Hi Robert. I was speaking to a friend at my local Parkrun, who said his Garmin had problems with the trees in the park. He also said that he had ran the London Marathon and had clocked up 29 miles according to his Garmin. Even allowing for weaving in and out of slower runners, this error seems rather high. I would have assumed that GPS would be spot on, but it seems that this is not the case.

Robert,

Just a few thoughts from me. I have been a member of the LDWA for 20 years, and before that did a lot of walking, including the Cleveland Way and the Pennine Way (both in 1970s, so you can guess my age!). I was quite happy plodding along at my own pace. The cumulative effect of walking over several days (especially if you are backpacking) is different from going all out on a challenge event over several hours. I try to ignore the speedy gonzales: I have never been fast, and now age is against me in terms of much improvement. The advice from the previous poster is good: aim to give yourself a rest day or two on a long walk, and don't follow suggested stages too closely.This is easier if you are self supporting and not reliant on scarce B & B for example. If you are carrying a full pack (e.g. for me that would be over 25 lbs) then a limit of 15 miles per day over difficult ground or in bad weather is about right, if repeated day after day.

So I would say-don't despair. It is not a race. The books are there to give an indication. Enjoy your walking. Think about footwear-heavy boots are not always needed (Dales Way and Dales High Way recently in trainers).

I did the P/Way in 16 days, which included a half day rest at Once Brewed, and marvelled at Jos Naylor who ran it in three...

Beats me why some guides give different information: the classic was Wainwright's 270 for P/W compared with another writer who said it was 230-not much difference then! I assume you have looked at the LDWA 'Trail Walker's Handbook'? If not this is a very good source of information.

Hi Phil, Thank you for your reply , we did still enjoy the Cleveland Way but I feel that 5 days is probably too short of a time. We felt totally worn out on the final day which is probably a culmination of high mileages on previous days with a grueller to finish. We have done a few Long distance paths over the last few years Coast to Coast 11 days, Dales Way 5 Days, Westmorland Heritage Walk 12 days all of them have been very tough and I feel we are probably being too ambitious. We are walking the Pennine Way at the end of May and we have allocated 13 days but we may just add on an extra day to make it more enjoyable. can you shed any light on why the mileage always comes in higher than the guide books and memory map routes?

Regards Rob Warburton

Hi Robert,
I did the Cleveland Way two years ago,completing it in 5.5 days; half a day longer than you took. Personally, I prefer a shorter final day on LDP's, especially if I'm travelling home that day. My final leg was from Scarborough to Filey, which I could take at a leisurely pace. I had a few pints in Filey and then caught the train home. If I'm walking on consecutive days, I try to keep the mileage to around 20 miles. Anything much above that begins to feel arduous. I walked 27 miles over a very straight section of the Peddars Way, which was torture! National Trails are about scenery, meeting people, pubs and good breakfasts. The Cleveland Way is superb. I hope that you still enjoyed it.

Hi to everyone, This is my first post on the forum. Myself and two friends (Tom & Vicky) have just completed the Cleveland Way. We started on Wednesday 16th April from Helmsley to Osmothereley 21.5 miles (7hrs) 2500 ft ascent. Day 2 17th April Osmotherely to Kildale 22 Miles (8.5 hrs) 4600 ft ascent. Day 3 18th April- Kildale to Staithes 25 miiles (10hrs) 3300 ft ascent. Day 4 19th April Staithes To Robin Hoods Bay 20miles (8hrs 20 mins) 2300 ft ascent. Day 5 20th April 26 miles (10.5 hrs) 3400 ft ascent. Total Mileage 114.5 Total ascent 16100 ft. The mileages and ascent measurements were taken using my Garmin gps map 62s. I have got a few questions I would welcome any logical replies to. Firstly why is the mileage we do on long distance paths always different to the gude books and to the route file downloaded to memory map? Secondly The mileages seem to differ more when we have more ascent is this because memory map type programmes use straight lines and cannot follow every contour of a footpath? Myself and my friends consider ourselves to be fairly fit and active but during some of these longer days especially the final day at 25 miles we were at the end of our endurance levels with extremely painful feet, when I read some of the posts in the LDWA forum eg ( Coast to Coast in 5 days) it makes me wonder if we are a bunch softies or that we have got something fundamentally wrong with our walking techniques. Please feel free to comment I would be grateful for some feedback from experienced long distance walkers