Despite being up before the crack of dawn yesterday, I was once again up and out the door before the sun was up, this time on another fundraising mission via a car boot. Tricia was able to help me out a little later, but I was already doing a roaring trade when she arrived. Having tried out the rotary washing line last time, we decided just to 'dump' everything on blankets and let people rummage away. It had rained overnight so the ground was a little muddy and there were very quickly quite a few clothes in need of a turn in the washing machine!
We decided that the objective was to sell as much as possible so everything was priced at 50p. It soon caught on and we had lots of customers grabbed armfuls of stuff! We had also had a load of classical cd's given to us by John's dad and Jill and despite thinking that there was no way we would get rid of those, we were delighted by the way these were snatched up : one guy bought 60 for £15! Virtually all the shoes went, loads of clothes, a portable TV and a picnic table, all for 50p each.
We started to pack up at 11.15 as the weather was started to look a bit dodgy and it wasn't long before everyone was frantically packing things away as the rain started to fall. We managed to get everything back into the 3 big laundry bags plus 2 bin liners, definitely way less than I had unpacked but still enough left for at least one more boot sale before the end of the year.
Once again we did well on the cash front : £115.50 and as we didn't take less than 50p for any single item, meant we had dispatched around 230 pieces of 'stuff'. A very good mornings work!
Sunday 28 October 2012
Marathon # 15 - Beachy Head
Saturday 27 October : OMG! What has happened to the weather - we have suddenly been transported to the Arctic. Ferocious northerly biting wind that didn't seem to want to blow just in one direction but would whip up and hit me from all sides. An early start to boot - picked Pat up at the unearthly hour of 5 am in pitch darkness (and it would remain dark for the majority of our journey) and headed off towards Eastbourne. Luckily the traffic was very light (well, what do you expect at that time....sensible people are still tucked up in bed, in nice warm houses) and we arrived just before 7.45 am. Numbers and timing chips duly collected, we rushed back to the warmth of the car for a last bit of breakfast before trying to decide what on earth to wear : I was already donning long winter sleeves and my charity vest but I could still feel the cold so decided to wear another long sleeved winter running top underneath my vest and topped it off with a buff covering my ears and a pair of gloves. I've never run a marathon in so many layers and at no time during the race did I have any inclination to remove any either!
It was so cold that we went from one loo queue to another and we were still in the queue when the 9 am start time elapsed...there were so many people milling around that we thought they must have decided to delay the gun. Nope...we got outside to find everyone streaming up the steep hill and we were left to join the walkers! Wasn't long though after crossing the start line before we were walking - 50 metres max! I'm not sure of the incline of the first hill but it looked at least 45 degrees! I ran with Pat for the first couple of miles as we traversed the edge of Warren Hill, where a lone bag pipper was playing the Highland Fling and headed towards the top of Willingdon Hill. The views over to Eastbourne to the right were stunning, if you could make anything out through streaming eyes : the wind was extremely strong and blustery from the word go, trying (and succeeding) to push you off the track.
After running downhill to Jevington, and the first refreshment station, it was then a lovely run through Friston Forest. The colours of the trees were spectacular, with the sun streaming down from a perfect blue sky causing dappled light effects.
It was then out into the open fields, to run around the edge of Windover Hill, two steep 3 sided valleys heading off on our left making for stunning views. Shortly after this it was a long, long downhill run in a deep trenched, chalky track to CP2 and more squash and Mars bars...unfortunately I was finding that whilst I was enjoying the latter, I couldn't run and chew them at the same time so had to walk a little bit before being able to break into a run again! The downhill gully continued amongst trees, before emerging in the bottom of the valley in Alfriston. After running along the side of water meadows, I then passed through the village but unfortunately got caught up behind a huge hay turning machine with the driver deciding that he was going to drive very slowly up a narrow side street - exactly the street we were running up! I had to revert back to walking until he picked up a bit of speed (he was a lot bigger than me and he had lots of spiky things hanging off the back of the tractor so elected to give him right of way!). After losing the village, it was then a steep climb uphill and once again into open fields. And this was where the Arctic blasts really hit home. It was so difficult to walk, let alone run and people were battling to stay on their feet. Plus it was virtually all uphill to Bostal Hill. It really was hard work and a bit soul destroying that you couldn't really run for more than a few steps without becoming absolutely exhausted. Lots of people around me were losing feeling in limbs by this time!
Finally, once reaching the tumuli of Bostal Hill, it was then a short downhill section to CP3 where we turned left and at long last, had the wind behind us...and boy did that make a difference! I was fairly racing along the grassy tracks, running freely for what felt like the first time. The track went on for at least 3 miles before eventually we emerged from a small wood to cross the road at Cradle Hill and CP4. I had to stop and take in the views from here, over the Cuckmere River as they were absolutely stunning...a real WOW moment. Steep downhill towards the river where we ran along the bank until crossing via a small wooden bridge and skirting the village of Litlington and CP5 where they were offering hot tea and coffee and hot cross buns! I elected to take half of the latter as my stomach was grumbling by this time (it had been hours since I'd eaten breakfast at home!) and ate this as I started to head into the hilliest part of the run (as if we hadn't done hills up till now!). After crossing a few open fields, we entered the west flank of Friston Forest, having to negotiate a couple of long flights of uneven steps. Before emerging at the top of the woods, the bag pipper was back! I've worked out that wherever the bag pipper is...there are hills! Over a stone stile and another WOW moment...this time the view over the estuary meandering down to Cuckmere Haven which signaled the start of the Seven Sisters Country Park. If we'd done hills already, then the mountains were coming up!
Up, down, up, down...get the picture!? I was actually able to run up two of the sisters (very slowly with tiny little steps, but I was most definitely running!) but the others were way to steep and long to get very far at that pace. I challenged myself to see how many people I could catch and overtake before the finish, trying to keep my mind occupied!
At Birling Gap and the last CP, we left the main South Downs Way footpath that went over the top of the cliffs and beside Belle Tout lighthouse, and instead headed around the bottom of an old fort settlement and through a quiet wood before picking up the coastal path again to run up and over Beachy Head itself. The wind came roaring back with a very mean streak at the top, straight in our faces or trying to knock us over with a side blow : it really was extremely difficult to move forward and even more difficult to do it in a straight line!. After another mile or so of buffeting, it was a real relief to then drop down onto a well worn path where we were relatively sheltered from the wind by a steep wooded bank. This path then met up with the very steep hill we had run up at the start so it was more than a welcome sight to see the finish banner just ahead.
I'd overtaken an amazing 54 people since setting myself that mini-challenge at the start of the Seven Sisters.
I also finished in a very good time of 4.22.35, 246th place overall out of more than 2,000 starters and 25th female so was very, very pleased with myself.
I didn't have too much in the way of warm clothing to put on afterwards, as I'd worn most of it during the race! So, I waited for Pat in the warmer area of the gym : she finished around 5.25 and had unfortunately been caught in a rain / sleet shower nearer the finish but she ran extremely well too, bearing in mind the atrocious conditions.
We decided not to join the long queue for free hot food, instead headed back to the car for some heater warmth to thaw us out. We stopped off for a meal at the first service station we came to, just outside Chichester, only to be joined by Ade, Paulo and Phil from Littledown Harriers and proceeded to recount stories of our marathon adventures!
It was so cold that we went from one loo queue to another and we were still in the queue when the 9 am start time elapsed...there were so many people milling around that we thought they must have decided to delay the gun. Nope...we got outside to find everyone streaming up the steep hill and we were left to join the walkers! Wasn't long though after crossing the start line before we were walking - 50 metres max! I'm not sure of the incline of the first hill but it looked at least 45 degrees! I ran with Pat for the first couple of miles as we traversed the edge of Warren Hill, where a lone bag pipper was playing the Highland Fling and headed towards the top of Willingdon Hill. The views over to Eastbourne to the right were stunning, if you could make anything out through streaming eyes : the wind was extremely strong and blustery from the word go, trying (and succeeding) to push you off the track.
After running downhill to Jevington, and the first refreshment station, it was then a lovely run through Friston Forest. The colours of the trees were spectacular, with the sun streaming down from a perfect blue sky causing dappled light effects.
It was then out into the open fields, to run around the edge of Windover Hill, two steep 3 sided valleys heading off on our left making for stunning views. Shortly after this it was a long, long downhill run in a deep trenched, chalky track to CP2 and more squash and Mars bars...unfortunately I was finding that whilst I was enjoying the latter, I couldn't run and chew them at the same time so had to walk a little bit before being able to break into a run again! The downhill gully continued amongst trees, before emerging in the bottom of the valley in Alfriston. After running along the side of water meadows, I then passed through the village but unfortunately got caught up behind a huge hay turning machine with the driver deciding that he was going to drive very slowly up a narrow side street - exactly the street we were running up! I had to revert back to walking until he picked up a bit of speed (he was a lot bigger than me and he had lots of spiky things hanging off the back of the tractor so elected to give him right of way!). After losing the village, it was then a steep climb uphill and once again into open fields. And this was where the Arctic blasts really hit home. It was so difficult to walk, let alone run and people were battling to stay on their feet. Plus it was virtually all uphill to Bostal Hill. It really was hard work and a bit soul destroying that you couldn't really run for more than a few steps without becoming absolutely exhausted. Lots of people around me were losing feeling in limbs by this time!
Finally, once reaching the tumuli of Bostal Hill, it was then a short downhill section to CP3 where we turned left and at long last, had the wind behind us...and boy did that make a difference! I was fairly racing along the grassy tracks, running freely for what felt like the first time. The track went on for at least 3 miles before eventually we emerged from a small wood to cross the road at Cradle Hill and CP4. I had to stop and take in the views from here, over the Cuckmere River as they were absolutely stunning...a real WOW moment. Steep downhill towards the river where we ran along the bank until crossing via a small wooden bridge and skirting the village of Litlington and CP5 where they were offering hot tea and coffee and hot cross buns! I elected to take half of the latter as my stomach was grumbling by this time (it had been hours since I'd eaten breakfast at home!) and ate this as I started to head into the hilliest part of the run (as if we hadn't done hills up till now!). After crossing a few open fields, we entered the west flank of Friston Forest, having to negotiate a couple of long flights of uneven steps. Before emerging at the top of the woods, the bag pipper was back! I've worked out that wherever the bag pipper is...there are hills! Over a stone stile and another WOW moment...this time the view over the estuary meandering down to Cuckmere Haven which signaled the start of the Seven Sisters Country Park. If we'd done hills already, then the mountains were coming up!
Up, down, up, down...get the picture!? I was actually able to run up two of the sisters (very slowly with tiny little steps, but I was most definitely running!) but the others were way to steep and long to get very far at that pace. I challenged myself to see how many people I could catch and overtake before the finish, trying to keep my mind occupied!
At Birling Gap and the last CP, we left the main South Downs Way footpath that went over the top of the cliffs and beside Belle Tout lighthouse, and instead headed around the bottom of an old fort settlement and through a quiet wood before picking up the coastal path again to run up and over Beachy Head itself. The wind came roaring back with a very mean streak at the top, straight in our faces or trying to knock us over with a side blow : it really was extremely difficult to move forward and even more difficult to do it in a straight line!. After another mile or so of buffeting, it was a real relief to then drop down onto a well worn path where we were relatively sheltered from the wind by a steep wooded bank. This path then met up with the very steep hill we had run up at the start so it was more than a welcome sight to see the finish banner just ahead.
I'd overtaken an amazing 54 people since setting myself that mini-challenge at the start of the Seven Sisters.
I also finished in a very good time of 4.22.35, 246th place overall out of more than 2,000 starters and 25th female so was very, very pleased with myself.
I didn't have too much in the way of warm clothing to put on afterwards, as I'd worn most of it during the race! So, I waited for Pat in the warmer area of the gym : she finished around 5.25 and had unfortunately been caught in a rain / sleet shower nearer the finish but she ran extremely well too, bearing in mind the atrocious conditions.
We decided not to join the long queue for free hot food, instead headed back to the car for some heater warmth to thaw us out. We stopped off for a meal at the first service station we came to, just outside Chichester, only to be joined by Ade, Paulo and Phil from Littledown Harriers and proceeded to recount stories of our marathon adventures!
Friday 19 October 2012
Marathon # 14 - Atlantic Coast Challenge (part III) AKA to hell and back!
41st overall and 7th female in 7.21.31
Marathon # 12 - Atlantic Coast Challenge (part I)
OK, so I'm a little late to update my latest little adventures but the wait will be worth it!
Thursday 20 September saw me set off once again to tackle the next VoTWO Challenge Event, this time along the Atlantic side of the South West Coast Path from a point just west of Padstow, all the way to Lands End, hopefully a distance a bit closer to the total 78.6 than the earlier Anglesey Coast Challenge! This time the event HQ was based in a holiday park near St Ives although I went one roundabout to far and struggled a little bit to find the darn thing! But find it I did and wasn't long before I'd met up with a few recognised faces from the last couple of events : I was becoming quite a bit of a celebrity with people coming up to ask what 'number' I was up to!
Accommodation was in little self-contained chalets complete with TV! It was actually a tad on the chilly side so on went the heating! Unlike the Angelsey, food was all arranged by VoTWO so I indulged in a 3 course meal with a few of the others who were had already arrived but crept back for an early night in front of the TV.
Saturday dawned dry and sunny for a pleasant change and after a hearty breakfast, registered and received all the maps covering the 3 days....there were 4 for each day this time so it would require a bit of juggling to ensure that the current map was in my map case. Good to see that Michele Grainger was back for this challenge (if you remember, I'd met up with her on the Jurassic challenge back in March) as was Max from Anglesey! After kit check and safety briefing we piled into the mini-buses and set off in a long convoy (unlike Anglesey there were almost 200 mad adventurers!) to the start at Mackerel Cove where again, after the necessary 'loo' stop at the start (which was comical as all the blokes stood in a single line on the top of the ridge seemingly looking out to sea, whereas all the girlies were heading off towards all the dips and hollows as there was a distinct lack of bushes!), it was a very relaxed start with a simple 'dib' out and off...
Within the first mile we were plugging across sand which would become a very familiar feature over the next 3 days. I would spend most of today's run with Michele : it's really good having company as you keep each other going through the bad bits (of which there are quite a few!).
Check point 1 was at Mawgan Porth before we ran along the undulating clifftop above the very long Watergate Bay before hitting the outskirts of Newquay and CP2. Now it got busy, weaving down the narrow streets of Newquay trying to avoid tourists, dog leads and surfer dudes. We had to reach a huge turreted hotel high up on Towan Head before dropping back down to the National Surfing Centre at Fistral Beach where the surf was packed with people catching the waves. At the end of the next headland there was an amazing view back across towards Towan Head.
After hitting the road through Pentire (I so nearly tripped up along here as I was trying to read the map whilst running on the road and talking to the others and hit a sleeping policeman!), it was then a drop back down to cross a small footbridge in the middle of a tidal estuary : luckily for us the tide was out otherwise it would have been quite a wading job as the bridge certainly wasn't very high above the tidal channel! At this point Michele started to head off to the right towards a little gully leading up into the fields but our attention was immediately drawn to 4 or 5 blokes running across the top of the fields yelling at us 'that's not the way, keep going straight ahead'. Michele was convinced she was right as she had taken that route the previous year but the blokes were very insistent. Eventually we pulled Michele away from her route and continued straight on, which seemed to go on for ever before we eventually turned the corner and ended up running across the fields where we had seen the blokes earlier...Michele's route would definitely have been the wrong way but there were plenty of people who were taking that route which was a tad annoying...."Carole, remember, this is a challenge event not a race!!" Just afterwards we hit CP3 where I stocked up on marmite sandwiches, jelly beans and coke.
Just after this we hit sand dunes and there were loads of little paths you could take through them : I picked the wrong one and ended up heading towards the beach so had to back-track and catch the others up again (who had all stuck together like sheep and taken the correct route!). The undulations started to get a little bit more unkind from here on in but I was feeling pretty good and kicked on (probably regret that later). At Holywell Beach we hit amazingly high (and very soft) sand dunes and whilst it was nigh-on impossible to run up them, I loved the downhill bit, even providing vocal sound effects "wheeeeeeee" in the process! After a pull up and around Penhale Point, Perran Sands came into view....and stretched way, way, way into the distance and yes, there were little specs representing runners and walkers stretching into that distance too! So, there was no getting away from it. I dropped down the steep (painful by this point) concrete slope onto the sands and started the slog for home. I caught and passed a number of people and committed myself not to drop to a walk, however slowly I was travelling. Over a mile long that beach was! At last the end came into sight but not before the event photographer made an appearance so I put on my bestest show for the camera before eventually reached tarmac again. But then, cruel, cruel organisers had slipped a last steep hill in before the finish line : this I did walk up, at least for most of the way, before seeing Max standing near the top spurring me on. There was also the added concern that there was someone behind me, running up the hill that I had passed earlier on the beach and I was determined he wasn't going to pass me back! Dibbed in and finished! Phew! Bit on the tired and achy side but the feeling of finishing is really, really good.
