Lucky

Even though I live in a big city - Sheffield, within 300 yards of my house lies Ecclesall Woods. The more I run in it, the luckier I realise I am to have such a superb resource so close. The stats say its 350 acres of woodland with 15km of public footpaths but I bet this is only the main ones, as there are hundreds of small tracks branching off in every direction. As I discover more of these pathways I'm gradually building up a collection of circuits ranging from 20 minutes to an hour, all through rolling woodland with only a single road that needs to be crossed once out and once back. Terrain ranges from wide even bridleways through to rough sinuous tracks slaloming through the trees.

I've a couple of mates I run with, one who, again luckily, is up for dragging me out at 6.30 most mornings, but I also often head out alone. My last solo jog was accompanied by the echoing rat-tat-tat of woodpeckers throughout the forest. I'm hoping to take my camera out on a few runs over the next week to see if I can post up something that captures the experience of running through this beautiful spot.