A non-stop John Muir Way. An exploration run (calling it “training run” would be a little insane)

It is Friday, January 17^th 06:20 am. Damien arrives at my flat to pick me up and shuttle me over to Helensburgh. We get to the pier by 06:45. I switch my tracker on, check if it is actually working and then head over to the Helensburgh terminus of the John Muir Way (JMW).

Why am I here? I wanted to travel the JMW for a while, and the idea of tackling it as a non-stop attempt had taken on shape over the last few months. I signed up to run the Northern Traverse in April, which is a 190-mile non-stop race that follows the Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route across Northern England. There are a few questions I have about the distance and the non-stop nature of the event; specifically: How long can I keep running before I default into my beloved fast hiking style?  How often and for how long do I need to sleep?  and When have I pushed the boat out a little bit too far?

The JMW seems ideal to explore these questions. The total distance is 134 miles. It traverses the Scottish central belt from Helensburgh to Dunbar, predominantly on flat, hard-packed surfaces and is therefore very runnable. It should be manageable to complete it in one weekend.

Today I will give it a try. My own personal goal is to complete the run in about 30 hours. That is an average of 13 min/miles. It is an ambitious goal for me, but it does not seem totally impossible as long as I keep running and stop as little as possible.

At the Helensburgh terminus, ready to go! Is there a slight glimpse of fear in the eyes? I hope so, otherwise…what’s the point?!

Chapter 1: Helensburgh to Strathblane (27.5 miles plus 2.5 diversion miles)

7 am! Here I go! Damien waves me off. He is both road support and pacer for the first section. I trot through the dark, deserted Helensburgh streets up towards Hill House. On the outskirts of town Damien checks up on me and I hand him my high viz gilet. I had put it on to be visible in the streets but now I am away from traffic and it is too warm to run in.

A couple of miles onwards Damien waits at the Daligan intersection. Here the JMW cycle route splits from the walker’s variant. I will stick to the walker’s route and head up towards Ben Bowie. Damien is pacing me up the hill to the intersection where I need to take a diversion. The official route has been closed for nearly a year due to tree fall at Gouk Hill. The diversion will add about 3 miles and 200 meters of climbing, but I feel I should not complain as I have hours of flat canal miles to come where I will probably miss a bit of uphill movement.

no direct way to Balloch!

This is the area I fondly refer to as “my backyard”, and the diversion passes quickly without any issues. Damien meets me on top of Stoneymollan Road and together we descent to the car. I have a quick stop, graze through the snack bag, have a sip of tea and switch from trail shoes into road shoes. The next few miles are along quiet country lanes until I reach the Kilpatrick Hills.

I get through Balloch by 09:30 am. Gaby and Jenny just arrived on the train, they will pace me on the next section. It takes a little over an hour to get to the foothills of the Kilpatricks and this stretch is usually pretty tedious. Today the miles pass quickly as Gaby, Jenny and I are chatting and moving well. Going into the Kilps I switch back into trail shoes and grab a few more snacks from the car. There are first signs that something is not quite right. My stomach is a little iffy. It is not proper nausea..at least not yet…but my body tells me that it is not entirely happy anymore. Up to this point I have been relaxed and ran at a comfortable pace, I have been eating well and there is no particular reason why things are going south.

I think this is the first attempt of the body starting a revolution during long-distance runs. After the first few hours – in this case I have been going for about 17 miles in 4 hours – the body says: “Cool, nice training run. We are going home now, right? Right!?” Upon you respond: “Well, actually….” What follows can go either way. You feel up for it and settle back in, or the body tries to give you all the signs in the world that going any further is a really bad idea.

Today, it seems my body is taking the second option, and it does not help that I am due my period. I am feeling a bit sorry for myself, but I know that you just have to roll with the punches and things can turn around again. I nibble away on some carrots and apple bits. In most cases eating something fresh makes me soon happier again.

along Burncrooks Reservoir. Photo by Gaby

As we descent from the Kilpatricks and just before we get to Edenmill Farm Ian T meets us on his bike. This is an unexpected perk. I had posted my tracker link to the Westies WhatsApp chat but did not know if anyone could make it. This lifts my spirit massively and at Edenmill I hear Rosie’s cowbell ringing.

