'I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying!' (from Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King)
Stages 15: Benone Strand to Muff, Donegal - via Magilligan Point.
Saturday 10 March 2018 (61k
or 38miles)
You can read
later why I’m quoting from a prison drama but I can’t believe how well this
whole adventure has gone! In Helen and Sean, I was so lucky to have two amazing
people to share this mad idea with. Their personalities shone through even on
the most miserable days and they inspired me (and carried me sometimes!) along
the way. It really was such a privilege to get to know them (so well!) over the
last 14 months. However, since our last run we’ve had some sad news with Helen
losing her Dad. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Helen and her family.
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| Starting where we finished run #14 - Benone Tourist Centre |
As regards
the weather, our miserable winter continues! Just last week we had ‘Beast from
the East’ and ‘Storm Emma’ too. Today, I woke (very early!) to a very wet
morning. At least when we arrived in Benone, about 7.50am, the rain was easing
slightly. We were also worried about running on the Benone-Magilligan section
of the strand as we had heard reports that the army had control of that part of
the beach and it can be a no-go area. Someone else had said that red flags
would appear if the army were having firing practice!
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| Pleased to see no red flags or lights! |
Anyway we
made our way down to Benone Strand and started running west towards Magilligan
point. By this stage we realised we had the wind behind us, the rain had
stopped too and to crown it all, there were no red flags on the beach. I keep
coming back to my favourite phrase about running ‘Sand is for the feet of the runner’ (Oscar Wilde) and today we had
the most perfect sand for running on.
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| Benone Strand |
We reach
Magilligan Point and now we’re so close to Donegal. We can easily see
Greencastle on the other side – just a half a mile across – and Cnoc Alainn
(beautiful mountain) behind.
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| Gerry pointing to Donegal - I think he wants to go for a run there... |
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| Delighted to have reached Magilligan Point without being shot! |
Magilligan Prison (Lower Drummons parkrun)
On this great
coastal adventure of ours we often like to take part in a nearby parkrun but
it’s still hard to believe that Helen, Sean and I actually did a parkrun today inside
the prison walls of Magilligan! Of course Magilligan Prison has a long history
in N.Ireland going back to the 1970’s during Internment. There was a civil
rights demonstration led by John Hume on Magilligan Strand just a few days
before Bloody Sunday in January 1972. Later in 1998, hundreds of prisoners were
released as part of the Good Friday Agreement. Recently the prison has received
an encouraging report ‘the positive ever about a jail in N.Ireland’ from the
Criminal Justice Inspection. We had heard that there was a weekly parkrun inside
Magilligan prison (at 9.30 on Saturdays) called Lower Drummans parkrun and we
were very keen to take part. There were complications with security etc but we
persevered (well Helen persevered!) and we were eventually rewarded. There are
a lot of campaigns to get people out of prison but we had our own
private campaign this week (led by Helen!) to get us in to Magilligan
prison! It was a surreal but amazing experience running around the six laps –
the volunteers and marshals were also prisoners. The staff (and prisoners) had
a very warm welcome for us, keen to tell us about the daily routines and
education courses available. Although the prison itself was obviously quite old
and dated, there was a nice progressive and friendly atmosphere inside the
prison. We were the only civilians doing the parkrun - six laps in a confined
space – and we even had coffee afterwards with the wardens and prisoners. We
probably would have liked to have stayed longer but we still had a lot of miles
to cover today ........so at about 10.30am the ‘Clifton Three’ were finally released from Magilligan! http://www.parkrun.org.uk/lowerdrummans/ (Helen is now the female course record holder of an all male prison!)
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| Andy, Governor Platt, Gerry, Helen and Sean having completed parkrun |
On the way
out we passed through the various security prison gates again, collected our
phones and continued our adventure (strange to be running away from a prison!) Afterwards,
we were still buzzing with excitement and hardly noticed that the rain had
started again!
