Running Words

  • Home
  • Blog
    • Running
  • About me
  • Contact
  • Links

Hadrian’s Wall

Hiking Long distance walking Running Thru hiking Trailrunning Ultrarunning

Hiking tales from an injured runner – part 2

Reacquainting myself with the Pennine Way My recent little backpacking trip along the Dales Way gave me a taste for more. I might as well get good use out of my new tent! I quickly decided that my next project could be a re-recce of parts of the Pennine Way Read more

By Petra, 3 monthsJune 30, 2026 ago
Subscibe to receive updates
loader

Email Address*

Name

backyard ultra ballot camping CCC Centurion Running Chamonix Cheviot Goat Cheviots christmas Coast to Coast Courmayeur Cumbria Eryri fast packing handicap Hardmoors Hardraw hiking long distance walking marathon eryri Montane Spine Race mountain running mud Nav4 North Downs Way Northern Traverse Northumberland Ourea Events Pennine Way Punk Panther road running Robin Hood's Bay running Snowdonia Marathon Eryri Spine Challenger North Spine Race thru hiking trail running training ultra running UTMB Wainwright Wales winter Yorkshire

petrabijs

Happily retired 😊 | Trail and ultra runner🏃‍♀️‍➡️🌳| Still runs the odd road race 🛣️ | Green Runner 🌍| Blog writer 📝

