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Congleton half marathon

IMG_0056A perfect day for racing, cool air but blue skies breaking out from behind the clouds. Neil picked me up early and dropped off Jeanette who was going for a long run with Lesley (they ran over 10 miles!). We arrived at Congleton High School (HQ) in plenty of time and as Neil wasn’t running he was able to indulge in a bacon butty while I made do with a coffee (thanks Neil).

It was great to catch up with many old friends and also meet some of our newer members. The chat as always was about understating expectations for the race, but everyone seemed in good cheer. I was definitely looking forward to it; I know that my running is okay at the moment and I shouldn’t have any problems getting round, but I haven’t done much speed/race work nor have I done any long runs.

This year was a new route, no longer running on the main roads of Congleton, it stays completely in the lanes, a much better and more interesting course in my view, but still challenging and finishes with it’s famous sting in the tail.

I had an okay run, finishing in 1:32:09 and second in my age group to Tom McGaff, so no complaints there. As a club we had 36 runners, Matt Smith led the men home in 1:16:09 and Katie Latham the women in 1:29:37, a pb and the first time under 90 minutes! We had 15 runners finish in under 90 minutes. My time also gave me over 80% in the club championships, unfortunately I won’t run enough races for it to matter. Results

Dinner with Laura and Ella

IMG_0758A lovely (half) day with Laura and Ella. Lesley and I went early enough to have lunch with Laura. As usual Ella amazed us with her ability to communicate like a young adult. She has a great understanding and makes humorous and thoughtful comments in a conversation. She enjoys reading and is a delight to listen to, especially when she is working out an unfamiliar word. She holds no fear for new words, she just accurately sounds them out and then reads them at full speed. She’s a lucky girl to be blessed with good parents and good teachers. We are enjoying watching her grow up and look forward to seeing what she gets up to as she grows older.

Albert Lee

View from Lowery Theatre
Salford Quays

We had a great night at the Lowery Theatre where we went to see Albert Lee. It’s always to watch the masters at work. The music was excellent and it was very interesting listening to his tales of playing with Head Hands and Feet, his time with Eric Clapton and the Everley Brothers.

 

 

 

 

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NSCCL – Winsford

11230045_10207276654850335_8762560698344428998_oThe first of the four North Staffs cross country races, and it was a beautiful day. The women’s races were just over 5k and the men’s about 10.4k. Although not as challenging as some cross country courses, it’s a race and so it’s pretty tough. The woman did brilliantly finishing first in division 2. I was very pleased to find out that I was the first vet 60 in a time that was several minutes quicker than last year.

Photos courtesy of Mick Hall and Bryan Dale

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Ipstones 5, 2015

Always a tough race but has become something of a classic. Having been run for many years in conjunction with the Ipstones Carnival. This year the start and finish were at the village hall and not at the fire station as previously. Once on the road though the course was the same. A long uphill start that goes on for over a mile before dropping down. Again from just before 4 miles there’s another big hill before finishing. This was my first race since coming home from Greece, I was able to meet many of my friends from different clubs, including my rivals over many years, Mick Beardmore and Stan Winterton.

I last ran the race in 2013 and this year I was pleased to finish first in my age group, especially as the prize was in the form of chocolate.

Results

South Cheshire Harriers – off road group

I joined the off road group tonight to run from the Forest Hills Hotel, Frodsham. A nostalgic evening for me as I used to work at Frodsham High School for 10 years so the journey across and the run itself brought back many memories. The run back was quite dark, especially in the wooded areas and it made me realise how poor my head torch was. Most of the runners had modern LED lights which were very impressive.

Unfortunately I forgot my phone, so no pictures and I had to get Amy to send me a copy of the run for Strava.

It was great to catch up with some of the runners I hadn’t seen for a while and especially Dave Rowlands as we recounted old tales in the Belle Mont hotel.

Curry night with Alan and Steve

It was Steve’s turn to host our get together this time. I picked Alan up from Macclesfield and had a chance to say hello to Barbara. Onwards to Bramhall to collect Steve and say Hi to Carolyn. Our first stop was the Crown Inn, Heaton Lane, Stockport. The pub is situated under an impressive 27 arch viaduct. Alan was educating us on the wonders of real ale and the significance of the Crown Inn as one of the leading suppliers of good beers, so it was disappointing that their first beer was not very good. My diet coke was fine. Never one to give up Alan convinced Steve it was worth trying another (different beer), I think they were happier this time but it was time to move on.

Next stop was The Royal Nawaab, Levenshulme. This was the first time for Alan and me. We were both very impressed. The Nawaab is an alcohol-free zone, it caters for a large number of Muslims, and a large number of Asians were eating there, always a good sign. The food was lovely (possibly a bit salty – both Alan and I were very thirsty afterwards) and the choice would ensure that everyone, including veggies would have plenty to choose from.

A late night for me, getting home just before 1:00 the following day.

Chill Facter with Caroline and Lesley

Caroline wanted to go to the Chill Facter to see if she could still ski. She is hoping to go on the school trip this year and hasn’t skied since she was at school herself. As you will see from the video she has a natural ability and won’t have any problems when she gets to Austria.

After skiing we popped over to the Trafford Centre and grabbed a burrito. For Lesley and me it was a first. Very tasty, very filling and very unusual. It’s basically a huge wrap of Mexican food that is rolled in silver foil. The secret of eating it, is to gradually peel off just enough silver foil to expose a mouthful of burrito. Lovely!

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