18th September: Village running.

Hook, the village in Hampshire where I live, has always had an open to all-comers annual village ‘Hook Fun Run’ of 10 miles, 10k and 1.5 miles… Every evening those who live here can bare witness to people out by themselves jogging circuits of the central block (a 1.5 mile loop). There is a thriving kids football club, the men’s football club is one of the strongest in the local area and the village has recently set-up its own rugby and cycling clubs and can even claim to have raised an international class runner in Charlotte Purdue, so there are plenty of active people here interested in their fitness, but until now no running club!

Those in the village who organise the Fun Run wondered why this was the case, so having chatted amongst themselves they approached some people they thought would be like-minded on this matter to ascertain if there was an interest in having one.

Soon some posters appeared around the village mentioning a public meeting in one of the village halls and those who had previously run the Fun Run and lived in the village received an email informing them of the meeting… Neighbourino Pini had seen these, as had Moose, so the three of us all decided to trundle along to offer our support.

The car park at the Elizabeth Hall was approaching full. Looking in to the main hall there was a group of people sitting in a circle, none of which looked to be typical running types judging by their size (says 15 stone of idiot in an unironic manner), then I noticed the signage and realised it was the local branch of ‘fat-fighters’ meeting (“Dust. It's actually very low in fat. You can have as much dust as you like.”)

I thought of the irony of those living in the village looking to lose weight had all driven a mile or less to get to their meeting and clogged-up the car park, as I moved down the corridor to the smallest of the small meeting rooms right at the very end, which was already heaving… All the seats were taken and people were standing around the sides of the room with all the bodies raising the temperature inside to a stifle. Soon the kitchen next to the room was opened and the serving-hatch lifted to fit more people and allow them to see what was happening. Moose, Pini and myself took station in the doorway to the corridor as it had a little bit of a draught and allowed those who wanted to be closer to the action to do so.

As we stood there waiting for the start, Moose took the piss out of Pini and my sartorial choices: Pini had arrived wearing his tee from the Costa Rica marathon and I was wearing my Lakeland 50 shirt - leading to Moose accusing us of ‘bollock waving’ over our choices as he just wore a polo shirt rather than anything marking one of his Iron Man/ ultra marathons or assorted triathlons!

Soon we were joined in the doorway by a guy called Steve wearing a finishers shirt for a triathlon who had also seen the notification of the meeting and was interested to find out how many others in the village were like-minded.

Lou, who had convened the meeting called it to order, and you could tell she was a little overwhelmed by the response from the village. Lou admitted she had expected and hoped a handful of people would attend to get things moving and had never dreamed that she’d be sharing a packed room and more with the 70 plus folks who had crammed-in!

Straight away it was plain to see for Lou that there was definitely an interest in the village to set-up a running club and those of us present all filled-out a sheet of contact details and what we are looking for in one and any assistance we were able/ willing to offer in its formation or running (no pun intended).

After a sweaty hour and a bit in the room, the meeting closed with the idea of a follow-up in the near future to get things moving on a formal basis… In the meantime those of us on Facebook were pointed in the direction of a page that had been set-up for the club and away we went off into the warm dusk… Moose, Pini, Steve and myself opting to walk to the nearest pub for a few beers and a chat outside as the evening was still young.

Fair play to Lou for going out on a voyage in to the unknown by calling the meeting and getting everyone there… It just goes to show how there really was an untapped demand in the village for a running club and who knows what the interest expressed tonight will lead to, even if only half the people there follow-up on their initial attendance.

Watch this space to see what happens.

Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.

17th May: Hook Fun Run

Today saw the annual village fun-run once more here in Hook with a record 1200 entrants participating over the 3 distances: 2.5 miles, 6 miles and 10 miles.

I had arranged to run the 2.5 mile course again with my eldest daughter, although I had warned her in advance that I would once more be donning the ostrich costume to run with her.

In September she goes off to ‘big school’ so I figured that this will be my only chance to run in costume with her as from next year she would be way too embarrassed to be seen anywhere near me dressed like that.

We wandered off to the start to arrive in plenty of time and to cheer-off the other runners. It seemed we were walking kind of together with me a few steps ahead of my daughter who was already questioning my sartorial choice and regretting the fact she was with me in that get-up.

Posing for the organiser's photo.

After saying hello to a few people I recognised I was collared by one of the organisers to get a photo of me in the costume and my daughter was asked to pose with me - which she declined (oh dear, I thought, she may not be in a good mood now).

Off go the 10 milers, with neighbour Pini in centre shot.

The start of the 6 mile race.

After seeing the herd gallop away in the 6 and 10 mile races we made our way to the starting corral and awaited the off under the sunny skies, my daughter now looking even less amused and even attempting to lose herself in the crowd rather than being seen dead with me.

