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| Lee-Stuart Evans running a 5k on the exposed Goodwin Sands with Seals in the distance |
I recently ran along the exposed seabed of the North Sea.
In a very small window of opportunity and a rare low Spring tide I encountered a colony of Seals, exposed shipwrecks with a White Cliffs of Dover backdrop and dodged the moving tide and sinking sands to bag a 5k as part of a recce for a new adventure from Rat Race as part of their Project Explore.
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| Goodwin Sands Nautical Map |
Goodwin Sands is a sandbank far off the coast of Dover in Kent in the UK that has claimed more than 2000 wrecks and has even had a WW2 German Dornier Do 17 wreck found on it. The sandbank is 6 miles offshore and only fully exposed at very low tides and has famously had a cricket match played on it in 1824 which was played annually until 2003. When a hovercraft ran from Pegwell Bay in Ramsgate it used to occasionally stop on the sands to allow passengers a unique seaside walk.
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| Jim Mee, Pete Rees me and Allie Bailey about to run a 5k on Goodwin Sands |
After a few aborted attempts due to weather and visibility we finally had the chance to run it in July 2018. The Rat Race Project Explore Goodwin Sands 5k will have its first event on the 25th August this year and like all races the Race Director needed to go out and assess the route !
Allie Bailey and I were lucky enough to be asked to help recce the run, with Pete Rees filming and Jim Mee from Rat Race assessing the logistics for it to make the future event as safe and enjoyable as possible.
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| Leaving Dover Harbour heading for Goodwin Sands |
Looking at the map and discussing with the skipper at the harbour the options we decided that it was likely we could run a 2.5km out and back on the sands within the time we had. Once out on the sands we were open to the idea of trying to run in a giant arc to try and get 5km of distance in a perfect circle starting and finishing in the same place. The plan for the run was flexible with the simple aim to bag 5km as easily as possible.
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| Heading out to the Goodwin Sands |
We blasted out to the sands in a boat and were transferred to the sands via a small inflatable boat pulled along by a guy in a drysuit who looked like he was standing waist deep in the middle of the ocean. Once on the sands we took some bearings, discussed the plan and checked radios and then set off northwards along the ‘coast’ of the sands towards a seal colony in the distance.
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| A Seal pops up in front of the exposed Goodwin Sands |
Judging distance on such a featureless plain is hard , but with some effort Allie and I managed to run round the ‘edge’ of the main sand island and return to the point where the boat would collect us. Meanwhile Jim from RatRace tested communications , different types of flag markers that would work and used our run as a ‘dry run’ for the event tha
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| Allie Bailey running past Seals on Goodwin Sands |
The sands are not flat. They undulate with ripples and deep pools and we actually managed 340ft of ascent during the run from all the up and downs. Running there was not as easy as we thought. In the North East corner of the ‘island’ we found a huge colony of hundreds of seals who charged into the sea for safety as we ran past.
The sands are fairly solid in most places but in some sections the super saturated sand shifts and quakes and if you stand around too long you can feel your feet gently being sucked under. The key is to keep moving.
In no time at all we were back where we started with huge smiles on our faces. This was a very rare opportunity and something I will never forget. Although you want to stop and take pictures and shoot video and simply stop and ‘take it all in’ there is the constant nagging reminder to get back to the drop off point before the tide reclaims the whole island.
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| Goodwin Sands 5k run |
As we walked back to the boat I realised it has been nearly 6 months since Id crossed Frozen Lake Khovsghol with the same friends, the only difference was it was about 70 C warmer than last time.
It hugely amused me to see my Garmin showing a run done out to sea. It kept suggesting I had just done a fast swim not a run.
Having done the Southend Pier Marathon earlier in the year I now have the unusual brag of being the only person in the UK to be a maritime running expert at both sprint and long distance.
Getting to go running at sea, surrounded by shipwrecks and downed aircraft was the ultimate experience for this AirlandandSea blog, all I have to do now is decide whether to log this as a dive or a run.
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| Allie Bailey leaves footprints on the Goodwin Sands |
Although sold out at the moment you can register your interest for the next Goodwin Sands run here
