Dorset Coastal Trail Marathon 2009
Two of us attempted the Dorset Coastal Path marathon, which is the first of seven marathons in the Coastal Path series organised by Endurance Life. The marathon started in the early morning from the beach in Charmouth on a cloudless autumn day. We were sent straight into a steep climb up to the top of the cliffs (which were closed to the public due to recent land slips, but deemed OK for extreme running). This was the first of nine major ascents on the run, including a stretch from sea level up to the top of Golden Cap, the highest point on the Dorset coast.
Apart from the hills, the course undulated over the coast path, with several miles along the beach (quite chunky shingle, which was a bit of a challenge) and some loops inland through glorious woods, heathland and farms, complete with plenty of sheep and cows. A couple of the cliffs were very steep - steeper than mountain marathon ascents, but not quite as precipitous as the fortified hills in Wiltshire - with the slippery rocky descents probably harder than the ascents. There were quite a few gates and stiles to be climbed, which became increasing difficult to get your leg over as the miles went by.
The most difficult section was saved for the last five miles, with the steep climb to Golden Cap followed by treacherous steps down the cliff to the beach and a final run along the sand back to Charmouth. This was made a bit more exciting because it got dark for the last mile or so, with the cliffs barely visible looming overhead, a couple of rock falls coming down as we ran and an electrical storm starting to roll in from the sea. The organisers seemed to have got the tide calculated correctly, much to our relief and we both made it back to Charmouth in one piece - Simon in a creditable 5hrs 45mins and John the last finisher overall in just over 8hrs 40mins.
Rock on!