Coastal Trail RUN– November 2008

A friend and colleague from Jeremy’s Bristol University days, Pete Goddard, completed an arduous marathon in poor conditions along Dorset’s Jurassic coastline in aid of the JWCT.
​
Pete described his experience as follows: “A night of heavy rain and high winds . . . wasn't particularly encouraging for the race on Saturday morning, my foreboding was made worse at the wet and cold pre-race briefing where I seemed to be the only person foolish enough not to have specialist fell running footwear . . .

The course was a figure of eight that went west along the coastal path to Kimmeridge Bay, then up onto the Purbeck hills and back inland to near the start at Worth Matravers, where it then crossed back to the coastal path eastwards until the headland near Swanage, before returning inland to the finish at Worth Matravers. As we set off the rain stopped and although breezy, conditions were pretty good - we even had some sun. Beforehand I thought the hills would be the biggest challenge but in fact they weren't too bad - many were too steep (and slippery) to attempt to run up so everyone had to walk them. It was very muddy underfoot and I slipped and slid all over the place, including some spectacular flat-on-the-face moments.”

Despite the challenging weather and hilly terrain, Pete rounded off the 26.2miles in just over four hours. Pete said “as with some low points during the training, thinking of Jeremy's drive and determination got me through and gave me the will to grin and bear the pain to carry on.” The event on 18 November 2008 raised over £1,000 for the JWCT.