UKC

Hello am looking to run a 26 mile section of the SW coastal path in the next few months and wanted to put it out there to see if anyone was interested in joining.

Sennen to St Ives, about 26 miles. Its a beautiful section and also quite challenging in terms of terrain so perhaps more of a light jog/scramble than run.

Steve

Best of luck!! Fantastic route. Did it a couple of times as roughly (apt!!) the first 25 miles of the Arc50. First time went OK, although it is particularly rough from Pendeen to Zennor.  Second time it broke me. DNF! 

Be ready for practically no horizontal running,  and take loads of food and drink. I think even the cafe in Zennor has gone now, so apart from the Tinners Arms, if open, you are on your own as they say!!

That is indeed a beautiful stretch of coast path. I've walked it. Never attempted to run it though.  Some fantastic climbing along that stretch too.  If your driving down you could easily drop a few bottles of water close to the path.  Otherwise your going to be carrying a lot of water to complete what has to be 4-5 hour run.

Hi, do you have a record of the amount of ascent for that section? I've walked a bit of that section and run some of the coast path in Dorset and Devon. From memory, that Cornwall section was even more undulating than the bits I have run elsewhere... would be very challenging for me!

Thanks what would you recommend for nutrition required for that length of route/terrain? Just bars and gells or anything more meaty - like a sandwich?! I'll have a trail backback so planning on taking food out for the day. Have done the section Mousehole to Sennen not long ago which was great and around 15 miles.

Thanks I live in Cornwall and have had my eye on this as a project for a while, so will driving but not too far - great point re water refil yes. I have a trail backpack for carrying water but agree don't really want to be running with more than 1 ltr. I am thinking there will be a strategic water refil point/tap which I'll need to come off the trail slightly for, perhaps in Pendeen.

Although interested to hear suggestion on volume of water required for 5 hour run / 26 miler? 1 ltr pre run and 2 on the run should be ample?

Not too sure but agree it will definitely be very 'undulating'. I am treating this as more of a long distance scramble and pacing very carefully!

Nah, it's all runnable! Go for it. Would you consider doing it St Ives to Sennen? The Zennor/St Ives part would be a sting in the tail, while Cape Cornwall to Sennen isn't too bad.

Very jealous, I'd be keen if I still lived in St Ives.

For water I'd carry one of those squeeze purifiers so you can fill up in the streams. They're small and light and easy to use. Good luck, tell us how you get on!

Thanks for the intel - are you suggesting the last section Zennor-St Ives is the most challenging terrain? Yep that'd definitely be a sting and something to consider. I don't mind actually, so could flip.

According to an onthegomap it is 1200m of height gain from Lands End to St. Ives.

Thanks for the information - thats a punchy final section!

We started from the Minack stage and I made sure I was stopping to eat regularly,  well I did the first time.  Second time I was unsupported so had plenty of food, just noone to nag me to eat. Wheels came off quite quickly!!

I would avoid gels and go sarnies and cold roast spuds etc. Make sure there's enough salt in it all too. 

Unfortunately even though I have done loads of ultras nutrition is still the bit I struggle with.....except if I can get hold of fish and chips...!!

I will have a look at the strava trace and post the height gain later....it was loads!!

I ran it 2 to 3 times a week out and back for years and you're pretty much either going up or coming down. You could cheat and take the field path from Zennor (stiles for miles) but that would hardly be in the spirit. There are lots of hills and headlands after Zennor but you get some easier stretches as well to break it up, and the bit from Aire point to Sennen is basically flat.

Springtime is a beaut along there, enjoy!

Just seen on another thread that a piece of the Dorset coast path I was referring to as having run along has fallen into the sea!

Hi,

I have run all that, but not in one go. I did the Cape Cornwall to St. Ives stretch (around 18 miles, 3100 ft ascent) with some stellar runners a few years ago and we managed 12 minutes per mile without pushing it (if they had, I'd have been in trouble!).

The bits between Cape Cornwall and Portheras Cove and then after that from there to Bosigran are quite easy, as are the last 3 or 4 miles. The rest is hard going. 

Often, where it is hard, it is not so much the ascent as the boulders in the way that make it so.

I did part of that route with the ‘Man vs Coast’ rat race a few years ago, stunning route, but the things that got me was the route underfoot, it was very twisty turny rabbit tracks strewn with rocks. The hardest part I found was that I couldn’t maintain a pace and you need to keep an eye on the ground for trip hazards, towards the end people were losing concentration and tripping. 
best of luck, it’s a beautiful!

I would definitely love joining you in this marathon. However, I'm a little bit far, and I'm still a little bit afraid of the COVID pandemic.

Do you think this is actually 4-5 hours long? I think it depends on the speed you're applying. You could do it between 3 and 4 hours easily.

I based my initial estimate on the times I knew from the Dartmoor High Ground marathon, That I have run. Together with my knowledge of that section of coast path. That I have walked.  The two have similar profiles.  I have since down loaded the times from the last Rat Run Race.  Based on that data I may have been a little optimistic. Sub 5 hours appears to be a very decent pace that few achieved. However I don't know what conditions were like on the ground for that event.

What do you base your 3-4 hours easy estimate on.  Just curious.

Edit I see you are a cyclist. Perhaps a pair of wheels is your secret weapon.

It's a marathon distance. Most people can't do that on a flat road in 3-4 hours easily!

I did the 32 mile RAT once (all along the Roseland, along the Cornwall south coast) in a shade under 6 hours and came 20th out of 100+ runners. That is much easier under foot than what the OP wants to do.

Well said! really looking forward to the Black Rat again this year although my time will be a bit slower than yours!

Mr Junki, take a look at the Arc 50 results.  Winning times 8 to 9 hours and OK the second 25 miles would usually be slower than the first but in this case maybe not as the first half terrain is harder than the second.  The latter part of the 50 is more a mind game, including the friendly sounding Dunes of Doom after about 30 miles and also after dark for us mortals. 

If it makes you feel better ...shades of your Arc experience... next time I tried it I got to Goran, bottled it and DNFd. My foot hurt and I knew I wouldn't make the earlier time. Feeble, really. Good luck with your attempt!

I don't think adrenaline_junki3 is a runner or a cyclist. I think they're a bot. I predict that they will shortly post some spam or conspiracy theorist nonsense and get banned.