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| The Clifton 3 escape! |
We had hoped also
to run along Magilligan Strand but after leaving the prison, we realised we
were already a mile or two inland so we decided to stay on the road. We passed
the small village of Bellarena (beautiful strand). There’s a brand new railway
station there with two platforms. Bellarena is the last stop (before Derry) on
the Belfast to Londonderry line as the route heads towards the coast. (I’ve
never travelled by train in this area but it must be the most
beautiful
journey, especially on the Coleraine-Derry section)
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| Running through Bellarena - impressive peaks on our left |
About a mile after Bellarena
station we take a right turn onto a quieter road (B69). We cross the River Roe
and after about five miles we arrive on the outskirts of Limavady (leap of the
dog). Limavady is most famous for the tune ‘Londonderry Air’ or ‘Danny Boy’ collected
by Jane Ross in the mid-19th century from a local fiddle player. We’re now back
on the busy A2 again and stop briefly at a shop in Ballykelly for drinks and
some hot cross buns (Sean is hungry again!). Helen is keen to keep going and we
continue on the A2 through Ballykelly Forest until we eventually arrive in the
village of Greysteel.
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| Only 16 miles to Derry!! |
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| Keeping the sea close by running along 'sea coast road' |
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| The picturesque train journey from Derry to Coleraine |
Greysteel
Massacre;
As we’re
running around the coast of N.Ireland we can’t forget the horrific atrocities
committed in recent years. On 30 October 1993
members of the UDA, a loyalist paramilitary group, opened fire on civilians in
a crowded pub in Greysteel during a Halloween party, killing eight and wounding
nineteen. The group claimed responsibility, saying the attack was revenge for Shankill
Road bombing (another terrible atrocity) by the IRA, exactly a week earlier. In
Greysteel one of gunman yelled "trick or treat’’ as he opened fire. There
is a memorial to the victims outside the building that says: "May their
sacrifice be our path to peace".
At Greysteel
we take a left turn and run around the village on a slightly hilly road
(Killylane Road) but it’s worth it with great views over Lough Foyle and City
of Derry Airport. We come back down to the A2 along Craigback Road and arrive
at a big roundabout. We can see a sign in the distance that we think says,
‘Londonderry 6 miles’ but as we get closer we realise that it’s actually 8 miles. I’m beginning to struggle now
and those extra two miles don’t help!
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Eglinton Airport from the Killylane Road
|
Sean
discovers a much quieter road that runs parallel to the A2 (Clooney Road by
Longfield Estate) and that does make it easier. I’m in slow-running mode now as
Helen and Sean power on ahead. After a few miles we have to come back onto the
busy A2 again. It’s a long, tough slog but eventually we arrive in the
outskirts of Derry. We had talked about crossing the Peace Bridge but that
would have added another 4 miles to our journey. Instead we head for the Foyle
Bridge, north of the city, which proved in itself, to be long, long climb.
Still it was a great feeling to reach the top of the bridge with views down
into the city. (The span of the bridge is the longest in the island of Ireland,
at 234 metres.)
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| Derry from the Foyle Bridge |
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| Gerry and Helen on the Foyle Bridge |
We cross the
Foyle Bridge, having now completed 33 miles today - just 5 more miles to go! I
eat my banana that I’ve been carrying since Ballykelly (many miles ago!). Sean keeps
running and is keen to continue onto our finish point at Muff, (Derry/Donegal
border). Helen quickly follows Sean and I take up the rear again, keeping them
both in sight in the distance. Neill meets us at the Foyle bridge to provide a quick water break although the rain is now so heavy we could just drink it!
Up to now we had been lucky with the weather,
nothing too bad and we were still quite dry. We had punished ourselves so much
already today but as we headed for the Donegal border, Mother Nature decided to
rain down on us. Yes suddenly the heavens opened and within a few minutes we
were soaked to the skin. The roads were getting flooded too and twice I was
drenched by passing cars. I could just about make out Sean (through the heavy
mist) in the distance. Helen was somewhere further ahead. Along with the heavy
rain, the wind was now against us too. Still we persevered to the Donegal
Border. In a bizarre and perverse kind of way, it was the perfect storm and a
perfect end to our long Coastal adventure!
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| Finished! Helen jumps for joy! |
We are indebted once again to our
hero, Neill Weir who drove us, early in the morning, to Benone Strand. He then ran
a 10 mile race in Derry (finishing second in 53 minutes!), met us briefly at
the Foyle Bridge, collected us at the border in Muff and took three ‘drowned
rats’ to Foyle Arena for a nice warm shower. Thank you so much Neill.
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| Neill sporting his Willowfield colours looks like more of a convict than the Clifton 3! |
Total distance to date: 624k
or 390miles
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| Gerry Sean and Helen at NI-Donegal border |
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