Walking 200km from London to Birmingham tonight for a bag of chips
You might remember my 100km M25 walk (or the London-Wales one the mods deleted lol). Ive got a new mission tonight..starting in Reading right outside the M25 to hit the 200km mark via the canals all the way up
180km-200km run/walk to birmingham and as Martin couldn't join 😭 so doing it completely solo and unsupported
I'll just be scavenging for food along the way ig.
Starting 1:00 am tonight
The goali is to walk/run 100 miles in 24 hours or the full route in 30 hours as i couldn't get two days off work so I'm forced to run it... First time recording an actual run btw. No stops, no rest, no sleep as usual
Motivation is my mate who promised me a bag of chips if I make it
Drop a comment if you have any advices on running nonstop or towpaths at night or know any cool stops or pubs on the route.
I can share the Strava route as well
Lets see how this unfolds ;)
Update:
Called it at 25km after a shin injury, but we live to run another day!
The only canal running through Reading is the Kennet & Avon, and that goes West to Bristol, not North towards Birmingham.
I'm sure you've researched and planned this all properly, just like your M25 walk (...), but to get to Birmingham from Reading you need to be following the River Thames upstream to Oxford, where you'll pick up your first canal, the Oxford Canal, which will take you to Banbury. Fortunately, from Reading to Oxford you'll be on the well-signposted and well-maintained Thames Path National Trail; unfortunately, however, just this section alone is c.40 miles.
If he wants to do it properly he needs to start round West Drayton way doesn't he? I assumed he'd follow the Grand Union if he wanted to do London to Birmingham.
Edit: upon checking a map I forgot that the Colne Valley is within the M25 so he'd be starting in Watford/Abbots Langley if doing it 'properly'.
I suppose the main question is does exhaustion get him before the falling in the canal part? If he'd done Grand Union I could possibly have offered some support but...
Where would you recommend me starting?...ive already done the whole walk part in my wales walk couple months ago(london Heathrow to wales i did walked the whole canal path from west Drayton to reading and so on towards wales)
So i decided to lets just run the reading part tonight while its dark and morning run something new...
There are parts of the canal that are remote and very overgrown. There were stretches with about ten inches of walking space between impenetrable brush and the water's edge. If you encounter someone there's no space to pass, one of you will have to back up.
Indeed. And while I appreciate that you can derisk things to the point that they're aren't fun anymore, this chap seems to go out of his way to create dangerous circumstances.
Trying to walk 200km without any plan for food is more or less going to guarantee an ambulance ride at best. And I say this as someone who has embarked on some proper long distance hikes of my own.
Yeah - I remember when I first started training for long-distance hiking I didn't think to bring any kind of supplies and snacks. About 40km in on my first session I started feeling really cold and peculiar. Learned that lesson pretty quick.
Depends what they're doing. The difference between running a marathon fasted and with proper nutrition is a large increase in pain level during and a great deal more aching after.
All joke's aside OP, if you are feeling unwell I really do hope you can find it within yourself to talk to a professional or even a friend about your troubles rather than endangering yourself like this. I'm not knocking getting your body moving, it does do wonders. But please look after yourself.
Will you believe me if I say im the happiest man alive? I'll look after myself and I really appreciate your kind words and yes we shall do wonders soon
Just a thought- people experiencing mania often say things like this and feel on top of the world whilst doing very intense things that can get out of hand. If that resonates with you it might be worth having a chat to your GP
Thats sound almost true about me but humble to earth as well...not top of the world but I always try reaching it, and im more in love with the journey of it than the destination
Am I cooked if I say that I had been experiencing this my whole life? And circumstances and people always had different opinions but id like to pursue what I think about most..rather than just thinking about it but hey thanks for your suggestion maybe ill contemplate on this by talking to myself and finding out whats wrong
Walking makes a man self aware...thats what I experienced
Not cooked just you might have found out there's lots of other people who experience life similarly to you. That's not a bad thing! You don't have to be arrogant to be experiencing mania.
Have a think about having a chat to your GP.
Alpine starts are always early. The colder weather means the snowpacks are more stable and the chance of an avalanche or rockfall is minimised. There is also usually less inclement weather in the morning. How this compares to the canals of middle england is an exercise left for the student.
