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| A pair of vango banshee 200s cmaping on the cricket green at Limpsfield near the Greensand Way |
A smiling Olly turned up around 8.30 to mow the cricket 'thingy' (crease? lane? strip? doodad?). Much to everyones delight he also opened up the pavilion so we could have a cup of tea and a civilised wee. This really lifted our spirits despite not having any food for breakfast.
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| Dave Claire and Dan enjoying a cup of joe in the cricket pavilion at Limpsfield near the Greensand Way |
We had nearly a mile diversion into Limpsfield itself to visit the delightful village shop run by its locals. We hit them hard for food, snacks and drinks for breakfast and the days running and got chatting to them while we ate breakfast outside on the bench. We even got more donations from people as we talked about our run.
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| A quick break at the mill near Tandridge on the Greensand Way |
We got running again, Dave was finding his back pain was a bit worse so we lightened his pack , mainly by piling more gear onto Dan like a human buckaroo game. Still Dan wouldn't tire or slow down. We ran through Oxted and Tandridge and into Bletchingley. We could hear the M23 in the distance and it 'felt' like we were in Surrey. The scenery was great , lots of large fields and rolling hills. It was surprisingly good given how much running we had been doing.
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| Lee, the human washing line on the Greensand Way |
To dry off my clothes that had been washed I tied them to the outside of my bag and so became a running washing line. The sun was out a bit but we were exposed to the wind a lot so I was running with 2 layers on.
As we got near the crossing under the M23 we took a break on the site of an old Motte and Bailey Castle and took the chance to enjoy the view.
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| Lee Claire Dave and Dan at the Motte and Bailey Castle site near the M23 on the Greensand Way |
Once under the M23 it was a steady run through much more built up Reigate and Redhill. With all the jubilee bunting out there was a real party atmosphere.
There was a large jubilee fair in Reigate Park and we ran onto the hill overlooking it and did some trig point planking that marked the fantastic views in all directions from the top of the sun drenched hill.
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| Claire trig point planking on Reigate Heath on the Greensand Way |
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| Dan trig point planking on Reigate Heath on the Greensand Way |
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| Dave trig point planking on Reigate Heath on the Greensand Way |
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| Lee trig point planking on Reigate Heath on the Greensand Way |
The pub was great and very very friendly and even took pics of us to put on their facebook page. We were all having a really great day. Claires parents commented on how surprisingly upbeat and energised we were.
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| Lunch at the Skimmington Castle on the Greensand Way |
We knew we had approximately 10 more miles to run that day and carried on to Brockham where we were in for a big surprise. We ran right through a massive Victorian Fair celebrating the Jubilee. We got an ice lolly and wandered through the crowds dressed very differently from everyone else and even got our photo taken with a guy wearing a 'running sucks' t shirt.
Brockham put a massive smile on all our faces as we ran on towards Dorking. Even as we ran up towards Deepdene Terrace we could still hear the live bands from Brockham.
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| Us posing with the 'Running Sucks' t Shirt guy on the Greensand Way at Brockham |
We had a break and enjoyed the all round views from the top of Deepdene Terrace.
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| Posing for a photo at Deepdene Terrace |
As we descended into Dorking town centre we came across a bench overlooking a view and with the help of a delay timer and a tripod achieved a 4 way 'smack' (smile with your back). We doubt this will ever be beaten. For me this picture sums up our whole experience with the Greensand Way. It has everything.
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| a 4 way 'smack' on the Greensand Way near Dorking. |
We ran steadily over the Nower and past the temple at the top. Down the other side and through Westcott. As we got near Westcott Heath we turned north off the Greensand Way and walked to the Wooton Hatch Pub where we planned to eat that evening.
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| The Wooton Hatch pub on the Greensand Way |
As very nicely dressed people smelling of roses and rainbows dined elegantly around us we sat in the corner having a 'pompey shower' (spraying ourselves and stuff with deodorant) and washed ourselves in the toilet. We had a pizza each and fought the nausea again and had a good hour or two enjoying just sitting while the phones recharged and the sun went down.
We made a decision to start an hour earlier than planned without telling anyone the next morning to make our run easier given it was the last day. The extra hour would give us more time to rest. We were in high spirits when we packed up to leave the pub and go set up camp near the Tillingbourne Waterfall.....and then as we looked outside .....It was hammering down with rain.....absolutely monsoon raining.
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| Dan with waterproof headgear leaving the Wooton Hatch Pub on the Greensand Way |
We trudged in the wet and dark for about 15 minutes. We got soaked through . What I tought was thunder in the distance was actually jubilee fireworks. We set up our tents in the dark in the rain as quickly as we could and dived into the tents totally soaked. Claire and I pitched our tent in exactly the same spot we had done when we did the Surrey training weekend.
Once inside everything was wet, the bags, our clothes ...everything. We changed into some drier gear to sleep in and settled down to sleep despite the load noise of the rain falling. At one stage in the night the rain was so bad I thought about calling for help and maybe going home for the night. I kept waking Claire up to ask if this amount of water was ok? in her guiding experience would we be ok? she told me to shut up and man up.
Just like the last time I slept in that spot I got about 30 minutes sleep that night. It was going to be a tired and damp start to our last day of running.
