FKT: Andy Rowland - Socratic Trail - 2024-09-21

Started the self-supported attempt at 7.46am, from St. Johns’s church/Grange Park in Old Couldson, on Saturday 21st October. Foggy but mild start. A few overgrown path but nothing too major to navigate. There were a few farmers fields where the existing GPX route was different to the allowable route from one side to the other (seemed to be longer!) The only main deviation from the route occurred at the South of England Agricultral Society grounds, which had a ticketed event, that was off limits to me. This meant running around the outside of the grounds, rather than cutting straight through This added on at least 2km to the route.  My supplies were purchased from a local shop in Copthorne for bottled water and a can of energy drink. The only other amenity I used was a petrol station at Scaynes Hill, where I again bought water and another energy drink. Everything else I carried from the start. The fog cleared quite early to sunny conditions, then cloudy, followed by a brief shower around midday and then a clear bright and sunny rest of the day. The middle section was definetly the hardest to navigate as tmost of the paths seem barley used, the farm fields were left to grown wild in quite a few places. A wet and warm end to the summer has meant the brambles and nettles have thrived, making it quite painful in places. I saw 5 or 6 deer over the day and 2 huge birds of prey. The last few climbs were the hardest and steepest of the route, especially going over the South Downs around mile 60-65ish. The steps up to Kempton race course was also a sting in the tail. But, from there it was pretty much down hill to Brighton marina and the coast. Overall, it’s a fairly runnable course if the conditions would be good. A lot more road than I thought, and with no pavements, it can be quite treacherous with some fast A roads. Without the deviations, overgrown/looking for paths and a bit of a queue in the petrol station, a sub 10hour could definitely have been possible.