Berwickshire Coastal Path
Route
The original plan was to run both the Northumberland and Berwickshire coastal path over 3 days but I had finally succumbed to an overuse injury after 3 months of trying to increase my running volume. So, after resting my legs for 10 days I decided to give the Berwickshire coastal path a go but bring all my gear in case everything went smoothly and I felt like adding a few days on.
The route starts at Cockburnspath and runs south to Berwick-upon-Tweed, covering 48km and 1060 m of elevation gain.
Kit
There were minor changes since my Cheviot Goat recce. I used Mountain King carbon running poles as a replacement for the tent poles that could also help support my injured knee.
Sleeping
- Tent – Z packs duplex
- Sleeping bag – OMM Mountain Raid 160 XL
- Mat – thermarest neoair uberlite
- Sea to summit ultra light pillow
Food and drink
- Salomon XA filter flask x2
- Tailwind powder – 700g
- Wayfarer camping meals x2
Clothes
- Montane minimus jacket
- Salomon running gloves
- New balance running hoody
- Mountain equipment down jacket
- Buff, leggings, microfibre towel
- Arcteryx thermal beanie
Other
- 20,000 mAh battery bank
- Fenix hm65r-t head torch
- Ultimate direction 25l fastpack
- Hoka Challenger ATR trainer
- Kindle
- Flip flops
- Harvey maps – Northumberland and Berwickshire coastal path
Day 1
Planned distance 33km
Actual distance travelled 38km
With a 0900 start we didn’t have much time in the bank if we wanted to avoid running in the dark. We sped through the day with only 1 stop in Castleton for a much needed refuel.
Arriving in Edale at 1530 and settling right next to the fire in the pub by the campsite. After a burger and chips we tucked in for the night, hoping for a long refreshing sleep.
Day 2
Distance 21km
Although comfy and warm in our sleeping bags, we just couldn’t get to sleep. We decided that if we were both still up at 02oo then we would just run the second leg back to Low Bradfield in the dark.
Neither of us had done such a long night run before, and we both quite enjoyed it, despite the lack of views. We made it back to the car at about 0800 after a little nap on the side of the trail.
Lessons learnt
- Running with poles
- Helpful for my injured knee and also for conserving energy on the uphill efforts
- There was no decent mechanism for my poles to fit onto the UD backpacks
- I will look into attaching a Legolas-style holster in the future
- Overtraining
- Increased volume + running with friends (faster than I should) likely led to my injuries