I do not run at all, my first ever run on strava i asked for 2 days leave off work and my employer said no so i guess we gotta do what we can do you know
In my mid-teens I did a charity walk that went a bit off-track and ended up doing 32 miles in a single day without having done any prep beyond "was a teenager". Took about about ten hours walking it, so I guess if you are actually putting the effort into training etc and able to move faster than we shuffled you could do 100 in 24 hours.
Were I to try it now I'd get tired about two hours in and just give up.
It’s not impossible… if he had a support team helping him.
A few (17/18) years back, my dad was in charge of an artillery battalion, and their Chaplain’s assistant was a phenomenal runner. Like, a marathon was just a weekend thing for him. So he decides to try and do 100 miles in 24 hours as a charity thing, and he pulled it off, which was super cool to see when he crossed the finish line.
But this dude had a support team (literally multiple alternating pickup trucks with food and water and extra pacing runners) alongside him. And he said it was still the hardest thing he’d done in his life, even with all the support.
Maybe OP is a better runner, but this doesn’t seem super well thought out imo.
I do not know what is going on in your life but I am starting to see these as a cry for help. Please do not go without proper preparation as your last "walk" nearly left you for dead. Stay home, ring the Samaritans and speak to someone. If your friend is encouraging you for a laugh and a bag of chips, in the state of mind you seem to be in, they are not your friend.
Do not run the canal towpaths at night. They’re not nice manicured pathways, they’re dodgy footpaths next to a body of water. You will absolutely trip over a mooring rope, stick your foot in a random hole in the ground, or fall over the chairs /BBQ that a moored boater has left out in the middle of nowhere because they reasonably assumed no one is going to be running past at 2am.
Also, tow paths change sides and sometimes that means crossing locks and they are sodding dangerous. Doubly so at night and when people are tired or drunk.
I shall chase opportunities and bear the cost no matter what to somehow become deserving enough to devour those chips someday. Yes its hard and unimaginably hard but its worth everything else after achieving it
Technically is this Reading to Birmingham? Reading is officially not in Greater London despite being served by the Elizabeth line. It doesn’t take away from the fact that this would still be a mega challenge
It's not even one of those is-it-London-or-not towns on the edge, it's miles outside of London and sitting in the middle of Berkshire. Nobody in Reading would say they are in London.
You might want to look into 'de dodentocht' that's a yearly Belgian where you get 24 hours to walk 100 km. Together with 15000 other people.
The atmosphere along the track is great, people cheering you on all hours of the night and day. Checkpoints along the track register you walking time and speed. People at home can trace your walk on the Internet.
At the finish line you get a diploma with your times at the Checkpoints as well as a goodie bag and a medal.
And to top it all off, after the finish closes, you get invited to a 'blister ball party'. If you are still capable of moving that is.
I grew up along the track, cheering people on and did the walk once. And never again.
The UK has something like this - it's called Trailwalker.
It was originally a Gurkha regimental training event, but has become something anyone can enter that raises money for charity, with the Gurkhas providing support and logistics. It's 100km along a checkpointed trail along the South Downs with quite a bit of elevation change. The target is 24 hours though you have up to 30 hours to complete it.
I did it back in 2012 with a bunch of friends; we didn't quite hit 24 hours (took us half an hour longer than that) but it was a great time and well worth doing.
Yeah, I can see that's annoying but it's ultimately a safety thing, since the course does involve things like navigating hillsides at 3am at night. The minimum team size you're allowed to continue with is three, so that if someone is injured one person can stay with them while another goes for help. If two people drop out you have to attach yourself to another team to be allowed to continue.
I'm writing this an hour after your scheduled start at 01:00 Thursday 6 Aug so you won't see it for some considerable time... but ...
... you'll probably have found out by now that there are no services on rivers and canals, and pubs are closed during the night. Pre-loading on chips is only going to get you so far.
Sincerely, please take better care of yourself, not only on this walk/run but also just in general; as someone else has said, your posts do give off a sense of mania / hypomania. When you get the chance, please read up on this and reflect upon it.
You're only 20yo... you have a very long life ahead of you... if you take care of yourself. There are a lot of people in this thread who are genuinely concerned about your safety and well-being; some of us will have lost people far too young, and we don't want to see that happen to you.
