Brighton marathon

They say that runners run because they like running, but joggers jog because they like cake.  I jog.  I’ve latched on to this irresistible route along the sea front and cliffs.  It forms part of the Brighton Marathon circuit.  If I do from the house (on Marine Parade), past the Marina and Roedean School to Ovingdean Gap, and back along the Undercliff beach-side walk, it’s seven kilometres.  If I manage it for six days it’s a marathon distance.  I succumb to such challenges.  Without checking my diary, I think this is my third visit where I’ve aimed for the target.  However, calculating the metrics is somewhat easier than delivering the effort.

The choice - upper or lower paths

You must try the bacon sandwiches and coffee at the Cafe

There are drawbacks.  To make sense of a visit to Brighton with friends and enjoy getting around a bit, I have to get on with the run early in the morning.  That’s allowing for stretch exercises, and – well, fortunately there are public toilets at Ovingdean.  Heading home, the early sun flatters the Marina's white buildings (though my daughter Lizzie compared it to 'just a tiny bit of Dubai').  And if I want to cut out a couple of kilometres, there’s no way down from the cliff top to beach level once I’m outbound past the Marina.  But these are small considerations.  I used to run out to the White Horse in Rottingdean, taking the total distance to nearer ten kilometres.  These days, I’d struggle with several successive days of that.  I can remember how – even a couple of years ago - my legs ached afterwards, climbing the stairs to our bedroom at the top of the house.

Undercliff Walk and Marina West Harbour

Someone (I suspect my daughter Kat) suggested I should download the Strava smart-phone app.  Here you get GPS tracking of your route, and speed comparisons and suggested link-ups with fellow-devotees.  Sadly, I’m only linked with one other person, Jamie, who also shares SARRG and Hallam Active membership.  He sees me in the gym and contends, “You haven’t been out doing much lately, Ian.”  Truth is, I don’t take my phone.  It flaps around insanely if I stick it in my running shorts pocket, and it would get wet if I strapped it to my upper arm.  So why do I bother?  Indeed.  Well, when Strava linked up with Google Earth to publish the most popular routes (globally), they turned out to be logged on military bases whose locations had been intended to be a closely guarded secret.  A bit of subversion has its appeal.  

I have a few rules: wear hi-vis, take water, and heed Mary’s advice not to overdo it.  This week has been pretty hot, with temperatures already in the 20Cs by eight or nine in the morning.  But here we are, I’m gratified to say, my sixth day, and the target’s reached.  Legs not aching too badly.  Respect to those who do the distance in one go.