Coasting: Running Around the Coast of Britain – Life, Love and (Very) Loose Plans

by Elise Downing

Running away from your problems doesn’t solve anything – but sometimes it’s more fun than dealing with them

Elise was spending a lot of time crying on buses. She had just graduated from university; she had a shiny new flat, her first proper job and a budding relationship – and they were all making her utterly miserable. Sitting at work one day, she hit upon the obvious solution:

Run 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain, carrying her kit on her back.

Six months later Elise set off, with absolutely no ultra-running experience, unable to read a map and having never pitched a tent alone before. Over the 301 days that followed she developed a debilitating fear of farmyard animals, cried on a lot of beaches and saw Britain at its most wild and wonderful.

Coasting is about putting one foot in front of the other, even when it feels impossible, and trying to enjoy it too. With heart and humour, Elise explores the thrill of taking risks and putting your trust in total strangers, and learns some home truths along the way.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Audiobook, Memoir, Adventure, Autobiography, Walking

320 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2021

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a runner I followed Elise’s adventure at the time, so I was excited to read all about it. I think her achievement of running around the coast of Britain is amazing, but I have mixed feelings about the book. I really enjoyed hearing about all the kindness from strangers but I found her complete lack of organisation, being bailed out by her parents numerous times, missing school talks because of a hangover and popping home for some comfort, quite grating. The constant questioning of whether it was a ‘real’ adventure and if she was doing it ‘right’ was quite repetitive. In fairness the things that annoyed me were classic twenty-something behaviour, I just think I’m a bit old to appreciate it now! I think running the coastline for 10 months is a great achievement, but hard to make interesting as a read. You get up, run through remote places, repeat. I thought it was an ok read but it didn’t inspire me as much as other running adventure books.

[Clare Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elsie undoubtedly achieved something amazing, and I have a huge amount of respect for her.
As a book this was just okay.
The plus points were her humour, funny anecdotes, and positive message about the kindness of people in a divided world.
However I did find the narrative a bit irritating - maybe I’m just getting old but I didn’t quite understand what was driving her 23-year-old existential anguish and it felt a bit entitled at times. I also struggle with books that glorify binge drinking to the stage of a blackout. I didn’t get a sense of any personal learning or growth or what she achieved, nor did it do justice to the landscape.

For a much better read, look at Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path

[Sonny Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elise’s achievement of being the first person to run the coast of the UK (~5,000 miles) is staggering, and a testament to the fact you do not need to be an elite athlete to do some pretty cool things.

Getting up every morning and running X number of miles to a new spot on the British coast is somewhat repetitive in nature, and I think this book struggles to disentangle itself with that repetition. The “instagram-caption” style of writing also removes some of the awe out of the adventure and I hoped for more in-depth descriptions of some of the best, and worst, spots along our coastline to bring the adventure to life.

[Ella · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found this very hard to read, a twenty-something decides to run the coast of England, starts with the intention of camping and doesn’t once use her tent and instead relies on friends and friends of to host her and relies on her parents to lend her money, couldn’t show up to school talks about why the heck she was doing this run anyway (because she was hungover)
In summary, a few hundred pages of complaining
Not worth the read

[Leoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I followed Elise on fb during her run so I was keen to read this account of that journey. It was great imo- funny, engaging and easy to read. Yes there are elements that are repetitive - but so is running 5000 miles! Keep writing Elise - you have a great style. The cover art is gorgeous too

[Carmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I loved this book. This is Elise Downing’s recant of her 5000 mile run in 10 months around the coast of Great Britain. An absolutely incredible feat but so much more engaging as Elise decided to undertake this adventure with little ( almost no!) planning only having run a few times prior and no training! Perhaps reckless or stupid but really she pulled off something incredible. The story of course is a bit repetitive but her sharing of her ups and downs, good and bad days, the encounters with wonderful people, scary cows, bog and mud and Scottish heatwaves is told in a light and funny and engaging manner. The fact she carried a pack and survived on cake and two sets of clothes for 10 months is a five star effort in my books! The writing isn’t a literary feast but still an easy read. Almost makes me want to take up running again and it definitely has me wanting to find my own adventure!

[Andy N · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read 50+ pages and gave up. Unfortunately, I had no interest in the outcome or the author’s woes. All seemed a bit self interested and self serving.

