Tag: Races

Gosport again

19 November 2017

This morning’s race was the Gosport Half Marathon, one Commando has run many times before. It’s a relatively flat course, if a touch boring, taking in the coastal road between Stokes Bay and Lee-on-Solent. Usually this would be good news for anyone hoping for a PB, but the weather, in particular the wind, can be both friend and foe here. In all the years Commando has run it there have been some huge weather contrasts, from bright days with high temperatures, through gale force winds and heavy rain.

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Run rabbit run

22 October 2017

This morning we got up for a run we weren’t sure was going to happen. Hot on the heels of hurricane Ophelia came Storm Brian. It arrived on Friday night, all wind and rain battering the bedroom window. On Saturday morning I did the unthinkable and stayed in bed nursing a cold I’ve picked up from CJ while Commando went to parkrun in the howling gale. Even parkrun was in doubt but, after Commando and Rob, who was RD for the morning, walked round to check for fallen trees, it did go ahead. Meanwhile, a few miles along the coast in Southsea, the Saturday Great South Run events were being cancelled and there were some doubts whether the ten mile race today would go ahead.

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Pieces of Eight

8 October 2017

With the Winchester walks, the Half Marathon and the CC6’s, it seems like years since I last had a nice quiet Sunday. When I went to parkrun yesterday morning I thought I’d be getting a lie in today. While we were having our post run coffee though, everyone was talking about races. Almost everyone was running either the Portsmouth Pieces of Eight or the Bournemouth Half Marathon. Everyone except Commando and Rob that is. All of a sudden they had a bad case of race envy. Before I knew what was going on they’d decided to try to get last minute places for Pieces of Eight and I was waving goodbye to the idea of a lie in.  

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Coffee, cake and mud at Whiteley

1 October 2017

October started with the first CC6 of the season, at least the first one Commando could run. It isn’t easy dragging yourself out of a warm bed on a Sunday morning to go out into the cold and run around a piece of muddy woodland. It isn’t easy to go along to take pictures for that matter but there we were at Whiteley, the new town that sprung up in the 1980’s and 1990’s between Southampton, Fareham and Winchester on land that was mostly farmland and coppice originally. Continue reading Coffee, cake and mud at Whiteley

Winchester half

24 September 2017

Feeling rather unwelcome in the churchyard, I took a few random photos and left. Back out on the road with the race parading by me I stood in front of a rather ornate wooden bus stop and watched the runners stream past the Hursley chimneys. The road had been partly closed for the race and an unfortunate marshal had the job of holding up a stop go board to let cars trickle through when there was a safe gap between runners. It wasn’t a job I envied. Some of the drivers were less than patient despite the road closures being widely publicised weeks in advance of the race. Continue reading Winchester half

Winchester VIP’s and time on my hands

24 September 2017

At the beginning of the month I stood in the rain in Abbey Gardens looking at Winchester Guildhall and wishing I was in the VIP pacer’s changing room with free coffee and biscuits. Today I was looking wistfully out of the window of said changing room at the sun coming up over Abbey Gardens, half wishing I was out there walking. It had the makings of a nice day and wandering around exploring seemed far more fun than tail walking the Winchester Half Marathon.  Continue reading Winchester VIP’s and time on my hands

The last RR10

23 August 2017

The final RR10 of the season was organised by Eastleigh running club. The original plan had been to hold it at Marwell, just like last year, but there was an issue with the venue and it ended up being postponed. In the end tonight’s race was held at a completely new venue, the University Sports Ground on Wide Lane. This is a place I’ve walked past many, many times, on my way to Winchester, Eastleigh, or just Lakeside which is actually the next set of fields along the road. Because it’s not open to the public though, I’ve never been inside. Continue reading The last RR10

The rain continues at Itchen Valley

2 August 2017

After a day spent painting my living room ceiling while the rain teemed down outside I can’t say I was much looking forward to the RR10 at Itchen valley Country Park tonight. For one, I was tired. Painting ceilings is surprisingly hard work and this one looked as if it might still need another coat. On top of this I’d been struggling with a trapped nerve in my leg. Apparently this is due to my stupidly high arches, at least according to my GP it is. Who’d have thought having high arches could cause so much pain all of a sudden? There was a great temptation to stay at home, take some painkillers and go to bed, especially as it was still raining.  Continue reading The rain continues at Itchen Valley

Wet, muddy and probably hallucinating

23 July 2017

The rain just kept on falling. There were a few slight lulls when Commando prepared for his first night lap. Each time he pinned on his race number, checked out his head torch and pulled on his trainers it pelted down again though. Rob went out with Kim on her evening lap because he was so worried about the conditions and two torches are better than one. The gloom, the rain and most of all the mud meant it took a ridiculously long time. The woods were especially bad, tree roots hidden under water and slippery mud. After a conflab everyone agreed it was just too dangerous, not worth the risk of a broken ankle or worse.  Continue reading Wet, muddy and probably hallucinating

Rain and the Thunder Run

22 July 2017

The rain didn’t stop. In fact it got worse and worse as the evening wore on. There was a brief interlude of almost dryness, just long enough for Pete the Meat to cook burgers and sausages on a couple of reluctant portable barbecues under the awning of Rob and Kim’s tent then it got so bad everyone retired to their respective shelters. We slept on our new air bed inside our new sleeping bags with the sound of rain pounding on canvas as a lullaby. It was a sleep broken by worries about floods washing us away. The name Trent is Celtic for strongly flooding and the river is renowned for it.  Continue reading Rain and the Thunder Run