An ostrich eye view of an unimpressed daughter.

After the obligatory countdown we were off and running. Starting near the back it was difficult to try and pick our way through the crowds of people over the first quarter of a mile, but as the masses began to thin out we were soon able to find a rhythm at the pace of my daughter.

Circling the village we were cheered and clapped-on as a group by most of the residents who had taken their time to line the streets and encourage us. In the calendar of the village there are two events that gets everyone out and about: the ‘Christmas Cracker’ - our village winter festival street-party, and this here fun-run with the enthusiasm not failing to disappoint once more.

Weather wise the last month has not lived up to expectations, being fairly chilly and a dearth of sunshine so far but today was the first day with proper heat and gorgeous sunshine. This was catching-out plenty of people as most participants had not been able to acclimatise to running in the sun once more, so there were plenty of thirsty sorts when we got to the water station at half way. My daughter had already mentioned about pouring cold water over her head when she got there to cool down, which she did so and as we ran off I duly obliged by pouring some more over her head, which caught her by surprise and sped her up whilst she had a go at me for surprising her like that!

It seemed like no time at all before we had finished our loop of the village and were returning to the start/ finish in the junior school. As we rounded the corner to sight the finish line my daughter did her usual trick of sprinting for it… Running nearly at full-pelt to catch her, we both made it across at the same time, overtaking ‘Where’s Wally’ in the process which would have made someone a good photo!

Cooling-down after the race.

Hanging around after the race I waited for the first of the runners in the 6 and 10 mile races to finish, with my neighbour Pini finishing in 6th position in the 10 mile race recording a personal best for the course.

Some fellow finishers

I was also able to see some of the other costumed runners finish the races, with a man in full gorilla suit including the mask, a Gruffalo, the Flash and Iron Man crossing the line… Its good when people don’t take things too seriously, especially the 2.5 mile race as it is a ‘fun run’ after all.

Post-race posing with Pini.

Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.

19th May: Daddy Daughter Running

The Hook Fun Run and Road Race is the annual village event that sees most people come out to cheer on those participating over 2.5, 6 or 10 miles. The short course is once around the centre of the village, the 6M takes in the further reaches to the west and the 10M route ventures out northwards to the neighbouring village of Rotherwick and back.

Rather than run the 10 miles in fancy dress as I did last year (here's my blog about it) I had arranged with her mother for my eldest daughter to run the 2.5M race with me, which she was well up for. Not just for a chance to run with her daddy again, but a chance to run in a proper race.

Feeling that I should be missing out on a decent run myself I took myself out on a good 10.5M XC run as soon as I awoke for some form of prep for the Flete CTS Marathon next week. I chose to head out along the canal and across the fields to its derelict side before a couple of miles of road up the hill to Tylney Hall and across their golf course and the fields from Rotherwick to home.

For a distance like this I did not feel the need to take any drink with me so I was able to run totally free and unhindered today - although I did feel my right hammy tightening for part of the run but a stop for a massage eased this out.

On returning I just had enough time to take a shower, walk the dogs with LSS and get changed ready for the run. I met up with the girls and their mother at the appointed time at the race base of the village junior school.

Meeting up beforehand

I had arranged for my daughter to be wearing her England top and I would wear one as well so we looked kind of together with similar shirts and consecutive numbers. In no time I had her first ever race number pinned to her front and after posing for a photo we worked our way to the start line.

Numbered-up!

Whilst no stranger to school and inter school running races this was her first proper event involving people of all ages, so she was understandably feeling a bit nervous. As we walked off her mother had said to her as encouragement to try her hardest and to finish as far beyond the middle as possible. I thought this might be putting a bit too much pressure on her so I said that we would run it as fast as she could manage and we would do it without stopping, just slowing down if it was becoming a bit too hard.

A Nervous-Nelly

Soon we were off and running out of the school with the pack. People were jostling trying to find space and the occasional unintentional elbow was being jabbed here and there even though this is just a once around the block course that most of the village joggers do each day so they should know their pace. Some people seem to have the worst brought out of them by competition!

I warned my daughter about stating off too fast and we should take it easy to allow her to find her pace, and within about 5 minutes with the course being an incline for this till the top of the railway bridge I could see she was starting to struggle with her face getting redder and redder, so rather than running just behind her and to the side as I had been doing I ran alongside her and slowly dropped the pace down for her to recover a bit.

In action.

It was funny watching some of the over-enthusiastic boys in the race of around the same age as my daughter who would sprint as fast as they could past people, then emptying their energy tank found they had to stop or walk for a bit to recover before doing the same again. I think they may need to learn a bit about pacing a run over distance! Dropping behind my daughter again as this was going on I was able to observe that she was choosing to run on the grass verges rather than the pavement whenever she could - maybe she is a natural XC runner through preference?