[Maria P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this and found it somewhat inspiring, but it was also very negative at times and wasn’t quite what I expected. I was expecting her to be spending the whole time on the coast path (or near to it) pretty much alone and camping as she went in a similar vein as The Salt Path (although that was a couple). I was therefore a bit disappointed that she actually relied very heavily on staying at people’s houses night after night and didn’t actually pitch her first tent up until well over 6months in. She also ran a lot of it with others who followed her journey on social media and who she’d met as part of the Yes Tribe. Probably it was not possible to do it the way I was expecting but nonetheless that was the impression I got from the title details. I also expected lots more descriptions of the coast and countryside whereas a lot of it seemed to be about her student life, boyfriend and drunk nights out (some of which she had whilst on route). I think if I’d known a little more what to expect I might have enjoyed it more. It felt like a fairly immature and naive adventure by someone who was young, free and single and had the privilege to just up and go. She admits this herself and considers herself lucky, despite the constant negativity and self doubt (of which there was a lot). For these reasons I think it would probably appeal more to a younger demographic. Having said all that, I do think it is quite a remarkable thing that a 23yr old decided to do this (and whilst she could) rather than stick to the norms of life that probably a lot of her friends were doing and take herself out of her comfort zone. I have to say, I think if she were my daughter, I would be very very proud of her achievement, determination and motivation. So despite my perhaps slightly negative comments, I do think what she achieved is to be celebrated so well done Elise. You have certainly made me want to do more adventure running! 😊

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels a little bit of a cheat to read this book in one day on the sofa because it's raining outside, but it has inspired me to go out for a walk now, honest!

[Rhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent read for me, earning three stars. While I appreciate that the book is a summary of the author's time spent running, it just didn't resonate with me as much as I had hoped. I found myself wishing for a bit more storyline to tie everything together.
The author shared many short anecdotes, but I felt that a bit more context was lacking to connect them all smoothly. It's a book that certainly has its merits, but personally, I was seeking a stronger narrative thread to keep me fully engaged.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was what I needed to read while training for my first marathon. If Elise could ran around the coast of Britain, I definitely can run a 42km race :) It was a nice read, inspiring and funny.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, very thought provoking and has inspired me to do some kind of running challenge one day. Nice to read non fiction for a change and I was surprisingly gripped by the story

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a joy to read and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it so much that I finished it within two days as it sounded interesting as I am definitely not a runner by any means.I really enjoyed that even with such disorganisation that she achieved her journey funny sad and a great read to pick up and adventure along with Elise.

[Bea Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love love loved, made me want to quit everything and just go explore, to spend more time outdoors and to go on some adventures, even just small ones. Loved how humbly it was all written, no hints of pretentiousness and just very real.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, and story, is everything you want an adventure tale to be. Elise has such a self-deprecating and humble way of telling her story - from the ecstasy and highs to the sadness, self-doubt and lows. You laugh with her at the ridiculousness of situations we all could find ourselves in and feel awed and inspired at her spirit and ability to dig so deep to achieve something that was at once very public and incredibly personal. She succeeds in drawing back the curtain of the bravado and gloss that often surrounds 'adventure', showing myriad parts in their gory, beautiful, painful and, often, mundane detail. In a world where so much is about social media impressions, Likes and curating a version of life that represents 'the ideal', Elise strikes a balance that is honest and raw but has the keen edge and purity to make you say 'what can I do that might make me feel this way, too?'

A superb read and a genuine page turner, absolutely loved it from cover to cover.

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Motivating in an incredibly human and authentic way. A book that shows the human side and flaws of people who can do incredible things we often look at and perceive as beyond us whilst also showing the kindness of strangers.

A lot of the reviewers on here seem to hate it for being more about her and less about the coast or even because of the critiques she makes about herself throughout. I think they've missed the point of what is fundamentally not a story about describing the lovey coast of Britain or camping but about showing the realities behind the people you see doing adventures on the internet.

They have privileges, make stupid bloody mistakes and need help, they are human beings just like you. So if they can run 5000 miles without a single bit of training, whilst thinking credit cards can pay each other off and miss scheduled talks because they got drunk then whatever doubts you have about yourself don't have to hold you back either.

