Little Horses on a Lizard, An Abandoned Cottage and the Devils Frying Pan

A group of us went to Cornwall this weekend gone. We share common interests including SCUBA diving, running, ukuleles and twitter.

Claire and I took the opportunity to do a run on the Saturday so we thought we would head West along the South West Coastal Path. This path ran right past our caravan in Kuggar so it was too good an opportunity to miss. The path is a whopping 630 miles long!

Claire taking care down the South West Coastal Path near Kuggar

We looked at the map and reckoned at our Greensand Way pace we could run to the Lizard Lighthouse and back in under 2 hours.

The coastal path is a very enjoyable change from Greensand Way running. The path westwards from Kuggar (where we were staying) runs within a few feet of the Cliff and gives you a great view out to sea as well as the headlands in both directions in the far distance.

Lee finds a fish carving bench on the South West Coastal Path near Poltesco

The path is very steep and the sheer drop on the seaward side means you are always watching your feet VERY carefully as you run along it. It was noisy with the crashing of the waves, it smelt of sea salt and wild garlic and you could hear seagulls. This run was more like the run I did with Dave in Devon. I loved it.

Lee by an abandoned cottage on the seafront on the South West Coastal Path near Polbream Point

I had actually run this section of path a few years before (when I had first taken up cross country running again to lose weight). I knew that an abandonded cottage was there on the beach between the cliffs on the path and also a little bridge that crossed a beautiful stream.

crossing the stream by the abandoned cottage near Polbream point on the South West Coastal Path

We crossed the stream and began another ascent to the next section of the cliff top path. This was around the Enys head area of the coast. We came across some little wild ponies on the cliff top here who were very used to people and would meander over to us to say hello.

A little pony comes to say hi to Claire on the South West Costal Path near Enys head.

We then descended again down to a very picturesque cornish village called Cadgwith. There was a small strip of beach with the village nestled between the cliffs. The strip of beach had a number of fishing boats pulled up on it that were picture postcard perfect.

fishing boats in Cadgwith on the South West Coastal Path

Its was about now that we realised that we were running WAAAAAY slower up and down this coastal path than we were used to. A quick check of 'science' showed us we were running at a pace of 20 minutes per mile. This was obviously much slower than we thought we would run it, caused by a combination of running up and down very steep sandy paths with steep dangerous drop offs and me stopping far too much to take far too many pretty pictures.

The Devils Frying Pan on the South West Coastal Path

As we ran on westwards we could see the 'science' was showing a strange 'hole' on the ordnance survey map marked The Devils Frying Pan. This turned out to be a very large 'bridge' of land over a hole through the cliffs that the sea had punched through. The view to it was looking down a very sheer cliff path which only added to how exciting and epic it was.

The Devils Frying Pan

We ran on with time against us. It was an evening run and we had already been running for nearly an hour. We could make out the lifeboat station at Bass Point but didnt stand a chance of getting to the Lizard lighthouse at our coastal running pace.

no matter what national trust path you run on...you'll always find gloves

We turned back Dollar Ogo and tried running faster and harder to get the pace time improving. after an hours running we had travelled under 3 miles ! We had a chuckle on the way back when we found out it isnt just the Greensand Way that is littered with gloves, they were here on the coastal path too.

lee enjoying a beer stop on the South West Coastal Path at Kuggar

The weather was 'closing in' and the sky got darker and looked like rain so this was a further incentive to get back quick. Claire acted as pace setter and really got us back fast. When we got back to the golf course at the camp site in Kuggar we enjoyed a quick beer stop to celebrate such a scenic (but bloody short on distance!) run.

Tim with sports drink back at the caravan in Kuggar

Tim (who runs Greensand Way HQ online) was waiting for us back at the caravan. He gave us the furious 'where have you been' look as our dinner was ready.

On the return run back from the Devils Frying Pan we were running fast and I got less time to take in the views or take pics. This was a good chance as I ran hard to think about how great this run was. This was another one in a hundred. The pictures show just how amazing it was. We were planning to run east on the coastal path as well before the holiday ended but looking at the map I couldnt really see how it would beat this superb run for pictures and views.

The South West Coast Path at the Devils Frying Pan

I was very wrong.

The run we did next (which is the next blog) produced some of the most stunning pics we've taken so far in training.


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Virgin Hares, Hash Golf , Underdeveloped Ankles and Twin Peaks

After running 55 miles in a weekend what could be better than a little 6 mile run the next day in Hook Heath with the Guildford Hash House Harriers?

We tee d off in a car park in St Johns a wee bit late (everyone had already left) so we knew we were going to have to run hard to catch up the pack. The front side of the run was going to be hard work with us being this under form already.

