Life in Sunny Dunny

Edinburgh Nights (and Sunday afternoons)

2011-10-11T23:24:00.003+01:00

Photo: Arthur's Seat. Not a bad little location for running.
One significant event that took place this summer was that Andrew finally left his local team Dunbar Colts. Whilst the pull of playing footy with his pals was strong, he had to accept that some of his mates are not all good at footy. In order to progress he had to move on to a team of better players. Our gratitude goes out to the Dunbar coaches who kindly gave up so many hours to train the lads and see them gradually progress to the 2nd Division, where they are doing okay.
After searching for a new club, and being scouted for others, he decided to go with Calvary Park. They are based in Edinburgh and so the tedious car journeys back and forth have begun. Fortunately they play right next to Arthur's Seat and close to the city centre. I have just enough time to go out and run it before kick off (well I miss the first 10 minutes so I must go quicker). My challenge is to do a lap of the big hill and run to the top without a stop. I am so far about 100 meters short of the top, but I do save a little sprint to reach the trig point and impress the numerous tourists who are up there. I am keeping a note of their nationalities as they usually like to have a natter. Germans, Americans, French, Indian and Japanese. I've ended up taking a few photos of them. i don't mind as it gives me time to take in the fantastic views. With the dark nights drawing in, I'd better get some new batteries for my head torch.
Running in Dunbar is a solitary experience usually. I like that as it gives me space to think and do my own thing. Arthur's Seat is in contrast full of runners. It gives me someone to chase, and today I was particularly pleased to get into a challenge with a cyclist going up hill, who I eventually passed. Also up there is an old railway and long tunnel going under the hill called the Innocence rail Way. I followed it and ended up in places around Edinburgh that I did not know existed. Here's a link Innocence railway
As for the football? It's not a bad team and we are seeing the best and worst of Scottish football with mainly wins. The travel is a pain but that is one of the few downsides of living out on a limb. The up side is running around one of Edinburgh's more scenic spots. If you ever visit I'd recommend the hike up.

Who knows where the time goes?

2011-09-07T00:08:00.005+01:00

It's September and a whole summer has passed without posting an update on what exciting things have been happening. Rater than bore you all with one long post, I will try and stick a few different things up. Basically the last 2 and a bit months have been taken up by 1) holidays 2) Work 3) Very little running.

The summer has been a good one with plenty packed into it. It started off with a 2 week trip to Spain. So that's a good place to start. Now whilst there I did manage to get myself to one of the 2 10km races I'd planned to do. I did try and go to the other but ended up in a village of the same name, but was lacking the 'montana' for the mountain race. Bemused bathers at the local pool looked on in wonder as I asked where the race was. But I did make it to the other race and here's the first of my summer reports.

Spanish Running Festival

I'll tell you about the rest of the holiday later.

A Night out in Bamburgh

2011-06-20T23:21:00.002+01:00

Had a nice trip over to Bamburgh the other night to see our Sarah and co who were staying there with the Woodcocks. Woody is getting ordained next week so it was nice to have time to catch up before he does the dirty deed of kissing the bishops ring. Bamburgh is less than an hour away and is very nice. I can see a camping trip there coming off some time. We headed for the beach as it was a warm evening. Whilst there we had (as Woody described it) 'man fun'. Beer (for non drivers), footy and dune diving. There were some cracking dunes and diving off them had to be done, despite it being slightly high and causing an involuntary wink of the old rusty bullet hole! Anna & Woody haven't changed much since they were teenagers back at Criccieth. Well Woody has gone a bit grey (better than being ginge I say) and both are wearing well now they have the additional bundles of joy of twins. It was a brief encounter but one to cherish. Sadly we will miss the ordination and after service bbq at the Fox. I feel Anna's pain as they move from York to a place that is one vowel away from Hell. All in the call of duty I suppose!

Pond Life

2011-05-26T23:36:00.002+01:00

I got a message on Facebook asking me if I wanted a pond. Seemingly someone was chucking theirs out (minus the water and carp) and was going to become landfill the next day if it wasn't claimed. The photo made it look quite small so I took the car around and realised it was approximately 6ft long, 4ft wide and 1.5ft deep. Fortunately I managed to squeeze it into the boot so it was wedged in place. Then after a careful journey up the high street over the cobbles I got it into the back garden. So the with pick axe in hand the bank holiday was taken up digging a big hole in the garden, assisted by Andrew. It needs a bit of landscaping still but before I do that I have got to sift through all the spoil looking for gold! Yes my wedding ring came off and somewhere in the hole is my ring. Not happy at all and I feel naked without it. People will be talking thinking I've done a Giggsy or something. I had some great holidays there and i do miss Wales, but not in a Giggsy sort of way.

Back to the pond, Despite coming with an expensive filter and other pond gadgetry, this one is going to be a wild one and I will let mother nature manage it. Failing that I am sticking a heater in it and we're having a hot tub. Bets are on as to which child is going to be the first one to fall in.

Penicuik 10km

2011-05-14T23:16:00.003+01:00

The multi choice Saturday came to be and I opted for the 10km race. STV was not showing the FA Cup Final. Instead they were showing the Alan Titchmarsh Show and Midsommer Murders. The race was not in Pencaitland as I carelessly put on the previous post, but in the town of Penicuik. A lovely backdrop to this race is the Pentland Hills and the course itself is rather hilly too. So much so that the talk in the post race feed & chit chat was it adds around 60-90 seconds to most people's runs.

188 runners set off, narrowly avoiding the huge archery tournament that was going on next to us. I felt sorry for any Mods passing through Penicuik today! Anyway the course takes you immediately up a hill. The well wishing marshall lied and said it leveled out...but not for a long way was the bit they forgot to add. It's been about 3-4 years since I ran a 10km so I couldn't decide how to pace it. I decided on trying to keep up or even pass those in front. It worked mostly but after 5km I realised that the more experienced racers of this distance use their first 5km to warm up and then step up a gear or two for the last 5. This meant a number of runners passed me but I was confident I would be in the top 20. I could hear the snort of a runner behind me for ages. As supporters kept saying 'keep going Adele' I realised a woman was on my tail. I held her back for most of it which was a nice downhill stretch, but in the last 800 meters my lungs were making some strange noises, my spirit was dim and then I got a fly in my eye and I lost the edge. Still happy enough with 17th place and 5th in my age, but I was not happy with my 39:12....but if I take 60-90 seconds off it gives me an idea of how I'd do on a flat course. I am after anything near 36. I'll try and find some more to do and see what I can get. I have also spotted a couple of 10km in Barcelona that are on when we head there for our holidays. I would like to give them a go.

Decisions Decisions

2011-05-11T23:24:00.000+01:00

What a day we have coming up on Saturday. So much to choose from.
- Pipe Band Day: Not very nice on the old earole's but a good old community gathering. from 8am onwards we will be able to enjoy the drone of the devils instrument.
- The Dunbar Regatta. The first in decades and a few friends taking part down at the harbour. Hats off to those who have built their own boat and are now ready to race it. I am tempted to join them but like football, it is in conflict with my running which is far more enjoyable.
- The FA Cup Final. Okay, not until 3pm which for me is late in the day, but worth a watch. I have grown to dislike City more and more, although I do like the loyalty of their fans. I can't put my finger on why but I will be pleased to see the cup head to Stoke rather than Manchester. I had a nasty boss who was a city fan, along with his miserable wife, and the thought of any kind of suffering being inflicted on them is to be relished.
- Pencaitland 10km. Looking like the favourite simply because it is a race not on a Sunday and I have not done a 10km for years now. I did a 3km on the track the other day and sort of enjoyed it. This ones got a hill so it should split the pack up a bit. I like hills!
- Loch Leven Half Marathon. Less likely because a) I hate the last 4 miles of running into the wind and b) a touch of the old cantbearseditis kicking in.
- Douglas's full immersion baptism in the swimming pool. This could be interesting and we are all hoping they will make use of the big slide before turning on the wave machine. I've reminded the minister no mooning is allowed, or peeing off the diving board.

Alternatively the garden/bed/beach beckon my attention. have a nice weekend.

London Sight Seeing Trip - The VLM 2011

2011-04-19T09:34:00.005+01:00

The climax of my racing calender has been reached (groans & moans included)! Sunday was the London Marathon and both me & Emma joined 360000 others for great day out. Whilst the novelty value has slightly gone doing it a second time, the experience is still quite unique and should be marked as one of those significant moments in our lives. Just the size of it and the mass of support and the sense of occasion make this an event you should try to be part of some time.

Pre race we headed off to the Expo to collect our numbers and check out the running stuff. We had the kids with us and they had a ball running around getting free food and drink, playing on XBoxes and alike and joining in with the festival of running. We took the opportunity to meet the Adidas sports scientists and get our gait analysis done on their computer gadgets. Emma has the weirdest gait ever so it produced some useful information to apply after the marathon. Mine showed my right leg to be near perfect, but my left verging on severe over pronation. Further on, Emma and her cousin Rhona were sold some running socks by some more scientist types. I am not sure what they were supposed to add to their running but as both of them went on to get slower than usual times they can blame the socks! I opted for a high viz vest so I don't end up as roadkill whilst training in the summer. We also got our goody bag which includes a tempting can of beer.

Other race prep included wandering up Oxford Street where the kids were in shopping heaven and I was in hell, especially in that Hamley's Toy Shop which was overpriced and full of little brats and custody dads of the high income variety. I did enjoy the Nike Town store. It's beautifully laid out, almost like an art gallery but well stocked with everything Nike. So I tried on a pair of racing flats in size 12 as they are not readily available on the high street in that size. In fact they were too small and magnified my pronation issue severely. Whilst in there we bumped into some of the Ethiopian elite runners. The women were tiny. Saturday we headed to the Natural History Museum where we soon got bored and fed up of queueing, so we trekked over to the Diana Memorial Play Park at Kensington Gardens to meet out Cath and co for a picnic (Tesco's £2 meal deal).

THE RACE DAY - Having been caught in a rush last year we went down to Blackheath early on the 7.45a.m. from Charing Cross. If you can start that journey at Charing Cross then you should, as all the other stops enroute are packed and on later trains you just would not be able to get on. We arrived with over 90 minutes to spare but it was cool and dry so we just chilaxed! Eventually we went our seperate ways. Rhona to the Blue star with the Championship women, me to the Red 'Good for Age' pen and Emma to the Green Start which doubled up as the celebrity pen. Here she mingled with the stars and started her first 3 miles running with Will Young. My pen looked more like a scene from a prisoner of war camp. Lots of undernourished men caged in with hardly an ounce of fat on them. Chatting to one or two of them I realised that most were going to be sub 3 hour runners and I would be wise to stay behind them at the start. I did quite a bit of stretching here as my hamstrings were suffering from a spasm in my lower back. By the time the start came they were delicate but okay and I decided that as long as I didn't sprint they should warm up. Apart from dodging a few tossers who jumped in front of me, the start went well and over the line in 1 minute and 7.07 for the first mile. My target time was 3:05 and anything quicker would be a bonus, but the pace was quick and my first 7 miles were averaging a 3:00 pace. Then my GPS stopped working so I had to resort to the clock and my pace band which was a 3 hour pace (they didn't have a 3:05). I kept a good pace and slowed down a bit but not a lot and drank something at most of the water stops.

I was running for The Christie cancer charity and wore their vest with my name. I know some people find having their name called off putting, but I found it helpful towards the end of the race. At mile 20 I was tired and it was hot. The sun blazing made those showers a must. But as I went in, the cold/hot ccombo sent my hamstring in to a cramp. I'd been expecting it so I knew that the only thing to do is stop and stretch and go. It worked and so only 30 seconds max lost there. With 3 miles left I had not really been focussed on my pace, when I realised I was within 20 minutes of a sub 3 hour. Foolishly I decided to up it a gear and tried to crack it. Needless to say I quickly cramped up again, and again. The crowd gasped as I pulled up, but then really shout and scream encouragement to keep going, and when I did they were really giving it some. The last mile is just awful as people are collapsing all around, just minutes from finishing. I knew my family would be waiting just outside Buckingham Palace so I needed to stay in one piece to give them a wave and to look good for the finish. They were all there and it gave me a boost to finish well. 385 yards to go and the clock was turning 3:06 but with my 1 minute line crossing to factor in I was right on track for a 3:05. In fact 3:05.10 to be precise! Exactly 2 minutes off my PB.

Crossing the line is surreal. The volume of noise from the crowd is loud, but as you pass through those famous red finishing funnels it suddenly stops and you are stood amongst other runners looking dazed. It's how I'd imagine the scene to be after a bomb goes off. People in shock, disorientated, some collapsed, others in tears, some with bodily functions out of control and others just glad to be alive. It took me a 4 minutes to bring myself to move, because that's when Rhona came in looking slightly fed up with here 3:09. Not that she should be because she was still 11th in her age group despite not getting a pB.

We headed to the Horse Guards Parade to meet up with the The Christies lot and everyone else. Emma was still running but soon finished with a 3:53. Slightly slower than her pB but conditions were tough. She did enjoy it though and will have to do another marathon quicker to get a guaranteed good for age place next time. Will I do it again? I hope so but there are others I'd like to try too. Meanwhile my legs are in agony and it could be a couple of weeks before I run again.

Busy month

2011-04-07T22:40:00.002+01:00

It's silly season again. These Christian festivals certainly generate lots of work for me in the schools. This last week alone I have been working with 300+ youngsters presenting the Easter story in some fairly creative ways. Top of the list had to be today's performance where we had a clown juggling knives over our RME teacher. Had it gone wrong it would have been a perfect opportunity for him to explain the finer details of circumcision! Dunbar has a growing team of volunteers who are now helping me do this kind of stuff and I think they enjoy it too.

Over the last month I have done my annual pilgrimage to York with P5's...twice! 4 classes is too much for 1 trip so we split them up. I think this was either my 9th or 10th visit with school and I am now familiar with the local history, stories and locations of quality shops like Poundland! It was a surprise hit as the little n's spent their pennies on novelty gifts for loved ones back home. It's cheaper than those over priced gift shops, but the range of goods is quite different too. One girls dad will be delighted to open his gift of a tape measure, whilst another will be moved by the packet of dog biscuits and Brillo Pads. On trip 1 I accompanied Stuart's class and had a great time. Trip 2 a month on saw better weather and over 15 kids who got up for the 7.30am run on the race course. I managed a few extra miles myself too, keeping on top of that relentless marathon training torture. I always say it, but I thoroughly enjoy listening to Danelaw Dave the Viking re-enactment bloke tell the 60-70 minute story of Thors Hammer. Good to see the gift of story telling being used in a modern world of multi media.

The marathon is next week, and I am tapering down so enjoying some fine jogs along the beach the last couple of evenings. Spring sunsets and a warm wind make for the perfect close to the day. Our 'The Christie' vests arrived today and we have raised a small amount for them through our Just Giving page . We are not under any pressure to raise anything, but I know some of you might just want to support us or the Christie by sponsoring us. Feel free to give what you want to, I'm just happy to allow my sport be of some small benefit to others.

Talking of running, I was delighted to see our Dunbar Primary School cross country team reclaim their trophy in the East Lothian competition the other day. I'd helped train them through the winter so I was pleased for them getting such good results. The winning time on 1 mile course was 6:13...pretty quick for an 11 year old.

Other news...Emma's sister had a girl...Catriona. Much debate and discussion as to whether this is pronounced Catriona (as in C & the Waves...hairy armpitted German woman) or Cat Re:Owner. I think that's about the news for now so I shall probably next write after the marathon, as we are heading off a few days early to the Big Smoke. I saw the list of celebrities today...not impressive unless you count extras from Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and chefs of lesser know eateries as being important. There were a few I shall be looking for though. Her off the Apprentice with vinegar tits, former MUFC star and womaniser Dwight Yorke and the 2 ladies from Bucks Fizz!

Red Lace Day

2011-03-16T22:54:00.002Z

The red laces arrived in the post on Monday. No, this is not some sort of coded message or medical term, it marks the arrival of our London Marathon pack...which also translates into HELP IT'S ONLY A MONTH AWAY!

The training is sort of going well. I have managed a few 20 milers now and one was slow, one was quick and then on Sunday somewhere in between. I am trying to learn from my mistakes and with just one more to go I hope i will get it right. I am not racing this year before the marathon, so I am really having to use my built in pace judgement detector on the day.

It looks like London is going to be a busy place that weekend. Along with the 35000+ runners, their families and friends, there is also going to be half of the north west of England as the FA in their stupidity have put both the Man Utd v Man City, and Stoke v Bolton semi finals on at Wem-ber-ley that weekend. The FA have got their figures wrong as they are only expecting 20,000 runners. What a merry time it will be on the streets of London and even better still on the trains. Still, what dream weekend that would be a derby semi on the Saturday, marathon on Sunday. Fingers crossed!

Wild Things

2011-03-06T22:54:00.002Z

It's creeping up to that time of year when everything bursts into life. I love spring for the wildlife and I went out for a 13.75 mile training run at 7.30am today and immediately encountered loads of it. First up, some visually impaired deer in the woods. I say that because I was wearing a high viz shirt and they did not notice me until I was 10ft away from them. Hovering above was the sparrow hawk. The trees were full of small birds and the noise of their bird song at that time of the day is amazing. That was my first mile! Later as i passed through the John Muir Country Park
and passed the salt marshes and estuary, herons, swans and geese were plentiful. Further on up to Law Head is a vantage point that takes in the full range of the Lammermuir Hills , which were looking very inviting. Maybe next week for my long slow run? A good run at just over 95 minutes today and feeling strong enough to enjoy the views.

Eye Eye

2011-03-06T22:36:00.002Z

I went to do my embarrassing dad duties on Saturday and watched Isabelle play hockey. I arrived 5 minutes into the game only to discover Isabelle sidelined holding an ice pack on her head. Hit in the eye with a hockey ball after 3 minutes of play. Fortunately any damage is superficial and she's got a cracking black eye today.

Earlier in the week I discovered the joys of emergency dental treatment. Not for me, but for Stuart who was in a really bad way with tooth ache. On the advice of the dental nurse on the phone, we made the trip into Edinburgh to get it checked out. Needless to say there's a bit of work to be done there and biscuits are off the menu for a while.

A bit nippy

2011-03-01T22:48:00.006Z

Had to visit the Dr today with my latest running acquired injury (for some people, the next few lines of this post might sound a bit sexy!). I did a long hard one the other day in the rain. My wet t-shirt was clinging to my chest and consequently a bit of friction on the nipples led to the outer skin wearing away and blood was drawn. A week later a nice big lump appeared on the left nipple which was quite sore. Was I having some sort of phantom pregnancy thing and would I find myself lactating at the sound of baby cries? Not quite, but some weird puss did ooze out when I squeezed it, but I don't think it was edible. Anyway, the doc reckons it is an infection so I'm on course of med's for a week to see if I can reduce it a cup size or two. Meanwhile I have taken to wearing blister plasters for extra protection. Not a pretty sight and one hope I don't have an accident and end up in hospital with a lot of explaining to do to the nurses. Hang on...this is the same scenario my mum used to paint when she tried to make me and our Colin wear clean undies. "If you got knocked over and taken to hospital what would they think if you had dirty undies on?" (I did get knocked over once and sent to hospital and thankfully I passed the Grubby Undies Detector test).

Meanwhile back on the nipple...I enjoyed reading this article about those London people who really are a bunch of tits.

I wonder if they do raspberry ripple?

64

2011-02-21T00:04:00.002Z

It's been a long week of running for the pair of us. 63 miles between us over Saturday and Sunday, and my total miles last week went up to 64. The mileage is up but my pace is terrible so more work to be done. I don't really feel like I am reaping any benefits from all the additional training I am doing. Perhaps when this chesty cough clears up things might improve. Nothing slows you down more than a dockers omelette in your lungs first thing in the morning.

Shocking behaviour

2011-02-15T23:19:00.003Z

Stuart has been up to no good again at school. Once a month they get to take an electric toy in to class for others to play with. Whilst most kids take in game consoles and fun games like Operation, Stuart went against all our orders and took with him....a taser! Well it's not quite the fully working taser that the plod use to stun felons, but it is still an alarming little device that you play with a friend. Basically it's a reactions game and the slowest one gets an electric shock....what fun! So when I went to collect him his teacher told me she'd confiscated his taser. "What taser?" "The one he said you told him he could bring in to school". After electrocuting several girls and the class hamster, the teacher wanted to find out what the fuss was about and ended up electrocuting herself. Stuart's response was "mum said I could bring it". Devious little devil. And if you are wondering which irresponsible adult bought it him....the answer is the Methodist Church who gave it him as a Christmas pressie.

Beyond the Point of No Return

2011-02-04T12:54:00.002Z

Well the marathon training is well and truly under way in preparation for London in April. Both me & Emma have decided to follow the same programme, albeit at different paces. And unlike previous attempts to follow something, I am so far sticking to it. But it is really hard work. For 6 days a week we have to have a run. Some days that is only for 3-4 miles, but the long ones at the weekends are up to 17 miles now. The effect of all this is that I am running well but it means being permanently hungry and fatigued. I am eating more than ever but I am now losing weight. Since Christmas I have dropped around 4lbs or more, so I am not actually sure how much of me will be left if I continue to lose it at this rate. Taking on a marathon seriously is a big ask in terms of time and energy. However with around 10 weeks to go I feel like there is no turning back now....all that effort will be wasted. besides which, I have booked train tickets to London so there's no getting out of it now. The relentless silent call of the training programme has been a good motivator. On these cold wintery nights and days when I would previously have a dose of cant -be-arsed-itis, I find myself out running. It's not normal...I don't think I am..Weirdo!

Working order

2011-01-20T23:10:00.002Z

Just to reassure readers that the washing machine is now fully functional and the smell of dirty running gear is slowly beginning to fade in the house. However I fear some of my base layers were left too long without exposure to the old Daz. I get roughly 2 minutes of exercise out of them before they begin to hum. Any solutions for removing offensive smells from clothing would be warmly welcomed by fellow runners.

Looking forward to starting to coach the cross country team again next week. Could this be the year we reclaim the East Lothian Primary Schools trophy? I've already got some of them asking if we can do a couple of laps of the racecourse when we go to York in a few weeks time. I'm up for it as I am trying to stick to my marathon training plan. So far so good, but as the mileage creeps up, the time for each run does too.

