Hartside Cafe to Allenheads

The weather was glorious today and a quick decent into Garigill was easily achieved.

I'd got 1 mile into the run and had to use, not a farmers field but a deserted house, that looked like the local shop from the League of Gentlemen TV show. Very scary, particularly on Halloween.

Once again I paused at the top of the hill past Garigill and took in how far I'd run. I could actually still see the cafe at Hartside almost 10 miles away and was pretty sad to leave this particular view behind.

There were 2 major climbs today. 1 out of Garigill and 1 out of Nanthead up to the highest point on the C2C route.

The final decent into Allenheads was a lonely one with only very nervous sheep to keep me company. I should have gone on a further couple of miles today but quite frankly I couldn't be bothered. 5 days and 86 miles had taken there toll on my very tired legs.

Langwathby to Hartside Cafe

Due to an appointment with the midwife in the afternoon I had only a short time to reach the summit at Hartside.

The conditions at the start in Langwathby were cold and foggy and the only inspiration came from Katy who was doing a good job keeping my spirits up.

Right from the start, I could see the cafe at Hartside, high up in the hills through the fog.

Thanks must go again to another farmer for the use of his field. I think I'll only have 2 Weetabix tomorrow!

This was the hardest part of the run so far and finished with an off road climb of 5 miles. Which was nice.

There was a particular scary moment as I crossed a ravine with a 30 foot drop either side and just a thin path to cross it on. I made it across safely though.

There was just time for a nice cuppa and a scone in the cafe that I'd had my sights set on for the last 3 hours.

Askew Rigg Farm to Langwathby

It was just a short drive from our digs in Penrith to the start point. Yet again I made use of a farmer's field. There's nothing quite like the great outdoors! The rain had started and continued for the first 10 miles.

An old man in Greystoke stopped and asked me if I wanted a lift. I politely declined but was tempted to ask him if he was going anywhere near Penrith.

It was a great feeling crossing the M6 motorway into Penrith and I felt as if a major milestone had been achieved. I couldn't help but look back several times to see how far I had run. In the distance I could still see Blencathra, and Clough Head near Keswick. But they seemed like many miles away.

Low Lawton to Askew Rigg Farm

The sun actually got out this morning and it was a pleasure to run through the Lake District in a decent temperature.

The first challenge of the day was to take an impromptu toilet visit in a field at the foot of Whinlatter Pass. Apologies to the respective farmer and his rather shocked cows.

Whinlatter Pass was one of the highlights of the whole run, despite being very steep. But as I always say, for every up hill there's always a down hill to follow.

I made it into Keswick for lunch and being the fitness freak that I am, opted for Fish and Chips. There was just time for an hour's shopping with Katy and then it was onto the A66 via Blencathra to the 40 mile point.

Whitehaven to Low Lawton

I awoke this morning to the news of a severe weather warning. Luckily for me the South of England seemed to be the worst affected and the winds weren't that bad for the first 13 miles to Lamplugh. After that, they seemed to die down all together or it could have been the fact that I was sheltered by the surrounding mountains.

Fortunately I had Katy on hand to supply me with food and drink every other mile. She seemed to enjoy herself in the countryside despite being 8 months pregnant.

The last 7 miles went very quickly as there was plenty of scenery to look at. I finished off in Low Lawton in what turned out to be quite a sunny afternoon.