Running the Pembrokeshire coast path

The Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs 186 miles from Amroth in the south to St Dogmaels in the north, and it is the best long-distance running surface in Wales: mostly narrow grassy singletrack, well maintained, with the sea on one side and very few navigational decisions to make.

The ascent nobody plans for

The trap is the elevation profile. Nothing on the coast path is high, so runners look at the map, see no contours worth worrying about, and plan distances they would run on the flat. In practice the path drops to sea level at every cove and climbs back out again, repeatedly, all day. Total ascent over the full route is comparable to walking up Everest several times over - and it accumulates in hundred-metre bites that never let you settle into a rhythm.

Inland: the Preselis

Behind the coast, the Preseli Hills top out at Foel Cwmcerwyn (536m). They are open, rough and much emptier than the coast - bog and heather rather than manicured path, and worth knowing about on days when the wind makes the clifftops unpleasant.

Wind and edges

The path frequently runs within a metre or two of an unfenced drop. In a strong onshore wind that stops being a scenic detail. Check the forecast for wind direction specifically, not just rainfall, and be willing to move inland.