Out of Service

2011-01-11T07:38:00.004Z

I hate the piss poor service we get in this country. I don't know if it is the same elsewhere in the developed world, but the distinct lack of pride and effort put into people's work and businesses is probably reflected in why so many of them go to the dogs. I hate the way it goes without saying that the customer is treated as subnormal, second class and that the people we buy from are doing us some sort of favour. I hate the way they do everything on their terms and expect us to wait.

Take for instance our 11 month year old Beko washing machine. In mid December we stuck it on a hot wash and it broke. We called out the repair man as it was under warranty. Except you have to call Glasgow and they arrange it in one of those 'some time on Tuesday' slots. Some time on Tuesday arrived and after waiting in all day, the call comes in to say that the engineer is off sick. Another slot of 'some time on Thursday next week' was arranged and yet again a mid day a call comes in to say he is stuck in North berwick in snow and won't be traveling the 12 miles extra to Dunbar. By now we were at Christmas so another time was set....and yes another fail. Finally we get offered a slot on Hogmany. Beyond all belief he actually turned up (at exactly the same time as the heating engineer who fixed our heating) and looked at it. "You need a new motor, it will be next week as I'll have to go to Luton for it. The office will call you when it's in". A week later they hadn't called and low and behold it's another week before we get sight of Mr Beko.

The knock on effect of this is my running gear is getting really smelly. I'm trying to reduce the amount of washing so I've taken to wearing it more than once and drying it out. Mmm! Hurry up Mr Beko

2010 bids farewell

2011-01-05T22:50:00.004Z

That's the end of another year. A quick look back over the blog reminds me of some of the highlights.

January - It started watching Stuart doing a Lonny Dook in North Berwick. I opted for towel holding in a bid to preserve my manhood. Soon after a weekend away with the clan St Margarets in the lakes giving us time to catch up with old and getting older friends. the low point was my marathon training hitting the rocks with some dodgy swollen ankle thing. A whole month and a bit wiped off my training plan for London. It was a long month as the schools return was delayed by a week due to snow. It was the first proper snow and we spent almost the whole week sledging on the golf course. It's funny how a year on the novelty of snow has well and truly worn off.

February was uneventful. I regained some fitness and did the National Cross Country championships.

March saw an early Easter and the second and very successful Holy Ghost Walk. One of those rare occasions where the churches pulled together and let their hair down. I did the Alloa half marathon in a half decent time and it was one of 2 visits to York with the school kids.

April saw me pull off a PB at the London Marathon. It was a surprise to me that the crowd support and the sense of occasion would be so good and I'm looking forward to doing it all again this year. The volcanic ash cloud lingered around most of Europe but in Sunny Dunny the sun was out and we headed to the beaches and the gold course.

May saw yet another trip to York and also school related a great sense of pride when we finally won the East Lothian Primary Schools athletics competition. We'd worked hard for that...30 years to be precise!

June was Andrews last year in Primary School. Out with a bang, he and his mates and Wagette's hired a big limo to take them to the school prom. It's been good working with his year and I continue to do so in the grammar school. On the racing front i crashed and burnt at Loch Leven's half marathon.

July saw us take our first ever fly drive holiday. The warmer climate of Tuscany was our destination, which was stunning in parts. Apart from getting fined for jumping a toll barrier, we enjoyed the life of Riley in our Eurocamp budget tent! the latter part of July was also spent in a tent...just 12 miles up the coast at Scoughall where I was helping out on the SU Camp.

August took me to the Edinburgh Festival for the first time where I met up with the Jones' of Burnage! We also had a very good holiday club with the churches in August and it rounded off well a long busy summer. The was a tragic end for some. 2 of our Guinea Pigs croaked in the same afternoon. Unknown causes but the long haired one lives to tell the tale.

September brought new life in the arrival of Myfanwy over in Oz for Colin & Sharon.

October saw us visit London twice! First for the wedding of Rory and Anna and the second time for a jolly with the kids at half term. Good times were had by all. Another baby arrived. Elsie became the latest addition to our Sarah's lot. Apart from getting attacked by a swarm of wasps, it was another good month.

November was most memorable for it's rather early snowfall. Yet again the schools shut in fear of some awful thing happening (like kids getting an education or learning some basic survival and adaptability skills). Something I have not mentioned much is that Andrew's football team take me all over Edinburgh and further afield as they take on a mixed bag of teams. They are playing well and they came close to getting into the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup. And Emma is now coaching the 3rd year girls hockey team. After a disastrous opening season last year, things have turned a corner and as it stands they are on to 4 wins in a row....including beating the formidable North Berwick.

December will too be remembered for snow. It all ground to a halt and brought a premature end to what had been a very enjoyable year. I hate it when you look back at a year and nothing has gone on. Not 2010, it was a good one!

All over for another year

2011-01-04T23:31:00.004Z

Photo: Dunbar's decorations in storage for another year

Ah that's the last of the baubles put away in the garage, although i am sure there are a few stray ones lurking behind the sofa. The good thing about decorations are that they hide the mess. Now they are down, that dirty chipped paint work that had been hiding behind the garland was fully exposed. With time on my hands the job had to be done. Out came the magnolia and the hall and a bedroom were done, helped by Stuart and Andrew who were so enthusiastic that they even painted each other.

Christmas went well. The build up to it at school came to nothing as our friend the snow caused it to shut early on the Wednesday and never reopen. Numerous Christmas party's and nativity plays never happened. No time for farewells and Christmas greetings, just a mass exodus of staff heading home to avoid the snow monster. This did us a favour because it meant getting an early start for our journey south. With our street being completely covered in the deepest snow yet, I wasn't sure if we would make it beyond Adsa, but luck have it, this was localised snow and everywhere else was clear. So we had a smooth journey, giving us bags of extra time and leaving us with the the rare opportunity to call in at the New Balance Factory Shop in Shap. It's always a bit hit and miss in there. Emma got a very good pair of cushioned shoes for no less than any other place, but I managed to get a good pair of support shoes for £15! I was tempted by all the other shoes in the size 12 and over bargain boxes but the Christmas pinch was being felt.

Once in Manchester it was a great few days of soaking up the Christmas joy, with assistance from my dads malt whisky selection and a banquet of food. We had a shopping trip to Stockport to pick up a few loose ends and watch the people. I like Stockport. It's a good looking town but it could do with increasing its gene pool a bit. Shop after shop were filled with slightly (through natural causes and general wearing down by life's hardships) disfigured and ugly people. Obviously all related and from one of Stockport's many small estates where having a 3rd nipple and hairy palms is standard. Later that day we saw the more refined side of Stockport at its fantastic Plaza Theatre where we saw the pantomime of Peter Pan. This is what theatre going is all about. A beautiful art decor building saved from ruin and life as a bingo hall, restored and run by volunteers, including an organ recital before the panto. Brilliant to experience. The show was short on gags and didn't really transfer into panto despite Boycee's performance (him off Only Fool and Horses). Nevertheless we enjoyed it and it was a good way to spend Christmas Eve.

It's anyones guess who will turn up at my mum and dads on Christmas Day. Throughout my life I have joined many a waif and stray for the festive merriments. This time we were joined by our Jane's Andy's lad Mark, Aunty Dorothy and Uncle Frank and John! I am not sure who he was but he fitted in well. We had been over at St Margaret's Church earlier for the service. After which it is a a sort of speed dating scenario of trying to see everyone before the verger shows us all the door.

We didn't do a lot in Manchester this time. We went out for a walk with the whole of the Pugmire family. Nice to see them all but really too many kids, dogs, distractions and not enough time to get beyond 'oooh haven't you grown...or how bald are you'. I managed to get a few runs too. The most memorable was a 10 miler into Stockport and back via the Mersey which had frozen over. Running there requires a lot more forethought, and consideration to things like a) how many roads will I need to cross b) will I get mugged c) am I likely to get mauled to death by a stray pitbull. That said, there are a lot of runners about and i'd love to do a race down there some time soon.

So with all the pressies opened and a MacDonald family party to get back for, we returned on an equally easy journey. Not sure what's happening next year. Rumour is our Colin is back from Oz, but it is probably our turn to host it. What will we do?

Keep off the grass

2010-12-20T15:59:00.002Z

Went out for a lovely 15 miler on Saturday afternoon, heading out to Whittighame and back. It was very fresh and clear skies lit the route. For most of the run I was undisturbed, apart from one short spell where lots of 4x4's went past, presumably on some sort of hunt. There were some great views on this very cold night, and apart from a few stretches of road, the ice was not too bad. It was dark for the last 5 or 6 but I managed to adjust to the light and only used my little torch to warn off the Land Rover brigade. So, it was unfortunate that on the only street lit part of my run (Spott Roundabout to Asda) that I decided to step up the pace for a sprint finish. Side stepping a lamp post I skirted the edge of the grass and just clipped a little tuft of turf sticking up. In normal conditions it would have no impact whatsoever, but at -5C it had become like a brick sticking out. Consequently I stubbed my tow and went flat on my face....right outside Adsa on the busiest shopping day of the year. The humiliation of it. I picked myself up and ran the remaining 400 meters in pain but daring not to look back to see if anyone had seen me. A quick assessment of my injuries revealed the stubbed toe was actually a cracked big toe which had turned black. Ouchy ouch! Not the sort of start I needed to my marathon training, but I have done a big run before Christmas, so psychologically I one up. But just when you thought it was safe to go back on the streets...snow!

Snow Running

2010-12-09T07:03:00.002Z

Photo: Santa Clause is running to town!

Nearly 2 weeks on the snow has not gone. The last of it came down on Monday and then froze over and has remained there ever since. It's gone very cold and the north of England and Scotland is now just one big ice rink. Emma clocked -13C in the car on Tuesday, although it has been as low as -19 in Haddington by the Tyne.

Nevertheless, with a plan to get fit by Christmas in preparation for my London Marathon training I have had to find some means of getting a run in. Whilst snow is a little bit tricky to run in, iced over snow is a nightmare. On sunday I took part in the clubs annual 'Festive Half Marathon'. It is supposed to be a non competitive run open only to club members and a few others invited guests. As the snow lay thick on the ground we set off in groups and I was treating it as my Sunday long run. As we trudged through the John Muir Way the sight of untouched snow on the fields around Belhaven and Tynningham looked like they had fallen off a Christmas card. The 'festive' bit involved me wearing a Santa hat and beard. It was a good way of keeping my face warm, but I think I may have breathed in some toxic fibre from the beard which disintegrated the further on I went.

I ran round with Rhona most of the way, but as we hit the tractor tracks and deep snow for the second time I used my height advantage and long legs to speed ahead. I could see another runner ahead of me so for the last 2 miles I made it into a race and caught and passed him clocking a slow 1:40. However the winners only did it in 1:34 so I shouldn't be too disappointed. More importantly I felt fit and enjoyed the run. So now the challenge is to keep it up and try and get through the festive season without pigging out and vegetating. Tough choices will be made Quality Street vs fruit, mince pies vs energy bar, beer vs Lucozade, t.v. vs running!

Cancel everything...winter has arrived

2010-12-02T23:18:00.003Z

The snow is still here and it's got deeper and it's still coming. This has turned an already magnificent landscape into something quite outstanding. Get out and enjoy it whilst it lasts as it is a rare occasion seeing local landmarks covered in so much snow. Today I headed over to Traprain Law to get a few snaps of it. However when we got up close we were drawn to the huge icicles haging off the quarry and ended up wandering through quite deep snow to see it up close. From there you could see miles of untouched pure white stuff. Then there are all the creatures that fight for survival. I was out for a run tonight and what I thought was a rock in the middle of a snow covered road turned out to be around 10 partridges gathered together to keep warm. Also you can spot stuff more easily as they don't blend in well with snow. Today I saw a Woodcock in Lochend Woods, a first for me so I'm happy with that. Of course other creatures fighting for survival are people. Adsa did not have a single loaf of bread left last night. We are all going to starve and end up eating each other.

The downside of the snow is everything closes. No swimming, football, running club and school. I was supposed to be at a staff retreat all week and that too never happened. The school has been closed all week and we are now bored and out of shape. I have managed to get a few runs in and taken advantage of the light snow gives to the normally dark country lanes. On both occasions I have hit a blizzard. But once it cleared I was treated to some great skies and stars.

The other downside is that it brings out the worst in some people. Some people have to find complaint about it, like "why are the pavements covered in snow?' Perhaps the snow hadn't read the rules of these upstarts life manual which states in paragraph 45 of section 3 that under no circumstances must anything ever cause inconvenience to Mr J Worth as he is actually the only person in the world that is of any importance." Another complaint is why are the schools shut? Errm because the teachers can't get in perhaps. That said I think it would be hilarious to send all the kids in anyway and let them have a week of ruling it for themselves. Emma suggested teachers should spend the week clearing roads.

Anyway, with snow like this I have been taking a few snaps. Here is a link to the, if you fancy a butchers!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56540702@N04/sets/72157625384863359/

Snow Time

2010-11-30T08:58:00.006Z

It's not yet December and the snow is here. Not just a dusting but proper snow. I went for a run on Sunday and although the main roads had been half cleared and were easy enough to run on, when I reached the country lanes around Pitcox I found drifts of snow on closed roads up to my waist. That 11 mile run was a good work out as effectively I was doing high knee steps for at least 5 miles, and the old thighs suffered for it the next day. The up side of it was seeing some stunning landscapes untouched by anyone (there are now some size 12 footprints in them and a couple of yellow patches where I got caught short).

There are several pairs of wet socks and gloves lying around the house as a result of kids having some great snowball fights, making snowmen and sledging. The schools are closed because half the staff would struggle to get in safely, so I'm stuck at home and on driving duty. Emma's buses are running, but when and where to is anyone's guess. So I've been on a trip to Haddington where it is even deeper and looks like a Christmas card. I had a wander around the graveyard at St Mary's because the grave stones look great with snow on them and I got a few pictures.

Everything is called off when it snows. All the sport is off which might cause Andrew to go into meltdown given that he normally does football everyday but Saturday (and then he ball boy's for Dunbar). He has resorted to making flapjack...3 times in as many days. There are oats all over the house as he is not the most tidy chef!

So we will wait and see if Scotland gets on with it, or if this is going to be a long drawn out winter. Meanwhile it's off to the 12th green at Winterfield for a spot of sledging.

White Men Can't Jump

2010-11-20T21:34:00.004Z

Popped along to watch my first ever semi pro basketball game last night. The East Lothian Peregrines vs The Glasgow Rocks. What a game...fast paced, a few scraps, plenty of action. I had no idea what the rules were but it was very entertaining. What really grabbed my interest is who these players actually are. They all must have day jobs and it was fun trying to match them. 2 guys were the blokes off the 118 advert, so that was easy. Another was obviously a teacher...specifically him off Ferris Buellers Day Off. Others were harder to match but I reckon the two smooth operators were actually Phone4U salesmen and the biggest fella was obviously doing it as part of his care in the community programme. The Peregrines won and I for one will be back to see them in action.

Cultural Exposure

2010-11-06T23:08:00.000Z

Half term arrived quicker than we'd planned, so we made a last minute decision to go and visit the family in Manchester and do a few days in London. When we moved to Dunbar we were well aware of how much cultural diversity we were leaving behind, and so we try and make a point of exposing the children to lives different to those they see in sleepy Dunbar.

We headed into Manchester first of all where we briefly saw my mum and dad, who spent most of the week back and forth to York where our Sarah had just had her baby girl Elsie. We did a shopping spree and introduced Isabelle to Aflecks Palace in Manchester. For those not familiar with this retail outlet, it is an odd collection of independent boutiques selling very trendy clothes, furniture, stationary, music, etc. Lots of weird looking people, mixed with very bland looking folk like myself. I've not been in there for yonks so it was good to nosey into the world of goths, rockers, SK8R's and alike. Having a curious 9 year old in tow gives you access to all areas...including the tattoo and piercing place. Lots of strange sights and smells too, mostly coming from the large joints being smoked in doorways. Isabelle loved it and I can see it being a regular part of our Manchester trips in the future.

In contrast we also went to Primark. This is another alternative shopping experience where you get to see first hand the labours of.....well...child labourers! All being sold very cheaply and too good to be true. One item of interest was what I can only describe as being an adult size baby grow in the mens department. I am not sure who or what it was for but seemingly they are selling like hot cakes. I was making it clear that I did not want Santa bringing me one, when this woman pipes up how she is getting one for her 24 year old son. If he wants to look like a Telletubby in the bedroom then good look to him!

We also paid a visit to see our Jane's new motor home. Her and Andy have got themselves a Max & Paddy type van. The passion wagon gives them the freedom to head off wherever they want to, and as long as there is a lay by they will be sorted. It was very impressive and quite amazing how so much can be packed into such a small place.

The next day we took a trip to London for a few days. The kids have never been there. Isabelle nearly went once with Brownies, but the 7/7 bombs put Brown Owl off. For some reason our train seats were all spread out, so we nicked someone elses and got ourselves a table. To deter whoever's seats they really were from trying to claim them, I had a routine each station of saying to Sturat in a loud voice 'IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE SICK THEN DO IT IN THIS BAG!". Worked a treat and we had them to ourselves all the way.

We decided to go for a wander on the first evening. The kids quickly mastered the Tube and we enjoyed soaking in the atmosphere of a big city at night. At Leicester Square we stumbled on a movie premier, so we stuck around with the crowds hoping to see someone. And we did...Colin Firth, Ghandi (Ben Kingsley) and Helena Bonner Carter and him off the Pirates films. I was hoping for Wagner off the X-Factor but he did not appear. Later in the week we also saw other celebs, including Rebecca Adlington wandering down the street (her wet hair and goggles gave her away). And on the tube Isabelle found herself sat next to Ben Fogle. Photo: Ghandi was just one of the many stars we bumped into in London

A bargain on the tube! Just as we were about to buy a ticket, this woman gave us two day passes. Kerching! We spent the morning at Camden High Street and market. Having been there a month before we knew the kids would like it. We couldn't get them away and we spent a small fortune on very trendy shoes and Asian food. After that we all had shoppers legs so we opted for the Thames cruise. 80 minutes of sailing up the river with a guide to tell you all about it. Feet up, on board heating and even a coffee shop. Well worth it and a great way to see the miles of amazing London architecture and hear its story. We got off at Greenwich but only raced through a museum as we were too overloaded with info from our tour guide. It was a slightly quicker journey back to the Houses of Parliament giving us more time to recover.

In the evening we headed to the West End. My second in a month...what must folk think. Our choice of show was mainly decided on where there were cheap tickets. Pricilla Queen of the Desert got us £15 seats up in the gods. The ticket man convinced us there would be no obstructed view. He was right...apart from that balcony that was in front of us.....twat! I saw the movie a long time ago but hadn't really given much thought into it's content and suitability for kids. The usher had, and insisted she point it out to us as we tried to get our 9 year old son in. Well this was a cultural trip and what harm would the story of a load of drag queens do him as he played his part in smuggling in bottles of pop and bags of Haribo's past the eagle eyed ushers? The language was a little bit colourful at times, but most of the jokes were lost on him, as was the Thai girl who fires ping pong balls from her fanny! Aside to that it was actually quite good. I enjoyed the theatre of it as much as the show itself seeing how they operated back stage (this was one of the up sides of our budget seats). Afterwards we all got to see London city night life. What a carry on that is, and why anyone would want to head into those bars is beyond me.

Final day we had an early booking at the London Dungeon. I was pleasantly surprised that it had a lot to offer other than failed drama students doing very poor Vince Price/Brian Blessed impressions as they told ghastly stories. There was a couple of rides and it took over 90 minutes to see. The biggest horror was of course the gift shop prices. £9 to get a single photo of yourself looking terrified!

Our last stop was one too many. The Science Museum on the first Saturday of the school holidays is just too much. It was packed with busybody parents trying to interest their kids in science. A certain type too, all orgnaised with their humus and celery sandwiches, home made fruit salad in Tupperware boxes and a guide book that they followed to the letter. Their kids mostly had little interest in the science of what they were doing. They just wanted to do do stuff and play, and so it was toe curling to see the painful efforts of Nigel trying to explain radiation to 3 year old Poppy, or Fifi trying to explain the physics of space travel to Conroy who just wanted to dress up as an astronaut. For us it was a trip too far. Andrew looked like he wanted to start a fight with some of the geeks who salivated over the interactive pc's. I know I have a had enough because I get tired and try and trip kids up who are running around annoying me. We all slumped back on the tube, back to the flat and wound down watching the World Gymnastic Championships, where Britain won a gold. Then it was back to Euston for a return journey with exactly the same seating arrangement as before. My new plan was to be asleep at every stop and to ensure lots of litter and crumbs were spread across the table. It worked a treat too. I'll use that one next time.

Clydebank

2010-11-06T22:46:00.002Z

Andrew's footy takes us to all sorts of places. Last Sunday we had an early start at 7am and headed West to the banks of the river Clyde. Sadly it was all too foggy to actually see it...or much of the pitch when we first arrived. I could smell the Clyde but I could hear planes taking off very near by, so to this day I have no idea where i was. The game was pretty well fought and as predicted the Clydebank boys (Goldenhill Boys Club to be precise) were slightly more physical than most of the East teams. But the ref swiftly stopped that with a yellow card being shown early on. 2 goals just before half time gave Dunbar the lead they needed, but it was a final result of 4-2 that got them through.

The hosts have to be commended. They turned up in smart collared shirts, and the coaches in ties. Because of the fog I couldn't really see where we were but there were many tell tale signs that poverty lurked behind many of the doors in the high rises and council houses. My guess is that this club brings a sense of pride where it is needed. Afterwards we were invited to the pub for hot dogs and chips. I got chatting to the locals and discovered the pub sponsored the team, so the boys were always made welcome. It was one of those pubs a bit like that one on Shameless. Just a huge room, a bar and some framed photos of local landmarks and sporting achievements. Sky Sports was being projected on to the wall with one of those huge 1980's projectors where you have 3 different coloured lenses to tune in. I have not seen one of those for years. Although a bit run down you got the impression this was a place central to the community....along with Gregs the bakers! The bar itself was closed and just as well as I didn't fancy holding on for a pee 2 hours on bumpy M8 after swilling a couple of pints.

So that's them through to round something or other in the Scottish Cup. A home fixture next time where we shall welcome with equal hospitality another team of hopefuls.

