Why I’m running 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain solo

It has taken four winters so far, but wild beauty, nature and the kindness of strangers en route make this slow journey more than worthwhile

In the late summer of 2017 I became captivated by the sculpture A Line Made By Walking. It was created in 1967 by Bristol artist Richard Long, who walked carefully backwards and forwards through a grassy field, drawing a footpath with his feet. This fleeting track of trampled grass was the opposite of a footpath. It led nowhere and was created by one man.

Related: My alternative summer: travel writers’ plans for an epic UK adventure