9/12 – New Forest

We had decided to take a week’s holiday in September so it was the perfect opportunity for the September run. We have been aiming for a coastal path run all year but once again just could not find accommodation – it seems 2021 is the year of the “staycation”. Fairly soon we ended up at … Read more

Dan’s Beer Run – 2021

The Idea Hell of a thing this. Where to start? Last year I was introduced to the idea of a beer run when Simon staged his looping run. This was 5x 10k laps where each lap comprised two 5k loops where you drink a beer at the start of each loop + at the end … Read more

8/12 – Thames Path loop from Kingston to Richmond

The diary seemed to be pretty stacked in August so we decided to keep it local and simple. I’ve had a few outings on the Thames path and was keen to go with Cally at some point – this was the ideal opportunity. Hampton Court makes for a good start/finish with parking at the station … Read more

Dan’s Beer Run Recce

  With the Dan’s Beer Run on the  18th of September looming large I’ve felt like I’ve needed to up my mileage to meet the challenge. The 50km course has been somewhat in flux with Dan & I tweaking various sections until it seemed like the route was in its final form. “Tweaking” generally went … Read more

7/12 The Marlborough Loop

Marlborough When planning, we aimed for the coast after a spell of good weather hoping we might find something in the South West. No luck, everything was booked up so we just kept zooming out of the map until we found somewhere with availability. This turned out to be Marlborough. It’s a beautiful and very … Read more

Farnborough Half

This one just sort of popped into the calendar. A month or two back Tom mentioned he was running this. I asked Cally if she was keen and received a non-negative response so I jumped on it and signed us up. While we gave done several runs together at half marathon distance or more, Cally … Read more

The North Downs Way Marathon

A surprise entry Three weeks before the race I received a “Dear runners” email. Wait what!? I’d forgotten that entries from last year’s cancelled race were automatically forwarded to this year and had put it completely out of mind. In 2020 I’d run this solo for my 12in12 July run. It is about as local … Read more

6/12 – Pangbourne and Goring

Pangbourne Jackpot! It’s always a bit speculative to go somewhere for the first time and just plot a route using OS maps. In truth the UK countryside is generally brilliant but sometimes it just works out better than others. Pangbourne turned out to be just beautiful. The choice to go to Pangbourne was pretty random. … Read more

Cheltenham Hills

It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to run in Cheltenham. With friends there, we make the trip several times a year (pre-COVID) and I just love to get out into the Cotswolds early in the morning and take in the local beauty. The trails are a great mix of fields, forests and … Read more

5/12 – London to Brighton (2nd half) 50k

Sometimes you just have to go for it. Sometimes the challenge is just bigger than anything you’ve done before and you don’t know if you’re ready for it. This is how it was for Cally. This was also our first ‘proper’ instalment of our annual adventures challenge thanks to COVID lockdown easing. The event was … Read more