Rusland/Grizedale

One of our No Frills options so you can expect – no tv, no wifi, and very little mobile signal (we’re not kidding), so if you’re after peace and quiet with your running, this is the one for you. Accommodation is in a bunkhouse, which is a converted stable building at the Rookhow Centre – a building built by the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker’s) in 1725!

For a number of reasons, this holiday is based on us transferring you to accommodation – there’s limited parking at the bunkhouse, the roads are really narrow and it’s easy to get lost, and we’d like to reduce cars on the roads in the Lake District if at all possible. Therefore, we’ll meet you at Oxenholme – The Lake District train station on the West Coast mainline between 5pm and 6:30pm and transport you over to Rookhow. After settling in, we’ll have an evening buffet provided by Heathen Vegan (see menu below) at around 7:30pm. As we’re eating, we’ll talk routes for the weekend, outline the itinerary and have a chat about safety considerations we need to bear in mind.

Saturday is breakfast, then pilates, after which we’ll be off on a 16-20k run, taking in the tracks and trails of Grizedale forest with views to Coniston Lake and the range of mountains that will surround us. We’ll have a pit stop at the cafe at Grizedale Visitor Centre for a sandwich (price not included) before continuing back to the Centre. On return we’ll have some more pilates or yoga, then some afternoon tea, and a chance to get changed, get warm (if we need to!) and relax. We’ll have some time to explore the site, including the amazing woodland which we’ll have full access to over the weekend. The evening is your own to make new friends – note, there’s no shops, pubs or other civilisation within reasonable walking distance! However, we do have fire pits available in the wood to sit around, and there will be a lovely homely feel in the bunkhouse too.

Sunday is a similar plan to Saturday, with a shorter run of 10-14k across the Rusland Valley to High Dam, and views of Lake Windermere and Morecambe Bay. We’ll be looking to depart accommodation at 2pm to transport you back to Oxenholme for 3pm