Churchill Country

 Great running today, thanks to a family excursion, and the understanding nature of my lovely wife and her family.

 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!

 Tonight I wanted a trip down memory lane, and plotted a loop of typical north Kent running: field-edge footpaths, wooded bridleways, and the odd fast section on byways and farm tracks. Skirting close to Winston Churchill's former house in Chartwell, I deliberately included chunks of the Vanguard Way, the Greensand Way, and the Eden Valley Walk, since each have easy-to-follow waymarking.

 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.