13th – 16th June 2009
Fifteen club members set off for Anglesey on 13th June to undertake another challenge. Having completed John O’Groats to Lands End (1994), Coast to Coast (1996), Sea to Source (2003 and the Isle of Wight 2005, another memorable event full of the unexpected and drama, 125 miles !! this should have been a doddle.
Day one started with the whole group running together for the first two miles, not without incident, two runners ran into a bog and came out covered in black sludge.
18/04/09
Planning:- Spent evening at Peter & Kay’s organising the route, Teams and individual Sections for people to run.(Jack Nisbet)
19/04/09
We may have started on 18th, but it was the 19th by the time we finished (12:35am). (Peter Furness)
I supplied the refreshments. played with the kittens with the string used for measuring the mileage. (Kay)
3/06/09
We’re off! Made good time on the Journey so far (thank you drivers)
The sun is shining & I’ve just enjoyed some pre-run chocolate – lovely! (Michelle).
We stopped at Keele for lunch. Jacqui was very happy for the convenience stop. A bunch of Nuns were at the service station, decided they must be on a hen trip.
We arrived at the Campsite at 2pm, ahead of schedule. Set up the beds & helped put up the tent. Began the run with a photo call and headed off on a beautiful sunny afternoon, Very countryside. We all ran the 2 miles and Mick went on to do another 5 miles, to be followed by Peter & then Jack. The rest of us came back for a swim & a shower, after getting the beer. (Kay)
Good journey to Keele service station what a relief, although they kept asking if I can hang on for 14 miles and then they said are you ok for another 11.. Quick bite to eat and stretch of legs then off again. Made good time. Site looks good mice and clean, caravans are lovely. Tent pitch has a playground (tomorrow’s entertainment after our run) Enjoyed the first two miles, I liked the beach and woody areas. Scenery around us is beautiful. (Jacqui)
13/06/09
Ran the first le Ran the first leg alone, the scenery was beautiful but the course was not flat!
Started off along the beach and followed the path which led onto the sea wall. Plenty of duckboards, just like the boardwalk in Stockly Park!! Scrambled up the cliff path and crossed sand plies and gates. Had to go through some nettles but didn’t get stung. Went into one field and had to almost stop as the cattle were at the top of the field. Bit of a scramble to get up to meet Jack & Peter, but overall, happy to have finished the leg. Averaged 12 min miles as course not flat but it is well sign posted. I had to throw away my socks, as were ruined, when I went into the bog. Passed over the map, and stone successfully to Peter. Tomorrow is going to be another day. (Mick)
13/06/09
Ran the second leg, scenery was brilliant but the terrain was difficult. Ran down to the point and then back past a scenic ???????, before a taking run across a beach. I was beginning to think I went wrong and was relieved when I heard Mick shouting at me. It had taken me 1 hour 16 mins to run 5 miles. When we here driving back we were stopped by the police, and as I had released my seat belt to get the info out of the glove compartment, I narrowly avoided a fine. The fish andchips and beer tasted really good when we got back. (Peter)
13/06/09
Third leg. Tired, an enjoyable run – the first half was over the stones on the beach, the second half was up a 1 in 3 hill, past a golf course, although it was a very hard 5 miles that took 1hour 10mins the Scenery was fantastic. I ran past Beaumaris Castle.
On the way back to the camp we got stopped by the police who were doing a drink driving check, they tried to do Peter for not wearing his seat belt, but a little chat with the police sergeant managed to get Peter off. Just for the record Peter was wearing his belt the police were in the wrong. (Jack)
Ordered fish n chips & got some beer, (£70) for the meal. The 3 runners joined us in the caravan, it was a full house. (Kay)
14/06/09
It was another sunny day. Smoke alarm went off a couple of times with the toast. Heard Jack & Mick leave for the first run of the day at 7am.
