ELISE DOWNING

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ELISE DOWNING

SUBSTACK

ELISE DOWNING

SUBSTACK

SUBSTACK

I like writing things and being outside

Copywriter, author & speaker

Coasting (2021)

The story of that time I decided to try and run 5,000 miles self-supported around the British coast.
“A true Great British adventure, with humour and heart,” said Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
One of The Times Best Sports Books of the Year 2021, Silver for Outdoor Book of the Year in the TGO Reader Awards 2021 and longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2021.

Walk Britain (2025)

90 of the best (in my opinion) routes in England, Wales and Scotland… all accessible by public transport!

”A thoroughly enjoyable guidebook written with an obvious love and infectious enthusiasm for our countryside,” said a man on Amazon.
Highly Commended for Outdoor Book of the Year in the TGO magazine Reader Awards 2026.

Does your new year’s resolution involve finally writing that book? You know, that one you’ve been thinking about/rewriting the first page of over and over/avoiding altogether?

As a CHRONIC procrastinator, I know that by far the hardest p

Hello and Happy New Year! Three months of not posting on here = good for my brain, undoubtedly terrible for the algorithm.

But I’ve got a few fun things to tell you about though so…

First up, I’m super, super excited to say that

I’ve been sharing my adventures - and my life - on here for over a decade.

Social media has changed A LOT in that time.
 We used to just post blurry, close-up selfies along with a filter and a few sentences. Then somewhere along the way it tur

Run two of the weekend was Dad’s first race for more than three years, and his first one since getting a new hip!

Dave arrived at our campsite bright and early on Sunday morning having driven up from home, unloaded his stove and apron from the

Our Ultra X England weekender started with 60km on Saturday.

When we woke up at 4am to the sound of it raining outside *and inside* the van, there weren’t many things I fancied doing less than running for 10 hours.

Luckily it had eased off by

Postcards from a week hiking the Tour des Fiz with my Dad. ⛰️

The tour links up mountain refuges in the Fiz Massif, a mountain range in the French Alps. It was Dad’s first multi-day trip with his new hip so our daily distances were more conser

It only took me 3 days to run 75 miles of the Snowdonia Slate Trail… but it’s taken me nearly 2 weeks to put this post up about it. 🤦&zwj;♀️

This is basically just a diary of all the snacks I ate but it was one of the best fastpacking

Photo diary of the last week. 📸 Running, walking, swimming and far, far too much skiving.

Just about recovered after the best weekend 𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 two of my best pals into married life.

We met in 2010 as a bunch of gross little freshers at Plymouth Uni, stayed friends because of all the laughs and all also because of all the mutual

Easy to forget that I live in the place where I used to come on holiday, but a weekend camping ~20 miles from home was a good reminder.

Watching Dad finish his first parkrun since 2023 was a clear highlight of the weekend. 🥂 It’s been a long two years and I can’t wait to get back to having running adventures together. Although I was kinda presuming that his new hip might

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