Rich Meston
I wandered. I wrote a book. Then it all got a bit out of hand…
I'm a runner, writer, photographer, software engineer and all-round great guy. I'm also quite sarcastic.
I grew up near Poole in Dorset and still live there, always within spitting distance of the South West Coast Path. I've spent way too much of the last 10 or so years running and walking around chunks of Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.
It started with Half the Path, a walk along the South West Coast Path. Then came a book about the MudCrew Arc of Attrition 100-mile race, and the books have kept coming ever since.
Ten books so far. About 2,370 miles of it on GPS, 370,000 feet of up, 1,210 photos, and two DNFs I've written whole books about.
The miles and climb are added up from the GPS tracks of every adventure on this site, including the ones whose books I'm still writing.
Why I write
Catharsis, mostly. Writing is cheaper than therapy!
Nobody around me wants to hear about my adventures in quite as much detail as I want to tell them, so I write it all down instead. I enjoy the process, the reliving and the revisiting, and by the time I've finished a book I feel at peace with that adventure. I still enjoy dipping back into the old ones. It's amazing how much you forget.
I also write to help. Before a race or a long hike, I'd have loved to read a really detailed account of it: what's good and what isn't, the tips and techniques (what to do, and what not to do!), or just to live it second-hand first. So that's the book I try to write.
A few facts
- First ultra: the Green Man Ultra, 2014. First 100-miler: the Thames Path 100, 2016. First South West Coast Path ultra: 2018.
- Lowest moment: about 5am on the descent from Great Hangman, North Coast 110, 2022. Everything in me wanted to quit. Bea, running with me, said “Don't be so silly. Eat a banana.” It turned everything around.
- Best race, and saddest DNF: my second Arc of Attrition. At 45 miles I was singing and skipping over boulders. Then I realised the knee injury wasn't going to get any better, and I'd have to stop.
- Favourite stretch of coast: Geevor and Botallack down to Sennen Cove. Remote, full of history, amazing geology. Cape Cornwall feels like something out of The Lord of the Rings.
- Least favourite: Barnstaple to Bideford. Ten miles of tarmac, a lot of it dead straight. It always beats my feet up and takes far longer than it should.
- Footwear: I hike and do ultras in trail shoes, normally Altra Lone Peaks and Darn Tough Hiker socks. For training runs around the block, I'll wear Saucony or Adidas running shoes for far more miles than you're supposed to (one pair of Ultraboosts passed 2,000).
Get in touch
The easiest way to reach me is a message on Facebook or Instagram.
Hear about the next book
An email when a new book is out. Not often, and no daily step counts.
You'll get an email to confirm. Unsubscribe any time.