Hey everyone!
Thought i would get this started up so we can start planning routes! I'm not from this area so i don't know it very well bt i actually live in Nottingham and as you know we dont have much coast around there! My sister lives in Bideford so i could stay with her (hopefully) while i do part of this epic relay run!
With my sister being from Bideford in Devon i would obviously like to do some runnning around this area if possible although i can be quite flexible, its just getting somewhere to stay thats the problem for me, could stay in a hostel or something but then i have to carry a load of stuff with me on the run!
I'm only doing about 12 miles at a time at the moment but at around a 7.5min/mile pace and hope by next april to get my mileage up MUCH higher. Even if i take walking breaks im pretty sure i could hit 30miles in a day, maybe more/less depending on the actual routes... or maybe im just being a bit optimistic
Where abouts are all you from or where would you like to do your various sections etc?
Comments
And a direct link to the South-West England map is here (.pdf file)
I was going to run from Bigbury on sea to Plymouth - probably the Barbican as I was thinking of using the ferry to cross the river from Plmstock rather than run inland, also cos its a great place for a cuppa and for a bike meet. Get it all ya sea (see)
Anyone want to pick up from there? Seems to me the best move from here would be Ferry to Mt. Edgecombe
Necessary Evil - Cornwall or Devon
Kiwiscanfly
Boyddie - Bideford
PaulS4 - Somewhere nice
You might be doing quite a bit of running.
Looe - Fowey 12.1
Fowey - St Austell
St Austell - St Mawes
St Mawes - Falmouth 43.5
Falmouth - Lizard 33.3
Lizard - Penzance 28
Penzance - St Just
St Just - St Ives 40
St Ives - Newquay 43
Newquay - Padstow 24
Padstow - Tintagel 21
Tintagel - Bude 21.3
Bude - Hartland Point 18
Hartland - Bideford 27
Bideford - Ilfracombe 39
Ilfracombe - Lynton 19
Lynton - Minehead 21.5
Minehead - Burnham OS
Burnham OS - Weston-Super-Mere
Weston-Super-Mere - Clevedon
Clevedon - Bristol
BM where did you get your figures from!? Did you just measure around the coast itself, use footpaths or road maps?
Oh and i actually looked at the coast around Bideford such as peppercombe and apparently its extremely hilly in parts and he says some of which would beeither impossible or incredibly tiring just to do a small section.
Definitely going to have to get a proper OS map and maybe een check google earth
I am from south London but know the area pretty well. Used to go down to Wadebridge for New Year 5 years in a row, and had lots of holidays in the West Counrty. Also went to Uni in Exeter so I have a strong connection with the South West.
Padstow - Tintagel would suit me at a first glance, or poss Newquay - Padstow.
just looked at Pad - Tin on MapMyRun using the roads closest to the coast and only doing a rough trace it is 18 miles and all hills. As we knew the SW is going to be tough esp the north coast. The coastal path is going to be quite a bit longer and harder work but prob worth it as will be able to see v little from the roads.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/gb/padstow/272126087661191041
this route is far from ideal, but doable, (ish) coastal path would be better but as just said much harder.
Before i was looking on google maps and thnking 30miles would be doable in a single day along roads like that, but if im in such a nice location i dont want to be running along some road... i can do that in Nottingham where i live! As its a coastal run and im in an area that actually has a coastal path i'm going to run it as much as possible, even if that means its going to be much harder work and will take longer!
Think i will just opt for shorter distances along the coastal paths and spread it over afew days rather than stick to the closest roads to the coast although this wont be possible in all locations. I looked at my area on google earth and you can clearly see the coastal path on top of the cliffs so i intend to follow that. Would get some much better photos of barry doing that, unless your crossin the border between cornwall and devon, photos of the signs on the edge of the road would be cool "Welcome to Devon".
Hi folks
Dozy hoose VLM is on 25th April so likely start will be 2nd May 2010
haha you numpty, no problem, it doesnt really affect us i dont think, we have no idea when it would have gotten all the way around the UK to our section anyway!
This is my proposed route of Bude-Clovelly
http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/gb/devon/584126091926933108
Next i guess would be Clovelly - Bideford and then Bideford to Croyde which isnt very far up the coast but you have to go inland all the way to Barnstaple to get accross the river unless anyone else knows another way you can get accross, maybe a boat/ferry somewhere?
Not sure how many sections that big i could do in a row, but if push comes to shove i guess i could try and do 3 in a row or something, but definitely want to run it into Bideford!
Also i dont mind starting, ending my routes at different locations if it helps others out.
Agree with all of that, I would pref to do it along the coastal path.
