Coastal Trail Running

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So now that I have completed my 4th coastal trail run - this time in Holyhead on the north-west tip of Wales I figured it was time to reflect on these adventurous runs. Of course these runs are held during winter, which makes the challenge of climbing up and down treacherous hills even more fun when you have to negotiate wet, slippery muddy terrain and rocks where there is no path and sheer cliffs...travel insurance is a necessity! Of course in winter when you are standing in some remote village half an hour before the race listening to the briefing shivering like crazy holding a cup of tea to try to keep warm you wonder why on earth you and a couple of hundred other people are out there doing this crazy race. In all seriousness though, the Coastal Trail Series is excellently organised by EnduranceLife and the trail runs are a lot of fun.

Race 1 - Dorset, Nov 2009 - 1:18.07 (61st of 168)

The Dorset run began at Charmouth and was probably the easiest of the 4 trail runs that I completed, although I did this one in normal trainers which made the downhill sections quite taxing. It was actually not a bad day and we stayed in the very pretty nearby town of Lyme Regis and even had a couple of pints on the Friday night to help relax before the run.

The start of the run was a steep uphill which knocked me out straight away and then once we hit flat ground it was quite muddy and involved a couple of fence climbs which I struggled with considering I am pretty un-coordinated at the best of times. After about 6kms, the uphill section had finished and we had a beautiful view of the coastline and thankfully some grass terrain to run down. Then we were confronted by steep steps down on to the beach, which was followed by a 3km run along the shale beach which on the plus side was flat, but technically quite tricky. I had a bit of energy saved for the finish and finished quite strongly over the top of quite a few people. First lesson learnt - buy some trail shoes!

Race 2 - Portland, Jan 2010 - 1:25.10 (61st of 168)

Quite amazingly, my second CTS trail run resulted in the exact same position for me and the exact same field size, which proved that I had learnt nothing from the first run. Although to be fair, Portland was by far the most difficult of the 4 trail runs that I completed.

We stayed at a B&B in the nearby town of Weymouth, which has a rejuvinated harbour area following development for the 2012 Olympic sailing events which will be held there. The B&B owner was up for a massive chat when we arrived on Friday night, but after facing several train delays due to flooding and not arriving until 11pm the night before the race, we were painfully ignoring him and somehow managed to get to away and get some sleep.

The run turned out to be closer to 13kms than 10km and started with a 1km flat run followed by a ridiculously long, steep climb, some of which needed to be on all 4's to complete. At the top we ran around the cliff for a bit, negotiating some huge puddles of mud and there were quite a few animals in the surrounding paddocks so I wasn't sure if it was mud or animal dung that I was running through at some points.

However the worst of the run was the final 2 kilometres on the shale beach. I'd never seen such large rocks of shale which you literally sank into with every step, making the run complete torture on the calves as each step required pulling the other leg out of the shale. It was hell. I was glad to be finished and sat in the pub having (many) pints.

The next morning, we went for a walk along the main street of Weymouth and stumbled accross a mini-golf course which was a nice way to spend the brisk morning after the run before heading back to London on the train.

Race 3 - Gower, Nov 2010 - 1:19.37 (78th of 182)

I was somewhat unprepared for Gower as I had been quite busy work-wise in the lead up and had not done much training. We were late getting out of London on Friday night, which made for a close to midnight arrival at our B&B in Llangennith. All of the towns on the Gower peninsula are very small, and this one was no exception but at least it was only a short drive to the coast and the start of the run.

The run itself wasn't too bad, except for about a 1km stretch in the middle of swampland that I just sank in and did not enjoy at all. The water was freezing and I could hardly feel my toes by the end of the race! I sprinted for the finish line and cramped badly in the calves in doing so and ended up shuffling over the line instead.

After the run we headed to the nearest pub and had some lunch and watched some rugby. The Welsh national team were in action and hence the small town pub seemed to have every local in town in it and were all quite rowdy, although I couldn't understand a word they were saying. A few beers and a feed and I was starting to feel myself again after the discomfort of this run.

After an afternoon nap, we went to a bigger nearby town for dinner at a typical Welsh country pub which was great. We then followed up dinner with numerous pints and jagerbombs to finish the night. Half a dozen rowdy Australian accents certainly stirred up some interest in the pub and by the end of the night, the locals were all over it. I wasn't sure if I was drunk, but I basically couldn't understand anything these people were saying to me!

On the Sunday we went for a walk along the Gower peninsula to shake the hangover that a few jagerbombs normally gives you. It is super bleak and there is absolutely nobody on the nice sandy beach, which is understandable given the windchill. We walk through a deserted caravan park to get back to the car and head back to London, making a stop off at a Castle Coch, a 19th century reconstruction of a 13th century castle in an ideal location on the steep hill overlooking the countryside below. After wandering around the castle rooms for a bit, we stopped to have lunch in Chepstow before heading back to London.

Race 4 - Holyhead, Jan 2011 - 1:15.41 (41st of 111)

A much smaller field in Holyhead, which was a new run to the CTS in 2011. The smaller field probably reflects the fact that Holyhead is a hefty 5 hour drive from London and isn't exactly one of the most picturesque coastlines in the UK!

On this run I benefitted from having my new Garmin Forerunner 305, which accurately tracked my distance and gave me an understanding of how far into the run I was. It probably helped me to some degree as I knew when I could push it harder as I didn't have long to go. Holyhead had a killer steep rocky hill to negotiate at about the 8km mark which I did not enjoy at all and found it difficult to find where to put my feet as I got up the cliff.

Thankfully though, this was the only trail run that I did that didn't involve running on the beach, and also wasn't as long as some of the others that I had done.

After the run, we wandered around town and had some lunch before having a bit of a large night back in the massive place that my friends were staying in, which was complete with spa and sauna which was a good way to recover, although drinking in the sauna never ends well.

On the Sunday, we drove back to London through Snowdonia national park and went for a 4km walk to loosen up the stiff muscles. While it was cold, the walk through the forest was just want we needed to shake the hangover from the night before. We stopped for lunch in the very pretty town of Betws-y-Coed, which is a bit of hub for outdoor adventure sports in Snowdonia, before driving back, with another coffee break in Shrewsbury before getting back to London in the early evening.

All in all, the trail runs are a brilliant weekend getaway to see parts of the UK that you would not normally go to at a time of the year when it is tempting to stay inside and watch TV considering it is grey, cold and drizzling constantly! I found the trail runs a great challenge and have a newfound appreciation for trail running - and pubs in sleepy villages that serve cheap comfort food and jager bombs!

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