Coasting: Running Around the Coast of Britain Life, Love and (Very) Loose Plans (Elise Downing)

Coasting: Running Around the Coast of Britain Life, Love and (Very) Loose Plans is written by Elise Downing. This book follows a long-distance running challenge around the coast of Britain.

Key details

• Author: Elise Downing
• Centres on a 5,000-mile run around the coast of Britain
• Completed over 301 days
• Run undertaken carrying kit on her back
• Begun six months after graduating from university

Synopsis

After graduating from university, Elise finds that her new flat, first proper job and a budding relationship leave her unhappy, and she decides on a drastic change: to run 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain with her kit on her back.

Setting off six months later with no ultra-running experience, unable to read a map and having never pitched a tent alone, she spends the next 301 days learning as she goes. Along the way she develops a fear of farmyard animals, cries on beaches, and encounters Britain at its most wild and wonderful. Told with heart and humour, the book reflects on taking risks, trusting strangers and continuing to put one foot in front of the other when it feels impossible.