Jersey is an amazing place and running around the island coastal path seemed like a great way to explore the coastline. The GPX route starts and finishes at the Steam Clock in St Helier, running anti-clockwise. I set off from the Steam Clock at 06:41 on 24th July on what turned out to be a hotter day than forecast with temperatures reaching 25 degrees. I packed enough food for the whole run, and 2 litres of water. I'd planned to use shops for topping up water on route so this is a solo 'self-supported' attempt.
The first section of the run heading up the east coast is mainly tarmac and easy to settle into a consistent pace. The terrain changes once you reach the north east of the island and by then the sun was really picking up in strength. Running along the north coast through Rozel, Bouley Bay, and on to Bonne Nuit it was starting to feel like a real effort with punchy climbs and overheating and from that point on I struggled to eat real food and switched to gels and jelly babies for the remainder of the run. I stopped to top up water at Bonne Nuit with a detour down to the shop on the bay, and again at Greve de Lecq. This was followed by a challenging stretch through to Grosnez navigating through large groups of walkers and lots of steps. The scenery along the north coast is stunning and on another day I could have happily sat down at one of the many benches along the way and taken it all in :)
The route down the west coast flattened out and it became easier to settle into a consistent rhythm for most of the run back to St Helier. I stopped again for water on that stretch hoping that would be the last time, but with the temperature still rising I needed to stop once more with about 10k to go.
With St Helier in sight I started to enjoy the final flat section in to the finish at the Steam Clock, and completed the run in 7hrs 54mins. The GPX route and the roads, paths and trails were generally easy to follow and the changing terrain made for a great day out. I'll be coming back to Jersey again soon but probably take things at a slower pace to enjoy the scenery and an ice-cream or two :)