Michele didn't finish long after me and after a lovely cup of their famous soup, we piled back into the meat wagons to take us back 'home'. Once there, I decided to go for a swim (not in the sea....way too cold!) in the pool, which predictably was way down at the other end of the park...still, the walk would do me good. By the time I got there, it was only 15 mins to closing so it really was only time for a few short 'laps' and then a walk back to the chalet before another 3 course meal and bed! And we get to do it all over again tomorrow!
When the results were posted, I'd finished in 22nd place overall and 4th female in a time of 4.47.35
Thursday 20 September saw me set off once again to tackle the next VoTWO Challenge Event, this time along the Atlantic side of the South West Coast Path from a point just west of Padstow, all the way to Lands End, hopefully a distance a bit closer to the total 78.6 than the earlier Anglesey Coast Challenge! This time the event HQ was based in a holiday park near St Ives although I went one roundabout to far and struggled a little bit to find the darn thing! But find it I did and wasn't long before I'd met up with a few recognised faces from the last couple of events : I was becoming quite a bit of a celebrity with people coming up to ask what 'number' I was up to!
Accommodation was in little self-contained chalets complete with TV! It was actually a tad on the chilly side so on went the heating! Unlike the Angelsey, food was all arranged by VoTWO so I indulged in a 3 course meal with a few of the others who were had already arrived but crept back for an early night in front of the TV.
Saturday dawned dry and sunny for a pleasant change and after a hearty breakfast, registered and received all the maps covering the 3 days....there were 4 for each day this time so it would require a bit of juggling to ensure that the current map was in my map case. Good to see that Michele Grainger was back for this challenge (if you remember, I'd met up with her on the Jurassic challenge back in March) as was Max from Anglesey! After kit check and safety briefing we piled into the mini-buses and set off in a long convoy (unlike Anglesey there were almost 200 mad adventurers!) to the start at Mackerel Cove where again, after the necessary 'loo' stop at the start (which was comical as all the blokes stood in a single line on the top of the ridge seemingly looking out to sea, whereas all the girlies were heading off towards all the dips and hollows as there was a distinct lack of bushes!), it was a very relaxed start with a simple 'dib' out and off...
Within the first mile we were plugging across sand which would become a very familiar feature over the next 3 days. I would spend most of today's run with Michele : it's really good having company as you keep each other going through the bad bits (of which there are quite a few!).
Check point 1 was at Mawgan Porth before we ran along the undulating clifftop above the very long Watergate Bay before hitting the outskirts of Newquay and CP2. Now it got busy, weaving down the narrow streets of Newquay trying to avoid tourists, dog leads and surfer dudes. We had to reach a huge turreted hotel high up on Towan Head before dropping back down to the National Surfing Centre at Fistral Beach where the surf was packed with people catching the waves. At the end of the next headland there was an amazing view back across towards Towan Head.
After hitting the road through Pentire (I so nearly tripped up along here as I was trying to read the map whilst running on the road and talking to the others and hit a sleeping policeman!), it was then a drop back down to cross a small footbridge in the middle of a tidal estuary : luckily for us the tide was out otherwise it would have been quite a wading job as the bridge certainly wasn't very high above the tidal channel! At this point Michele started to head off to the right towards a little gully leading up into the fields but our attention was immediately drawn to 4 or 5 blokes running across the top of the fields yelling at us 'that's not the way, keep going straight ahead'. Michele was convinced she was right as she had taken that route the previous year but the blokes were very insistent. Eventually we pulled Michele away from her route and continued straight on, which seemed to go on for ever before we eventually turned the corner and ended up running across the fields where we had seen the blokes earlier...Michele's route would definitely have been the wrong way but there were plenty of people who were taking that route which was a tad annoying...."Carole, remember, this is a challenge event not a race!!" Just afterwards we hit CP3 where I stocked up on marmite sandwiches, jelly beans and coke.
Just after this we hit sand dunes and there were loads of little paths you could take through them : I picked the wrong one and ended up heading towards the beach so had to back-track and catch the others up again (who had all stuck together like sheep and taken the correct route!). The undulations started to get a little bit more unkind from here on in but I was feeling pretty good and kicked on (probably regret that later). At Holywell Beach we hit amazingly high (and very soft) sand dunes and whilst it was nigh-on impossible to run up them, I loved the downhill bit, even providing vocal sound effects "wheeeeeeee" in the process! After a pull up and around Penhale Point, Perran Sands came into view....and stretched way, way, way into the distance and yes, there were little specs representing runners and walkers stretching into that distance too! So, there was no getting away from it. I dropped down the steep (painful by this point) concrete slope onto the sands and started the slog for home. I caught and passed a number of people and committed myself not to drop to a walk, however slowly I was travelling. Over a mile long that beach was! At last the end came into sight but not before the event photographer made an appearance so I put on my bestest show for the camera before eventually reached tarmac again. But then, cruel, cruel organisers had slipped a last steep hill in before the finish line : this I did walk up, at least for most of the way, before seeing Max standing near the top spurring me on. There was also the added concern that there was someone behind me, running up the hill that I had passed earlier on the beach and I was determined he wasn't going to pass me back! Dibbed in and finished! Phew! Bit on the tired and achy side but the feeling of finishing is really, really good.
Michele didn't finish long after me and after a lovely cup of their famous soup, we piled back into the meat wagons to take us back 'home'. Once there, I decided to go for a swim (not in the sea....way too cold!) in the pool, which predictably was way down at the other end of the park...still, the walk would do me good. By the time I got there, it was only 15 mins to closing so it really was only time for a few short 'laps' and then a walk back to the chalet before another 3 course meal and bed! And we get to do it all over again tomorrow!
When the results were posted, I'd finished in 22nd place overall and 4th female in a time of 4.47.35
Wednesday 19 September 2012
Marathon # 11 - Purbeck
Sunday 16 September was the date for the inaugural Purbeck marathon, destined to be a very tough and hilly route using both the coastal and inland footpaths.
Debs and I were the only BJs running and we arrived nice and early in Swanage to register and collect our numbers. It wasn't cold but certainly didn't want to leave our nice warm clothes at the baggage point along the seafront, instead choosing to walk up to the start above the harbour and have our bags taken back down to the finish point. There wasn't a huge amount of runners but they certainly came from far afield and many were hardened ultra marathon runners. Barry Light was there, completing this as one of his 60 marathons in 60 weeks in his 60th year...and after having run a marathon in Weymouth the day before...he's as mad as me! There were also some army guys complete with huge backpacks.
Right from the 'off' we were into the hilly stuff, working our way out to Durlston Point before picking up the coastal path proper for several miles to the Worth Matravers valley before heading north (and uphill) to the village. Along to Kingston (uphill) before running along the top ridge and valley above Kimmeridge and Worlston where we dropped down to the deserted village of Tyneham and the mid race check point (just to ensure no-one had fallen off the cliffs!). Once in the valley there was then a very long and steep drag out of it up to the 2nd ridge before running through fields towards Corfe. Several miles out there was, bizarrely, a lone bag-piper playing on top of one of the hills on our left :o)
After dropping down into the gully infront of the iconic Corfe Castle, we then run underneath the ruined battlements before winding our way through the busy village and then over the railway line. Unfortunately, we'd just missed taking a short cut via the steam train which would have enabled us to miss out the next long, slow drag up onto Nine Barrow Down which, however many times I walk or run it, never gets any easier. I used the various gates to steal a look behind to see if there were any other women in sight! All the way round the course I'd been told I was '2nd lady', 2nd lady', '1st lady', '2nd lady', '1st lady'...so whilst I assumed I was in the first 2, I really didn't know what position and was nervously conscious that someone could leg it past me at any time. I've come 2nd in a race a couple of times, most recently with the Salisbury 54321 but I'd never won one so definitely didn't want to miss the opportunity of doing so if I was actually in the lead. Once over the top of the Down, it was then a very painful sharp downhill on a chalky, boulder-strewn path towards Upwell. At the bottom of the hill the marshal was taking photos of me, adamant that I was in the lead!
Once on the outskirts of Upwell it was then only a couple of miles back down to the seafront and the finish line in Swanage, to find out I was indeed 2nd!
Excellent goodie bag with a medel, a bright lime green techie t-shirt, ice-cream voucher, bottle of local studland ale and some fruit. Debs came through in 3rd place around 5 minutes after me, huge grin on her face as usual.
We waited around for the presentation as we'd already checked out the silverware and worked out we'd both get a trophy and....an envelope! However, how disappointed we both were when I was called up in 3rd place rather than 2nd, which meant Debs didn't get a 'podium' finish, instead winning the V40 age group. How could they get the results so wrong? The 2nd placed runner didn't even hang around to collect their prize. So I asked them to double check and to our joy, they agreed they'd got them wrong : the 2nd place 'lady' was actually a bloke so having handed back our initial winnings, I then received 2nd and Debs was 3rd. The envelopes contained vouchers for a local running shop : £15 for me and £10 for Debs. I later found out that the winner was a member of the Olympic Team GB sailing crew.....I certainly don't mind being beaten by an Olympian!!
Debs and I were the only BJs running and we arrived nice and early in Swanage to register and collect our numbers. It wasn't cold but certainly didn't want to leave our nice warm clothes at the baggage point along the seafront, instead choosing to walk up to the start above the harbour and have our bags taken back down to the finish point. There wasn't a huge amount of runners but they certainly came from far afield and many were hardened ultra marathon runners. Barry Light was there, completing this as one of his 60 marathons in 60 weeks in his 60th year...and after having run a marathon in Weymouth the day before...he's as mad as me! There were also some army guys complete with huge backpacks.
Right from the 'off' we were into the hilly stuff, working our way out to Durlston Point before picking up the coastal path proper for several miles to the Worth Matravers valley before heading north (and uphill) to the village. Along to Kingston (uphill) before running along the top ridge and valley above Kimmeridge and Worlston where we dropped down to the deserted village of Tyneham and the mid race check point (just to ensure no-one had fallen off the cliffs!). Once in the valley there was then a very long and steep drag out of it up to the 2nd ridge before running through fields towards Corfe. Several miles out there was, bizarrely, a lone bag-piper playing on top of one of the hills on our left :o)
After dropping down into the gully infront of the iconic Corfe Castle, we then run underneath the ruined battlements before winding our way through the busy village and then over the railway line. Unfortunately, we'd just missed taking a short cut via the steam train which would have enabled us to miss out the next long, slow drag up onto Nine Barrow Down which, however many times I walk or run it, never gets any easier. I used the various gates to steal a look behind to see if there were any other women in sight! All the way round the course I'd been told I was '2nd lady', 2nd lady', '1st lady', '2nd lady', '1st lady'...so whilst I assumed I was in the first 2, I really didn't know what position and was nervously conscious that someone could leg it past me at any time. I've come 2nd in a race a couple of times, most recently with the Salisbury 54321 but I'd never won one so definitely didn't want to miss the opportunity of doing so if I was actually in the lead. Once over the top of the Down, it was then a very painful sharp downhill on a chalky, boulder-strewn path towards Upwell. At the bottom of the hill the marshal was taking photos of me, adamant that I was in the lead!
Once on the outskirts of Upwell it was then only a couple of miles back down to the seafront and the finish line in Swanage, to find out I was indeed 2nd!
Excellent goodie bag with a medel, a bright lime green techie t-shirt, ice-cream voucher, bottle of local studland ale and some fruit. Debs came through in 3rd place around 5 minutes after me, huge grin on her face as usual.
We waited around for the presentation as we'd already checked out the silverware and worked out we'd both get a trophy and....an envelope! However, how disappointed we both were when I was called up in 3rd place rather than 2nd, which meant Debs didn't get a 'podium' finish, instead winning the V40 age group. How could they get the results so wrong? The 2nd placed runner didn't even hang around to collect their prize. So I asked them to double check and to our joy, they agreed they'd got them wrong : the 2nd place 'lady' was actually a bloke so having handed back our initial winnings, I then received 2nd and Debs was 3rd. The envelopes contained vouchers for a local running shop : £15 for me and £10 for Debs. I later found out that the winner was a member of the Olympic Team GB sailing crew.....I certainly don't mind being beaten by an Olympian!!
The BIG car boot
Judging by previous car boots Tricia and I had done, dvd's, clothes, shoes and bags had all been winners so I had put round several mass pleas for goodie donations, and we certainly weren't let down! I spent the Saturday (which was a wet, miserable day!) sorting out all the bags into mens, womens and kids and then somehow managed to stuff everything plus the rotary clothes dryer and very heavy base, in my car....OK so there was minimal room for Tricia but I'm sure we'd stuff her in somewhere too!
The Sunday we picked dawned dry and bright unlike all previous dates we had penciled in....good choice we thought!
We did manage, just, to get Tricia in the front seat, but only with her being blocked in on her left by the clothes dryer and having two big bags on her lap and one by her feet (I'm not sure we would have been looked upon too kindly had we been stopped by the police en-route!).
The clothes dryer turned into a winner : if we had £1 for everyone who commented on "what a great idea" we'd have made at least another £100. It still blew over a couple of times but didn't land on any passers by (only me!) so I'm not expecting to receive any insurance claims from anyone I'm pleased to say!
Jeans flew off the pegs at £1 a go...Jax had donated about 15 pairs of football boots and most of them didn't hang around long again at £1 a pair. It still surprises me at how much buyers quibble and moan : virtually all of the clothes we had on offer were fantastic quality, some even had their labels on when I'd been sorting through them yet buyers were trying to haggle down to the lowest price possible. I made some feel a bit guilty by saying everything we made was for charity and no, we're not a charity!
Still, we had a pretty good day, making £109 but the amazing thing was that we hardly toughed the sides and my car was still chocca on the way back (although Tricia did at least get the front seat back all to herself!).
We're planning on doing another on 28 October so everything is still stored in my garage but even after that, I think we'll have enough left to do at least another 3 or 4!
The Sunday we picked dawned dry and bright unlike all previous dates we had penciled in....good choice we thought!
We did manage, just, to get Tricia in the front seat, but only with her being blocked in on her left by the clothes dryer and having two big bags on her lap and one by her feet (I'm not sure we would have been looked upon too kindly had we been stopped by the police en-route!).
The clothes dryer turned into a winner : if we had £1 for everyone who commented on "what a great idea" we'd have made at least another £100. It still blew over a couple of times but didn't land on any passers by (only me!) so I'm not expecting to receive any insurance claims from anyone I'm pleased to say!
Jeans flew off the pegs at £1 a go...Jax had donated about 15 pairs of football boots and most of them didn't hang around long again at £1 a pair. It still surprises me at how much buyers quibble and moan : virtually all of the clothes we had on offer were fantastic quality, some even had their labels on when I'd been sorting through them yet buyers were trying to haggle down to the lowest price possible. I made some feel a bit guilty by saying everything we made was for charity and no, we're not a charity!
Still, we had a pretty good day, making £109 but the amazing thing was that we hardly toughed the sides and my car was still chocca on the way back (although Tricia did at least get the front seat back all to herself!).
We're planning on doing another on 28 October so everything is still stored in my garage but even after that, I think we'll have enough left to do at least another 3 or 4!
Thursday 6 September 2012
Marathon # 10 - Anglesey Coastal Challenge (part III)
Sunday morning dawned fantastically sunny, inviting us out for a little jog. Normal routine ensued...breakfast, registration then kit check. Everyone has definitely slowed down in their actions by today and we're beginning to act a bit like sheep, following each other but making sure someone else makes the first move.
It took around 45 minutes to drive back out to our start point at Cemlyn Bay with views ahead of the nuclear power station!
Tough first mile as it was straight across a shingle bar separating a lagoon from the sea : this reminded me of the Grizzly only this time I'd already run over 60 miles before reaching it! Then it was gently undulating fields until passing round the power station via a nature reserve which actually, was really nice before traversing through yet more fields towards Caemes. There were 7 of us running together at this stage and we got a tad lost, clearly missing the vital tern sign and ending up on a road where we shouldn't have been. No matter, we simply followed the road down into the village, probably adding a mile or so to our journey but at least we were back on track.
The days first check point was at Llanbadrig where we learned that Karl was a full 7 minutes ahead of us and clearing motoring (later found out that he had been badly injured in Afghanistan - remember that iconic picture of a soldier on fire desperately trying to climb out of his armoured vehicle?, and would be featuring in a TV programme the following weekend as part of Prince Harry's wounded soldiers attempt to climb Everest). After a brief recharge we set off back around the cliffs of the coast path, past a church and graveyard right on the edge and here the hills set in good and proper! There were lots of little gully's along this part of the coast and all required negotiation down steps and then up again the other side. One particularly memorable one was ironically called Hell's Mouth and it certainly lived up to it's name : there was a ruined stone building set right in the valley, surrounded by very steep cliffs. It was here that Melissa and Max started to put their foot down and forge ahead and I certainly was not going to go at their pace. Jon had dropped off the pace so it was me, Jenni, Meika and Andy in the pelaton. Jenni's knee had really been troubling her for a few miles and it wasn't long before she was unable to run anymore which was really disappointing for her having put in two fantastic performances on the previous days. She ended up walking to the next checkpoint and then having a lift to the end. Andy set off after Melissa and Max but kept getting lost and appearing from a totally different direction at several points when Meika and I ran past!
