FKT: Tremayne Cowdry - Stour Valley Walk (United Kingdom) - 2024-04-16

Athletes
Route variation
one way
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Self-supported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
9h 57m 0s
GPS track(s)
Report

My 3rd attempt at this. The first I made it to Canterbury, the 2nd I got cold and gave up and now success at last. The first 20 miles is pretty flat and meanders across lots of farmland. One of the early fields was flooded so my feet got soaked early which was pretty annoying. It was well marked although probably not well enough not to use a gpx. I ran the first section well and refilled my bottles in Ashford. The section coming into Wye is pretty exposed and I got cold here last time and It was pretty cold again but I had better layers this time.

From Wye its roughly 11 miles to Canterbury and this was my favourite section. Up and over the Downs, rolling hills, woodland and the bluebells were out so it was lovely. I refilled again in Canterbury and was glad I was carrying 3 x 500ml bottles because there is very little in the way of shops after Canterbury. 

The last section is about 20+ miles and largely across flat farm land and through orchards. A lot of it was across ploughed fields with no track. This would be impossible with out the gpx. I was still running well as I reached Sandwich but as I got on the coast the wind picked up and I had to run the last few miles were the hardest going. The last mile all signs of a path had disappeared and I was totally reliant on the Gpx. The very last bit involved leaping a fence and trudging through very long grass to a non descript point on the shore. No sign to say the trail had finished just the end of the Gpx. It is now an hours walk back to civilisation. Overall I enjoyed the day but have no plans to do it again.