Scrum Muffin getting ready for the Hash in the car park

We set off at a very rapid pace led by Scrum Muffin (Claire). We both still had our full Greensand Way running packs on too. We had Scrum Muffins dad Loose Article in tow as well.  We started across the Golf Course in Woking following the flour trail as we went. I like running across footpaths that lead over Golf Courses as they always make me feel naughty.

Scrum 'tiger woods'  Muffin and Loose 'Colin Montgomery' Article Hashing across the Golf Coure in Woking

Loose'Colin Montgomery' Article not having a wee in public as that would be illegal

We chipped over small bridges and navigated through tricky bunkers and thought we could see the pack in the far distance. It turned out we were reading the green badly and we were much more behind than we first thought.

Scrum 'tiger woods' Muffin doing a great 'bail out' on Woking Golf Course

As you know I get very excited about type 22 WW2 bunkers on the GHQ line so I was pleased to get to interact with a new class of bunker that evening.

Little 'nick faldo' Pecker finds a new type of bunker on a Woking Hash

What we thought was the main pack turned out to be Under Developed walking with a very hurty ankle. The poor guy was surrounded by Scrum Muffin and I with our large packs offering our caddy services....

• Walky pills for the pain?
• ankle support?
• little drinky?
• Mars Bar?
• Space Blanket?
• First Aid Kit?
• 9 iron?

In true hash style he didn't understand any of these things, only beer which we didn't have. We ran on leaving Loose Article with him checking he was ok. His handicap would be seriously affected by this mishap.

Leaving Loose 'Colin Montgomery' Article and Under 'Jack Nicklaus' Developed behind

As we aced our way out towards Hook Heath we crossed Blackhorse Rd and I was very pleased to find us running past Blackhorse Apiaries or 'Bee School' where I learnt to keep Bees with the king of Beekeeping and inventor of the Swarmbuster 3000 Jon Hamer !

Lee learns about the birdies and the bees here - Blackhorse Apiaries

Loose 'Colin Montgomery' Article caught us up again so I got the chance to try mirror posing with another member of  Scrum Muffins family. We gave it our best 'Smirror' Smile with a mirror.

Smirror - smile with a mirror.

We had a virgin hare setting the trail, that is someone who hasn't laid a trail before and so a number of the hashers seemed to be taking the piss out of how much flour she had put down. At one stage Scrum 'tiger woods' Muffin and I came across 3 arrows to show us which direction to go in.

Scrum 'tiger woods' Muffin narrowly avoids an oopsiwahli

As we entered the back nine of our hash we were still very much still bogeying. We ran on as the darkness came and eventually came across 'Twin Peaks' a new hasher we hadn't met before. So named as she is a Doctor and has ....er.....big.....er........lady things.

Scrum Muffin and Twin Peaks

We ran on and back towards the Golf Course again. We had a chance to do some Smollarding too - Smiling with your lit Bollard.

Smollarding

Eventually we got the sign that the 19th Hole was approaching and we were at the dead ball stage of the run. We finally got back to the car park about a minute or two  behind the main pack having spent the entire run near the back.

Scrum 'tiger woods'  Muffin at the 'On in' hashing towards the 19th Hole

We retired to the 19th Hole for beer and to discuss how well we all faired on this run. At over 6 miles this was quite a 'runners run' and involved a fair bit of running in the 'rough' (along busy dark main roads) but all in all we enjoyed it.

Scrum 'tiger woods' Muffin and I were also surprised at how well we had done give the mileage we had done the previous 2 days.

All in all we enjoyed hash golf and would do it again.

Hash, Live Fartlicking, Ewok Village and Taking a Holiday from the Greensand Way

In the utterly delightful romantic comedy 'The Holiday' the characters 'swap' familiar places to experience a refreshing change in a new location, meet new people, hilarious japes, romance and blah blah blah .

 I'm a BIG FAN of this film as I was doing my business banking once in Bramley and saw Cameron Diaz filming in a Red Mini. I also Like Wreck Diving and as we all know Kate Winslet is one of the last surviving passengers of the Titanic.

The Holiday Movie shot in Shere and Godalming oh..and Los Angeles

There comes a time in any runners relationship when the combination of hash and darkness cause you to stray from the familiar relationship with The Greensand Way and you find yourself inadvertantly dabbling with another runners well known trail.

This new and interesting location can lead to meeting new people, hilarious japes, romance and blah blah blah

 In this case Scrum Muffin and I got a chance to 'have a go' on the North Downs way on Monday thanks to the Guildford Hash House Harriers . As far as we know Jude Law and Kate Winslet didnt go hashing on the Greensand Way that same evening. 

We were supposed to go hashing in Portsmouth with the Portsmouth Hash House Harriers to introduce Dave and Dan to hashing but last minute Dave found a split end in his hairdo and had to be rushed for an emergency Cut , Perm Set and Blow. So Scrum Muffin and I went to the Guildford hash instead.

