What?
The idea for a lap of Sussex came about from discovering the Sussex Border Path upon noticing the Mid Sussex Link finished close to where I live. Despite running and hiking in the area for many years, I had never heard of the Sussex Border Path before or known anyone who had travelled it - most of my local travels have been around the coast and South Downs surrounding Brighton & Hove. The prospect of a route around the outer borders of the county was immediately interesting.
Wikipedia's page for the Sussex Border Path noted that:
"... when the England Coast Path National Trail is completed, its Sussex stretch will in combination with the Border Path make a route allowing a complete walk around the county."
I was aware of the England Coast Path and the growing possibilities this was opening up to walk around the whole country. In February 2026, when the new section of the England Coast Path around Chichester Harbour was opened, it became not only possible to now walk the full section of Sussex coast (and further beyond). This new section also made it possible to join up with the Emsworth and Rye start and finish points of the Sussex Border Path and form a new combined route of a full circuit of the county - a Sussex Lap.
So we have a route. A few decisions still needed to be made around how to tackle it:
* Where to start and finish: this could have been Emsworth at the western most point, or Rye in the East, both of which mark the transition between coast and border paths. I live in Portslade, on the outskirts of Brighton & Hove and Fishersgate is directly on the border between East and West Sussex, so starting and finishing in 'the middle' is the obvious choice for my own convenience. I also like how this supports mixing the terrain up a bit during the lap, ie. running the coast, switching to inland trails and then back to the coast again for the final stretch.
Because all adventures are better when they involve a pub, I nominate the Stanley Arms as the official start and end point of the Sussex Lap - it's the nearest pub to the start/finish, and it's also very close to Fishersgate train station for onward travel connections. Plus I play the occasional open mic there from time to time.
* Clockwise or anti-clockwise? Let's follow the clock, which gives the most scenic final miles of the Sussex Lap, following the chalk cliffs of Seven Sisters into a final promenade through Brighton & Hove seafront.
Why?
It's a long way - effectively ten marathons back to back - why would anyone take on the Sussex Lap? For me, I'm planning to attempt it in July for several great reasons:
* The natural urge to fully explore the boundaries of the place you live - I've lived in Sussex for over 20 years, but this route shows me how little I know past the immediate Brighton coast and downs.
* Raising awareness of paths and trails - the South Downs Way remains very popular (for good reason) but it's important to explore properly beyond that. The expansion of the England Coast Path is something to celebrate nationally.
* No-one's ever done it before - not gonna lie, the idea of establishing a new route and being the first to do it is exciting! I've registered the route at Fastest Known Time, so someone just needs to set the initial time for the lap as a target for others to beat.
* A vehicle for public writing - alongside the physical challenge of undertaking this route, I have been going through a creative slump and want to use this as a new project to get regularly writing and blogging about.
Sussex Lap is the inevitable consequence of a local trail runner getting some time on his hands between work and race entries, at just the right time of year where the weather gets nice - a perfect storm if you will. Hopefully no other storms of any sort will occur on route.
When?
I plan to set off and see how far I can get round this route at some point in July.
How come Sussex is split into East and West anyway?
A good question that I'm not even going to pretend I'm historically qualified enough to answer. I reckon it says something about the size of the county we're proposing to run a lap around though.