Mr B's 620m Coastal Walk - Cancer Research UK

[MrB]

Hello all. On 5th August I will be embarking on a 20 day, 620 mile solo walk along the coast of Britain from Edinburgh back to sunny Southend-on-Sea. I'm raising funds for Cancer Research UK and the link to my page is:

http://www.justgiving.com/B620Miles

Any donations you can spare, however small, would be very much appreciated.

Thank you for listening :thumbsup:

 

[A Century United]

Only five days to go - good luck and a fair wind!

 

[MrB]

Cheers. Getting rather nervous now!! With a thunderstorm brewing in Edinburgh this weekend it's not going to be a fun start.

If anyone would like to sponsor me please note that my company is matching any donations received so even if you can only spare a little, your donation will be doubled. Thank you.

http://www.justgiving.com/B620Miles

 

[MK Shrimper]

Very best of luck mate, great cause. :thumbsup:

 

[OldBlueLady]

Was featured in the Echo on Thursday or Friday, can't remember which now - best of luck as you start your journey!

 

[Cricko]

With B's mammoth walk starting today I have moved this thread to the pub so we can all follow the daily routes etc and add support.

Leg 1 - Edinburgh to Dunbar - 37.01 miles

You can also follow his regular updates here..https://www.facebook.com/groups/419038898124186/

 

[canveyshrimper]

Cheers. Getting rather nervous now!! With a thunderstorm brewing in Edinburgh this weekend it's not going to be a fun start.

If anyone would like to sponsor me please note that my company is matching any donations received so even if you can only spare a little, your donation will be doubled. Thank you.

http://www.justgiving.com/B620Miles

Good luck mate, it's a great cause. I'm off to raid my piggy bank and Cricko's pension book.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Here's the link to the Echo feature for anyone that didn't see it...
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_news/southend/9854816.Paul___s_620_miles_in_20_days___on_foot/

 

[The General]

Not sure B had much fun on Day 1 due to the rain ... something which we got down here today as well but he knew he was goin to get wet at some point, especially whilst in Scotland.

Kev

 

[Cricko]

Leg 2 - Dunbar to Berwick - 30.42 miles

 

[Jam_Man]

Wow 31 miles a day for 20 days, thats pretty incredible.

Good luck Mr B!

 

[MrB]

Hello all, got Wifi for the first time. Thanks for the updates Cricko! Been tough as hell, especially on the first day as Kev said. Got a rainy day tomorrow but hopefully ok after that. First blisters forming but hoping to keep them at bay with Compeed. If he weather stays ok I have a very nice coastal walk from Berwick to Alnwick tomorrow. A big if though with heavy showers forecast for the afternoon!

Was flying the flag on the first day :smile:

Startingon day one

 

[Cricko]

Leg 3 - Berwick to Alnwick - 32.06 miles

​

 

[MrB]

What a horribly crap day :thumbdown:

 

[Cricko]

Leg 4 - Alnwick to Blyth - 30.85 miles

 

[Cricko]

Leg 5 - Blyth to Sunderland - 25.38 miles

 

[MK Shrimper]

Short one today then :winking:

 

[MrB]

Yep, not even a marathon, shocking laziness! :smile:

 

[Cricko]

Mr B reports:

So day 5 completed and another good day. Firstly the route. Set off from Blyth early doors, the hotel was by the Quayside so I was already on the coast second drop down to the beach straight away. Not as spectacular as yesterday's beach but nice nonetheless. This beach ran for about 4 miles to a village called Seaton Sluice where I rejoined the link road and headed down to Whitley Bay and then on to Tynemouth which was a mix of beach and promenade. From there I followed a walkway that ran along the side of the entrance of the Tyne. The idea was to head up to the pedestrian subway to cross but I spotted a ferry that ran back and forth, at £1.40 I thought this would be far more pleasant! This cut out a couple of miles so to stay on track I headed North to the coast through South Shields town centre rather than cutting across to the mapped route. When I got to the coast I had a stop for a drink and a bite to eat then headed on along the coast. There was a National Trust coastal trail further down and after previous experiences I was reluctant to chance it but there was plenty of people about so I went ahead and it was certainly more pleasant than others! The trail rejoined the main road near the outskirts of Sunderland and I had some more beach to walk down before again cutting in along the river Wear and arriving in the town centre.

I'm feeling pretty good right now as whilst the walk was the shortest, I felt fine at the end and feel like I could have done another 5 miles which is encouraging for the 30 mile routes to come. Feel like maybe my feet are getting used to it now, they say the human body is highly adaptable! Also helps that I was taking the time to rest regularly rather than thinking indeed to plow onto get it finished. Today's weather was perfect, plenty of cloud cover and a nice breeze of the coast but enough sun to keep me happy. The previous day was super hot which i think contributed to my big fade towards the end. According to the weather the coast will continue to keep some cloud so wont be as warm as the centre of the country so happy with that. Another unexpected boost came from not having my Nike+ watches to use, I thought this would be annoying but in fact not having the watches meant I wasn't constantly checking the miles, speed or time and in fact it meant that time flew by much quicker. I think I might send them home with Heather on Sunday! I'll just have to manually map the final route when I get back. It also helps that the whole route was in populated areas making the route easier to follow. Tomorrow's route should be similar but I suspect I'll be back into the wilderness when I get to Yorkshire!

It's been quite an eye opener for me, I've always thought of the North East is being the typical 'grim oop' stereotype but I couldn't be more wrong. The whole North East coastline is beautiful, the locals are friendly and I've really enjoyed it. Having said that I haven't got to Middlesbrough yet!

I diverted slightly to take a wander round the Stadium of Light, hard to believe Southend played there in the league not so long ago (in fact I think some of the SZ lads went). A world of difference now. The old Roker Park site is nearby but that's now a housing estate so I chose not to visit! Think we lost 7-0 there once! Respect to the locals, you don't see a single other shirt than Sunderland's once you pass the City border. A bit different to Southend where you see a whole miss mash. I've even seen kids wearing Man City shirts recently which makes me want to vomit with disgust! I'll letGav McMahon off as I think he started supporting them a couple of weeks before they won the title ;-) I wonder if the kids I saw wearing Blackburn shirts back in 95 now have season tickets at Ewood?


So 5 days done and I'm 150 miles in, slightly behind my original schedule but looking good for the revised one. My feet feel not too bad tonight, no new blisters and I bought a load of new sports socks in Blyth which felt very comfy today. Feeling more confident about the rest of it now. I'm still realistic and 560 miles is still going to be stretch but I'm feeling a million times better than I did on Tuesday night!!! Also looking forward to Heather coming to visit on Saturday :-)

There's a Wetherspoons beneath the Lodge so I'm off to get myself fed. Bring on tomorrow xx

 

[Cricko]

Leg 6 - Sunderland to Middlesbrough - 29.65 miles