Seals on a rocky coast: running in Northern Ireland

Running in Annalong, Northern Ireland. May 2023

Running along Annalong’s Coastal Path allows you to observe the daily life of a Northern Irish town without the beautifying filter of tourist enclaves. Here, instead of beach bars, you will have sheep grazing on the seafront and seals on top of the rocks. With the amazing Mourne Mountains in the background.

TLDR; “Too long, didn’t read”

• I just want to run! Take me to RUN.
• I have 1 minute. Take me to USEFUL INFORMATION.
• Running is my excuse for travelling. Take me to TRIP.
• Running is my excuse for eating. Take me to CARBOLOADING.
• I want to know what to read in the plane. Take me to ONE BOOK.

🏃‍♀️ The run 🏃‍♂️

We set off from Annalong’s harbour, from where two sections of the coastal path start: one running to the right, and one to the left.

In the harbour, in addition to watching the fishing boats go up and down at the mercy of the tides, you can see the cornmill, perfectly recovered. It is also here where “Cassie’s challenge” begins and ends, which consists of… covering 50 peaks, 93 kilometers and 6,000 meters of elevation gain in less than 24 hours!

We did not venture into the Mourne peaks, but we ran the two sections of the Annalong coastal path: in total, we covered about 7 kilometers in an easy path where there are no more obstacles than fences for animals (which you can get around without stopping). It is also possible to run a further few kilometers during low tide hours, over large stretches of rocky beach. But you need to be careful not to twist an ankle.

Running on a weekday allows you to feel part of the community for a few hours. Here, there are no tourists, and you come across local walkers: retired couples with surprising ability to move over the rocks or those who walk their dogs. They have in common a strong Northern Irish accent and a ready smile.

The landscape

Although there are some small fishermen’s houses, with their wood painted green and their characteristic dark stone fences, in most of the coast there are meadows where sheep graze, or fields which farmers work. And, while running, you will “enjoy” the smell of manure as a consequence!

The tides on this coast are very pronounced. The low tide exposes large stretches of rocks on the beach. Extensions of whitish granite rocks, with magical gray and pink touches, and further into the sea the dark schists, with their characteristic laminated appearance. It all looks like a grainy Mark Rothko painting.

And most importantly, during your running you have the magnificent view in the distance of the Mourne mountains. All you need to worry about is packing all-weather gear, as even during a short run you can go from blistering sunshine to imperious rain!

🌍 The trip 📷

The area has outstanding natural attractions, notably the Murlough Nature Reserve and the Mourne Mountains. Murlough Nature Reserve has dunes that are over 6,000 years old, and walking along its sandy beaches and unique ecosystem with the Mourne Mountains in the background is an unforgettable experience.

It is worth climbing the Slieve Donard, the highest peak in Northern Ireland. We climbed it cross-country, heading from the old granite trail, used to carry the stones from the quarry down the mountains. It is an ascent of about three hours, not too complicated. The wind howling and combing the leaves of bushes and ferns (an invasive species, by the way) made me feel like I was in Emily Brönte’s “Wuthering Heights”. No Heathcliff here, but bleating sheep perched on granite crags. The summit of the Donard is quite gusty, but if you’re lucky enough to climb on a clear-sky day, the view is … breathtaking!

And, if you have more days, I recommend seeing the famous “Giant’s causeway”. And visit Belfast, a very interesting city, whose turbulent recent history (“The troubles”) is graphically reflected in its murals. The murals are located mostly on Falls Road and Shankill Street.

🍜 Carboloading 🍝

For carbo loading, there are multiple options high on carbohydrates, and some of them make for a good breakfast before your run. For instance, 🥪 Soda Bread, a traditional Irish bread very popular in Northern Ireland, made with simple ingredients like flour, baking soda, buttermilk, and salt. It has a dense texture and is delicious served with butter and jam. Farls, potato bread, is another option: is a type of flatbread made with a mixture of mashed potatoes, flour, and sometimes buttermilk. Sometimes it is pan-fried, for an extra punch!

After your run, specially if it has been cold (and given it’s Northern Ireland, you bet it will be), an 🍲 Irish Stew will help you recover. It typically includes lamb or mutton, potatoes, onions, carrots, and sometimes barley.

Useful information

🏃 Trails ranging from 3 to 8 kilometers in Annalong, Northern Ireland, Europe.

👟 Bring with you: City shoes for the coastal path and trail shoes for the rocky beach. All-time weather clothes, including a rain jacket!

⛰️ Difficulty: Low. The coastal path is wide and flat. It only gets a little tricky if you choose to run in the rocky beaches

✅ Lovely scenery

✅ Easy trail, well located and without tourists

❌ The rocky beaches can be treacherous

❌ The weather changes often here. You need to prepare for unexpected rain and wind.

Map

One book

“In the morning I’ll be gone” by Adrian McKinty

For the trip, I chose to read a book set in Belfast at the time of “The Troubles”: “In the morning I’ll be gone” by Adrian McKinty, but quite an atypical one, since it is a “Murder mystery” … with Margaret Thatcher included.

I really enjoyed this thriller, which summary reads as following:

Summary: Sean Duffy’s got nothing. And when you’ve got nothing left to lose, you have everything to gain, but only if you want it. So when MI5 come knocking, Sean knows exactly what they want, but he hasn’t got the first idea how to get it. Of course he’s heard about the spectacular escape of IRA man Dermot McCann from Her Majesty’s Maze prison. And he knew, with chilly certainty, that their paths would cross.

But finding Dermot leads Sean to an old locked room mystery, and into the kind of danger where you can lose as easily as winning. And there’s no coming back from this kind of losing. From old betrayals and ancient history to 1984’s most infamous crime, Sean tries not to fall too far behind in the race to annihilation. Can he outrun the most skilled terrorist the IRA ever created? And will the past catch him first?

⭐⭐⭐⭐

To know more…

“Cal”, by Bernard Maclaverty

Also interesting is Bernard Maclaverty’s famous novel, “Cal”, which addresses the issue of IRA violence from a more intimate point of view, that of a singular protagonist, who is really struggling.

⭐⭐⭐

“Banjaxed” and “The nervous Flyer’s Companion”, by Gráinne Tobin

I was lucky enough to have tea at the poet’s Grainne Tobin’s home, who, among anecdotes of her more than forty years living on the East Coast, told us the story behind her most famous poem, “Ladies night”, from her book Banjaxed.

⭐⭐⭐

Weans happed up against All Souls’ Night wind
huddle with their parents’ arms around them
where galaxies of District Council stars
glamorously explode above the patient crowd
is reckless fountains and cascades of light,
sparkles displayed on velvet sky and mountain.

“Under Donard”, Gráinne Tobin