Wondering about a maybe 3 x 18mile days in a row but prob with that is a twisted knee on day 1 throws everything out a hell of a lot. Also day three could be messy, still hope to have loads more miles in me by then.
If it is July/August I could maybe have a weeks holiday down there and stay at a few different places and do a few legs but who knows, guess we will see in a few months when the dates are becoming better known.
If I get the chance later today will have a go at mapping the coastal path, will also have a look at thie bikehike site.
BM is right too, there is no watch or chip driving us to 'get it done' we can enjoy the leg and the pace really does not matter.
I'm down to do a bit of South Devon, but could do a bit around Ilfracombe area depending on dates/times.
Boyddie, there is a quay in Bideford, but I'm not sure where the boats go to/from apart from Lundy. Alternatively does your sister have a boat/know someone with a boat that could get you across?
My sister lives there so next time i speak to her i will ask her about it, she must know whether theres some way of getting accross the river without running all the way inland and back again, although i dont mind doing that.
I was thinking of doing 3x(25ish)miles not that i can run anywhere near that distance at the moment, but given a full day you could probably walk that anyway, but i intend to run as much as possible.
I was thinking bude-clovelly, clovelly to bidefrord and then bideford to croyde or if i can somehow get accross the river without running into barnstaple then i might be able to get closer to ilfracombe to pass the baton on to you?
Or if someone would prefer to do one of those sections or something then i dont mind alternating or something, its just getting to the start locations and getting back to bideford after the legs are done thats the problem so trying to keep it localised to that.
Boyddie - I was going to start / finish @ rivers. Barry will finish the day one side of the river and start the next day t'other side of the river.
Seems like a way around the problem - though I am planning on swimming one river, maybe get your trunks out?
Hmmm that would be a good idea actually, instead of running AROUND the river; i could just run as far as i can north above bideford to the rivers edge, then start the next day on the opposite side of the river. Genious BM!
Its more of a mud flat than a river to be fair, well there is a large volume of water that does flow through it but being a tidal river im sure most of the time ive seen it its just sticky mud which i dont intend getting stuck in
I can't really plan as far ahead as July, except to say I'm planning my ironman-distance debut in August, but would love to contribute two or three days @ 20 - 25 miles/day on this stretch. Base near Plym would be ideal but I'm happy to travel into the depths of Cornwall if needed.
Better go now in case I sober up and retract this .
Too slow for me? I'm hugely flattered but not sure where you got that idea !
I'd love to do a stretch from Plymouth and/ or from Bigbury - should be able to set up time off with sufficient warning. It may be that more will come forward for these bits, in which case I could be reapplied to more unpopular stretches. I love the SW Coast Path! Just put me down for the gaps, and I'll figure out how to do it nearer the time...
Sounds good Joddly, we could do with a few more people working the SW coast! Doesnt matter if a few people run the same route at the same time, if anything that would help with motivation to keep each other running!
Think we should start getting a few routes sorted so we can see where the gaps are. We dont have to get it done any time soon but would be interesting to see where we need help.
If Joddly could only do weekends in cornwall we could fit him in anywhere as it would take a while to cover the whole distance anyway, although it would take a while to get to know when each part would be run, depends on how fast other people do their other sections, so guess it could be a matter of planning out routes and seeing who can do them when the time comes!?
A bit drunk when i write this so may not make sense
The South Devon thread has started to break the route into smaller chunks, and put names against the legs, so here goes with a name list..... (if I missed you off it wasn't on purpose - honest). I'm not sure what to do with those of you who are offering to fill the gaps - maybe pick a prefered area but say you can cover elsewhere if needed. My name is down twice, but I'll only be allowed to do 1 run - I don't intend to stay with the outlaws overnight
Plymouth - Looe 23.7 miles
Looe - Fowey 12.1
Fowey - St Austell
St Austell - St Mawes
St Mawes - Falmouth 43.5
Falmouth - Lizard 33.3
Lizard - Penzance 28
Penzance - St Just
St Just - St Ives 40
St Ives - Newquay 43
Newquay - Padstow 24 - Possibly PaulS4
Padstow - Tintagel 21 - Possibly PaulS4
Tintagel - Bude 21.3
Bude - Hartland Point 18
Hartland - Bideford 27 - Possibly Boyddie
Bideford - Ilfracombe 39 - Possibly Boyddie / Wrinkly (part only - there's no way I could do 39 miles) - I like the idea of a split at Croyde - nice ice-creams there
Ilfracombe - Lynton 19 - Possibly Wrinkly (should be able to do all of this - but it's blooming hilly)
Lynton - Minehead 21.5
Minehead - Burnham OS
Burnham OS - Weston-Super-Mare
Weston-Super-Mare - Clevedon
Clevedon - Bristol