Tentsmuir Fastpack 23/24 July 2025

In order to consolidate my post-injury running and to satiate my need to get back out into the great outdoors, I decided that a shorter distance fastpack might be the order of the day. The summer conditions require less kit, and the advantage of fastpacking is that it can be a more leisurely affair, breaking up the running with walking as and when desired.

The overnight weather forecast was fairly stable with a small chance of showers in the early hours. In order to stay both local and in less remote terrain, I opted for a trip to Tentsmuir over in Fife. I have run and fastpacked a lot in Tentsmuir over the years and never tire of it as there is so much variety in the trails and environment, particularly if one strays a little from the main tracks.

The outward leg would only take about two hours or so. Thus, no need to set off until early evening.

Day One

In the end it was soon after 1800 when I set off. The trip would commence and conclude at my front door.

After a mile warm-up down through the city centre, it was time for the Tay Bridge. I am not a fan of the bridge for running but it is otherwise a long swim to Fife. The walkway is in the centre of the bridge so it is pretty noisy with traffic on each side. It is about 1.5 miles across and when heading over to Fife, it is also uphill. I set a slow pace and plodded across, taking a very quick walk break about half a mile before the other side.

Once across, there is a set of steps down to the road which leads along into Newport-on-Tay which is actually a very pleasant little place with some nice small shops and cafes. A speed march uphill took me up behind the town, eventually arriving at the crossing of the dual carriageway to St. Andrews, Cupar etc. Once across, I found myself on the back road up over the hill to Tayport. This is a nice little road with minimal traffic and some good runnable sections.

The route then heads through Tayport to the road end which marks the start of the track into Tentsmuir. I had made good time to that point and all seemed OK as far as my calf was concerned. I had managed to maintain a pace around 10min/mile and decided to see if I could sustain that for the remainder of the route which is all runnable. I would however factor in some periodic walking sections to reduce stress on my calf.

The next three miles through the forest is always a pleasure and once I hit the tarmac road I knew it was about a mile and a half to the beach carpark. I made good time and eventually reached the carpark, stopping my watch showing an average pace of exactly 10min/mile. Not sure how I managed that quite so precisely, but all good. My legs felt fine and I was pleased overall with my pace and endurance given the time away from proper training.

There were a few cars and dog walkers still about but they drifted away over the following half hour as the vehicle barrier closes in the evening and no overnight parking is permitted. That means it becomes deserted and I set about selecting a bivy location.

I try to stay fairly close to the small toilet block for no other reason than it is easy to top up with water without walking too far, especially in the morning. A few drops of rain led me to site my bivy under a fairly leafy tree.

It was still warm so I sat and ate and eventually settled into the bivy to watch some downloaded TV on my phone. Although I really didn’t feel that sleepy, I settled down to sleep about 2300, just in time for the rain to start.

It rained on and off for the next three hours or so. Not much to be honest and the tree was doing a sterling job of keeping a good percentage of it off me. Nothing to bother the bivy bag in any event and the rest of my kit was nice and dry inside the 20L drybag. As always, I didn’t sleep that well despite being comfortable and warm, but it was great to be out again and I was enjoying it.

Day Two

I roused myself soon after 0400 as it began to get light. I ate some food then set about packing my stuff. It was all pretty much dry by then and it is very civilised to pack up in an organised way when it is warm and dry. After a quick trip to the toilet block to top up a soft flask, I was ready to go. It was about 0515.

The quickest way back is to follow the main gravel track all the way back to Tayport but it is a little monotonous, so I decided to head up and round the point using a combination of the smaller paths through the trees and across the dune network. It would be harder going on tired legs, but I was not exactly under any time pressure!

The next few miles were varied and enjoyable. I was definitely slower than the previous day but the terrain was also more challenging and despite the early hour, it was also very warm and humid.

I decided to complete the last section back to Tayport on the beach. The tide was low so I was able to make good initial progress on the firmer sand.

However, I got too smart for my own good and set a beeline across the sand flats to cross the last part of beach. It turned out to be softer than it looked and there was some standing water which soaked my shoes through in no time. However, I was committed and slogged across the last few hundred metres before I could reach the hard path once more.

I took a quick calorie break on entering Tayport then set off through the caravan park and housing streets to the harbour.

A quick climb and descent then took me out of Tayport to the public footpath which runs from the edge of the town all the way to the bridge. My legs were certainly tired by this point but I set a decent walk/run rhythm and before long I was once more at the bridge. Good news though! The bridge is downhill on the return leg and I ran virtually the whole length with only a very brief walk break. Once across I could smell the finish and I applied myself to the final uphill through town.

I stopped my watch on exactly 10 miles, not long after 0700 on the clock. As I have said before, I like tidy numbers.

Overall, a massively encouraging and enjoyable outing. Not only was it a huge confidence boost in respect of injury recovery but a strong indicator that my training can really develop from here. As a fastpack, over 20 miles covered from the front door with an enjoyable overnight, virtually zero cost and all in around 12 hours. As the saying goes, what’s not to like ?!