St Bega's Way is a 36-mile (58 km) walk through rural

West Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the ...

and the north west corner of the

English Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

. It is usually completed as a leisure walk over 3 days, but has also been used as the basis of a single day competitive

Ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

Background

The route:

St Bees Priory St Bees Priory is the parish church of St Bees, Cumbria, England. There is evidence for a pre-Norman religious site, and on this a Benedictine priory was founded by the first Norman Lord of Egremont William Meschin, and was dedicated by Archbish ...

* -

Ennerdale Bridge Ennerdale Bridge is a hamlet in the county of Cumbria, England. It is in the civil parish of Ennerdale and Kinniside. It had a total population taken at the 2011 census of 220. Description Ennerdale Bridge lies at the confluence of Croasdale ...

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' ...

Derwentwater Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria. The lake occupies part of Borrowdal ...

- St Bega's Church *

Bassenthwaite Bassenthwaite is a village and civil parish in the borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, within the Lake District National Park, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 412, increasing to 481 ...

. It is usual to walk in the easterly direction, given with the prevailing wind on the back. However, when running, it is frequently done in the opposite, westerly, direction. Although the route is named after

St Bega Saint Bega was reputedly a saint of the Early Middle Ages; an Irish princess who became an anchoress and valued her virginity. Promised in marriage to a Viking prince who, according to a medieval manuscript ''The Life of St Bega'', was "son of th ...

it is entirely the invention of Rosalinde Downing, who described it in a small booklet. Several commercial organisations offer guided or assisted vacations based on the walk.

References

External links

St Bega's Way
official website.

the St Bega's Way Ultramarathon.
The entry
in the LDWA website.
St Bega's Church
Bassenthwaite. Long-distance footpaths in England Footpaths in Cumbria {{Cumbria-geo-stub