[RunHikeBikeExplore · Rating 1 out of 5]

Someone said, "Life is too short to read a bad book," and while this isn't necessarily a bad book, it's not, imo, a good book. So I stopped reading. I've too many books waiting to be read!.

Elsie says that she was very lucky to have the opportunity to attempt what she set out to do.
True, she was lucky. Realistically, not many of us can afford the time off, but I felt that she didn't do much with the opportunity...

Ran, stayed with someone, ran, stayed with someone. I feel that I was waiting for something to happen and gave up for it halfway through.

[Louise Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an exceptionally wholesome book. I really felt like I got to know Elise and worryingly, she is so inspirational, I've signed up for a marathon!!!! Eeeek! The epilogue is so gorgeous it had me choked up. This might be a story about someone going for a gargantuan run but it's about mind over matter and the profound impact kindness in society has on us. Such a wonderful January read, I will recommend this to everyone I know.

[Rachel Fryer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed tagging along on this journey. It's recounted in such a down-to-earth way and Elise is so relatable. This is a massive adventure which took guts to take on and complete. Yet because Elise is so relatable and honest, it made me wonder what I could achieve myself. Could I step out of my comfort zone a little more. I learned a lot about traveling around the UK coast too. This was just so easy to read and enjoy.

[Tegan McKernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scatty, disorganised Elise is very relatable - this is a book that I could really enjoy and not feel like an inferior runner.
It made me think that maybe I could do an adventure too- even I can read a map better than ED could back then! I also like fish n chips and a lot of cake which seem to be crucial fuel

[Steve Ayers · Rating 5 out of 5]

She runs, she writes

This is a really nicely written account of a young woman's attempt to run around the coast of Britain. She aims to run 5000 in 10 months, mainly fuelled by cake. I really liked the way that she is very honest about the tears and the mental struggle, her weaknesses, as well as the physical effort of running. Very readable, I really enjoyed this.

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! The author's voice comes through so clearly, it made me think not only that I'd really like to be her friend but almost that we were already friends. Her journey is amazing not only for its length but also for all the hurdles she overcomes - like map reading and cows and imposter syndrome. It makes me want to do something foolish and over-ambitious too.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely worth a read if you enjoy independent travel and crying/cake books, which apparently I do

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elise Downing ist an einem Punkt in ihrem Leben, an dem sie nicht sein wollte. Ihr Traumjob beschert ihr nicht das Leben, von dem sie geträumt hat und ihr Traumprinz entpuppt sich als Frosch. Am liebsten würde sie davonlaufen und genau das macht sie auch: nämlich einmal um Großbritannien herum. Das ist schon für trainierte Ultraläufer ehrgeiziges Unternehmen. Aber 8000 Kilometer, ohne jegliche Erfahrung oder Navigationskenntnisse zu laufen, ist ein mehr als gewagtes Unternehmen.

Elise ist sich bewusst, wie verrückt ihr Plan ist. Das wissen auch ihre Familie und Freunde, aber sie stehen bedingungslos hinter ihr. Auch als sie bei Läufern, die schon ähnliche Unternehmungen hinter sich haben, um Rat fragt, bekommt sie nur Unterstützung. Alle haben keinen Zweifel, dass Elise es schaffen wird. Alle bis auf eine- Elise selbst.

Sie kommt sich manchmal wie eine Betrügerin vor. Ihre Pläne, im Zelt zu übernachten, schiebt sie schnell beiseite. Das liegt zum einen daran, dass sie im Winter startet, was selbst für begeisterte Camper nicht die bevorzugte Jahreszeit ist. Der andere Grund ist, dass Elise von Anfang an von Unterkunft zu Unterkunft von ihren Gastgebern förmlich weitergereicht wird. Später kommen noch die sozialen Medien dazu, die Elise und ihren Lauf immer bekannter machen und ihr so mehr und mehr Möglichkeiten bringen.

Aber die sozialen Medien machen es ihr auch manchmal schwer. Dort wird sie als Heldin gefeiert, dabei fühlt sie sich manchmal nicht einmal wie eine echte Läuferin. Elise macht für ihr Empfinden zu viele Fehler: Anfängerfehler und auch solche, die sie wider besseres Wissen macht. Aber sie steht dazu und erzählt über jeden einzelnen sehr humorvoll, auch wenn es sich sicherlich nicht so angefühlt hat.