We lost Andy (again!) just before the 2nd checkpoint at Amlwch where we arrived in time to see Karl set off again, hotly pursued by both Melissa and Max. After topping energy levels up with cheese rolls, haribo sweets, jaffa cakes and coke (great running diet!), we set off again across the cliff tops. Just a couple of miles in, we caught up and passed Karl before we hit a hillier and much muddier section where it was a little difficult to stay upright. Another couple of miles along the path, we had to head inland and spied Melissa and Max just a couple of minutes in front of us stopped at the top of a hill. However, once she saw us that was it...left for dust again! We then got attacked by zillions of horseflies whilst running uphill (so slow, and we couldn't get away from the little biting blighters!) and before long there were quite a few open 'wounds' on our arms and legs. We got a little bit lost running through a quiet village and had to flag down a passing motorist to try to establish where we were. It was here that we found out we were actually further on the route than we initially thought so no wonder I couldn't tie in the houses to the map! Karl caught us up again whilst we were dithering around and this certainly made us put our foot down!
Long downhill to Dulas Bay where the lane abruptly stopped actually in the estuary! The footpath continued on our right but....in the estuary! The next few miles were a case of following the edge of the bay, occasionally over footbridges and through bogs before heading back uphill on the other side. Very, very tired by now and trudging ensued. We passed Karl again! Either he went the wrong way after the estuary and bogs or he has an identical twin brother!
Jenni was cheering us in at checkpoint 3 where more welcome food and drink were thrust in our hands (I think if I had just opened up my mouth like a baby bird, they would have fed me too!). We then set off again on the last leg, less than 10km from the finish. After passing round the quaint little harbour of Moelfre it was then a case of running the downhills and walking the uphills and going round one last headland before dropping down to Benliech. Once again my garmin gave up, this time at exactly 27 miles. The weather was glorious by this time and each of the bays and coves we had run through were very busy with people enjoying the water and sunshine.
We could see the finish line after coming over the last hill but then had to drop down onto the beach and cross a stream before heading onto the promenade and crossing the finish line, hand in hand. Exhausted!
We'd just run another ultra marathon, this time of 29.5 miles in a time of 6:44 finishing in =3rd place.
It was almost another hour before the next runner finished : we were certainly well strung out today.
I didn't get back to the outdoor centre until well after 6pm and then had a quick shower before saying goodbye to those that were back....would only be 4 weeks before I would see Ian, Richard and Chris of VoTWO again at the Atlantic Coast Challenge.
Had a good drive home but craved a Big Mac before I left Wales! Got home at 1.30am Monday morning and back in work at 9am!
Following my exertions the cuts and bites on my legs gave me quite a bit of grief and, after suffering with one particular nasty wound at the top of my ankle for 2 weeks, eventually went to the doctors for some help in clearing it up. Not surprisingly, having had an open sore and then run through everything from farmyards to bog and estuary water (and not forgetting the nuclear power station on day 2!) I developed an infection that required antibiotics to help clear it up in time for the next adventure....
It took around 45 minutes to drive back out to our start point at Cemlyn Bay with views ahead of the nuclear power station!
Tough first mile as it was straight across a shingle bar separating a lagoon from the sea : this reminded me of the Grizzly only this time I'd already run over 60 miles before reaching it! Then it was gently undulating fields until passing round the power station via a nature reserve which actually, was really nice before traversing through yet more fields towards Caemes. There were 7 of us running together at this stage and we got a tad lost, clearly missing the vital tern sign and ending up on a road where we shouldn't have been. No matter, we simply followed the road down into the village, probably adding a mile or so to our journey but at least we were back on track.
The days first check point was at Llanbadrig where we learned that Karl was a full 7 minutes ahead of us and clearing motoring (later found out that he had been badly injured in Afghanistan - remember that iconic picture of a soldier on fire desperately trying to climb out of his armoured vehicle?, and would be featuring in a TV programme the following weekend as part of Prince Harry's wounded soldiers attempt to climb Everest). After a brief recharge we set off back around the cliffs of the coast path, past a church and graveyard right on the edge and here the hills set in good and proper! There were lots of little gully's along this part of the coast and all required negotiation down steps and then up again the other side. One particularly memorable one was ironically called Hell's Mouth and it certainly lived up to it's name : there was a ruined stone building set right in the valley, surrounded by very steep cliffs. It was here that Melissa and Max started to put their foot down and forge ahead and I certainly was not going to go at their pace. Jon had dropped off the pace so it was me, Jenni, Meika and Andy in the pelaton. Jenni's knee had really been troubling her for a few miles and it wasn't long before she was unable to run anymore which was really disappointing for her having put in two fantastic performances on the previous days. She ended up walking to the next checkpoint and then having a lift to the end. Andy set off after Melissa and Max but kept getting lost and appearing from a totally different direction at several points when Meika and I ran past!
We lost Andy (again!) just before the 2nd checkpoint at Amlwch where we arrived in time to see Karl set off again, hotly pursued by both Melissa and Max. After topping energy levels up with cheese rolls, haribo sweets, jaffa cakes and coke (great running diet!), we set off again across the cliff tops. Just a couple of miles in, we caught up and passed Karl before we hit a hillier and much muddier section where it was a little difficult to stay upright. Another couple of miles along the path, we had to head inland and spied Melissa and Max just a couple of minutes in front of us stopped at the top of a hill. However, once she saw us that was it...left for dust again! We then got attacked by zillions of horseflies whilst running uphill (so slow, and we couldn't get away from the little biting blighters!) and before long there were quite a few open 'wounds' on our arms and legs. We got a little bit lost running through a quiet village and had to flag down a passing motorist to try to establish where we were. It was here that we found out we were actually further on the route than we initially thought so no wonder I couldn't tie in the houses to the map! Karl caught us up again whilst we were dithering around and this certainly made us put our foot down!
Long downhill to Dulas Bay where the lane abruptly stopped actually in the estuary! The footpath continued on our right but....in the estuary! The next few miles were a case of following the edge of the bay, occasionally over footbridges and through bogs before heading back uphill on the other side. Very, very tired by now and trudging ensued. We passed Karl again! Either he went the wrong way after the estuary and bogs or he has an identical twin brother!
Jenni was cheering us in at checkpoint 3 where more welcome food and drink were thrust in our hands (I think if I had just opened up my mouth like a baby bird, they would have fed me too!). We then set off again on the last leg, less than 10km from the finish. After passing round the quaint little harbour of Moelfre it was then a case of running the downhills and walking the uphills and going round one last headland before dropping down to Benliech. Once again my garmin gave up, this time at exactly 27 miles. The weather was glorious by this time and each of the bays and coves we had run through were very busy with people enjoying the water and sunshine.
We could see the finish line after coming over the last hill but then had to drop down onto the beach and cross a stream before heading onto the promenade and crossing the finish line, hand in hand. Exhausted!
We'd just run another ultra marathon, this time of 29.5 miles in a time of 6:44 finishing in =3rd place.
It was almost another hour before the next runner finished : we were certainly well strung out today.
I didn't get back to the outdoor centre until well after 6pm and then had a quick shower before saying goodbye to those that were back....would only be 4 weeks before I would see Ian, Richard and Chris of VoTWO again at the Atlantic Coast Challenge.
Had a good drive home but craved a Big Mac before I left Wales! Got home at 1.30am Monday morning and back in work at 9am!
Following my exertions the cuts and bites on my legs gave me quite a bit of grief and, after suffering with one particular nasty wound at the top of my ankle for 2 weeks, eventually went to the doctors for some help in clearing it up. Not surprisingly, having had an open sore and then run through everything from farmyards to bog and estuary water (and not forgetting the nuclear power station on day 2!) I developed an infection that required antibiotics to help clear it up in time for the next adventure....
Wednesday 29 August 2012
Marathon # 9 - Anglesey Coastal Challenge (part II)!
Same routine this morning - up at 6.15 then down for food at 7 followed by registration, kit check and safety briefing. A few were now in need of medical attention for blisters, sore knees and such like so the on-hand VOTWO medic was certainly kept busy. I only had a few scratches to show for my efforts yesterday and although I was tired, as is now becoming usual, I didn't ache (well, sat down I didn't, not sure what was going to happen when I try to get into a pace faster than a walk).
Amazingly the sun was out and there was very little wind - it was supposed to be almost 30 degrees down in Bournemouth : certainly wouldn't be anywhere near that in Wales but sun would be nice for a change!?
By 8.30 everyone was milling around outside the hostel 'raring' to go and the sun had gone, replaced once again by fine mist. And off we went, back down the road to the coast once again. The first few miles were over gently rolling heather clad hills before we started to climb on a quiet lane towards Holyhead Mountain. Here the sea mist really rolled in. Melissa, Max and Jenni were well ahead already and there was a 'gang' of around 10 several minutes behind me. It was like running in a snowglobe - I could only see around 15" all around me and this area of visibility moved when you did. Luckily the footpath itself was pretty well marked across the mountain either by slabs of rock or regular posts with the familiar tern. The checkpoint was supposed to be around 9km into the route so when my garmin showed almost 8 miles, I was beginning to panic...seriously! I'd gone all the way up, over and down the mountain yet still hadn't come across anywhere (within my 15" of visibility) where a checkpoint could be. Hadn't seen anyone else for the last hour so it was a huge relief to finally see the USN banner.
It was then a relatively flat run around Holyhead itself before running down the side of the ferry port to once again pick up the coastal path. Just before checkpoint 2 the path went through the woodland of Penrhos Coast Park where I passed a mass graveyard for pets! You never know what you'll encounter...
After refuelling, it was then a very long stretch along the shoreline so by now I'm getting pretty adept at rock scrambling! Max was having real trouble with his hip and I caught up with him fairly quickly. Andy also had a quick pit stop behind me at the checkpoint and then caught the two of us up as we were trying to decipher where the path went once we got to the end of the muddy estuary...apparently straight through it and then up over a field of young heifers! At least that's the route we took.
We then caught up and passed a guy who hadn't been infront of us before so again, people were having trouble reading the map or missing signs but that's not the point of the event - just to finish, via whatever route, is a success. It was here that Max dropped back quickly, experiencing a lot of pain with his hip.
After reaching the small village of Llanfrachraeth, Andy and I hit yet another estuary so yet more running in bogs before reaching the long sandy beach with great views back to Holyhead on our left. The sun was also starting to break through the temperature began to creep up quite quickly. The route now took us through a variety of grassy fields and dramatic cliff tops with several drop downs to quiet little coves and beaches. The fuel tank suddenly got very empty and we were hoping (against hope) that the next checkpoint would be over the next hill....then the next...and the next until finally I dragged my weary body into the welcome car park at Church Cove. After scoffing a cheese sandwich, coke and plenty of biscuits and jelly babies I reluctantly ventured out again just as Andy came round the corner into the car park looking just as exhausted as I had 5 minutes ago. That was a long 19k section from checkpoint 2.
Refreshed I seem to have a bit of extra spring in my step and quickly covered the next few miles. A 'wow' moment welcomed me around 3 miles after the checkpoint where I suddenly had to work my way round a maze of brightly coloured heather and gorse bushes : every variation of purple was here, before dropping down a steep slope to be faced with a rock walled reservoir and a thick forest of pine trees. I could have been in Scotland rather than North West Wales. All I needed was a red deer stag to complete the picture.
After this the terrain reverted to gently rolling pastures filled with sheep and cows...up, down, up, down. Once again my garmin ran out despite my willing it to hold on for just a few more miles. It already registered 29.97 miles covered in 6h 30m so today was going to be the furthest I had ever run in one event. A couple passed me going in the opposite direction and announced I was in "bronze medal position" which had a nice Olympic ring to it!
Eventually the very welcome sight of the VOTWO banners came into sight on my right but cruelly, I had to continue to run straight ahead through another couple of fields before then turning right then right again to reach the finish. Melissa and Jenni had, amazingly, finished almost an hour before. Then I tucked into the food and hot soup and laid out in the sun waiting for the others and cheering them home. Karl was next home.
Massive ultra distance today of 32 miles in exactly 7:00, finishing in 3rd place.
After a couple of hours there were enough of us home to fill one of the mini-buses back to base with first priority being a lovely cuppa! I decided that, although I wasn't particularly sore (other than now having quite a number of cuts to my legs from the brambles, twigs, heather, horseflies and other biting and scratching things) it might be prudent to have a massage to give myself a better chance of not being too stiff tomorrow and this turned out to be quite a wise move and a well spent £12! 30 minutes later I was feeling much better and after everyone had returned and chilled out for a bit, 7 of us headed back down to The Paddlers Return for some much needed food and hydration and sharing of the day's war stories! Turned into a right party and we didn't roll into bed until the unearthly hour of 9pm!!
Amazingly the sun was out and there was very little wind - it was supposed to be almost 30 degrees down in Bournemouth : certainly wouldn't be anywhere near that in Wales but sun would be nice for a change!?
By 8.30 everyone was milling around outside the hostel 'raring' to go and the sun had gone, replaced once again by fine mist. And off we went, back down the road to the coast once again. The first few miles were over gently rolling heather clad hills before we started to climb on a quiet lane towards Holyhead Mountain. Here the sea mist really rolled in. Melissa, Max and Jenni were well ahead already and there was a 'gang' of around 10 several minutes behind me. It was like running in a snowglobe - I could only see around 15" all around me and this area of visibility moved when you did. Luckily the footpath itself was pretty well marked across the mountain either by slabs of rock or regular posts with the familiar tern. The checkpoint was supposed to be around 9km into the route so when my garmin showed almost 8 miles, I was beginning to panic...seriously! I'd gone all the way up, over and down the mountain yet still hadn't come across anywhere (within my 15" of visibility) where a checkpoint could be. Hadn't seen anyone else for the last hour so it was a huge relief to finally see the USN banner.
It was then a relatively flat run around Holyhead itself before running down the side of the ferry port to once again pick up the coastal path. Just before checkpoint 2 the path went through the woodland of Penrhos Coast Park where I passed a mass graveyard for pets! You never know what you'll encounter...
After refuelling, it was then a very long stretch along the shoreline so by now I'm getting pretty adept at rock scrambling! Max was having real trouble with his hip and I caught up with him fairly quickly. Andy also had a quick pit stop behind me at the checkpoint and then caught the two of us up as we were trying to decipher where the path went once we got to the end of the muddy estuary...apparently straight through it and then up over a field of young heifers! At least that's the route we took.
We then caught up and passed a guy who hadn't been infront of us before so again, people were having trouble reading the map or missing signs but that's not the point of the event - just to finish, via whatever route, is a success. It was here that Max dropped back quickly, experiencing a lot of pain with his hip.
After reaching the small village of Llanfrachraeth, Andy and I hit yet another estuary so yet more running in bogs before reaching the long sandy beach with great views back to Holyhead on our left. The sun was also starting to break through the temperature began to creep up quite quickly. The route now took us through a variety of grassy fields and dramatic cliff tops with several drop downs to quiet little coves and beaches. The fuel tank suddenly got very empty and we were hoping (against hope) that the next checkpoint would be over the next hill....then the next...and the next until finally I dragged my weary body into the welcome car park at Church Cove. After scoffing a cheese sandwich, coke and plenty of biscuits and jelly babies I reluctantly ventured out again just as Andy came round the corner into the car park looking just as exhausted as I had 5 minutes ago. That was a long 19k section from checkpoint 2.
Refreshed I seem to have a bit of extra spring in my step and quickly covered the next few miles. A 'wow' moment welcomed me around 3 miles after the checkpoint where I suddenly had to work my way round a maze of brightly coloured heather and gorse bushes : every variation of purple was here, before dropping down a steep slope to be faced with a rock walled reservoir and a thick forest of pine trees. I could have been in Scotland rather than North West Wales. All I needed was a red deer stag to complete the picture.
After this the terrain reverted to gently rolling pastures filled with sheep and cows...up, down, up, down. Once again my garmin ran out despite my willing it to hold on for just a few more miles. It already registered 29.97 miles covered in 6h 30m so today was going to be the furthest I had ever run in one event. A couple passed me going in the opposite direction and announced I was in "bronze medal position" which had a nice Olympic ring to it!
Eventually the very welcome sight of the VOTWO banners came into sight on my right but cruelly, I had to continue to run straight ahead through another couple of fields before then turning right then right again to reach the finish. Melissa and Jenni had, amazingly, finished almost an hour before. Then I tucked into the food and hot soup and laid out in the sun waiting for the others and cheering them home. Karl was next home.
Massive ultra distance today of 32 miles in exactly 7:00, finishing in 3rd place.
