taking part in the annual End-to-End and Middle-To-End charity walks.

Some 495 people set out from King's Square in St. George's at 8 a.m. for the 26-mile haul to Dockyard in the West End.

A smaller group walked the 15-mile route of the new Middle-to-End event, which began later in the morning from the Tucker Estate in Paget.

Approximately 70 walkers were forced to drop out along the way.

In a repeat of her 1992 performance, Ms Sharon Cook-Hoornweg was first across the line in Dockyard with a time of four hours and 30 minutes -- seven minutes faster than last year.

The youngest finisher was eight-year-old Scott Barnes, who was accompanied on the End-to-End by his older sister, Kimberly, 12.

Three organisations will benefit from this year's trek: The Women's Resource Centre, the Bermuda Junior Service League's Shelly Bay Project and the Bermuda Diabetes Association.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN -- Participants in the sixth annual End-to-End walk for charity set out en masse from King's Square, St. George's. They were later joined in Paget by those taking part in the new Middle-to-End walk.