The North Downs way is a similar age to The Greensand Way and is longer at 156 miles running from Farnham to Canterbury (with a loop round Dover).

North Downs Way sign near Shere

The hash that evening started in the light! This was a welcome change. It was also a 'live hash' where the hare (this week Fartlick) sets off shortly before we do and lays the trail just ahead of us. Well, thats the theory anyway.Given the chaos of a 'normal' hash I could see this could end in some major oopsiwahli.

Popeye was here

Under Developed started us off in the wrong direction and we then got into our stride. It would seem that chaotic runners and a chaotic live hash actually do not combine to end in disaster but actually cancel each other out to produce a hash that 'sort of works'

 After a short bit of running I was very pleased to recognise another Type 22 Bunker marking the GHQ defence line too. My innner running nerd was happy.

A Type 22 Bunker near the North Downs Way in Shere

Running a lot in woods also means you get to run past signs for places that always have humorous names.  Shag Wood , Dogging Copse, Sexy Time Forest are all places we havent come across (fnar) yet but on this run we we did find Combe Bottom.

Claires Bottom on Coombe Bottom

We ran uphill and managed to catch some amazing views from the top just as the light was starting to fade.

Claire catching the last of the sunlight from an amazing view near Shere

Shere Sunset

As the woods got dark everything always seems larger to me. We came across a massive long stack of freshly cut logs which I couldnt resist doing some 'Smogging' in front of . I bet in daylight it looks like a pile of twigs by the path.

Lee does 'Smogging' Smile with your logs in near Shere on the North Downs Way

We also ran past a massive log cabin in the air which we can only assume was some kind of Deer Shooting hide but to me looked like the entire Ewok Village from Star Wars.

Proof the Ewoks live in Shere

The North Downs Way gets the seal of approval from Scrum Muffin

After more running in the dark (somehow we were near the back) we found the 'On Inn' sign which meant the chaos was coming to close.

End of Hash in Shere

We finished the evening by going to the White Horse in Shere. A pub made famous for having had scenes from the film 'The Holiday' filmed in it. I was very keen to place my bum where Jude Laws had been as I am a massive fan of his broad range of artistic and critically acclaimed work.
The pub also has the previous pair of Scrum Muffins running trainers mounted on the wall near the bar.

Scrum Muffins last pair of running trainers in the bar at The White Horse in Shere.

As I munched wasabi peanuts and supped my sports drink I thought about  that triumph of a movie .....Next time I'm on holiday abroad I'm going to look up the nearest Hash House Harriers club and show them how us Brits do it, I bet I meet some new people , get into hilarious japes, blah blah blah .......you get the idea.

But more worryingly I also found myself thinking about a blog called NorthDownsWay2013 .

Abbey Road Studios, John Paul Jones, Robyn Hitchcock, Bruce Foxton, Al Murray twice , Radio 5 Live, Ukejam and 18 miles on the Greensand Way

As our weekend merged into one big event I thought I'd start this blog on the Friday night before the latest Greensand Way training run we just did on Sunday.

But before I start please please visit our charity giving website and donate

www.charitygiving.co.uk/greensandway2012

Abbey Road Studios in London

We started our evening on Friday at Abbey Road Studios for the annual Sound and Vision evening to raise awareness for Cancer Research UK. We were very lucky to get tickets as our friend Penny performed that evening with Al Murray's band The T-34s.

Also on the evenings line up was Chris Difford who we sang 'Cool For Cats' along with him from the crowd and 'Biscotti' which comprised John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin and Robyn Hitchcock.

Dr G (my wife) with me, Robyn Hitchcock, John Paul Jones, Claire and Penny at Abbey Road Studios

We were lucky enough to get to meet John Paul Jones and Robyn Hitchcock afterwards in Studio 2 of Abbey Rd and we talked a bit without me cracking up into a gibbering mess ( I am a huge Led Zeppelin fan).

The evening was a great success and various one off pieces including a 'doodled' Damien Hurst print were auctioned off raising over a quarter of a million pounds for Cancer Research UK. Al Murray did a fantastic job auctioning off the pieces and co-compere Bob Harris from Radio 2 resided an air of cool calm over the night.

Claire and I discovered a new way of 'carb loading' for long distance running as we had 'more than 3 but less than 11' glasses of champagne and felt very little ill effects the next day. At the end of the evening we got to say thanks to 'Whispering Bob' Harris and sped off into the night to get home.

Dr G, Claire and Penny crossing the famous Abbey Rd crossing made famous by the Beatles

On the way back to the car we took the advantage of a lull in busy London Traffic to take the obligatory 'Abbey Rd ' photo as per the famous Beatles Album cover.