Sailing away tonight 🚗 ⛴️ Goodbye 🇮🇪 Hello again 🇬 Sailing away tonight 🚗 ⛴️ Goodbye 🇮🇪 Hello again 🇬🇧
Some more photos from my #irishroadtrip 🇮🇪 🚙 1,2, Some more photos from my #irishroadtrip 🇮🇪 🚙 
1,2,3 - on Sunday I joined a walk in Tomies Wood near Killarney with my friend Sandra’s walking club Sliabh Luachra. Lovely people! Great views over Lough Leane. 
4. Monday I left Millstreet where I had been staying for 5 days with Sandra, and drove to Wexford. Quick walk around the town. The quayside was great, the rest I didn’t find too exciting. Bought a pair of shorts in the sale in Dunnes Stores as it was so warm! AirBnB a bit north of the town, out on a farm. 
5. Tuesday I walked the Slieveboy Loop from Askamore. Met no one at all. 9 miles. Nice wide views but nothing that set the heart alight really, or would easily be captured with my phone camera. I had my lunch next to Our Lady who keeps watch over the Askamore cemetery and car park. 
6,7,8,9 - Glendalough. On Wednesday I left Co. Wexford and drove into Co. Wicklow to Glendalough. Two lakes in the hills, the site of an ancient monastic settlement. Lucky with the weather again ☀️ There are multiple waymarked walking routes, I had intended to do one that takes you up onto the hills behind the upper lake. Sadly it was closed due to the helicopter 🚁 dropping supplies for trail maintenance. Unlucky 👎 Photo 8 shows where I would have been walking…..I walked two shorter trails instead. 10 miles covered. The site is touristy but it wasn’t too busy. Not as bad as Dingle for sure! 
10,11,12 - the monastic settlement at Glendalough. The churches are ruined, but the cemetery continues to be in use. I found it very beautiful. The round tower, built sometime between 900 and 1200, had bells to call the monks to prayer. There are old illegible gravestones that must be about a 1000 years old, in between much more recent ones. 
Afterwards I treated myself to a lovely Mr Whippy 🍦 and drove further north, into my third county of the day, Co. Meath, where I am staying in an AirBnB near Moynalty for my last day in Ireland.
The beautiful Dingle Peninsula. My friend Sandra d The beautiful Dingle Peninsula. My friend Sandra did all the driving and made sure we stopped off at these highlights on the Slea Head Drive: Dunmore Head where we walked up to the WW2 lookout post; Dunquin Pier (Cé Dhún Chaoin) and a hike down the super steep walkway to the jetty; and finally the Blasket Centre, a hugely worthwhile exhibition about the history, culture and people of the Blasket Islands, inhabited until 1953 when a declining population made evacuation inevitable. I had known nothing about them and came away with two books, keen to read more. It’s also the most westerly point of Europe!
A grand day exploring a few places on the Yeats Tr A grand day exploring a few places on the Yeats Trail, a route with 14 locations that inspired W.B. Yeats’s poetry. 
It was rather windy with intermittent showers but I managed two walks without getting too wet: one along the beach at Rosses Point and the second one from Slish Wood to the Lake Isle of Innisfree. I also visited Yeats’s grave in the Drumcliffe churchyard, and drove to Streedagh beach to get a good view of Ben Bulben, having only seen it shrouded in mist yesterday. Due to the weather I decided against a hike to the summit, but glad to have seen this imposing landmark. 
Lovely soup and soda bread for lunch in Drumcliffe @pinkcloversligo kept me going. 
📷
1. Rosses Point beach. 
2. Art installation at Drumcliffe with the text of ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’
3. Yeats’s grave at Drumcliffe
4. View of Ben Bulben from the cemetery
5, 6. View of Ben Bulben from Streedagh beach
7, 8, 9. The Lake Isle of Innisfree in Lough Gill
#medalmonday On Saturday I ran the @26_extreme Gia #medalmonday On Saturday I ran the @26_extreme Giant’s Causeway Coast Marathon 🏃‍♀️ A group trip with Ilkley friends; we all tackled different distances, I ran the marathon. Stunning out and back coastal route with 4000ft of elevation and an 8 hour cut-off. Quite wet 💦 at times with a fairly stiff westerly 💨 which I had to battle on the way back. I reached the halfway point after 3 hours and 1 minute exactly, and was most surprised to finish under 6 hours 🤩 My first ever negative split in a marathon I am sure. No idea where that came from, especially with that wind 🤷‍♀️
Hopping over the rocks at both ends of Whitepark Bay Beach (so 4 times for me 😳) was no fun if you’re not very agile on your feet like me (think drunk baby giraffe) but the rest of the course was very runnable. Well organised low-key race which I would recommend!
I can’t say I particularly wanted to come home, bu I can’t say I particularly wanted to come home, but at least Dover seemed to welcome me with a stunning sunrise. A quick snap taken on my way down to the car deck, but came out quite well I guess #nofilter #dover #whitecliffsofdover @dfdsfrance @dfdsglobal @portofdover
After leaving Châtel on Monday I spent 72 hours in After leaving Châtel on Monday I spent 72 hours in the @aletscharena_ch in Switzerland. It was rather a last minute decision, largely driven by a wish to stay at altitude due to ongoing heat in lower lying areas. The Auvergne, my initial plan, will have to wait 😉
And it was 💯 an excellent choice. The #aletschgletscher, Europe’s largest, left me speechless with wonder. The 360 views of the mountains include the Jungfrau, Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. The whole area is car free, you leave your car in the valley and use the cable car 🚡 to reach your accommodation, I had a lovely AirBnB. I stayed in #riederalp which lies at 1915m. Within a day you have forgotten you even have a car, it’s wonderful! I did 3 walks, you can make things easier by using cable cars to go up and/or down. Also managed two short runs, it’s quite hard work at that altitude. 
I was sad to leave 😢
📷
1. Aletsch glacier from the Bettmerhorn viewpoint 
2+3. The Betterhorn mountain with its cable car station. I didn’t climb to the summit, it was described as needing a good head for heights and looked like something I didn’t need in my life. 
4. Bettmeralp lake
5. Cows on the walk from Bettmeralp back to Riederalp 
6. Info boards about the impact of climate change on the glacier
7. From the Moosfluh viewpoint
8. Grünsee in, almost, the bottom of the valley. It had been a long descent…
9. At Grünsee there were posts indicating where to sit on the rocks to have your picnic! I did as I was told. 
10. View of the glacier from Silbersand
11+12. I treated myself to a beer at Villa Cassel after the Grünsee walk. 
13. Looking down towards Riederalp. There were a lot of marmots there. 
14. Obligatory selfie.
The sun has reappeared after a heavy thunderstorm The sun has reappeared after a heavy thunderstorm ⛈️⚡️💦
Follow on Instagram

  • Privacy
Hestia | Developed by ThemeIsle