After the detour through the industrial estate I pointed out that we were coming to the water station so she should have something if she needed it. The reply was yes and that she was going to throw the rest of it over her head like you see proper runners do… and sure enough she did so!

Up the hill for the next half mile of the eastern side of the route and loads of the villagers were out cheering everyone on, with a few people recognising my daughter and cheering her on by name. Near the top of the hill we ran past LSS who was primed with camera to catch us in action, which she duly did!

On the overtake.

Another successful pass.

Off we trot.

At the top of the hill it was getting a bit too much for my daughter who asked to stop because it was getting too tiring, so a few words of encouragement about how far we had come, we were nearly finished, the track was flat etc. seemed to snap her out of this temporary funk and in no time we were rounding the corner at the village centre to head back in to the school and the finish. This last stretch is all downhill so I encouraged my daughter to go for a sprint finish when she could see the finishing line. The reply was "I can't, I'm too tired." but as soon as we rounded the corner and the end was in sight she was off like a rocket and sprinted past 5 people, with me having to up my pace significantly to keep-up with her.

Just before the turn for the finish.

Crossing the line we were handed our finishers medals and we grabbed some water as the poor little thing was turning beetroot and running very hot from all the effort she had put in to run the course as fast as she could without stopping.

Posing with her well-earned medal.

My two daughters together... My youngest is a dancer and gymnast, not a runner/ sports girl.

When the result came out, it showed that she finished 21st of 65 in her age group of 8-11 year old girls, and 51 out of 233 women runners of all ages, which no matter what way you look at it is a terrific achievement and makes me incredibly proud of her... Not long till she will be beating her old man!

The two of us with our finishers medals as taken by my youngest daughter.

25th May: Blues Brother

The last couple of months have been immense in their frustration. Work has been mental; seeing me pull 7 day weeks and 12-14 hour days at times as well as a couple of nights as well. This meant an enforced period of no training through fatigue, as a man needs to rest and chill when he can, but this also afforded me the excuse/ justification of resting Bernard... This now means my stamina and fitness levels have dropped noticeably.

Unlike typical builders, Si and myself do not live down the pub/ greasy spoon/ Maccy D's for a couple of hours when lunch comes around, in fact lunch is a luxury for us. We just tend to work all the way through the day from start to finish merely powered by the occasional cuppa (milk no sugar) so weight gain has not been too bad despite the lack of exercise, but then again the nature of what we do is physical so we are continually on the go and not sitting in some office on a wheeled chair as most people spend their lives.

A while ago I entered our village's running race. Each year Hook has a fun run, a 6 & a 10 mile race which despite living here for over a decade I only ran for the first time last year. This year I entered thinking I would have had around 5 madathons under my belt by the time it came around so fitness would be good and I could improve on the marker time I laid down last year, again not a brilliant time coming a little after recovering from a bad groin/ hip extensor tear. Unfortunately as you know, this ideal training scenario was not to be, so rather than being a mere walk in the park with my body tuned to the 26.2 miles I went in to the 10 miler having not run a step since December. I had also entered the race under an alias for fancy dress purposes... I was down as Elwood Blues.

Realising I would be lumbering around rather than running, this did give me a good excuse for a crap time by sporting fancy dress. Needless to say my time was absolutely pants, coming in at just 95 minutes, nearly 15 slower than last year. The positives though were the cheers and comments I got or making the effort to run in fancy dress, the only person to do so in the 10 miler, honestly some of these runners take themselves too seriously!

By the time I crossed the line I was breathing out of my arse, but I made it and Bernard had not really grumbled so at least that was a big plus :) although I did find out the next day that I was suffering from shin-splints again for the first time in years. It took my body a good 3 days to return to normal, climbing the stairs being rather fun over these days!

As I walked home clutching my finishers medal, which looks rather like a 'Jim'll Fix It' badge, I bumped into Pini and Vics. Pini did not realise I was running because of Bernard so was surprised to see me, especially in a suit, tie and hat. As we walked along, Vics told me that she measures Pini's success in a race by the number of people in costume who finish before he does. Apparently his last race, the Reading half marathon was his best showing yet, only being beaten across the finish line by two bananas and a jar of marmite :)

With no time for training to the level required I'll have to bail on the South Downs Marathon I have a place in. It is great after this 10 miler to know that I can finally run, but there's still a nagging doubt at the back of the mind that I shouldn't really be pushing it too hard just yet, and a madathon like the South Downs which is probably a 4/5 difficulty with the heat probably is not the best place to start.

Well here's some shots of a fat bloke making an attempt at running: