Well, just take a look at this beauty…
Cycling UK has presented us with a new, off-road trail for cyclists and walkers covering a whopping 800 miles and linking the Peak District with the extreme north of mainland Scotland.
Apparently, 98 per cent of the route runs on traffic-free routes such as bridleways, byways, cycle routes, unpaved roads and very low traffic minor roads. So, who’s going to run it first?
I’m seriously tempted. Well, the fantasy part of me is. The reality is that I’m a very average runner with not a lot of stamina. It hasn’t stopped the mental calculations looping through my mind though… if I could pull off 20 miles a day (which I couldn’t) it would be in the bag in just over a month.
To be honest I’ve always thought that running more than a half marathon distance was beyond me. Then in steps ultra runner Damien Hall who claims that running long distances is “easier than you think.”
I’m totally buoyed up when he says…
What I love about it is that I think running ultra distances is a lot more achievable than perhaps people realise. While running twice as far as a marathon sounds really difficult, you can take walking breaks, you can sit at an aid station for 10 minutes if you want, have a nice bowl of soup, a load of cake and then wander on.
I think running a road marathon is harder than running a 50km or maybe even 50-mile ultra marathon off-road, because you can have those breaks and your body is getting a change of rhythm. The change of muscular and joint stress due to the terrain changing all the time isn’t nearly so much as the repetitive pounding you get from a road run. It’s definitely more relaxed.
So. He mentioned walking and cake. Maybe I can.
But-seriously-hands up. Who’s going to be the first to run this awesome route?
