Around the Island … Summer 2011

WACer circumnavigates IOW … Annie Dougall reports.

In a mad moment one day I thought I'd like to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight! .... I popped into Cotswold and picked up a map!  I love looking at maps and planning my attack. It looked do-able and when I mentioned it at work I found a companion, Elaine (Higgs – of Lytchett Manor Striders)! She had never gone beyond marathon distance and the only thing we had done together was go to Excel and register for London! I planned to go for a two-day event going clockwise as we would then get the Needles towards the end of our second day which would be nice near the end of our adventure!

We chose our two days and caught the 6.45am ferry from Lymington on a beautiful sunny morning! We had cappuccino's on the ferry and marvelled at how little kit we had in our small backpacks!

We set off from Yarmouth Marina and soon found that coastpath signs were not very consistent, glad we brought the OS Explorer map ... it was to get well used on this little jolly! The 38 miles to Sandown included getting a bit lost in a forest and doing a nice little extra loop! The natives are very friendly over there though and recognized that a map in hand meant we were looking for the coastpath! 11.45hrs later we rocked into Sandown! Fish & chips, beer, shower ... sleep, zzzzzzz

Day two dawned also sunny and warm. A second set of kit, compeeds, breakfast. Lucky it didn't rain as our trainers were still on the window ledge airing off! A much nicer day, rolling hills, virtually all off-road, even a cappuccino break at a nice beach café! We managed to run loads and really enjoyed the scenery. We could see the Needles in the misty distance but it took a long time to reach them! Yipppeee!!

The map had now been folded so many times it looked pleated! (I ironed it when I got home!!) As we ran round the coast and Yarmouth came into view we saw a Wightlink ferry in. Figuring it was the 7.35 and it was now 7.16 we ‘picked up’ our pace! We ran to the ticket office, did a high five, bought a ticket and made it just in time to have this photo taken! We did two laps of the ferry looking for beer, which we found at the café, where we were asked if we were going to do laps all the way to Lymington! Pleased with ourselves?? Oh yes!

Annie (right) with Elaine on the Wightlink Ferry on the way home

What next ... Jersey ... South-West Coast Path .... South Downs Way ... watch this space!

Annie