Bonjour,
On Sunday 10th June 2012, taking the opportunity of a sunny morning, I ran from Ipswich town centre to Shotley Marina. I had already run from Ipswich to Pin Mill but never all the way to Shotley Marina. The least I can say is that it was not a disappointment. The scenery is just amazing and most of the route is along the river Orwell. Once on the first footpath - after about 2.5 miles from Ipswich town centre - there is almost no road at all. The route I followed passes close to the Orwell Bridge and from below it is really impressive.
As I had already done part of the run I did not have to use my map. At some point - after about 5 miles - there is the option of taking a footpath to the right and one to the left. It is worth taking the one going to the left as after a few hundreds meters there is a very nice view over the river and also a gig old tower. However, it does not seem that the footpath goes any further and I decided to back track to take the footpath, the one going to the right.
From Pin Mill, it is very easy, you just have to follow the footpath, it is straight ahead. The only time I had to look around to find my way is when I got to the Butt and Oyster in Pin Mill. When you face the pub, the route is on the left, towards the water, if I remember well, there is a yellow circle showing the right direction. From Pin Mill, the track changes a little bit and there are more hills, it is not too tough however. For a while the route follows the river and on a day like this last Sunday, the view is really worth it. There were lots of boats sailing.
The last 3 to 4 miles are almost completely flat but the ground is uneven and it is important to be careful as it is very easy to twist an ankle! Before getting to Shotley Marina, there is also a long time with the view over part of the port in Felixstowe. It is when one realises how tiny the sailing-boats are, compared to the big tankers. Just amazing to think they can actually float with all they have to carry!
Once at the Marina, there are at least two pubs for the well deserved recovery session. We had fish and chips at the one at the Marina.
In total, the entire run took me about 2h 45min I made quite a few stops to take photos. My actual running time is about 1h 50min + nearly ten extra minutes as I forgot to stop my watch at the end!...
It was a very good day. Just one regret: I did not think about using
the sunscreen I had in my backpack and I should have used it!
On the plus side:
- Scenery,
- Possibility to keep running after Shotley Marina, but I have not done it... yet!
On the minus side:
- I cannot really think of any negative points for this run, except maybe the fact that there are two or three points where there are nettles!
Well that's all for today.
Take care and enjoy your runs!
Vincent