Parked up to meet jack, he had only been there 4 mins. Off Mick, while we moved to Pen lon for the change over. Meanwhile the shift not running said they had bought more beer. Moved on to the Bird Reserve car park to wait for Jack. A couple of us went to find a bush to go behind. (Kay)
14/06/09
Did the second of the day and ran from Caer Porth and Nature Reserve to Newborough. The first part was down to the beach and along coming off at Llan????. Then through some fields which was muddy underneath until back on the beach at Barras, which again was tricky due to the sand & stones. Came off and ran through some more fields at Bron Moria, I was chased by a little Jack Russell that took some umbrage that I was walking through his mates garden. I then had to run down an overgrown path covering my mouth to avoid the flies. Finally got down to the river and jumped over the stepping stones. (Sorry unable to decipher the next bit) It was a great run and very challenging. Fantastic scenery!! (Mick)
14/06/09
I must say I think we had fairly easy today. The route was good, apart from walking around the first field to find the right way out (must’ve added an extra half mile). Oh, and waving like crazy at complete strangers when we thought we saw the car & minibus waiting for us. Fabulous scenery – some great photo opportunities. (Michelle)
14/06/09
Here goes second leg, pulled awy rather quickly, ran out of breath far too soon. I recovered enough to follow the perimeter of our first field to find exit. Had a go at picking up hedge but found it too heavy so I left it. Good run, cows were a bit worrying but we made it through another field. Lovely views, and beaches around. Handed over to Peter on the beach. Lunch was very welcome. (Jacqui & Michelle)
14/06/09
Picked up from Jacqui & Michelle, went past Anglesey Motor Racing Circuit, peeked through the fence and saw the cars racing. A lot of the run was through dunes. Views on the cliff tops were spectacular. It finished with a mile and half along a sandy beach. (Peter)
14/06/09
I was unhandcuffed from the steering wheel to do my run of approximately 8 miles. The first half was across fields and up & down little hills. This meant the going was quite slow, but when I got to the road after about 4 miles, the instructions said “catch the 61 bus” , I picked up the pace , and got to the change over point a few minutes after the mini bus. (Brian)
15/06/09 Section 18/19 Amlwch Port – Moelfre
First section was through fields and over a number of stiles, found the course well signposted , became quite reliant on the sign posts for our directions, which became our first pitfall, a supposedly ladder stile became a kissing gate, which put us on the wrong track, until we realised the gate was new with no “Coastal Path” sign on it. The rest of the run was plain sailing, involving beaches, gravel paths and more fields. We enjoyed the run very much. (Paul & Bill)
15/06/09
We took over to complete the three miles that should have been covered by Peter, who was concerned about the daylight. The usual kissing gates etc were navigated, but confusion appeared going onto private land. With the assistance of the mobile phones we arrived at the change over at a reasonable time. A decision was made to try and achieve some of the next stage to ease the problem for the next day. It took two hours plus to complete two miles and therefore we decided to call it a day. It was getting dark and we were having difficulty getting a signal on our mobiles, it was a relief to finally see the support group on the next mountain.. The stage got tougher and dangerous, which made it a good decision. It was tough but enjoyable. (Tony, Maggie & Paul)
Glad to have found our ‘lost sheep’ and Bill raced us back to camp for a lovely meal prepared by the folks in the adjacent caravan. It was late but Jack and Peter planned the schedule for the next day and reported that we could rest while they, with Brian & Mick would go out early to make up the mileage. (Kay)
15/06/09
Woke up at 5.30am. The afternoon shift had not got back to camp until 10.30pm I was on my 3rd can of beer at 11.45pm when I was told I was first runner the next morning! We started running at 7.00am and had to go ¾ mile to get to the trail. The first mile was very steep and difficult. It was proper hiking terrain not suitable for running. After that it was hard but mostly run ably. The last ½ mile was over a pebble and shingle causeway that was hard to run over. The shingle beach was very difficult and hardest running that I had done to date. The views running along the cliff tops were spectacular. There was a farmer rounding up sheep at ????? and he put his ?? in the basket on his quad bike !! The power station was very impressive from the distance, like the previous 2 days so many memories from the run. (Brian & Mick)
15/06/09
Waited in the Cove for Mick & Brian to return, we were pleased that the shale beach was the end of our route, not the start. Went slightly wrong around the Power station, rest of the run really challenging. When we dropped down into Cemaes it was a nice little harbour and on the otherside there were great views around the headland the last couple of hills were huge, we look pictures of the climb so everyone could see. We came round the last headland and saw the group waving at us. (Peter & Jack)
Parked up and got some petrol (£69.00). We waited for Jack and Peter to arrive at Porthwen Bay. Beautiful day for the two miles with Bella and Mick. Saw several other coastal walkers. Varied terrain, soft velvet grass, steps, rocks, through a field of cows, jumped the cow pats, quite sheer in places at the cliff edge. Finally, we skirted along a walled path to the Bull Bay, where the bus was parked. (Kay, Bella & Mick)
Took over from Kay, Bella & Mick, once again at the beach. Went with Tony & Maggie, Good start but that was it. Terrain was very up and down, loose slate and narrow paths. Instructions were good didn’t get lost. Slight blip at end as signpost weren’t clear. Final steep hill was the finish for us and the end of our 5 miles. Where was the White House? Couldn’t see it for miles. Handed over to Bill & Paul made way to the next stop, wonderful found a Pub, welcome cup of tea. Views again breathtaking.