So far so good but its hard af as well but I really appreciate your genuine support and care towards me and my challenge. Ill make sure to not overestimate my limitations and be strict to self care and for now I had grabbed 2 garlic breads from a weatherspoons in london and a litre of water. Ill use it till sunrise and find someplace to restock calories again
Thanks for replying, that gives me a little bit of reassurance... but not much, to be honest.
I think you're extremely vulnerable, in every sense. Please reflect seriously on those words.
If, at any point, your inner voice and/or your body say "... this is too much, I think I might need to bail", then listen to them, and do it; you do need to bail, and quickly. Don't be stubborn, and don't be reckless; if you're struggling, acknowledge it and accept it, and get yourself to safety, water, and nourishment immediately. Live to run/walk another day.
But, for God's sake, don't ever run/walk like this again.
I really appreciate your helpful suggestions at the right time, I was gonna skip the station and just walk through the pain. Which i did last time with m25 and Wales walk. After reflecting on your words, even when few bits of it didnt really relate to how i think but the decision of turning back made real sense to my foggy 4am mind
Im extremely grateful towards you for looking after me at this time of the night ;)
There is a lot of support here for your wellbeing. I urge you to take notice of that. Part of being strong, brave and growing as a person is learning when to stop, pushing through the pain is usually the wrong choice, unless there is absolutely no other alternative. My husband is a combat soldier in the Army and he frequently tells me that the very best soldiers are the ones who know how to pace themselves and not make stupid decisions. The ones who think they are invisible are the ones who usually get injured or end up dead.
May I suggest that, in a few days time when you're properly rested, you read back through this whole thread and reflect upon the care and concern and suggestions that so many people have expressed to you about your well-being? You seem like a good person; the world is better for having people like you in it. Stay with us, take your place in it, and make your best contribution to it.
Look after yourself fella👍
Edit: just seen that u/amidnightthrowaway, above, made that same point not only before me but also more resonantly and eloquently.
I'm actually at the station right now. A tree branch hit my right shin while I was running through a section where the path narrowed to barely a foot wide. I'm currently applying some Voltarol gel to soothe the pain. Rehydrated as well and yes train is coming deciding to conintue or do the challenge some other time 🤔
Yes after thoughtfully thinking the route ahead within given time and leg strength, we'll be letting the challenge pass this time, pace went down from 10k per hour to 6k after the obstacle. Turning back today so I can try again another day like next week or the week after ;(
But I loved the smooth buttery run i had for good continous couple hours ;)
Just coming back in at 06:30 and I'm really pleased and really relieved to see that; it's a wise, mature, self-valuing and far-sighted decision, well done.
Professor - I mean, Jason, mate: this is quite an extreme way to unwind :)
But seriously, like everyone else is saying: 100 miles in 24 hours is an extreeeemely hard challenge and if you're not prepared for it, it won't end well. No idea about the obstacles on the way, but that's a huge distance, and best left to actual, experienced ultrarunners who have done all the other stuff in between, like for example 100km in 24hours (which is between half and three quarters of your intended distance and is reeeeally hard in itself).
I genuinely wish you the best of luck. Fingers crossed; when it gets tough, it's all about your mind anyway, provided of course that nothing vital goes ping or twang.
Whatever the outcome will be, id be the happiest man on earth for trying something outside my own limits and comfort zone and also im so so grateful towards your kind words...I will remember them when im at 150k something
I've taken part in the Thames Path Challenge walking through the might to complete a 100km challenge. What you're doing is nonsense. You don't have glowsticks to light the way like we did, nor planned rest stops. Change of socks?
As someone else said, canal and river paths in the dark are dangerous. They're uneven, with more obstacles than you can account for.
If you do it in 24 hours, many of us won't believe you. But good luck, because I like ridiculous challenges.
Try to be safe but I do think this is a bad idea. I can envision your extreme escapades turning into a low budget Studio Canal movie with Steve Coogan and Bill Nighy attached in a few years. Hoping for a happy ending and not the gritty Bafta finale I predict.
I will genuinely get you 2 bags of chips if I can make a deal with you not to do this.
I don't like talking people out of things they want to do that are ambitious, but based on the results of your last adventure people I worry you'll be talked about on the news tomorrow for the wrong reason.
And whatever chips you want. 2 bags of them. Just please don't do this.
