Holidaying in various areas of the north of England this summer I realised how much of the country of my birth is just not at all familiar to me. Though I’ve lived here for 24 years in 6 different places, there’s so much here I’ve never seen. This isn’t quite a problem, but I do think it’s a shame. I’d like to put that right. The only real way to get to know a place is to live and work there, but a more realistic challenge is to travel over sections of it by foot. That’s why over the next two years I will be attempting to run at least 10k in each of England’s 48 ceremonial counties. That’s about one county on average every two weeks.
Here are some arbitrary but somewhat thoughtful rules I’ve set for myself to make this work well:
- No familiar routes. I’m not a very experienced runner but I could tick off about 12 counties right now where I have previously run or walked about this distance. This challenge is about discovery as much as fitness, so I’m maximising the discovery element!
- Self-contained. Each route must start in the appropriate county, finish there, and not leave that county’s borders. This sounds obvious but will be difficult for City of London!
- AONBs, National Parks, and coasts. Where possible, if a county has one of the above I will plan a route that goes through or along it. Where there are multiple, I will try to maximise coverage.
- Overnight stays. Where possible, I will stay in the county where I am running either the night before, the night after, or preferably both. I hope thereby to see more of England! Additionally, I am forbidding myself from booking hotel or similar accommodation. Where I don’t have friends or family willing to put me up, I must camp.
- Time limits. The challenge starts on 1st September 2023 and I aim to complete it by 31st August 2025. I am, though, ‘a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.’ So we’ll see…
- Strava. As a matter of historical record, I will be uploading all the runs to Strava. If my watch runs out of battery, or the length of the run falls just short, tough…
FAQs:
Why ceremonial counties?
The historic counties are a bit fuzzier. More importantly, there are fewer of them! My way there are 4 Yorkshires, a separate island, and many more urban routes.
Why 10k?
I’m not a very good runner. Additionally, the nature of my job means I will need to do most of these during school holidays, and will probably be looking to tick off multiple counties in one trip. Back-to-back half marathons or marathons are way beyond me, but a couple of 10k runs compressed into a week or so sounds a bit more feasible…
Do I want any support?
This is purely self-indulgent and not for charity or anything. Having said that, under rule 4 above, I am looking for overnight accommodation at some point in the next 2 years in every English county. If you live in one and have a few square feet of floor space you wouldn’t mind my using, drop me a line! I’d love to come and see you.
Why am I posting about this?
I’m not entirely sure. See FAQ 3 above. I also hope to inspire people to see more of our beautiful land. Perhaps the pressure of having committed publicly to this will help me over the line. Maybe you, dear reader, have some useful input about how I should do this. Let me know if so!
Yikeiatry 