Press Release: 23rd January 2006

150 Mile Run Before Blockading Faslane

Yesterday long distance runner David Kirkland carried out a one-man blockade of Faslane naval after running 150 miles from just over the border.

David ran from Kielder, his home village in Northumberland, and had overnight stops in Peebles and Glasgow. Each day's running was split into 3 blocks of about 3 hours each, and he carried a rucksack with the minimum essentials.

Arriving at the North Gate of Faslane at 4.30 p.m. he sat down at the entrance to the base, blocking the traffic from going in and out. This meant the North Gate was closed for an hour until the police arrested him at 5.30p.m. He spent the night in a police cell in Dumbarton.

David was running both to demonstrate peacefully at Faslane nuclear base, and to remind people what can be achieved by will power. He was delighted to have completed the run successfully.

He said:
"I have been training with this in mind since I had the idea in November, I could have just driven up to make a protest but I would really like to draw attention to the important debate over the future of the Trident defence system and nuclear weapons in the UK."

David's dramatic run and blockade is part of the Faslane 365 continuous blockade of Faslane which has to date resulted in 48 separate groups blockading the base and 474 arrests.

Contact: 07768312676 or 07835354652

Photos of David at http://www.faslane365.org/en/kirkland_run/kirkland_run_photo_gallery

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