Wales Coast Path – Aberaeron to Llanrhystud
Coast Path Vital Stats
Aberaeron to LLanrhystud
- Distance: 8.50 miles
- Elevation Gain Today: 148 m
- Highest Elevation: 54 m
- Time: 1:26:31
- Av. Pace: 10:11 mins/mile
- Calories: 950
Totals to Date
- Total Distance: 1113.22 miles
- Total Time: 220:21:28
- Total Elevation Gain: 36798m
- Total Calories: 106779
- Distance to go: 0 miles
Well, all good things come to an end, and with a short little run from Aberaeron to Llanrhystud today it looks as though my days of running around the entire periphery of Wales is finally complete. It was something of an anti-climatic ending really. It was a grey, humid day without any expansive views, nothing untoward happened along the way. There were no big hills, no huge sandy beaches, no cliffs, no river crossings, no exciting weather events, no wildlife encounters and not even any strange events on the bus.
There certainly wasn’t a troop of cheerleaders at the end to welcome me back to where I started, just a few uninterested cows in the adjacent field.
I started off by parking in the village of Llanrhystud and catching the T5 bus to Aberaeron. The bus arrived on time after waiting for less than a minute and soon dropped me in Aberaeron. From here I trotted up to the car park where I had finished my last run and then retraced my steps into Aberaeron and along the streets before emerging out onto the seawall the other side of the harbour. There are sea defence and harbour works going on in and around Aberaeron so there was a short diversion around these, but nothing out of the way, it was really just avoiding the footbridge over the harbour that is currently closed.
From here it was easy running along the seafront and then out onto a pebbly trail sandwiched between a calm. grey sea and some caravan sites. It was drizzly, but very warm and humid so my jacket soon came off. Soon I came out onto the little road at the beach in Aberarth. I followed the path through the village, over the bridge and then back down to the sea where I climbed up onto the low cliffs and ran along grassy tracks and through fields as the path climbed gradually. There was little of note really but the tracks were easy to follow and a good surface for running on.
It wasn’t long before I was descending into Llanon with the distinctive church at Llansantffraid ahead of me. The trail took me back up onto the main road here and then through the busy streets before heading out to the church and back towards the sea.
From here it was just a couple of miles to go, passing fields of sweetcorn, barley and cows before I came upon the lime kilns at Llanrhystud and the pebbly bank behind the beach.
A short, tentative run along the pebbles brought me to the car park where it had all started over 8 years ago!!
Finally, after:
- 1,113 miles,
- 71 sections,
- 220 hours,
- 36,768 m of elevation gain,
- 108,970 kcals,
- numerous injuries,
- several pairs of shoes,
- countless shuttles: driving, bus trips and train rides
- a global pandemic,
- 1 major, life-changing heart attack
I’d made it back to where I’d started from! Talk about running around in circles!
I’m not sure quite what I’ve achieved other than drawing a pretty red line around the whole of Wales from my GPS trails.
I never thought it would take as long as it has, but it’s been a fun project to keep plugging away at, it’s taken me to some beautiful paces and it just goes to show what you can do if you don’t give up. Now I have to find another similar project to keep me occupied for the next 8 years!
2 Responses
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[…] Designs in Aberaeron to see if we could find a framed print to match the one Anna bought me when I completed the Wales Coast Path. The print, by Lizzie Spikes, is a map of Wales highlighting the different sections of the Coast […]
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Wel done !
A sense of achievement makes it all worth while as well as the blogs to entertain, amuse and educate people like me who are too lazy or unable to even contemplate such adventures .Thank you
I’ll look forward to your next achievement/ adventure .