Running Folkestone

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A friend of mine recently ran around his estate. Housing estate that is, not a country estate. It made me wonder if I could do the same thing where I live.

The idea grew and soon I was planning to run every road in Folkestone. Handily the town is bordered to the north by the M20 and the downs, to the east it is hemmed in by the cliffs and to the south lies the sea. This just leaves the west where Folkestone merges into Sandgate, then Seabrook and finally Hythe.

I took a map from Google and decided I would make the western boundary a road called Horn Street but would include any roads coming off this. The other rule was that I would only have to run public roads and not drive ways or footpaths.

The challenge began at the start of July and soon I was adding my runs to a printed map by hand. It gave me a great sense of accomplishment to see the roads I had run spreading across the town. It worked as a good motivation to get out and see places I would never have explored otherwise.

The more frustrating aspects of the challenge were the fact of running on tarmac in built up areas, and that for many roads – not least cul-de-sacs – I had to run them twice to get to my next road.

The first road I completed was Grimston Avenue and I finished on Brook Street. In between I ran around Cheriton, East Cliffe, The Bayle, West End, Creative Quarter, The Harbour, and every other housing area.

Folkestone is a fascinating place and I really enjoyed finding some new places off the beaten track as well as the odd short cut.

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