John Bunyan trail run 25th/26th May 2012

John Bunyan trail run 25th/26th May 2012

Richard Jones, James Handley and I will be running the whole of the JB trail on the above dates, starting at 6pm on Friday 25th May and finishing at some point the next day. Our hope and aim is that as many people as possible from the club will come out and join us for what ever part of the run that might take their fancy. This is not a race, it will not be timed, we will run it at a pace that allows everyone from the club to join us for what ever distance they want and most importantly, there is no pressure on anyone to do anything other than what they want to do. It is aimed at club members and their friends only and whether you can run one mile or twenty, we would like you to come along and try a section of the trail. We will be responsible for navigating the route, so you won’t even need a map (although you will have to get your self back to your starting point).

 The JB trail is a perfect run for our club. It winds its way up and down Bedfordshire through Ampthill, Flitwick, Westoning, Ridgmont, Cranfield, Bromham, Clapham, Shefford, Barton Le Clay and surrounding villages. The furthest point north it reaches is Pavenham, down to the outskirts of Luton, over to Shefford and up to . Every point of the trail is very accessible and easily reached. It is a great, historic trail and whilst some sections are a little undulating, on the whole it is a comfortable trail to run. We love trail running so much, that we don’t need a race or medal to get us out the door to do this. Our only wish is that people from the club who perhaps haven’t tried trail running before, decide to give it a go and come along. Please don’t worry about distance or speed. No one will be hassled into running a foot step more than they want and we will be taking it slow and easy, particularly I expect after the fifty mile point! The JB run is already a success, as after I first announced it James came forward and said he fancied giving the whole lot a go. As equally important to us though, is to get other people out to do one, five, ten or more miles. We are a running club, so let’s do what we all enjoy and run.Bedford

 We would particularly like to see people who don’t normally run together come out, get to know each other a bit and try the trail. The main aim is that we do it together. We are looking forward to spending time with some new faces and if we are lucky, opening up the world of trail running to more people. If you are worried about speed, firstly don’t, but if you are come and join us in the latter stages when we will be on our last legs. If you want to try something different, come and join us at midnight and run through the night. Watching the country go to sleep, running through the dark and in the early hours really is a magical time to me. Why not do two sections? Come out Friday night early and join us again on Saturday? There are lots of options and the best part is that it is down to you to choose what you want to do. All we know, is that it is a very long way to the three of us and we will be enormously grateful for your company.

 Set out below are meeting points at which we think we will be at different times of the day and night. We have calculated meeting points that have various distances in between, so that there is a choice of distances to choose from. The whole trail is around 78 miles give or take a few and we would hope to be able to complete it in under 24 hours, but the times below are guidelines rather than set in stone. We have estimated the time it will take to move from one meeting point to another, using a conservative pace,  allowing for stops for food and drinks and other factors such as night time running and navigating. It might be that we reach a given meeting point earlier than the time stated on the plan below. If we do manage to do that, we will not leave that meeting point until the allocated time. That means as long as you are at the meeting point that you choose to run from, say five minutes before the time stated, you are guaranteed to be able to find us. If we are later than planned, you will know we are behind time if you are there early and you will just need to wait for us to arrive. To supplement the plan below, on the day I will also be updating my facebook page as to where we are, so if you are interested find me on FB (via the clubs FB site is easiest) and join me as a friend. James also has a tracking device that allows us to be followed via google, details of which are to follow once we have tried using it on a long run.

 At the end of the run, we will try to enjoy a pint or three at the Queens Head Pub in Ampthill. We would like to also try to get as many people as possible to come and join us for a few beers, as this run is all about being social and this is an extension to that. Mind you, I might pong a bit so not sure how social I will be?  The whole idea of this run, is to try to encourage as many people as possible to come out and try a trail or even two, to run with other people from the club who they might not otherwise run with and at the end, to cement any new found friendships over several beverages. We really want everyone from the nice and easys through to the whippets to come out and join the experience. We have tried to set times which encourages people to try a few miles and we will not be running hard. In fact, we might not be running much at all towards the end!

The meeting points and route 

1. Ampthill to Harlington - estimated 8.3 miles. Starting at 6pm from the centre of Ampthill, meeting at the monument on the corner of Bedford Street and Church Street opposite the pharmacy and the White Hart pub, near the two mini roundabouts. We then wind our way over to Harlington, to the next meeting point at the front of Harlington . Aimed for finish time is 7.45pm. 15 minute break.

2. Harlington  Church to Sundon Hills country Park- estimated 8.3 miles. Starting at 8pm and then over fields to the Sundon Hills country car park on the Sharpenhoe Road. Aimed for finish time is 9.45pm. 15 minute break.

3. Sundon Hills country Park to Lilley - estimated 6.4 miles. Starting at 10pm and then over to the meeting point at the tall Village sign on the small green in the centre near to the church. Aimed for finish time is 11.45pm ( to take into account a fish and chip drop on route). 15 minute break.

4. Lilley village centre to Hexton Village Hall - estimated 6.7 miles. Starting at Midnight and then to the meeting point outside the village hall. Aimed for finish time is 1.45am. 15 minute break.

5. Hexton village Hall to The Church to  High Street Shefford - estimated  7.1 miles. Starting at 2am and then over to the meeting point outside the Church in Shefford High Street. Aimed for finish time 3.45am. 15 minute break

6. Shefford High Street to the Red Lion Pub carpark, High Street, Elstow - estimated 8.5 miles. Starting at 4am and then to Eltow High Street. Aimed for finish time 6.15am. 15 minute break.

7. Red Lion, Elstow to outside the Fox and Hounds Pub ( opposite the Suzuki garage), High Street Clapham - estimated 5.1 miles. Starting at 6.30am and over to High Street, Clapham. Aimed for finish time 7.45am. 15 minute break.

8. Fox and Hounds, Clapham to the Village Green, Molivers Lane, Bromham - estimated 7.8 miles. Starting at 8am and over to Bromham. Aimed for finish time 10am. Breakfast stop 1 hour.

9. Village Green, Bromham to the Swan Pub, just off the High Street in Cranfield - estimated 8.2 miles. Starting at 11am and over to Cranfield. Aimed for finish time 1.15pm. 15 minute break.

10. Swan Pub, Cranfield to the front of the Church on Ridgmont High Street - estimated 5.6 miles. Starting at 1.30pm and over to Ridgmont. Aimed for finish time 3.15pm.

11. Ridgmont  Church to the monument, Ampthill town centre - estimated 7.3 miles . Starting time 3.30pm and aimed for finishing time 5.45pm, but who knows?

12. Pub. Starting time 7pm. Aimed for finish time? For us, when the last one falls asleep, but for you?

 It would be helpful to know if anyone is joining us at any given point, as we may want to ask for the odd provision to be brought along, such as extra water, the odd sarnie or even flask of tea. We will be making arrangements for more substantial food to be provided at two main points for anyone doing the whole lot or anything more than a marathon distance. This will be via a fish and chip drop on route and a breakfast as set out above. Anyone going shorter will need to bring along their own provisions. As this is not being organised by the club, I’m paying for the food so you are going to have to work for it i9f you want some! If we do ask the odd person to help out say with a flask of tea that will be for the longer runners only, although everyone is free to muck in and bring along whatever they want for anyone else. We just don’t want to put pressure on anyone to provide cups of tea or food for lots of people.

 If are interested and fancy tagging along, please mail me on paulowen2@googlemail.com, post a message on my facebook page, the club forum page or collar me at training if you have any questions. Its not essential that you tell us, but it would be good to know. I can also then send you our mobile numbers as another back up.

Paul Owen