Why do we run? For fitness? Yes. For a challenge? Yes. For meditation? For socialising and community? Yes. To spend precious time with a loved one? To get a bit of a break and some alone time? To relieve stress? Yes, yes, and yes. To explore, to spend time outdoors, to compete? All of those things. But what about on a more existential level?
In Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run, he explains that running was once an essential part of the human existence, if not the fundamental part. “Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain,” he wrote. When our early ancestors did start etching images onto the walls of caves, it often showed a person running. “Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet.”
Look at kids in the school playground; nearly all of them are going full tilt. Grazed palms and knees are a weekly occurrence, but they never stop running. It’s an ingrained activity, or as Christopher McDougall puts it, “an encoded ancestral necessity”. Running is part of what makes us human. Which is why, if you look again at the list that opened this article, it ticks so many of the boxes we need ticking. Most of all, however, running is a joy.
Not that it always feels like that. On a drizzly morning in the Peak District, or a winter run through lamp-lit streets, or at the end of a long-distance run when it feels as though your calves are eating themselves, joy seems very well buried.
Every so often, with my fellow writer on this magazine Ben Lerwill, we meet at a YHA hostel and run a distance that some would find daunting and others would find piddling. Those runs are a chance to catch up, to filter the world around us, but I’ve also found they unlock creativity. That’s not to say there aren’t tough moments. There are always times when you would do anything to be back in the hostel café for a cake and tea. I remember one time we returned to YHA Brecon Beacons, muddied, bloodied and wet. I had a blister the shape of Antarctica which felt just as big. We could barely talk. But creaking open the door to a cosy convivial scene, and seeing others who had also undertaken the organised trail run we’d just done, brought instant community and instant healing.
We had a great evening playing an old edition of Trivial Pursuit with new friends. Our aches and pains could wait until the morning.
I’m convinced there is no better place to start and finish a run than a youth hostel. They’re in beautiful locations — in the countryside or city — and serve up cosy lounges, tea and cake and hearty food. And the chances are high you’ll meet like-minded, curious people to strike up a friendship with, even fleetingly.
The Japanese novelist, Haruki Murakami, wrote a celebrated short book about running called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. One of the lines in it has stuck with me: “Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest.”
Hostel-to-hostel running
If you want a long-distance run through some of Britain’s most beautiful scenery, hostel-to-hostel running makes perfect sense. From a logistical standpoint alone, it just works. With your bedding, showers, food, drying room, and a friendly welcome all waiting, you only have to carry what you need for a day running, light clothes and toiletries. Pack light and a 5-10L pack is all you’ll need.
From a geographical perspective, it’s even better. There are various clusters of hostels across England and Wales, particularly in Eryri (Snowdonia), the Lake District, the Peak District and the coastal paths of the South West and Pembrokeshire. Once you’ve decided on the hostels, you can start the key part of any lengthy adventure: poring over maps and planning routes. Here are three ideas for inspiration.
YHA Ennerdale to YHA Buttermere
The Lake District is criss-crossed with hundreds of paths, so you can put together almost any distance and route type, whether it’s a vertiginous path along the ridges or a more benign run through the valleys. YHA Ennerdale and YHA Buttermere are just over six kilometres apart, but it would be remiss to not get up to High Stile, run the ridgeline to Hay Stacks and head down to Honister Pass, before choosing another ridge up to Dale Head, or straight down along Gatesgarth Beck.
YHA Tintagel to YHA Boscastle
The North Cornwall coast is a place of drama: crashing seas, tremulous sea stacks and white, sandy beaches. Along it is a series of youth hostels, linked by the South West Coast Path. The nine-kilometre route between YHA Tintagel to YHA Boscastle is one of the most stunning sections.
Also along this coastline, you’ll find YHA Treyarnon Bay and YHA Penzance.
YHA Edale Activity Centre to YHA Castleton Losehill Hall
The running in the Peak District is as good as anywhere in Britain — think long, view-rich trails along the edges followed by high adventure on Kinder Scout. It’s particularly easy to link up YHA Edale Activity Centre to YHA Castleton Losehill Hall. The quickest route is over Hollins Cross, but you wouldn’t want to miss the classic ridge run between Lose Hill and Mam Tor.
Photo credit: Halfpoint - stock.adobe.com / pierluigipalazzi - stock.adobe.com