After a couple of hours there were enough of us home to fill one of the mini-buses back to base with first priority being a lovely cuppa! I decided that, although I wasn't particularly sore (other than now having quite a number of cuts to my legs from the brambles, twigs, heather, horseflies and other biting and scratching things) it might be prudent to have a massage to give myself a better chance of not being too stiff tomorrow and this turned out to be quite a wise move and a well spent £12! 30 minutes later I was feeling much better and after everyone had returned and chilled out for a bit, 7 of us headed back down to The Paddlers Return for some much needed food and hydration and sharing of the day's war stories! Turned into a right party and we didn't roll into bed until the unearthly hour of 9pm!!
Tuesday 28 August 2012
Marathon # 8 - Anglesey Coastal Challenge (part I)!
Thursday 19 July saw me leaving work at lunchtime and heading to the most north western part of Wales...Anglesey, or to be more precise, Holyhead. 320 miles later I arrived, in the rain, at the outdoor centre that would be my home for the next 3 nights. After making myself comfy I headed down to the onsite 'bar' where I was very surprised to enjoy a great home-cooked pasta meal then, after packing my mandatory kit into my backpack, I turned in for the night...at all of 9pm!
Didn't actually get that much sleep : my head was right next to the shared toilet and clearly lots of people were really hydrated as there were quite a few nightly visits! It also poured with rain all night...great!
Up at 6.15 for a shower then headed downstairs to meet the rest of the guys who had accepted the challenge...all 24 of them (surprisingly there was an equal split of male / female so this should be interesting!) and enjoy a full cooked breakfast before the mandatory kit check and safety briefing. It was still raining.
Just after 8.30 we set off in minibuses for the start of today's challenge at Aberffraw. The Anglesey Coast Path isn't as undulating as the Jurassic but there were to be plenty of changes in terrain, starting with sand dunes and a little jaunt along the beach itself. Wasn't long before we were soaked from head to toe as we encountered a huge flood in the first couple of miles and no way was there any opt out option! Most people were getting to know each other and chit chatting, and with that comes the 'follow the leader' mentality with the result that most of us missed a vital turning and got lost...not to worry, we climbed over a couple of barbed wire fences and headed towards the cliffs once again and picked up the coastal path.
Between check points one / two we had to skirt around the now famous airfield of RAF Valley (where Wills is based!)..Kate did invite us in for a bacon sarnie but we politely declined as we had a challenge to complete! At points a few of us were running together, trying to ensure we stayed on the right path so there were plenty of stop / starts to check out the map and ask directions from locals but at other times I would find myself running on my own. Parts of the route were really coastal ie they were under water and I don't believe they ever dried out enough to really call it a footpath - you would need waders!
The weather was still pretty bad : very low cloud and plenty of drizzle but it certainly wasn't cold at all. At one point I tripped over a grassy tussock and fell flat on my face (didn't even have time to put my hand out to break my fall), but luckily only my pride was hurt. I was running with a guy called Andy at the time who apparently was always falling over - he thought it hilarious that someone else was doing that instead and promptly told me to tell his friend Melissa (who was an amazingly fast runner and left the rest of us all for dead each day!) that for once, he wasn't the one dusting himself down....I turned around to thank him, only to find him flat on his face having fallen over exactly the same clump of grass :o) nice one Andy!
Despite the lack of really hilly terrain, the fact that it was so challenging to run on meant that it took so long to complete each day. My Garmin actually ran out of life after I hit 25 miles and I was still a long way from the day's finish line. In the last few miles we kept having to deviate from the road to do a small circular route on the cliff top in order to truly follow the coastal path but again, had to keep your eyes peeled for the Arctic Tern route signs in order that you didn't go the wrong way....by the end of the day a lot of people had totally different distances registering on their watches!
The finish for day one was back at the Outdoor Centre and the last 1/2 mile certainly felt a lot further than it was signed! Melissa finished almost an hour before me and I came in joint 4th! The field were definitely well spread out and by the end of the first day we unfortunately had two casualties..not injured but pulled out as they had got quite drastically lost whilst walking the route, ending up at checkpoint 2 but for day 2 rather than checkpoint 3 for day one....oops!
Definitely more than the expected 26.2 miles : today was confirmed as 30 miles which I had covered in 5:44.
After a lovely welcome cuppa tea and shower, a group of us trekked all of 100m down to the bar for another scrummy meal and review of the day's war stories before I was tucked up in bed well before 9! It's still pouring with rain and blowing a gale out there!
Didn't actually get that much sleep : my head was right next to the shared toilet and clearly lots of people were really hydrated as there were quite a few nightly visits! It also poured with rain all night...great!
Up at 6.15 for a shower then headed downstairs to meet the rest of the guys who had accepted the challenge...all 24 of them (surprisingly there was an equal split of male / female so this should be interesting!) and enjoy a full cooked breakfast before the mandatory kit check and safety briefing. It was still raining.
Just after 8.30 we set off in minibuses for the start of today's challenge at Aberffraw. The Anglesey Coast Path isn't as undulating as the Jurassic but there were to be plenty of changes in terrain, starting with sand dunes and a little jaunt along the beach itself. Wasn't long before we were soaked from head to toe as we encountered a huge flood in the first couple of miles and no way was there any opt out option! Most people were getting to know each other and chit chatting, and with that comes the 'follow the leader' mentality with the result that most of us missed a vital turning and got lost...not to worry, we climbed over a couple of barbed wire fences and headed towards the cliffs once again and picked up the coastal path.
Between check points one / two we had to skirt around the now famous airfield of RAF Valley (where Wills is based!)..Kate did invite us in for a bacon sarnie but we politely declined as we had a challenge to complete! At points a few of us were running together, trying to ensure we stayed on the right path so there were plenty of stop / starts to check out the map and ask directions from locals but at other times I would find myself running on my own. Parts of the route were really coastal ie they were under water and I don't believe they ever dried out enough to really call it a footpath - you would need waders!
The weather was still pretty bad : very low cloud and plenty of drizzle but it certainly wasn't cold at all. At one point I tripped over a grassy tussock and fell flat on my face (didn't even have time to put my hand out to break my fall), but luckily only my pride was hurt. I was running with a guy called Andy at the time who apparently was always falling over - he thought it hilarious that someone else was doing that instead and promptly told me to tell his friend Melissa (who was an amazingly fast runner and left the rest of us all for dead each day!) that for once, he wasn't the one dusting himself down....I turned around to thank him, only to find him flat on his face having fallen over exactly the same clump of grass :o) nice one Andy!
Despite the lack of really hilly terrain, the fact that it was so challenging to run on meant that it took so long to complete each day. My Garmin actually ran out of life after I hit 25 miles and I was still a long way from the day's finish line. In the last few miles we kept having to deviate from the road to do a small circular route on the cliff top in order to truly follow the coastal path but again, had to keep your eyes peeled for the Arctic Tern route signs in order that you didn't go the wrong way....by the end of the day a lot of people had totally different distances registering on their watches!
The finish for day one was back at the Outdoor Centre and the last 1/2 mile certainly felt a lot further than it was signed! Melissa finished almost an hour before me and I came in joint 4th! The field were definitely well spread out and by the end of the first day we unfortunately had two casualties..not injured but pulled out as they had got quite drastically lost whilst walking the route, ending up at checkpoint 2 but for day 2 rather than checkpoint 3 for day one....oops!
Definitely more than the expected 26.2 miles : today was confirmed as 30 miles which I had covered in 5:44.
After a lovely welcome cuppa tea and shower, a group of us trekked all of 100m down to the bar for another scrummy meal and review of the day's war stories before I was tucked up in bed well before 9! It's still pouring with rain and blowing a gale out there!
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Marathon # 7 - Salisbury 54321
OK, so I've had a bit of a breather since my last marathon but now they really kick off....4 in one week to start with! I honestly didn't plan it this way - it just sort of happened. I'd already entered the Anglesey Coastal Challenge as I'd already completed the Jurassic one but I then entered the Salisbury 54321 as I just love this little jaunt in the Wiltshire countryside - it just so happened that after I'd entered, it dawned on me that they were all in the same week...oh well, no pain, no gain!
The 54321 is so called as it crosses 5 rivers, 4 hills, 3 large country estates, 2 castles and 1 cathedral and is extremely popular, catering not just for marathon runners but also a 50k, 30k, 20k and 10k option for runners and walkers.
There was a very quick sharp shower about 15 minutes before the 'off' and Pat, Caro, Dory and I just sat in the car waiting for it to stop but after that the weather was just about perfect for the rest of the day. After launching ourselves up the slippery chalk slopes of Old Sarum castle, we then joined the Clarendon Way for a while before dropping down to run through the amazing private estate of Longford, complete with a castle and clear chalk river where plenty of huge trout could be seen from the bridge as you run over. After this we crossed the main A338 (still early Sunday morning so very little traffic around as 'normal' people would only just be getting up and having breakfast!) and picked up the Avon Valley Path. By this stage I'd only seen one other female runner who had passed me around 3 miles but just as I hit the slow slog uphill to Clearbury Ring another absolutely flew past me and disappeared in a cloud of dust! However, not long afterwards I caught up and passed the woman who had originally overtook me.
After hitting Clearbury Ring where there was a very welcome water / jelly baby station, it was a fantastic run steeply downhill through a wild flower meadow adorned with loads of different kinds of butterflies to then run along a grassy track and eventually to a Swiss-style cottage and a thick yew tree forest straight from a fairy tale. Another refreshment station, this time serving huge chunks of bread pudding before heading into the forest, so thick that you would quickly lose your way had it not been for a piece of red string that you had to follow! I went through a really tough period here, feeling as if I had absolutely no energy and could hardly put one foot infront of the other and whilst it lasted for around a mile, it passed eventually and by the time I hit the road section again, all was OK.
A lovely long downhill into Coombe Bissett and the next water station before a long draining uphill to Salisbury racecourse then across fields before dropping down into Wilton. After this it was a couple of miles on quiet country lanes and a nature reserve before reaching the outskirts of Salisbury. I still hadn't seen another female runner and even the blokes were few and far between and those appeared to be the same ones either overtaking me or me overtaking them!
By the time I reached Salisbury cathedral, the 'normal' people had clearly got out of bed, eaten their breakfast and decided to invade Salisbury for the day...it was packed and would they move out of the way for a runner?!?! Would they heck....by this time I was really tired so my 'excuse me' soon turned into more of an angry 'MOVE' sort of request! Students were the worst...they take up the whole pavement and just walk into you...can't they see or something? Do they assume I'm going to suddenly leapfrog them?
Anyway, I made it back to the finish in one piece and then went to congratulate the woman who had shot past me at Clearbury Ring only for her to tell me that I was 2nd! OMG!! I've never come 2nd before in a race...ever!
Shortly afterwards I collected my prize of a lovely medal embossed with flames in the 5 Olympic colours so very topical bearing in mind the amazing London 2012 Olympics finished on the same day.
So, number 7 duly completed...I'm still in one piece and writing this 3 days later, can confirm that I didn't ache too much afterwards and managed (sort of) to do a speed session yesterday.
I also received the final information pack for this weekend's Anglesey marathons...for the Jurassic there had been a mix of around 200 or so walkers / runners tackling the event but this weekend there's a massive.....25!!! Definitely going to be the 'loneliness of the long distance runner' me feels this time round...imagine if 24 of them were walkers and I was the only one running...I'm sure that won't happen and there will be quite a few running but it's a long way to drive tomorrow if that is the case!
I'll let you know!
The 54321 is so called as it crosses 5 rivers, 4 hills, 3 large country estates, 2 castles and 1 cathedral and is extremely popular, catering not just for marathon runners but also a 50k, 30k, 20k and 10k option for runners and walkers.
There was a very quick sharp shower about 15 minutes before the 'off' and Pat, Caro, Dory and I just sat in the car waiting for it to stop but after that the weather was just about perfect for the rest of the day. After launching ourselves up the slippery chalk slopes of Old Sarum castle, we then joined the Clarendon Way for a while before dropping down to run through the amazing private estate of Longford, complete with a castle and clear chalk river where plenty of huge trout could be seen from the bridge as you run over. After this we crossed the main A338 (still early Sunday morning so very little traffic around as 'normal' people would only just be getting up and having breakfast!) and picked up the Avon Valley Path. By this stage I'd only seen one other female runner who had passed me around 3 miles but just as I hit the slow slog uphill to Clearbury Ring another absolutely flew past me and disappeared in a cloud of dust! However, not long afterwards I caught up and passed the woman who had originally overtook me.
After hitting Clearbury Ring where there was a very welcome water / jelly baby station, it was a fantastic run steeply downhill through a wild flower meadow adorned with loads of different kinds of butterflies to then run along a grassy track and eventually to a Swiss-style cottage and a thick yew tree forest straight from a fairy tale. Another refreshment station, this time serving huge chunks of bread pudding before heading into the forest, so thick that you would quickly lose your way had it not been for a piece of red string that you had to follow! I went through a really tough period here, feeling as if I had absolutely no energy and could hardly put one foot infront of the other and whilst it lasted for around a mile, it passed eventually and by the time I hit the road section again, all was OK.
A lovely long downhill into Coombe Bissett and the next water station before a long draining uphill to Salisbury racecourse then across fields before dropping down into Wilton. After this it was a couple of miles on quiet country lanes and a nature reserve before reaching the outskirts of Salisbury. I still hadn't seen another female runner and even the blokes were few and far between and those appeared to be the same ones either overtaking me or me overtaking them!
By the time I reached Salisbury cathedral, the 'normal' people had clearly got out of bed, eaten their breakfast and decided to invade Salisbury for the day...it was packed and would they move out of the way for a runner?!?! Would they heck....by this time I was really tired so my 'excuse me' soon turned into more of an angry 'MOVE' sort of request! Students were the worst...they take up the whole pavement and just walk into you...can't they see or something? Do they assume I'm going to suddenly leapfrog them?
Anyway, I made it back to the finish in one piece and then went to congratulate the woman who had shot past me at Clearbury Ring only for her to tell me that I was 2nd! OMG!! I've never come 2nd before in a race...ever!
Shortly afterwards I collected my prize of a lovely medal embossed with flames in the 5 Olympic colours so very topical bearing in mind the amazing London 2012 Olympics finished on the same day.
So, number 7 duly completed...I'm still in one piece and writing this 3 days later, can confirm that I didn't ache too much afterwards and managed (sort of) to do a speed session yesterday.
I also received the final information pack for this weekend's Anglesey marathons...for the Jurassic there had been a mix of around 200 or so walkers / runners tackling the event but this weekend there's a massive.....25!!! Definitely going to be the 'loneliness of the long distance runner' me feels this time round...imagine if 24 of them were walkers and I was the only one running...I'm sure that won't happen and there will be quite a few running but it's a long way to drive tomorrow if that is the case!
I'll let you know!
Monday 2 July 2012
One heck of a training run....part II
Sunday was again forecast to be dry and if anything, better weather than we'd had on Saturday. I'd really caught the sun so prepared for today with suncream...it started to rain as soon as we arrived at our start line!
But let's backtrack a tad as there was a little bit of stress on my part beforehand.....Liz unfortunately had only been able to help yesterday so I successfully enrolled Pat into our support crew so that Ellen wasn't alone in the car plus would definitely help having two to pre-warn people of my arrival. Then Liz decided she'd had so much fun the day before, she wanted second helping....excellent, the A team were joining forces again!
From a bike crew perspective, I lost Debbie and Debs but gained Caro (she is so amazingly fast at running / biking, she would later admit that this was probably the slowest bike ride that she'd been on but there was no way I was running any faster than I did during today!!). Loz and Tricia were back for seconds too...bit saddle sore but as they say, no pain, no gain!
At the Westbourne meeting point I realised I'd left the most important part of my kit at home...my running shoes! Frantic call to John and they were being personally delivered to Tuckton for us to pick up on the way through. My Garmin watch had also decided that it had been traumatised yesterday and froze...wasn't able to check time or mileage and at Hythe, I was getting so panicy that Loz insisted I wear her watch!
Heard the Wave105 airing of my 2nd day at 1pm, announcing that we'd would be on our way in the next 5 minutes or so...that had been the plan but we were stuck in traffic getting into Lyndhurst.
Late arrival at The Waterloo Arms meant it was a quick visit and whip-round before shooting off through the village - Ellen, Liz and Pat had already had a quick opportunity to prep the customers and I received quite a lot of encouragement running through the High Street. My route then took me back across the New Forest to Hythe, with only ponies and cattle for company. We took a very small diversion through one car park as it was packed with VW campervans, clearly on some sort of reunion and they weren't expecting a vocal runner and 3 cyclists to be 'robbing' them off all their change! As we were now more in the realm of Wave105, we found people were more aware of Cash for Kids than Jigsaw whereas yesterday it was definitely the other way round. I was receiving encouragement from cars, whether that was beeping horns or waves / applause out the window. At one layby a family were out clapping and taking photos of us - transpired they had heard all about my efforts on Wave and wanted a photo with me...I'm a celebrity!
