Dorset Coast Path in two days

At the end of August 2012, I took part in the Dorset Coast Path Relay, a fun informal type relay organised by the South West Orienteering clubs with proceeds going to the South West Junior Orienteering Squad. The relay follows the 100km + coast path route from the Dorset-Devon border near Lyme Regis through to the ferry across Poole Harbour to Sandbanks in Hampshire. However, it bypasses the Portland peninsular and Weymouth, by taking a northerly inland route following the South Dorset Ridgeway and re-joining the coast at Osmington Mills.

This particular stretch of coastline is as beautiful as it is possible to get in the UK and is actually a World Heritage site known as the Jurassic coast due to its geological formations and prolific numbers of fossils to be found. However, it is definitely not flat, with the coastline tending to have many beaches followed by high cliffs. The resulting coast path, although beautiful, is a roller coaster with near vertical ascents and descents in places.

In the spring of 2013 when the announcement was made of the 2013 relay, I made the rash decision to run the whole length of the course but over two days and finish with the teams of runners doing the race in the single day. I was confident of achieving the distance and with many other runners at the finish, I could get lifts and have food and warm clothes etc. when I arrived.

So, my spring and early summer training was set up with the clear objective of a late summer ultra marathon but ensuring that I was also prepared for the off-road nature of the run and also the hills.

Running during my summer holiday in Wales was fully tailored to the challenge with runs every day in trail shoes along the Pembrokeshire coast path, another beautiful part of the UK. I also ran the entire Gordano Round route around the Gordano Valley, encompassing a full marathon with 750 metres climb (which I can strongly recommend to anyone as you can do it in two halfs and it is a great route).

So, in mid August it was frustrating to hear that the relay would be cancelled for 2013. This meant that I would no longer have runners at the finish to help with getting me back to my car parked at Osmington. However, I was not to be frustrated for long. I changed my plans so that I could run the following weekend with local relatives who would be able to help me at the finish line. They also kindly provided accommodation at the end of day 1.

Day zero entailed driving down to Osmington and parking my car on the road which was a part of the route itself. I then caught the coastal bus service via Weymouth to Lyme Regis where I had arranged accommodation at a perfectly located B&B on the hill. The weather which had been predicted to be showery and wet was probably as perfect as it could be with a temperature of around 20C, blue skies and sunshine. I travelled light with just my running backpack (and water bladder) and food for the following day (as well as first aid, phone, spare phone, credit card, cash and other essentials). During the evening I strolled into town and despite my good intentions to eat pasta, ended up sat on the sea wall eating fish and chips before picking up a pebble from the beach to carry with me for the journey.

The day of the ultra run arrived after a peaceful night and after leaving excess clothes in a clothes bank, walked up to the starting point on the Devon-Dorset border. At 9am I started the run with a gentle jog down to the Cobb at Lyme Regis followed by the climb up the hill out of the town and bypassing the crumbling cliffs towards Charmouth.

Of course, one of the challenges of the Jurassic coast is that there are many beaches at sea level but plenty of cliffs and hills well above 100m. Given that my day 1 total was 32 miles I decided to walk any of the steep hills and make sure that I completed the full route. So, the king of the mountains section (whose record is 11m25s) was doubled as I walked up to the top of Golden Cap and down the other side. What I found particularly difficult was the fact that some of the hills were so steep uphill that you could not run and so steep downhill that you could barely walk (it was a long way down if you fell over).

As you can see from the elevation profile, there were 5 main peaks from Lyme Regis through to Chesil beach where a nice 10km section past Burton Bradstock and down to West Bexington was mainly flat and easily runnable broken only by a short stop at the harbour cafe in West Bay to top up my drinks bladder. After a short break on the beach at West Bexington (what a great place to sit and relax) I headed inland for the rest of day 1, breaking from the coast and following the South Dorset Ridgeway. Unfortunately, this starts with a 200m hill straight inland which is normally delivered by a mini relay of team members to keep the baton moving at running pace. Given that I was the only relay runner, I decided to walk!

The Ridgeway was stunningly beautiful - mostly running through fields and along footpaths towards and past the huge 22m Hardy monument dedicated to Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy of "Nelson's kiss me Hardy" fame. The views over the Chesil beach and down to Portland were wonderful as was the view back up the coast to Lyme Regis. Not much further on I reached the marathon mark at just after the 5 hour mark. With 6 miles to go until reaching my car at Osmington, I suddenly realised what a challenge this was going to be. As I started to climb a relatively gradual slope, my calfs and hamstrings started to cramp if I ran. However, I was OK if I walked. So, to cut a long story short, I walked the remaining 6 miles along the ridge and cross the Weymouth relief road past the Osmington White Horse and into Osmington Village where my car (and plenty of food and drink) was waiting. I finished the 32.8 miles in a time of 7 hours and 7 minutes.

After driving to my relatives, eating a huge meal (with beer), I went to bed and slept incredibly soundly.

