The Folkestone horse run
We left Cheriton at 7am and ran north as far as the M20 motorway. The path took us underneath the traffic and then up a steep gradient to Caesar's Camp. We both felt full of energy and charged up the sharp incline arriving at the top panting and gasping. We took a left and followed the path out of the trees and up onto the top of the downs where we overlooked the town and recovered our breath.
It was a clear, albeit overcast, day but warmer than it has been for a while. There was a hint of spring in the air and far more bird song to be heard. There is a 90 feet long white horse depicted on the hillside above the Chunnel. It was created in 2003 by local artist Charlie Newington using limestone slabs placed by volunteers while he directed them by radio. We figured we must be near it and peered over the edge to see it down below.
Continuing on, we descended towards a village called
Newington-Next-Hythe. A number of times we passed roads heading further along
the downs but managed to resist the temptation to take them due to the fact we
had to be back in Folkestone for parkrun at 9am.
Newington is a quaint village and home to a 12th century church with an eccentric cupola. We didn't see a single person as we ran along the high street and under the giant bridge supports upon which balance the M20 motorway and the high speed train tracks. The struts were all of topped with razor wire, although why anyone would want to climb up there I have no idea. Now on the far side of the transportation lines we ran back into Folkestone parallel with the A20 and cut behind the large Tesco store to descend Horn Street until we reached Seabrook.
Horn Street ends when it meets the Sandgate Road. Here we took a left away from Hythe and towards Folkestone. At this point we had a choice to run along the esplanade and up the zig zag path or tackle Sandgate Hill. We chose the latter and powered to the top. By now we had completed just short of 9 miles and were breathing heavily but the jog along the Leas gave us some time to recover and, as Paddington would put it, "use the facilities" before parkrun started.
It was my 200th parkrun and 35th at Folkestone and I received a round of applause from the other park runners. At 9 o'clock we set off having had 10 minutes to recover. Both of us had predicted that we would take it easy and run 8 minute miles. We passed the first mile point in 6 and a half minutes! As usual our enthusiasm had got the better of us and we crossed the line in 16th and 24th both averaging sub 7 minute mile pace.
It was time for the traditional coffee and cake at 13CC before heading back to John's place in Cheriton. From the town centre we passed the Royal Victoria Hospital and followed the course of a small stream. At one point we saw a magnificent heron standing on a small wooden bridge. We cut through a sports field and entered a housing estate. By this point I was feeling very heavy legged and our chatter was long gone. We ran the last mile in silencee and arrived absolutely spent. In total we had managed 16.2 miles.
Newington is a quaint village and home to a 12th century church with an eccentric cupola. We didn't see a single person as we ran along the high street and under the giant bridge supports upon which balance the M20 motorway and the high speed train tracks. The struts were all of topped with razor wire, although why anyone would want to climb up there I have no idea. Now on the far side of the transportation lines we ran back into Folkestone parallel with the A20 and cut behind the large Tesco store to descend Horn Street until we reached Seabrook.
Horn Street ends when it meets the Sandgate Road. Here we took a left away from Hythe and towards Folkestone. At this point we had a choice to run along the esplanade and up the zig zag path or tackle Sandgate Hill. We chose the latter and powered to the top. By now we had completed just short of 9 miles and were breathing heavily but the jog along the Leas gave us some time to recover and, as Paddington would put it, "use the facilities" before parkrun started.
It was my 200th parkrun and 35th at Folkestone and I received a round of applause from the other park runners. At 9 o'clock we set off having had 10 minutes to recover. Both of us had predicted that we would take it easy and run 8 minute miles. We passed the first mile point in 6 and a half minutes! As usual our enthusiasm had got the better of us and we crossed the line in 16th and 24th both averaging sub 7 minute mile pace.
It was time for the traditional coffee and cake at 13CC before heading back to John's place in Cheriton. From the town centre we passed the Royal Victoria Hospital and followed the course of a small stream. At one point we saw a magnificent heron standing on a small wooden bridge. We cut through a sports field and entered a housing estate. By this point I was feeling very heavy legged and our chatter was long gone. We ran the last mile in silencee and arrived absolutely spent. In total we had managed 16.2 miles.