The Big Smoke

2010-10-26T15:42:00.000+01:00

A few weeks back me & Emma got away for a weekend.
Well having run around London earlier in the year, the opportunity to properly visit it arose recently when we were invited to a wedding was one not to be missed. We managed to dump the kids with granny and off we went on the train from Berwick on Tweed. Not a bad journey down really and uneventful unless you count the bloke sat next to Emma who sat with one hand down his trousers whilst he surfed the net! (and no it wasn't me!). However, once at London Kings Cross we had our first encounter of life in the Big Smoke...a nutter. I love nutters, they always raise a smile, especially this one who was shouting all sorts of nonsense. Having worked in Stockport for many years I feel well qualified in dealing with nutters and the first rule is don't make any eye contact with them and then avoid any sort of contact with them. I should now add the rule of not allowing your suitcase handle to snap when walking down very long tube station steps. Yes it snapped and began to roll down the steps heading straight for the nutter! It was like that Odessa Steps scene in Battle Potemkin or more recently and equally as well done in The Untouchables. With a large crowd of people in front of the nutter it would have been a Domino Rally effect. Fortunately with just inches to spare, the bag came to a halt and the nutter carried on regardless into his wonderful world of cuckoo land.

We wanted to pack as much in as we could and first stop was Camden Market. My low expectations of London suddenly shot up a notch or two at the sight of this colourful and diverse place. Set by the canal there was an indoor market that had a horse theme going on, including some little shops inside what had once been stables. Amongst the many curious shops, the S&M Barbie & Action Man store caught my eye! Also loads of food places. We were there at 9am and several Chinese, Ethiopian and Indian food bar owners were trying to sell their wares. We opted instead for a full English at a pub. Here we were entertained by 2 French studenty types trying to chat up some girls. Will return there again.

Next stop was Leciester Square to buy some theatre tickets from the half price booth. Then Piccadilly Circus and on a slight detour to Fredricks Column. Emma thought it was Nelson's but on closer inspection the absence of a square and Nelson himself we realised it was a poor imitation. By that time we were lost but found our bearings via Horse Guards Parade. We watched the American and Germans have their photo taken with the soldiers before heading off to find the real Nelson and a quick visit to the National Portrait Gallery where I showed Emma some of Degas finest pieces. Onwards to Covent Garden. What a disappointment it was. Very commercial, over priced and lacking in any real character apart from a few street entertainers who, let's face it, we've all seen before. It's interesting to see how they now all have the same pitch when it comes to asking you for money as if they are one corporate company. Exactly the same pitch used in Edinburgh at the festival.

We changed direction and headed for the Imperial War Museum. Having visited as a kid I've always fancied a return and it was a good mix of old and new. Hanging from the ceiling were WWII planes, whilst on the ground were the remains of a car hit by a car bomb in Iraq. Photo: A car after it was hit by a bomb in Iraq We were both suffering from 'shoppers legs'...you know that horrible tired feeling you used to get when your mum dragged you around Marks', C&A, Littlewoods and BHS all in one day. However, I did drum up some energy to look in at the Holocaust expo. I have studied the Holocaust quite a bit before but this told the story in a new, no holding back sort of way. You hear the story of the rise of the Nazis alongside the story of how the Jews came to Europe and how the tide turned against them. You could see and read about the way neighbours were turned against each other. Sadly I only got half way around before Emma started texting me to hurry up. So that means another return visit too.

The evening was spent at the West End. I've never been to a show so we decided to splash out on a couple of tickets to see 'We Will Rock You'. We headed to the Dominion Theatre where we experienced the phenomenon that is theatre going. Average age around 50-55, well groomed and German! We'd paid £30 each for half price tickets, but do people really pay the full whack and how do they afford it? Inside there is a hard sell programmes £8, or ice cream £3 or £4 for a single bottle of beer. We opted for the corner shop outside and brought it in. We were surrounded by drunk Germans. Noisy sods, but Emma had the joy of a middle aged woman who had no beat and sang horribly out of tune. In a show based on Queen songs this became as entertaining as the show itself, especially when she tried to do the clapping to We Will Rock You, you know the one where you do 2 claps and then put your arms out in front. It was a good show and more a panto than anything else. Ben Elton's humour was evident but as a story it was somewhat frail. Basically the idea is to sing as many Queen songs as possible and in each scene you are wondering which one is next, and how they will make the connection. They whip the audience of 50 somethings to a frenzy, and by the end of it there was a sea of menopausal women waving their arms to Bohemian Rhapsody. That was the West End done and dusted!

Saturday's main feature was the wedding of Rory & Anna, so our day revolved around this. An early start found us wandering up the Embankment to the Tate Modern. The size of the open space inside is impressive...unlike some of the art on display. Some of these artists are taking the piss or maybe are piss artists when they count a white hexagon painted on a slightly different shade of white wall. Or a large curtain laid out on the floor, or better still a work bench, a flask and a pint of milk. I genuinely thought I was in a room under construction when I realised that this was art. Some fool had paid for this lot... Emperors New Clothes me thinks! We then headed to the top floor for a coffee looking out across the Thames. Great views..but what coffee should I buy. I had no idea what the large selection of over priced coffees were and in a panic I decided to get the first one on the list (that's usually the one most like a cup of Gold Blend). So I now know that a double espresso is in fact a dribble of extra strong coffee rocket fuel. I was totally wired for the rest of the day. We did see some good art, including photo's of Germans pre Nazi rule, where the photographer had done portraits of people in a village who lived and worked together. They were totally unaware that 10 years later some of them would be put to death by their very same neighbours.

At the back of the Tate Modern is the Blue Fin office block. A state of the art piece of architecture used as a location for Spooks and many more t.v. and films, and hosues lots of the fashion magazines...quite cool indeed. And it being Open House weekend, we got to have a look around. On the 11th floor is a roof garden overlooking miles and miles of London. The sun was shining and the views were great and it was all for free. Photo: Boris's Bikes from the Blue Fin Building
We then made our way back via the Millennium Bridge and a Salvation Army Brass band playing outside St Paul's Cathedral, and dodging out of the way of hundreds of orienteers who were doing some sort of race.

The wedding was at Spittal Fields. Another interesting place where some sort of japanese festival was going on. We met up with our Sarah & Cath and a small crowd of people who I used to go to Criccieth with. As always it was great to catch up and see old friends. The weeding had an Indian theme as the bride had lived her first 18 years out there. She arrived on a rickshaw and wore a shari. The meal of course was curry and it was a good service too with Rory's dad who is an Archdeacon preaching.

It all finished at 11pm and we got to experience Saturday nights in the Big Smoke. Busier than the day I'd say.

Sunday was time to spend with Emma's sister Claire. We went for a wander to some park which was busy with rich people entertaining their kids. The main reason of course was Emma hope to get a glimpse of Mark Owen of pop boy band Take That, as that is where he hangs out when he's not conducting adulterous affairs. Instead I got to see the hideous sight of something that I can't imagine working anywhere else....'Fit for a Princess' classes. This involves slightly portly 30 something women wearing ill fitting lycra costumes and doing open air aerobics. I nearly choked on my crumpets as I watched them from the pavilion cafe. Our Colin once described leggings like this as looking like 2 boys wrestling in a sleeping bag. Not nice and not cricket doing it within eyeshot of innocent men having a morning coffee. I shall be looking in Hello magazine in the coming weeks to see if any of them achieved their goal of becoming princesses.

After all that excitement we headed back home on the train with a new perspective of London.

Dounans 2010

2010-10-25T22:46:00.004+01:00

Photo: Early morning run...well worth getting up for!
Camp fire.

Just back from my 6th visit to Dounans with all the 150+ Primary 7's in the Dunbar cluster from what was another great week for all. My main duty was to make a film so I got to spend most of the week filming and photographing everyone. Sadly this meant I missed out on taking part in some of the hair raising activities but had fun watching kids do it. The pecking order is well and truly adjusted after Dounans. The quiet kid nobody bothered with at school suddenly turns out to be the bravest and actually has a good sense of humour. Whilst those kids others once looked up to are brought down a peg or two because their 'hard man' image is actually revealed as being very superficial when they bottle it on the flying fox.
For a change there were plenty of blokes on camp (note I was careful not to say camp blokes!). This is good as one failing of primary education is the lack of men involved in it. I think boys and girls need some male role models and it is no wonder boys have a tough time in education when they are only taught by women. There are lots of very good women teachers in all the schools I work in but I think a few male teachers would compliment their efforts, and vice versa. One of the dads there joined me in doing an early morning run with anyone who wanted to join us. 16 turned up for day 1 but we got the impression some were just following the crowd. So on day 2 on of the lads decided to create a route that went around the campsite a few times to help lose those incapable of running further. It worked a treat and we had 12 runners who made it up to the David Marshall Lodge. Day 3 and everyone is knackered. However we were joined by one lad and another teacher and they were rewarded with the best views all week. The sun and mist combo looking up the valley to Stirling made that trip well worth it.
So another year passes by. The first lot I went to Dounans with are now in 5th year. How quickly it passes by but each time with fond memories.

Buzz Off

2010-10-16T12:37:00.003+01:00

Picture: I was still getting wasps off my jacket 10 minutes later

Ouch! that hurt. Flaming wasps nest getting in the way of my walk with the dog. He didn't realise that the big log he tried to fetch me was hiding a nest. Consequently I made a run for it, being pursued by a swarm of angry beasts. I managed to make it to the road, not before being stung on my shoulder. The dog was covered in them and they had buried themselves into his fur. I took my jacket off as a precaution and found a good dozen or so clinging on waiting to get me too. A close shave and thankfully none of them went up my trousers.

Matters of Life & Death

2010-09-13T22:41:00.002+01:00

An afternoon stroll in the Loch End Woods brought together life and death. I was startled when out of the bracken flew out a Sparrow Hawk. I'd seen birds of prey around the woods before but not actually in them. I concluded that as it had come from the ground, it must have been feeding. I wandered over to find a pile of feathers and then fluttering away a few yards on was a Wood Pigeon. It was in a very sad way. Most of it left underbelly had been eaten, and flesh hung from it as flapped what was left of its wing. It a sorry sight and I decided that the only right thing to do was end its misery. On I went and returned 20 minutes later to find the Sparrow hawk had also returned to finish off its meal. It flew away again so I stood around waiting for its return hoping for a longer glimpse of this fascinating natural spectacle. As I lay low, totally still and silent the peace was shattered by my bionic man ring tone....the one I get when I recieeve a text (The theme tune to the Littlest Hobo plays when its a call). It was from our Colin in Australia to announce Myfanwy Grace was born at 0.1.27am local time, weighing 6llb 4 oz. Life and death captured in one short walk.

Blackberry and Lemon Treacle Sponge

2010-09-08T06:39:00.004+01:00

How hard can it be to bake a pudding? With an abundance of blackberry's in my freezer I thought I'd give it a whirl. The results weren't bad at all. My Blackberry & Lemon Treacle Sponge although slightly heavy due to the lack of a food mixer to do the hard work of beating, it came out quite tasty. I can see a few more experiments on the horizon, and as tempting as it is, even just to get a sympathy vote, I won't enter the Dunbar Flower Show this weekend and compete against the experts who have an extra 30 years experience under their aprons.

Make it yourself:

Stick the oven on to 180 0C whatever gas mark that is. Make sure you take your head out of it before you go on any further.
100g Caster Sugar
100g Butter to help boost your cholesterol levels
100g Self Raising Flour as it does all the work for you
2 eggs (the chicken variety are my preference)
Pinch of salt to clog up your artery's a little bit more
Zest of as many lemons that you fancy...depending on how lemony you are feeling!
Golden syrup. As much as you want depending on how fat you want to be and how good your dentist is.

Mix it all up vigorously in a bowl starting with the sugar and butter first, then the eggs, then slowly and lightly shove in the flour and mix it up for as long as you can be bothered. I think the idea is to do it well but I gave up after a while because there was something on the telly I wanted to watch.
Stick it in the oven in a greased bowl and cover loosely with foil until its cooked. Roughly around 30-40 minutes depending on how rubbish your oven is. Then tuck in to it, but be warned the treacle is like molten lava fresh out of the oven. You can eat it cold too or on a sandwich or with salad or even in a soup! If anyone tries the last 3 then I suggest you keep your head in the oven for slightly less longer next time.

Flower Power

2010-08-23T12:17:00.007+01:00

Photo's: Andrew on the return leg of the 100 yard dash, and some shoes mixed up for the show race.

The end of the summer is also marked with the last of the village flower shows. I always like to get along to them to see whose got the biggest marrow in the village and whose dog looks most like their owner (a genuine category in the dog show). They are good fun and it will be a sad day when they stop happening.
Oldhamstocks Flower Show has the added bonus of a fell race. Well it's a fun run really over a distance of approximately 1 and half miles. It is preceded by the '100 yard dash' and the 'shoe race' (where you have to find your own shoes in a pile of many others), and a few other fun things. I won the race last year, only because of a shortage of competitors, and this time was going to be the same...except one of the few adults (and he's hardly that at 17) was national distance runner Andrew Crichton. It's a shame more people don't run it and make it more of a race as I felt a bit wrong taking the £15 prize for 2nd place. Our Andrew won the kids race again, pocketing a nice £10. It was good to see a lot of kids running it this time as it makes for a bit of an occasion.
So farewell to my trophy, but it is nice to think my name sits alongside a prospective 2014 Commonwealth games champion, which is what we are seriously expecting for him.
Next year I am thinking about entering some of the less physical competitions like the jam making. Me & Stuart have been rustling up some great blackberry varieties recently, or the dog show where Trefor is bound to win the best lipstick or moonwalking dog prize.
After the show, I decided that I'd run home. The route from Oldhamstocks via farm tracks takes you into Aikengall Farm, Emma's old family farm. It's been years since I have been in that side of the farm and much has changed, notably the amount of green stuff growing. There are no sheep in the glen anymore, so bits that used to be parched and exposing interesting rock formations are now covered in grass and bracken. I imagine the farmer is getting paid a shed load of money to leave it that way too. Anyway, it was a good run (9-10 miles) and rounded off my Saturday afternoon nicely.

Farewell to the Summer

2010-08-16T23:01:00.003+01:00

I did my last day of working on a holiday programme today,back at Scoughall in North Berwick for a day of activities with 20+ primary age kids from across East Lothian schools. I was doing the archery again, whilst others did the assault course, the flying fox and beach games. Earlier in the summer I had spent a week over at Scoughall with an SU Camp and although it was maybe only 8 miles away, I really could have been anywhere. It's a great campsite for that has been handed over to SU for over 50 years by the farmers who own the land and 100's if not thousands of people have passed through it. In fact there was an nice piece in the paper the other day in the 50 years ago today bit, where it reported how boys on an SU camp at Scoughall had found human remains whilst climbing up cliffs near Auldhame. As I sat there on the very same camp site amongst kids of another generation reading about it, I was amused to think of how few (if any) health & safety rules were being followed then. Whilst there are sometimes good reasons for them today, I can't help think that they suffocate kids sense of discovery. Anyway, as the day closed today, a team of volunteers arrived to take down the tents. The marking where they once stood are all that remains to tell of the great holidays many kids (and adults) have had there this summer.

The teachers are back in school already. Despite having several weeks off and with the prospect of even more holidays in waiting, it always beggars belief that they even dare to attempt to squeeze a drop of sympathy out of civilians like us. I am however looking forward to working along side them all again, and this year I will be working with Stuart's class which should be good fun. Before then I still have 2 more days with the kids off school before sending them back to school. Andrew is now in secondary school, adding more sense of panic to my life as I try and work out 'where has it all gone?'

So it was a great summer really. Earlier in the year I had wondered what I would do to fill it. Tuscany was brilliant and enriching and I am working on writing it up on another blog for my own records and anyone else who might be interested. It was then a pretty full on second half. A week camp, a week long holiday club followed by another week long holiday club. Yesterday was my first day off in 3 weeks. With grey skies and a nip in the air I am grateful to the Scottish holidays being so much earlier. Well i suppose I should pack away my summer stuff and move on. Away with the shorts, the flip flops and the cool box. Out come the thermals and sensible shoes and a hat that keeps the heat in rather than off. Oh yes, and with some order to my life again, the running can resume once more.

Novelty Slippers

2010-08-13T07:20:00.002+01:00

There was a double tragedy yesterday in our back garden. Not one, but 2 of the Guinea Pigs made their way to the big Guinea Pig hutch in the sky. The long haired white one was found by Isabelle earlier in the day lying motionless with no obvious cause of death. Then 6 hours later the short haired white one was also found lying on his side. Andrew, who has now become the pet undertaker, used his special technique to see if it was just sleeping. This involves poking it with a pencil. However this one moved when the HB made contact. But then it lay down again and repeated the motion a few more times before giving one last breath and dying.
I don't know what it was. They have not eaten anything unusual and so it must have been a virus. The long haired grey one is enjoying the additional space in the pen. He has long been the victim of bullying by the other two and it looks like for him some sort of justice has been done.
Anyway, apart from one of the deceased having slightly longer hair than the other, I think they would make a nice pair of slippers. Although as one person pointed out, they might squeak when you walk in them.

Trefor's TV Fame Beckons

2010-08-11T09:22:00.002+01:00

Just had an e-mail from an American TV Show called 'Americas Cutest Dogs II' asking if they can use the film of Trefor on a slide. Watch this space to see how much it's going to be worth.

Meanwhile the film has now reached 115,000 hits and almost weekly I still receive offencsive or not so comments from people around the world. Most of them get removed as they are a bit menacing, but some are hilarious.

Fringe Benefits

2010-08-11T07:34:00.006+01:00

For the first time ever I headed into Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival yesterday to check out what all the fuss is about. However the main purpose of the visit was to meet up with old friends Jane & Col from Manchester who had been on a canal holiday from Falkirk.
The sun was out and Edinburgh was packed, so we spent a good hour sat in Princess Street Gardens people watching. Several performers were rehearsing there, but I got the impression they were sort of fringe of the fringe...maybe side burns! Apart from the Chinese Dragon lot who were teaching American tourist how to operate one, the rest looked like they needed the practice. There was a bloke doing some sort of acrobatic jumping and flipping. It just didn't quite look right...especially when he landed on his elbow. Then there were 2 swordsman. Well that is a generous description of two hairy looking blokes who would not be misplaced in a branch of Games Workshop, who were fighting each other with those wooden swords. It was like watching 2 big kids acting out the fight scene with Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker. Again, it just wasn't right in so many ways. We slowly tried to make our way up to the Royal Mile where the main activities were on offer. It took ages because at every turn there is another act to see.
Once on the Royal Mile we were spoilt for choice. Stuart and Andrew & Matthew were taken by the human statues. Stuart was particularly annoying trying to touch them, and it was amusing seeing a boy being reprimanded by a statue. We then opted for the chain saw juggler. An American who looked like a fat lookalike of Lemmy from Motorhead. He's pulled in a big crowd and his act finished with him lying on a bed of nails. By chance, one of his volunteers was a bloke off Coronation Street who happened to be passing by. We had a wander and saw a few 'arty' acts that made no sense at all and really make a strong case for those who think any funding given to the arts is wasted. In my view they were just a bunch of attention seekers rather than performers who were due any credit. There are also lots of people trying to sell tickets for shows. The most impressive of them all was one where an elderly gentleman dressed in pyjamas, slippers and a dressing gown wandered around looking lost. He really did look like he had come out of an old people's home and got lost on a day trip to Dobbie's Garden Centre. On his back was the advert for his show which read An Evening with Dementia . Very clever and had I time I might have gone to see it.
We headed back and left the Jones' to make their way back to their boat. A good afternoon indeed, and I'd recommend a trip to the festival any day.

Mallet Man

2010-08-09T23:50:00.003+01:00

My blogging is being somewhat restricted due to the absence of a usable little finger. Whilst on holiday I got roped into a campsite game of footy with the Germans and Dutch. I am not sure why I played as it was all very embarrassing for the kids to see their father prance around like John Clease, and it was very hot at around 35oC. For a while I was in goals when Gerry took a shot on me. My goal keeping skills...well okay, self defence skills instinctively saved the shot that was heading straight form my face. Quite pleased with my performance I left the pitch at half time thinking of Sylvester in Escape to Victory. It was then I noticed my little finger was not quite as straight as it used to be. In fact it was curled up and no matter how many time I tried to pull it straight, it didn't.

I'd not bothered with the doctors as I didn't fancy a day trying out Italy's health care when I could be on the beach. It was only when I returned home that I noticed my bendy finger was actually stopping me from doing 2 things. 1 was pressing return on my key pad, the other more serious. I was unable to stick it up my nose or down my ear. The doctor was consulted and she sent me to the hospital where it was X-rayed and diagnosed as 'Mallet Finger'. They tell me I have torn or damaged the tendons and the treatment (which is doubtful given the length of time I took to treat it) is wearing a splint for 6 weeks.

Where do they get the 'mallet' from? Surely only Tom & Jerry actually hit their fingers with mallets? Perhaps it is linked to 'chisell thumb' and 'Chain Saw Stump'. Who knows, but meanwhile my footballing career faces its biggest setback since an off duty police woman ran me over and broke my leg!

Must update my status

2010-08-03T23:26:00.002+01:00

For the 2 or 3 people who read this blog, I must apologise that it is now August and my last post was in June. Life has been busy and there is a lot of blogging to catch up on. Basically since June I have been in England, Italy and the far off fields of Scoughall North Berwick! This week I am on the annual holiday club programme, with just enough time to eat between events. So hopefully next week I can update my status and report back on these travels and what life is offering just now.

Up the Law!

2010-06-13T00:21:00.003+01:00

I headed over to the East Linton Gala Day today for the Traprain Law Hill Run. It's only 700ft but quite steep and then throws some flat bits to make it a 6.5 miler. There is a river crossing too, and on a hot day like today it was tempting to bathe and slurp a few mouthfuls. I'd set my sights on beating my 45 minutes time. But as it turned out I was going to be nearly a minute over. Shame as I felt I was running faster and harder. The hill was hard and it is one of the few times my legs were burning. The flies were awful and great clouds of them added to the chaos of my run. However, being passed by the leading woman (Megan) made me work harder and I got her on the down hill section. I was looking over my shoulder thereafter keeping an eye out for her return. I hate running like that when you know someone is just behind you. I really have t work on keeping my cool. Horrible feeling and one I was trying to pass on to the bloke who was 2 ft away from me for the last 2 miles. Sadly he pulled away and ripped me at the last 200m. So a pretty crap run really...over my time and not even a sprint finish to nick someones place. I think I came 19th out of 73. Must try harder and work on those hill runs a bit more.

30 Years of Hurt Over

2010-05-29T21:17:00.002+01:00

With the World Cup coming up people living in the UK (minus Scotlanders and probably the Welsh and Northern Irish too) are getting excited about the dream of England bring back the World Cup. Here in Dunbar where all support will be for anyone playing England, excitement over another cup has been brimming.