I say good-bye to Damien. His road support shift is finished, and he hands over to Bex and Rosie. Gaby, Jenny and Ian stay with me until Strathblane where I stop to switch back into road shoes. My three valiant pacers leave me here. It is Bex and I who tackle the next section, one of the more soul sapping of the whole route: The Strathkelvin Railway Path!

a pacer’s good-bye. Photo by Rosie

Chapter 2: Strathblane to Falkirk (26 miles)

It is about 2 pm. The Strathkelvin Railway Path forms 8 miles of the JMW connecting Strathblane and Kirkintilloch. It is basically a straight, flat, long tarmac path that seems to go on and on and on and on. However, I am in luck, because Bex is just back from an awesome adventure in Argentina and Chile and I have not seen her since, so she can tell me all about her travels. And at Lennoxtown John D joins us for a few miles as well, so this section feels anything but boring.

        along the Strathkelvin Railway Path with Bex and JD. Photos by Bex

It has been quite drizzly coming over the Kilpatricks and the rain is getting more persistent now, enough that I put on my rain jacket. I should have put it on long ago and I hope this error in self-management is not coming back to haunt me. While my stomach seems to have settled, I get early signs of a urinary track infection due to being cold and wet. Otherwise, spirits are high when we pass through Kirkintilloch, on the way to Twechar.

Bex & Rosie at Kirkintilloch

At Twechar I change into trail shoes for the stint over Castle Hill and Croy Hill. I have a few bites to eat and grab my headtorch as it is about 4 pm, near nightfall. Bex is switching to road support and Rosie is pacing me from here. Coming down from Castle Hill we are greeted by Ian C, another unexpected supporter. It is great fun to bump into familiar people along the way.

     

Castle Hill and Roman Head near Croy. Photos by Rosie?

And another unexpected pacer catches us up at the Queens of the Canal car park. As I stop to switch back into road shoes – and incidentally, from here I am in road shoes until North Berwick – John Q comes sprinting down the hill. He wanted to intersect us at Croy but his train was late.

It is just after 5 pm, 46 miles are in the bag. Up to this point I have been grooving along quite well. I am still a little concerned about the urinary tract discomfort and exchange a few wet layers and grab a warmer jacket for the night. Being warm and dry does eventually sort that issue out. My stomach is fine again, but I start to lose my appetite, which is quite normal on these long runs. Bex – the hero – has organized blueberries for me, because I expressed a craving for fresh fruit and berries earlier. I shove a few handfuls into my mouth and then brace myself for the next 11 miles of canal running. I am lucky with the weather though; it has cleared up and the night promises to be beautiful as a big, yellow moon rises to watch over our progress.

Ian stays with us until Kelvinhead, then turns to run back home. Shortly afterwards Rosie, John and I entre into the land of diversions. Near Banknock, a short section of the towpath is closed, and we need to divert through the town. It is actually not bad at all, it just feels a little confusing in the dark and there is always the worry of making a mistake and turning the wrong way.

Diversion along the canal. Photo by Rosie

The miles along the canal pass smoothly while John tells me about his travels to Nepal. It is a good thing I have friends who travel and can entertain me with their stories. Along this stretch I pass the 50-mile point after 11.5 hours on the move, which is a time I am really happy with. We have another short break at Bonnybridge and then pass through the Radical Pend, which had felt pretty spooky during my recce.

Amanda meets us as we start heading up the street towards another short section along Antonine Wall. She had been waiting at the Falkirk Wheel for me, but as I am running a little behind schedule, she had decided to come our way. Up by the Roman Fort John shortly loses and thankfully quickly finds one of his shoes in a surprisingly deep mud puddle, then we continue our way to the Falkirk Wheel without any other incidents.

The Wheel stands quietly in the dark. Nevertheless, it is still very imposing. We have to take another short diversion and not long afterwards we reach Falkirk High train station, my next major crew checkpoint.

Falkirk Wheel.Photo by Amanda

more diversions. Photo by Rosie?

It is now 8:30 pm. I say good-bye to Rosie and Bex. My next road support crew, Melissa and Wendy, are already in place and ready to roll. John is taking the train back to Glasgow from here. Amanda is pacing me until Linlithgow and Mike, who is due imminently on the next train, will stick with me through the night all the way to Edinburgh.

with Amanda, Rosie and JQ in Falkirk. Photo by Bex

Chapter 3: Falkirk to Edinburgh Meadows (38 miles)

It is going to be a long night. 57 miles are completed in about 13 and a half hours. Unfortunately, that is about what my quads had in them, as both are now very tight and achy. I can still hike a pretty stiff pace of 15 to 16 min/miles, but it is not really what I hoped for. And there will be consequences regarding my schedule. Apart from my poor quads everything else is going well. My stomach has settled, the discomfort in my urinary tract has gone, my feet are still happy, nothing else hurts and my head is still very much in the game. It has been great fun so far and I am really looking forward to the night section.

