‘The Sand is for the feet of the runner’ 

<Author: Gerry O'Boyle>

Welcome to our blog. We hope you can join us, by reading this (or maybe even joining us at some stage) and following our progress along the way. Whether you’re a reader or a runner (or both) we will try to keep this fun and interesting. So, as you read this, please try to keep up with us. We promise not to go too fast!

Our adventure will start on Saturday 11 February 2017 in the village of Omeath, Co. Louth.

Our task sounds really simple - we are going to run along the coast of County Down in different stages during the calendar year of 2017. Maybe we’ll continue and do the whole coast of N. Ireland, but let’s see how we get on with County Down first! 

We hope to complete our task in stages (just one stage of approximately 20-30 miles one day every month) and we’re starting the first leg of our long journey in Omeath, Co. Louth (just south of Newry) on Saturday 11 February 2017. On this date, we will run along the coast from Omeath to Rostrevor. One month later, on Saturday 11 March, we’ll continue our run from Rostrevor to Kilkeel and on Saturday 1 April, we’ll run from Kilkeel to Dundrum. We will then continue this pattern for the rest of the year, dates and stages to be decided later. 

Remember, we are running south to north, keeping the sea on our right hand side and strictly following the coast at all times. Of course, a nice beach along the way (and there are many) will help us stick to our task, which reminds me of what Oscar Wilde said about the Greeks and their attitude to life.

 "They never chattered about sunsets, or discussed whether the shadows on the grass were really mauve or not, but they saw that the sea was for the swimmer, and the sand for the feet of the runner".  

So read on chapter by chapter and follow our journey ……………

So here we are ……….. our mission and intention is to run along the coast of county Down! And the next question you ask is; how LONG exactly is the coast of County Down? Well that depends – strictly speaking, it’s probably about 200 miles. That is, if you also go around the inner ‘coast’ of Strangford Lough. However, we could take a very convenient (and acceptable) shortcut, crossing on the ferry from Strangford to Portaferry and probably save ourselves a 50 mile round trip and so reduce our journey down to about 150 miles...... but no shortcuts for us ....we’ll take the long road and complete the whole coast, including the inner circular coast around Strangford Lough, so yes, 200 miles.


Whose idea was this anyway?
I must admit I’ve had this idea (in my head) for a long time. Then one of my colleagues at North Down Athletic Club actually stole this idea - my idea! Well, that’s not technically true. As I hadn’t actually told anyone about my plan, I can’t really accuse someone of stealing my idea. Terry Eakin decided himself in 2013 that he was going to run the whole coast of Northern Ireland (not just County Down!) – and he did complete it and ran all the way around the coast of N. Ireland in the calendar year of 2013. Terry told me that he enjoyed his coastal run much more than any race or event that he had ever completed in his life. I understood completely what he meant and this made me envy Terry’s adventure even more. I was also secretly determined to follow in his footsteps, but I still kept the idea to myself, until 8 October 2016. On one weekend on 8/9 October 2016,  I happened to mention the coastal run idea (in two separate conversations) to both Helen Byers and Sean Nickell and they were both very interested and even enthusiastic about a coastal run. I knew then I had found two similar mad accomplices and suddenly, Coastal Run 2017 was born!   

And WHY exactly are we doing this? 
There are lots of reasons really, but one very good reason is to help raise awareness (and maybe funds) for Clifton Special School in Bangor. There are quite a few of us taking part in the run who have children at Clifton School. Clifton School always needs IT equipment and other specialised tools for children with disabilities. I know that recently the PTA at Clifton School were able to build a special sensory room from funds raised from different events. The recent advances in technology allow special needs children to develop and enhance their skills.  More importantly, our run is a good way to highlight the whole area of learning disabilities.    

Having said all that, there are lots of other reasons to take on this challenge. Helen sums it up well too when she said. ‘’I'm doing it because I love running, I love scenery and I would love to combine the two! I like setting myself challenges. Terry Eakin mentioned his blog to me after I'd run along Benone beach and I thought it must be amazing to run the whole coast line! There's some spectacular scenery in N. Ireland and I'm keen to see it!’’ 


The County Down coast
This coastline is perfect for walking, cycling and especially running! It’s got beautiful scenery, long beaches (‘sand for the feet of the runner’), lots of coastal paths and plenty of quiet country roads. All in all, it will be mostly a traffic free run. There are such amazing contrasts too in County Down between the different areas, South Down, Strangford, the Ards Peninsula and North Down.  We can’t get lost because all we have to do to make sure the sea is always on our right hand side!

The southern part of county Down is dominated completely by the amazing and majestic Mountains of Mourne - made even more famous by the beautiful song, written by Percy French. By any standards these mountains are high and very quickly rise up from the sea. Even Slieve Donard at 850 metres high is only a couple of miles from the beach and as per the song; the mountains actually do ‘sweep down to the sea’! Also, even as we start our run on our first day on the other side of Carlingford Lough, the Mourne Mountains will already dominate the landscape. So for the first part of our journey we’ll have the sea on our right hand side and the mountains on our left. Strange to think that if someone took this journey a thousand years ago, they’d have the same two running companions as we’ll have. 

The middle part of our run has its own unique qualities too. There’s the ‘Van Morrison section’ around Ardglass, made famous in his song ‘Coney Island’. (Actually Van’s song isn’t really a song – more of a poem, really - and Coney Island isn’t really an island!).  When we reach Strangford we’ll take the much longer route (via Newtownards) to Portaferry. Then we continue along the east coast of the Ards Peninsula which is full of little drumlins and yet also has long stretches of sand, perfect for the feet of the runner. 

Finally, when we reach North Down, we will join a very long uninterrupted coastal path just north of Donaghadee which will take us all the way to Holywood , and finally on towards Belfast. This stretch, of course, will be very familiar to us, as most of us live in the Bangor area. We hope to complete our County Down coastal run and be greeted by Samson and Goliath (huge shipyard cranes) at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.    

For now, we will leave you with one last quote by the great running hero of us all. 

"I always loved running. It was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." (Jesse Owens)


To be continued   .......................................


If you’d like to Donate to Clifton Special School, please see below. https://mydonate.bt.com/events/cliftoncoastalrun/381290