"All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning."  Albert Camus 

<Author: Gerry O'Boyle (photos by Helen Byers)>

Date:11th February 2017

Stage One: Omeath (Co. Louth) to Rostrevor (Co. Down)
(Approx 26.5k or 16.5 miles)  

Helen, Sean and I started our grand adventure today in the village of Omeath. Looking across the river/sea from Omeath, we could already see today’s finish line on the other side at Rostrevor, Co. Down.

It was an early start and a nice spring morning (I’m going by the old Celtic calendar that says spring starts on 1st Feb) as we headed first for Rostrevor (our finish point today). Unbelievably, Helen and Sean decide to run the Rostrevor parkrun first! I declined, saving my energy and feigning my back injury as an excuse. Well after all, I am the elder on this adventure.  

After the parkrun with Helen and Sean barely out of breath, I drive the three of us the 16 miles to Omeath, leaving Sean’s car in Rostrevor. 

.........and so at last, our adventure began in Omeath, Co. Louth at exactly 11.05 on Sat 11 Feb 2017 ......and this mad idea isn’t just an idea anymore. It’s now really happening! 

The snow started to come down as we started our run but it soon faded away, although still very cold. As we run along the road from Omeath to Newry looking across at the beautiful Mournes (the area which inspired CS Lewis’s and the Chronicles of Narnia), I can’t help thinking about a horrific incident that took place in 1979. (The same day Lord Mountbatten was murdered by IRA) On that August day 18 soldiers were killed by the IRA at Warrenpoint, just across the narrow river from where our run started at Omeath. Another victim of that day was a curious English tourist (on the Omeath side of the river) who was shot dead by British soldiers in the mistaken belief he was one of the bombers who detonated the bomb. 

Back in a much more peaceful 2017, we continue running along towards Newry, and eventually cross over from Co. Louth to Co. Down. (the border). All the talk in the news recently after the Brexit vote is what kind of border we will have. Well, there’s definitely no sign of a hard border here! In fact there’s no real sign of any kind of a border as we cross over from the Republic into N.Ireland.

As we arrive at the quays in Newry, we decide to stop off for a takeaway coffee before heading towards Warrenpoint. Just outside Newry we find a nice grassy path overlooking the river and really enjoy running along this traffic-free ridge for a few miles. Eventually however the path comes to an end and we have to join the Newry-Warrenpoint dual carriageway. It’s a busy road here but quite safe on the footpath.

After a while, I suggest (bad idea in hindsight!) that there is another easier path closer to the river and it would be much nicer to run along this path. We jump over a fence and run along a muddy path by the shore of the river, but then the path disappears completely. Now we’re struggling through fields and find ourselves trapped between the river and a wee stream. We see a man, and we start to worry that it’s his field we’re trampling on. We ask him for directions. He suggests we carry on through the field (it wasn’t his land anyway). ‘’Keep going’’ he says, ‘’until you reach thon house’’ as he pointed in the distance. Eventually we somehow find our way back out onto the dual carriageway, at the aforementioned ‘thon house’ (I had to look the word ‘thon’ up in my Ulster-Scots dictionary when I got home)     

Narrow Water Castle, Warrenpoint

I was glad to see that Castle just outside Warrenpoint and anyway, reaching another town was a good excuse for us to stop. We strolled through Warrenpoint and we picked up speed again as we got on the Rostrevor road. This was a much nicer and quieter stretch with the river widening on our right hand side and a lovely feeling that we were now definitely in the Mournes. There was also a nice footpath all the way to Rostrevor.  

As we get closer to Rostrevor, Helen is pulling away leaving a wide gap between her and Sean and I. To slow her down we suggest we stop at the big monument erected in memory of General Robert Ross. We climb up the path and steep steps to the top of the monument (with lovely view across the bay) and read all about the famous General Ross. He will forever be remembered as the man who burned down the White House! The ‘Burning of Washington’ took place in 1814, during the War between British forces and the USA. One eyewitness testified that General Ross was personally involved in the piling up of furniture and kindling for the White House, preparing to destroy the landmark. It was the only time that a foreign power captured and occupied Washington. I’m not sure if President Trump will visit this famous landmark, if he ever visits Ireland!

Ross's Monument

View across the bay from Ross's Monument

The rain is coming down now but we don’t care! Now it’s just a short run to our finish point in Rostrevor. It’s such a great feeling, completing that first leg of our journey and we couldn’t really have picked a nicer place to end our first run than Rostrevor, nestling in the Mournes. CS Lewis wasn’t the only one who was impressed with this area. The famous English writer, Thackeray also wrote ’were such a bay lying upon an English shores, it would be a world’s wonder and travellers would flock to it’.

CS Lewis Narnia Trail at Kilbroney (part of the parkrun route)

We don’t delay too long in Rostrevor. Sean drives us back to Omeath to pick up my car, but on the way to Omeath we decide to stop in Warrenpoint for something to eat. In Warrenpoint, we were lucky to find a pub (The Lock and Quay) that had everything we needed. It was the cozy fire in the pub that attracted us first; they also had a TV showing Ireland v Italy rugby match (Ireland winning easily), good beer too (alcohol and no-alcoholic) good food (although we were so hungry, we would have eaten anything!) and best of all, the three of us seemed to have the pub to ourselves. Not a bad way to end the day in the best of company!  