Mike, Amanda and I set off from Falkirk High into Callendar Park, round the big house and cannot figure out the correct route up the hill. One way marker is missing here which would solve the problem. I struggled with this bit during my recce as well. Basically, you just have to commit to one of the many trails, it is unlikely to make a difference of more than a couple of hundred meters.

We soon find JMW signs in the forest and are on the way towards the Union Canal which we follow for five miles until we reach the Avon Aqueduct. Shortly after the aqueduct we leave the canal, descend a few steep steps – my quads are wincing – and entre a lovely little woodland. We follow a trail to Linlithgow where Melissa and Wendy are waiting for us. It is now about 11 pm, 16 hours have passed, and this is roughly the half-way point.

Amanda says farewell and catches the train home. Mike and I carry on towards Bo’ness and the banks of the Forth. We are making good progress along the hard-packed cycle path and getting into such a nice groove that we miss the next crew spot. Mike re-directs the crew to Blackness and Melissa and Wendy reprimand us to “better not miss that one”. The stretch along the Forth to Queensferry felt like a long slog on my recce but tonight is lovely. I am in great company, the night is beautiful and the oystercatchers keep alarming at us, outraged that we have the audacity to wander around here at this hour.

Queensferry is about 80 miles along the JMW. Mike and I arrive by 3 am. I am now significantly behind my ambitious 30 hours schedule and there are no signs that my quads will recover and let me run any more. My mind starts to frazzle a bit about the next 57 miles. How will my estimated time of arrival in Dunbar change and how will that affect everyone else?

at Queensferry. Photo by Kal  

Melissa and Wendy did a fantastic job crewing me up to Queensferry. Here they are handing me over to Kal and Andrew. Kal brought his van and will be on road support first. Andrew joins in with pacing me on the way to Edinburgh.

the first night shift. Mike, Wendy & Melissa. Photo by Melissa  

The going is pretty good, although I do get increasingly tired and a certain amount of brain fog is building up. But my pacers keep me chatting and moving. The miles around Dalmeny seem to pass quickly and we approach Edinburgh soon afterwards. Kal meets us just before we climb over Corstorphine Hill, the decent is painful on the quads, and I am tired enough to mess up the correct route off the hill. We retrace a short section before we find the way down and make our progress towards Murrayfield.

searching for the meaning of it all. Photo by Mike

We pass Murrayfield at 7 am, I have been going for 24 hours now and it is nearly daylight again. Here the JMW joins the Water of Leith Walkway for a while and winds its way through the city. First the route turns southwest and we kind of double back on ourselves until we reach the Union Canal once more and turn northeast towards The Meadows. There is a lovely set of steps climbing up to the Union Canal, which is heavy going, but up is better than down.

It takes another hour and a half to travel the next few miles along the Union Canal and the short stretch along the streets of Edinburgh to reach The Meadows where Kal is waiting with the van. It is 8:30 am. I am around 95 miles into the journey and decide that I need a short nap. My brain is pretty fried, and I hope a quick power nap can give me some relief. I also hope that it will work as a re-set: bring yesterday to a close and start a new day. I get my head down in the van for 10 minutes and afterwards brush my teeth. To be quite honest…the other motions: eating, drinking, re-stocking…I do not actually fully remember, I am sure I did all that.

Mike’s pacing is completed at this point. He saw me safely through the whole night and it took longer than he must have anticipated. What a total trooper! Andrew and Kal are switching roles. Andrew will be on road support and is joined by Tom. Kal will be pacing. Kris, who lives near The Meadows and had kindly offered his flat as a support point, has come out to say Hello. I am quite glad that the crew is entertaining themselves as I am still working my way out of my brain haze and am not fully present, nevertheless I am so happy having them all here with me.

the night pacers Andrew & Mike

Chapter 4: Edinburgh Meadows to North Berwick (38 miles)

Kal and I are setting off from The Meadows and Kal is in “no bullshitting, let’s solve this problem” mode. I casually mention that I will have to find a place for a toilet break once we get out of town and he response with “or I could get you something in this café and you use their toilet”…I could have thought of that myself, really! Or maybe not anymore at this point…

striding into a new beautiful morning. Photo by Kal 

A little while later I feel a few hot spots and blisters complaining. My next crew spot is in Musselburgh, some 6 miles away. Kal takes the initiative and calls the crew to meet us at Brunstane, so I can look after my feet earlier. This is exactly what I need. I am used to the fact that this far into a long non-stop journey everything just hurts and I am quite good at pushing through that. I keep forgetting that today I have the luxury of a crew that can respond and sort issues immediately.

