Clifton suspension bridge to Severn River suspension bridge & back - 28 miles

My first trail marathon was completely made up by myself and consisted of one athlete (myself). I named it The Great Lawrence Weston Council Estate Marathon, in honour the housing estate through which it passed, although the majority of it meandered along the River avon - Bristol. It was a completely spontanoeous act born out of sheer fury one cold and sleepless morning during Christmas 2007. I admit I have occassional sleeping problems since shelving the chemical sledgehammer as a nightcap option. I have found that ovaltine does not work - extreme physical exhaustion sometimes does. The furthest I had ever run previously was 17 miles around Hampstead Heath, a feat which left me shivering from only the waist down, a most disconcerting effect which I dubbed "cold legs", only later did I discover that this is what they meant by "hitting the wall".

I got up at 6am disgusted through lack of sleep and deliberately ran along the river Avon downstream for 14 miles knowing that I would then be forced to return and thus complete 28 miles, smashing the impregnable barrier of the 26.2 mile marathon in my mind. Whether this was an act of penance, self-flagellation or more akin to actual self -harm is still beyond me but I do know that it had a powerful cathartic effect. I did it in 4 hours 10 mins. which was not bad although clearly I am not going to become a world leader in this sport.

It was a curious trail, very urban and beat up, and like me it wandered on a dejected odyssey through industrial zones and housing estates, which were particularly uninspiring when viewed through the watery peel of sleeplessness.

The Healing Power of the Trail

This blog is about my lone trail running adventures across Britain. I am seven years into a drug and alcohol free lifestyle and I find running into these empty places helps me a lot. My mind gets focused in a way that I've always found difficult to achieve with eastern meditation and stuff like that. Horses for courses I guess.I've always had a lot of energy which has got me into trouble at times, both whilst drinking and since becoming sober. Traditional competitive sports and martial arts were a bit dodgy for me because advesarial encounters tended to make me negative, so I struck on this as a really positive and peaceful way to channel my energy.Whilst running on trails you get to be alone in nature, often surrounded by spectres of our ancient past. Self reliance is developed and yet the smallness of individuality is also shockingly realised during extreme fatigue, hunger, loneliness, and the possibility of getting lost in the hills (all features of trail running). This can lead to a "handing over " or even the total destruction of more egotistical goals such as winning, as you struggle to just finish the course. Besides there is no-one to race against, and eventually you even stop racing yourself or trying to prove anything. People who haved battled addictions will know this feeling. It's like a giving in, but really it's just the less meaningful parts of our persona eroding away, to make way for the real integral person to step forward.

Often after a particularly long run I feel quite humble. I feel more compassionate to others as my own mediocrity has been revealed.I suppose you could say that people who have suffered with drug & alcohol problems are adrenalin junkies, so why not incorporate that into our recovery. It's true that a sense of peace is paramount to succesful recovery, but you can't just kill off parts of your personality. One thing which really seems to plague people in long term recovery is boredom, and this for me is the antidote. I'm sure there are other outdoor sports which pump the adrenalin but also calm you and develop you mentally at the same time. These I would suggest are: rockclimbing, surfing, skiing, horse riding, canoeing etc.. I just picked long distance trail running because its cheap and accessible, and I get bored walking! England is a beautiful country really if you get into it. That's probably not a very fashionable thing to say in this age of backpacking but I could spend my whole life exploring it and still not be done. Besides there's the North and Wales to explore yet but I'll have to get my innoculations done first!

But you don't have to go to the North of England or European mountain ranges to get wilderness or peacefulness. There are many areas in the south like Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Mendips, the North & South Downs, the New Forest, the Chilterns and the North Wessex Downs and many national trails like the Cotswolds Way, the Thames Path, the Ridgeway and the Atlantic Coastal Trail. I intend to run as many of these as I can charting my progress on this blog, detailing routes, info & highlights & where possible pictures. Ultimately I would love to try and link some of these routes up using roads or cycleways to make some mega runs if I can.There's no rush though, the whole ethos here is to develop stamina in life and enjoyment of the outdoors. I'm not really into racing and I suspect obsession with fitness is just vanity.I will blog my slow progress over the Ridgeway and then hopefully other national trails. See what happens.