The East Lothian Primary Schools athletics competition is a shield highly coveted in these parts. Each year the primary schools fight it out in the Commonwealth Games stadium at Meadowbank. For the last nine years Law Primary School have been victors, only just clinching it last year by 5 points. So things had to change and I joined Mrs Lyle the PE teacher and one or two parents in trying to train up our Dunbar squad and get them fit for a win. For around 6 weeks these kids have worked their socks off and proved in training they can do well. The girls however have not quite developed that competitive spirit. They are just too nice. However, some tactical moves such as bringing in some younger competition to training and one of Mr Robertson's power blasting motivational team talks seems to have done the trick.

The big day arrived and Team Dunbar had a tough day ahead. Not only were Law after a win, Campie were also a real threat too. I had volunteered to help with the high jump indoors, so I was missing out on the other field events. At high jump I was aghast to discover many schools only teach the scissor jump. Needless to say the 2 Dunbar lads (Andrew being one of them) who have almost mastered the Fosbury Flop both won their category's. On the track things were going well for the P6's doing the 80 and 150 m. Andrew had a terrible run at the 80m, with no less than 6 false starts caused by the ref. He was rattled and managed to save his energy and get it together for the 4 x 100m relay. As the mornign passed by it was all too close for comfort with Campie winning events, then Dunbar and then Law. Worse still, Law were getting 2nd place when we won, so it was all a bit tense.

These events are usually decided on the relay where double poitns are up for grabs. We had considered the tactical move of using all fresh legs for the relay final, but some of our girls sprinters had suddenly found a competitive edge and were loving it. In fact both grils age categories stormed to victory. The lads had to settle with 2nd place in both races. They did nothing wrong, it was just they were up against faster opponents. Andrew made up for his 80m nightmare and absolutely hammered it home in both the heat and the final.

So the big moment arrived. The results. 'Campie 3rd'....said Mr McKenzie on the tannoy.....2nd place..........Law. My eardrums nearly burst at the squeals of delight behind me. Finally the shield was with Dunbar. We have not appeared on it for 29 years, but some folk think we did win it in 1980, which would be good as one of the mums of the girls would have been in that team. Hats off to Law for their long reign, and I suspect they will bounce back next year with a stronger squad. However the credit has to go to the kids who really did work hard and deservedly took back the shield.

Loch Leven Half Marathon

2010-05-16T00:02:00.004+01:00

Photo: Happier times at Loch Leven. That bloke on my left beat me after my bobbins last 3 miles.

3 weeks have passed since the marathon and Rhona got in touch and persuaded me to do the Loch Leven half today. Having done very little running since the big one, I was relying on my marathon fitness to get by. I was hoping to crack 1:25 so I set off doing a 6:30 pace. It was going very well with me gaining over a minute for the main part of the run. But then the wheels fell off my plan at 10 miles. Here you do a right turn at the north end of the loch, straight into a head wind. I remembered this happening the last time I did it, but I had forgotten just how much it slowed me down. So, having run 10 miles at 6.5min mile pace, it then took 20 minutes 44 seconds to run the last 3. What a disappointment it was to see the clock tick past my PB time and give me 1:25.44 Grrr! Maybe it was too much too soon. I came 34th and 9th in my age category. I shouldn't grumble too much as it was great scenery and a well organised run. In our goody bags we were all given a buff. No matter how I wear a buff, I look like a total knob or like I am in the middle of a course of chemotherapy. Emma has already nicked it, and Andrew was pretending to rob banks with it.
Rhona won a prize of the 2nd fastest woman of a certain age, so we killed time eating free cakes. The woman complained that some runners were taking 3 or 4 cakes and that there wouldn't be any left for the slower runners. We were actually doing them a favour by eating more cakes we would slow down, and in doing so, prevent them from eating too many...which is why they are slower runners.

Tref's a big hit

2010-05-04T07:26:00.004+01:00

Well Trefor is now a world wide t'interweb sensation. The film of him on a slide trying to eat a piece of ham had its 100,000 hit last night. And almost on a daily basis I have to filter out the abusive comments from animal lovers who think I am cruel. Most of them are Americans and many seem to be bonkers. YouTube have genuinely made me offers to pay me to advertise on the film as it is now a big hitter. I have so far declined. Anyway, have a look for yourself and it will either cheer you up or cause you to write inane abusive comments in text language.

Trefor on the slide

Sunday fun run - The VLM

2010-04-30T07:52:00.009+01:00

It was back in January that club mate Frank through injury had to surrender his club place for the Virgin London Marathon. I was still mentally sore from the disappointing run I had at Loch Ness, which failed to give me a 'best for age' place at London, but I knew that unless I started running sub 3 hour marathons, this might be my only guarantee of a place in the big one. And so the forms were sent off and the training began.

Training was hard in the winter...especially when it's the worst we have had in ages. Running in the snow was probably the cause of my tendonitis in the achilles heel. As much as I wanted to, my granny ankles were genuinely creaking too much and so I had to sit it out for nearly a month. I followed Hal Higdon's Intermediate 2 training programme and once over my injury I picked up where it was up to, rather than where I had left off. The big difference this time was I had resigned myself to making my long runs slower and steady compared to my Loch Ness training. The idea of a PB was gone back in March but I'd paid for my train tickets so I was not planning on pulling out! The pressure was off.

Fast forward to Thursday 21st April, the final preparations were underway. Whilst I enjoyed a large plate of pasta at Umberto's with the running club, Rhona, Emma's cousin and nearest marathon rival was making her way back to London from Hong Kong. She had been due back on the Saturday before but that volcano eruption in Iceland killed that idea. I headed down to the big smoke (London not Iceland) on Friday morning. Rhona confirmed she had arrived so it was all looking quite exciting. I sat with Douglas, a fellow runner from Livingston all the way down. We conversed about training, races and stuff like that whilst we both hydrated. This meant frequent visits to the train water feature known as the toilet. In our carriage there was a hen party at one end, and a stag doo at the other. Needless to say these early morning drinkers had lost their senses and aim!

From Kings Cross I tried to blend in with the Londoners on the tube, but making eye contact and smiling blew my cover. I met up with Rhona at Emma's sisters city centre flat. It was within spitting distance of Victoria Station, and more importantly 5 minutes away from the finishing line. Off we headed to Excel for the expo to collect my number. You can imagine the journey over there. The train was like a pressure cooker full of runners all listening in to each others conversations, wondering if they have done enough training, and some looking a bit panicky. I was confident in my own preparations and remained calm. Collecting the number took all of 5 minutes. we then entered the Expo. Rows and rows of running gadgetry, clothes, sports scientist all promising you great results. I was after a pair of new socks, Rhona a belt. As Sods Law determines, after buying one, the next aisle down had them £1 cheaper. After over grazing on free energy bar samples (I resisted the free beer), we escaped this vortex of running paraphernalia.

I headed over to Putney to meet up with old friends Mark and Wendy. Their lads had grown a bit, notably Tim who at 14, towered over me with his 6ft 4 frame. He is like Sport Billy and does well in most sports including rowing, basketball and running. He was preparing for the 5km Mini London Marathon on the Sunday (he came 2nd by the way). Saturday was going to be all about relaxing. Livy gave us a tour of Putney's park. It is not how I imagined London life. This place was full of triathlete clubs, boot camp clubs, fitness in the park club and hundreds of people running, jogging, roller blading, doing Thai Chi and all sorts of other things. But, it has to be said, marathon runners are the top dogs.

Photo: Big Tim is living proof that eating your greens is good for you.

Later we headed to Kingston-on-Thames to watch Tim do his rowing training and Ollie skateboard at the park. The sun was out so Wendy headed off to Waitrose for a picnic. A great way to chillax! We then headed back for a tour of Richmond Park, opening my eyes up to the vast amounts of green space in London. Again there were hundreds of people out on bikes and running. We also got to do a bit of a tour of celebrities houses. Putney and Kingston are quite well to do and where your neighbours might include Daley Thompson, Nerys Hughes and Simon Le Bon. Other celebrities were out of sight as we went past the Priory Clinic. I was hoping for a glimpse of Subo! We also passed the shrine of Marc Bolan.

Photo: Rhona's Girl Guide's Needlework Badge finally became useful as she turned Andy's macho man vest into a petite lady vest.

In the evening we headed up to Adam and Claire's new flat for a pasta party. They were having a cook off, but to be honest both were very nice and loaded up my carbs very well. I offered up my own variety of Parmesan cheese, as I was busy filing down the dry skin on my feet. Rhona was there busy sewing. As she had been stranded in Hong Kong, I had brought her running kit down, only to discover her husbands Andy's vest had been packed by mistake. She managed to shave around 18 inches off it to make it fit. Fully carbo loaded, we headed back to Victoria for final preparations, reading all the bits of info and settling in. Surprisingly I went to sleep quite quickly, dreaming dreams of Kenyan's falling over and me stepping on them to reach the finishing line!

The sound of sirens and bin vans beat the alarm clock to wake me up at 6am. I grabbed a bowl of muesli, some toast and coffee and then spent the next hour frequently visiting the loo. The hydration plan was working, and with weather forecasts of the mid 20's, it was a plan worth having. One more pee before heading to the tube and trying to remember which station we needed to go to. Confidently we went to Charing Cross and boarded the 8.15am to Blackheath, getting seats on a very packed train. As the doors shut the panic was written on the faces of runners left on the platform, wondering if they would make it in time to the start. We were surrounded by Italians so listening to their conversations for any last minute tips was pointless. I thought italians were supposed to be leaders in fashion, well one was wearing a disposable painters overall. No class at all, get yourself a pair of scraggy shorts and a vest!
As I got off the train, 2 things registered. One was that my hamstrings were very tight. I really needed to stretch but with no room either side of us, this was a non starter until I could get to the starting zone. The other was that the celebrities running would also be on the train. Just as I thought it, I looked up to see kids TV presenter Dick and Dom stood next to me and I had to fight to resist starting a game of 'BOGEYS'. We followed the masses to Blackheath green space, park, common thingy! I have no idea what it's called or where it is, as my main concern was that it was the Blue Start Area. First things first, join the long queue for the urinals before sending my bag to the luggage vehicles. At this point the weather took a turn. Cold wind and rain came from nowhere, so it was time to put on my Scotland poncho. This then became a magnet for Scottish people who looked so disappointed to hear my English voice. I did quite a bit of stretching as my hamstrings were still very tight. No explanation as to why, but I was beginning to doubt they would last the 26.2 miles ahead of them. Then time for one more pee! As with most of the other blokes, we couldn't be bothered queueing again so we used the back of the elite runners loos. Then it was into the Blue Start 2 pen for 15 minutes waiting for the start. Soon after they release the barriers holding back all the other pens of slower runners, and it gets pretty busy down there, with the mob gradually edging towards the start. Then, without any obvious cue, the race starts. It took me 37 seconds to cross the starting line, so all the way around I was taking that off the clock time.

The first mile was predictably full of slower runners who had placed themselves much to far up the field. They just get in the way, so it is here that you learn that elbows can be as equal value to a runner as legs. The sudden stop starts and steps to the side hurt the hamstrings. I was aiming fro a 3:10 so I had a pace band to assist me. I was 40 seconds too slow for the first mile, so I tried to speed up a little and regain lost ground over 2-3 miles rather than in one mad panic. After 3, the 3 start routes merge into 1. Being near the front of the field, there was no congestion, but I understand it does get a bit chocca later on. After 5 miles I was over 1.5 minutes ahead of myself and by this point the crowds are building up on the route. I heard the first cheer for Dunbar soon after and I made the decision there that banter with the crowd was going to make this race easier. Kids begged for high 5's, and DJ's encouraged us to wave at the crowds, who cheered back. There are designated points for charity supporters, where often hundreds of people from a charity stand and support their runners. I was by a Macmillan runner when they passed their fans. The noise and support was incredible and infectious and made me feel slightly self indulgent running for myself and nothing else.

The route weaves through the diverse social makeup of London. Housing estates, financial districts, affluent areas and a mixture of ethnic communities. There is music and smells to reflect them too. For example clubmate Sheila was offered some cannabis by 2 Afro Caribbean supporters, encouraging her to chill rather than run. The burger vans make you want to chuck up as they waft the smell of greasy burgers and onions across the course. All the time though the crowd are screaming support at you. There were water stations at least every 2 miles, and Lucozade at the others. I had probably taken a bit to much and decided that 30 seconds in the loo was going to make my run more pleasurable than holding on for 2 hours. In training I would do that so why change anything now?

By half way I was over 3 minutes ahead of myself and feeling great. But my Loch Ness experience told me to take it easy and slow down a little and keep it steady for the rest of the race. At some point 'the wall' creeps up on you, and thereafter the race is a struggle. I headed into Docklands and then back again, reaching 20 comfortably. At 22 I refueled on gels, and and slab of Kendal mint cake. The onset of fatigue had suddenly caught up. I could feel the hamstrings beginning to take the strain and then at around 24, inside a tunnel the cramp finally got me. Cramp comes and goes, and shouldn't end your race. It's the injuries you get running with it that do. So I had to stop, stretch and get myself in order for the finish. I became acutely aware of how finely connected your core and your legs are. Certain postures triggered the cramp, so the finish was to be a very delicate operation of not over doing it.

385 yards to go! said the sign. Another of the many turns on this winding course brought the finish line into view. I tried for a sprint finish, but soon felt the cramp returning, so I had to settle with a controlled run in. I am glad I did as it gave me time to enjoy the crowd and wave to the cameras. I could see the clock was 3:07:44 and I knew, taking off those 37 I was going to be well within my time and 6 minutes of my PB. Once through I found myself feeling a little bit bewildered and lost for words. There is a photographer ready to take your mug shot, and then I wandered up to get my tag removed and collect my medal and t-shirt. I didn't know what to do next, and I was stretching a bit and feeling pretty good. Then I noticed a Dunbar vest coming through the finishing line. It was Rhona who I though had already finished. She clocked 3:08 another PB for her too, and we discovered later came 9th in her age category. So it was good news all round.

We headed into St James' Park and lay on the grass for a while. I called Emma who had been tracking me on the Facebook tracking thing. According to that I was still running, so she was surprised to hear from me. Stuart asked me to take a picture of Buckingham Palace, which I realised was behind us. So we wandered across and made hard work of climbing the footbridge. However, you get a hero's welcome from the supporters as you go through and it is a moment to savour.

Rhona had to get back for a train, so we walked all of the 5 minutes it took to get to the flat, where Rhona got packed up and I made some pasta. She left and then I ran a cold bath . Within the hour I was feeling pretty refreshed and headed down to Kings Cross to join hundreds of other runners making their way home. On board the train, I had taken the precaution of booking into 1st Class so I could spread out a bit. I bumped into the bloke from Livingston who had a really bad 5 and half hour run, made worse by being beaten by a toilet in the last 100 meters! I'd brought a couple of DVD's and my free beer to enjoy on the way home. The guard was on good form and announced "We apologise for this train being so busy. It seems there has been some sort fo fun run going on in the city today." There was a mixture of laughter and boo's rippling through the train, but he was right, it was a run and it was fun.

Photo: Looking a lot worse than we felt having both grabbed PB's.

Virgin London Marathon 2010: My tips for anyone running it in 2011

2010-04-27T00:33:00.009+01:00

The VLM is probably one of the most discussed marathons around. Yet, as a runner looking for tips on how to run the course and how to deal with the many hurdles before you actually reach the starting line, finding that information is not as easy as you would expect. So here is my attempt to put that right based on my fantastic experience taking part in this event on Sunday past.

First of all, if you live a long journey away as I do in Scotlandshire I'd recommend arriving on Friday to allow yourself time to pick up your number and then spend your Saturday relaxing. Good weather allowed for me to picnic by the Thames with old friends and do all the sight seeing via their car. In other words, save your trip to Madame Tusauds for another day.

Exel at Expo is a lengthy tube and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) trip. But as your are with other runners here is the first taste of the excitement that awaits. At this point of your training it is too late to do anything else and you have to walk into that place 100% confident that your race day plan is going to work. WHY? Because the minute you walk through the doors 100's of companies will be telling you why you need their product to improve your marathon time. Much of it is money for old rope and each stand is selling more or less the same products. Look around before you buy, as many of the same products are cheaper as I discovered after buying some new socks. Don't buy new gadgets for Sunday. The longest run of your year is no place to try them out and discover they rub or irritate you. Judging by the number of expensive running belts, gloves, hats and bottles discarded on route on the big day, I think some people found out the hard way. Get as much free stuff as you can, enjoy the occasion and get out of there. I went at 5pm on Friday and any concerns of big queues were unfounded. The number collection point is a seamless operation, over and done with in less tan 5 minutes.

Race day! The big day has arrived and once again BE 100% CONFIDENT IN YOUR RACE DAY PLAN. On the tube you will overhear conversations of nervous runners who seems so much more prepared than you. Ignore them as this is your race not theirs.

*Tip!: What to take with you? Virgin give you a huge kit bag to drop off on the trucks at the start. Put anything you like in there as it is big enough to put a small child in and utilise as a baby sitting service whilst you run. Some people regretted booking that extra night in a hotel as a place to leave their kit. If you travel light enough (e.g. a 30 liter rucksack) you should be able to get it all in this bag and head straight off to the train at the finish. Don't forget water, recovery gubbins, warm clothes and wet wipes.

Travel is slightly stressful, but remain calm as you will get there eventually. I was a Blue starter so the train went from Charing Cross. I say train and not tube as it is a real train.
*TIP!: At Charing Cross you will see the front end of Platform 6 is mobbed. Walk up Platform 5 to the opposite end, and cut through to the empty end of 6 and grab yourself a seat for the very overcrowded 20+ journey. Be warned it gets very warm on there.

On arrival at Blackheath, the first port of call is the loo. One failing of VLM is there are no loos around the tube stations, so the hold tight. The loos are plentiful but everyone makes a bee line for the nearest. Walk on and you will see loads more unused ones nearer the start. They now have urinals for men and women, and they were promoting the new gadget P-Matefor the women. The mind boggles!

*TIP!: Get in to your pen early. Not long before the start they allow the pens behind you to come forward and contaminate your area, so if you are not in there you will have slower runners in front of you who will slow you down and cause you to curse.

Off we go! Blue Pen 2 start took 30 seconds to get over the line. It was slow for the first 2 and then it thins out slightly. Where they merge with Red and Green, the road is wide enough for long enough for it to be fairly smooth and allow you to keep your pace. Maybe slower runners would find it more congested. It took me a while to realise that the double red lines on the road side are for traffic, and the broken double red line that is marked in the middle of the road is marking the shortest route for the marathon. Surprisingly few people seemed to follow it, so as best I could I did.

The crowd makes VLM more than a race and turn it into something special. It's their day too and they love it when runners show respect to them for turning up by simply saying thanks, giving the thumbs up to their cheers or high 5'ing the kids. get your name put on your vest and you will be guaranteed support...something you will appreciate as the struggle gets harder. I was running by a Macmillan charity runner when they passed the Macmillan support team. I reckon over 100 people cheered and screamed at this guy as he passed. It was quite uplifting for me, so he must have been floating. Take in the sights of people rather than the buildings. The route takes you through the diverse social makeup of London. Irish, Afro Caribbean, wealthy and city dwellings. Each area reflected by the music and smells to stimulate your senses as you run. I know we are there to run, but I found joining in with the laughs, appreciating the musicians and savouring it all took my mind off the monotony of long distance running. Running is largely a self centred affair, so here is an opportunity to take your eyes off your own misery and to relax a little. It's stating the obvious but if you are totally preoccupied and anxious with the technicalities of running, it is going to affect your performance. I kept thinking back to my long training runs where pace was not a concern and enjoying the run usually got good results. Apply this experience to the race day.

Technically the course is not an easy one. Lots of sharp turns and one or two short up and down stretches. Speed humps are a hazard as i discovered when I clipped one whilst looking at my watch and pace band. I also heard about one bloke who ran at pace into a sign. There are loads of water and Lucozade stations. It was slightly humid so I had some at most. Also there were 2 gel posts, so build that into your race plan if you can stomach them. Do be careful of the trip hazards caused by inconsiderate runners who leave their litter on the road. Why didn't they enjoy the fun of soaking the crowd as you chuck it to the side?
TIP!: You do not need to carry water with you. There is plenty on the route.

There are plenty of loos on route, so don't stress about that.

The finish line beckons. Milk this moment for all you can, but don't face the humiliation as one runner I spoke to did, of being beaten by a toilet in the last 100 meters. I had to work hard to beat that pesky lepricorn. Once through there is a slick operation to take your tag off, get your photo done and to prepare yourself for walking down civy street again. Don't forget to collect your bag of goodies and your kit bag. Once through all this enjoy the hero's welcome you get from the admirable crowd who are keen to congratulate you.

This was my second marathon and I wanted to finish feeling positive regardless of my time. If I am going to continue to enjoy running as a sport, then finishing well is important. My last marathon was a difficult finish and it took months to get motivated again. Part of that nightmare was not recovering well. I didn't eat or drink enough, so this time I had a bowl of pasta ready and lots of recovery sickly drink things, plus water and more food to munch on later. Force yourself to eat something as your body needs it to recover, even if you don't feel especially hungry.

So that's about it. My finish time was a PB of 3:07:10. I'm happy with that and know where I could bring it down a minute or 2 in the future. The main reason I improved was that I stuck with a pace and resisted getting drawn into somebody else's. Also, I trained, and despite what those retailers at Exel tell you, no gadget, new pair of trainers or running socks is going to compensate for hard work.

Taking Out the Opposition

2010-04-17T00:18:00.007+01:00

Photo: "Experts have warned that it could take years of work by experienced professionals to clean up after the volcano.That's why Mum's gone to Iceland."

A week to go to the marathon and I think I could be in with a chance of winning it, although one opponent looks quite tough. Until recently the only good thing to come out of Iceland were those mini frozen profiteroles, but this week the bowels of iceland well and truly exploded via a volcano. For one, it has given me an excuse for my house being covered in dust and smelling of sulphur (although a house cleaning famine and Andrew's wind are the most likely cause) As we now all know, the world we know has come to a stand still, at least via air anyway. This could mean that those elite runners from Kenya, Ethiopia and Shettleston in Glasgow might not make it to the marathon. Even if the airways are cleared, the backlog of flights is going to be a nightmare to sort out safely. Emma's cousin Rhona is stranded in Hong Kong until thursday. She is supposed to be racing on Sunday and whilst her absence would save me the second humiliating moment of being beaten by her, it would be a loss to the competition as we all have high hopes for her getting a PB.

