South West Coast Path Part 5 21-28 September 2012

Cheryl, her sister Ros and I shared a lovely cottage near Bodmin. It was just what we wanted, in the middle of nowhere and it had two baths and a shower!
We ate very well (mainly vegetarian, which I enjoyed but I did eat beef, pork then lamb on the first three days back home!) and drank very well - no one of us dared count the bottles.
The forecast for the week was very bad and initially I thought we were going to be the worst hit part of the country, but not so! There were two days when we did not get outside much but one of those we were at the Eden Project and thus for a couple of hours in the tropics. I think the concept of the Eden Project is from a genius and the whole idea quite inspirational. I hope I can get to go again soon. I bought the DVD and the book!

Cheryl and I managed about 40 miles along the South West Coast Path with a lot of help from Ros, taking us to a start point or fetching us back. We covered Plymouth to Looe and Fowey to Megavissey in 5 outings so there is a bit in between to be walked later to complete that section. Always it was wet underfoot and on a couple of days we were putting rain gear on, then off, several times. So the going was a bit tougher than ideal and the stretch from Fowey to Charlestown, labelled as strenous, was indeed strenuous. Hence the delight at two baths back in the cottage.

Overall we have a mere 450 miles of the SWCP to finish and get our names in the book!

We got to look at a couple of  properties, Mount Edgcumb and Landhydrock, which is National Trust. There is a lot to explore in Cornwall.

On the way to the cottage, Cheryl and I spent a couple of nights with my very oldest friends (we have known each other since the age of 11 years!) and so that is always a pleasure as we relax together and eat and drink (they do the best G&T I have ever tasted) and talk endlessly.  We had a great meal in, a great meal out at the Elizabethan and an excellent lunch at the local vineyard. We can't wait to visit again!

The Great North Run 16 September 2012

The Great North run is a half-marathon,13.1 miles. I walked (I cannot run, not even for a bus let alone 13.1 miles). It took me 3h 36min and I came 39,652nd and I am very pleased. There were about 15,000 people behind me and the elite athletes who run it in about an hour had completed 9 miles before I reached the starting line. We all have a chip attached to our shoe so that we get an exact time and there are check points to make sure you follow the course and don't take any short cuts!
I am very lucky to have wonderful friends in Tony and Lesley who put me up and look after me and we all walked from their house to the back of the 55,000 who were taking part. Lesley was running and despite a bad knee beat me by 30 minutes and her friend Laura kept with her all the way.
The atmosphere is amazing with crowds all the way, even when I was passing, many hours after the true athletes taking part had run by. Since your name is on your T shirt the spectators can call out to you as you pass and that is very encouraging.
I did overtake the man who was walking the whole way backwards but only glimpsed the fridge on the back of the man carrying it for the whole route.

So a wonderful event and I am so pleased to have taken part. The hardest part was standing in the queue for the metro to get back to Newcastle - it took longer than walking!