Two Tunnels Railway Race 10k

It was a double city adventure in Bristol and Bath, and a tired run through old railway tunnels.

Readjusting to sunlight after the tunnel run.

Why Bristol / Bath

Bristol and Bath were both on my travel list, and I knew whichever city I ran in, it would be an opportune time to visit the other. They're only a 12-minute train ride away from each other.

I had come across the Two Tunnels races in Bath on the Find A Race website early on in my searches; they run the event 4 times a year. 

I was keen on this one because you get to run through (surprise) 2 old railway tunnels. Much like running over a bridge in Anglesey, running through tunnels in Bath seemed cool.

The journey

I ended up flying to Bristol because getting the train was more expensive. Flying means less time traveling, though, which was good for trying to squeeze in 2 cities to a weekend.

The nicest headrest

Although there is a bus to the airport near my house, the timetable wasn't in my favor, so I got a bus uptown and took the Airlink express. 

I mention this fact because I haven't been on an Airlink since they rebranded, and I'm loving these new airline style seats they have on the bus. They have the most comfortable headrests.

So happy about the headrest I took a picture.

Well done, Lothian Buses.

Not so easy jetting

This experience was in stark contrast to the tiny amount of space I had in my EasyJet flight and the prolonged wait to board.

My flight was one of those flights that says it's on-time, but it's really not on-time. We left 30 minutes late, but at no point was it ever listed as delayed. This is not my first time experiencing this with EasyJet.

And while I was complaining about space on the plane, I was next to 2 massively tall guys that had it much worse than me.

American expats chatting about running

One of these tall men was a guy from New York, who lives in Edinburgh, and was flying down to run the same race as me (well, the marathon distance). What are the chances.

We had a really great talk about running and the races we've done. This guy has run over 80 marathons and in multiple countries. And here I thought I was traveling a lot to run.

The extended walk to the suspension Bridge

I came to Bristol with only 1 plan in my itinerary: walk over the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

I took a leisurely walk over to get to it, passing by anything interesting I saw.

Oo, pretty buildings

I headed down any street or area I saw a historical-looking building.

This first took me into Temple Gardens where I saw the ruins of Temple Church.

Temple Gardens.

St Peter's Church in Castle Park then caught my eye.

Oo, look at the fun bridge!

Follow the river

Getting to Castle Park was also my first sighting of the River Avon, which became pretty omnipresent in my walk after that. I follow where the water goes. 

I was impressed by the Cascade Steps, which was basically a fountain staircase kids were splashing around in.

Tempted to stick my feet in.

And of course there were boats. So many boats basking in the sunlight. I really lucked out with the weather because it was pouring buckets in the area the day before.

Boats, water, sunlight!

I passed a sign that was directing me to There. That was weird.

I want to go to There.

Tree swing fun times

Then the best moment of the day happened. I found a tree swing.

Swings!

And you bet I went on this tree swing.

I'm on the swing!

And yes, I was very happy about this. You know how I love boats? I equally love swings.

I'm happy about being on the swing!

Getting lost in the woods

I had my first full-view sighting of the Suspension Bridge.

And the Suspension Bridge emerged.

I didn't want to walk along a boring road on the last leg to the bridge, so I followed what I thought was a trail.

As I started this 'trail', I was thinking, I hope this doesn't end up like another Salford situation and I find myself unexpectedly walking through an outdoor sex spot.

This was worse than Salford. This wasn't a trail. I was basically walking through the woods, which had so many prickly bushes and was muddy from the previous day's rain.

Am I supposed to walk through this?

I kept muttering to myself what an idiot I was to end up in this situation. It felt like my hill walking experience in Snowdonia.

I used my handbag to block me from the branches in my way. But my cropped jeans were too cropped to save me from plants.

Something stung my lower leg. I'm not sure if it was a nettle or another plant, but I ignored it and it eventually went away.

I then saw a railing which made me realize there in fact was a trail, but I was not on it. I climbed over and walked as quickly as I could to the road. 

Clifton Suspension Bridge

I finally made it to the Suspension Bridge.

Walking onto the Suspension Bridge.

I took the time to admire the rocky scenery.

Avon Gorge.

The bridge itself.

It actually looks intimidating from this angle.

And take ample numbers of selfies.

Satisfied bridge crosser.

The nearby Clifton Observatory had even better views of the bridge.

That's one good-looking bridge.

It also had a rock slide: a super smooth rock surface you could slide right down. A bunch of kids were doing it, so naturally I joined in and went down.

Fun slide, sore butt.

Not gonna lie, it hurt my butt and I got a cut. But between tree swings and rock slides, I was having the best day (minus the woods bit).

Making my way to the train station

I made a similar impulse-based walk back into town.

I walked up Brandon Hill and came across Cabot Tower.

Cabot Tower.

I of course went up this tower, and the views of the city were well worth the walk up a tiny spiral staircase.