I have been checking out the domestic rivals via the celebrity list . I'd hardly call most of them celebrities. Being an extra on Doctors is the Scottish equivalent of appearing on RIver City. However a few Scottish folk are there, including thingymajig off Taggart and ex-Scotland manager George Burley. Other cops include DCI Mickey Wotsit from the Bill and some filly from Silent Witness. I think I might beat Dick and Dom and sadly Katie Price has pulled out due to a pregnancy scare. However the one I am thrilled to be running against is the Bionic Woman. Not Lindsay Wagner sadly, but the new version played by some Eastenders cast off. No bionics for me, but my trusty slab of Kendal Mint Cake should see me through the last stage of the marathon...I hope.

Photo: Jamie Summers, one of my rivals.

Spring Fever

2010-04-14T00:10:00.003+01:00

Spring has sprung. I cut the grass for the first time this year, my daff's are out and I woken by the loud birdsong each day. I saw 2 swallows today and the sun has been out. Sun and school holidays means a trip to the beach. In fact 2 visits this week so far. Yesterday we'd planned to take the boys out to the local theme park, but it was too overcrowded and we ended up on the beach at the John Muir Park. It didn't take long for the boys to get a fire going and digging holes. The previous day we had all gone to the East beach where all was going well until some yappy dog nicked our bag of cookies. It reminded me of the time we were on some beach as kids in the North Pole (well North Wales but it was normally that cold and regardless of the weather we sat on the beach with our 'windbreaker' and tartan rugs). Anyway on this occasion our Emma wearing a lovely white cardi ended up standing in as a lampost for another yappy dog who put a nice yellow pattern on it. Oh how we laughed at my dads reprimand of the owners "IF THAT DOG COMES NEAR ME AGAIN I'LL KICK IT IN THE JAFFA'S".

There's still a few more days to go and the sun is shining. Andrew is almost living on the golf course, as is Emma. Isabelle has got herself down to some hockey training and me and Stuart have pottered about cleaning. Yes as unlikely as it might sound, we have done some major spring cleaning as a result of Emma's sister Claire finally taking her furniture away after 4 1/2 years in our garage. This has enabled us to chuck out loads of stuff and slowly the house is beginning to look in order. The main priority is to get the dart board and pool table in full working order in the garage, although Emma probably disagrees!

Easter Services

2010-04-13T23:45:00.005+01:00

Photo's: Easter Day service at Belhaven Beach, Dunbar

Easter holidays have turned out well. We had a good service down on the beach on easter morning with a good crowd turning up for the 8 a.m. open air. It's a 20 minute service but the location looking out to sea, the bonfire and the cross make it a special service and one that brings an important focus to Easter. Afterwards it was breakfast at the church where we enjoyed conversation with people we normally don't get talking to...plus lots of warm croissants. For a change we decided to go to the Parish Church. Not because we are defecting, but because Stuart wanted to go. In my books if a kid is showing any enthusiasm about going to church then grab it. So our 2nd service at 11 a.m. was done. Finally I had been invited to the Methodist church evening 'Let's Sing' service and had no reason to turn it down, and in fact I quite liked the idea of going to a low profile service where I could be part of the crowd and be fairly anonymous. It was a great service too, with some really old gospel songs and hymns being sung with great gusto. Songs that have become uncool in the modern world of the Christian worship scene, but when sung with passion and belief are belters. The use of an old midi playing keyboard, that sounds like the sort of music being played on Llandudno Pier by the bloke who sells tapes took away any glory seeking by 'The Band'. None of this 'aren't we wonderful type of stuff' (as my mum described the Spring Harvest Band). To round off the evening we had cakes, sandwiches and sausage rolls....oh and a cup of tea. They never fail to feed you at the Meth's and I'll look forward to a return visit there soon.

Greaseproof Pencaitland

2010-04-05T23:17:00.007+01:00

Yesterday being Easter I spent most of my day at either special services or eating stuff not fitting for a marathon training programme. Needless to say my long run got postponed. I needed to get my last big long run in before the marathon, so that I can now enjoy the taper down. However, we needed to do a couple of trips to Edinburgh to pick up some furniture, so rather than stick to my usual routes, it made sense for Emma to drop me off and I would run back. I'd worked out that the sleepy village of Pencaitland is 20 miles away and the route would take me through some of the back roads of East Lothian that I don't ever recall going down. It was all a bit of rush to get to edinburgh and I realised I'd left my rain jacket and vaseline behind. As it was chucking it down one or both of these are a great way of seeing off chaffing of the nipples, armpits and inner thigh. The wet weather makes them worse.
There is one thing that Pencaitland lacks and that is lubrication! The village shop only sold rolls and war rations it was so badly stocked. A couple of tins of corned beef were not going to see off the agonising sting of chaffing. So I tried the garage...not for Catrol GTX, but for vaseline in the shop. SOLD OUT! The man did offer a cherry lip balm though but i was more intrigued as to why it had sold out? I also discovered there are no loos in Pencaitland. Thank the Lord for the wide openings on Gatorade bottles, that now seem to do ginger beer type flavour.

The run itself was 20 miles and took in some great scenery that I'd not seen before. The road sort of bends around Traprain Law, which meant it never seemed to get any closer, and I wondered if I would ever make it to familiar ground. The route passed through East Saltoun, Gifford where there was a little bit f snow here and there, Garvald, Whittinghame and Stenton. Well worth the drive I'm sure, but go slowly to enjoy the views and to avoid hitting people like me out for a run. I got back in 2.5 hours which is what i had expected, as I was in no rush. It actually covered quite a lot of climbing. Here is a link to the route if you fancy it. I should also point out that there are several good looking pubs on the route, which I managed to bypass, although on a warmer day I could be tempted to refuel! Oh and the chaffing was fine as was the weather that turned out bright once i got going.
Pencaitland to Dunbar Route

Holy Ghost Walk II

2010-03-29T07:07:00.006+01:00

Yesterday it was Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week and to kick off the most important 7 days in the Christian calendar I helped organise the 2nd of the local churches Holy Ghost Walks. The concept of the Holy Ghost Walk follows the popular format of the historic city ghost tours, where as you wander around, you are greeted by a spooky character, normally played by a failed drama student looking to pay off their student loan. The difference is that the characters represent people associated with Biblical stories.

This year we decided to go with the Easter story, so some could describe what we did as a passion play. However, with flimsy scripts, lame jokes, wooden acting and costumes made from curtains and duvet covers it was more a combo of Monty Python passing through the Crossroads Hotel on the way to Oberammergau! Nevertheless, over 100 people turned out to join in and a good afternoon was had by all. We had a new route that started and finished in the village of West Barns near Dunbar. It took in the Biel Burn and the Seafield Pond before heading back to the hall.

I played the part of the man who provided Jesus with a donkey to arrive in Jerusalem. With me was my junior sized donkey Stuart, who we called Dinky Donkey. Other characters included the market stall holder who complained at having their table overturned in the temple, Mary who had washed Jesus' feet, the owner of the Upper Room who was played by the local GP in the style of Ali G, but by all accounts sounded like he'd had too much wine and came from the South African quarter of South Wales. A real scoop was to get use of a huge rowing boat for the day where Simon Peter shamefully told his story of betrayal, and to finish off we had 2 Roman guards playing a game of snap with the crowd to win some of Jesus' shredded clothes. The final stop was back to the West Barns village hall for a short epilogue by Rev Gordon Stevenson, accompanied by trays and trays of really good home baking.

Alloa Alloa

2010-03-26T06:42:00.003Z

It's been a busy few weeks since returning from York. With Easter fast approaching there has been a lot of work to do in the schools teaching the kids about it. We are also doing our Holy Ghost Walk again on Palm Sunday so this too has led to less time for stuff like this. And with the London Marathon just up the street too, any spare time I have has been handed over to getting fit.

Sunday was the first test of my fitness and the opportunity to step up the pace over a longer distance. The Alloa Half Marathon is a new one for me so i thought I'd use it to see how fit I was. It's a pretty varied course taking you through a council housing estate where the locals offer you their support, into the town which is full of empty shops and then out to the foot of the Ochills where the scenery is well worth the run out. The latter stages take you up a steep 1/2 mile+ hill at 11 miles, and then up another more gradual hill up to 12. The rule of 'what goes up has to come down' seems to have bypassed Alloa's highways, as the road to the finish is flat with no downhill to reward your last 10-15 minutes of hard work. The final 100 meters is great as you come off a roundabout and there it is, out of the blue. I like many others did an eye popping sprint to the finish losing all my dignity with snot and dribble all over my face.

Thanks must go to the Portobello runner Grahame Henry who ran with me shouting at me for the last 6 miles. I have never done a long run with a motivator before and it certainly paid off as I came in with a 1:25:29. I had got my pacing right for a change as I found at 10 miles I was thinking 'only 3 to go, nearly finished' as opposed to my usual feeling of 'how am I going to make it through this last 3'. This was a good start for my road racing season as in all honesty I had only expected a 90 minute run at best. Maybe Grahame should do a podcast for other runners. The only disappointment of the day was that I discovered later that my time was just 2 seconds short of a PB.

The next day the reality of running London hit me...well my door mat. My number and laces (yes you get a pair of red laces) and a whole wad of information that is a bit overwhelming arrived in the post. I'm now entering the zone of looking forward to it and the belief I could beat my Loch Ness time.

Sight seeing in York

2010-03-05T23:57:00.006Z

Slightly earlier in the year than usual, I have just returned from another school trip to York with 90+ kids. A week of museums, walking around shops, ancient buildings and sitting on open top bus tours is sometimes tiring. The York Minster Education Centre is interesting, but as I have heard the talk 4 times before, my mind began to drift as I sat at the back of the room in the shadows. The drift turned into sleep and only as my head flopped down did I wake up and realise it. The thing is, so did all the kids who had spotted it and passed it along the line, so when I woke up they were all laughing and staring at me. I tried to pass it off as a moment of prayer but the snoring was a give away. These kids have eagle eyes and nothing gets passed them. Like today for example when we were on the city walls and the same kids came to tell me there was a naked woman in a window. Sure enough there was, so if you are that woman who lives next to the walls, perhaps you could get some curtains to preserve your modesty. Another great sight "It's the best thing I've seen in York" as one kid put it, was the arrest of a vagrant. Those same kids said, "Mr Taylor, that man is getting arrested for peeing up the wall". My doubts were ended when sure enough a bloke was stood peeing up the wall as he had his collar felt by the local plod. He then resisted arrest so the wrestling began. Arm locks, head locks, pindowns and all but the Big Daddy Splash were being used to restrain this drunkard. The poor officer of the law looked up to see a whole open top bus full of kids all watching, taking photos and getting very excited. It was great entertainment and we even got to see the back up arrive and throw him into the van.

The itinerary had a few changes. The Viking re enactment bloke 'Leaf' from Danelaw, and strictly not Danelaw Dave invited us to his place instead of coming to us. Danelaw is a mock Viking village with long houses, livestock and everything you would expect to find in a viking version of a Wimpy housing scheme. So we got to hear 'Thor's Hammer' sat around a fire in a smoke filled long house, in near darkness. You can't really get that experience across in a text book and I was impressed. This man never ceases to lose his passion for telling these stories. He told me that if you cut his veins, living history would bleed out of him. It's who he is and watching him tell stories is like watching a master craftsman at work.

Also new for 2010 was Poundland! Yes having been ripped off in all of Yorks crappy museum shops, I thought a visit to a quality retailer might go down well. It did as most of them bought their own body weight in chocolate and sweets and still had money left to buy branded junk at the National Railway Museum. Finally the journey back was okay too. The nightmare of getting all their bags off was eased by the help of a guard who had not noticed all of our bags had ribbon on them, whereas the nice silver suitcase she offloaded at Dunbar did not. As the train left and everyone had collected their bags, we realised that some poor soul going to Edinburgh was now without luggage, because I was stood at the platform holding it!

Favourite quote of the week on the ghost tour. Q: (Ghost story teller) Does anyone know what arson is? A: (kid) It's when your messing around.

Under starters orders

2010-02-21T22:33:00.005Z

Photo: Where's Wally? I'm in there somewhere. White vest & green sash. (Pic owned by RacePics)

I woke up to a glorious sunny day with a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Perfect conditions for what was to be my first race since the Loch Ness Marathon back in October. A combination of injury, work and just trying not to get too consumed by a sport have kept me away from the race experience. Yesterday was the National Cross Country Championships over at Falkirk, where more or less every running club in Scotland meet up for a load of races. In the mens senior race I was up against 450+ others running around Callendar Park. I'd forgotten that nervous pre race feeling, the waiting around and the thrill of the chase once the gun is fired. It was a 12km course, with 3x 4km laps. It was an impressive sight to see so many runners heading up the first of several little hills. As you can imagine, the first lap was a little bit clogged up with runners, but I really was looking to get around this race without picking up an injury, so I held back a little until it thinned out. Lap 2 was a bit quicker and by lap 3 I was tired but able to maintain a similar pace, and enjoyed picking off 3 or 4 runners from a club whose fans were all around the course, annoyingly shouting out support for them. An almost sprint finish gave me 51.05 as my official time. I was happy with that, but slightly disappointed with my position of 259 out of 457, which was well out of the top 50%. Never mind, it gave me race experience and a bit of a boost for my training. I went out today and did 12 miles over some big hills at a nice steady pace. Another glorious day up in the hills, enjoying the snow and peace before heading off to church with its favourable 11.30am start. There's a couple of races coming up to enter, namely the Lasswade 10 and the Alloa Half, which should be good preparation for London.

London Marathon is on

2010-02-15T15:04:00.002Z

The Achilles Tendonitis has been the cause for many 'should I or shouldn't I?' conversations with myself and others about running the London Marathon. As time ticks away I have fallen behind with my training plan, so the question I needed to answer for myself was can I still run any distance. Well I gave it a go yesterday and ran 14 miles of multi terrain, mainly flat. Only at around 11 miles did the heel start to give any real discomfort, but then I adapted my style to ease it. I did get a bit of swelling afterwards, and Andrew now calls me 'Granny Ankles'. I finally took the plunge and booked my train tickets to the big smoke on the basis that I am going to run. Why else would anyone want to go to London? So, it's time to knuckle down and step up the training as i don't want the humiliation of being beaten by some minor celebrity like Peter Andre or a Big Brother contestant.

Fish hunters

2010-02-07T21:16:00.003Z

Photo: One of the locals at the fish place.

I ended up doing a bit of 'father son' bonding yesterday when Andrew and his mate asked if they could go fishing. Now my last attempt at fishing ended up with me tangled up in line and cursing the rod. In short I had no idea how to do what is probably a simple job. However, Andrew's mate does a lot of fishing and knows how to do it and has all the gear, so of course I agreed to the trip so i could learn from the boy. Off we set to the weird and not so wonderful world of still water bait fishing at one of the local fish places. Out in East Lothian's hill billy country, this place attracts a certain type of punter. Let's just say the gene pool was probably less than the size of the small pond we were at. In fact, i would not be surprised if some of them were related to the fish. Here were several grown men dressed in almost uniform like fishing attire. I am not an expert in fish psychology, but does wearing full body camouflage, sun glasses in the rain and silly hats really lure them onto the rod? At the pond, the sight of a dead trout floating around raised concerns in my mind about the quality of the water. There was little sign of any kind of life in there. After a tutorial from the junior fishing instructor, I had a go at it. There was no 'powerbait' (whatever that is) left, so it was 'worm bait' (which is garden worms in case you wondered) as the choice of ammunition. That's exciting bit over with, and then you wait...and wait...and wait. Fishers tell me they just switch off and think about 'nothing', but sadly my mind was thinking about fish, and I found myself imagining what was happening beneath the surface, creating little scenarios where the fish tries to outwit me. Occasionally one of the fish related people would grunt a noise, in the belief one of its relatives had taken the bait and was going to be reunited, but none of them were genuine. I could hardly believe my ears that those cliches of 'I had a 4 lb tout that got away' and 'I caught 5 this morning but i put them back in' were actually being spoken around the stagnant pond. Needless to say after 2 hours of this we were all cold and wet, and frankly quite bored having had no success. Hopefully when the weather improves i will try the sea. We're off to Italy in the summer and I'd secretly like to catch a fish in the Med, so some practice is needed.

St Margaret's Dirty Weekend 3

2010-02-05T07:27:00.005Z

Photo: Evacuees after mike burnt the toast.

It's that time of year again when we have been away to Langdale in the Lakes with friends and family from our old church in Manchester, St Margaret's. I call them 'dirty weekends' as on the first one they ran out of water and all the loos were backed up and there was no water to shower in. The name has stuck. This trip was much more hygienic and quite a relaxed couple of days. The youth hostel is so big that we rarely saw the kids all weekend, except for a walk into Grasmere with all the other kids. It was an opportunity to stock up on Kendal Mint Cake as an energy supply for the marathon and womble around the shops. At night it was all about chatting to people we've not seen for a while, and to aid this, St Margaret's craft genius Sheila Brown had laid on some craft activities, and their very own quizter Mark Stansfield put on some great quizzes. I had a turn at pom pom making! Yes it is one of those things that I have seen people do and always wondered how it is done, so now I have a pair of fluffy balls that I am trying to find a use for! (suggestion welcomed) It is a new life skill that will sit there alongside others such as my 'O' Level in pottery.

We had great weather. bright sunny days, snow capped mountains and an opportunity to see the Lake District at its best. I couldn't resist a run, partly to see how my dodgy heel was getting on. Not too bad was the answer, although I could have done without the hills back up to the hostel. When i got back the fire alarm went off so there was an evacuation (for those who could be bothered). It turned out to be nothing worst than Mike burning the toast. Still, it got everyone out of bed early.

Not another 'itis'

2010-01-24T23:25:00.002Z

The thing with running is that you pick up a number of mental challenges that make running difficult. Common complaints include:
I can't be bothered 'itis'
I should have gone for a run before I ate that pizza 'itis'
I have lay in this bed long enough to convince myself that an extra hour in bed is going to help me get fitter 'itis'

Now though I have a physical 'itis' that is setting back the marathon training severely. Specifically it's that Achilles Tendonitis in my right heel. I think it's running on snow that has set it off, but gradually over the last fortnight it's started to hurt and last week it swelled up and looked like an old granny ankle all purple and disfigured. I went for my 12 miler last Sunday and it was a miserable experience that took far too long and left me cold, sore and demoralised. The advice was apply ice and raise it, so out came the left over Christmas frozen sprouts. Ibuprofen Gel does the trick but a week later after no runs and lots of gel I tried a gentle 4 miles and yet again it's flared up. More rest to follow, but this winter marathon training has barely got going for me and the plan for a PB is fading fast.

Going Green

2010-01-17T23:27:00.006Z

I've been roped into being a guinea pig for sport science brainiac at the running club. I'm not sure what they are looking for, but it involves me having to drink large quantities of Lucozade before and after a run, and then comparing my pee colour. Now all the equipment needed is provided, the Lucozade powder, a bottle and a splash proof pee chart. It took a few goes to realise that the bottle was for the drink to go in, but I've got the hang of it now. The chart is a sort of litmus test with various shades of yellow to choose from. The darkest being your early morning dew, and I can't help but be tempted to try and reach that goal. The problem I have with the chart is that Emma puts that blue stuff in the loo, and so it turns green. So, I have turned my table green, and the new target is Mild Green Fairy Liquid...which apparently is good for your hands, although probably not your dishes.

Extended Christmas

2010-01-12T23:28:00.002Z

The kids got a dream come true last week when the snow forced the council to shut all its schools for 2 days. There was quite a bit of snow, and that of course meant sledging. There are lots of hill around here but getting to them by car was a problem so we stuck with the safer and more communal option of the 12th hole at Winterfield Golf Course. We went on Tuesday and a growing mob of sledgers were gathering. It was all very sociable with kids exchanging sledges and other vehicles for tearing down the hill, parents stood around chatting and eventually chattering, sharing hot chocolate and biscuits. We got there at 12.20pm and left at around 4pm. Midway through the afternoon, the text message from the school came through to parents telling them school would be closed. Great cheers echoed around Belhaven Bay as the kids knew another day on the slope lay ahead. And so for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the routine became fairly familiar of spending 4-5 hours in the bitter cold, going up and down a hill. Most remarkable was that it got isabelle out of bed before 12pm, and for the first time ever she was sat inthe car waiting for us. Each day the numbers grew, as did the confidence of people who tried out various stunts on ice. Andrew took his wheels off his skateboard and found he had good balance on his improvised snowboard. People were using rubber rings, a double airbed, and inflatable shark and most effective was a piece of laminate flooring. Of course one or two knob heads turned up and we were down by 2 sledges at the end of the week simply because some spotty faced fat teenagers nicked them off the kids. Still, I have my wheelie bin lid that I found washed up on the shore to use next time. I also had a go at making an igloo. I was curious to see if it could be done. Using a recycling box to make my bricks I got 3/4 of the way through constructing it before turning in for the night. We woke up on Sunday to see the rare sight of grass and a puddle where the igloo once stood. The snow had gone. No igloo, sledging no more and school on Monday.

Boxing Day Blues

2010-01-06T23:20:00.005Z

Boxing Day rolled in and I decided to go for a quick run. The thick ice was still on the pavements as the only thing being gritted was people's teeth in frustration. I stuck with running on the road, but this is a city and taxi drivers see runners as fair game, so I decided to run around Cringle Fields. In the short distance (the width of a pavement) from getting off the road on to the field I fell over on the ice. Cringle Fields are the council football fields. They have many uses, ranging from a race track for joyriders, to a holiday camp site for travelers. I used to walk the old Labs (Harold & Frank) on there and often I would stumble across a burning car, a stolen cash register or gypsies faeces and hedge trimmings. Anyway, on Boxing Day it was covered in ice, and tell tales signs of 'doughnuts' in the ice and mud showed the tradition of joyriding stolen Rovers is as ever popular.

Later on we had planned to go and see some good local football. Man Utd were not playing at home, Altrincham's game against York was postponed so we ended up watching Stoke, who were playing local team Manchester City. To do this we first had to become members of MCFC, and were all issued with id cards that we discovered later did not work. We all went so it was a good experience wandering through parts of Manchester that have been demolished and rebuilt since I was a lad. Once at the stadium called Eastlands, we found our seats up in the gods. Actually they proved to give a good view and much better than I thought. I love the little oddities that go on at football matches. At this one they put up a picture of a blue moon, and then everyone sings it. The boys in blue had an easy game ahead of them against Stoke. We could see Teves in all his glory, but could see he is one of those 'I'll let the ball come to me rather than go and get it' players. Anyway some East European looking fella scored first and the game picked up pace. 2 minutes before half time I was sent to get the hot chocolates and avoid the queue. As anyone who has ever nipped out of match early to go for a pee or catch the bus will know, this is actually a guaranteed way of making one of the teams score....just as your back is turned. In my case I got the pleasure of seeing the goal (Teves actually made a run) on the monitor above the pie stand, whilst I waited another 10 minutes for my hot chocolates.

