Running Mania

Hey folks... I did a quick search here and saw that Chainsaw Baby has hiked/run part(s) of the West Highland Way, so I know there's at least one person who can provide info, but thought I'd also post in case there might be others!

In a couple of weeks, I'm heading out on a 6-week vacation. It does include some running plans already:

• It starts with a run in the Grand Canyon -- not likely the full rim-to-rim-to-rim; it's looking like I'll turn around at the 40k mark, but I'll decide on game day, after I see how fast we're all going, how I'm feeling, and so on. (Then we have a night in Vegas. Should be interesting...)
• May 18th, I'll be doing the 20k de Bruxelles. (The irony here is that I didn't do the Boston marathon because I didn't want to run with that many people, and this race has 40,000. I only checked and saw that AFTER my friend in Brussels registered us. He says it's great fun... We'll see!)

Aside from that, I'll be spending several days each with a friend in Dublin (and visiting/having lunch at her office - Google!) and another in Derby. I also plan to head up to the Scottish Highlands, which is where the West Highland Way comes in!

So, does anyone have any opinions/advice on:

• The best sections of the WHW to do? Especially if one is alone? (Though I might poke around for running groups there. I had nice success with that when I went to Australia several years ago.)
• Best runs around Dublin?
• Best runs around Derby? And maybe the Lake District?
• Any other places to run/favourite events, etc. in the UK (I have a fair bit of unplanned time and will likely have a Britrail Britain and Ireland pass so am flexible), or not too far from the UK or Belgium?

Hey Heather, checkout Ramblers, they help organize sag service for walking tours. I would think you could incorporate a running tour this way.

Also look at Coast to Coast Walk. A co-worker is heading out next week to do this. However this is in the north of England and likely 4 or so hours south of the Highlands, I'm not sure if that will be too far for you.

My co-worker also suggested looking at this site http://www.woc2015.org/info/training-areas, there might be some maps you can work with or give you some ideas to work with.

Stampie wrote:Hey Heather, checkout Ramblers, they help organize sag service for walking tours. I would think you could incorporate a running tour this way.

Also look at Coast to Coast Walk. A co-worker is heading out next week to do this. However this is in the north of England and likely 4 or so hours south of the Highlands, I'm not sure if that will be too far for you.

My co-worker also suggested looking at this site http://www.woc2015.org/info/training-areas, there might be some maps you can work with or give you some ideas to work with.

Thank you! Will check this all out.

While in Dublin check out Phoenix park. Www.phoenixpark.ie. it's very beautiful and a lot like Central Park in NYC. Just outside Dublin are the Wicklow mountains and glendalough. There are really nice trails up there.

With your rail pass I highly recommend heading out to the dingle peninsula. It is stunning! Check out dinglemarathon.ie and you can see the loop around the peninsula.

Stampie wrote:Hey Heather, checkout Ramblers, they help organize sag service for walking tours. I would think you could incorporate a running tour this way.

Also look at Coast to Coast Walk. A co-worker is heading out next week to do this. However this is in the north of England and likely 4 or so hours south of the Highlands, I'm not sure if that will be too far for you.

My co-worker also suggested looking at this site http://www.woc2015.org/info/training-areas, there might be some maps you can work with or give you some ideas to work with.

The Coast to Coast walk starts in the Lake District, or you can just do the trail from St Bee's to Whitehaven http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/butterm ... 403664029/

Thanks, folks!