A Crooked Trail or Two

Returning to this blog after nearly two years, I can’t help but notice how quickly the pandemic has thrust us all into a new age.

“Look at that!” I think, reading an old entry, “I just popped into a coffee shop at the end of a run, no mask required.” Or “Check out that finish line, where we hugged and high-fived strangers, heedless of the microbes we were exchanging!”

The pandemic also cancelled the two races I’d registered for: the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty (where, assuming all went well, I was going to earn my five-time finisher jacket) and The Rut 50k (one of the most insanely rugged 50ks out there, with tons of climbing… my favorite!). I’m sad to miss out on these, but the race directors definitely made the right call to cancel, for everyone’s safety.

Running close to home now, with no race in sight, I went in search of a virtual challenge. Virtual challenges allow runners (or walkers, hikers, bikers, swimmers… whatever moves you!) to make progress along a map, based on miles logged during your training, toward an imaginary destination rather than toward a trail race’s start line. Which led me to the 1083-mile Lands End to John O’Groats Virtual Fitness Challenge, organized by My Virtual Mission.

*Clicking on the map will take you to Google Maps, where you can zoom in for a closer views of the route.*

This particular course captured my imagination over twenty years ago when I spent a few weeks doing research in London. Listening to a BBC radio broadcast from 1940 or 1941 at the British Library, I remember hearing a correspondent use the phrase “from Land’s End to John O’Groats” to colorfully evoke all people in all villages across Great Britain… sort of the way an American might use the phrases “coast to coast” or “from sea to shining sea.” I didn’t realize at the time that since at least 1871, people have been literally traveling this route to challenge themselves and to learn more about their island home.

More on the route itself in my next post… for now, I invite YOU to join me as I embark on this virtual journey. You can log the miles solo, or assemble a team so that all team members’ activities contribute to the 1,083-mile distance. You can get 10% off the $29.95 entry by using this link to sign up; feel free to share with friends and family if you recruit others to join you. And if you DO sign up, let me know so that I can add you to a virtual community I’ve set up, so we can keep one another company as we go. It’s like having a family page of our own, within the larger “My Virtual Mission” community of subscribers.

One additional invitation: Part of the appeal of this route is that it’s 100% new to me… other than spending time in London and giving a paper at a conference in Southampton many years ago, I haven’t seen Great Britain at all! So if you’d like to offer a “guest blog” post and/or share photographs of your own real-life journeys in Britain, I welcome you to do so! From time to time, I may blog about the places I pass through virtually along the route as I learn more, and would be happy for others’ perspectives… including pubs and vegan-friendly eateries along the way, of course.

Stay healthy out there, friends… and see you on the trail!