After sorting out my feet we carry on to Musselburgh. Here, I know I have stepped over the 100-mile marker, which feels like a massive achievement already. In fact the 100 mile point was close to Brunstane and I passed there after 27 hours, a personal best on that distance, despite the last 40 miles walking with deflated quads.

Musselburgh. Over 100 miles!. Photo by Kal

The day is glorious. I cannot believe how lucky I am with the weather. This weekend turned out to be bookended by quite severe weather. The weekend prior we still had icy and slippery conditions. The following weekend Storm Éowyn wreaked havoc across the country.

At Musselburgh I get back on the coastline with my mind set towards North Berwick. I make some calculations that my current walking speed will get me there around dark and that my new arrival in Dunbar could well be midnight tonight. There is no chance that I will speed up again. This weighs heavy on my mind, and I worry how much my silly trip across Scotland now inconveniences my crew. There is also the question of how we all get home later, especially if I finish so late. But I am with Kal, so the problem solving is already in action.

Lauren, my trail sister from the Cape Wrath Ultra, joins me and we have a great catch up. Tom switches from road support to pacing and Bex has come out again, so we are a merry little bunch on the way to Prestonpans.

when your Cape Wrath sister comes out to play. Photo by Alastair

At Prestonpans I have my last road support switch. Andrew is now off duty, having shouldered a massive effort of pacing through the night and road support in the morning. Alastair is taking over from here to the end and Kal and Bex are also sticking around. I once again express my anxiety regarding me slowing down, stretching this adventure into the next night and all the logistics that come with that delay. Everyone looks at me and says “We sorted it all out. We have a plan!” I do not know what discussions and sacrifices happened in the background. I feel immensely relieved and grateful, and I quite greedily accept this kindness. I am tired and achy, but I am determined to see this thing through to the end.

At Prestonpans Don joins us and he, Tom and I make our way around the small diversion at Cockenzie, along Seton Sands to Aberlady. Part of me knows that getting to Dunbar and completing this challenge will be a huge achievement irrespective of time. Another part feels like I failed because I could not stick to my attempted schedule. My crew patiently listens to me expressing my self-doubts and then simply and firmly say “You need to let that go!”  and I do. Beyond this point is it all about chipping away the miles and getting to the end. I am now in the process of “pushing the boat out” into little known territory.

Diversions R Us.

Don grew up around here and he entertains us with stories about the local area, which I am very grateful for. The stretch between Prestonpans to North Berwick takes us five and a half hours, but in my memory it seems to have passed quite quickly. We reach Gullane at about 03:30 pm, 120 miles on the JMW. I grab my headtorch and a thicker upper layer. North Berwick seems so close and yet so far! I know I will be caught by the dark just before I get there and once I go into the second night I will get cold. At this point I am just too tired to keep warm simply by moving.

into Gullane with Tom. Photo by Alastair

In North Berwick Tom and Don hand me over to Jade and Rachel for the last 15 miles. I cannot quite believe I made it this far, but I also know the last stretch will be a battle for every mile.

Tom & Don. Photo by Rachel

Chapter 5: North Berwick to Dunbar (15 miles)

My crew is full of beans as we set off from North Berwick. They stuff me with all the food I am willing to accept, which is not very much. Eating has been a struggle pretty much the whole day, not due to nausea, simply because of fatigue and lack of appetite. But I keep nibbling on bars and eating fruit. Interestingly, my cold pizza pieces which I had rejected earlier now go down like a charm.

Jade & Rachel are taking the second night shift. Photo by Alastair

The road crew meets us at various corners between North Berwick and East Linton. I had not planned for that, but I am grateful they keep an eye on us and Kal joins with pacing along the way. On the road are Alastair and Bex in vans and Bex – forever the hero – takes Jade to Dunbar from East Linton, as I am slowing down so much that she is in danger of missing the last train home.

Just before East Linton we are also joined by Rachel’s brother-in-law who lives in Dunbar and who must have been curious about this little gaggle traversing Scotland. He is no stranger to long-distance endurance feats, having done the London-Edinburgh-London cycle challenge.

