2021 – I Walk Alone

Another pandemic Christmas?

Christmas 2021 was a controversial event. The new Omicron variant of COVID had been tearing through the population but the powers that be were divided on what action to take. On one hand, there were loud calls from some for another stringent lockdown. On the other, there was a lot of evidence that the new variant was relatively benign. The result was a combination of confusion and apathy from the general public. The nations of the UK were divided in their approach, which didn’t help with the confusion. Luckily for me, restrictions in England were ruled out before the New Year. Dire warnings were issued by those who disagreed — hospitals would be overwhelmed — millions would die — it would all be the government’s fault. Hyperbole was flying around like Christmas tinsel. As for me, my Christmas morning was spent at Southampton parkrun.

Mud, paint, park runs and fallen leaves

As 2021 drew to a close my outdoor exercise mostly revolved around parkrun. My first Novel, Plagued, was about to be published and almost every waking moment was consumed by proof reading and panic. The empty boating lake and the bare branches of the trees, like ink blown paintings, were a welcome relief. Even so, my head was buzzing with ideas, flitting between Plagued, in 1918 and my work in progress set in 1937, working title The Luck of the Draw. My plan for the morning was to walk up to the Avenue to try to imagine it with tram lines and trams.

An Omicron Christmas

Twelve days before Christmas 2021, Kim and I were wrapped up against the cold, up to our ankles in mud and taking photographs of yet another cross country race. Meanwhile, the media were doing their best to whip up a storm about the new COVID variant, Omicron. It was spreading like wildfire, but everyone I knew who’d had it described it as a mild cold. Most only knew they had it at all because they’d taken a routine test. Some had no symptoms other than a positive test result. Even so, there was plenty of hype about cancelling Christmas and locking the country down again.

Christmas comes to the Common

As Commando and I headed across the Common to parkrun, on 11 December 2021, we thought the pandemic was all but over. Well, I did anyway. Of course, we were still all wearing masks in shops and things, and washing our hands every five minutes. Ok, so that might just have been me too, but you get the picture. There was an annoying little variant called Omicron, in the news, but it sounded fairly innocuous, nothing but a bad cold really. The first case had hit our shores at the end of November, but no one was especially worried about it. Well, I wasn’t. It sounded to me as if the virus was doing what viruses generally do, getting weaker. In fact I thought it might be good news.

A two race weekend and a new variant

December 2021 brought a new COVID variant, Omicron and a two race weekend. The former didn’t sound like too much of a worry, all the reports said it was mild, more a sniffly cold than anything. The latter was a different matter. The first of the races, on Saturday 4 December, was a Hampshire Cross Country event in Aldershot, forty odd miles from home. Predictably, we got a bit lost. Things in the car got fraught and we arrived cross and later than planned. There was a rather interesting looking statue on the opposite side of the car park but the women’s race was about to start so there was no time to have a proper look at it.

They think it’s all over . . .

In March 2020, when it became clear that COVID 19 was going to change our lives, I remember wishing that I had a magic wand and could fast forward until it was all over. By November 2021, life really did feel as if it was getting back to normal. I’d had a much needed haircut, although I’d opted to keep it longer just in case things went pear shaped again. Parkrun was back. Races were back. Mark and Nicole had finally managed to get married. We’d even been away for the weekend to Witney and visited a museum. The real feeling that it might be all over, though, came with two long put off appointments.

Typical!

Back to November 2021, and the Manor Farm CC6 came around very fast. It seemed just days since we’d been walking the course talking about marshal points, although it had actually been weeks. It also felt very early to be getting out of bed, throwing on warm clothes and a Dryrobe and setting off into the frosty morning air. Truth to tell, it was early. We had to pick Sergio up on the way and we had to arrive at 8:15 for a pre race briefing. Still, I was quite excited at the prospect of getting a marshalling spot somewhere on the farm. Secretly, I was hoping to be near the alpacas.

A very long, short walk

When we left Manor Farm we were still at the start of our four, or so, mile walk to plot marshal points for the upcoming race. The sky was bright blue, the sun was out, so it was a nice day for a stroll, but with all the stops and starts, I was beginning to think it would be dark before we got to the end. As it was Halloween, I wondered if we’d see any ghosts and ghouls if that happened.

Not Sunday Runday at Manor Farm

Sunday mornings usually involve me sitting in my dressing gown far longer than I should, writing, editing, or staring into space thinking of what to write while Commando is off on a Sunday Runday. Occasionally, they involve early morning trips to watch and photograph lunatic runners, usually in the cold. having squelched through acres of mud. On those Sunday mornings, I may sometimes be more than a little grumpy due to frozen hands and lack of sleep. The last Sunday in October 2021 was different. I was not wearing my dressing gown, and I was far from home. There were runners with me, but they weren’t running.

Snapshots of normality

One of the things we really missed during all the COVID madness was the normal round of running events. Parkrun was cancelled, as were all the races we’d normally have gone to. It was a joy when parkrun was finally allowed to restart in July 2021, and later in the year, there were two big races to look forward to. The first of these was the Southampton Marathon in early September. As usual, I went along with my camera to take photos. Runners do like to have their photographs taken so these events are always busy occasions for me. As it turned out, this one was busier than I could have ever expected.

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