It's my niece's first birthday, and we were invited to her party, about an hour's drive away in northwest Kent. With little time for a morning run, I quite fancied the idea of running some trails in a different part of the world, so I discussed with my wife whether I might be able to sneak out of the party for a couple of hours. She said yes.
So I dug out an old section of laminated map showing the Greensand ridgeline stretching west to east, just a few miles north of the party location in Edenbridge. I decided this was my goal.
Some years ago I lived in the Edenbridge area and it was here that I started trail running properly, scouring the footpaths and bridleways in my first trail shoes. I came to love some of the running around here, and have been back a few times for the annual 30 mile Gatliff Marathon race, where my local knowledge has given me some strong finishes.
 |
| Vanguard Way reflective waymarking. Perfect! |
I snuck off as planned, armed with the longest-range beams on my headtorch for spotting stiles on the far sides of fields, mini-map and compass, and ran off into the night. The ground was surprisingly good, the air was cool and still, and I felt like I had the whole world to myself.
I lost the trails a couple of times in tractor-scattered farmyards and footpath-riddled hillside hamlets, but always managed to get back on the right track. I remembered from years ago that many of these footpaths are underused and practically non-existent, but that's simply part of the feel of the place.
Sneaking back in, a quick shower, change and upload of my Garmin stats, then back into the throng, where my absence had barely registered. I felt like it had been my birthday, twelve and a half amazing LFI (Low Family Impact) Janathon miles on new, exciting trails, and the extended family still thanked me for coming along.
Tonight's run: 12.6miles, 1:54hrs, 568ft of ascent, 1712cals, one brown (ie non-Barn) owl
Janathon totals: 22 days, 215.6miles, 22 blogs, many inspiring comments, thank you.
My run routes are all on RunningFreeOnline here, please feel free to leave comments below.
am I allowed to make an inaproprate comment about wife swapping? Sal is, well, not quite as undersatanding! Sounds a lot like "guerilla running" and plenty of fun. Keep it up, enjoying following the journey
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised Sal is less understanding - it's the mileage. Last year was a different home set up for me, hence the big miles. I suspect your hardest bit is still to come, where you're nearly 100 miles out front, and still don't feel comfortable reducing the daily distance - as much as you may hate your commute by now, at least it's making those decisions for you.
Delete