After much planning and some complicated logistics, it’s time to start discovering trail running in Wales!
Blog post and running frequency has lately taken a bit of a nose dive. For good reason though, as my family and I have been busy with a move we’ve planned for a long time – moving to Pembrokeshire, Wales.
New location
I’m now based closed to Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire. We’re outside of town in a quiet area surrounded by farms.
We certainly seem spoiled with some spectacular views and scenery. And although we’re nearing the coldest months of the year and have had some dismal stormy weather lately, I have managed to get out on a couple of runs to explore.
Take a look at this spectacular view over the surrounding area with the fading late afternoon sun:
The arduous move
Our move has been difficult to say the least. We first starting thinking about moving in early 2018. The following year (2019) is when we first listed our home in England for sale. At the time we were not fully committed to Wales, and ended up de-listing it for a while. We then re-listed it in 2020. In 2020 and 2021 we drove to Wales (5 hours or so) for various property viewings. Each time we had wake up super early in the morning, do the viewings, then drive all the way home again in the evening due to the pandemic and overnight stay restrictions.
We found three properties over the duration of our viewing and offering phase. The first one we offered on didn’t go any further – the offer was declined. Our offer on a second property was accepted and we paid a fair bit of money having all the legal searches and structural surveys completed, only for the seller to cancel the sale on us.
The third property we ended up getting an accepted offer on has finally come through to completion. We’ve moved! The actual conveyancing process was a complete nightmare though, with our own buyer’s conveyancing company suffering a cyber attack which put them at a complete standstill for weeks on end. This was after they decided at the last minute to request further documentation from our buyer.
Trail running in Wales prospects
So far I’ve just found some local trails that are accessible without needing to drive anywhere.
We’re quite centrally located with great beaches in all directions which should provide some excellent coastal running routes. Just yesterday we drove to Newgale beach which is just 15 minutes away and offers a vast stretch of beach and some potential coastal trail running.
Off to our west is the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park which also has plenty of options.
I’m also keen to venture north in Wales to Snowdonia National Park to see what is on offer there. I’m sure there will be some great official events to participate in there.
Congratulations on your move, Sean!
What a bumpy ride that was – but all the better that you are now settled in. I had no idea where Pembrokeshire is, I had to google it.
Seems like you have plenty of countryside for running! And as I can see from your photos, it’s beautiful, too.
Enjoy! Looking forward to your adventures.
Hi Catrina,
So nice to hear from you as always. Thank you for the kind message. I’ll certainly be posting more photos and blogs with details as I discover the beautiful area around us.
All the best!
Your sentence, “So far I’ve just found some local trails that are accessible without needing to drive anywhere” put a big smile on my face, Sean. This is wonderful.
I know very little about Wales, so it will be fun to learn through what you share. It would have been very challenging to say the least to get to the point of moving. It would have been a great relief to eventually complete the move after all the set backs. In your photos the countryside looks rugged and very beautiful.
I’m so glad that brought a smile to your face Carl! I do make an effort to do all of my running from home where possible. We’ve got a lot more hills around us now, so I’m embracing them as extra hill climb training and forging new paths and connections to ensure I can go for miles from home.
In fact, I just got back from an 8 mile run out to the rocks seen in this blog post 🙂 Not only does it reduce emissions but its got bonus side effects like reducing friction to getting out for some exercise and allowing more time for exercise.
We’re using our car less and less it seems – especially since the start of 2020. We’ve agreed that our next car that we do get will be electric.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post!
Howzit Sean,
I revived my Twitter account and came across your usual interesting posts on your life, running, IT related posts etc. How are you and the family doing and how is Wales treating you? My wife and I are big fans of Wales especially with her being Welsh and her family born and raised in Flintshire. We used to visit Wales a lot a back in our UK days. We are back in South Africa now and have been living in Durban for 6 years now and still love it out here warts and all. Suspect one day we will return to England once the kids get older and I’m also thinking English/Welsh country side living on a small farm type holding etc. Don’t think I could ever do the hectic London City life style living again – been there done that 🙂 Enjoy Wales and the beautiful scenery, running and country living. Laters Bruce
Bruce, so good to hear from you!
Thanks for stopping by and saying Hi. I know it’s been absolute ages, but I now do remember your wife’s heritage. That is so cool. Flintshire is on the opposite corner to us of course, but I really do love that area. I’m very keen to get up there next Summer and explore as there is a lot more interesting elevation.
I’m envious in a way of your move back to SA and Durban in particular, as some of my best years I remember were of living in Durban as a student (Glenwood, Essenwood/Musgrave and then Morningside).
We moved out here as we’ve slowly gone more and more rural. We’re really happy with the setup here now. If you’re over visiting in Wales any time soon then definitely get in touch to come stay/visit.
BTW – I have a YZ 250 now, in fact, I believe it was actually once yours? Did you have the flywheel weight increased? This thing is a bit of a scary beast… 😂
All the best!
Sean