Run Britain Days 145 - 148: A second winter from John O’Groats to Brora

The north east corner of Scotland is not my favourite. I had perhaps become too accustomed to the spectacular beauty of the west coast, with its mountains and lochs. In the east, the water still sparkles in the sunshine, but it’s not the clear turquoise of the north coast, or the deep blue of the west. 

There is also supposed to be a coast path, but it’s not maintained well enough to run it enjoyably.  

And the biggest problem is the wind. This is a barren place with no hills or trees (or even many buildings) to break up the relentlessness of a southerly headwind. I spent two days running into gale force winds, with gusts that reached 60mph. It was brutal. 

Just south of Wick, I had to retreat inland to run loops of a forest. But it was there that we found the oasis. The Puldagon farm shop and cafe is a friendly and welcoming place with several deserving Scotland tourism awards displayed proudly around its walls. 

The entrance feels like you’re pulling into someone’s house, and I suppose that is really what this place is. It’s a small working farm, with sheep and horses, and a wonderful cafe and shop attached. All run by the loveliest owners, who only expressed mild shock at the fact that I was going to run multiple 11km loops of the track around the edge of the farm, in the hail and hurricane, using the farm shop as a base. 

We ate well that day and parked up in their driveway to shelter from the wind for a night. 

Back into the headwinds on day 147 was a difficult experience. It’s the first time for a while that I have finished a run (30km) and cried because of how hard it was. But by day 148, things had calmed down a little bit and I was at least able to enjoy the afternoon. 

In Brora, were hosted by some more incredibly generous strangers. By the time I arrived in their driveway at 5pm, Lottie was plugged into the electric and a chicken stew was waiting for us. They even let us use a proper shower with steam room function. 

Once again, it’s the kindness of strangers which is making this trip so special. Both online and in person, people are going out of their way to help and get involved. It is incredibly heartwarming.