that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.
And if something I've written, a route I've shared, a walk I've organised or even one of my slightly ridiculous challenges encourages somebody else to get outside and discover that they love walking too, then Walking in Circles has done what I want it to do.
If I can help someone build walking into their life, improve their wellbeing or fitness, feel happier, or perhaps start believing they're capable of achieving something they previously thought was beyond them, that's enough.
And if, somewhere along the way, Walking in Circles genuinely makes a difference to someone's life — however small that difference might be — then it has all been worthwhile.
That's why Walking in Circles will always be there.
That's why I do it.
Marc