Enjoyed the above, nothing untoward went wrong, still took longer than than we thought. But still enjoyed the task. ( Jacqui, Tony & Maggie)
15/06/09 Section 12/13 Holyhead – Porth Trwyn (Llanfaethlu)
Set off up the hill which `was quite steep missed the first sign post and continued up the hill, covered a good half mile by the time we realised we were off track. Probably one of the best routes of the event. Only one problem, we kept coming across this Rambler who was doing the same course as us, he kept getting in front of us, so we told him that if he came across a van full of runners, to tell them we are on our way. Finally got to the hand over place, and would you believe there was the Pub. ( Paul & Bill)
15/06/09
Our beautiful sunny break almost turned into a wet weekend in Wales. As we waited for Paul & Bill, the heavens opened up, Everone who had already run took shelter in the Pub, where our handover point was, the beer looked lovely! (Tom & Tony sampled a few pints, just to check it was ok!)
We were lucky though, it dried up as we set off across the first field. The grass was wet but at least the rain had stopped. Another fairly easy route for me, I think I was lucky there too! We made good time, even stopped for few photos, then couldn’t find the van or Peter & Jack at the changeover point. Found them in the end – I set off with them for the next leg. (Michelle)
15/06/09
Although the rain wasn’t too bad there were a lot of steps, some of which were made of stone and were quite slippery because of the rain. We ran on two beaches, then the top of two cliffs. Near the end an RAF jet went overhead, and circled around us twice. It was almost like our own flypast. As soon as we finished, everyone got into the minibus and Bills said “Hurry up and get in the front your Map reading” I had to insist I got a sandwick before we left, or I wouldn’t have got one. (Brian)
15/06/09
(Michelle decided to join Jack & Peter) The boys were tired so I managed to keep up with them for our mile and half. A few slippery bits, but overall quite easy again – until we got to the beach where we were meeting everyone else, the tide was in so we wouldn’t get across the beach. (Michelle)
A very enjoyable run with a fast Michelle & Peter, the one & half miles went very fast and we arrived at the beach just before the minibus arrived for the final 2 miles. (Jack)
The last two miles:- We started off up some wooden steps into a rain forrest, then we followed a very narrow path over the hills – running in a long line (or walking). It was a very nice sight seeing Tom , Joan & Dot at the finish line although a bit sad that it was all over. Bill and I finished off the run with a swim in the Sea. (Jack)
I was one of those leading the final leg. I almost led everyone into stream flowing into the sea. Climbed off the rocks, back onto the seawall & around to the road. We decided to all run the final yards together and lined up for a final photo call. (Kay)
Apart from getting my foot and leg covered in black slimy mud on the first two mile run I really enjoyed the whole 4 days. I would like to thank everybody who organised it and also everyone who took part for their companionship. (Bill)
16/06/09
Tuesday morning the campsite had no water supply. The lady at reception told me the water had been turned off for works maintenance. Some of us helped put the tent away, and some lounged in the caravans. A policeman walked into the camp site and one of us commented that he had come looking for Peter. (That’s another story) (Kay)
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