Coast challenge week 9 (part b)

Well, I've done it! My challenge is over! The last long run took me from the Devonshire village of Clovelly to just over the Cornish border, a total of 20 miles and the end of my Coast Path journey. I feel proud to have got there and have got through so many tough miles, but also sad because it has been tremendous fun and I will really miss having a project to plan my weekends around. Now the experience is over I feel a little lost. During these last weeks I have seen some amazing views and ventured across remote parts of the coastline that I would never otherwise have seen; I have run through snow, hail, wind, rain and sunshine, and learnt that distances on the coast are extremely deceptive- a coastal mile is not nearly the same as a mile on the flat!

As if to remind me what I'd be missing when it was over, this last run was the most spectacular of them all scenery-wise and full of gruelling climbs rewarded by stunning views and flat fields to free-fall across at the top, typical of the highs and lows the Coast Path can throw at you. As it was a beautiful sunny day I saw far more people on the Path than usual, although they were always concentrated in a small radius around the major tourist spots like Hartland Point, with the Path all to myself in the remoter sections (or between National Trust car parks!). For the first time in this whole challenge I had to deviate from the official Coast Path as the Path had been closed following a landslide somewhere between East Titchberry and Hartland but a couple of miles running on the diversion through farms and back roads actually made an enjoyable change and allowed me to do some 'real' running for a bit.

As I got nearer and nearer to Cornwall the sea view seemed to grow more expansive, and the rugged hills to get steeper. The fields and woodland around Buck's Mills and Clovelly seemed like another country, far far away. The last hour (the run took 4:30 in total) seemed interminable and the plunging cliffs never-ending, so I was delighted to see a sign announcing I had arrived in Cornwall, which spurred me on as I knew then my finish line was not far off. A real highlight was just before the sign, when I came across a hillside hut supplied with fresh water for drinking. The sun was high in the sky and I was feeling the effects of too much exposure, so a quick drink in the shade was heaven.

The end of the run was marked with a reviving cream tea in a nearby pub (the Bush Inn at Morwenstow). Whilst replacing vital carbs with scones and jam, my very understanding (and muddy-running-shoes-in-car tolerant!) friend and I sat in the garden whilst I wallowed over the last few months' journey. It felt strange to look at the coast sprawled out on either side and literally see the distance I had travelled. Even stranger to drive back along the Atlantic Highway to Barnstaple later on and pass signs to all the points of interest I'd run past in preceeding weeks, the miles which had taken hours in the other direction simply disappearing under my wheels like sand running through my fingers...

And now it's over, every step of the Coast Path through North Devon has been traversed by my faithful trainers (a great deal of it still clinging to the soles and uppers of the once red and white material), and my marathon training is almost complete. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and donated to my Just Giving page, and to the sundries that have kept me going and made it more enjoyable, most especially PB!

Route:

Clovelly- Mouth Mill Cove- Titchberry- Hartland Point- Hartland Quay- Screda Point/Screda Cove- Speke's Mill- Hole Rock- Mansley Cliff- CORNWALL!- Welcombe Mouth- Morwenstow. 20 miles total distance.

Distance on Coast Path:

104 miles

Map: