Sue & I decided on another long distance path to enliven Easter holidays and try to help our fitness. We adopted our self supported 2 person relay approach. Just the 2 of us with 1 running and one supporting / resting with a few changes each day.
We started after a midday orienteering event (as a nice little warm up). The start was Chipping Campden. Our rulese do allow us to cheat a little, missing out the first 1/2 mile through the centre of the town. Sue led off and I took over at Broadway and ran(?) to Stanway. Sue took over to get to Hayes Fruit Farm where I did the last run of the day to Winchcombe.
Day 2 saw us meeting at the top of Cleeve Hill (cutting the corner to the Golf Club saaved a bit of time). This was a long leg for Sue to Severn Springs. I ran to the lookout past the Air Balloon. Sue took over to Cranham. I then went from there to just beyond Painswick. A couple of shorter legs then took us to Stonehouse.
Day 3 started up from Stonehouse with Sue taking this leg. Tiredness and unfamiliarity made this day a bit of a blur. I took over and had the leg through Dursley and an unplanned diversion from the Golf Course adding an extra kilometre and a stiff climb. From North Nibley Sue ran through Wooton-Under-Edge and I took over at a small village a few miles South. Another leg each got us as far as Little Sodbury, just North of the M4. At this point we decided to quit. Yes we were knackered but that wasn’t the main reason. The deciding factor was that we had had enough. The route seemed to have morphed away from the Cotswold edges and open land to farmland, tracks and stiles. It stopped being fun!
The few days was good and a reminder of the need to put more miles in, and spend more time on my feet.
What next for this format? Perhaps the Dales Way or the Cumbrian Way – both suited to running I think.
Tags: Cotswold Way, Running
15/04/2009 at 9:38 pm
South West Coast Path? You might even get some other family members helping you out, but maybe that would spoil it.