Post game we had the thrill of more queues to get out of the car park. With the fuel gauge flashing empty, it was a nervous 40 minutes wait in heavy traffic until we found a petrol station. So that was our trip to Eastlands. When we returned home to Dunbar our members certificates and goodie bag were waiting for us. Who knows if we are down that way again we might pay them a visit if the Stockport County game is off.

Photos: Eastlands FC ground, that Teves goal at the pie shop and the boys in blue take on the mighty Stoke City.

That was Christmas

2010-01-04T18:40:00.009Z

Well slightly belated but I hope you all had a great Christmas. We headed down to Manchester for a week of food, drink, shopping and a bit more. Our great plan of leaving early on the 23rd December were shelved when we woke up to the most snow I have ever seen in Dunbar. The traffic news reported that the A1 near Dunbar was closed and on the bypass near Edinburgh, there were 2 hour delays. So we decided to stay put. Obviously the kids were out in the snow, and before long so was half the street. The neighbours were calling for me to come out and join them in a big snow ball fight, and so I obliged. There was no order to it, just hit anything with a pulse. Stuart got one smack in the face from his PE teacher, but I managed to get revenge and landed one on her head. We also built a snowman. Here is ours in the back garden (below)

By 11.30am the roads were open again so we headed south. It took a while driving from East to West, but I hate driving in snow and for once i didn't mind being stuck behind that driver who only goes 40mph. Once in Burnage we discovered that the council had not gritted the roads. Arterial roads were like farm tracks covered in ice which caused a few problems for the buses.

The bulk of the holidays were spent meeting people, eating and drinking. Christmas Day itself was a bit like going back in time, as for the first time in a long time for me I was sat at the Christmas table with Uncle Frank & Aunty Dorothy, plus 16 others. Before all that we opened a few presents and headed down to St Margaret's Church for the service. Fog had joined the snow and ice, making for a pretty Christmas scene. Not quite Spott Parish Church but it was good to see people I have not seen in ages. Back to the food, it was yet another extravagant feast for all. My mum and dad stock up well for Christmas including the box of dates. Who eats them? Nobody seems to..perhaps its the same box used each year. Photos: St Margaret's and Burnage in the snow.

The rest of the day was spent on the X-Box and watching the Royle Family, Dr Who and a few other things. It was soon all over, but with a few more days ahead of us in manchester the holiday was just begining. Photo: A few other Christmas photo's

Merry New Year!

2010-01-03T00:55:00.008Z

Photo's: The Loony Dook and Stuart having a ball. I'm not sure how the picture of the girl got in there!

Ah the end of another year. Where did it all go? Well we spent hogmany driving back up from Manchester in record time, despite some snow on the Biggar road. We got ourselves along for a drink at the Masons Arms where the running club were hosting the Black Bun Run. Whilst it was only 1 and bit miles, I had been stuck in a car for the last 4 hours and not really in the mood for a sprint, so I enjoyed one or two pints before I commit to marathon training where such things will be a luxury. After that we went home and decided to expose our kids to the joys of the high street Hogmany party. They had the pleasure of seeing a large percentage of the alcohol thirsty teenage population bumping into each other, making incoherent noises and fighting. It was slightly hostile but nevertheless entertaining in the same way rubber necking is at motorway pileups. As usual midnight passed and it was an excuse for more of the same, so we slipped away and went home. There Emma decided she would put the famous Scottish hospitality of first footing to the test. Our neighbours had invited us on a number of occasions to call in for a drink. I really wasn't sure 12.30a.m. was what they had in mind, but we tried it out anyway. Either they were very polite and put on a brave face, or they were extremely good neighbours and welcomed us in for a dram or two. A 2.40a.m. we turned in as it was an early start of 11am the next...sorry same day.

New Years Day holds another great Scottish tradition, the Loony Dook. Make of it what you will, but basically people like to jump into the cold sea. Is it the sense of camaraderie, a penance for over indulging in the weeks before, or just stupidity. I don't know, but Stuart decided he wanted to join other fools at North Berwick. In fact it is a great event, lots of laughs and worth going to even if you don't 'dook'. Stuart was straight in, fell over so jumped out again. Once over the shock he made a promt return and enjoyed it all. Here's some pictures to prove it. Note the snow in the background over at Fife. Yes it really was that cold.

Photo: The joys of Dunbar High Street at Hogmany.

Hoppy New Year

2010-01-03T00:50:00.003Z

I hope you all have a great year ahead. Here's a seasonal message from Dunbar Lights Committee who could either do with changing a few light bulbs or checking out the dictionary. We know what they meant though. Have a good one.

I Should be So Plucky!

2009-12-19T00:24:00.003Z

Another festive merriment has been the dreaded school music concert. Music is not a big part of our family. Anyone who has seen my Last FM or Spotify playlists will know my tastes are not very helpful in encouraging my kids to be high achievers in music. That said, Isabelle is doing very well on the keyboard. I have no idea what grade she's at but she played Rod Stuart's 'I am Sailing' the other night, which gets the thumbs up from me! Stuart is also following a musical interest. The violin. It was this devils instrument (not a bad as the recorder or bagpipes) that brought us to his concert. He only knows 3 notes, and he plucks them! So we had to sit through a 2 hour concert to hear his plucking. It was accompanying other violins so it was okay in the end. And actually the concert showcased some reasonable musical ability. The last one we went to when Isabelle was in the choir, forced us to listed to brass and cello's that I would imagine echo's the sound of birthing whales.

The next night was Andrew's school disco. Poor lad had to suffer the same fate as his sister....his dad turning up at the disco. To be fair I was there in a professional capacity, but Andrew made me drop him off and come in at a different time to him. As I am increasingly finding, I knew very few of the popular music they played on the ghetto blaster, so I saved him the embarrassment of dad dancing.

Photo: The plucky young plucker

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-12-18T23:51:00.005Z

The title of this post is not only a great Andy Williams song, it is mostly true or has been for the most part of recent weeks.
I was eventually conned into heading into Edinburgh city centre last Saturday to do the Christmas shopping. We drove in early and were parked up in John Lewis' by 8.50am and had an hour or so of easy going shopping in a half empty shopping centre. After that it was too much for my liking so I took Stuart off to the ice rink in Edinburgh's winter wonderland as I was getting in the way of the spending spree of Isabelle, Andrew and Emma. Stuart has never been ice skating, and being the 3rd child I realised he has probably missed out on a few things like that because the novelty of taking your kids to things has worn off by the time you get to the 3rd. So I gave him my whole hearted attention and hit the ice with him. I discovered Winter Wonderland is actually a hiding place for Aussies, Kiwi's and Poles. Not one of the people I was served by was Scottish. Even the street entertainer was from Brisbane. Still he was very good and much more fun than shopping. We were back in Dunbar by 1.30pm, leaving time to put more decorations up outside. The garage now has a strip of blue lights on it, and looks like a giant sunbed.

Saturday evening was also good. We had arranged with the local caravan park and churches to do a bit of carol singing at their Christmas meal. This all took place in their social club, which was not to unlike Phoenix Nights. There was a DJ booth and bingo machine on the stage and a resident MC fully equipped with 1970's sideburns. On arrival I was shown to the 'artistes dressing room' but moved quickly out of there as there was no way 20 of would fit. We handed out song sheets and we had a good sing a long. I narrowly avoided introducing 'While Shepherds Wash Their Socks By Night'. It almost rolled off my tongue. Anyway, it all went well and we even had drink on the house. Nice touch from the caravan boss, hopefully we will be back next year.

Photo: Stuart takes to the ice like a duck to water
Photo: 'O Come All Ye Faithful' Carolling at the caravan club.

Snow Falls

2009-12-08T06:55:00.002Z

I was away for a few days last week for Scripture Union Scotland's staff conference over at Lendrick Muir near Kinross. It was a good mix of teaching, strategy thinking, meeting people and grazing on endless supplies of tray bake! The down side of these events is that you can get a bit stir crazy cooped up indoors all day, so I took my running gear to allow a bit of exercise to counteract the perils of tray bake overdosing. Tuesday night brought in the first snow of the winter, which meant a pre breakfast hill run was a must. The village of Muckhart has a nice big hill so I went up that one. Despite it being dark the snow was pretty bright and I got some good views of Grangemouth, Kinross and the Forth from the top. Coming down was fun, my size 12's are nearly as long as a pair of skis so I did a bit of slalom trying to avoid the gauze bushes. Needless to say I eventually crashed and burnt in a Eddie the Eagle style.

Photos: I took these slow exposures of me in my high viz top running in the snow.

Advent

2009-11-29T23:23:00.003Z

Can you believe it is already advent. In telly talk that is the season to announce the Christmas TV schedules, for shoppers it is the 4th wave of Christmas offers (the first starting in September) and for the church it is advent, marking the lead up to the birth of Christ and with plenty of emphasis of light coming into our darkened world and lots of candles being lit. The Dunbar illuminations were switched on tonight and I felt sorry for the new priest in charge of the Episcopal church who was asked to deliver a short message to the crowds who were not listening. All they wanted was lights and Gladys Chucklebutty the kids entertainer. She talked about light (the priest not Gladys) and did well to persevere. 'What is she on about?" was the conversation between 2 slightly irate women stood sheltering in a doorway by me, hiding from the strong winds and rain. It beggars belief that people don't know and that they find reminders so annoying.

Last Sunday I joined a load of other volunteers to put up the Christmas lights. It is one of those community activities that I have come to enjoy in a town where people pull together. There was a sense of pride in seeing the nativity scene and the 2 Santa heads all lighting up tonight as they were the ones I worked on. I also got a picture of it and managed for the second year in a row to get it on the BBC news page (see screen grab photo). The best bit part of helping out is free rolls at the Central Cafe. I was settling for 2 but the Lifeboat crew who were also helping forced me to eat another black pudding roll.

So Christmas is very near and so I can get my money's worth out of them I will probably stick up my own lights this week and turn our nice street all tacky and glittery. Nice of the BBC to mark advent with the Christmas special of the Royale Family. I think I will watch that tomorrow and see what the kids think about that humour.

Photos: The 2 Santa heads outside Peter Whitecroft's the family butchers.

Oink Oink

2009-11-18T17:03:00.003Z

Got my Swine Flu jag done today, along with my seasonal flu jag. My asthma has been pretty bad since the marathon and this last week I have been wheezing badly at night. As I had my annual asthma review check up anyway I used the opportunity to guard myself against any deathly diseases this winter and keep me alive. Sore arms are so far the only side effect.

Dounans

2009-10-30T06:49:00.005Z

Photo: Not only is Isla a great youth worker, she is a DJ too and plays John Denver's "Take me home" to clear the dance floor at the end of the night and gives everyone a lime Twister ice lolly. How kind!

Photo: P7 Campers ready to go home

Just a note of a few other things that have been and gone but worth a mention. Here's the first.

Primary 7 Camp took place straight after the marathon. This was my 5th visit to the Dounans Centre in Aberfoyle, and this time with 146 kids. The camp brings together all the primary 7's (that is kids in their last year of primary school) from the local schools so they get to know each other in preparation for going to secondary school in August. It is a great idea and as some of the schools are in hill billy country and quite isolated, this is really good for them. Every year I have been to Dounans there has been a change of staff, except who Isla started the same year as me. She is by far one of the most gifted youth workers I have worked with and is able to get the most out of the hardest, most horrible or damaged kids. Pity she isn't working for the church! Being a charity it struggles to employ people on long term contracts so people come and go, but I am glad to discover she has a permanent contract now. Anyway, Andrew was there with all his mates so I had a ball seeing them doing all the activities. I had a go of the crate climb, which is stacking up Irn Bru crates as high as you can, and standing on top of them. I only managed 12. As always there was a meal every 3 and half hours. I managed to put back on 3 of the 6 lbs I lost in marathon training with a full English every day and more. The other great thing about Dounans this time of year is the colours. An early morning walk up to the David Marshal Lodge in Aberfolye is well worth it to see the mist rise above the autumn coloured trees. Priceless and worth the trudge up a hill.

Saturdays should always be like this

2009-10-17T21:01:00.004+01:00

Photo: Some people unsuccessfully trying to surf at Belhaven

Photo: Running in the Lammermuirs, with that beautiful wind farm behind me.

It's Saturday and for the first time ever this year we had nothing to go to, nothing organised and so the day was all ours. First things first...get a lie in bed. Then one or two chores I have been putting off, like hanging out the washing, dismantling Isabelle's old bed. What a great autumn day, sun shining and not a bit of wind. We headed down to Belhaven Bay via the John Muir Country Park. There was a great swell in the sea so it was really good surfing waves, and loads of people were trying to do just that. I reckon at least 40 people, highlighting the growing craze it is. Most of them were unable to stand up and surf, so it was more the sport of getting wet and falling over, but still entertaining to watch. I had a quick wander up the beach to see if any of the migrating terns were still around. They usually screech at us and swoop at the dog, but there was no sign of them so they must have gone.
The next treat was enjoying a feast of pies. My post marathon diet is whatever I want it to be. I've been off the pies for a while now, partly because of my strict athletic training regime...but mainly because the pie shop had shut down. Now a new one has opened I tried a couple of their wares out...with beans! Then we watched Rocky IV with the lads. I like it when they choose to watch my kind of films, and they weren't disappointed with this no brainer. Emma decided to go and watch the women's hockey,and the kids went out playing in the street or something like that. I decided to go for a run up in the hills. It was too nice a day to stay in, so I headed high for some rays and a run. From Halls I headed up to the tops over moorland, distrubing a few grouse on the way. Black ones too. The landscape is dominated by the imposing sight of the wind turbines. Loads of them are scarring the landscape of the Lammermuir Hills, but I felt drwan to have a closer look. This area is Emma's dads old farm, Aikengall. Strange to see it so different. I then ran through marshes and heather to Pressmenan Woods near Stenton. It was a good run as it was lots of up and down steep hills (good practice for the cross country races). Eventually I headed back to Halls and enjoyed the rest of the sun. One of the things I love about runs around Dunbar is that we often see deer. Whilst they are very common, it is always good to see them. Because I was in such a remote bit today I caught them out and actually found myself running alongside them at times. Loads of buzzards out too, so a good run.
The evening is now being rounded off with curry, beer, Yorkie Cookies and Sensations. Rocky III and later Rocky V, but the real no brainer of X Factor is on now, which is why I am doing this.

Tomorrow this life of Riley continues with maybe a run first thing, followed by Andrew's footy match (an opportunity to shout out Rocky motivational phrases). Then the big game. Dunbar vs Glasgow Rangers. Yes you heard right, Rangers! They are playing Dunbar for a charity match and whilst they are not going to play their first team, a couple of first team players are expected to make an appearance. Andrew is ball boying, and I am going to join the near 1000 people heading to the New Countess ground (I nearly said stadium but that was getting carried away). To round off the weekend, I have the joy of knowing it is half term, so the holiday continues.

The Loch Ness Marathon 2009: A Runners Report

2009-10-10T00:00:00.002+01:00

My approach to marathon running is that training for it should not be allowed to eat into my life too much, and that if I was going to do one, it had to be in a good time. Of course to get a good time means putting in more effort, which could use up time I would rather spend with family, watching telly or lying in bed. However, my casual running had been improving with minimal effort, so I decided that with a bit more commitment I could probably achieve a reasonable time for a marathon, and I was looking for a new running challenge to keep me focused. As the Loch Ness Marathon is so well organised and is a long run I would like to do anyway, I decided to go for it.

Training: I looked around for a suitable training programme. They all promise the earth but not all fitted around my life. I opted for Hal Higson’s Intermediate 2 programme. It’s not based on achieving a particular time, but challenges you to push a bit further. It also fitted in well with my life. It was the first time I had followed a guide, and it was very helpful in keeping me going. It involved a long un on Sunday and 2 medium sized ones, plus 2 rest days. Not too time consuming.

Diet: Until the last 2-3 weeks I didn’t really have much of one. Then it was lots of pasta, rice, potatoes and water. I cut the coffee and had less wine, ate loads and loads of everything. The training was burning off my weight, despite eating a lot of food. I think I lost around 5-6 llbs in the final stage of training. Not a pretty sight, given how light weight I was already.

The Baxters Loch Ness Marathon registration was fairly straight forward but lacked a good expo. Hardly anything on offer, and lets face it we have come to expect a goody bag or free t-shirt and pen. All that was on offer was some over priced running gear that desperate runners were snapping up in the belief it might make them run faster. I am sure it does, but at those prices I would hope so. Later we went to the pasta party for pasta and baked potatoes, and a chance to mill around all the other runners.

Race day arrived and as the race is a point-to-point race, we all needed transporting to the start near Fort Augustus by bus. This is included in the price. We boarded our bus at 7.30 am, but unfortunately there was over an hour wait before it left, as not enough buses had turned up for the 3000 runners. Eventually people were crammed on buses, standing for the 50minute journey through winding roads of stunning Highland scenery. The conversations are all about running, and I did my best to get into a zone. It was not the best lead up to a race.

Eventually the buses arrive in the middle of who knows where? There is a party atmosphere as runners realise they have made it to the start and there are enough portaloos to cope with the thousands of people who were by now desperate for a pee. Tea, coffee and water were also being served and a running commentary and music calmed everyone down. There are loads of baggage buses too so no worries about bringing loads of kit for the end of the race.

The starting area had the usual signs for your predicted time, but it seemed like almost everyone was stood behind the 3 hour mark, and only a few in the 100 meters of space leading up to the start line. I decided to go forward amongst the faster runners. Then a pipe band marches through the runners, adding a special moment to the event, and then the hooter blows and the race starts.

Miles 1-5: This early stretch of the race is overall downhill. But don’t let that trick you into thinking it is easy going. It is undulating and winding. I went off with Ian & Stuart from the club. 2 experienced marathon runners who were going slower than the 3 hour pace I had on my pace band. “Maybe they were having an off day?” I thought, and foolishly crept ahead. I also broke my own rules and went faster than my band pace which would later cost me dearly.

Miles 6-16: This next stretch of the course is mainly flat, with a few climbs and drops here and there. It runs along the edge of the Loch and is overloaded with drinks stations of water and Lucozade. The great views of the Loch and the mountains are a pleasant distraction.

Mile 17-18: This is a significant part of the course because it is all uphill. At the point of a race when your legs are working hard and feeling it, a hill arrives to make them work harder. By now I was beginning to rapidly lose my speed on each mile and my pace was way off what I wanted. At 14, Ian and Stuart had passed me, which was no surprise really. My enthusiastic start was now costing me valuable minutes, not just seconds.

Mile 19-24: With the Loch now behind you, you follow the River Ness through a more residential area, which means the crowds are out to encourage you along, offering jelly babies and words of support. As you break away from the Loch, try and look back at the view. There is a photographer there so take a moment if you can to look over your shoulder at the view.

Miles 24-26.2: This is the last part of the race which I think is mentally the most challenging. You know that the stadium is just across the river from you, but the u-turn you make as you cross the bridge is a long haul. By this point I was pretty much exhausted. I was nursing cramps in my hamstrings, but knew I had to keep the legs moving. Then as you run around the stadium, there is a sharp right into it, on to grass. The turn and change of terrain gave me cramp just 100 meters away from the finish. I managed to get it together enough to run in to the cheering crowds at a 3 hour 13 time. It was way off my planned time and I felt a little bit annoyed with myself for not sticking to my original race plan. I think if I had gone at a 3:10 pace, I would have actually finished quicker. Never mind, lesson learnt. I also think that the cold I had picked up the previous weekend was still creating some difficulties as some fairly chunky stuff was getting coughed up as I ran.

Post Race: Straight after finishing I went and had a massage. This was very good and made me appreciate how much of a hammering a marathon gives your body. Make sure you take a tenner for the cost of it. I had more Lucozade and water, plus a meal (complementary for all runners). Things were sore but I was coping. It was around 3 hours later that I was suddenly hit by a fever, yet felt really cold and shivery. I could hardly move, but once I ate a sausage supper and had some painkillers I felt better again. I’d be interested in hearing what caused that. Was it the cold or a virus being made more acute by fatigue? I don’t know, but it was pretty horrible and completely floored me for a couple of hours.

Well that’s about it. If you are thinking of doing a marathon, then this is one I recommend. It is an event where runners are looked after and where for the cost of entering, you get good value and a slightly different experience than some city races. Plus a t-shirt and a goody bag full of useful stuff rather than the litter of promotional fliers many races stuff in them. Make a weekend of it though and see the sites, and enjoy the place.

The Loch Ness Marathon 2009

2009-10-09T23:56:00.004+01:00

Thank goodness that’s over. After weeks of training, watching what I eat and increasingly being pre occupied by it, I have finally completed my first marathon.

Having dumped the kids with Emma’s mum for the weekend we set off for Inverness on the early morning train, making use of the crazy pricing of train fares. £6 to travel less than 30 miles to Edinburgh, £10 to travel from there, hundreds of mile to Inverness on one of the more picturesque train journeys you can get in the UK. We were kept entertained by the loo. Somehow people couldn’t work out how to lock it, so it was good fun watching people open the door and discovering someone sat helpless on the loo. I opened it and a Chinese man was sat on it.

On arrival we booked into our hotel. Located near the docks I was worried that it might be the work premises of those ladies who are involved in one of the oldest professions! Fortunately it was clean and there was little sign of nervous looking gentlemen booking in under false names.

Then it was time to register at the Festival of Running. As these expo’s go it was pretty rubbish. No free T-shirts, pens or anything else for that matter. Just over priced running gear and a few charity stalls. We met Emma’s cousin Rhona and the crew for the pasta party where we ‘carbed up’ for the next day. Rhona was going to be my nearest rival, as we frequently have come close in recent races, and this was going to be both our first marathons.

