On the 6th of March 2015, I set out with the intention of running from Stonehaven to Aberdeen. I was accompanied on this great adventure by my flat mate Megan on her bike.
Initially we got on the train from Aberdeen to Stonehaven. Our spirits were high. As the train departed, we sat back in our padded seats and shared a banana as the wind began to batter against the carriage. The train line runs down the East coast of Scotland and provides open sea views, on this particular day the water was extremely choppy.
We arrived in Stonehaven, around 1.30pm and attempted to locate the coastal route. Signposts proved minimal and there was little evidence of any kind of path towards the North. Eventually we found a local passerby who informed us of where to begin, and gave us a few directions to follow thereafter.
We started right down by the water’s edge on a board walk, Megan is pictured above with her support vehicle. The man’s directions then took us along passed an outdoor swimming pool and up a massive hill along the side of the B979. This part of the road was rather unnerving, however the majority of drivers were courteous. When we reached the top of Mount Everest we then turned off onto a single track road which was surrounded on both sides by fields. This was very pleasant and made a lovely change from the grey buildings in the centre of Aberdeen. We continued along this hilly and scenic trail for around an hour and found ourselves heading further and further inland.
The picture above shows Megan and I lost somewhere between Stonehaven and Aberdeen. We continued to run/cycle for some time until we stumbled across an Organic Chicken Farm. We decided to stop and see if anyone was in in order to find out where we were. The couple were most helpful and scanned/printed some maps for us to take on our way. At this point it became apparent that we were not on the path we had planned, and that running to Aberdeen was simply unrealistic.
Once the dream team were back on the road again, we headed for Portlethen. The weather was dry but began to turn increasingly windy and wild. The chill from the wind was extremely cold, especially for Megan on the bike. We reached Portlethen train station around 4pm and decided to call it a day.
When we returned to Aberdeen on the train we ventured into Patisserie Valerie beside the train station, in Union Square and enjoyed a refuelling pastry and hot drink. It wasn’t until we got back to the flat and logged onto ‘mapmyrun’ that we realised we had only covered a distance of around 12 miles. Initially I was very disheartened by this as I had hoped to run nearer 17 miles. However on reflection it was very hilly course and will have undoubtedly helped my training.
Overall we had a lovely day out and enjoyed a yummy dinner in the evening. We made paella accompanied by cheesy, garlic ciabatta. It was delicious and well deserved.
Hopefully we will attempt to complete this run sometime in the near future. But perhaps heading from Aberdeen to Stonehaven, that way we can maybe even share a poke of chips when we eventually get there.
Watch this space!
motweerunlon2015 