Northern Exposure.: Atlantic Coast Challenge 2011

30th September - 2nd October 2011.

A Marathon a day for 3 days along the 'South West Coast Path' from Padstow to Lands End. Taking in the beautiful yet rugged North West Atlantic Coast of Cornwall.

Event Organisers:
www.votwo.co.uk

DAY TWO

New Day, New Man.

After a good nights sleep, a good breakfast (Porridge with Honey for carbohydrates, Two Bacon butties for protein and 3 cups of Italian Coffee to jump-start the old engine) the day dawned bright and sunny and with renewed vigour and enthusiasm I set off for the Day Two challenge.Today's start was back at yesterday's finish, so after race briefing it was back on the mini-buses to Perranporth.

Today's transport catered for three group options:

Group 1: Walkers & Slow Joggers departing 7:45am
Group 2: Joggers & Slow Runners departing 8:55am
Group 3: Runners departing 10:05am

Confident I could make the cut-off times for the checkpoints and to get in a group with the fewest participants, I opted for the last group. (it also to allowed more time for coffee).

This is today's start above Perran Beach. Looking back at yesterdays run-in.

I remembered from previous years that the first half of Day Two was tough with some severe ascents & descents, but in the second half the route improved with good running along the cliff tops. With the temperature already at 23C I was beginning to wonder if an earlier start would have been more sensible. So with a small group of runners I 'dibbed-in' and off we set up the first hill and onto the cliffs.

On the first climb out of Perranporth

The first few miles out of Perranporth we passed through several disused mines and quarries the spoil from these gave an almost lunar like quality to the landscape.

Lunar Landscape

On the fields above is Perranporth Airfield which during World War II was an RAF base used by 21 different squadrons, all of which flew Spitfires. It must have been inpressive to see and hear them taking-off.

Trevellas Porth

The beach of Trevellas Porth is situated in front of old mine workings and the surrounding hills are known as the Blue Hills due to the blueish slate found there. Tin ore that has been mined by the sea and made clean by the pounding of the waves is still gathered by the shoreline for the manufacture of jewellery. The early tin industry would have been based on these alluvial deposits washed out by streams or the sea, but as tin on the surface became scarce underground mining would have developed.

Trevaunance Cove soon comes into view and I am surprised that I have arrived at the location of the first checkpoint as it's just forty minutes since I set off.

Checkpoint One is located in the village, marked by the blue USN flag and opposite The Driftwood Spars pub, it's name is derived from the huge timber beams (spars) that are said to have come from ships wrecked along the coast. Unfortunately today there is no time to admire its construction over a pint.

Leaving Checkpoint 1 behind and climbing back up on the cliffs I know that it is the next stretch between CP1 and CP2 that is going to be tough on the legs.

The scenery becomes dramatic again as we head along the cliffs to possibly the most picturesque location for a tin mine in Cornwall. Towanroath Pumping Engine House of the Wheal Coates Copper and Tin Mine was constructed in 1872 to pump water from the 600 foot deep Towanroath Shaft . The shaft is still visible just to the east of the engine house with the main workings lying just below the low water mark.

Runners descend along the dramatic coastline towards Towanroath Engine House

Arriving Chapel Porth

Departing Chapel Porth

Sally's Bottom

Spent all day keeping an eye open for Sally's Bottom and I eventually got to see it! It is a cove known as Sally's Bottom, apparently 'bottom' is a term commonly used in mining.

A view back along the coast path showing just how tough the going was getting with multiple steep descents into coves and killer climbs back up.

Gooden Heane & Horse Rock

The day is starting to get really warm, the ups & downs are starting to take their toll but I know that beyond Horse Rock is CP2 at Portreath Beach and its morale boosting to be able to tick off the checkpoints.

Dropping into Portreath there is a small harbour that was once very busy importing coal from Wales for the mines and exporting the copper ore back to Wales for smelting. Remains of a loading ramp and horse drawn tramway can still be seen. The entrance in and out of the harbour was quite hazardous especially for shipping laden with coal or ore and it is these conditions that now make the harbour wall a favorite with surfers when a combination of high tide and big swells create a vortex.

Portreath Beach, Western Hill and Gull Rock - View From Checkpoint Two

I stop at CP2 and its a bit chaotic as I have just caught a group of runners from the second start who have just caught up with a group of walkers from the first start and we have all descended on CP2 within a couple of minutes of each other. CP2 is supposed to be on the corner of a public car park overlooking the beach but apparently the owners of a cafe there have objected to them giving food & drink out to the runners as they feel they may lose out on business! So the checkpoint has had to be squashed on to the boundary of the car park were the cafe has no jurisdiction, so volunteers who are tight for space and outnumbered by runners are overwhelmed dishing out food and drink.

Taking a drink and looking at the view out across the beach I think that maybe next year helping to man this checkpoint might be a better idea than running the 42 miles to get here!

Portreath Beach (Photo courtesy of votwo)

All fuelled up and raring to go I set of across the beach following some runners towards the climb for Western Hill.

Western Hill

The top of Western Hill revealed yet more dramatic cliffs & sea views and we were coming to the end of the tough climbs before the running starts to improve, but not yet! In Cornwall what goes DOWN must go UP and there were at least two more coves to descend down to and of course the climbs back up.

