Over recent weeks I have started to get back in the habit of doing a long run at the weekend. I live in Dover and the nearest parkrun is in Folkestone so it makes sense to run in - well in my mind anyway.
The route from Dover to Folkestone follows the North Downs Way along the cliff tops overlooking the English Channel. It is roughly 9 miles from my house to the Leas where the parkrun begins at 9am. This weekend I made plans with John, a friend who is training for the London Marathon this year, to run back to Dover with him after our weekly 5k.
I left the house at 7am to give myself plenty of time, and enjoyed the fact that it is now light at that time of the morning and I no longer need to use my head torch. Making my way down the hill through the centre of Dover I turned onto the main road that leads along past the harbour and up out of town.
The first mile is all downhill and a good way to loosen / warm up. It's then a three mile climb to 500 feet. This takes you along a narrow path above the train line, which itself runs beside the beach.
A muddy trail then leads steeply upwards to emerge just feet from the cliff edge way above the crashing waves below. Following this path into the westerly breeze takes you up and down Round Hill which adds another 100 feet to the climb.
At this point I can look down onto Samphire Hoe, a manmade nature reserve formed by the mud and clay removed from the sea bed when the Channel Tunnel was built. 150 metres beneath my feet a tunnel runs between this visitor attraction and the main M20 motorway.
The next mile is relatively flat and on a clear day you get an excellent view of the French cliffs just 20 miles to the south as well as the large container ships making their way through the narrow stretch between the two countries. I get a melancholy feeling when I think of the distance between us and our French cousins which appears to be widening the closer we get to Brexit.
A short descent brings me to a giant sound mirror, a concrete satellite dish that was used during the war to eavesdrop on the enemy forces across the water.
This part of the coast is littered with the remains of wartime architecture, bunkers, barracks, look out posts etc. gripping the cliff like barnacles on a large rock.
Another small climb takes me to a narrow path which winds its way to the village of Capel-Le-Ferne. This is the only part of the run where barriers have been erected due to the erosion and steepness of the drop to my left. I pass a row of caravans, traverse the car park of a café which sits at the top of a long flight of steps leading to The Warren.
This is protected site famous for its fossils. Full of ferns, undergrowth and wind swept trees it can feel like another country and I once spent a long two hours unable to find my way out.
Capel-Le-Ferne sits above Folkestone and is a non descript place really. There is a garage and a shop and a number of big houses with huge windows facing out to sea. This is the only section of road and gives me a chance to scrape off the layer of mud that has attached itself to my trainers.
On the outskirts you will find The Battle of Britain Memorial. I take a detour through the grounds and past the statue of a seated airman and the replica fighter planes.
There is now a very steep descent straight down into the east side of the town, past the Martello tower, over the arches at Sunny Sands and up the Old High Street, through the pedestrianised shopping area and onto the Leas, a Victorian promenade the stretches the length of the beach.
It is here, by the bandstand, that parkrun takes place every Saturday at 9am. I join John and 192 other enthusiasts including a number of excited dogs and run up and down the Leas twice crossing the finish line after 3.1 miles or 5km.
John and I jogged down to a cycle café in town called 13CC that does great coffee and delicious cakes. We fuelled up and then ran back to Dover taking in all the places I mentioned in reverse.
On our arrival I left John to catch his return train and continued to run. I was determined to make it to 26.2 miles - marathon distance. I had 2 miles left to go and it took every ounce of physical and mental strength to complete it.
Sometimes you enjoy your run but at others you endure it. I was certainly past the enjoying and deep into enduring!