Next leg: Saturday 11 March, Rostrevor to Kilkeel (via Cranfield) 

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

 ‘’The will to win means nothing if you haven’t the will to prepare’’ Juma Ikangaa

<Author: Gerry O'Boyle>

A new adventure: planning ahead

Our long coastal journey will start soon and we’re counting down the days to 11 February.  Helen and Sean are equally excited about our task ahead. The t-shirts with the Clifton School logo arrive just before Christmas. The three of us all do the parkrun on Christmas Eve in Bangor and afterwards we arrange to head down to nearby Ballyholme beach for a few pictures wearing our new bright green shirts. It’s a cold and windy day and the normal calm Ballyholme Bay, looks wild and rough as we pose for our photos. Now we can tell the rest of the world (or at least North Down) about our crazy idea! At my age, it’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to a proper adventure (I almost feel a little like Ernest Shackleton going on an arctic expedition – I suppose we all have an adventurous spirit hidden somewhere inside us!)


The Coastal Team

Just after Christmas we finally announce to the world (well, to our friends on Facebook) what we’re going to do. Our Facebook Post gets a lot of notice/likes and comments and we do expect others will join us along the way at some stage. Some people have even shown interest in doing the whole run but at the moment, all we can be sure of is, that our team of three ( Helen, Sean and I) will aim to complete the whole coast of County Down. 

Sean is raring to go! If the truth be told, Sean Nickell could probably do the whole 200 miles in one day or at least in a weekend. I first met Sean through the North Down Athletic Club (NDAC) Monday night running group and Sean also has a son in Clifton School. Sean has competed in lots of ultra marathons and in competitions called ‘last man standing’; he is often one of the last men standing! Twenty or thirty miles a day will not be a problem for our Sean.  

Helen Byers is equally passionate about the whole experience. She is an accountant by profession but we try not to hold that against her! I first met Helen through our accounting/teaching paths but I really got to know her through Bangor parkrun and also through the Monday night running group at NDAC. Helen was a recent winner of the coveted NDAC’s Grand Prix Prize for
2016.  This award is presented to the person who performed best over a variety of distances and terrain. Yes, nothing will fluster Helen and she is in danger of smiling her way around the whole 200 miles!    

I see the local newspaper (County Down Spectator) has done a small piece about our forthcoming run. There’s no going back now, as Sean says. Our picture looks good but the actual written piece itself is very short.  However, the paper’s artist (Neal McCullough from Hand Drawn Creative) does quite a funny sketch of the three of us, even if he calls us ‘Joggers’ in his cartoon!  

 

I’m struggling a little with lower back pain at the moment. I had hoped to do the famous Christmas cracker race in Castlewellan on 27 December but I thought it would be wise not to run in that one. (Apologies to my partner Catherine Roberts!)  I’ve been going for physio treatment over the last few weeks and it’s going well. 


Trial run/drive

 On Sunday 15 January, Maureen and I (and of course wee Brian) decide to head down to Omeath where our Coastal Run will start in a few weeks time. Where exactly is Omeath, you might ask? Omeath is a small village in County Louth, just south of the border – about half way between Carlingford and Newry. The actual Louth/Down/Irish border is about 2 miles north of Omeath but rather than start our run in the middle of nowhere, we’ve decided to start our expedition in the village of Omeath.  It’s a beautiful day when we arrive in the village and Omeath looks well along Carlingford Lough. Warrenpoint and Rostrevor can be clearly seen, nestling in the Mournes across the bay.

In Omeath we get talking to a couple of runners (not joggers!). They’re going for a run in the opposite direction, towards Carlingford. The old railway line from Omeath to Carlingford is now converted into a lovely coastal greenway, perfect for running, walking or cycling but the path seems to stop at Omeath.  I tell these runners about our coastal run idea and enquire about the best way to go from Omeath to Newry. I had already read that the old railway line went as far as Newry, but I wasn’t sure whether that section was suitable for running yet. One of the men said we should come back next year (2018) when the greenway from Omeath to Newry would be finished. (I’m not sure if Helen or Sean would want to wait another year!)  It would be nice to avoid running along the main Omeath-Newry road as it’s quite narrow and windy. Another option (which I discuss with Sean later) is to run about ¾ mile inland, parallel to the main road and along by quieter roads near the forest. 

Anyway, on this beautiful day in mid-January, we leave Omeath and drive across the border back in towards Newry and around the river/canal towards Warrenpoint. It’s even warming up now (12 degrees) and the sun is shining as we drive along the coastal road towards Rostrevor, with the sea and Cooley Mountains on one side and the Mournes on the other. Of course, this is the area that inspired CS Lewis when writing the Chronicles of Narnia.  In a letter to his
brother, he wrote ‘’that part of Rostrevor which overlooks Carlingford Lough is my idea of Narnia’’.   Yes, you can see why he was so impressed.  I’m hoping we get as nice a day for the start of our Coastal Run on 11 February.  

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

‘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