Date: 25/05/2021
Locations: Branscombe, Devon to Holcombe Devon
Distance: 42.22km
Accommodation: Manor Farm, Holcombe, Devon
Beginning of day five walk for AnaBella 2021, 28 Marathons in 28 Days. Yesterday I arrived at the campsite quite late, so was unable to do an update video but it was a good day. I took my time, and there’s no shame in that, the only problem is it takes a long time to be covering the distance. So I have to be more disciplined today with running on flats and walking uphill I’ve got to keep that in mind.
Some beautiful things happened yesterday and I started to see a lot of Robin’s which was nice: I associate robins with AnaBella hence why I have one on my T-shirt. Just the night before I had commented on a Cruse Bereavement post about it and then during the day I started to see more and more of them. There was even one point where I was disoriented and didn’t really know which way to go, and then a Robin landed on the signpost that I needed to see, so it very much felt like AnaBella was me and willing me on which is exactly what I needed.
So the campsite last night was ok, there were showers and a safe place to pitch which is basically all I need. I met some amazing people called Pat and Sarah in the van next to me and they sorted me out with cups of tea toast this morning which was lovely. and more than I could have asked for. They even went as far as giving me a hot water bottle for the evening which not only kept me warm but brought my phone back to life after it had got damp.
The South West Coast Path is tough, it’s a tough path: you think you’ve only got 5k or 10k to go but you forget it’s not your standard 5 or 10k, it’s a South West Coast Path 5 or 10k and with the inclines can take a couple of hours. The terrain can be brutal and, along with some of the weather I’ve been having, is adding additional challenges that I wasn’t expecting or train for.
We start today with no poncho but we shall see how we get on…
Just stopped to take a quick video because it’s one of the first beaches that I’ve really come to and there’s no one here, it’s beautiful, it’s called western mouth and it’s pretty tricky to get to I don’t know how many people get here but it’s a beautiful place and very peaceful.
So end of day five and it’s been an emotional one today and it looks like I’ve got sunburned but there hasn’t been any sun, there was a little bit of sun this morning but not much and it’s been raining pretty much all day. I did a third of my distance, stopped for a bit then it started raining and it’s only just stopped so that was a bit miserable.
It’s been an emotional day, I’m missing home it’s only five days in, but missing home: missing my son, missing my wife, missing my house, missing my dog, my cat all of those things. It’s been tough and there was a bumped into a bunch of runners called the Dawlish Coastal Runners and they stopped on the side of the street and clapped me, and that was it, I started crying.
The fact that the message is getting spread that, more people are talking about these things and people are donating and sharing my story it’s so amazing. I’ve also been conversing with people on the way: today I spoke to a lovely lady who had suffered a miscarriage over 35 years ago and she still thinks about it today and has regrets for not seeing her baby when she gave birth. One thing that struck me was
and you know she hadn’t got over it um 35 years later so you know stuff like that you need to talk about we need to talk about these things otherwise like I said they they eat away they eat away at ourselves and we don’t work out we act out and it comes out in a very a very negative way
i’m just kind of warming down now slowly
slowly walking in my uh flip-flops in the um in this lovely place
it’s quite nice very picturesque look at that nice little church nice little church beautiful houses um the place that i’ve started mana farm my farm holiday let’s in uh in holcomb guys are amazing absolutely amazing at the moment rachel who is one of the farmers there cooking me for some food she made me a cup of tea things like that you know people can be so lovely you know you get out and speak to people some people can be so lovely yeah it can be such a shitty world as well with the things that go on things that happen in life but at the same time you know as people you know when we reach out and look after each other it can be a beautiful world as well okay i’m gonna stop this now but yeah thank you i did see some
yeah anyway speak to you guys later
- Getting lost in Dawlish Warren running in dunes pushed to shoreline
- Spoke to a lady who lost her daughter 35 years ago and its still very raw, never named baby
- Saw dead Robin
- Dawlish runners cheering me on set me crying as the first time I was recognised for doing what I was doing
- Staying on a sofa bed, my first night not in the tent
