In theory there is a track there called the 'Carrick way' - I even found a stone that says so, but with the snow, it was pretty much guesswork all the way.
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| This makes me think there is a track somewhere |
Anyway, if you want to run for a cheeky 10 miles (16km) or so through roughish terrain, you can start at Sauchrie or Minneshant and basically just head up the road that goes uphill, westwards towards where the sea should be eventually. Run up the road and you'll see after 3miles or so (from Millieshant or a mile from Sauchrie), another road pointing upwards with hiking path signs and so on. Take that road for 3 miles more and you get to a junction which, for the unprepared like me, can mean a choice of life or death.
Even by the time i got to the junction, my body was telling me quite straightforwardly that i need to change my diet, cut out processed food and stop eating chips, and do some training sometimes, so this kind of thing would be heavily involved in my new years resoultions, if i ever made any.
Anyway you can go left or right to the same destination - the left path is is a normal road, it winds gently round the hills and ends up after 5miles in Dunure, a pretty little village on the Ayrshire coast (which has the foodlicious Dunure Inn if you like fresh seafood and a big warm fire)
The right path i do not recommend unless its a lovely summers day and you are maybe the kind of guy who, unlike me, does fell running on a regular basis. In theory its nothing more than a rough path through some marsh, woods and over the hill, and in theory is 3miles to Dunure. Just jump over the turnstyle and your on the 'Carrick Way' ,
By the way i would just like to state here publicly that i think that the Carrick Way is nothing more than an urban myth to trick idiots who run up hills in winter. Im pretty sure it doesnt actually exist. (even the website alludes to that fact)
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| Another knackered and freezing victim of the 'pretend paths in the middle of nowhere' trick, yesterday |
As is my destiny, I of course took the road less travelled, and within 5 minutes in the snow got soaked as the ice over the marsh broke. Thanks God i thought, I only have to run up the bloody hill now and i'll possibly see the sea. Of course snow, while its great on the feet, means that quickly any semblance of a path up the hill was lost. Its also slippy as hell when your running up a hill on it. And anyway, I had no idea where Dunure is except by the sea, somewhere nearby, so with this logic i ran towards some random stones at the top of the hill (which are actually cairns, marking the site where people die) With no food, and nothing more on that my silly looking 'pro combat' running tights and a few layers of christmas fat, both of my imaginary freinds were now questioning my sanity, but due to limited other choices, i had to press on (and at at a quick pace to avoid hypothermia)
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| The well defined path up the hill |
Unfortunatley when i got to the top of the hill it was snowing heavily so couldn't see any sea, never mind a path, but after picking my way through a load of jaggy bushes, I eventually found a small river you could follow to get down towards the road on the other side.
Which brought me to a field full of cows. As i ran, the cows started following me, which was great fun, I actually as they sped up I thought it would cool to set a stampede going - until i realised they were in fact horny bulls, so i had to vault into the next field to avoid a pretty interesting death.
However, the worst was now over, as from here i could see a farmhouse, which brought me to a road, and eventually some roadsigns to Dunure, and 5 more miles later i found myself warming my freezing self by the fire in Dunure Inn, gulping down some lovely homemade soup.
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| A field of horny bulls, taken from the safety of the next field |
In normal weather though, the route i believe is quite a good run, and you can add to it after Dunure, right along to Girvan (another 10miles or so) or Ayr (5miles +) so you could knock out 15-20miles in total here, with some lovely scenery.
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| Dunure Castle today, looking rugged and handsome (like me) |
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