13870/2FOURTEEN of the 230 walkers who set out from Pewsey on Friday to walk 50 miles in three days in aid of multiple sclerosis, suffer with the disease themselves.

But they bravely put their pain and discomfort to the back of their minds to complete the tough cross-country course and crossed the finish line in Avebury on Sunday.

The walk, the third Bigfoot to be held in Wiltshire, was over-subscribed within days.

The walk in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Society (MSS) was first held in Wiltshire in 2002 and started from St Francis School in Pewsey.

The concept of a long distance off-road charity walk involving hundreds of people was borrowed from the USA where they have become very popular in recent years.

Last year the MSS organised two in Cheshire and Wiltshire and both were so successful they have done the same this year.

The Cheshire walk was held on August 8 and attracted 210 sponsored walkers.

A spokeswoman for the society said the income from the two walks was likely to exceed £300,000 which will be spent on research into the causes of multiple sclerosis.

North Wiltshire MP James Gray, president of the Chippenham branch of the MSS, spoke at the start of Friday's walk which he joined for the first few miles.

He said fundraising was essential because it would one day enable the researchers to identify the cause of the disease and, hopefully, a cure.

The Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Sir Maurice Johnson, also attended the opening and told the walkers he regretted he could not join them on the three- day trek.

One of the MS sufferers taking part in the walk was clinical writer Leigh Gilby from Trowbridge, who was told she had the condition on her 28th birthday last October.

Her mother Jennie Gilby was diagnosed with the disease 20 years ago.

Miss Gilby said that while MS was not hereditary or genetic there was a greater chance of developing it if a parent was a sufferer.

She was joined on the walk by six of her close friends and between them they were sponsored for thousands of pounds.

Walking with her were Gary Priestley, Steve Croft, Darren Holmes, Alex Bate and Louise Bambury.

Close friends Steph Bell from Sutton Benger near Chippenham, who formerly was a care worker at the Leonard Cheshire Great House home in Kington Langley, and Claire Larkin from Bath, had both walked in the Cheshire Bigfoot event two weeks earlier and between them would have covered 200 miles cross country by the time the Wiltshire event finished on Sunday.

The mother of three grown up children, Mrs Bell was sponsored for about £1,250. She said: "The reason I am doing it is that I have known and cared for a lot of people with MS."

Former Minety publican Alison Bailey, 61, who ran the village's Old Inn pub for 40 years is no stranger to long distance walking having taken part in the Moon walk for breast cancer research in Hyde Park last October.

She was joined by her daughter Sara Wall, 33, from Corsham, who is a care assistant and was taking part in her first long distance walk.

She said: "I have looked after people with MS and I have had friends with it."

The majority of the walkers had no Wiltshire connections other than taking part in the walk to raise money for MS research.

Jill Sangster from Yorkshire, whose father had MS, drove all the way down with close friend Catherine Paling to take part.

Two hospital workers from Lowestoft, made the six-hour drive to get to Pewsey for the start. Julie McCrae and Stephanie Barrett both work with MS sufferers.

MS victim Stuart Nixon, 40, from Newport in South Wales, who was diagnosed with the illness at 14, is only able to walk short distances but was at the start on Friday to cheer on his wife, Marie, as she set out on the three-day 50-mile trek.

Mr Nixon said he had taken part in a greater variety of activities since being diagnosed with MS.

He said: "To see such a huge number of people prepared to give up a significant amount of their time to support research into MS is fantastic."