Events – I Walk Alone

A day at the races

The first Sunday in February found Commando and I leaving home at an ungodly hour to head to Goodwood Motor Circuit. We were off for a day at the races, but not in quite the way you would expect for such a famous venue. To most people, the name Goodwood conjures up race cars and chequered flags. The race track, on the picturesque Sussex Downs near Chichester, was the venue for Britain’s first post-war race meeting in September 1948. Graham Hill had his first single seat race on the course. In 1962, Stirling Moss ended his career at Goodwood when he crashed his Lotus during the Glover Trophy. Donald Campbell demonstrated his car, Bluebird here, in 1960 and 1962, before breaking the land speed record in it in 1964. We were at Goodwood for a race of a very different kind, though.

Hares of Hampshire

Today, I thought I’d brighten the dismal November gloom and take you back to June, when the sun was shining and the streets of Southampton were full of hares. Of course, there weren’t real hares hopping about. It was another wonderful art trail, like the rhinos, zebras and deckchairs we’ve had in the past. Because of Commando‘s unfortunate tussle with a blue bin lorry, we almost missed them, but a week or so later, he felt up for a walk, so we headed to town for a touch of hare spotting.

Parkrun tourism and a wedding

Our parkrun tourism on Saturday 4 June was a little out of the ordinary. It was the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and Commando wasn’t running because of a minor injury, but that wasn’t what made it strange. It was actually the wedding day of two of our friends, Helen and Andy, and they were beginning their nuptials at the twenty-fifth Bartley parkrun. Bartley parkrun is in Totton, so at least we didn’t have too early a start, although it took us a while to find the venue. It’s also a very new parkrun. Race number one was on 18th December 2021, and Helen and Andy have been part of the core volunteer team from the outset.

A blanket, afternoon tea and the Dave Hawkins pacers

Normally, writing blog posts is my weekend job. I set aside a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday to throw together a few posts and then schedule them to appear during the week. Last weekend was a touch on the busy side. There was no time to rest, never mind write anything. What was I up to, you may wonder? Well, other than the usual stuff, I finished making a special baby blanket and went to a posh afternoon tea come baby shower for beautiful mother-to-be, Nicole. This, and the walk to Ocean Village and back, took up most of Saturday.

Return to Dorney Lake

Back in 2015, Commando ran a pre-London Marathon twenty mile event at Dorney Lake, a sporting venue built for the 2012 Olympic rowing events and now owned and used by Eton College. I’d had a wonderful few hours wandering along the Thames towpath to Windsor and back. When he said he had a race there on the last Sunday in August, I was excited to tag along. It was only a 10k this time, not twenty miles. I knew I wouldn’t have time to walk to Windsor, but I looked forward to another walk along the towpath.

The art of conversation and great escapes

What did people talk about in 1918? This was a question very much on my mind when I began writing Plagued. Dialogue is a key element in any work of fiction, what the characters say, or don’t say, often tells the story. When it comes to historic fiction, the conversations also help set the scene, and the tone and content needs to be right. If it isn’t, readers will notice, or at least they will find it increasingly difficult to suspend their disbelief. Obviously, modern terms and phrases have to be avoided, and I spent a great deal of time Googling the origins of certain words and phrases (like Heath Robinson) to make sure I didn’t let any anachronisms slip in. Reading works written at the time helped with vocabulary too, but the content was another matter.

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.

Marshalling the Winchester Half Marathon

22 September 2019

When Hamwic Harriers signed up to marshal the Winchester Half Marathon we’d all expected to be standing around in searing heat trying not to burn or dehydrate. All kinds of drinks were purchased in preparation for the long, hot day, along with snacks to keep us going and jelly sweets to give out to the runners. Commando had even bought paper dishes to put the sweets in. Today was the day though and dehydration looked like it would be the least of our worries.

Parkrun tourism, Romsey

17 August 2019

Romsey is the newest parkrun in Hampshire and, since the first event back in March, we’ve been meaning to check it out. This parkrun is held on the playing fields of Mountbatten School, near the Broadlands Estate in Romsey, home of the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma. The course is more or less flat and mostly on grass, which was good news for Rob who has been suffering with a heel problem since Thunder Run.

Parkrun tourism, a return to Lee-on-Solent

22 June 2019

As the Race For Life was being held on Southampton Common this weekend we had to find another parkrun. There was a great deal of discussion about which one, with suggestions of various events we haven’t been to before. In the end though, we settled on a return to Lee-on-Solent, mostly because it was fairly close to home and didn’t involve getting up at silly o’clock. At least not for Commando and I.

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