After a Saturday evening spent 'carb loading' with Real Ale in a pub in Guildford (where we bumped into Bruce Foxton of The Jam) we got up early Sunday morning and, instead of getting started on our Greensand Way run as soon as possible, jumped in the car with ukuleles and headed for London.

Claire and I outside the BBC TV Centre

We arrived at BBC TV Centre at 10am. I am lucky enough to be in a ukulele band called Ukejam (along with Claire, Penny and Dr G ). Ukejam meet up every other Monday night at the Royal Oak Pub in Guildford and cheat sheets and songbooks and ukes are provided for any newcomers. Find out more at http://www.ukejam.co.uk/ We had been invited to perform a Monkees tribute song on Al Murray's 7 Day Sunday show on Radio 5 Live.

Me at Radio 5 Live - beneath my cool exterior was a shiny layer of Lycra

As we were going straight on to a run after the show I opted to wear full compression running top and leggings under my jeans and shirt. I felt like a super hero who could burst out of his clothes at any moment and fight crime.....I also felt like a berk.

Shhhhhhhhhhh

We also met Jenny Eclair, Andy Zaltzman and Mark Steel on the show as well as the host Al Murray (who has played drums with Ukejam). You can listen to our performance towards the end here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cz3b4/7_Day_Sunday_04_03_2012/

Ukejam on Radio 5 Live

We sped off from the BBC very quickly after 12 and got some 'carb loading' done in Burger King to prepare us for our long run. We were racing the setting sun at 6pm.

'Carb 'Loading' at Westfield Shopping Centre

We got dropped off at the Windmill at Reigate Heath Golf Course with a planned run to take us back to my house if the weather and daylight allowed.

Lee and Claire at Reigate Heath Golf Course on the Greensand Way in Freezing conditions and snow

By the time we started running it was well after 2pm and it was snowing. The wind was blowing and we both started the run freezing cold. We were smart enough to save weight on our heavy packs by only bringing one pair of gloves and hat between us.

A wet crossing on the Greensand Way near Dorking

The rain was very heavy and we got absolutely soaked through the 4 or five layers we were wearing. I had on every piece of clothing I had brought with me and was still a bit cold, particularly on my hands. Everywhere was waterlogged and this was the one time I didn't wear my thick waterproof socks because of what I wore to the BEEB. We both had soaking wet feet.

Officially an 'Anorak' on the Greensand Way in Dorking

As we ran into Dorking at the 6 mile mark, I was pleased to find a new Greensand Way sign to get a photo of, it was only a few minutes later that I realised my religious zeal for new Greensand Way signs and my literal attire meant I was officially a Greensand Way Anorak.

At the Temple at Nower on the Greensand Way doing some Trig Planking

We noticed a trig point we hadn't seen before on the Nower so took the opportunity to get some obligatory photos.

Face down, Arms straight, Legs out - Planking on the Greensand Way near Dorking

After the 'Pork Scratching Dust' incident of the last run we were pleased (but wet and freezing cold) when we found out (huddled under a bush) on our 5 minute food stop that doritos pass the 'running travel damage' test. These will now be a welcome savoury addition to our running supplies.

Cold hands but unbroken Doritos on the Greensand Way near Dorking (sheltering in a bush)

A Claire Silhouette at sunset at Leith Hill Tower on the Greensand Way

At the 'halfway mark' for a marathon 13.2 miles exactly we reached Leith Hill Tower just as the sun set (and the rain/snow stopped for an hour). It was eerie to be there at that time of day, after it being so busy the last time we were there we found it empty, with the food hatch closed and no one around.

Sawdust Hash Trail on Holmbury Hill on the Greensand Way

As the sun set and it got VERY DARK the snow returned. We cleverly saved weight on our running packs by only bringing 1 torch so at the 16 mile stage of the run we were not tired at all but very cold and wet, and worse, running in the dark was proving a challenge at best and a risk of injury at worse.

As we ran Claire noticed small piles of sawdust at various points on the run. When we got to Holmbury Hill we noticed a kicked through sawdust circle so we knew a Hash had been here recently.

We called it a day at the 18 mile mark at the Duke of Kent School. The plan was to run back to my house and do a full 26.2 miles but the darkness and conditions forced us to make a sensible decision and get a pick up via Dr G and her car full of warm coats and hats.

'Little Pecker' having a warm bath and a recovery shake

As I laid shivering in the bath warming up I thought about how great the encouraging tweets we got from our friends were in spurring us on today. Also Ive got a mental list of a few items we need by this weekend coming when we are doing our first 2 day running training with a camping stayover on the Greensand Way. We kick off the training weekend with another Ukejam gig at the Royal Oak with our band Genevieve and the Zut Alors on the Friday night.

It still hasn't totally sunk in that I met John Paul Jones..........The last thing he shouted back to us as his wife dragged him away was 'Zut Alors!'.

Maybe we can get him to join the band?