12th October, Stage 2 Kennet and Avon Canal

General Info
The 87 mile-long Kennet & Avon Canal passes spectacular scenery between the River Thames and the Bristol Avon, its appeal to be a stage run in the Tour De Pram is it is advertised as a long distance waterside cycle route, which means there is a good chance it is suitable for the pram. There are many points along its 87miles at which the route can be joined but for this stage we chose to start from Reading, closest to home.  There are plenty of sites to get more information about the whole canal,  I found these the most useful: - 
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/files/migrated-pdfs/KAcycleguide.pdf
and 
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/canals-and-rivers/kennet-and-avon-canal

We started Stage 2 at the Oracle shopping centre car park (this does mean a small parking fee but see addendum at end of the stage blog on an alternate point to start), running out of Reading towards Newbury. The pathway was tarmac for the start before becoming  compacted stone, making it great for my style of pram.

Run Stats 
We were joined on the second stage by our regular running partner Karen Gallantry, whose training plan required us to do a  a 8km run at long run pace, allowing her calves and Achilles to recover and stop hurting. (Though I do wonder if that is to get out of pushing the pram ;) ). 
 

Overall Experience
The weather was slightly overcast but dry and cool and was the first outing for my running gloves! We set out at 9.30am and apart from a couple of fishermen we passed about 1 other person on the way out, making it a very quiet run, well apart from our chatting, not that Karen and I talk too much when running. The first 1.5km out of Reading is a relatively narrow tarmac path with not much of a grassy border between it and the canal, it required single file and as I did not fancy a dip, both hands on the pram to steer round the corners.
Whilst that side of Reading from the road can hardly be described as picturesque the canal runs along the back of some lovely Victorian terraces and then through Waterloo meadows and it is easy to forget where you are. Once under the A33 the path switched to compacted stone and mainly marshy fields on the other side of us as we followed the canal. At about 2 1/2km there are a couple of gates which provided a bit of an obstacle course, the first meant the pram and I had to limbo and the second required Karen and I to lift the pram over (with Scarlett in) providing us with a mid run, upper body work out and something to look forward to for the return. We turned back at the loch just before Southcote mill and found the return stretch a little busier with a few more runners and cyclists.

Karen showing the point in the run that we have a upper body work out. (the gate was locked, so up an over it was)

 The limbo gate..








Pros:-

• Interesting path with gentle gradients and plenty of things to see.
• Great for long or slow pace runs (with pram)
• In good weather conditions (see addendum), it would be a great long run route and possible to carry on towards Newbury, it's about 19miles from Reading to Newbury (for those keen to find a really long run) and a train ride home :))
• Starting and finishing at the Oracle shopping centre meant we could treat the Sunday morning shoppers to sharing a coffee with a couple of sweaty runners and an excited toddler :)

 Things to consider: - 

• It may have been the early start but I found it quite isolated in parts, asked Karen and she agreed. It is definitely a route that when running with Scarlett I would be happier to have company. Also the extra pair of hands were very handy when clearing the gate.
• Once past the A33, there was evidence that it is not necessarily the best path to follow after prolonged periods of heavy rain. 

Would I do it again? Absolutely and in fact we discussed maybe joining it further along, maybe at Newbury and trying it from there.

Addendum - 19th Oct
Back so soon! Following a 6 day break in Gran Canaria, the Lynch family needed to run off the excesses and so decided to do a 10K along the Avon and Kennet. I am adding it here as there a couple of points to note for anyone trying the path: - 

• We parked at the Brunel shopping centre, just up Rose Kiln Lane, where it is easy to join the canal path. The bonus is, it is free for 3 hours and we actually had to grab something from the pet store there.
• At about 4k we hit an snag, the wet weather experienced in the UK the last 5 days (whilst we were sunning ourselves abroad) made it impossible for us to carry along route 4 to Newbury. However there was a bridge at that point to the other side and almost a km of good path until it is blocked. Again with some manoeuvring we could have probably unloaded the pram and got it over but the path became a thin well worn route through grass it was not going to be suitable for the pram, so it made a naturally good turn point. 
• Unlike the stage run, we headed out at around 1.30pm and it was a lot busier with walkers, cyclists and quite a few boats moving up and down the canal. This made the whole thing feel less isolated and something I would happily do solo. (though if with Scarlett I would prefer company and extra pair of hands :) ).