Race day arrived and we joined 3000 other nervous runners at 7.30 am to board the buses for the long journey to the start near Fort Augustus. We sat on the bus and waited...and waited and waited. After an hour I decided to nip into the bushes for a pee. Would you believe it, mid flow the buses started up and started moving. It was an extreme version of the scenario ‘you wait for a bus for ages and then 3 come at once’. The difference being 25 buses left at once! With a few dribbles on my trainers I got back on. You can imagine the excitement on the bus. I began to appreciate how big an event this was. Apparently the Loch Ness Marathon was voted one of the top10 to run in the world, which explained the number of non Scottish people around me. An American, a French bloke, some Germans and some weird sounding folk from Blackburn, Lancashire! It was an impressive, if not surreal sight to see a convoy of all these buses travelling through the winding roads of the highlands, through some breathtaking scenery. Then you arrive in the middle of nowhere and join the queue for the portaloos. I disobeyed the rule of not peeing in the bushes, and paid for it by standing in a marsh and soaking my trainers. Not a good start. Then a pipe band marches through to the start, and the horn blows and we were off!

(At this point I will do a separate report on the race itself for the benefit of any marathon runners looking for snippets of info on the course and event. See The Loch Ness Marathon: Runners Report)

Here is an abridged version of it. Basically I had 2 minds about what pace to go at. Having had a bad cold the week before I was doubtful of getting near to 3 hours and thought maybe 3: 10. But I started to run with Ian & Stuart (2 very experienced marathon runners from Dunbar). After 4 or 5 miles I realised I was going at the 3 hour pace and they were beginning to slow a little, so I pushed ahead. I kept that pace, but then they both passed me at around 14 miles, and soon after I paid the price for a hasty start. My splits were getting worse and worse and by 18 miles I was not enjoying myself. I got stuck in a mental rut of negativity, feeling the pain and struggling. At 24.5 miles the final blow came of Rhona passing me as I was pulled up stretching with cramp. From thereon it was just a case of trying to keep the legs moving and finish. The last mile is mentally very tough. It skirts around the Queen Park stadium, before a sharp right into it. Here with less than 100 meters to go, I got severe cramp and had to stop again, before restoring my dignity and finally finishing with a time of 3 hours and 13 minutes.

I was initially disappointed with my time. I had hoped for better but I think the lack of experience showed. I actually think I would have been quicker and feeling fitter if I had set myself a 3:10 pace. However, the results put me in 127th place, which might give me a best of age position for London. So on reflection for a first marathon it wasn’t too bad. Emma did very well. Nursing an ankle injury from the summer fell race, she smashed her PB by 9 minutes with a 3:47. Rhona got 3:10 and was 10th woman and 2nd in her age group, so she deservedly got a prize.

Post race I was feeling very sore, which was partly eased by a vigorous massage. But at night my body was in shock. I was burning hot with a fever, especially my legs, but shivering cold. I was wrecked! But, a mouthful of pain killers and a sausage supper from the chippy over the road made all the difference.

After a good nights sleep we made full use of the pool and Jacuzzi, and got every penny’s worth of the hotel breakfast. 3 visits to the food bar replenished all the lost energy from the marathon. Back on the train, the scenery was even better as snow had fallen in the Cairngorms. A great way to round of the weekend. Will I do it again? Maybe...or maybe a different one.

Lurgy

2009-09-28T09:05:00.002+01:00

The marathon training has been set back just at it's most important time. Somehow I have managed to pick up a cold over the weekend. So far it is only a head cold where snot drips constantly. Having read several pages of advice it seems I should be okay to run as long as it stay above the throat. No aches or pains which is a good sign too...just snot! Lots of advice also suggests going for a run ow might shift it to my chest. So I have opted to stick to doing some core work until it clears a bit. I will stay out of the way of the running club as I don't want to pass it on to the many who are doing the Loch Ness marathon or 10km. Emma however will have to suffer and hope her immune system is less lightweight than mine.

Hawick Half Marathon 2009

2009-09-14T09:13:00.004+01:00

As part of my Loch Ness Marathon training I headed over to the Borders town of Hawick for their half marathon. This was an alternative to doing yet another tedious long run, and an opportunity to 'open my legs' a little bit. It was a really small but well organised event, with around 60 runners involved. It is a hilly course, and I read somewhere that you climb a total of almost 2000ft. The hills didn't really hit me that hard as running around here is nearly always hilly, unless you take a coastal run. Hills also mean you get some good views. Hawick is that town we always rush through when we have been traveling south, so I have never really given it much of a look. Fairly early on I was out on my own, with a Perth runner a good distance away in front. He became my target from around mile 6. I did get closer and closer, but never caught him, although 20+ seconds separated us in the end. This course has a really steep drop for about a mile at 6 and half miles, but then you go up again. It is rarely flat, and there are loads of turns.

This was my first race where I went against the marshalls advice and listened to the ipod. It certainly took my mind off the discomfort of race pace, and seemed to speed me up a bit. The result was me getting a new personal best for that distance. I shattered my old one of 1:28:57 with a brand new 1:25:28! Given the hills and twists and turns, I was more than delighted with that time, and pleased to have come in 6th place. More to the point, this was my very first race in the older age category of Veteran. When you reach 40, you stop being a senior and get given the title of someone you'd expect to see in the British Legion. The day rounded off with a buffet (I'd advise against samosa's on an empty stomach unless you are planning a personal gas attack on your family), and some prizes. Rhona (Emma's cousin) got the first lady, and Stuart from the club got 2nd male. Being a small event there was no team prize, which was a shame because we had 3 runners in the top 10. So, this all bodes well for the marathon, which is just 3 weeks away!

Wet All Over

2009-09-05T07:54:00.004+01:00

It's been a wet week here in Dunbar. Wednesday was a fine sunny day, but then it started to rain. it stopped on Friday at around 5pm. So lots of water everywhere. Most spectacular was the primary school where the playground flooded. The kids love it and many of them took a dip in the waters. I don't think they realised that the water might include the odd bog spud or two. There was even a photo of it on the national weather. I decided to go for a run because I needed to get a 10 miler in for my training programme. Emma thinks I have gone a bit OCD with it, but I don't want to take any risks and ruin my chances of finishing the marathon. Anyway, once your wet your wet, so running through puddles was a bit of fun. However, up in the hill country, a couple of the fords had burst and at one point I found myself running in water that just stopped short of my dangly bits for 1/4 of a mile. I have a lunch time group that I could not get too because all the roads were closed or gridlocked, including the A1. It's all draining away now so I'm hoping my run tomorrow that takes in the river will be above water, rather than under it.

Another weekend gone

2009-08-30T22:44:00.003+01:00

Where did it all go? Whilst England enjoys the last few days of the school holidays and their own bank holiday weekend, Scotland is 2 weeks back into the daily grind of school and work, and the next bank holiday is not until mid September. This weekend saw the start back for most of the sports clubs, which means being a taxi for the weekend.
Saturday morning started early with Emma returning from her run trying to find the owners of one of those Lassie type dogs she'd found wandering around on the dual carriage way. The police dealt with it. Then it was a quick dash to Edinburgh to George Watsons School where kids are special (around £2900 a term sort of special) for Isabelle's game of hockey. Needless to say the Watson's lot won. The main difference between them and Dunbar was that they 1. Know the rules of hockey 2. Watson's have teachers who are sent to the tower if they don't get results, as opposed to Dunbar who don't have a teacher at all, but a team of dedicated volunteers 3. That they know how to play hockey from a young age at Watsons whereas Dunbar started it in S1 but had more games cancelled than played. These minor set backs are soon to be overcome. Emma is joining forces with some of the other mums to coach the girls and it seems that there is a bit more enthusiasm all round.
Straight from Watson's, we went to Dalkieth for an afternoon of athletics. The East Lothian competition is a good way of giving the younger kids a try at the sport, and for local experienced athletes a chance to out do each other. The problem with athletics is that your event is over and done really quickly, so it can be hours of waiting around for 20 seconds of sport. Frustrating but I am not sure how else it can be done.
Today was another early start as Andrew's football team have moved up to the higher level of the Edinburgh football league. The games were always going to be tougher so it was encouraging to see Dunbar make an early 2-0 lead over the Spartans. Sadly this changed quite a bit and by the end of the match it had been turned around to a 7-4 lose. That score line only reflected the poor performance of the last 15 minutes, so I don't think they should be too down. Andrew got man of the match for his 2 goals so it was a good trip really. Finally, I am following my marathon training to the letter, so to round off I did my 12 mile run, followed by watching the Titanic. Watching the Titanic is not part of the training, but it is Andrew's homework as they are dong a project on it. The scene where Kate Winslet gets her buoyancy aids out is obviously not suitable for a class of sniggering 11 year olds.

It's the dogs....

2009-08-23T23:21:00.004+01:00

Took Trefor to the vets for his annual booster jag and she traumatised us all with the suggestion that we get him castrated. With a straight face, in earshot of the dog himself she said that they find 'removing their testicles reduces their sexual aggression and prevents a number of illnesses'. Now I am no dog psychologists, but I should think that removing anyones testicles is going to reduce their sexual aggression. As well meaning as she was I think he can keep them for a while longer...what else is he going to lick? And she might be well meaning, but at a price..specifically the 'prices starting at £123. I wonder if that is for the pair, or a BOGOF offer? Also does size increase the cost? For example is the 'starting from' for one of those horrible yappy things with a pair of kumquats, and does Trefor's plums cost more than that, if so I feel sorry for any Great Dane owners who might have to shell out a small fortune for the de-stoning of their avocado's.

Warning 'Wet Paint'

2009-08-20T13:37:00.003+01:00

If only dogs could read...or have the common sense not to walk through a tray of magnolia paint. Trefor decided to assist my effort to get the house looking clean by doing just that. Fortunatley he was heading to the garden so it is only the garden path and the lawn that have lovely paw prints all over them.

Village Show

2009-08-15T23:26:00.007+01:00

Just back from the Oldhamstocks Flower Show. This is a family favourite. The village is all but a few houses, farms and a church, but each year they put on a good flower show. I have never entered the show because I don't grow anything other than weeds. I am hoping that next year, with 'Patch's' assistance we will have some good organic produce to submit. It's all the traditional marrow, runner beans, jams, etc. I go for the race. It's supposed to be a fell run but it's always too wet for the kids so they keep it on the road on a 1.5mile (approx) course. Andrew joined me this year and with a small field entering, and more importantly none of the fast runners from the club, I was in with a chance. In fact I managed to win it, and Andrew got first in his age, so between us we took home a trophy and £35 for our efforts. Stuart was also in the money when he won £2 for the tug o war, and 56p and 2 humbugs for the game where they throw loads of sweets and loose change in the air and the kids have to grab what they can. Afterwards we spent the afternoon at friends in the village, with a few beers and a barbecue. A good day indeed.

Photo: Victory at last. In all my years of running this is my only first prize..helped by a small field of one legged runners with no sense of direction. See them in action here

Summer in Swaledale

2009-08-10T00:25:00.004+01:00

Our summer holidays took us to York for a few days with Sarah & Rob. We managed to plunder most of the great charity shops in Acomb (forget York just head for the home of the genetically challenged just a few miles out). I also met up with Dave Tew who I have known for yonks through the Criccieth camps. He joined me for a run along the Ouse that ended up being 12 miles. It was good to catch up and run. We also saw Julie & Matt who I have not seen for 3 years or since they became parents. Good to see them too and have a quick catch up and see their boy Joshua.

Having purchased a Liddl's special offer tent, we decided to head to Swaledale in Yorkshire for a family holiday. It's not far from the army base of Catterick, so it was alarming, but exciting to find ourselves driving through a firing range and tank range. The soldiers were there firing away, fortunately not at us. Swaledale is much less a tourist trap than Wensleydale. For a start off the roads are too narrow or steep for caravans. It is very scenic with loads of stone buildings left untouched, and miles of great hills. We found Mr Rukins Farm in the village of Keld where we stayed. He was a typical ruddy faced farmer who could not understand why anyone would want to camp in the rain. There was a choice of lower, middle or upper fields. The lower one had a river by it but he warned us that by the weekend the whole world would be wanting to camp there. We opted for the middle one, and he was right, by weekend there were hundreds of people squashed in by the river. It was a good river though, with great waterfalls, a rope swing and pools to entertain the kids. Camping to me is all about doing what you want when. A fire is a must and so is wearing the same clothes all week! The farmer brought us a fire pit and wood, so that was the fire sorted. It took Isabelle and Andrew 24 hours to realise that they had to provide their own entertainment. I gave Andrew a pen knife and he was soon happy whittling bits of wood, whereas Isabelle's pyromaniac streak came out, as she took charge of the fire, burning anything she could.

The scenery was great and I got out for a good run along the Pennine Way to Muker, and back via the Corpse's Trail. There was loads of wildlife out. The lapwings were good to watch and there were some other birds I can't remember the names of so i will have to dig out my AA Bird Book. The best sight on that run was a stoat that had a rabbit under its spell. It ran off when it saw me, but the rabbit was hypnotised and stood still in a trance. On another run along the Pennine Way I headed off for a short run to who knows where? in the moors. I think I saw a pair of Peregrines and after about 4 or 5 miles I could see a building in the distance on the moors. When I reached it I discovered it was a pub...the highest in England and is called The Tan Hill Inn. Unfortunately I had no cash on me so I just had to miss the pint of Theakston's and run back. Mind, I wouldn't fancy trying to run anywhere after a pint of Theakston's!

Whilst we were at Swaledale, Stuart was on the Explorer Camp at Wensleydale so we made a couple of visits there. I gave them a hand putting up the marquee and again had time to see old friends. One surprise was Kev Church who I had not seen since he was a boy, and is now a bearded man. Talking of which, I'd forgotten my razor, so by the end of the week I was looking a bit rough with my grey whiskers. I did shower though as the camp site had the best showers ever. Will we go back? I hope so, but I think Emma is planning on going to Spain next year for a beach holiday. I have only ever done a beach holiday once before and it was boring. All there was to do was sit on the beach because it was too hot. I burnt my feet on the first day and had to wander around in my socks and sandals looking like a total geek. I'm in no rush to return....give me a field anytime!

Photo's: The campsite where we stayed in Keld
The waterfalls and river at the campsite were pretty spectacular
Looking rough after 3 days without a shave
Isabelle burning some more stuff

A Hot Half

2009-08-10T00:01:00.003+01:00

The training for the Loch Ness Marathon is a stop start affair. It starts and then we go on holiday, or I have to work silly hours in the summer leaving no obvious block in the day to go for a long run. That's why when a local race like the Haddington Half Marathon comes up I try and get along to double up supporting local clubs with a training run for the marathon.
I had no idea how I would get on, but was hoping for around 90 minutes after last years disaster of 1:35 where I got cramp. I had a plan of running at 6.45 pace but once the gun goes off I always get sucked into a fast first few miles (6.16 for the first). It was a hot and humid day but fortunately the club had put on loads of watering stations. At around 11 miles the heat was getting pretty bad and I was feeling faint, but another watering station saved the day. I was still picking off runners but then a few others caught me in the last mile or so. I finally finished 25th with a respectable 1:29:03 but I was very hot and feeling light headed. A few of the many sarnies and biscuits put on by the club sorted that out, and I went home feeling better about the my training. I nearly cracked my PB for that distance, but then as people pointed out, it is not a PB course as there are plenty of hills, not big ones, but enough to knacker your legs out. The club won the women's team prize so it was a good day out.

Photo (nicked from S.Hay): Hot and bothered after a good run.

R.I.P Sammy or do I mean Patch

2009-08-05T00:51:00.003+01:00

Spent the night digging a hole with the lads. You've guessed it, another pet has snuffed. This time it was the turn of Sammy the rabbit. I noticed him sneezing this afternoon and by tea time he was gasping for air. A quick look at rabbit illness on the great authority of Google and it looked like he had all the symptoms of rabbit pneumonia, with the exception of anorexia, which is one of the tell tale signs. Pause for thought there and allow that image of an annorexic rabbit sink in! Anyway he was in a bad way and I was ready to visit the vets in the morning if things didn't improve. No need to bother, as in the time it took me to make a cup of tea, Sammy had gone to that big carrot field in the sky.

The boys were very good and dealing with it and dug a big hole and buried him. And there he lies, forming the foundations of next springs project, a vegetable patch.

Carry on Camping

2009-08-03T00:32:00.005+01:00

Through my work with the churches & Scripture Union I spend a lot of time in the summer at Christian Camps. I have also been involved in them for donkeys years as a kid and in running them. Again I feel the need to justify them as 'religious' camps are so often misunderstood and criticised (deservedly sometimes although not in the case of any I am associated with). The camps are up front about their faith base, so people usually go expecting some sort of 'God slot'. That's what they get, but I think they are more geared to encouraging people to ask questions about faith, themselves and their existence. They present Christianity as the right choice, but I don't think they overstep the mark and try to brainwash or force it. So for me as a kid I came back from the camps accepting Christianity because I could see through the Christians there that it was a the best choice, rater than making that decision out of fear of hell, fire and damnation!

I have therefore found myself challenged by the opening of the first so called 'atheist camp' in the UK. It strongly denies it is anti religious, but has a strong humanist value base and promotes free thinking. Would I send my kid to a camp like that? Well if it's true to its word i shouldn't have any concerns. But people are people and all of us find it hard to remain impartial when it comes to the things important to us. Listening to the camp leaders on the radio I just got a sense of slight bitterness coming through, that perhaps the church had failed him earlier in life. They do this thing where the kids are told the story of a good and bad unicorn that has been passed through the generations. The challenge is to prove they exist, and presumably because no kid will ever succeed then that must mean God doesn't exist either! It's a very weak argument as it completely bypasses the central part of all religions...faith. It's irrational, but it's what 'religious' people build their lives around. Anyway, just to dispel any ideas that my camps brainwash people, I was interested to hear through Facebook that a girl from our camp has become the chair of the atheist society at university.

To add a lighter note to this heavy stuff, here is comedian David Mitchell's thoughts on the matter.

This year, the greatest pity must surely be reserved for the 24 eight- to 17-year-olds being packed off to the Richard Dawkins-supported atheists' camp in Somerset.

For them, the usual trekking and canoeing will be supplemented by sessions on rational scepticism and evolutionary biology, and group singing of "Imagine". Jesus Christ. Try telling them that there's no such thing as purgatory after that.

It must be weird for those kids, growing up with parents so insistent that they keep an open mind. Those brought up to be devoutly religious often kick against it. Maybe we can look forward to a new generation of archbishops, radical imams and cult leaders emerging from the camp's alumni?

Anything is better than their reaching adulthood telling their peers: "I was brought up to question everything, so I do."

But how are busy parents supposed to keep their kids out of both their hair and trouble over a hot summer? Here are a few other new schemes for independent-minded families:

Conspiracy Theorists' Camp - For children of parents who believe in questioning everything, including what is self-evidently true.

"We'll be spending a week in the shadow of Sellafield nuclear processing plant (it's where THEY don't want us to go - this way we're off the grid). After scanning everyone for subdermal microchips, we'll hold sessions on why no one has landed on the moon, why Princess Diana was both murdered and is not dead, and how there's a prophesy about 9/11 on the back of the Turin shroud. Also hiking. Bring cagoules."

Spirituality Camp - For children of parents who believe in being open to everything, including what is self-evidently bullshit.

"Join us for a week of exploration in the New Forest! As well as seeking out crystal skulls and listening for flower spirits, we'll be discussing and enthusing about hundreds of sincerely held sets of belief. From reflexology to astrology, from ghosts to homeopathy, from wheat intolerance to 'having a bad feeling about this', we'll be celebrating all the wild and wonderful sets of conclusions to which people the world over are jumping to fill the gap left by the retreat of organised religion."

Return to Herriot Country

2009-08-02T23:49:00.004+01:00

Photo: Nicked from one of the clubs newsletter but I can't remember which one. Anyway, somewhere in that lot is me & Emma & Bruce!

There are rumours that I am converting to the Yorkshire given that I several of my trips away from Dunbar this year have been in the homeland of amongst others,John Craven. We were there on a family holiday camping in Swaledale (more on that when I get my photo's to illustrate it). It just happened to be at the same time as the James Herriot Country 14km Trail Run that I did last year. So I persuaded Emma to join us this time and enjoy a good entry level fell run. It's a long climb up for the first mile or so but at the top there are some great views to make up for the pain. My asthma is particularly bad this summer and it is taking me a long time to get my lungs warmed up. Until they are it is a struggle but then the inhaler kicks in and I'm okay. So in race terms that was at about 6km when I was starting the first descent. Thundering behind me and past me was some chunky bloke who looked about 6 heavier than us light weight runners. 'Bruce' was his name and became my target for the next bit which was up hill...a big hill at that. I passed him and then spotted a woman who I knew must have been one of 3 ahead of me. She was hard to catch but for some reason she decided to stop for a drink with just over a mile to go. But then 'Big Bruce' reappeared and flew past me again. I tried to get him but the legs were now going all wobbly and I had to let him go, but picked off a few more in the effort. The good news was I finished 2 minutes faster than last year in just under 66 minutes, but 2 places less, indicating everyone else was faster too. Emma also had a good race finishing in 77 minutes, which was pretty good, especially for a first fell run. The finishing areas was in a cow field, and the cows came and joined in the presentations, depositing their gifts that I quickly stood in. Bruce came and shook hands and I did my bit for encouraging asthmatics to do sport, as his asthmatic lad spotted my inhaler tied to my belt and was intrigued as to how I could run with asthma. So not a bad day.

Day of Rest

2009-07-19T23:24:00.002+01:00

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. Well it is a rest from the normal weekly activities but busier than most days...but not in a bad way. The day revolves around either church or a race. Church is at 11.30am which is great because both of us can get a good run in before the service and a hearty breakfast. It is usually only 1 hour or so, which means the rest of the day is free too. Don't get me wrong, church is not a bad place to be and I do enjoy being part of it, catching up with people etc.
The run was good. My marathon guide encourages distance running but also exercise of other muscles. That combined can be achieved in a big hill run, so off I set up the Brunt, through Woodhall Dean and up to some ancient farm land called Halls. About 12-14 miles in total and I really enjoyed the wilderness of it all, seeing lots of wild things on a fine Sunday morning. That set us up nicely for church. After church we had a bite to eat, watched the golf and then out again. Andrew is now a member of the golf club so he went for a round with Emma caddying. I took the dog down to the shore under the cliffs. There was loads of flowers lying on the beach. 2 weeks ago a young woman fell to her death. The tide has spread the flowers all along the coast which was a bit eerie. I got the fright of my life as I worked my way along these rugged rocks, trying to avoid an early bath. Hiding in one of the coves was a heron that flew out at me. Big birds and I think he was more shocked than I was. Back home I ended up fiddling with Stuart's gears that had broken. It was one of those fiddly jobs that drive you nuts. Then i had to make a few repairs to the rodents cage. The roof was leaking so now it has a new tarpaulin canopy. Then it was more watching the open. It all looked exciting with Watson looking favourite, and Westwood nearly getting a win...but in the end it was just some other indistinct American who won it. The rest of the night was spent trying to sort out a place to stay in the Dales, which is where we head next week some time. I think I have found a good rustic camp site, but hope they have more than nettles for loo roll!

