Thousands of foot-sore walkers and saddle-sore cyclists jubilantly crossed the finish line of the 25th annual End-to-End on Saturday.Chairperson of the charity event Anne Mello said it was the “best ever” in terms of turnout and had an “incredible” atmosphere.The cyclists and walkers were joined by rowers, swimmers and horse riders to complete courses of varying lengths — the longest being 24.1 miles from St George to Dockyard.Mrs Mello estimated that there were more than 2,650 participants, which was around 300 or 400 more than usual.The pledges and entry fees have already raised more than $160,000, and that figure is set to rise once sponsorship money comes rolling in.Mrs Mello said: “It was incredible. Everyone kept saying ‘wow’ all day. It truly was the best ever for many reasons. We owed a lot to Mother Nature. It was a glorious day for an event like this. It was cloudy with a brisk wind so we had a lot less medical problems than usual.”There were a few familiar faces among the walkers who ranged in age from schoolchildren to seniors.Joan Dismont, aged 82, has competed in every End-to-End since the event began in 1988. She was grateful for the support shown to her as she made her way from St George to Dockyard.“It took me eight hours. I walked the whole distance but I did get a couple of rides,” she said.“I got lots of claps and shouts of ‘keep it up’ and ‘I don’t know how you do it’.”Ms Dismont was delighted to have her photograph taken with Governor Sir Richard Gozney who also completed the gruelling walk.Speaking as he caught the ferry home along with hundreds of other weary participants, Sir Richard, who leaves his post and returns to England later this month said: “It was the first time I walked the End-to-End and it will be the last. It was very good. It brought together so many people from all over the Island; all different strands of Bermudians in support of causes that are all well-known and well-deserving.”The Governor said he got lots of support along the route, “even from those slightly dubious groups of lads near Ord Road and Somerset Village”.Ralph Woods completed the route dressed as the Warwick Academy bear. He is a geography teacher at the school and is aiming to walk and run 350 kilometres dressed in the furry outfit by the end of 2012 to commemorate the Academy’s 350th anniversary. The End-to-End took his total to 210km.He was joined by around 200 students, teachers and parents when he reached Warwick Academy at 11am, having left St George at 7am. Many of the school representatives wore bear ears made by one of the teachers, Emma Williamson.“I reached Dockyard around 2.15pm or 2.30pm. It wasn’t too bad inside the costume. The weather was quite overcast,” said Mr Woods, 42, from Warwick.“It’s quite bad when you run in the costume but walking was OK although obviously quite sweaty. I think the correct way to put it was that it was quite bear-able!”His mascot costume got him plenty of attention, with honks from passing cars and claps from spectators.“They realise now I’m the Warwick bear and have stopped calling me Yogi,” he noted.Next on his agenda is the May 24 half-marathon, but he is not sure if he will compete in the End-to-End dressed as the school mascot next year.“To be honest, by the end of the year I don’t think I ever want to see the bear again,” he admitted.The charities set to benefit from this year’s End-to-End are Open Airways, the Family Centre, the Adult Education School, Caron Bermuda, Age Concern, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Open Airways, St John Ambulance and YouthNet.For more pictures click here.