One day one photo - 24: More running in the South Downs

I am just over a month out from a running challenge I have signed myself up for, the Beachy Head Marathon.

Earlier this year I as supposed to run the Paris Marathon. I did all the preparation, and then a couple of days before I as due to go things went wrong. My orthotics that I had sent in to be reposted arrived back to me late, and the podiatrist had messed up the settings so that they were unusable. So I as left without any orthotics and couldn't do the race.

It was very frustrating. I had toyed with doing New York, but bottled out of signing up for fear that because the money would be a lot to lose if something went wrong again. So I plumped for doing something in the UK. Initially I thought of doing a mountain marathon, but in the end I plumped for Beachy Head - which, being in Eastbourne is comparatively local for me.

It consists of running a marathon - 26 miles (or 42 km) but with loads of hills of the South Downs thrown in, meaning 1200m of climbing. That is not something I have done before, and would be a real challenge.



But thankfully, using the fitness from my Paris Marathon training I have been building on that, but just adding loads of hills. Near to me is of course Crystal Palace, but I have also been running around the North Downs. The real hills are done in the South Downs though.

So that's where I went today. Normally I cycle around these chalky hills, but running them really gives a different perspective, and also the time to notice things that you don't necessarily see when you are focused on bike handling and not falling down!

When running along the trails there's a monument near Ditchling Beacon. It's known as the Chattri Memorial, to commemorate Indians who died during the first World War. Many of them were treated in the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, which served as a hospital, and the site of the Chattri Memorial is where the dead soldiers were cremated. The memorial now has Grade II listed status. It looks great in the middle of Downs, though I have to say it does look a bit random.

Today's run went nearer to Trudleigh Hill and Edburton Hill and Devil's Dyke. That was a pretty long run, and by the time I got back to my car at Portslade and Southwick 15 miles later, my legs were like jelly! I like to think it's all miles in the bank, and hopefully it will make me stronger.


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Running along the South Downs

One day one photo - 1: Running in the South Downs

Chattri Indian War memorial in the middle of the South Downs

It's the first day of meteorological autumn. Gee, where did the time go? September 1st also represents the first day of my annual one day one photo snapshot. Basically I publish a photo of the day for every day of the month of September.

Today's photo is of the Chattri Indian War memorial, built in 1920 to commemorate the lives of the Indians who fought for Britain in the first world war.

I was out on a trail run in the South Downs, and mapped out a route to get back to my car, which was parked in Ditchling Beacon. The easiest way back from Stanmer Park was to run along the bridleway parallel to the main road, and then up the Sussex Border path to reach the South Downs Way.

As soon as I made the right hand turn to head north, I saw this structure - which wouldn't have looked out of place in India - in the middle of the South Downs? Really? I thought I was hallucinating. But no I wasn't. This makes quite a change from farmhouses and sheep!

I have a secret ambition to run a trail marathon this autumn, and so have been doing long off-road runs. Sometimes the scenery can get a little monotonous. If my route were peppered with a few more monuments like this that would certainly jazz things up.

This is the route I took.