Into Hythe where the weather got decidedly colder : Hythe ferry company had kindly arranged complimentary tickets for us although poor Ellen thought it was a car ferry and hadn't realised she needed to drive all the way round to pick up with us again :o(
We were running slightly later than expected so having just missed the 3.10, took the opportunity for a little refreshment pit stop before running down the long wooden pier (the resident train holds the world record for the oldest pier train!) and into the waiting room out of the wind.
Once docked in Southampton it was only a short hop to our 2nd pub, The Platform Tavern. In fairness, I'd virtually written these guys off as when Tricia and I visited the previous week, it really wasn't my kind of place - loud live music and 20/30 somethings, most of whom blanked us or who were too drunk to care what we were doing. What a difference it makes to visit the same place on a different day and at a different time. Nice and quiet inside and virtually everyone was more than happy to donate. Then the bar staff gave their tips for the day and to round it off, there had been a leaving do for a guy called Ben at the Oceanography Society during the week and he had requested the excess bar tab be put in the safe for me : £76.60....awesome generosity guys!
Next obstacle to overcome was the very steep Itchen Bridge but once over that it was back down to the coast at Netley then into Queen Victoria country park. Ellen, Liz and Pat were still doing a sterling job working the crowds whether in car parks or in the park itself - all I had to do was run! By this time I was starting to get a tad concerned that we wouldn't make the last ferry in Hamble (6pm) but having negotiated the park, it was only a couple of miles into the village. Last pub for today was The Victory Inn, again very generous patrons, some of whom Tricia and I had caught the week before too!
There's quite a few pubs in Hamble and not content with just The Victory Inn, Liz and Ellen carried on with their pub crawl. I shouldn't have worried about missing the ferry : when we left Queen Victoria country park, Tricia and Caro sped on ahead to ensure the ferryman didn't leave without us...it would have been an awful long way to cross the Hamble via the roads (Caro eventually getting her 'speed' fix and Tricia able to keep up with her by engaging her electric bike sports mode!).
I sent a text to Gloria at Wave to tell her we were just about to catch the ferry. She was already at the studios awaiting our arrival and anticipated we would be there around 6.15...by the time we'd got off the ferry that gave me just 20 minutes....no way! Tricia was still pulling in the donations along the route, catching a couple of lads coming out of a local convenience store (no one was safe!).
Loz was to comment that today had definitely been a lot hillier than yesterday and there were still a few more slow drawn out inclines for me to negotiate and once again, a couple of miles from the finish, my wheels fell off again (this time can't blame the milkshake!) - I'm sure its just because whilst I was obviously more than capable of running the distance, with the stops and fundraising, I was spending an extra couple of hours each day on the road, without putting back in the calories and energy.
After negotiating a barren industrial estate, never a better sight than the logo of Wave105 and we eventually hauled into the car park at 6.30pm.
Steve was unfortunately stuck in traffic so we piled into the studios to meet up with Gloria who plied us with lovely cups of tea and coffee and scooby snacks! Once Steve had safely arrived, we all had a final photoshoot under the Wave logo before being 'interviewed' for a Cash for Kids update that would go out next weekend.
Not entirely sure what today's mileage was but it was definitely in excess of 20. On the fundraising side, whilst we hadn't encountered the crowds of people experienced yesterday, once again the day's total far surpassed any of our predictions : £490.05 making an overall total of £1,262.60 for the event (with the previous Fridays donations). Gloria confirmed that this had been a 'major event' as far as Wave were concerned so really pleased everyone's efforts have resulted in such an amazing figure.
Ellen, Liz, Loz, Tricia, Debs, Caro, Debbie and Pat - you're all fantastic and thanks so much for giving up your precious weekend to help....definitely would have been so much less of an adventure and success without you xx
But let's backtrack a tad as there was a little bit of stress on my part beforehand.....Liz unfortunately had only been able to help yesterday so I successfully enrolled Pat into our support crew so that Ellen wasn't alone in the car plus would definitely help having two to pre-warn people of my arrival. Then Liz decided she'd had so much fun the day before, she wanted second helping....excellent, the A team were joining forces again!
From a bike crew perspective, I lost Debbie and Debs but gained Caro (she is so amazingly fast at running / biking, she would later admit that this was probably the slowest bike ride that she'd been on but there was no way I was running any faster than I did during today!!). Loz and Tricia were back for seconds too...bit saddle sore but as they say, no pain, no gain!
At the Westbourne meeting point I realised I'd left the most important part of my kit at home...my running shoes! Frantic call to John and they were being personally delivered to Tuckton for us to pick up on the way through. My Garmin watch had also decided that it had been traumatised yesterday and froze...wasn't able to check time or mileage and at Hythe, I was getting so panicy that Loz insisted I wear her watch!
Heard the Wave105 airing of my 2nd day at 1pm, announcing that we'd would be on our way in the next 5 minutes or so...that had been the plan but we were stuck in traffic getting into Lyndhurst.
Late arrival at The Waterloo Arms meant it was a quick visit and whip-round before shooting off through the village - Ellen, Liz and Pat had already had a quick opportunity to prep the customers and I received quite a lot of encouragement running through the High Street. My route then took me back across the New Forest to Hythe, with only ponies and cattle for company. We took a very small diversion through one car park as it was packed with VW campervans, clearly on some sort of reunion and they weren't expecting a vocal runner and 3 cyclists to be 'robbing' them off all their change! As we were now more in the realm of Wave105, we found people were more aware of Cash for Kids than Jigsaw whereas yesterday it was definitely the other way round. I was receiving encouragement from cars, whether that was beeping horns or waves / applause out the window. At one layby a family were out clapping and taking photos of us - transpired they had heard all about my efforts on Wave and wanted a photo with me...I'm a celebrity!
Into Hythe where the weather got decidedly colder : Hythe ferry company had kindly arranged complimentary tickets for us although poor Ellen thought it was a car ferry and hadn't realised she needed to drive all the way round to pick up with us again :o(
We were running slightly later than expected so having just missed the 3.10, took the opportunity for a little refreshment pit stop before running down the long wooden pier (the resident train holds the world record for the oldest pier train!) and into the waiting room out of the wind.
Once docked in Southampton it was only a short hop to our 2nd pub, The Platform Tavern. In fairness, I'd virtually written these guys off as when Tricia and I visited the previous week, it really wasn't my kind of place - loud live music and 20/30 somethings, most of whom blanked us or who were too drunk to care what we were doing. What a difference it makes to visit the same place on a different day and at a different time. Nice and quiet inside and virtually everyone was more than happy to donate. Then the bar staff gave their tips for the day and to round it off, there had been a leaving do for a guy called Ben at the Oceanography Society during the week and he had requested the excess bar tab be put in the safe for me : £76.60....awesome generosity guys!
Next obstacle to overcome was the very steep Itchen Bridge but once over that it was back down to the coast at Netley then into Queen Victoria country park. Ellen, Liz and Pat were still doing a sterling job working the crowds whether in car parks or in the park itself - all I had to do was run! By this time I was starting to get a tad concerned that we wouldn't make the last ferry in Hamble (6pm) but having negotiated the park, it was only a couple of miles into the village. Last pub for today was The Victory Inn, again very generous patrons, some of whom Tricia and I had caught the week before too!
There's quite a few pubs in Hamble and not content with just The Victory Inn, Liz and Ellen carried on with their pub crawl. I shouldn't have worried about missing the ferry : when we left Queen Victoria country park, Tricia and Caro sped on ahead to ensure the ferryman didn't leave without us...it would have been an awful long way to cross the Hamble via the roads (Caro eventually getting her 'speed' fix and Tricia able to keep up with her by engaging her electric bike sports mode!).
I sent a text to Gloria at Wave to tell her we were just about to catch the ferry. She was already at the studios awaiting our arrival and anticipated we would be there around 6.15...by the time we'd got off the ferry that gave me just 20 minutes....no way! Tricia was still pulling in the donations along the route, catching a couple of lads coming out of a local convenience store (no one was safe!).
Loz was to comment that today had definitely been a lot hillier than yesterday and there were still a few more slow drawn out inclines for me to negotiate and once again, a couple of miles from the finish, my wheels fell off again (this time can't blame the milkshake!) - I'm sure its just because whilst I was obviously more than capable of running the distance, with the stops and fundraising, I was spending an extra couple of hours each day on the road, without putting back in the calories and energy.
After negotiating a barren industrial estate, never a better sight than the logo of Wave105 and we eventually hauled into the car park at 6.30pm.
Steve was unfortunately stuck in traffic so we piled into the studios to meet up with Gloria who plied us with lovely cups of tea and coffee and scooby snacks! Once Steve had safely arrived, we all had a final photoshoot under the Wave logo before being 'interviewed' for a Cash for Kids update that would go out next weekend.
Not entirely sure what today's mileage was but it was definitely in excess of 20. On the fundraising side, whilst we hadn't encountered the crowds of people experienced yesterday, once again the day's total far surpassed any of our predictions : £490.05 making an overall total of £1,262.60 for the event (with the previous Fridays donations). Gloria confirmed that this had been a 'major event' as far as Wave were concerned so really pleased everyone's efforts have resulted in such an amazing figure.
Ellen, Liz, Loz, Tricia, Debs, Caro, Debbie and Pat - you're all fantastic and thanks so much for giving up your precious weekend to help....definitely would have been so much less of an adventure and success without you xx
One heck of a training run....part I
If you didn't realise I was crazy before...now read on and this may change your mind!
Saturday 30 June wasn't wet or windy or chilly, infact it dawned bright with a strange little yellow thing in the sky....a far cry from this dismal weather we've been having recently. Maybe this was an omen of good things to come today!?
10.30 rendezvous at Bournemouth Hospital with what would be the first of my fabulous support crew from Bournemouth Joggers : Ellen, Liz, Lauren (Loz), Tricia, Debbie and Debs. Lesley, Lisa and Carl from the Jigsaw Appeal were there together with several others they had clearly coerced into giving up an hour or so of their sunny Saturday morning, together with balloons and banners. Mock up photos of my 'start' duly completed ready to be sent off to the press and suchlike, we then transferred to the Littledown Centre for an impromptu whip-round before heading back to the hospital for the real departure.
Loz had been installed as our official photo / video taker for the adventure and was to do an incredible job of recording our adventures and post them straight back to our Facebook pages so that people could keep a track of our exploits. Wave105 were also airing the event all over the weekend.
12.00 and I was off. We made our first error of judgement just 400m later when I changed tact and followed the cycle path down by the river...how was I to know that Ellen and Liz had legged it to Iford roundabout and missed us coming through!! Oops...
Christchurch was heaving and with Liz and Ellen still waiting for us to appear at Iford, it was left to my bike crew to try to get some coins in those buckets and tins. On to Somerford where Liz and Ellen then passed me, sat on the railings near the zebra crossing waiting for my bike crew! Highcliffe gave another opportunity to catch shoppers before we hit the first pub of the day, The House Martin at Barton-on-Sea. We started to get into a routine as Liz and Ellen were able to leap-frog us and 'prep' the pub / village that we were approaching so by the time we got there the hard work had already been done and the tins were filling up nicely....great going guys :o)
Country lanes beckoned next as we headed down towards the coast to Milford-on-Sea and Keyhaven where once again Ellen and Liz had worked wonders in the car parks! No-one was safe from these two!!
Great support in Milford-on-Sea then a quick hop down to The Gun Inn at Keyhaven where I was rewarded with a round of applause when appearing round the corner - again Ellen and Liz had got there first!
It was at this point that Ellen told me off....for running too fast and not giving them sufficient time to really work the punters. At several points earlier, I'd clocked myself doing well under sub 8 minute miles...what was I trying to achieve here...a fast run or to raise as much money as possible? Slow down kid!!
Next stop was Lymington but first we had to negotiate the very busy main road into the town which wasn't pleasant as there was no footpath : I decided best plan of action was to run in front of the bikes rather than behind or on the opposite side of the road. Another raptuous round of applause greeted us as we arrived in the High Street, closed due to a street market...excellent crowds for Ellen and Liz to capture. Two lads in jeans and fashion trainers were apparently in awe of what I was doing and were debating whether they could run with me for the remaining 6 or 7 miles...they decided to try and ran with me to the bottom of the High Street hill before electing that this was the limits of their stamina! Suddenly craving a milk shake, Loz found me an amazing freshly made banana one - later would decide this probably wasn't the best idea I've had but right here, right now, it was delicious! Having worked the hordes of people around the marina / harbour, we then set off for the final leg to East Boldre. The wheels came off my wagon about a mile to the finish, probably around the same time that I revisited the banana milkshake idea and decided not to go down that route again! The Turfcutters Arms couldn't have been a more welcome sight and once I'd recomposed myself, enjoyed an ice cold drink in the beer garden, along with a wedding party that had already been extremely generous and dropped over £50 into our buckets.
Amazing day, fantastic crew and all the boxes were ticked.
Covered 24.5 miles and raised £543.18, way in excess of any of our guesses. Tomorrow, back out to do it all again :o)
Saturday 30 June wasn't wet or windy or chilly, infact it dawned bright with a strange little yellow thing in the sky....a far cry from this dismal weather we've been having recently. Maybe this was an omen of good things to come today!?
10.30 rendezvous at Bournemouth Hospital with what would be the first of my fabulous support crew from Bournemouth Joggers : Ellen, Liz, Lauren (Loz), Tricia, Debbie and Debs. Lesley, Lisa and Carl from the Jigsaw Appeal were there together with several others they had clearly coerced into giving up an hour or so of their sunny Saturday morning, together with balloons and banners. Mock up photos of my 'start' duly completed ready to be sent off to the press and suchlike, we then transferred to the Littledown Centre for an impromptu whip-round before heading back to the hospital for the real departure.
Loz had been installed as our official photo / video taker for the adventure and was to do an incredible job of recording our adventures and post them straight back to our Facebook pages so that people could keep a track of our exploits. Wave105 were also airing the event all over the weekend.
12.00 and I was off. We made our first error of judgement just 400m later when I changed tact and followed the cycle path down by the river...how was I to know that Ellen and Liz had legged it to Iford roundabout and missed us coming through!! Oops...
Christchurch was heaving and with Liz and Ellen still waiting for us to appear at Iford, it was left to my bike crew to try to get some coins in those buckets and tins. On to Somerford where Liz and Ellen then passed me, sat on the railings near the zebra crossing waiting for my bike crew! Highcliffe gave another opportunity to catch shoppers before we hit the first pub of the day, The House Martin at Barton-on-Sea. We started to get into a routine as Liz and Ellen were able to leap-frog us and 'prep' the pub / village that we were approaching so by the time we got there the hard work had already been done and the tins were filling up nicely....great going guys :o)
Country lanes beckoned next as we headed down towards the coast to Milford-on-Sea and Keyhaven where once again Ellen and Liz had worked wonders in the car parks! No-one was safe from these two!!
Great support in Milford-on-Sea then a quick hop down to The Gun Inn at Keyhaven where I was rewarded with a round of applause when appearing round the corner - again Ellen and Liz had got there first!
It was at this point that Ellen told me off....for running too fast and not giving them sufficient time to really work the punters. At several points earlier, I'd clocked myself doing well under sub 8 minute miles...what was I trying to achieve here...a fast run or to raise as much money as possible? Slow down kid!!
Next stop was Lymington but first we had to negotiate the very busy main road into the town which wasn't pleasant as there was no footpath : I decided best plan of action was to run in front of the bikes rather than behind or on the opposite side of the road. Another raptuous round of applause greeted us as we arrived in the High Street, closed due to a street market...excellent crowds for Ellen and Liz to capture. Two lads in jeans and fashion trainers were apparently in awe of what I was doing and were debating whether they could run with me for the remaining 6 or 7 miles...they decided to try and ran with me to the bottom of the High Street hill before electing that this was the limits of their stamina! Suddenly craving a milk shake, Loz found me an amazing freshly made banana one - later would decide this probably wasn't the best idea I've had but right here, right now, it was delicious! Having worked the hordes of people around the marina / harbour, we then set off for the final leg to East Boldre. The wheels came off my wagon about a mile to the finish, probably around the same time that I revisited the banana milkshake idea and decided not to go down that route again! The Turfcutters Arms couldn't have been a more welcome sight and once I'd recomposed myself, enjoyed an ice cold drink in the beer garden, along with a wedding party that had already been extremely generous and dropped over £50 into our buckets.
Amazing day, fantastic crew and all the boxes were ticked.
Covered 24.5 miles and raised £543.18, way in excess of any of our guesses. Tomorrow, back out to do it all again :o)
Tuesday 26 June 2012
Pub crawl....with a difference!