Ich muss gestehen, dass ich Elises Plan für zu groß für sie hielt. Aber gerade das macht ihre Geschichte für mich aus. Sie macht ihre Reise für sich selbst und nicht für ihr Publikum. Das überlässt sie anderen und auch da gibt es eine charmante Geschichte von einem Treffen mit Sean Conway, den ich für seine Unternehmungen sehr bewundere, der aber auch immer sein Publikum bedienen will und deshalb schon mal den gleichen Hügel dreimal hochradelt, damit es gut aussieht.

Elise Downing zeigt, dass es manchmal nur eine Idee braucht, so verrückt sie auch sein mag. Alles andere kommt dann zwar nicht von selbst, aber auf dem Weg.

[Helen Cooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonable book about a great adventure. Elise ran 5,000 miles around the coast of the UK when she was just 23. Her adventure and achievement is impressive and inspiring. I certainly enjoyed her book and raced through it - it was a good holiday read as I was walking a section of the South West Coast Path for a week - I enjoyed reading about her journey through the beautiful Dorset coast. She is very whingey at the start of the book though, I found her somewhat annoying. Constantly crying, phoning her mum 5 times a day to moan, not bothering to learn to read a map… she improved as the journey went on, so this must have been her coming of age journey. Elise’s achievement is amazing and the book good enough fun.

[Jenthe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked a copy of this book up in a bookstore and a while later accidentally found myself 50 pages in. As I usually like listening to memoirs I was happy to find the audiobook narrated by Elise herself, and really enjoyed listening to it, repetitiveness and all. Surprisingly, I wasn't too annoyed by Elise's occassional self-destructive behaviour because she acknowledges it, and she was also a 23-year-old trying to figure herself and her life out. I just really liked hearing about the different places she passed through, the amount of cake she ate (because I would do the same), and all the struggles and uplifting moments that come with a massive adventure like running around a country's coast. Most of all, it has given me dangerous aspirations of doing a similar thing myself one day...

[Anni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a runner, nor do I dream of becoming one, but I do like adventures and reading about them. As such, this was an enjoyable read - not exactly awe-inspiring but it kept me interested throughout the story and some bits were particularly funny, relatable or even insightful. Other bits, not so much. There was a whole bunch of "then I went from there to here and stayed with x and we ate y", which, to be fair, is what one might expect from a novel like this, but... I suppose I expected a bit more, maybe a bit more about her inner journey and the nature and the views. Also, for purely selfish reasons, I was a bit disappointed the Scotland leg of the journey felt like a very rushed part of the book, as that was what I was looking forward to the most. Nevertheless, this was easy to read and nicely advocates exploring your home turf.

[Atlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Seven of 2025: read this in just a couple of days. Like most books of this nature, this is akin to a very long blog post about running, with the backstory of someone I've never heard of. There's lots of details about mileage and chafing and the the views.

There's a couple of reviews that mention how Elise didn't grow much, and that she's childish (needing her parents a lot, being blackout drunk) and I think that is incredibly unfair. This isn't a fiction novel - she's a person. She didn't have to include the uglier parts of her life, but she did because they make it real and honest.

[Donna Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and found it quite inspiring. Not to run the coast of Britain exactly but to run more in general and to see more of this beautiful island we call home. I thought the author was so brave to undertake this challenge at such a young age, such an achievement. I really enjoyed the very honest account with all the ups and downs, it really showed that life is messy and imperfect hut it’s possible to achieve brilliant things.

[Roisin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really enjoyable read and a great book for anyone who dreams of an adventure. The narrator is relatable and likeable and honest which makes it a book you want to keep reading.

The only reason that I cannot give it a higher rating is that it has a vagueness about it where you can tell that it has been written a few years after said adventure has taken place. There is a lack of detailed description which would elevate it beyond what it is. It is also in places slightly repetitive - we hear again and again about how amazed the writer was by the generosity of strangers, how her previous relationship was built on lies and how she was so lucky to be able to do this trip - which becomes slightly monotonous.

However, if you're a fan of this sort of book (which I am) it is most definitely worth reading.