I started just after 5:30am on a glorious Saturday morning at the Wingate entrance to the Hart to Haswell walkway, locally known as the Lines.
I had a backpack with supplies consisting of bananas, flapjacks and 4 500ml bottles of water.
The first few miles were pleasant, running through the local nature reserve for approximately 5 miles. What I didn't realise at the time, but would find out later, is this section was all a very gradual decline, unnoticeable to me at that point. I crossed the railway bridge at Crimdon and headed down to the coast to follow the established trail along the sand dunes and down to the beach for a couple of miles running on sand. That was a real leg drainer but the scenery was amazing and I had to stop a few times to snap some photos. The route then takes you back up off the beach at Steetley Pier and then in to Hartlepool. I then ran towards the centre of Hartlepool, which was basically one long road and then on to Seaton Carew. I got back on the coast and followed the promenade along the sea front until I got to Hartlepool Marina. The stretch along the promenade was lovely and flat and helped the legs out a lot. I then headed towards Hartlepool headland and back to the railway crossing bridge at Crimdon. The route then takes you back along the Lines... which is where I realised that it was going to be a gradual uphill run all the way back. This section killed me and my pace slowed massively at this point. I got back to the Wingate entrance to complete the loop in 4 hours 31 minutes and 36 seconds.
This is a great local circular route with amazing scenery, views of the coast and local landmarks. A varied mix of terrain including paths, trails and sand makes this a challenging but very enjoyable route. I will be attempting this again soon to try and put a better time on the board!