The 'undulations' of the South West Coast Path

From here on the running levels out, and I make my way along the Carvannel Downs, Reskajeage Downs & North Cliffs. (Down South they call uplands Downs! - Up North, the Downs are Down & the Ups are Up, simple!).

Below the cliffs there is a collapsed sea cave known as Ralphs Cupboard, where legend states that it was home to the fearsome Giant Wrath, who lay in wait for passing ships and attacked them for their treasure and crew. Wrath would then return to his 'cupboard' to store his bounty and devour the sailors for his meal. Seafarers began to avoid this area, but Wrath still attacked and destroyed the ships by hurling huge boulders at them.

At North cliff there is another story of a man who threw himself off the cliffs after he found his home burned to the ground and his sister missing, his screams supposedly bounce off the steep cliff sides as stormy weather approaches.

As I study the map I notice along this stretch that there are two 'Deadman's Coves' & a 'Hells Mouth', with legends and names like these, I'm glad to be a landlubber with both feet on dryland.

The path to Godrevy Lighthouse

Its getting hot on the downs and I am being tormented by a plague of small flying somethings, I have to breathe through my teeth as I run in order to stop swallowing them, this is England in October for goodness sake it should be cold and with no insects! It's 6 or 7 miles of the heat and the flying-things to CP3, and it's along another down, 'Hudder Down'. This stretch is popular for whale & seal watching but I have got my eyes peeled looking out for Godrevy Lighthouse which is CP3.

Godrevy Lighthouse was built on an island in 1859 to protect shipping from a dangerous reef called The Stones. Originally the light was manned by three men but in 1934 the lighthouse was automated and now it is solar powered and controlled by Trinity House. The range of the light is 12 miles and it flashes white/red every 10 seconds, the red sector however is only visible to shipping close to the reef. Trinity House, a charitable organisation, is the General Lighthouse Authority for the safety of shipping. The well being of seafarers has been its prime concern since it was granted a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1514.

Godrevy Lighthouse

Checkpoint 3

On arrival at CP3 I catch up with two guys, John & Henry, that I seem to have been playing cat & mouse with , or is it tortoise and the hare, all day.

After CP3 you have to navigate inland for a mile which is a bit tricky and then back to the coast again where there are three miles of golden sandy beach and hundreds of acres of open sand dunes. The choice then is to either tackle the dunes or if the tide is out run along the beach so John & Henry agree to team-up with me and run the final 6 miles together. We are all feeling fatigued and it's hot so a bit of camaraderie & moral support is welcome, so off we set! We succesfully negotiate the tricky bits and cut through the dunes and on to the beach.

John & Henry on the Beach

On the beach we exchange cameras and get some photos of each other, they explain that they are training for next years Marathon des Sables in April.

The 'Marathon of the Sands' is one of the most gruelling sporting events in the world, a six-day 155-mile ultramarathon, the longest stage being over 50 miles across the Sahara desert in southern Morocco in temperatures of up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not sure if this event even qualifies as a training run for these guys. However, with envy, I wish them the best of luck! Photo-shoot completed and with more drink on-board we set off running again with me in the lead setting the pace & breaking the trail and confident that these guys are right on my heels. After a while I realise that the conversation has stopped and they are not behind me, on turning round I discover hat they have stopped to chat-up a couple of surfer-girls and they are impressing them with their tales of adventure and coming endeavours. It's this well-balanced approach and commitment to ultramarathons that makes me realise that they will probably be successful.

It's a long hot run along the beach with soft wet sand in places that tugs on your running shoes but then it's just round the headland and 2-3 miles through the town of Hayle to St.Ives Holiday Park and the finish. With just such a short distance to go trouble strikes and I get stomach cramps, I have to slow right down to a jog and now I am surviving to get to the end. John & Henry do the honourable thing and help pace and encourage me to the finish. Fortunately we do not lose any places and finish just outside of 5 hours. Despite the fact that it is my fault I take great delight in heckling them that if they had not have stopped to talk to half of the girls on the beach we probably would have done a sub 5 hour leg and finished inside the top ten. We finish 11th, 12th and 13th shake hands and agree to swap email addresses and hook-up together tomorrow for the last day.

The sweat stains on the shorts give some indication of the heat of the day and the rucksack rash on the hips is the result of two days of toil.

For those too tired to cook after a hard days running Votwo put on a great spread all prepared by a professional chef who's instruction is simple. "Plenty of Good Quality Food with Seconds".

The menu reads:

Breakfast: Bacon, Egg, Potato Frittata, Cerals, Bread, Jam, Honey, Filter Coffee & Orange Juice.

Thursday Night: Lasagne alla Bolognese - Roast Veg. & Brie Lasagna - Salad - Garlic Bread.

Friday Night: Bolognese Sauce & Pasta Bake - Chicken & Pea Risotto - Jam Sponge & Custard.

Saturday: BBQ (see blackboard below).

Sunday: Lamb, Chicken or Veg. Curry, Basmati Rice, Nan Bread & Chutney.

Skinners Brewery supply free beer and there is an 'honesty box' to cover the cost of any wine consumed.

(Next year I'm just doing the food, forget the run)

Votwo Catering - not to be missed!

As described in my 'Day 1' Blog there are 3 aids to recovery the first two are the 'hot shower' and 'cold water paddle' but probably the most effective and most painful is The Massage: