Run Britain Day 101-102: Galloway peninsula and the terrible weather

The Galloway peninsula has one road leading down to its tip, which marks the most southerly point in Scotland. This is the kind of peninsula that it would be very tempting to skip, or at least only run in one direction. But I was determined to make it to the lighthouse at the end of the road, despite the gathering storm.

I ran straight into a headwind to the lighthouse and was greeted by a very friendly decorator and his partner who let me and Simon take refuge in the closed cafe. I then headed back up the same road with the wind behind me towards Portpatrick on the west coast and our next stop.

By the following day, the storm had reached full force. 60mph winds, a temperature which (according to Strava) ‘felt like minus 15’ and a sleet-filled downpour. I only managed 10km towards Stranraer on dangerously icy roads.

It is moments like this when I do question Run Britain, especially doing this in the winter. I know Elise Downing (who was the first woman to run Britain’s coastline) struggled to make much headway on this section and she ended up taking ferries over to various islands, where the roads are less busy. I can fully sympathise with that. The road running should be quite straight forward, but when the conditions are bad, it can feel incredibly dangerous. The coast path is also too dangerous in the wind - the lady who runs the post office in Portpatrick said that she would have to call out the lifeboat if I had attempted to run along the clifftop today.