Weymouth (2025)

My boyfriend occasionally runs ultramarathons and in May he ran the Jurassic Coast 59km Challenge. I tagged along for moral support and was intrigued by the logistics as I’d never supported anyone on a race day before. The finish line was in Weymouth, which is where one of my best mates from university grew up and somewhere I’d been meaning to visit for years now.

Friday

I didn’t have any spare annual leave and the drive was three hours so I left home at 6:00am and was on the M25 by 6:45am, which was dreamy. The weather was beautiful so the drive flew by and after a quick pit-stop on the A27 to stretch the old legs, I headed straight to Café Oasis in Weymouth to work remotely. My mate used to work in this café so it was nice to put a place to all of the stories I’d heard. It was much busier than I’d anticipated for a Friday morning, but it was on the beachfront, with many tables and WiFi, so it was understandable. Luckily, I managed to nab a table with a sea view and enjoyed a sausage sandwich and coffee for breakfast whilst working remotely. Work was very quiet, so I started filling in a recipe journal that my brother had bought me for Christmas which I’d wanted to start on months earlier.  

My laptop ran out of battery around lunchtime so despite the cool breeze, I went to sit on the beach and take in the gorgeous views, whilst awaiting my boyfriend’s arrival. I felt very grateful to be there and was just taking it all in. I then drove towards our hotel to obtain a parking permit, as we were staying in the town centre and parking spaces were extremely scarce. Luckily, my boyfriend managed to get the parking permit early and find a space, so I parked up and we headed off for lunch. 

We visited Aon Thai Kitchen and shared two starters and mains, which were delicious and not too expensive either. It was then time to check into the hotel, so we settled in and I worked from there for the rest of the afternoon. We then headed to the beach and we could not have asked for better weather; it was 18°C with little wind and not a cloud in the sky; we found a little spot to sunbathe and caught up on our current ‘book club’ read. We then dipped our toes in the (freezing) water and got some ice cream, which was exactly what we needed. 

As evening fell, we grabbed a cheeky half pint at a cocktail bar named The Nook and then ate an early dinner at Bacaro, both of which had been recommended by my mate. The restaurant was Italian and although the sea bass and prawn risotto was delicious, the pizza and garlic bread were not worth writing home about. We had a very early wake up the next morning and wanted an early night, so after a quick walk along the pier and to the marina, we headed back to the hotel to figure out the following day’s logistics and had an early night. 

Saturday

Today was race day so we had a 5:00am wake up call and left for the start point, Corfe Castle, 40 minutes later. I hadn’t seen the castle before but it was cooler than I’d anticipated and we parked up and headed into the event area for him to collect his number and warm up. My boyfriend was supposed to start the ultra at 6:45am but was delayed so ended up starting just past 7:00am. The route headed east to Swanage, before circling back to Corfe Castle and then heading west towards Weymouth. Whilst he started the race, I headed back to Weymouth to grab some breakfast, do some shopping, and check out of the hotel, before joining him later on to provide support. 

Contrary to the forecasts, it was a cloudy morning and was very cold, so I couldn’t wait to warm up in a café and headed to Suttons Coffee Shop as it opened early. The staff were absolutely lovely and I enjoyed the small town feel, as many of the customers were clearly regulars and knew the staff well. I ordered a small breakfast and coffee, which was cheap and cheerful, and felt very welcomed and comfortable in this café, despite not usually enjoying eating out alone. Eventually, the shops also opened so I bought a few souvenirs and some yarn for a couple of crochet projects, and then finished packing up and checked out of the hotel. The shopkeeper and receptionist at the hotel were both very friendly and chatty and I left Weymouth with very positive impressions of the locals.

I drove to Lulworth Cove, arriving at 10:45am, and although the parking was extortionate, I could also stay for up to four hours, which gave me plenty of time to meet my boyfriend at two different points along his route, see both Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, and grab some lunch. I first headed to Lulworth Cove itself, which was beautiful but the clouds didn’t do it justice. I then walked up to Lulworth Cove Viewpoint, where I made myself comfortable and read for a little while, before heading back down to Bindon Road to meet my boyfriend. After a brief catch up, he continued along his route, whilst I legged it up Hambury Tout Steps to Durdle Door.

The sun had made an appearance by this point and it was starting to warm up. The crowds were filling and the route was fairly steep but I wasn’t sure I’d make it before my boyfriend did so I hurried along. Luckily, I ended up arriving before him so I took in all of the views and had time to take a few pictures before reuniting with him. The next point I’d be seeing him was at the finish line in Weymouth, so I had a couple of hours to kill from this point. It took about half an hour to get back to Lulworth Cove from Durdle Door and since the sun was now out and about, I decided to revisit Lulworth cove in the sunshine, which was absolutely stunning. It had gotten much busier and there were more people paddle boarding and swimming than in the morning, but I just decided to pick up some lunch (a crab sandwich) and slowly make my way back to Weymouth. 

The drive back only took 20 minutes and I assumed I’d have ages at Weymouth beach to read and chill before my boyfriend arrived, however by the time I had my lunch and figured out parking, I looked at the tracker and it said that he’d already arrived. I hurried into the spectator area to see him, but as it turned out the tracker had glitched (it now showed him in the sea) and he was actually around 30 minutes away. I took the opportunity to write him a card that I’d bought earlier that morning. He crossed the finish line at 3:30pm, having ran for over eight hours, and was exhausted, grabbing some food and chilling on the grass with me. I was shocked by how emotional it was at the finish line, but it was a lovely day and obviously a huge accomplishment. 

We drove back to London not long afterwards and ordered a Chinese takeaway for dinner, which was exactly what we needed and was a great end to the big race. I absolutely loved Weymouth and it was a wonderful weekend away.