Wainwrights Coast to Coast

When i first though about running Wainwrights coast to coast route i intended to complete in 4 days but after some research decide 4 days would not do it justice and 6 would be better. 32 ish miles a day is enough to make it a challenge without spoiling the experience. Be sides that, i’m nearly 50 and 192 miles is an awful long way for an old man to run.

Initially i planned to run solo but after talking with some running friends and being asked by several if they could join me for a day or 2, i though it too good an opportunity to pass up, 6 days with friends totally consumed by running the Great British country side.

Monday, Day 1

I set off from St Bees in Cumbria, conscious of the long week ahead; i set a gentle pace and made my way across the first section to Enerdale Bridge. From here i took the high route over Red pike to Haystacks, if it’s worth doing its worth doing properly.

Way back in the early 90’s i was a motorcyclist, sunny Sundays were for terrorising motorists on the twisty A & B roads on the way to devils bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale.

There were a few years when i was really living the dream; my days were spent looking forward to the evenings and weekend when i would be out with my friends enjoying the fantastic local roads. Nothing else mattered and nothing was allowed to get in the way of a day out on the bikes.

Forget the dangers because they never really cross your mind, you are untouchable, indestructible and nothing can stop you. Close calls and near misses become a way of life and you push ever harder trying to find your limits, occasionally finding them but ultimately surviving to tell the tale.

Most of my 20.s and early 30’s were spent this way and only mortgage, marriage and children changed things. But what is a biker without his bike, he is nothing, he is a man on a road to destruction, a house and family are great but not very practical when you want to go out for a ride on your bike. Side cars are crap, they stop the bike from leaning over through bends and the kids would only scream when faced with a car heading straight for them.

Before you know what has happened you are just like everyone else, you now ride to work; you used to work to ride. Motorcycles are an expensive toy and when you have children they have to come first. Home building and raising a family is a challenge, which i failed completely. I abandoned all hope, all the trappings of a happy family life vanished and Vodka became my best friend. Halleluiah

After divorce and losing my home and family i moved to Scotland and began to work hard on self destruction. Its not as easy as it sounds but with hard work and perseverance i was able achieving my goal, smashed every night on cheap Vodka.

One morning whilst driving to work through the 5 or 6 cars that make up rush hour traffic in Kirkcaldy i decided that being behind the wheel after finishing a bottle of vodka only a few hours earlier was perhaps not the smartest thing i had ever done. That evening i bough a mountain bike from Halfrauds and my regeneration began.

Who would have guessed you could get high on endorphins? The seed had been planted and I was soon moving back to England and starting to rebuild my life around sport, mountain bikes took hold and my days were spent looking forward to the evenings and weekend when i would be out with my friends enjoying the country side around the Pennines. Nothing else mattered and nothing was allowed to get in the way of a day out on the bikes. (Sounds familiar)

To my credit i still found time for the occasional pint of larger and nip of Vodka but sport was in my blood and with some guidance from a wonderful woman i met, i was changing my ways.

A knee injury led me to a great phisio who recommend running as a good way to cross train, i had to build up the other muscles in my legs as my quads were comparatively too big. I was probably 14 years old the last time i ran anywhere, some 24 years previously, hence i was not to keen on the idea but like crack cocaine, it only takes one go and you are hooked.

Its an all to common scenario: A person experiments with an addictive drug like running. Perhaps he intends to try it once, for "the experience" of it. It turns out though, that he enjoys the euphoric effect so much that in ensuing weeks and months he does it again -- and again. Nut in due time, he decides he really should quit. He knows that despite the incomparable high he gets from running, the long-term consequences are perilous. So he vows to stop.

His brain however, has a different agenda. It now demands running. While his rational mind knows full well that he shouldn't run quite so much, his brain overrides such warnings. Unbeknown to him, repeated running has brought about dramatic changes in both the structure and function of his brain. In fact, if he'd known the danger signs for which to be on the lookout, he would have realized that the euphoric effect derived from running is itsself a sure sign that the running is inducing a change in the brain -- jyst as he would have known as time passes, he would run with increasing regularity, this change becomes more pronounced, until finally his brain has become addicted.
And so, despite his heartfelt vow never to run again. he contines. Again and again.

Running is now beyond his control. It is compulsive. He is addicted.

Tuesday i was joined by Paul Jackson, Wednesday Chris Armour visited

 and Thursday Leon Hockhem came up from Lincolnshire. These 3 days were the filling in the week long sandwich and i enjoyed them tremendously. Sharing the journey with friends was definitely a good idea.

Friday Chris Rainbow joined Leon and i, we set a gentle pace to the midday meeting point at Ingleby Arncliffe where Leon decided to rest for the afternoon. Chris Rainbow and i pushed the pace a little over a section of the Cleveland Way to Clay Bank Top and arrived a couple of hours early. So we decided to push on for a few more miles and meet up with Debbie and Leon at the Lion Inn on Blakey Road. We ran about 38 miles on Friday leaving only 25 for the final day.

On Saturday Chris, Leon and i ran gently stopping for luch along the way and finished in Robin Hood Bay, the last few miles were strange and my mind started to wonder back to previous years when motorbikes were my life, when i was living the dream.

Over 6 days, with the help of some good friends, i realised i am living the dream once again. I have a purpose, a reason to be here. The woman in my life is my running partner, even though she does not run. We spend our free time in the hills and mountains of Britain, taking on new and exciting challenges together, her presence completes my running.

Life has a balance where family and friends are as important as my running, they all exist together and without each one, life and the dream would not be complete.

Credits:-

Paul Jackson, Chris Armour, Leon Hockhem, Chris Rainbow and Debbie Sullivan. Extra thanks to Leon and Chris’s family who joined us as well. Without all of you this journey would not have been possible.