A local route to me, it seemed ideal for my first ever FKT attempt. I had run it a week ago just to check the route, which was a good experience as I did make a couple of mistakes on that recce run.
I wore road shoes, as I knew that the mud sections would be firm after 2 weeks no rain. But actually, having raced most of the off road sections last year (the Hayling 10 and Portsmouth Coastal Marathon between them cover the off road parts), and both times in cold torrential rain, road shoes are still ok even then.
I parked at the Eastney end, as its free parking all day, and caught the little ferry across to Hayling, it’s a timetabled service, and £3 fare. I would recommend starting with the ferry, as that way you avoid the potential of finishing and having to wait ages for the next ferry. There is parking at Hayling (£3 for 3 hours), which is in the pub carpark (or 3 hours free parking if you spend £5 in the pub!!). There are also toilets at the Hayling end.
I did this run within 2-3 hours of low tide, as there is a section at the top of Langstone Harbour where the sea wall has collapsed, and at high tide the ground gets covered by the sea, and being so uneven, would be dangerous (plus you would get wet!!).
I got off to a bad start, as about a mile from the start, there is a little footpath you need to traverse. I missed the start of this, so had to double back, and it’s very overgrown, the stinging nettles and brambles reduced me to a walk a few times. Fortunately its only 200m long approx., if you are doing this route for pleasure than skip this footpath, and use Sinah Lane instead, but for an FKT, it is part of the official Waterside Walk route.
You then run up the old Billy Line (the old Havant to Hayling railway), with a slight detour at the top around the Oyster Beds, which is a nature reserve for birds, and very well maintained.
I got to the point where the sea wall has collapsed, still a bit damp underfoot, but otherwise easy enough, and that then leads to a beach section, which is pebbles, not covered by the sea other than at very high tides, so not a problem, just hard work!
Towards the end of the route, coming down the Eastern Road, there is a section where the sea defences work is still going on (after several years!!), so I had to detour off and run along the pavement instead for a short distance. Its probably slightly longer with the detour, but better underfoot, and it runs adjacent to where the path was and will be again once the sea defences works are completed later this year.
The 2nd beach section, around Eastney Beach, wasn’t too bad today, slightly waterlogged in a couple of places, slippery and your feet sink in the wet sand! Just a bit of care needed, at high tide it’s a lot worse, passable, but wetter!!
Overall, a great route, which I did totally unsupported, carrying my own gels and water, as it was a hot morning.