Bristol Uni from atop Cabot Tower.

I was surprised but most pleased that you did not have to pay to climb it.

Will smile for free views.

I passed Pinkmans Bakery where I happily gave in to temptation to buy a chocolate pecan sour-dough-nut. It had the most delicious chocolate cream filling and was topped with a little brownie bite.

Not pictured: the actual doughnut I got. It was a last-minute decision to not go with honeycomb.

I passed Bristol Cathedral, but did not go inside of because I had a train to catch. 

Bristol Cathedral.

I ended up passing some filming going on in Queen Square. Apparently, it was for a BBC One adaptation of Agatha Christie's 'The Pale Horse'.

The filming was right through my shortcut to get to the station, and I had to take a diversion. Damn you, BBC. But I enjoyed seeing extras walking dogs around in trench coats.

The hills of Bath

At the Wales 10k, some runners I chatted to asked where my next race was. When I said Bath, more than one person followed this up with 'you must love hills'.

I did not know Bath was hilly. I just have this stupid assumption everywhere in the south of England is flat. I mean, how could it be hillier than Scotland?!

Oh my dear lord, this little city is hilly. I learned this lesson immediately when getting off the train and starting the entirely uphill 47-minute walk to my accommodation at the University of Bath.

I mean, sure, the further I went, the more beautiful the views were.

At least I got a good view of the city...

But after a long day of trekking through Bristol, I was desperate to put my bags down and take a breather.

The face you make when the views are pretty, but you regret not paying for the bus.

I learned my lesson after checking in. I'd pay the extra money for the bus to get back into town.

In search of the pre-race meal

I know this is going to sound surprising, but I really didn't do much research this trip for where I wanted to eat.

The only place I knew I wanted to go was Maison Georges Larnicol, which is a French chocolate shop I went to in Paris. They only have one UK location, and it's in Bath.

They are most famous for 'la Kouignette' which may be the world's most buttery pastry that is absolutely delicious.  

Buttery goodness.

In Paris, they sold sweet and savory ones, so I thought I'd load up on some savory ones for dinner. No luck. They only sold sweet ones in Bath. 

That of course didn't stop me from purchasing and enjoying a pistachio and an almond one.

Alas, I had to find real food while tired and exhausted from a day of walking. I passed this place called the Boston Tea Party, was amused by the name, saw they did all-day breakfast, and was sold.

I don't know when fritters with poached eggs and halloumi became a common breakfast, but I see it everywhere now. And it's delicious everywhere. 

Breakfast should be every meal.

Also this restaurant had a weird vertical tap in the bathroom.

Does this turn on water or control the volume?

Checking out the city center 

Not wanting to waste dry weather during a weekend with a variable forecast, I walked my tired body around a little longer.

I checked out the scenic streets like...

...The Circus...

The Circus in Bath is pretty much like Circus Place in Edinburgh.

...and Royal Crescent.

Royal Crescent.

I walked along the River Avon and saw signs up for the next day's run.

Run signs along the river - along with messages about not dying.

I learned the railway line looks like a castle. 

That's too pretty to hold up trains.

Once again, I passed an Abbey that I didn't go into.

Bath Abbey.

I then waited a long time for the bus back to the uni because the first one never came. But I got back in the end and most happily went to sleep after a long day of 35,000+ steps.

The race

The next morning I was still thoroughly exhausted. I knew I wouldn't be aiming for a PB but to just stay awake.

The bustling race village.

What better way to stay awake than run a 10k that has you spend 40% of it in dark railway tunnels?

I don't think I was fully prepared for how dark it was going to be. They weren't very well lit.

But I have to say, with the sun out, I appreciated the run in a cool, dark tunnel.

During the run, my GPS didn't work in the tunnels, so I would exit a tunnel only to hear my app flip out on me and tell me I was running 16-minute miles and my current pace was null. But it worked it all out in the end.

The main negative was that it was a bit wet in the tunnels, which I think made me instinctively slow down for fear of slipping. They do this race in March, which seems a bit insane if it's icy out.

The weirdest thing about this race was that they don't do chip timing. I'm not really sure how they calculated it, but at the finish there were people with stopwatches and clipboards checking you off as you crossed the finish line.

My running app time and official time were exactly the same at 59 minutes flat, so it seems accurate to me.

The medal was pretty cool because it's a puzzle piece. If you do all 4 races, you get a different part and they all fit together.

A puzzle piece medal.

They also had the best sweets selection at the finish. I gladly helped myself to a giant kit-kat bar and slightly regretted not taking more chocolate. I mean, I did pay to do this race after all.

A deceptive bridge, bunns and smooth gelato

All showered up, I ended up walking back into town because I missed the bus by 30 seconds and didn't want to wait 20 minutes for the next one. Plus, the walk to town was downhill.

I took a route that would take me across Pulteney Bridge, which I wrongly assumed was a covered bridge based on the way it looked on the outside.

Doesn't this bridge look covered?

It took me a minute to realize I was even on the bridge because it just looks like any other street. That was disappointing.

It's not covered. It's just a street.

The most touristy thing I did in Bath was go for my post-race meal at Sally Lunn's House, noted for being the oldest house in Bath.

They are famous for their Sally Lunn's Bunns, which are buns they insist on spelling with an extra 'n' and sell as sweet or savory.

I got a savory one with a goat's cheese and cauliflower souffle. It was okay, but I was hoping these bunns would be thicker. Because, you know, I like thick bunns and I cannot lie. 

These Bunns just look like basic toast to me.

Luckily, a trip to Dr Gelato fixed my disappointment. I had the smoothest and silkiest gelato ever. I got bacio, which is basically chocolate and hazelnut.

Silky smooth gelato.

I was going to do more walking through town when it started to rain, and I didn't feel like having to face the next day in wet jeans. I also really needed a nap.

A wooded walk to Sham Castle

With the rain over and my body slightly rested, I went out for one final time to find Sham Castle, which introduced me to the term folly. 

I don't think it ever registered to me that people over the years have made fancy fake structures. Sham Castle is definitely an appropriate name.

I followed a trail that's around the uni campus to get there. When I got on this trail and saw all the trees and bushes, I immediately thought this was going to end badly in some way.

Girl, what are you doing here?

And it sort of did. Though not as bad as Bristol. When I was following Google Maps, all was well. Then I went off the route and followed a sign that said public footpath. 

There must have been a point I had to turn to stay on the footpath because eventually I found myself in the middle of the woods, climbing over tree branches, avoiding prickly bushes.

Sure, let me just climb over that.

Twice in one weekend. You're killing it, Lauren.

But all ended well. I saw the outline of Sham Castle and emerged victorious from the woods.

I made it to Sham Castle.

I wasn't expecting the incredible views of the city when I got there.

The sun was just about to set.

I turned that frown upside down and had an enjoyable walk back to the uni. This time while knowing where I was going.

A happy end to day 2.

Monday morning meeting

Monday morning was absolutely pouring, and I was not keen to venture outside.

Luckily, I already had an indoor activity planned: meeting with a colleague at Bath Uni. Seeing as I was already staying on campus, it seemed silly not to meet up with someone I knew here. 

We had a really good chat about all things digital and service design, and what's been happening at Bath. 

Stepping inside the Abbey

When the rain finally cleared, I walked into town. I took the opportunity to actually step inside Bath Abbey.

The first thing I noticed was a 48-starred American flag. Definitely an unexpected find in an English church.

God bless the USA.

There were building works going on in the main floor of the Abbey, but it was pretty cool because they had a window you could peek through the see the restoration work.

Peeking in on the restoration work.

Stupid money matters

On my way to get the train, I made 2 stupid financial transactions.

I went to grab a sandwich at M&S because I had a giftcard, but when I went to pay, I instinctively used my debit card.

You can bet I went to customer service and returned my goods to then buy them with the giftcard.

At the train station, I went to buy my ticket to Bristol at a self-service kiosk. I touched the first item that said off-peak to Bristol. It came to £5.35, which was weird because I only paid £5.30 the other day.

I purchased it anyway, went to grab my ticket, at which point I learned I had purchased a return ticket.

I know it’s only 5p difference, but boy did I feel stupid for not realizing. Though really, I just noted a usability issue with the self-service kiosk (is what I tell myself).

The return to Bristol

I spent my final hours walking around Bristol, enjoying the sunny weather that finally arrived.

I checked out Victoria Park and saw pretty much the opposite views of the city I had seen from Cabot Tower.

View from Victoria Park.

Like in Bath, I went inside Bristol Abbey this time, too. In their garden, they had a tree that could best be described as birds nest-flavored cotton candy.

Birds nest-flavored cotton candy tree.

I strolled around the University of Bristol campus because I just can’t get enough of HE. I enjoyed this mirror-maze sculpture they had on display.

I didn’t walk through it because a toddler was hogging it. Rude.

Fun thwarted by child.

I made a triumphant return to Pinkmans Bakery to try the honeycomb sour-dough-nut. The chocolate pecan one was better.

I picked up some dinner at The Mall Deli. I had passed this on Saturday where I saw some amazing-looking veggie sausage rolls.

I was hoping to get one when I returned, but they were all out. I ended up with a Glamorgan muffin, full of leeks, carrots, and cheese. OMG, this thing was delicious.

The best savory muffin of all time.

I then made my way to the airport for my 90-minute delayed flight, learned my stupid laptop wouldn’t connect to the wifi, so waited until arriving at my house to publish this post just before midnight. Joy.

Goodnight, world.

Next race

Ayr GO! Festival 10k

I figured I should probably run in Scotland at some point.