There is a little hill we have to get up and over before East Linton, nothing too horrible on any ordinary day, but tonight a little piece of my soul breaks off coming down that thing. It just hurts so much and I am at a really low point. Obviously, there is no way I am giving up now, that does not cross my mind. I am just exhausted and gazing down a deep and dark well. In East Linton I am very close to tears, but before I let my emotions run completely free I reflect on all the support that got me here and think “stop feeling sorry for yourself and get this finished”. I scoff another piece of pizza and start to feel better.

From East Linton it is just under 7 miles to Dunbar. We are so close now and it is such a struggle! If one of my questions was…At what point is it enough?…I passed that point a fair few miles ago! The trail is chewing me up!

6 ¾ miles! Photo by Kal

I need to keep eating but do not want to. Rachel keeps offering me food and I say categorically No! to everything. Nothing sounds appealing. Then I have an idea and tell Rachel to not ask me but simply hand me something to eat. I promise I will try it. The first thing that comes my way is a biscuit that looks enormous. F**k sake! I am ready to hand it straight back but think “I promised, so I’ll try”. I nibble away, and it takes me a while but I finish it and gradually I start to climb out of my pain cave.

Dunbar never seems to get any closer. I know that from my recce of this section. We get to West Barns, where a llama is as surprised to see us as we are to see it, and then reach Belhaven Bay which takes a little while to get around. Finally, we reach the Winterfield Golf Course and wind our way along the coastline closer and closer towards town. The end is in sight now, only two more miles to go.

an unsuspecting llama. Photo by Kal

Just before the end there is a lovely set of steps to get down and up again along The Glebe. The finish line adrenaline is a real thing and as I come up from The Glebe I start trotting again, just around the corner on to High Street and then a few more meters to the door of John Muir’s Birthplace, the end of the JMW. It is Saturday Jan 18^th, just after 11 pm.

I have done it! I finished a non-stop traverse of Scotland following the John Muir Way, as closely as any diversions allowed me to. The total distance ends up being almost 140 miles and it took 40 hours and 9 minutes. I am exhausted, relieved, delighted and so very grateful to my crew.  Kal produces a bouquet of flowers, which is such a lovely note to bring the adventure to an end.

Suddenly, a fairly inebriated man stands in front of us, asking us what is going on. The last 40 hours have been purely about MY adventure, so in my egocentric daze, naturally I think he has come out to congratulate me and I simply grin at him broadly. “Yeah, I did this thing. Thanks for seeing me at the finish!” He is closely followed by a less inebriated woman who explains that we have apparently caused enough of a commotion that someone in the pub thought we were trying to break into the museum.

I tell her that I just ran all the way from Helensburgh to Dunbar. The lady seems slightly bewildered but pacified. My two new friends turn, leave and start yelling through the street “no one is breaking in”. Dunbar seems like a strange and fascinating place on a Saturday night!

Rachel’s sister arrives to pick her up. Rachel will spend the night in Dunbar. Alastair is making his way back to Stirling and Kal and Bex are taking me under their wing and shuttling me all the way back home. And thus, we all disperse as if it never happened.

Oh, but it did happen! And what a truly wonderful experience it was! 40 hours later it feels like a lifetime ago that Damien dropped me off at Helensburgh. I wanted to explore a few questions about running vs walking, about the distance and the need to sleep and I got a few answers which will be helpful in my training and in events going forward.

My biggest reward is the sheer joy of sharing this adventure with others. I do a lot of running on my own. Mostly because I am a slow runner and I always think if I invite others to run with me I basically just hold them back. Having road support and pacers with me made me so happy. Getting to meeting points made me smile long before I got there and sharing miles and life stories with each other was such a privilege. I will draw from the positivity, kindness and camaraderie of this weekend for a long, long time. I am in debt to you all and I love you! You are the best! Thank you all again for gifting me this beautiful memory.

 

P.S.

I am the first woman – for all we know – that travelled the John Muir Way non-stop, which makes me eligible for the Fastest Female Time. I submitted the journey and it has been accepted. It stands at 40 hours 9 minutes and some change. In the world of Fast Running Achievements, this time is not much to write home about. Ideally my quads would have held out a bit longer and I would have been a bit faster. It does not matter! 40 hours is what I had to give and I am really happy with that. It took a lot to get this done!

However, the female FKT was always more an additional perk. I wanted the challenge and the adventure. I wanted to experience a day out with friends and that is what I got. I hope there will be other women stepping up and showing us what incredible fast times are possible on this route, but they will be hard-pressed to have a more fun time than I had on this weekend in January!