Only a week to go before my fundraising run between Bournemouth Hospital and Wave105 in order to link the two charities. Tricia 'offered' (well, actually she was coerced into agreeing but in reality, as there were pubs involved she didn't take too much persuading!) to come out with me last Friday in order to drop off the posters / flyers and charity tins to the 6 pubs who had kindly confirmed they would support my idea :
- for Saturday this would be The House Martin in Barton-on-Sea then The Gun Inn at Keyhaven finishing at The Turfcutters in East Boldre
- for Sunday, The Waterloo Arms in Lyndhurst followed by The Platform Tavern in Southampton before hitting The Victory Inn down in Hamble
We hoped to do impromptu collections at the same time and the landlords and ladies didn't let us down...amazingly we collected a total of £229.37! One guy graciously dropped a £50 note in the bucket once I had looked him in the eyes and told him what I was doing was for real.....it was a real 'lump in the back of the throat' moment when we realised what he had done : again I'm gobsmacked at how generous and trusting a lot of people are.
The awful news was that despite rushing round the 6 pubs, not a drop of liquid passed our lips nor did we manage to have time to grab anything to eat! It was a long drive back home and can't believe that I'll be running that same distance in a few days time (gulp!).
My 'support crew' has been finalised : Saturday will be Ellen and Liz as the double act in the car then Lauren (doubling up as my official FaceBook photo taker), Debbie, Tricia and Debs on the bikes. For Sunday, Ellen in the car and Lauren, Caro and Tricia on two wheels. I'm really looking forward to it but scared at the same time - I just hope that the weather sorts it's act out and doesn't rain on us. I've even asked everyone to wear the charity t shirts over the top of their waterproofs if this does happen!
- for Saturday this would be The House Martin in Barton-on-Sea then The Gun Inn at Keyhaven finishing at The Turfcutters in East Boldre
- for Sunday, The Waterloo Arms in Lyndhurst followed by The Platform Tavern in Southampton before hitting The Victory Inn down in Hamble
We hoped to do impromptu collections at the same time and the landlords and ladies didn't let us down...amazingly we collected a total of £229.37! One guy graciously dropped a £50 note in the bucket once I had looked him in the eyes and told him what I was doing was for real.....it was a real 'lump in the back of the throat' moment when we realised what he had done : again I'm gobsmacked at how generous and trusting a lot of people are.
The awful news was that despite rushing round the 6 pubs, not a drop of liquid passed our lips nor did we manage to have time to grab anything to eat! It was a long drive back home and can't believe that I'll be running that same distance in a few days time (gulp!).
My 'support crew' has been finalised : Saturday will be Ellen and Liz as the double act in the car then Lauren (doubling up as my official FaceBook photo taker), Debbie, Tricia and Debs on the bikes. For Sunday, Ellen in the car and Lauren, Caro and Tricia on two wheels. I'm really looking forward to it but scared at the same time - I just hope that the weather sorts it's act out and doesn't rain on us. I've even asked everyone to wear the charity t shirts over the top of their waterproofs if this does happen!
Wednesday 13 June 2012
Marathon # 6 - South Downs
So the weather has decided to play ball with us today as dawn broke to blue sky and fluffy white clouds - haven't seen either of those in quite a number of weeks. The wind was still keen and chilly and would be against us for most of the route but, beggars can't be choosers!
Just Caro and I representing BJs today so after picking her up at the crack of dawn (6.15!) we headed over to Queen Elizabeth Country Park just outside Petersfield. As soon as we started chatting with others we both felt a little over shadowed - many were mega ultra marathoners and even my 20 in 2012 appeared to fade into insignificance! Some were using this run as training for the South Down 100 miler or the UK Trailwalker 100k and indeed whilst we were on the course, we saw the Ghurka's training for the latter.
Anyway, we caught the coach shuttle to Slindon College where we tucked into (cold) bacon sarnies, (squashed) pastries and (weird tasting) tea and then watched the earlier runners start on their journey. A couple of runners were obviously members of CanniX (where you run with dogs) and their canine companions were dragging them along...maybe a bit of an unfair advantage when they get to the many hills?
Anyway, soon we were off and heading along country lanes (where we were told to slow down by a couple of riders on very nervous horses!) and then hit the tracks uphill...and continued to run uphill for the next 3 miles!
Despite the horrendous weather we've been having, the going underfoot was perfect - very little mud or puddles (boo hoo) and hard going. The course was in 4 'parts', each with a stiff uphill then undulating for miles before a sharp drop down into the valley and the checkpoints then up we went again. The views from the top of the downs were absolutely stunning : green fields and woodlands with pretty little villages dotted here and there.
Caro and I ran together for the majority of the route, maybe one of us going ahead and then waiting for the other at the top of an incline or at a checkpoint. Constant chatter about how we were enjoying this. The finish was back at QE Park and after a final drag uphill, the last mile or so was gradually downhill on gravel and tarmac - easy running for tired legs. However, the last 800m was back in the woods with exposed tree routes. Caro suddenly stopped running here and told me to go on but I was sure that she would catch me up. She didn't and I waited for her to finish after I had crossed the line in 4.05 (almost an hour quicker than I had run it last time, although I had been jet lagged on that occasion!). It was another minute or so before she appeared and sporting blood injuries having hit the deck in that last bit unfortunately. So first stop after collecting our goodie bags was the first aid tent!
Fantastic event, well organised from start to finish including sorting the weather out for us.
I've now got a break of nearly 9 weeks before my next marathon but then they get really serious...4 in a week to kick off the 2nd half of the year!
Just Caro and I representing BJs today so after picking her up at the crack of dawn (6.15!) we headed over to Queen Elizabeth Country Park just outside Petersfield. As soon as we started chatting with others we both felt a little over shadowed - many were mega ultra marathoners and even my 20 in 2012 appeared to fade into insignificance! Some were using this run as training for the South Down 100 miler or the UK Trailwalker 100k and indeed whilst we were on the course, we saw the Ghurka's training for the latter.
Anyway, we caught the coach shuttle to Slindon College where we tucked into (cold) bacon sarnies, (squashed) pastries and (weird tasting) tea and then watched the earlier runners start on their journey. A couple of runners were obviously members of CanniX (where you run with dogs) and their canine companions were dragging them along...maybe a bit of an unfair advantage when they get to the many hills?
Anyway, soon we were off and heading along country lanes (where we were told to slow down by a couple of riders on very nervous horses!) and then hit the tracks uphill...and continued to run uphill for the next 3 miles!
Despite the horrendous weather we've been having, the going underfoot was perfect - very little mud or puddles (boo hoo) and hard going. The course was in 4 'parts', each with a stiff uphill then undulating for miles before a sharp drop down into the valley and the checkpoints then up we went again. The views from the top of the downs were absolutely stunning : green fields and woodlands with pretty little villages dotted here and there.
Caro and I ran together for the majority of the route, maybe one of us going ahead and then waiting for the other at the top of an incline or at a checkpoint. Constant chatter about how we were enjoying this. The finish was back at QE Park and after a final drag uphill, the last mile or so was gradually downhill on gravel and tarmac - easy running for tired legs. However, the last 800m was back in the woods with exposed tree routes. Caro suddenly stopped running here and told me to go on but I was sure that she would catch me up. She didn't and I waited for her to finish after I had crossed the line in 4.05 (almost an hour quicker than I had run it last time, although I had been jet lagged on that occasion!). It was another minute or so before she appeared and sporting blood injuries having hit the deck in that last bit unfortunately. So first stop after collecting our goodie bags was the first aid tent!
Fantastic event, well organised from start to finish including sorting the weather out for us.
I've now got a break of nearly 9 weeks before my next marathon but then they get really serious...4 in a week to kick off the 2nd half of the year!
Monday 4 June 2012
Been to London to see the Queen!
Training has taken a bit of a back seat these last few days as I've been exceptionally busy, out with friends! Ran on Monday (and the good news was that I was back to my normal sprightly self so yesterday was definitely an 'off' day). Speed session on Tuesday at work as usual : again that was absolutely fine. Wednesday, out with Tricia and Ellen for pizza. Thursday I coached BJ's in a FHAB speed session over at Hengistbury Head then on Friday, Pat, Ellen, Tricia, Helen, Gill, Di and I all took part in a Twilight 10k Walk for Jigsaw along Bournemouth seafront and back. Didn't stop gassing for the whole journey (nothing new there then!) and it definitely felt really weird pinning a number onto my shirt yet not running!
Saturday John and I took the train up to London to watch the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames the following day. Staked out the best spot on Saturday...in the sunshine! We were then up at 6 and in situ by 7.15, in the first row, opposite the Shard and between London and Tower Bridge. Unfortunately, just one hour before the 'off' and after we had been standing for more than 7 hours, we had a 3 level 'party' boat moor right in front of us - to say we were annoyed was an understatement and listening to the BBC1 coverage later, we could hear all of us chanting 'move that boat'. He wouldn't so we lost most of our vista although we could still see the boats coming under London Bridge and then were able to pick them up again once they were parallel to us.
It drizzled most of the morning but around the time the pageant started way up the river, it had stopped and was looking hopeful of a dry journey. Not so....just as the boats came into view the heavens opened. But it didn't dampen our enthusiasm one bit. The sight was amazing and we were able to get a really good view of the Royal Family aboard the gold barge which was huge and even though the sun wasn't shining, you could still appreciate the colours. Flags were flying and the crowd screamed and the rain poured down!
Once it was all over, there were huge queues to get back into the tube station and once back at Waterloo, the train was chocca with standing room only! We had already been standing constantly for over 12 hours, so decided to grab something hot to eat and drink and catch the next one home. Another two days without any running!
On a positive, the upcoming 'training' run between Jigsaw and Wave is now coming together nicely. I've got 6 pubs confirmed as willing to help including one in Lyndhurst so I've had to slightly amend the end of the first day and start of the second in order to maximise fundraising opportunities! Plan is to pop over to see all of them w/comm 18 June and drop of flyers / tins etc and hopefully, do an impromptu collection too.
I've now added up all the gift aid contributions for the sponsors on my paper sheets and added that to the offline total and the great news is that I've virtually hit £3,000 so have had to up the total AGAIN to £3,500.
A great weekend and congratulations Her Majesty!
Saturday John and I took the train up to London to watch the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames the following day. Staked out the best spot on Saturday...in the sunshine! We were then up at 6 and in situ by 7.15, in the first row, opposite the Shard and between London and Tower Bridge. Unfortunately, just one hour before the 'off' and after we had been standing for more than 7 hours, we had a 3 level 'party' boat moor right in front of us - to say we were annoyed was an understatement and listening to the BBC1 coverage later, we could hear all of us chanting 'move that boat'. He wouldn't so we lost most of our vista although we could still see the boats coming under London Bridge and then were able to pick them up again once they were parallel to us.
It drizzled most of the morning but around the time the pageant started way up the river, it had stopped and was looking hopeful of a dry journey. Not so....just as the boats came into view the heavens opened. But it didn't dampen our enthusiasm one bit. The sight was amazing and we were able to get a really good view of the Royal Family aboard the gold barge which was huge and even though the sun wasn't shining, you could still appreciate the colours. Flags were flying and the crowd screamed and the rain poured down!
Once it was all over, there were huge queues to get back into the tube station and once back at Waterloo, the train was chocca with standing room only! We had already been standing constantly for over 12 hours, so decided to grab something hot to eat and drink and catch the next one home. Another two days without any running!
On a positive, the upcoming 'training' run between Jigsaw and Wave is now coming together nicely. I've got 6 pubs confirmed as willing to help including one in Lyndhurst so I've had to slightly amend the end of the first day and start of the second in order to maximise fundraising opportunities! Plan is to pop over to see all of them w/comm 18 June and drop of flyers / tins etc and hopefully, do an impromptu collection too.
I've now added up all the gift aid contributions for the sponsors on my paper sheets and added that to the offline total and the great news is that I've virtually hit £3,000 so have had to up the total AGAIN to £3,500.
A great weekend and congratulations Her Majesty!
Sunday 27 May 2012
An 'off' day
Original plan was to go for a long run with Caro but she's enjoying the sunshine in the Lake District this week. So, headed off around 9am this morning to Badbury Rings with the intention of running around 18-20.....at least that was the plan!
We're in the middle of a heat wave and even at that time the temperature was already in the early 20's. Parked at Pamphill and in the first few hundred yards I could tell today was not going to go well. My legs felt like lead and every step was a real effort. The end result was that I did cover (notice I said cover and not run!) 10.5 miles but every undulation felt like a hill and every hill, a mountain so I ended up walking quite a bit. Quite early on I accepted that I was having an 'off' day and decided to just go with the flow and if I was struggling....walk. It was lovely and quiet over the rings and with very few people out, no-one saw me walking up those mountains anyway! What I was able to notice was the lovely sound of the skylark, a true summer sound. Plenty of cuckoo calls too. The yellow rape seed was now just going over but still the smell lingered.
Tomorrow is another day and I'm not going to worry about how I felt this morning.
We're in the middle of a heat wave and even at that time the temperature was already in the early 20's. Parked at Pamphill and in the first few hundred yards I could tell today was not going to go well. My legs felt like lead and every step was a real effort. The end result was that I did cover (notice I said cover and not run!) 10.5 miles but every undulation felt like a hill and every hill, a mountain so I ended up walking quite a bit. Quite early on I accepted that I was having an 'off' day and decided to just go with the flow and if I was struggling....walk. It was lovely and quiet over the rings and with very few people out, no-one saw me walking up those mountains anyway! What I was able to notice was the lovely sound of the skylark, a true summer sound. Plenty of cuckoo calls too. The yellow rape seed was now just going over but still the smell lingered.
Tomorrow is another day and I'm not going to worry about how I felt this morning.
Sunday 20 May 2012
I'm a media star!!
Almost a whole page appeared about me in the Bournemouth Echo on Thursday with a fab photo of me in typical cross country pose...grinning from ear to ear and arms stretched out. It was taken at last year's Grizzly and clearly I was having a whale of a time!
Then my audio that Gloria recorded last week was aired over the weekend - I heard myself once yesterday and 3 times today! Even a neighbour stopped whilst I was in the front garden this afternoon to say that he had heard me 3 times too....he appeared amazed at what I was doing but I stupidly didn't ask if he was impressed enough to sponsor me....grrrrr - this publicity has gone to my head and made me forget the reason for it in the first place. Next time I'll have to bring myself down to earth a bit earlier.
Went out for an amazing run with Caro yesterday - I'd mapped out an 11 miler over at Whitsbury and Rockbourne so headed out there in the afternoon for an absolutely perfect run. Weather was brilliant for running, the scenery was amazing, there were enough hills to make it challenging with almost the entire route off road through fields, bluebell woods and tracks : we saw lots of racehorse foals, buzzards silently navigating through dense woodland and a roe deer doe with a very young fawn. Perfect company as well. 10/10.
Tricia came round in the evening with her brand new 'electric' bike and John and I had a hilarious time zooming up and down the road - it really was fast!
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9712029.Runner_aims_to_complete_breathtaking_20_marathons_for_charity/
Then my audio that Gloria recorded last week was aired over the weekend - I heard myself once yesterday and 3 times today! Even a neighbour stopped whilst I was in the front garden this afternoon to say that he had heard me 3 times too....he appeared amazed at what I was doing but I stupidly didn't ask if he was impressed enough to sponsor me....grrrrr - this publicity has gone to my head and made me forget the reason for it in the first place. Next time I'll have to bring myself down to earth a bit earlier.
Went out for an amazing run with Caro yesterday - I'd mapped out an 11 miler over at Whitsbury and Rockbourne so headed out there in the afternoon for an absolutely perfect run. Weather was brilliant for running, the scenery was amazing, there were enough hills to make it challenging with almost the entire route off road through fields, bluebell woods and tracks : we saw lots of racehorse foals, buzzards silently navigating through dense woodland and a roe deer doe with a very young fawn. Perfect company as well. 10/10.
Tricia came round in the evening with her brand new 'electric' bike and John and I had a hilarious time zooming up and down the road - it really was fast!
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9712029.Runner_aims_to_complete_breathtaking_20_marathons_for_charity/
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Sat here waiting for the World Record announcement...
I've been watching the 'miles to go' tick down on RelayGB all day. The record is about to be broken....just 4 miles away (oh to be the runner holding the baton when they cross the imaginary line for the existing record - that would definitely be something very special I would think). It's going to be broken somewhere near Leven, just south of St Andrews in Scotland. This afternoon I thought it had been 'rigged' that Liz McColgan and her team would be the ones carrying the baton across that imaginary line but their leg has been and gone. Once it reaches that goal, things will go silent again as the miles start being piled on between the original and the new World Record, scheduled to finish in London on Monday.
Now just 3 miles to go...this guy called Graeme Cane is absolutely tanking along at a very impressive 8.2 mph - that has to be one of the fastest legs so far.
It's now 23.33 and 2 miles left.....2 miles, that's nothing - from work to the beach!
Now 23.40 and the baton is in it's final mile of the old world record distance...nail biting stuff this is!
23.52 NEW WORLD RECORD..........woo hoo!!! Huge congratulations to everyone who made this happen. I'm officially a World Record holder - how amazing is that!?
Now just 3 miles to go...this guy called Graeme Cane is absolutely tanking along at a very impressive 8.2 mph - that has to be one of the fastest legs so far.
