{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"Karen Darke","standfirst":"Karen Darke is a Paralympic gold medallist, adventurer, and handcyclist. After a life-changing accident left her paralysed from the chest down, she reimagined what adventure could look like \u2013\u00A0handcycling across seven continents, and most recently, all the way to Everest Base Camp.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/0hqpftrl/karen-darke-riding-her-bike.jpg","width":1666,"height":1117,"altText":"The image shows Karen sitting on her bike on top of a rocky terrain, with mountains and blue sky in the background. She\u0027s wearing a red beanie hat, green gloves and sunglasses.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EI grew up with camping and walking. My parents were both teachers, so they had really long summer holidays. We used to just go camping for the whole holiday around Europe, into the Alps, but also North Wales and the Lake District. It was six weeks, every summer, just living in tents where the grass was our carpet.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI grew up in West Yorkshire and we had an \u2018Activities Week\u2019 at school. We did things like going climbing in the Yorkshire Dales or caving. Nature and adventure were integral parts of life.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen I was 16, I saw a poster for an expedition to China with the Yorkshire Schools Exploring Society. I was at a state school, and my family didn\u2019t have the money for something like that. But two friends encouraged me to apply for the selection weekend anyway \u2013 just to see what happened.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was a rough-and-ready weekend in the Dales: navigating in the dark, sleeping in bivvy bags, eating whatever we could carry. Somehow, I was selected. My parents were incredibly supportive. I still remember sitting with my mum brainstorming ways to raise the funds. I got a part-time job selling linen at house parties and chipped away at the cost, one small effort at a time.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe had training weekends every month, and I chose to join the mountain biking group.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/ygafxupa/karen-darke.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"altText":"The image shows Karen stood on grass next to and holding a bicycle. There are mountains and clouds in the sky behind her and her belongings are on the back of the bike. She\u0027s holding the handlebars and smiling at the camera.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003ERole models\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThere was a guy called Andy Middleton who led our mountain biking group. He was patient, inspiring, and believed in us all. The way he encouraged us helped shape my sense of what adventure leadership could look like.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThere were also teachers at school who took us caving and climbing \u2013everyday people, much like Scout volunteers, who gave their time to open up the world for us. Those early role models lit the spark that made adventure such a formative part of my life.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003EA life outdoors\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI originally went to university to study medicine, but after four months, I gave it up. I switched to geology because I wanted to be outdoors, working in wild landscapes.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThen I had my accident. I fell while climbing, and became paralysed. I could no longer work in the field easily, so I ended up in an office job, staring at screens for an oil and gas company. I was miserable indoors. Eventually, I walked away from that life and went back to what I loved \u2013 climbing and exploring. There\u2019s something magnetic about summits. They always call to me.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the accident, cycling became my simplest way to move. I could do it alone, or alongside others. It could be intense, or just peaceful \u2013 gliding through nature at my own pace. A simple joy for me is just to hope on my bike.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIf you\u0027re outdoors, the weather isn\u0027t always kind. Things go wrong. You\u0027re always problem solving and you\u0027re always needing to dig a little deeper into yourself to find resources to keep going. That\u2019s where the growth lives.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/dbghaq0q/karen-darke-climbing-in-the-swiss-alps.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"altText":"The image shows Karen Darke climbing in the Swiss alps. She\u0027s sat on the top of a mountain and looking at the camera with rope draped around her, along with a backpack and helmet. There are snowy mountains behind her.","caption":"Karen climbing in the Swiss Alps","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003EWhat it felt like to win gold in Rio, 2016\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s funny, because it wasn\u2019t obvious! I won it in a race called the time trial where you set off at one-minute intervals. Then you have to wait until everybody\u0027s finished to find out the result. I honestly just didn\u0027t think I\u0027d done what I\u0027d hoped. My shoulder had been injured the week before and I\u0027d spent a week in bed and not really been able to train properly.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHalfway through, my chain came off, and I had to stop and fix it. I remember thinking, \u0027There\u2019s no way I\u2019m even making the podium now.\u0027\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAll we can do is the best that we can in each given moment and that\u0027s what I knew I\u0027d done. Then the team managers just screamed GOLD! I couldn\u2019t believe it. I was in total disbelief.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPeople asked me afterwards, \u0027What are you going to do next?\u0027 It felt like a strange question. I didn\u2019t win gold to stop. I love cycling. So, I just kept going.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s when the idea came: to ride my bike across all seven continents. And that journey went on for years.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/unaceadx/karen-darke-climbing-in-french-alps-aged-21.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"altText":"The image shows Karen Darke climbing a narrow mountainside in the French Alps when she was 21. The image shows her clinging onto the top of the mountain with a rope attached to her and she\u0027s wearing a red helmet and backpack. There are mountains, clouds and blue sky in the background.","caption":"Karen climbing in the French Alps, aged 21","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003EQuest 79\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI realised I\u2019d won the 79th Medal for Britain in Rio. Then someone pointed out to me that 79 was the atomic number of gold, which I\u0027d forgotten. And then this number just kept appearing.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo, I started Quest 79 \u2013 inviting people to step out of their comfort zone and see if they could find some inner gold. Lots of people have been doing little projects related to number 79, whether it\u0027s 79 wild swims or planting 79 trees, or 79 acts of kindness or running 79 kilometres.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMoray Scout Group for example, hiked 79 miles along the Great Glen Way. I met them at the end as they came into Inverness and they all jumped in the canal to celebrate. I chatted with two of the girls, who were about 13, and asked them what was the hardest bit? They described being on this hill on their bikes and being exhausted and they just thought they couldn\u0027t do it. Then I said, \u0027What was the best bit?\u0027 And then they looked at each other and laughed, and said, with surprise, that it was the hill.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOften, the hardest bit is also the best bit.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"quoteText":"I believe the outdoors introduces us to parts of ourselves we might never meet otherwise. It teaches resilience, reflection, courage. You learn to trust your instincts, rely on others, and dig for strength you didn\u2019t know you had. That\u2019s what it means to find your inner gold.","attribution":"Karen Darke","gridType":"quote","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"30 June 2025","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Scout Adventurers","url":"/about-us/our-people/scout-adventurers/","newWindow":false}],"relatedLinks":[],"id":86289,"nodeName":"Finding your inner gold","title":"Finding your inner gold","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/0hqpftrl/karen-darke-riding-her-bike.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1dbdf65d4e72290","caption":"Karen Darke Riding Her Bike","type":"jpg","size":594008,"width":1666,"height":1117,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Finding your inner gold","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"Karen Darke, Paralympic gold medallist, adventurer, and handcyclist, chats to us about finding your inner gold.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC84NjI4OSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2025/june/finding-your-inner-gold/"}