The Great South Run

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.

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.

21 October 2018

October came to a close with one more race, the Great South Run. This is probably the biggest race of the year in the south of England, although it is by no means the longest, being just ten miles. Yet again Commando was pacing and would be running far slower than normal. He would also be wearing bunny ears and a flag.

Continue reading The Great South Run

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.

Bunny spotting at the Great South Run

23 October 2016

As Kylie and I strode off across Southsea Common past food vans that made our mouths water and through crowds of other spectators all vying for good positions, I rang Commando. He’d had a head start on the position finding front and told me he was on the opposite side of the common somewhere near mile five, or so he thought. Given the size of the common and the number of people, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to find him. Continue reading Bunny spotting at the Great South Run

Bunny ears and the Great South Run

23 October 2016

Another Sunday morning and another cold, early start. This time it was for one of the biggest races of the season, The Great South Run. The sun was barely up when we set off for Portsmouth. The race didn’t start for hours but we knew finding somewhere to park wouldn’t be easy and we didn’t want to miss the team photo. There was a tiny amount of getting lost and some entering Portsmouth then leaving, then reentering Portsmouth from the opposite side, but I wasn’t driving so I’m not taking the blame. Continue reading Bunny ears and the Great South Run

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