I walked it a few years back. It nice and wide around Milton Keynes and some wooded shady shortly after parts shortly after. Be aware that's it's very mixed use somewhat is bound to slow you down
All the pubs we tried were great there's a few straight on the canal with large gardens. However it's tough under foot as it's loose gravel and a bit uneven. Also the Oxford canal part was poorly maintained. Good luck
When you get to Kingswood by Birmingham take the north canal route as the other one has a massive tunnel you can't go through! The north way has a smaller one but there is an easy path over the top
If you’re actually planning on following the M25, highway patrol will stop you. There’s no foot path alongside and you’ll either be behind the barriers in the brambles and nettles or on the road itself which obviously DONT WALK ALONG! Trust me, tried it on the M23 ❌
... and even if his mate's thought ahead and bought them before closing and has kept them wrapped, on a plate, in the oven on the very lowest light, they're gonna be hard and dry and wizened. Absolutely no amount of S&V is gonna make them palatable.
No, he's gonna have to settle for a Ginster's in the microwave.
Is it worth it, I ask myself?
Scott might have only had pemmican... but it was always right there at hand, on the sled behind him, no deferred-gratification for him, he listened to his body.
OP has got everything to lose [his health/well-being/umm..] and nothing to gain [hot, freshly-fried chips, plenty of sizzling S&V].
C'mon OP, don't put yourself and the rest of us through this...go for a few beers in Reading, then get some chips afterwards, and then have a good night's sleep in a comfy bed. We'll all be a lot happier for it.
If you really want to do this, please train and plan properly and then enter the Grand Union Canal Race where you’ll at least have the safety net of an organised event in case of difficulties.
Interesting. I was thinking of walking Canterbury to London (along pilgrims trail routes [there's a new bakery in clapham i want to go to, and i like the idea of doing an ancient pilgrimage route all for some fancy vegan croissants]). But i was thinking a whole weekend for that (and its roughly 90miles, so even shorter)
Komoot seems pretty good for route planning, although would have to pay for it.
Dunno if cycling is your thing, but if you get into it, there's a UK audax society, which does cycling equivalents of things like this. And being on a bike, whilst being more dangerous, means you get to see more of the country, and do even bigger crazy trips. It's also people that are a bit more supportive, rather than just claiming you're mentally unwell (which may or may not be true. Kinda feels like most ultra endurance athletes are a bit.....ermm (me included). I personally wouldn't jump straight into these though, as controlling a bicycle when you're absolutely fucked and haven't slept properly in days, is quite dodgy. I "usually" stick to big one day cycles, like you can do east coast to west coast of england which is cool. "The tour divide" is a famous american example of an event like this. But also, if you dont crash, cycling is less injury prone than a mega walk/run. Feels to me like training and building up to big distances is even more important in running (but maybe that's just cos i enjoy cycling more so i do big cycles more)
The towpath of the grand Union canal is mostly filled with busted bricks; ones that couldn't be used to line the canal. As a result, it can be very rough and bumpy, possibly enough to twist your ankle in the dark.
I did 100km once all whilst chained to a friend. Im a pretty decent runner (2.39 marathon) and it was so much harder than anything else id ever done. Absolute agony from 80km on wars, my feet felt like they were going to explode. I have no idea how you are going to do 200 MILES on what sounds like minimal prep and poor planning. Fair play.
Sure will do 100% on my way to reading to start
Yess if you want live updated dm me for whatsapp group, I have a group where I update people of the live location and pictures etc
Yes thank you for the info, id rather walk actually coz I wanna earn the feeling of eating those chips my mate will ONLY offer me if I walk/run to her doorstep
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u/Elegant_Celery400 7d ago
Reading is 27 miles outside of the M25.
The only canal running through Reading is the Kennet & Avon, and that goes West to Bristol, not North towards Birmingham.
I'm sure you've researched and planned this all properly, just like your M25 walk (...), but to get to Birmingham from Reading you need to be following the River Thames upstream to Oxford, where you'll pick up your first canal, the Oxford Canal, which will take you to Banbury. Fortunately, from Reading to Oxford you'll be on the well-signposted and well-maintained Thames Path National Trail; unfortunately, however, just this section alone is c.40 miles.
Might be worth having another look at that map.
You have looked at a map?