It's now 23.33 and 2 miles left.....2 miles, that's nothing - from work to the beach!
Now 23.40 and the baton is in it's final mile of the old world record distance...nail biting stuff this is!
23.52 NEW WORLD RECORD..........woo hoo!!! Huge congratulations to everyone who made this happen. I'm officially a World Record holder - how amazing is that!?
 |
| Confirmation that I'm an official World Record breaker! |
Monday 14 May 2012
Things are just trucking along.....
Had a 'charity' day on Friday as first I met up with Gloria and Cheryl from Wave105 and then with Lindsey from Jigsaw.
Gloria was keen to do an audio with me in order that this could be used as part of the Cash for Kids update that goes out on Fridays. Can't tell you how scary it is to have a recorder pushed in your face and asked to talk, ad-lib, about what your doing...what was I doing?! I suddenly totally forgot and Gloria had to mouth hints at me so that I could say something. I even forgot how much I'd raised!
After that it was down to the hospital to meet with Lindsey. Lisa (promotion team) turned up as well and was once again annoyed that no-one from Bournemouth Echo has been in contact with me. She's also got a lead at a couple of magazines who appear interested but lets wait and see before getting excited. Talked through my upcoming 'training' run from Jigsaw to Wave over the last weekend in June. Lindsey was keen to set up a tracker page through Facebook and have location photos sent through live....bit too techie for me I had to admit but I know there are a couple of people from Bournemouth Joggers who have offered to come along as my support crew and would probably understand how to do this....Lauren!!
Also looking good on the physio front - both of them had spoken to different people within the physio team in the hospital and there was a lot of interest in helping me get through the year in one piece so again, will wait to see on that front.
It's all coming together nicely at the moment so long may that continue. Have only run once this week so giving my body a bit of a break. Will pick it up again next week but the weather is so changeable. This weekend was lovely but the week either side is wet and windy.
Update on RelayGB is that the baton is now in Scotland. They have had several 'legs' where there have been no volunteer runners and the RelayGB crew themselves have been hitting the roads to ensure we have every chance of breaking that world record. They've also had gales and torrential rain virtually following them round so all credit for keeping it going. They've only got just over 400 miles to go to pass the current world record mark so in the next couple of days I should know if I'm a World Record holder!!
On the fundraising side of things, another great week and I've now passed the £2,500 mark so had to up the target again to £3,000....well done everyone!
Gloria was keen to do an audio with me in order that this could be used as part of the Cash for Kids update that goes out on Fridays. Can't tell you how scary it is to have a recorder pushed in your face and asked to talk, ad-lib, about what your doing...what was I doing?! I suddenly totally forgot and Gloria had to mouth hints at me so that I could say something. I even forgot how much I'd raised!
After that it was down to the hospital to meet with Lindsey. Lisa (promotion team) turned up as well and was once again annoyed that no-one from Bournemouth Echo has been in contact with me. She's also got a lead at a couple of magazines who appear interested but lets wait and see before getting excited. Talked through my upcoming 'training' run from Jigsaw to Wave over the last weekend in June. Lindsey was keen to set up a tracker page through Facebook and have location photos sent through live....bit too techie for me I had to admit but I know there are a couple of people from Bournemouth Joggers who have offered to come along as my support crew and would probably understand how to do this....Lauren!!
Also looking good on the physio front - both of them had spoken to different people within the physio team in the hospital and there was a lot of interest in helping me get through the year in one piece so again, will wait to see on that front.
It's all coming together nicely at the moment so long may that continue. Have only run once this week so giving my body a bit of a break. Will pick it up again next week but the weather is so changeable. This weekend was lovely but the week either side is wet and windy.
Update on RelayGB is that the baton is now in Scotland. They have had several 'legs' where there have been no volunteer runners and the RelayGB crew themselves have been hitting the roads to ensure we have every chance of breaking that world record. They've also had gales and torrential rain virtually following them round so all credit for keeping it going. They've only got just over 400 miles to go to pass the current world record mark so in the next couple of days I should know if I'm a World Record holder!!
On the fundraising side of things, another great week and I've now passed the £2,500 mark so had to up the target again to £3,000....well done everyone!
Sunday 6 May 2012
Marathon # 5 - RelayGB
It's midnight, it's cold, it's dark and I should be anywhere other than stood in a car park in the middle of Poole Park looking for a camper van! I'm not on my own, John is with me but he's going back to a nice warm bed whilst I'm heading out into the dark to run 26.2 miles to Dorchester.
The van turns up a few minutes later but no sign of my running buddy who now turns out to be named Graham and not Adam! There's a flurry of excitement as we hear that the incoming runner who has been completing the run from Lyndhurst as a 3 man relay squad (actually 2 men and one woman) is less than a mile away from us.
Health and insurance declaration signed, warm hoodie and leggings off and a (very!) quick briefing on how to use the Blackberry which is pre-set with my route map and a 'one push' emergency call button which will link me straight to the camper van acting as our support. Number pinned on, Blackberry strapped to my arm and headtorch switched on. Within a few minutes the incoming runner is storming towards us...this is it! Graham still hasn't arrived so I have no choice but to have ALL the pressure on my shoulders to get this baton to Dorchester within the 4 hour time slot.
I head off laden down with my phone, key to get into my car (vital!!), gels, 2 layers of techie tops plus a high viz jacket, buff (it IS cold), gloves, headtorch, Blackberry and the baton (didn't really get a chance to have a good look but it's a solid piece of plastic with a dog tag and some coloured ribbons by the look of it) - I'm carrying more with me than as a result of a weekly shop!
Out of Poole Park and heading over the lifting bridge then up towards Upton before taking a left towards Lytchett. First problem...I'd left the map copy they'd given me in the camper van in all the rush and I didn't ask how to unlock the Blackberry to check I'm going the right way....hmmm. I wasn't 100% sure I was actually heading towards Lytchett but luckily I was able to ask a couple out walking (who goes out walking at nearly 1am on a Sunday morning!?) for confirmation. Through Lytchett and then straight over at The Bakers Arms heading towards Wareham. First use of the head-torch as I was suddenly thrown completely into darkness but I didn't like it on my head as it kept slipping down so from then on I held it in my hand and it waved all over the place.
Whilst running along here I saw one police car suddenly pull over a speeding young driver, then another turned up and parked behind him, only for him to shoot off when a 4x4 pulling a trailer had his tail light board dragging along the road...all happens here. But the police weren't concerned about a single female out running in the middle of the night!
Up through Wareham town centre where I got a few 'who in their right mind runs this time of the morning' comments and then I hit the darkness which would be my companion for the next 10 miles or so until I got to Moreton....it really was dark. I ran along Puddletown Road which those who run in the Dorset Road League will recognise as the route for the Purbeck 10k only it's very different running it in the dark. You can't see any of the undulations so have no idea if you're coming up to an incline or decline nor can you see the small potholes in the road so you end up running a bit like a hackney pony!
I hadn't seen hide nor hair of a support van by this time and I was nearly at 13 miles and getting a little worried. I knew I was on the right route but where were they - I needed to see them before Moreton as I had no idea where to go other than taking a road on the right and without the Blackberry showing me the route, I'm stuffed!
There were animal noises all around - plenty of deer running away from the edges as I approached and pigeons roosting suddenly taking flight. Heard a few tawny owls which made me smile, the iconic 'twit-too-woo'.
Just before I reached the T-junction at Bovington, the camper van caught up with me...phew! Desperate for a drink and they also showed me the 'unlock' button on the Blackberry. Apparently Graham had turned up and started 15-20 minutes after I'd left : he was a 3hr marathoner but he hadn't caught me nor had the support crew actually seen him en-route...he was AWOL!
I carried on through the very dark woods of Bovington, past Clouds Hill (where Lawrence of Arabia used to live) and after 2-3 miles reached the next T-junction where I turned left and headed towards Moreton and unfamiliar roads. Just after the station, I started to really struggle and walked for a minute or two. I was even starting to imagine things....like a shape up ahead that looked uncanningly like a couple of road signs on top of one another but when I reached it, transformed into nothing more than trees over the road with the lights from the railway crossing! I desperately need sleep and to stop running!
It was then that I was spotted by the other support crew (and this definitely wasn't any sort of mirage thankfully!) who promised to stay with me till the end. Unfortunately I missed the road off to the right that I was meant to take, resulting in at least a half mile extra run back to where I should have turned....frustrating. Back into blackness but at least I didn't have to use the head torch as the car stayed right behind me, lighting up my route. The bad news was that this meant I could see the couple of uphills I had to negotiate until dropping down in Dorchester. Really glad of the support as I didn't need to worry about which way to run....I was simply directed from the car.
I was soooooo glad to see the camper van parked up in a car park and was greeted by a round of applause by the next leg runners who were off to the delights of Lyme Regis and I duly passed over the baton I had safely carried all the way from Poole.
A great medal, personalised with details of my particular leg, was hung around my neck. Turned out that Graham hadn't done his homework - he wasn't looking at the Blackberry nor had he reviewed his route before leaving home as when he reached The Bakers Arms, instead of going towards Wareham he had simply started following the signs to Dorchester and was finally found by the camper van support team running along the main A35 dual carriageway that runs from Bere Regis to Dorchester...miles off route! He might be a sub 3hr marathoner but I can read a map and get the all-important baton to the finish line quicker than he can :o)
Walked back to my car by which time I was shivering with cold. It was around 5.45am when I got home. I'd run 27.2 miles in just over 4hrs and very pleased with my contribution. As I write this, the RelayGB baton has traveled 345 miles and has another 1,578 to go to beat the current world record.....keep it going everyone!
The van turns up a few minutes later but no sign of my running buddy who now turns out to be named Graham and not Adam! There's a flurry of excitement as we hear that the incoming runner who has been completing the run from Lyndhurst as a 3 man relay squad (actually 2 men and one woman) is less than a mile away from us.
Health and insurance declaration signed, warm hoodie and leggings off and a (very!) quick briefing on how to use the Blackberry which is pre-set with my route map and a 'one push' emergency call button which will link me straight to the camper van acting as our support. Number pinned on, Blackberry strapped to my arm and headtorch switched on. Within a few minutes the incoming runner is storming towards us...this is it! Graham still hasn't arrived so I have no choice but to have ALL the pressure on my shoulders to get this baton to Dorchester within the 4 hour time slot.
I head off laden down with my phone, key to get into my car (vital!!), gels, 2 layers of techie tops plus a high viz jacket, buff (it IS cold), gloves, headtorch, Blackberry and the baton (didn't really get a chance to have a good look but it's a solid piece of plastic with a dog tag and some coloured ribbons by the look of it) - I'm carrying more with me than as a result of a weekly shop!
Out of Poole Park and heading over the lifting bridge then up towards Upton before taking a left towards Lytchett. First problem...I'd left the map copy they'd given me in the camper van in all the rush and I didn't ask how to unlock the Blackberry to check I'm going the right way....hmmm. I wasn't 100% sure I was actually heading towards Lytchett but luckily I was able to ask a couple out walking (who goes out walking at nearly 1am on a Sunday morning!?) for confirmation. Through Lytchett and then straight over at The Bakers Arms heading towards Wareham. First use of the head-torch as I was suddenly thrown completely into darkness but I didn't like it on my head as it kept slipping down so from then on I held it in my hand and it waved all over the place.
Whilst running along here I saw one police car suddenly pull over a speeding young driver, then another turned up and parked behind him, only for him to shoot off when a 4x4 pulling a trailer had his tail light board dragging along the road...all happens here. But the police weren't concerned about a single female out running in the middle of the night!
Up through Wareham town centre where I got a few 'who in their right mind runs this time of the morning' comments and then I hit the darkness which would be my companion for the next 10 miles or so until I got to Moreton....it really was dark. I ran along Puddletown Road which those who run in the Dorset Road League will recognise as the route for the Purbeck 10k only it's very different running it in the dark. You can't see any of the undulations so have no idea if you're coming up to an incline or decline nor can you see the small potholes in the road so you end up running a bit like a hackney pony!
I hadn't seen hide nor hair of a support van by this time and I was nearly at 13 miles and getting a little worried. I knew I was on the right route but where were they - I needed to see them before Moreton as I had no idea where to go other than taking a road on the right and without the Blackberry showing me the route, I'm stuffed!
There were animal noises all around - plenty of deer running away from the edges as I approached and pigeons roosting suddenly taking flight. Heard a few tawny owls which made me smile, the iconic 'twit-too-woo'.
Just before I reached the T-junction at Bovington, the camper van caught up with me...phew! Desperate for a drink and they also showed me the 'unlock' button on the Blackberry. Apparently Graham had turned up and started 15-20 minutes after I'd left : he was a 3hr marathoner but he hadn't caught me nor had the support crew actually seen him en-route...he was AWOL!
I carried on through the very dark woods of Bovington, past Clouds Hill (where Lawrence of Arabia used to live) and after 2-3 miles reached the next T-junction where I turned left and headed towards Moreton and unfamiliar roads. Just after the station, I started to really struggle and walked for a minute or two. I was even starting to imagine things....like a shape up ahead that looked uncanningly like a couple of road signs on top of one another but when I reached it, transformed into nothing more than trees over the road with the lights from the railway crossing! I desperately need sleep and to stop running!
It was then that I was spotted by the other support crew (and this definitely wasn't any sort of mirage thankfully!) who promised to stay with me till the end. Unfortunately I missed the road off to the right that I was meant to take, resulting in at least a half mile extra run back to where I should have turned....frustrating. Back into blackness but at least I didn't have to use the head torch as the car stayed right behind me, lighting up my route. The bad news was that this meant I could see the couple of uphills I had to negotiate until dropping down in Dorchester. Really glad of the support as I didn't need to worry about which way to run....I was simply directed from the car.
I was soooooo glad to see the camper van parked up in a car park and was greeted by a round of applause by the next leg runners who were off to the delights of Lyme Regis and I duly passed over the baton I had safely carried all the way from Poole.
A great medal, personalised with details of my particular leg, was hung around my neck. Turned out that Graham hadn't done his homework - he wasn't looking at the Blackberry nor had he reviewed his route before leaving home as when he reached The Bakers Arms, instead of going towards Wareham he had simply started following the signs to Dorchester and was finally found by the camper van support team running along the main A35 dual carriageway that runs from Bere Regis to Dorchester...miles off route! He might be a sub 3hr marathoner but I can read a map and get the all-important baton to the finish line quicker than he can :o)
Walked back to my car by which time I was shivering with cold. It was around 5.45am when I got home. I'd run 27.2 miles in just over 4hrs and very pleased with my contribution. As I write this, the RelayGB baton has traveled 345 miles and has another 1,578 to go to beat the current world record.....keep it going everyone!
Saturday 5 May 2012
The relay baton is on it's way....
Drove over to Dorchester this morning with Tricia in order to drop off my car at the 'finish line' of my leg for RelayGB. It's really, really cold despite it being the beginning of May....crazy. We had a big breakfast in Wetherspoons and appears the rest of Dorchester were in there too - packed!
Bit of a pounding head today so pill popping to get rid of that - as a runner, I'm rubbish at listening to my own body and all the sensible advice, like, don't run if a cold has dropped below throat level...ie to your lungs!! I know it's going to be really tough tonight but a lot of people are pinning hopes on getting this baton back round to the finish line and breaking the current world record for distance running, so the pressure is on not to screw it up. Looking on the RelayGB web site, appears one of the runners on my leg isn't doing it anymore so there's just a guy called Adam and me. It's now 9pm, dark outside and the leg before ours has just set out from Lyndhurst....4 hours to go, yikes!! Have to be in Poole Park at midnight for a briefing, with the aim of setting out on our leg around 1am. Most of the route is along quiet back roads (I'm expecting them to be really, really quiet at 1am on a Sunday morning) and some are 'out in the middle of nowhere' lanes, without footpaths and where our mandatory head torches will definitely be a must.
The next update will, hopefully, be after I've safely completed the run....note it's a RUN not a RACE!!
Bit of a pounding head today so pill popping to get rid of that - as a runner, I'm rubbish at listening to my own body and all the sensible advice, like, don't run if a cold has dropped below throat level...ie to your lungs!! I know it's going to be really tough tonight but a lot of people are pinning hopes on getting this baton back round to the finish line and breaking the current world record for distance running, so the pressure is on not to screw it up. Looking on the RelayGB web site, appears one of the runners on my leg isn't doing it anymore so there's just a guy called Adam and me. It's now 9pm, dark outside and the leg before ours has just set out from Lyndhurst....4 hours to go, yikes!! Have to be in Poole Park at midnight for a briefing, with the aim of setting out on our leg around 1am. Most of the route is along quiet back roads (I'm expecting them to be really, really quiet at 1am on a Sunday morning) and some are 'out in the middle of nowhere' lanes, without footpaths and where our mandatory head torches will definitely be a must.
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| Looking nervous in my 'record breaking' RelayGB outfit!! |
Thursday 3 May 2012
It's official....I do definitely have a cold....
