Skip to content
Hit the Coast

St Ives to Zennor: the hardest eleven kilometres in England

Everybody underestimates this stretch. A practical guide to running it without hurting yourself or missing the last bus.

Route guideHit the Coast · Monday, 18 May 2026 · 5 min read
Placeholder artwork: densely packed contour lines along an indented coast

Eleven kilometres. Five hundred and twenty metres of climbing. Two and a half hours, if it has rained. This is the section of the South West Coast Path that turns confident road runners into careful hikers, and it is the best run in west Cornwall.

What the ground is actually like

Granite boulders, hidden steps, stream crossings, bracken tunnels and bog between the headlands. There is no rhythm to it. You will run for ninety seconds, scramble for thirty, and repeat that for two hours.

Logistics

  • Run it one-way, west to east or east to west, and sort transport before you start. Bus services between Zennor and St Ives are limited — check the current timetable.
  • Allow at least double your usual 11K time. Three hours is not a slow day on this section.
  • Take water. There is nothing on the route.
  • Phone signal is patchy. Leave your plan with someone.

Get the next one by email

One email a month or so. New coastal events, routes worth the drive, and the odd honest kit review.

One email a month or so: new coastal events, routes worth the drive, and the odd honest kit review. No spam, unsubscribe in one click.

More from the club

Three PZ×RC runners in hooded jackets on the coast path in heavy rain, pulling faces at the camera
Club story4 min read

How PZ×RC started, more or less

A few mates swapped the occasional boozy night for an early-morning run. More people joined, the distances got longer and things got slightly out of hand.

Hit the Coast · 25 Aug 2026