On the following morning, I was slow to get away and back to the day 2 start in Osmington Village and only started to run at around 10am. I knew that day 2 would be further than day 1 with around 36 miles and 1700 metres of climb. It also included some fairly terrifyingly steep hills and crumbling cliffs. The run down to Osmington Mills was very pleasant and I was pleased that the Smugglers Inn was available for an invaluable toilet stop! The hills were not unexpected but came thick and fast with plenty of fantastic views over the whole coastline and back into Weymouth bay. The hills just before Durdle Door were particularly memorable with breathtaking views from the top of the hills and quad killing descents to the beaches ahead. There was a short diversion inland to the East of Durdle Door where the coast path had fallen into the sea earlier in the year. but other than that I stayed on the prescribed coast path route crossing the ranges at Lulworth cove and crossing Worbarrow bay, possibly one of the most spectacular views of the whole run.

At Kimmeridge, I had a dilemma. The Coast path was officially closed between Kimmeridge and Chapmans Pool with a diversion which included Swyres head at 200m above sea level. However, many walkers  had already told me that the path was passable without any problem. I decided on following the diversion which led straight up from Kimmeridge bay through the village itself and onto the ridge leading to Swyres head. The views from the head were spectacular and with the clear air and blue skies you could see over to Corfe and the Isle of Wight in one direction with Portland in the other. One other reason for following the diversion was that I had left a cache of water at Kingston with which I could refill my drinking bladder and this I did before heading back down the hill to Chapmans pool. I have great memories of this area as I had worked in the quarry on St Aldhelms head and on Swanage Railway when younger for a short time and many of my family come from this part of the world.

At St Aldhelms head, the "king of the coast" section begins. This is an undulating approx 5.6 mile section finishing at Durlston Castle. The record for this section is around 36 minutes. I completed it in around 1 hour and 9 minutes. After the castle, the coast path follows Swanage sea front and then climbs up onto Ballard Down. By this time it was after 5pm and I could see down past the cliffs towards Studlands beach and the final 5km. However, at this stage, I took a slightly wrong turn and ended up going through a small wood before coming to a barbed wire fence which stood between me and the coast path. I'm not entirely sure how I managed to traverse it after 32 miles without spilling any blood, but I then stuck clearly to the path which led onto the main road and then to the beach and the final stretch towards the chain ferry. This last 5km was incredibly long. Although I had run the length of the beach last year in around 20 minutes, this year, the same stretch took over 30 minutes. I had to walk at regular intervals but at least after the previous day I was still able to run. I judged this to be due to salt intake as I took several packets of electrolyte powder (Diarolyte) during the day to replace lost salts and minerals from sweat.

So, after a second day of 1700m of climb and 36.1 miles I reached the chain ferry and went for a fantastic fully clothed cool down swim before returning with my relatives for a well deserved bath and dinner.

In conclusion, it was most definitely the most rewarding challenge I have ever done. Not only was the scenery spectacular, but the weather was perfect. Would I do it again? At the drop of a hat - but I think I would try to run with somebody next time.

Crook Peak Cake Race

Earlier in 2013, in discussion with some others, I decided to add a summer multi terrain race to the running club championship as the other races tended to be HMs or 10kms. So, with a quick look around, I chose the Crook Peak Cake Race on 21st August, a class A fell race of just 5km but with a glorious elevation of over 200m.

Despite some email reminders to club members, unfortunately there were only two Portishead runners in the race but over 90 runners made their way from the White Hart in Cross to the base of Crook peak just over a mile away for the start of the race at 7pm. The air was beautifully clear and the views over the Somerset levels were spectacular with Glastonbury Tor and Exmoor visible on one side over to the Welsh hills on the other. Turning round was a 140 metre climb to the top of Crook Peak about 450 m away. After the peak itself, a slightly rocky 35m drop  took the runners onto a relatively flat 300 metres where we could (unfortunately) see how far ahead the lead runners were. Then another 60m climb to the top of Wavering Down where we all had to touch the trig point and a 50m steep descent into the valley before following the crest of the next hill (Cross Plain). The race finishing line was on a steep incline at the end of the hill after a further 80m descent.

Having taken the first hill ascent relatively sensibly, I was really pleased that I was able to pick off plenty of runners between the Crook Peak and the finish although perhaps I was brave or foolish in the speeds I was taking the last descent.

I really enjoyed the race. It was well organised with a good spread of runners in each age category so that it was pretty difficult to get lost (unless you were leading). Winning time was just over 20 minutes and I came in just under 25 minutes about a third of the way down the field. Not too bad for my first official fell race! I will be back next year and hope for more of my club colleagues next time.

Running and mobile

So, why a blog on running and mobile. Well it's pretty simple really. I've worked with mobile phones since 1991 in the UK from devices to services to mobile internet to apps to web runtimes to DRM and security. I've had the privilege of working with some of the smartest and brightest people in the industry and traveled pretty extensively round the world in doing so!

I also took up running about 7 years ago now and got hooked pretty quickly. I'm not the fastest runner out there, but I can hold my own and have some reasonable PBs for my current age group MV45 including the one I'm most pleased with - a 1.29.15 half marathon time from Cologne HM in 2012.

During 2012, I ran a half marathon a month (12in12in12.blogspot.com) and managed to get 5 sub 90 minute half marathon times, but 2013 started with a minor injury and I haven't really been able to reach those heights  this year.

So, I have decided to open up a new blog not so focussed upon a particular year or goal but rather to just set down for my own record some of the things that I have been doing in both running and in my consultancy business which I set up in 2012.