Lessons From Surf-Running 300 Miles Around Cornwall

It went overwhelmingly well! As I explained previously, I’ve got almost zero experience taking on adventures of this scale and I had some pretty big doubts about whether I’d be able to do it. To be back home, having completed it, is crazy and the support I’ve received along the way has been mindblowing.

I was always expecting it to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done - and don’t get me wrong, it absolutely was - but I wasn’t expecting it to also be the funnest thing I’ve ever done! In the downtime around the running, we managed a lot of surfing, sunset BBQs on the beach and even some fishing. We also had three weeks of basically endless sunshine, which helped a lot!

1. It sounds cliché, but sometimes the best adventure truly is the one on your doorstep

I met lots of people who had travelled from all over the world to walk the South West Coast Path - including somebody who had come all the way from Australia! Living in Cornwall, I sometimes forget how special it is to have a multi-day trail like that right on our doorstep. There were sections where I ran for hours without passing anything more than small villages and a few people - it was as good running as I’ve experienced anywhere in the world. 

Also, being the first time I’ve done something like this, it brought me comfort to be in a familiar place and know that help / my home were only ever a short drive away. Especially when things inevitably go wrong… 

2. Things are going to go wrong, but it’s up to you how you deal with them

We ran into some challenges along the way, like when our dog Oreo broke his claw partway through the trip and needed sedation for the veterinary surgeon to remove it. There were also incidents of lost keys, ferries not turning up and trying to stay fuelled up to avoid the hanger…

What I’m most proud of is how positive we remained as a team, and laughed it all off. It would’ve been easy to throw our toys out of the pram, especially in such a fatigued state from all the running and sun exposure, but we didn’t. Instead, we made a conscious decision to seek out the joy and be patient with one another. I feel like Katie and I learnt a lot about communicating on this trip!

3. Take the time to rest

It’s easy to feel like you should be moving at all times, to squeeze the most juice out of the adventure and feel every emotion to the fullest. But some of my favourite moments of this adventure were during the down times.

I took a rest day every 5th day, and whilst at times I didn’t feel like my legs needed the rest, it did wonders for my mindset and also gave my support crew time to unwind and enjoy the trip too.

I think that approach has also made a huge difference in terms of recovering from the adventure. I was expecting a big post-adventure crash, as my body realised the trauma of what I’d just put it through and biological/hormonal systems readjusted, but that hasn’t come (yet!). Instead, I am in a happy bubble of post-adventure bliss.

In the short term, I’m going to pick up the custom surfboard that I had shaped by Bos Surfboards to commemorate this adventure (thank you, Passenger!) and enjoy time spent with family and watching some close friends get married.

In the medium term, I’m hoping to slowly build my running back up - there are a few smaller local adventures I want to take on whilst the days are still long. I’m also very excited to see how the film that Amon Shaw shot during this adventure comes out - with a bit of luck, we’ll be premiering the film at outdoor film festivals this autumn/winter, so watch this space…

In the long term, I’ve definitely got more projects I want to take on in the crossover between trail running and surfing. Hopefully this is the first of many!