Full blown from Tuesday on and feeling really rubbish to be honest. Nose is just like a tap that will not turn off but luckily (I think!), it started to break up in my lungs on Thursday as I now have a cough. Hopefully it will be short lived - I can still breath through my nose so that's a plus!! Just need my lungs to clear up sufficiently so that they can get enough oxygen on Sunday morning...two days to go. Gave club a miss last night in a desperate attempt not to jeapordise my recovery but I did cycle round with them.
RelayGB sets off from London today and amazing to think that in less than 48 hours the baton will have reached Poole having already gone all the way round Kent and along the south coast.
Sir Matt Pinsent was at work yesterday giving a motivational speech and telling us all about his Olympic adventures. He brought in all 4 of his gold medals. If you ever get a chance to listen to him talk, take it up as he's really really funny!
Fundraising total now stands at £2,150
RelayGB sets off from London today and amazing to think that in less than 48 hours the baton will have reached Poole having already gone all the way round Kent and along the south coast.
Sir Matt Pinsent was at work yesterday giving a motivational speech and telling us all about his Olympic adventures. He brought in all 4 of his gold medals. If you ever get a chance to listen to him talk, take it up as he's really really funny!
Fundraising total now stands at £2,150
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Not feeling any worse....
Niggling sore throat is still there but it's certainly not any worse but it also hasn't gone away so maybe I'm just waiting for the moment it launches a full scale attack!? Hopefully this will be after this coming weekend with the RelayGB event looming on Sunday.
I've started to put together my (hopefully) big summer fundraising idea - that of completing a training run to link the two charities. I've already plotted a draft route from Bournemouth Hospital to Segensworth where Wave are based, with the idea that I do this over the weekend of 30 June / 1 July, a distance of around 20 / 22 miles each day. I'm really keen to avoid main roads and would rather go via the New Forest. Having already asked around at club, I have a keen group of around 5/6 BJs willing to come along with their bikes and support me by helping fund raise on route and keep me company! Plan is that between now and end June, I will have contacted the management of around 5 pubs and obtained their agreement that we can 'drop in' on their establishments and 'shake' collecting tins. In return, Gloria at Wave has confirmed that she will be able to arrange it so that they will mention what I am doing on air and then the pubs supporting me will be included online so really, a win-win situation.
I'm not really keen to be running or have my support crew cycling for that matter, through the centre of Southampton so have contacted the Hythe and River Hamble ferry companies to see if they would be willing to take us over the water for free...if you don't ask, you certainly don't get!! Mike, responsible for the River Hamble company has already replied confirming he's willing to support so we have free passage over the 2nd of the two water crossings - thanks Mike! Just waiting for Hythe to respond and I can then map my route based on their reply.
Another great outcome was that I had come up with another fundraising idea (every little helps!) in giving away Smarties packs under an agreement that they will be returned filled up with coins. I contacted my local Booker retail company and Andy came up trumps by confirming he would put a case of Smarties behind the counter free of charge....again, amazing what people will do to support you if you are prepared to go out of your way to help others.
Managed to drum up more sponsors today and another £120 to add to the mounting pot. I've now had to up the target once again as the total is now at £2,071...fabbo!
Despite the continued deluge of rain that we are having, BJs met last night for our annual Bluebell run, organised by Joan. It was certainly very wet and muddy and it was a shame that the sun didn't come out, even just briefly, to show off the amazing colour of the Bluebells but it was a lovely run and everyone enjoyed themselves. Unfortunately, the pub that we arranged to meet at so that we could have a drink and social chit-chat afterwards, was closed as management had recently changed hands!! It chucked it down driving home and we're once again at flood watch.....but we're still in an official drought!
I've started to put together my (hopefully) big summer fundraising idea - that of completing a training run to link the two charities. I've already plotted a draft route from Bournemouth Hospital to Segensworth where Wave are based, with the idea that I do this over the weekend of 30 June / 1 July, a distance of around 20 / 22 miles each day. I'm really keen to avoid main roads and would rather go via the New Forest. Having already asked around at club, I have a keen group of around 5/6 BJs willing to come along with their bikes and support me by helping fund raise on route and keep me company! Plan is that between now and end June, I will have contacted the management of around 5 pubs and obtained their agreement that we can 'drop in' on their establishments and 'shake' collecting tins. In return, Gloria at Wave has confirmed that she will be able to arrange it so that they will mention what I am doing on air and then the pubs supporting me will be included online so really, a win-win situation.
I'm not really keen to be running or have my support crew cycling for that matter, through the centre of Southampton so have contacted the Hythe and River Hamble ferry companies to see if they would be willing to take us over the water for free...if you don't ask, you certainly don't get!! Mike, responsible for the River Hamble company has already replied confirming he's willing to support so we have free passage over the 2nd of the two water crossings - thanks Mike! Just waiting for Hythe to respond and I can then map my route based on their reply.
Another great outcome was that I had come up with another fundraising idea (every little helps!) in giving away Smarties packs under an agreement that they will be returned filled up with coins. I contacted my local Booker retail company and Andy came up trumps by confirming he would put a case of Smarties behind the counter free of charge....again, amazing what people will do to support you if you are prepared to go out of your way to help others.
Managed to drum up more sponsors today and another £120 to add to the mounting pot. I've now had to up the target once again as the total is now at £2,071...fabbo!
Despite the continued deluge of rain that we are having, BJs met last night for our annual Bluebell run, organised by Joan. It was certainly very wet and muddy and it was a shame that the sun didn't come out, even just briefly, to show off the amazing colour of the Bluebells but it was a lovely run and everyone enjoyed themselves. Unfortunately, the pub that we arranged to meet at so that we could have a drink and social chit-chat afterwards, was closed as management had recently changed hands!! It chucked it down driving home and we're once again at flood watch.....but we're still in an official drought!
Saturday 28 April 2012
Is that a sore throat I have lurking!?!?
Not feeling quite 100% having woken up this morning with a bit of a sore throat. It's definitely not got worse through the day but I'm just feeling a little bit 'fluish' at the moment...hopefully just a passing bug (fingers crossed!).
Probably not helping that this British weather is so rubbish....that's 3 weeks of virtual solid rain (seems that ever since we were told we were officially in a drought, it's rained!) and there's no let up in sight. Went up to London again today, this time to watch the Army thrash the Navy for the Babcock Trophy at Twickenham - really great atmosphere and we were treated to the sight of 3 male strippers being chased by various embarrassed security guards across the pitch...add to that Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Aladdin also giving the officials the slip and it all made for a fab spectacle!
John and I popped over to Blandford after work on Friday to see if we could see for ourselves a wild otter as there have been quite a few sightings of them by the weir next to Morrison's supermarket. We'd only been there around 5 minutes when one appeared right infront of us...and amazed us by seemingly ignoring all the spectators that had arrived on the banks of the river and on the suspension bridge, and carried on fishing. That's a first as we have never seen a wild river otter in the UK and we couldn't stop beaming...we're hoping to go back early tomorrow morning to see if we can catch it again. Well worth going over there to try to spot one - apparently last October there were up to 9 seen in the vicinity which is great news....they're back!
Probably not helping that this British weather is so rubbish....that's 3 weeks of virtual solid rain (seems that ever since we were told we were officially in a drought, it's rained!) and there's no let up in sight. Went up to London again today, this time to watch the Army thrash the Navy for the Babcock Trophy at Twickenham - really great atmosphere and we were treated to the sight of 3 male strippers being chased by various embarrassed security guards across the pitch...add to that Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Aladdin also giving the officials the slip and it all made for a fab spectacle!
John and I popped over to Blandford after work on Friday to see if we could see for ourselves a wild otter as there have been quite a few sightings of them by the weir next to Morrison's supermarket. We'd only been there around 5 minutes when one appeared right infront of us...and amazed us by seemingly ignoring all the spectators that had arrived on the banks of the river and on the suspension bridge, and carried on fishing. That's a first as we have never seen a wild river otter in the UK and we couldn't stop beaming...we're hoping to go back early tomorrow morning to see if we can catch it again. Well worth going over there to try to spot one - apparently last October there were up to 9 seen in the vicinity which is great news....they're back!
Wednesday 25 April 2012
Bake off!
To boost the fundraising coffers, it was decided to hold a cake bake sale at work today. Whilst I took in 3 offerings of my own, I was absolutely amazed at the number of others who volunteering to show off their culinary skills : we had everything from Christmas cake, chocolate Rice Krispies, Oreo chocolate brownies and triple chocolate cake to amazing cup cakes and scones complete with jam and cream (which way round do you put those!?).
Friends at work didn't let me down on the eating stakes either and most of the goodies were swiftly polished off with no donation considered too small. The final takings for the day were a fantastic £110.27 which has just pushed my total past the £1,900 mark.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to bake something and to all those who demolished them during the day. A special mention must go to Tina who not only baked various goodies but also promoted the event right to the bitter end....thanks matey xx
Friends at work didn't let me down on the eating stakes either and most of the goodies were swiftly polished off with no donation considered too small. The final takings for the day were a fantastic £110.27 which has just pushed my total past the £1,900 mark.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to bake something and to all those who demolished them during the day. A special mention must go to Tina who not only baked various goodies but also promoted the event right to the bitter end....thanks matey xx
Monday 23 April 2012
Marathon # 4 - London
Traveled up to London on Saturday and spent a bit longer than usual at the Expo. Unfortunately, encountered no problems with the organisers issuing my number so no excuses not to run! Invested in a souvenir hoodie - it has 'London 2012' on the back over the top of a Union Flag which has a certain ring to it don't you think...? OK, so it may not be the Olympics tomorrow but I'm running in London in 2012 - it's the next best thing. Just to make things extra special, after I'd checked into the hotel I hopped back on the DLR and headed north to Stratford hoping to get into the Olympic Park. Unfortunately couldn't get any further than the wire fence surrounding the venues but it was still a bit special to see the main stadium up close and personal.
Spent the rest of the day lounging around 'off my feet' as you're advised to do the day before running a marathon. Met up with Debs, Mike and their two sons Matt and Jons, and Caro for a meal in the adjoining restaurant and was back in bed just after 9. However, didn't sleep much at all - actually very nervous about tomorrow. This is going to be the first time I've run a marathon on roads since Amsterdam last October and for some reason, I'm really feeling the pressure. I've nothing to prove to anyone or indeed myself and I'd already told myself that I'm not looking for any particular time or goal : just to enjoy it as much as possible.
The forecast wasn't particularly good for the Sunday but once again, they got it wrong...hoorah! Greeted by sunshine and although it's still below the norm, the temperature wasn't as cold as we were expecting. After downing some porridge and a slice of toast, Debs, Mike, Matt, Jons, Caro, Claire and I set off on our journey. The train wasn't anywhere near as packed as we've known it and we had room to breath! Disembarked at Greenwich and we would normally walk through the park to the red zone and then out onto Blackheath. Debs, Caro and I were all in the 'good for age' green start whilst Claire, in her very first marathon, was in red. However, the 3 of us were sent around the perimeter of the park in order to get to green and we didn't really have time to even say good luck to Claire.
Once we'd got to green start, we only really had time to join the long loo queue once then check out the celebrities before squeezing into our allocated start pen ready for the 9.45 gun. I've never known the crowds to be like they were today : 5 deep in places and, other than around Billingsgate Fish Market between 19/20 miles, they were constant. The noise was amazing and I took it all in. Cutty Sark was back in place after the devastating fire 5 years ago and the sight of the runners streaming round her bow, reflecting in the glass casing was amazing. People were shouting and screaming constantly. When going along 'The Highway' around 13 miles, I had the chance to see the leaders in the men's race, going through 22 miles on their way back. They look to be running so easily yet so fast - I can't sprint at their speed...how they sustain that for 26.2 miles I have no idea. Coming back down the other side of The Highway later on, I could see the masses making their way through half way, 9 miles behind me. It would be quite an incredible sight to see the helicopter view from the first to last runner...how far does that stretch?
Emerging from the long dark silence of Blackfriars Tunnel into the sunshine along Embankment was just into a wave of noise. I didn't hit the wall once although don't get me wrong... I'm not saying the run was in any way easy. Down Birdcage, in the last mile, I caught up with a New Forest Runner and it was 'game on'. My Boston marathon time of 3.23.33 passed whilst I was still down Birdcage but I wasn't concerned in the slightest. It was only once I was in The Mall that I realised that I could possibly beat my second fastest time ever...3.25.44 that I'd run in London 2010. I sprinted as fast as I could for that line then stopped my watch...3.25.45! How on earth can you run 26.2 miles two years apart and have the times just separated by a single second? I could!!
Then I was a little bit ill.....
Having got that over with it was then a case of having my timing chip removed, collecting my medal, goodie bag and clothing bag and sitting down in the sunshine to just remember what I've just gone through. I was so proud of myself and what I'd just done. One of my toes didn't feel like it should and I'm sure my legs will start to complain soon but right now....I'm happy.
Once home I looked up Niall (FitScottishBloke) to see if he had achieved his target of sub 3.30....he did : 3.27.36 so huge congrats to you (obviously must have been that training run I took you on in Bournemouth at target 8 minute miles that clinched it :o) ).
London, you sure do know how to put on an event....thank you!
Spent the rest of the day lounging around 'off my feet' as you're advised to do the day before running a marathon. Met up with Debs, Mike and their two sons Matt and Jons, and Caro for a meal in the adjoining restaurant and was back in bed just after 9. However, didn't sleep much at all - actually very nervous about tomorrow. This is going to be the first time I've run a marathon on roads since Amsterdam last October and for some reason, I'm really feeling the pressure. I've nothing to prove to anyone or indeed myself and I'd already told myself that I'm not looking for any particular time or goal : just to enjoy it as much as possible.
The forecast wasn't particularly good for the Sunday but once again, they got it wrong...hoorah! Greeted by sunshine and although it's still below the norm, the temperature wasn't as cold as we were expecting. After downing some porridge and a slice of toast, Debs, Mike, Matt, Jons, Caro, Claire and I set off on our journey. The train wasn't anywhere near as packed as we've known it and we had room to breath! Disembarked at Greenwich and we would normally walk through the park to the red zone and then out onto Blackheath. Debs, Caro and I were all in the 'good for age' green start whilst Claire, in her very first marathon, was in red. However, the 3 of us were sent around the perimeter of the park in order to get to green and we didn't really have time to even say good luck to Claire.
Once we'd got to green start, we only really had time to join the long loo queue once then check out the celebrities before squeezing into our allocated start pen ready for the 9.45 gun. I've never known the crowds to be like they were today : 5 deep in places and, other than around Billingsgate Fish Market between 19/20 miles, they were constant. The noise was amazing and I took it all in. Cutty Sark was back in place after the devastating fire 5 years ago and the sight of the runners streaming round her bow, reflecting in the glass casing was amazing. People were shouting and screaming constantly. When going along 'The Highway' around 13 miles, I had the chance to see the leaders in the men's race, going through 22 miles on their way back. They look to be running so easily yet so fast - I can't sprint at their speed...how they sustain that for 26.2 miles I have no idea. Coming back down the other side of The Highway later on, I could see the masses making their way through half way, 9 miles behind me. It would be quite an incredible sight to see the helicopter view from the first to last runner...how far does that stretch?
Emerging from the long dark silence of Blackfriars Tunnel into the sunshine along Embankment was just into a wave of noise. I didn't hit the wall once although don't get me wrong... I'm not saying the run was in any way easy. Down Birdcage, in the last mile, I caught up with a New Forest Runner and it was 'game on'. My Boston marathon time of 3.23.33 passed whilst I was still down Birdcage but I wasn't concerned in the slightest. It was only once I was in The Mall that I realised that I could possibly beat my second fastest time ever...3.25.44 that I'd run in London 2010. I sprinted as fast as I could for that line then stopped my watch...3.25.45! How on earth can you run 26.2 miles two years apart and have the times just separated by a single second? I could!!
Then I was a little bit ill.....
Having got that over with it was then a case of having my timing chip removed, collecting my medal, goodie bag and clothing bag and sitting down in the sunshine to just remember what I've just gone through. I was so proud of myself and what I'd just done. One of my toes didn't feel like it should and I'm sure my legs will start to complain soon but right now....I'm happy.
Once home I looked up Niall (FitScottishBloke) to see if he had achieved his target of sub 3.30....he did : 3.27.36 so huge congrats to you (obviously must have been that training run I took you on in Bournemouth at target 8 minute miles that clinched it :o) ).
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| On the way to Greenwich |
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| Completing the 'hike' to the start |
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| Nervous smiles! |
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| Caro |
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| Me! |
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| Civilised queueing for the loo! |
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| Looking back down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace |
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| Proud to be British on a day like this |
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| 5hrs after the gun, runners are still streaming along The Embankment at 25 miles passing The London Eye and with Houses of Parliament and Big Ben straight ahead |
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| In the final 200m, looking happy |
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| I earned this!! |
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Amazing crowds, amazing day |
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