A family holiday in Cornwall gave the perfect opportunity to check out some of the local places to get running!

Naturally, parkrun needed to feature, by way of a visit to National Trust property Lanhydrock. It was a beautiful day and the grounds there are stunning. Although I have now done 38 unique parkrun events, this is the first one where cows have been present at the briefing!

It was my turn to walk this one (toddler in running buggy, baby in carrier!), and even that was a challenge given the elevation on offer. According to the unofficial stats over at parkrun Elevation Rankings UK, Lanhydrock is the 2nd most challenging out of 519 events! The particularly punishing uphills are near the end, although there is a beautiful descent right before the finish. It is also a one lap course which is how I prefer things, and the scenery throughout is excellent, featuring open views, forest views, running water, bridges and more.

It took me 50:36 to walk round. I can do my ‘standard parkrun’ in about 40 minutes with the same child load!

Bugle and the Clay Trails

As well as some speed training during the week I wanted to do some ‘normal’ running as well. Research revealed the Clay Trails. The most local one for me was the Eden Project / Bugle route, so I did that one, albeit starting at Bugle.

Running to the Eden Project and back again added up to just over 10 km. The route was a little weird though. Only about half of it was actually what I would call a trail run. The other half directed me onto roads which you stayed on until hooking up with the next bit of the real bit of trail. Somewhat bizarre. The local roads are quiet but also do not have the best visibility so I did feel a bit exposed at times.

The lake that is mentioned (‘Great view of the lake!’) is a little over-egged, as it was surrounded by heavy amounts of metal fencing, which made it feel more like a military installation than a tourist attraction. There were some other natural views though:

The coast at Perranporth

Finally, to the beach! Perranporth was perfect for this (very family friendly) with the added bonus of coastal trails being readily available.

Family commitments meant I could only fit in just over 5 km, but the terrain made this great fun and the views were outstanding:

This was heading along the south west path. Very well sign-posted, with the option of going slightly ‘off piste’ for variation or extra challenge.

Overall, I’m happy that I did a variety of activities during the week to explore as well as enjoying the holiday. The coastal running has inspired me to try and find similar beautiful and challenging routes nearer to home. I’m pretty sure the Surrey Hills have all sorts of options here – I just need to get familiar with them!