As January 2022 dawned, I, like many others, vowed to become a shiny, fitter version of myself and wondered how best to go about it. Frankly, this hasn't always worked out in the past with my plans usually evaporating by the time I have finished the kid's selection boxes. So why should this year be any different???
As luck would have it, within a week an item appeared on the news about a Glaswegian teacher, Michael Shanks, who had run every street in the city since the first lockdown. He in turn had been inspired by Rickey Gates, an ultra-runner from San Francisco, who came up with the concept of running 'Every Single Street' in 2018.
Should I take up the torch for Dumfries? To be honest, I wasn't convinced. Dumfries is not a sprawling metropolis like San Francisco - not even close. And yet something about the idea appealed. After some Googling, I found a community of runners doing the 'EveryStreet' challenge all around the world, from Irvine to Adelaide. So why not Dumfries, also known as the 'Queen of the South'?
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| View of Dumfries - 'The Queen of The South' |
I started on a cold Saturday evening in early January. Our estate has a lot of cul-de-sacs, and it felt a bit strange at first, running to the end of a street only to do a 180 and come back exactly the same way. But with not many people around I slowly started to settle into a rhythm and feel more comfortable, maybe this was going to be OK. Later that evening, I enjoyed the Dumfries nightlife with friends and shared my "Every Street" story, mainly to ensure there was no going back and feeling good about the journey ahead. The next day, stumbling up and down sidestreets with a hangover, I wasn't so sure...
During the first week, I managed to complete runs 1 to 5 and got a feel for what 'Every South Street' was going to mean for me. I decided to target a compact area for each run and use Strava on my phone to build the route as I went. Generally, this worked fine but also meant staying mentally switched on to avoid missing a sidestreet, or worse, getting run over while I studied the map. I also realised that driving to different start points, even those fairly close to my house, was going to be important to avoid running the same streets time and again.
My 6th run was a glorious Sunday and I decided to run alongside the River Nith to catch some of the late afternoon light. After parking at St. Michael's Cricket Ground, I headed upstream towards the town centre, passing through the Dock Park with many locals out and about, glad to escape the house for a few hours. The Dock Park has been ever-present in my life with so many memories from hanging out as a teenager through to bringing my own kids in recent years, and it's good to see the place remains as popular as ever.
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St Michael's Cricket Field
 | Dock Park
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After leaving Dock Park I headed to St. Michael's Church to get some pictures of local sights related to Robert Burns as his former house, final resting place and a statue of his wife, Jean Armour all lie close to each other.
I then returned to the river travelling along the Whitesands to the Devorgilla footbridge and paused to take in the Nith's glassy surface just above the caul which used to provide power for a grain mill by raising the water level upstream.
From there I continued to the next footbridge and happened upon a family of swans, although my 'David Attenborough' moment was pierced by some heckling kids who probably thought I was breathing my last, bent over double and gasping by the river's edge.
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St. Michael's Church
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Robert Burns' Mausoleum in St. Michael's Churchyard
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| Jean Armour's Statue |
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Robert Burns' House
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Devorgilla Bridge
 | | Swan Photography Interrupted by Heckling Kids |
 | View of the Caul from the Devorgilla Bridge
Shortly after crossing to the other bank and turning downstream, I was stopped in my tracks by a poignant memorial in a secluded spot, with balloons and cards, celebrating a 50th birthday that sadly never happened. A bit stunned, I almost took a photograph, but caught myself in time and moved on, uphill and away from the river towards the Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, where the view at the start of this blog was captured. After a quick check of Strava and realising this was already my longest run of 2022, I decided to head home and stretched my legs over the last couple of km back to the car, feeling satisfied, tired, and ready for the couch.
By 24th January I had already completed 10 runs and a distance of 87.6km in less than 3 weeks without injury or misfortune which felt like a strong start. This all seemed easier than I imagined - what could possibly go wrong?
Here's the link to my 2nd blog if you'd like to read more.
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| View across River Nith from Troqueer Footpath |
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