Mountain, Forest, Plains, City & Coast - the entire unmarked county unitary authority boundary in one go. The route stitches together a mixture of unmarked trails, national footpath routes and road to complete the first known circumnavigation of the Welsh Capital City's Border. Previously thought to be unpassable as an entire route, the all terrain course required meticulous pre-planning combined with last minute 'on the go' revisions to counter the difficult autumnal conditions (with Storm Aiden causing complete inaccessibility to some river crossings).
Starting on the Rhymney Ridgeway trail, the first mile sees a steep ascent to the rocky ridgeline, before following 2 miles of woodland trails East to the Coed Coesau car park. A short jog along Cefn-Porth Rd links to the second woodland block in Coed Cadwgan, with three miles of fire track, technical forest trails and fields before crossing the Rhymney River into the bogs of Druidstone. The following 5 miles covers the Newport wetlands through golf courses, farmland and small villages, before hitting the Wales Coast Path at Wentlooge. Here the route heads West for the first time, with 3 miles of elevated coastal footpath, followed by a mile of beach navigation before you meet the Cardiff flats. The coast path continues around the industrial areas of Cardiff, before arriving at the Bay, where you travel along the barrage before turning back and heading past the Pier Head building, the Senedd and the Millennium Centre. Mile 25 crosses the Wetlands Reserve, before joining the Ely River trail for 10 miles of riverside running, crossing the river and heading towards Leckwith Woods at Waungron Park. Here the route weaves through a mixture of woodland and residential areas, heading past Caerau Fort toward St Fagans. Passing through through the ancient woodland at Y Garreg Fawr, the route weaves through open farmland and around the grade 2 listed St Y Nyll Windmill, before the long slog up the A4119 hill towards Creigiau. The sustained climb continues, following farm tracks before heading deep into the Creigiau Forest. Breaking through the trees, it continues up through moorland before the slow climb to the Trig Point on Garth mountain. This is followed by a long, steep, technical descent down single track to the river basin, where the route winds through Gwaelod y Garth woods before crossing the River Taff and heading up a steep woodland scramble to Castell Coch, before continuing up into Fforest Fawr. The final 5 miles then rejoin the Rhymney Rigeway trail, through rocky single track and sweeping woodlands before dropping down to the back of Cefnon Park and the final few hundred metres to the finish, completing the full navigation of the Welsh Capital City border. Since the route is a loop you may start / finish at any point, and you may run either direction.