Heading down to the coast

2009-07-15T07:16:00.003+01:00

We had an early start of 6.30am to get the team bus to Northumberland to do the Northumberland Coastal Run. This is a race I have planned to do but have always missed because of holidays. It's 14 miles of beach, cliff paths and a little bit of road taking in some of the best scenery found on a race. It starts at the village of Beadnell and ends up in Alnmouth. Around 800+ runners took part and the starting line is the width of the beach, with everyone trying to head to the shoreline which is the shortest route. The length of the race varies from year to year, depending on the tides, so you see markers saying 'around half way' or 'around 2 miles to go'. There were a couple of sights that impressed me. I had spent the first half mile running at the front of the race which gave me the spectacular view back of all 800+ runners heading up the beach (See photo courtesy of Stuart Hay). The second was more birds! There was a flock of seagulls by the dunes making a lot of noise. It turned out to be a colony of terns, including little terns and Artic terns. These birds are also very rare and their main threat is the sea and disturbance. I hope the runners didn't put them off too much!

Anyway the race was hard work because of the wet sand and a fairly strong head wind, plus my legs are still recovering from the athletics event the other week. I knew I wasn't going to get a really fast time so rather than injure myself again I took it easy and got 1:41.42 and in 104th place. Strangely enough there was another Richard Taylor running too. He only got 2;00 so I was pleased with that, although if he had beaten me i would have taken his credit. It's a race to do again and any runners out there should do it, but be warned the places go very quickly.

Nice Birds

2009-07-14T23:02:00.004+01:00

Photo: The kids are alright...and so are the leaders!

We are just back from Scripture Union camp in Comrie in Perthshire. I was there working and Emma decided to come and cook for us all. Isabelle went off to Arran for a week whilst the boys stayed with us. It's a great base for a camp as it's a hostel on a shared campsite. What I liked was that the public are milling about amongst the stuff we are doing, especially the 'God Slots'. I like the fact that they can see and hear what we are doing as sometimes there is a danger we keep all that behind closed doors, and so attracting unfair criticism. This lot was there for all to see so no dark secrets.

The other thing I liked about the location was the scenery. I managed to get up early and run 3 times, each time covering 7-8 miles and getting to some high ground to see the massive views of the many mountains and lochs. The highlight had to be the discovery of an osprey nest, fully loaded with mum, dad and 3 fledglings. I know these are rare birds and hoped I would see one sometime, but to get 5 was beyond belief. I borrowed a pair of binoculars and spent many geeky hour watching them, as I could get within 200 meters without causing too much disturbance.

The camp was good too. SU have a lot of women volunteers and this camp was no different. However, the blokes who were there offered suitable laddish role models to the kids, and we did stuff like building a huge fire which involved tying a rope to the minibus and a pile of logs left by the forestry commission. You can't beat a good camp fire! We played cricket and footy and stuff like that. An old favourite was hunt the leader, where we dress up and go into the town of Crieff and the kids have to find you. Some disguises were good, like the girl who was a chav sat drinking Irn Bru at the bus stop. I dug out the Roman Centurion outfits from the Holy Ghost Walk and stood guard outside the public loos. It was funny watching the faces of elderly people on coach tours nipping for a pee, wondering how to get past us. I told them the emperor had granted permission for them to pee. The American tourists loved it too, seeing some genuine 'Scotlanders'. The dork in Subway was confused. I was with Lachlan who was dressed as a hippy, and the dork thought he was Bob Marley and I was a Viking. I don't recall Bob being a ginger white man with red arms from too much sun. The food was good and there was a lot of tray bake. In fact I think I ate my own body weight in tray bake last week thanks to the ladies of SU.

Owwww!

2009-06-29T09:49:00.002+01:00

Owwww! Not the parting words of Michael Jackson, but the noise I have been making since I did my annual bit for the junior running club and took part in the track and field events. Last year it was for vital points to promote the club, this time to prevent relegation. However, more dad's turned out this time, so it meant less events. Just as well really as I am not as fit as I was. This time it all began with 400m. Not a chance of getting anywhere near the front. I was in the seniors category, which is 18+ and most of them were half my age. I wasn't last but it was a struggle. Then straight from that, I was into the javelin. I was rubbish at this too, throwing 7 meters less than last year. Then there was a long break, giving just enough time to build up lots of lactic acid in my legs, and stiffen them up for the high jump. Now I had practiced high jump, getting one of the 13 year old lads to coach me! To my amazement I got a personal best of 1.35m. However it came at a price as on landing I cramped up on both legs. As the other competitors were actually only warming up on 1.4, I decided to quit whilst i was ahead. Today my legs feel like someone has hit them with a baseball bat. Sore and definately plenty of 'owww's' as I sit down, and stand up.

Goal!

2009-06-24T23:07:00.002+01:00

I got drawn into a big game of footy tonight. It's not my No1 choice of sport as I was originally left footed (in the physical sense) until some police woman ran me over in her mini when I was 7 and forced me into becoming right footed (courtesy of a broken leg). However I was on form...apart from a couple of skyward bound hoofers..I managed to get 2 goals, giving my side a 3-1 victory.
This sound impressive until you discover the opposition was a bunch of 11 year olds at the annual dad's vs the lads end of season game. I have never quite mastered ball control and I hit and hope. Unfortunately for the little kid in front of my shot, I hit it with quite some force (size 12 feet helps) and got the child on his head. Mild concussion never did anyone any harm!

Yorkshire Post

2009-06-09T22:53:00.003+01:00

I'm back again from another trip to York. Again I went with 2 classes on the train from Dunbar. There was no major problem getting to York, but the return journey was a little bit of a nightmare. The train pulled in full. People were standing in the aisles, so the sight of 59 school kids and their teachers must have really ruined their day. We had our seats reserved but that is only any good if people follow the rules. When asked to move from our seats, one woman replied, 'I have got seats booked in the other carriage but someone is sat in them. Move them and I will move." Other than pouring hot coffee in her lap what else can you do?
The guard was impressive as he helped us load on all 68 suitcases. We struggled to pack them in properly as there was 4 students asleep in the baggage racks. However, with a amazing skill, he got all the cases into a very small space. 'I used to be a furniture remover", he later confessed. Most surprising was the ticket man who insisted on clipping every one of the 68 tickets.

Part of our grand tour was to visit Castle Howard. This is the most contentious part of the trip as some of us really dislike it, whereas others think it is great. I was pretty sure places like that could only have gained their wealth via exploitation, things like the slave trade. I think the kids should know the whole story. I made enquiries and was put in touch with the Head Curator who revealed Castle Howard is clean, and in fact played a part in the abolishion. So where did their wealth come from? Maybe from it being used as a location in Brideshead Revisited, or more recently Garfield 2. I just stand back and grin when the kids grill these stuck up guides about important things like "Is this Garfield's bed?"

Again I caught up with Sarah who brought Thomas along. The weather was great apart from the Ghost walk where it went from being a sunny day, to a very cold evening. There's nothing worse than a cold night and a full bladder. I had to make an emergency visit to the pub, but only to let out fluids, not take them in. The Ghost guides are a little industry of their own. It seems that there is a hierarchy amongst them. In fact there is a top dog. Whenever the others see him coming they move on allowing him to have their pitch. If they don't you hear him banging his step ladders to scare them off. It's hilarious as they are all posh blokes earning a few extra pounds telling stories. They are worth going to, as are the open top tour buses and a guided tour of the minster.

I hope to go back without the school kids in the summer. It was very frustrating walking past shops, pubs and parks not being able to stop and look. As for the school, no doubt i will be back again next year. I can almost recite the story of Thor's hammer word for word now!

Green Fingers

2009-06-09T22:42:00.002+01:00

If you wander around the streets of Dunbar at dusk you may well see the strange sight of adults trying to conceal large amounts of greenery on their person. They scurry around holding bags full of the stuff close to their chests, looking slightly embarrassed when you make eye contact with them. But don't worry, there is an explanation. It's free food...not for us, but for rabbits and Guinea Pigs. It turns out dandelions are their favourite dish, and with the credit crunch and all, why buy food when it's on offer for free. Emma is one of those out snaffling her secret stash of greens, and out tonight she encountered another one, so now there is a small army of these green fingered free riders on the loose. Talking of Guniea Pigs, it must be a year since Splat departed us for pastures new. Shame really because its the civic week pet show next week. Nobody said the pet had to be alive, or in one piece, and there are no rules against pets being 2 dimensional.

Mr Invincible

2009-05-30T00:12:00.004+01:00

How have you spent your Friday evening? Mine has been the most unusual in a long time as I have been along to North Berwick to watch the 'American Style' wrestling, performed by some Scottish blokes from Dalgety Bay. I should make it clear I am not a wrestling fan, although i was partial to a bit of Saturday afternoon wrestling viewing on the World of Sport. Big Daddy, Pat Roach, Giant Haystacks to name but a few of the over weigh lardy's. My reason for tonight's performance was that Stuart had 2 of his mates over for a sleep over to celebrate his birthday, so as they are all wrestling mad, I took them on a surprise trip there. For them they had died and gone to heaven, for me I had to pinch myself to ensure I wasn't in some sort of nightmare.

I can only describe the occasion as being like a hybrid of Gladiators and pantomime. I knew I was in for a good quality night when the first baddy was introduced. Something like Ying Tong Nagasakitona, loosely sounding oriental. Lots of booing was being encouraged just because he was from Japan. The character was masked, but I had my suspicions that Ying Tong perhaps originated from the East of Scotland in the Fife region rather than Japan. On the sunniest and hottest day of the year, his red arms and neck on his pale white skin were a bit of a give away. Of course he lost his fight to the gayist looking wrestler I have ever seen, wearing pink leggings and a hat. The most memorable had to be Mr Invincible. He was the fattest bloke I have ever seen and weighed in at 30 stone. Look at the pictures to get an idea of his size and of Stuart's amazement. His name was Mr Invincible, although could easily have been Mr Ginsters, Mr Blobby, Mr Coronary Care, or good old Mr 15 Pints a Day. He won his fight and then scalped his oponent. Funnily enough he had a similar physique to the bloke on the sound desk...you work it out! To add to the occasion I won a prize in the raffle....4 photos of wrestlers. This gave me an opportunity to chat to the woman behind the desk, who turned out to be the main wrestlers mum. In fact I got the impression that this was a day outing for the residents of Dalgety Bay. His name escapes me but with that long greasy hair he looked like he might be a student earning a few extra quid to pay off his beer debt...sorry I meant educational debt. But overall it was a good night out, unique and good value for money. The show went on for 2 and half hours. The kids loved it and summed it up with "This has turned out to be the best day of my life".

Hello Primary 5 and others

2009-05-30T00:09:00.002+01:00

I have discovered that the blog is being followed by some of the classes at school. Thanks for reading it, I hope it gives you a glimpse of what is going through my head, and I will do my best to not embarrass anyone. A big HELLO to you all.

Hey! It's the Fonz

2009-05-25T22:59:00.002+01:00

We got a nice surprise at the school the other day when a 70’s tv icon made a guest appearance at the primary school. Andrew came home to tell us that some bloke called ‘The Fonz’ was coming in to his class. He had no idea who he was, and could not understand why women of a certain age were getting so excited about him.

His visit arrived, and lots of people suddenly found excuses to be in school. I am easily enthralled by a celebrity, especially ones that were once almost‘A’ list (if you were a 15 year old girl) and are now just legends. I popped in to get a glimpse and ended up staying for his talk and reading. He had written some books about a dyslexic kid, and told his own story of his ‘learning challenges’ caused by his own dyslexia. He was pretty good and had a very positive message for the underachievers in the school. Whilst I am sure the sale of his books was driving him, he was passionate about his cause and had time for the kids who he once was.

Andrew got to meet him and have his picture taken for the papers because apparently he was the coolest looking kid. Henry Winkler is obviously trying to put his Happy Days behind him, because when the photographer asked him to give a thumbs up, he replied...’err NO!...I’ll hold the book instead.” He also looked far from cool in his old jeans and a big baggy jumper. But he was still a good performer and very animated as he spoke. He revealed that he was 28 years old when he played the Fonz, and that he got 50,000 fan letters or parcels a week. I had to watch a couple of episodes with the boys on Youtube to remind myself of what he was like. They were actually quite funny, and I had forgotten Robin Williams’ ‘Mork’ was a character on a couple of episodes. I think Mork & Mindy was a spin off series of it. Fonzie is 63 now! Can you believe it.

Big Run

2009-05-04T12:52:00.003+01:00

I did a big race on Saturday, the Edinburgh to North Berwick road race. I did it last year but I had been training hard, so on the long road to recovery, with just 2 long runs in 6 weeks I was hardly going to break any records. Besides, the course was 2 miles shorter and only 20 miles for reasons unknown. So no pressure to get a PB and just out to enjoy it. I immediately set off too fast. I was hitting 6.50 minute miles for the first 10 which was quicker than the 7.30's I had planned. I got punished for this as I faced the long climb from Aberlady through to Direlton. As with last year I got arse cramp! A genuine pain in the arse that just niggled away at me like a dog with a bone. One of our club runners pulled alongside me on his bike to egg us on, and this was followed by more support from Dr Neil (he's called Neil and he's a doctor) prescribing us jelly babies in Dirleton. The drinks stations were supposed to hand back to your own drink, labelled with your number to speed up distribution. Nobody bothered doing that so all the bottles were in a big pile, costing vital seconds trying to find it. On the 13th mile station it wasn't even there, so I was a bit annoyed with them. With 1 mile to go I was really trying to avoid cramp and injury so I was ready to wind down, when Emma's cousin Rhona appeared. Rhona is a good runner and I have to work hard to beat her. Now was the worst time ever to be tested on that, so we ran in fast, picking off a couple of runners as we battled it out. In the end I found a bit of reserve and clocked a 2.24:42, with Rhona getting 2.24.49. Too close for comfort but a good result for me given the lack of training. The worse injury I picked up was sun burn. I have now got a lovely pair of red shoulders, and the tan lines of a vest.
This is a good marathon training run. I am not doing the marathon although regret not booking a place as i think I probably could do it based on that result. I have however booked in for the Loch Ness marathon in October.

Beyonce has walked

2009-05-01T07:05:00.003+01:00

Along with Lady Gaga and Take That, Beyonce's cd has also gone walkabout. This should help the police narrow down their search for the thief...a fat bloke with a taste for the ladies music.

School Trip

2009-04-29T00:19:00.004+01:00

Photos: Digging at 'Dig' and sat on the corner of York's shortest street with the longest name.

I'm just back from the first of 2 visits to York with the school. Just like last year we did a tour of almost every museum there is, all of which sell the same crappy pens, fudge, bouncy balls, slinky's and mock Roman coins. Castle Howard is the posh stately home where they filmed Brideshead Revisited, but the kids were more interested in also being the location for Garfield 2. Jorvik is a bit 1980's despite it being all about Vikings. My favourite is 'Dig'. Here you get to pretend to be an archaeologist and dig up some sites. You also get to handle a 1000 year old pooh. The Minster is interesting and whilst I hate the idea of the 'religiousness' of it all, it is a huge building and built on the site of one of the UK's first churches, permitted under Roman rule. The 275 step up its tower are tough, especially after doing a 16 mile run the day before. One of our tour guides on the open top bus turns out to be the brother of one of the women at running club. Small world! We also encountered an old friend, Dave Asbury. Sarah & Rob came over to the bowling and we had another visit from the Viking re-enactment bloke 'Danelaw Dave'. My cloth hat was too small and so was the tunic, and I looked more like a garden gnome than a Viking. But it was a good week in all.

Watch out there's a thief about!

2009-04-29T00:02:00.004+01:00

Dunbar soaring crime stats got a boost last week when some opportunist thieves visited our street. They 'broke in' to several cars and garages. I say 'broke in', but in fact they 'opened the doors' as most people don't normally bother locking their cars unless the fair is in town. A few sat navs got lifted, but mostly they nicked cd's. It was a week before we noticed Emma's 'Take That' cd and 'Lady GaGa had walked, but there may well be a chance of recovering them, as the crooks dumped all the stuff they didn't like in the woods. However, you won't find me down the nick asking if they have got any Take That.

Amongst the other items stolen from our neigbours, were a crate of Irn Bru, some ice lollies and a box of choc ices! Imagine how uncool that would be if they got sent down for it. Muppets!

Matchstick Men

2009-04-13T07:28:00.004+01:00

Photo: @Mike Hall photo's

Just back from Manchester where we spent a week shopping and catching up with people. Whilst there I took the opportunity to enter a local race as I always think the joy of running is you can do it anywhere. The Salford 10km took my fancy as I thought a change of landscape to all this green stuff we get around here might be good. I turned up early to check out the course and see who is in the running community of Greater Manchester. It was nice to see 'Running Mike' there, who was from the Holmes Place gym and the first person to give me and Emma some advice on running when we first started it back in Manchester almost 4 years ago. The rest of the field looked pretty fired up, and huge numbers from clubs turned out. I think I was the only Scottish Club runner there. The pre race conversations are the same though, PB times, injuries, races, diet, etc. These runners did look like they were up for it. Perhaps the artist Lowry had been to the Salford 10km and got his inspiration to draw matchstick men as these runners were very scrawny looking, but determined.

The course was 2 laps of a 5km loop. It was hardly picturesque, taking in a soap factory, some of those indistinct modern factory units, some terrace housing (I am sure I saw Jim Royale looking through the curtains), and a cemetery. Hardly picturesque, but this was Salford which has a landscape all of its own. I had a slow first lap of 19m 20 seconds, so I tried to speed up a bit for the second lap, and scraped through with a 39m 9 seconds. A seasonal best but not that good. Ahead of me were 116 other runners, which was an indication of how strong the field was. Results It's one of those races worth doing if you are in the area, but I wouldn't go too far out of my way to do it again.

Holy Ghost Walk

2009-04-13T06:53:00.005+01:00

The Holy Week celebrations got off to a good start on Palm Sunday with the 'Holy Ghost Walk' in the village of Spott. If anyone has ever been on a ghost or witch tour in places like York and Edinburgh, you will know that story telling is made more fun by the appearance of some second rate actors who jump out on the route. With that in mind I thought it might be a good laugh to tell bible stories in the same way. Also, I know how families like a Sunday afternoon stroll, but I also know that they sometimes need a reason to do it. Spott is a little village near Dunbar, and there are some woods (Brock Woods) there that hardly anyone seems to use, so the perfect location for the walk as there is a village hall to return to for hot cross buns and drinks.

Around 80 people turned up and did the 2 mile walk. There was no way the acting could be done as a serious performance, so it was all a bit panto, and better for it. Our 2 Roman centurions led the crowd around the tour on a quest to find out more about Jesus who was arriving in Jerusalem that day. On the way they met the woman at the well (it was actually the old dam), Zachaeus up a tree who demanded people pay some taxes (£7 was raised), Lasarus and Mary and Martha, and finally John the Baptist. One of our actors dropped out at the last minute, so I ended up being John. Wearing a ridiculous wig and beard I looked more like a member of the Taliban than a biblical character. The Brock Burn became the River Jordan, and I stood in the ford baptising people. I had quite a long wait before the crowd arrived, so I sat at the road side for ages waiting. Some boy racers were out for their Sunday afternoon spin, with a couple of girls in the back and got the fright of their life when they saw me. The car actually swerved off the road nearly hitting a tree, which would have been a very funny accident claim for return.

The sun was out and everyone who survived the walk seemed to have enjoyed it, and there are calls for more. It was a good start to Holy Week and put Palm Sunday back on the map for those who missed who had forgotten it.

Victory, meeting Jesus, fire and a run all in a week

2009-04-04T23:06:00.004+01:00

As weeks go, this was a busy and odd one. I am close to melt down it has been so busy, and tomorrow it ends with our Palm Sunday event,'Holy Ghost Walk'. For this event I needed some biblical costumes, so I got in touch with a woman who does the costumes for the Edinburgh Passion Plays (these are plays about Easter and not any other kind of passion). She offered me some of her wardrobe, but it meant going to the church where her cast were rehearsing. On arrival I entered the wrong door and found myself in alcoholics anonymous, but eventually I found myself in amongst the cast of biblical characters....including Jesus (or should I say Duncan!) Strangely enough, Duncan is not a Christian at all, but plays him with real conviction. After a good route through the costumes, I left with an Ikea bag full of them. I was half hoping I could have been mugged for them. How amusing would that be on a police report...items stolen 1 x Thomas the Doubter tunic, 1 x Mary's frock, 5 x pairs of Jesus sandals (and they would really have been Jesus' sandals!).

Wednesday was the inter school cross country finals. I've been training the school team since January and the pressure was on to get a win. Out of 20 kids, only 2 dropped out because they didn't actually enjoy it, and another broke his foot. We then whittled it down to the strongest team who faced tough opposition. In the girls race our rival school took the first 4 places. However, it was all about team work, so if the lads did well and the rivals didn't, we could win. Their lads looked like athletes, whereas ours looked like lads. However we were a team, they were just a bunch of individuals, and it was that which gave us a victory in the race, and ultimately the competition by 6 points. So that is 2 years in a row, which is just as well as the school have bought a trophy cabinet. Photo: Me, the winning team and Mrs Lyle

Thursday was a panic. I could smell smoke in the woods and thought some kids were having a fire. But I realised the smoke was actually coming from near our house, and as I got closer it was very near our house. 'Had I left the iron on again? Was Emma's hair straightners burning a hole in the carpet?' Fortunately not, it was our neighbours shed on fire, which was dangerously close to burning their bungalow down. In an emergency like that there is only one thing to do...get the camera! Everything was swiftly brought under control by our voluntary fire fighting team, and nobody was hurt.
Photo: The shed is on fire

Finally it was my own turn to race. The Dunbar 10km Boundry Race. I had a go faster hair cut done, and with little training behind me I was out only to get under 40 mins. Thankfully I got 39:26 which was slower than last year, but will do. I had to do a sprint finish for an exciting end to my week. I am in Manchester next week so I am hoping to do the Salford 10km on Good Friday. We will see!
Photo: The 'go faster' hair cut saved me valuable seconds