Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category

Drama at Hursley 10K

Monday, September 24th, 2007

446Over breakfast yesterday, Christine finally decided that she would run in the Hursley 10K later that day. This is a new event being held in aid of the local school, with the course taking in part of the Hursley Estate along with Ampfield Woods. There was a good atmosphere on arrival and the race had nearly hit its maximum of 400 competitors. I was originally a bit concerned about how the narrow woodland paths would cope with these numbers but there was a rather convoluted route around the field and then an estate track before the course narrowed down. This also gave Emma and myself a couple of chances to spectate before the runners disappeared in to the woods.

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Furry friend

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

443This amazing little chap was seen crawling up the edge of the download tent at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park event on Sunday. As suggested, I looked him up on the cunningly named www.whatisthiscaterpillar.co.uk site
based on which I’m guessing he’ll turn in to a Pale Tussock moth.

Bumps and certificates

Monday, September 17th, 2007

As Christine has already blogged, we were at Queen Elizabeth Country Park yesterday. Amusingly, given my current state, we were meant to be providing first aid cover for the event. Fortunately our services weren’t called upon. The closest we got was one elderly gent failed to climb over the wooden railing surrounding the car park, fell backwards, and proceeded to bash his head on our front bumper!

Unfortunately our presence meant that I couldn’t escape collected my certificate for third place on the Brown Course in the SCOA League. I could put my position down to the fact that I had only amassed five rather than the required six events but I was beaten by those placed first and second in every one of those events. Just a shame I couldn’t make the most of their absence by running yesterday! I think it’s also fair to say that the league has never influenced whether or not I went to an event.

Tiring Test Way

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

434It’s that time of year again for the Test Way Relay. In the past we’ve always run legs towards the end of the Way but, for a change, Christine was running the first leg from Inkpen Hill to Linkenholt and I was taking the second leg from Linkenholt to Stoke.
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Time trial

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

Yesterday evening we headed over to the University playing fields at Eastleigh for the running club’s time trial event. The two and a half lap course was near enough 5km (give or take 50 metres) and the time of 17:51 I clocked was pretty much what I would have expected. With a little better preparation (arriving more than five minutes before the start having not spent the afternoon sat in meetings and no long runs in the New Forest on the proceeding two days) it would be interesting to see how much faster I could go. Christine, I suspect, was just happy to make it round, with Emma staying very well behaved for the period whilst we were both out.

Tour of Britain

Thursday, August 16th, 2007

413No – I haven’t been reading Harry Potter all of this time. We’ve been away on holiday for the past couple of weeks and without network connectivity for most of that time. Our primary destination was the Scottish 6-Days orienteering event held on Speyside, up in the Highlands of Scotland. However, we decided to make the most of my being off work and have a fairly leisurely drive up there showing off Emma to various relatives on the way.
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Janesmoor Pond RR10

Friday, July 20th, 2007

Wednesday saw what was probably my last RR10 of the year (we’re likely to be away for Stoke Park Woods and IBM hosts the last race of the year). It was a new course for me, out at Janesmoor Pond in the New Forest. I was warned that it was undulating and wasn’t disappointed (my watch measured over 300m of ascent in 6.8km which is positively mountainous for round here!). The course also now leaves the gravel tracks to cut through the middle of the first loop meaning there was also be some mud to be had.
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Dorset Coast Path Relay

Sunday, July 8th, 2007

382Yesterday the Dorset Coast Path Relay was blessed with the first sunshine for weeks. The route runs from Lyme Regis along to the ferry terminal at the end of Studland Bay. I was down for a leg from Lulworth Cove to Kimmeridge Bay. My pre-race preparation wasn’t ideal: Christine fed me my lunch as we were driving down; the combination of the team being 25 minutes ahead of schedule at this point and fighting our way through the sun seeking traffic meant I had just half an hour for my legs to unwind; and I was still watering the bushes when Matt Whipple was spotted sprinting down the hill towards us!
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