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Poet on the Run

Finding sense and making art – one run at a time

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A year ago today, @a.cameron2478 and I set out to run the Rennsteig together. . Everybody needs that one friend who you can text out of the blue with "I booked these days off in [month], we're going on an adventure". Al is that friend. . Over the last few years we have, in the course of our friendship: > Had our tents freeze solid on the first night of a multi day ❄🤦‍♀️ > Had a trail run interrupted by a wild boar 🐗😬 > Arrived at a town for resupply to discover that the entire place was closed ⛔ > On the same day, been rescued and given a lift to a low key biker place by an incognito American on the former East/West German border 🇺🇸 > Been treated to unexpected schnapps and yodelling 🎼 > Got lost... followed by tramping through a featureless bog, bush-whacking our way round a ravine, taking a bearing towards the river and hope... ↔️ > Post-holed through knee deep snow in shorts🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️ > Climbed along narrow cliff edges, through tiny gullies, up and down shonky ladders, and rock-hopped out of dead end gorges 🧗‍♀️ > Been mistaken for film actors in the world's most local of locals 🎥 > Discovered that local game sausage is delicious, but makes your entire pack smell of garlic ☢️ > Skirted both hypothermia and heat exhaustion 🌡️ > Legged it for trains, buses and ferries. Missed trains, buses and ferries. Had fun with rescheduled trains, buses and ferries.🚂 > Somehow become better friends with every set of shenanigans we get into 😅 . 📸 1)Rennsteig April 2019, 2 & 3) Harzer Hexenstieg April 2017, 4&5) Sächsische Schweiz Nov 2018, 6,7&8) Sächsische Schweiz Aug 2019
Trail Magic 🏞️ Feeling very ready to do some poeting at Permission to Speak tonight after my weekend soaking up the genuine article. 💕 If you're Midlands based, why not come join us - 7.30 at Claptrap in Stourbridge. 🎨 Gorgeous artwork by the very talented @natadamsillustration 🌌
The Grizzly was a beast, but hot damn it was so much fun! 😁 This weekend I managed to bump into a whole load of people I know from the trail community, including @wiggilly while crossing a cold river on Branscombe Beach, and Mark my old running coach from when I was a kid down in Paignton while coming up the Stairway to Heaven 💕 Being to run with @storminformin for his first taste of Devon hills (they really don't mess about) was a treat, and getting a last minute high five from a running hero at Seaton Gardens just topped it off. I needed Sunday more than I realised. It definitely healed something after the Arc50, to be able to feel really strong on that kind of terrain again, and feeling better and better as the distance clicked over. #borninthemud #racedaystories
Brumtown, you're not bad 😍 . Sunrise at this morning's #runforcoffee
Here's a fun one - 4 years ago today I ran my first ever trail race, the @mash_running 10k on Cannock Chase (05/03/2016). I remember it being a big deal. Cut to 2 years later and I ran the SW Coast Path self supported, carrying a tent, sleeping bag, and all my kit. 6 weeks after that I raced my first 100km at Race to the Stones. Another 2 years on from that running 50 miles in and of itself stopped being scary, so I raced the Arc50, which was. And I'm now working towards a rematch with the Coast Path to see how fast I can do it, because what was straight up impossible a few years ago, now feels terrifyingly close to being in reach. The upshot is - progress is a thing that sneaks up on you. And if right now you're reading this and going "you're off your rocker, I could never do that" - give it some time. You never know what might suddenly, somehow, be possible. #throwbackthursday #hardworkpaysoff #trusttheprocess #thisgirlcan #runlikeagirl . 📸 (March 2016, May 2018, July 2018, December 2019, February 2020, upcoming: September 2020)
Questionable Business 🌥️ With credit to @natadamsillustration for letting me use her beautiful artwork 😍 . . . . My debut collection, 'a sky the colour of hope' with @vervepoetrypress is now available for pre order at @waterstones 🌅💜

Recent Posts

  • Lessons from Barn Swallows
  • Trail Magic
  • Telling the Story
  • Tales from the Trail: Inconvenient Water
  • Tales from the Trail – Homecoming

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A year ago today, @a.cameron2478 and I set out to run the Rennsteig together. . Everybody needs that one friend who you can text out of the blue with "I booked these days off in [month], we're going on an adventure". Al is that friend. . Over the last few years we have, in the course of our friendship: > Had our tents freeze solid on the first night of a multi day ❄🤦‍♀️ > Had a trail run interrupted by a wild boar 🐗😬 > Arrived at a town for resupply to discover that the entire place was closed ⛔ > On the same day, been rescued and given a lift to a low key biker place by an incognito American on the former East/West German border 🇺🇸 > Been treated to unexpected schnapps and yodelling 🎼 > Got lost... followed by tramping through a featureless bog, bush-whacking our way round a ravine, taking a bearing towards the river and hope... ↔️ > Post-holed through knee deep snow in shorts🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️ > Climbed along narrow cliff edges, through tiny gullies, up and down shonky ladders, and rock-hopped out of dead end gorges 🧗‍♀️ > Been mistaken for film actors in the world's most local of locals 🎥 > Discovered that local game sausage is delicious, but makes your entire pack smell of garlic ☢️ > Skirted both hypothermia and heat exhaustion 🌡️ > Legged it for trains, buses and ferries. Missed trains, buses and ferries. Had fun with rescheduled trains, buses and ferries.🚂 > Somehow become better friends with every set of shenanigans we get into 😅 . 📸 1)Rennsteig April 2019, 2 & 3) Harzer Hexenstieg April 2017, 4&5) Sächsische Schweiz Nov 2018, 6,7&8) Sächsische Schweiz Aug 2019
Poetry

Lessons from Barn Swallows

The summer wind brought me in and I came to rest In the harbour where he found me; Wind-circler, carrying … Continue reading Lessons from Barn Swallows

Trail Magic
Poetry

Trail Magic

They say that salt water is a great purifier So I will run to the sea Turn my bones to … Continue reading Trail Magic

Telling the Story
Adventures, Running, SWCP, Trail Running

Telling the Story

It has been nearly 8 months now since I completed the South West Coast Path and I still struggle to … Continue reading Telling the Story

Tales from the Trail: Inconvenient Water
Adventures, Running, SWCP, Trail Running

Tales from the Trail: Inconvenient Water

So it’s been a little while since I did a proper write up but this one seems apt to start … Continue reading Tales from the Trail: Inconvenient Water

Tales from the Trail – Homecoming
Adventures, Hiking, Running, SWCP, Trail Running

Tales from the Trail – Homecoming

And on the fifth day, I was in Devon. My running buddy John had decided to come down and run … Continue reading Tales from the Trail – Homecoming

Tales from the Trail – Dorset
Adventures, Hiking, Running, SWCP, Trail Running

Tales from the Trail – Dorset

Well, I have a whole new appreciation for why they call it ‘the Rollercoaster’…. Day 1 took me from Studland … Continue reading Tales from the Trail – Dorset

Saddle Up
Adventures, Running, SWCP, Trail Running

Saddle Up

It’s go time. Eighteen months of preparation, of training, worrying, pushing myself to the limits of what I could handle, … Continue reading Saddle Up

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