Anyone that has gone off road running with me will know that one of my weaknesses is a ludicrous optimism when it comes to estimating distance on a map.
Last weekend was no exception.
I convinced my running wife Claire that we could go for a 7-9 mile ish run for an hour and half from my house to Blackdown Hill in Haslemere on some new paths. My planned route would use some of the Greensand Way, Sussex Border Path and Serpent Trail which are three paths we have done some considerable running on in the past.
We set off on the saturday morning and ran down through the well known paths near my house and over Hydons Ball.
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| Hydons Ball – Where ancient hominids first learnt to use tools. (look carefully and you can see Lee and Claire) |
As we ran over the top of Hydons Ball we noticed a new pump house had been installed and were surprised to see an image taken from the beginning of Stanley Kubricks 2001 – A Space Odyssey on the side of it.
We picked up the Greensand Way for a very short bit and then ran south down Upper Vann Lane for while before turning off road east through Stonehurst Hanger.
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| Claire was uninpressed with the ‘rustic’ pub stop. |
We then ran an off road route which skirted round Chiddingfold and avoided having to run on any part of the main busy road through Chiddingfold. I checked the mileage on my runkeeper app and we had already done more than 4 miles. I thought maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybeeeeeeee we would be running maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe a little bit further than I first thought.
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| Lee running past the Police Dog Training Area near Chiddingfold |
As we ran round the outskirts of Chiddingfold we found the Police Dog Training Area and I couldnt resist getting a photo. We used Skinners Lane to run a bit further south and passed many houses with double entendre names. We went offroad again near Tugley Farm (fnar) and ran through Sparkles Copse.
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| Lee perfectly demonstrates how to be a tumbling tosser |
Sparkles Copse was very muddy and on a slight sideways slope leading down to a pond. As I ran I could feel my feet slipping and didnt want to fall over and slide into the pond. After a few minutes of careful running I slipped and did a three stage slow motion backwards windmilling action to stay upright. The windmilling seemed to last a very long time and I managed to recover my fall twice and then slide flat on my back. I had left a very impressive three stage ‘mud angel’ in the path during my very complicated fall. I got completely covered in mud down the left hand side of my body.
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| Claire blends in with the surroundings |
We ran on towards Gostrode Farm where the woods opened up into some large wide fields. Each one had a ‘beware of Bull’ sign. Its always fun to run through a field trying to navigate the right way but mainly scanning for charging animals. I checked my running app and thought that maaaaaaaaaaybe……….just maaaaaaaaaaaaybe we might be running a little bit further than I thought and revised my estimate with Claire to a ‘9-10 miles’. There was no way it could possibly be further. Afterall we could see Blackdown in the distance.
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| Claire Crossing a field near Gastrode farm |
My map showed that we were looking for a short path that would meet us up with the Sussex Border Path. Naturally I missed the turning and we got a bit more lost near Redlands farm and crossed a field on the wrong path (that might not have actually been a right of way). The field was very boggy and Claire got ‘sucked off’ (lost shoe in mud).
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| Claire getting ‘sucked off’ in a very muddy field near Gostrode Farm, |
As I took a picture of myself in a traffic mirror (a habit of mine) I checked the phone and the distance was up to 9 miles. I thought it was possible that the run might maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe be a little be longer than I thought and I revised my estimate to Claire for the distance to ‘er sort of maybe 11 miles but definitely not more’
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| Lee in mirror |
One of the things we have noticed running on paths in Surrey is that they are usually very well maintained. We have often found that crossing into Sussex or Kent sees a very noticeable and instant drop in signposting quality and state of the paths. I suspect this is to do with the number of volunteers and likely budgets for this kind of thing in each county.
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| Joining up with the Sussex Border Path near Ramsters |
Finding the Sussex Border path was much more difficult than we thought but eventually after running three different wrong ways in Big Copse we found the right way and began the westward run towards a now dark and looming Blackdown. The sussex border path was poorly marked and in quite a bad state.
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| Sussex Border Path logo near Blackdown Hill |
We ran along Jays Lane and began the ascent towards the top of Blackdown. It is the highest hill in Sussex and is only 40 feet short of the highest point in the South East which is the very familiar Leith Hill on the Greensand Way. Its most famous resident was Lord Tennyson. The ascent is steep and long and drawn out and is a real challenge for a tired runner. One of the things you notice abotu Blackdown as you ascend it is how peaceful and quiet it is.
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| Claire running up Blackdown Hill |
Those of you that know me won’t be surprised to learn that when I was younger I lived in a pub. The Half Moon in Kirdford was about 7 or 9 (ish maaaaaaybe more) miles( definitely not more than 11) from Blackdown and as a teenager I used to ride to the summit of Blackdown with my neighbours Matt and James Illston. Mountain Biking was something I really enjoyed when I was younger. As we ran up the lane and off road path I realised we were using the same route we used back then. This meant we would reach a view point at the top of the Car Park on Tennyson Lane where I remembered having a photo taken of me all that time ago.
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| Lee and Claire do a Topless Blackdown Smack (smile with your back) |
By the time we reached the top we had run over 12 miles in 3 hours. This was maaaaaybe a little bit over the 7-9 mile 90 minute run I had planned. The viewpoint was as I remembered it and with a bench just begging for a photo op it was time to do a ‘Topless Blackdown Smack’ (smile with your back). I then got a photo of me in the same place I had stood over 20 years before. The bench is just to the left of the bike off the picture. If you look closely at the front hub I had a small analogue mileometer counter on the bike that ticked off each 1/10 th of a mile as I rode. 2 decades of accurate distance information has had no effect on my estimation skills.
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| Lee-Stuart Evans aged 14 at the top of Blackdown Hill (note beer T Shirt) |
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| Lee-Stuart Evans aged 36 at the same spot on Blackdown Hill |
As we waited at the top of a godforsaken cold hill for a pick up from a generous Dr G I got to take a mental trip down memory lane and return somewhere I haven’t been for over 20 years. There is also more of the Sussex border path we could run in the future, but for now I made a mental note to be sure to bring a camera again when I go there in 2034.
