Tag: Races

A day at the races

Goodwood, the old pit lane pavilion

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.

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The last Elizabethan Sunday – Overton

Overton

I spent the last Sunday of the second Elizabethan era in Overton, a chocolate box worthy Hampshire village between Andover and Basingstoke. Obviously, I didn’t know it was the last Sunday in Elizabeth II’s reign. Truth to tell, I didn’t know much about Overton, either. My knowledge extended only as far as the Overton Five Mile race I’d come to photograph, and the Bombay Sapphire distillery we’d passed on the edge of the village. Actually, I only knew about the gin factory because I’d noticed the polished metal cylinders as we passed. A little Googling told me the distillery had moved from Cheshire to this disused paper mill, Laverstoke Mill, in 2014. The visitor centre looks well worth checking out, if you’re a gin fan.

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Marathon views

Team Hamwic

The return to post-COVID normality continued on 24 April 2022, with the ABP Southampton Marathon. The last one, back in May 2019, had been eventful, and I was hoping for a more relaxing time. As usual, Commando was acting as a pacer for the Half Marathon, which meant I had access to the VIP changing rooms. This year they were in the MAST Mayflower Studios rather than across the road in the Sir James Matthews Building. Pre COVID, this was the NST Nuffield Southampton Theatre, which opened in February 2018 as part of the new Cultural Quarter. The original Nuffield Theatre opened on Highfield Campus in 1956. I was lucky enough to see a performance of The Tempest there back in my college days. As far as I can tell, the new theatre was supposed to run alongside the old rather than replace it. Sadly, both were victims of the pandemic and went into administration.

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Pacing the Ageas bowl

29 September 2019

With exactly a week to go before Clarendon there was yet another early start for yet another race. This time it was the Ageas 10k. Commando was pacing, Kim was tail running and a small but perfectly formed group of Hamwic Harriers were running. That left me to take the photos. The rain seemed to have been falling non stop for as long as I could remember and looked set to continue. It all felt slightly familiar. Remembering the soaking at Winchester last weekend, I decided to wear my dryrobe. This, of course, almost guaranteed the rain would hold off.

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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.

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All about races

October 2018

October seemed to be all about races. First there was the Ageas 10k. Actually that one was right at the end of September but let’s not quibble about a day or two. Commando was pacing a very slow, for him, fifty five minutes and I was supposed to be taking photos. As I was still suffering with the lurgie this was not as simple as you’d think. Continue reading All about races

Winchester and Storm Ali

23 September 2018

At the end of the driest, hottest, sunniest summer since 1976, it was a touch disappointing when the day of the Winchester Half Marathon turned out to be one of the wettest, windiest days of the whole year, thanks to Storm Ali. The doom and gloom weather warnings didn’t exactly fill us with confidence but Commando was pacing the race so we wrapped up as best we could and set off bright and early. Continue reading Winchester and Storm Ali

Parkrun tourism, Lakeside

30 June 2018

There was no parkrun on the Common this morning because the Pretty Muddy Race For Life 10k was going on. This meant it was time for some parkrun tourism. With so many parkruns within a few miles of home we were spoilt for choice but, when Teresa and Gerry said they were going to Lakeside in Portsmouth, we decided to tag along too as we haven’t been to the parkrun there before. Continue reading Parkrun tourism, Lakeside

The Marathon after the storm

22 April 2018

Sleep didn’t come easy last night. I stayed up far too late writing about the peculiar storm and flood while it was fresh in my mind. When I did go to bed it was hard to sleep. The lightning was still flashing like a manic disco ball outside the bedroom window. My mind was racing, filled with images of those huge tubs floating across the garden and worries about what the water was doing outside. It really did feel as if we were in a Winnie the Pooh story and, at any moment, Pooh and Christopher Robin would come to rescue us in an upturned umbrella.

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Happy New Year

1 January 2018

First thing on New Years Day all the sensible people are in bed sleeping off a late night, too much food and way too much alcohol. My warm bed was just a hazy memory as I strolled across Southampton Common, wrapped up against the chilly morning air. For some reason the parkrun organisers thought it would be a good idea to have an extra parkrun today. In fact there were two, one at Netely and one st Southampton, with the Netley one starting before the Southampton one so people could run both. Continue reading Happy New Year