I should be so lucky

And there was me thinking I'd got the perfect excuse to miss the race!

Men in uniforms eh?


Not that nurses are a bad thing in my book........

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........

WHERE??

Mmmm, yes. One thing I really miss about my last job - the kitchen window overlooked the fire station. I drank a lot of coffee when they were doing their drills outside

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I feel good... da da da da da da

Guess you were purring............

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........

So here we go...

Part 4

The race began! The light rain had stopped and in fact it stayed dry for the rest of the day. Never trust the weather forecasters!

Trin and I were mid packed as we went off ...passing Nat on our right who as promised was waving and encouraging like a mad woman! The race began with a slight incline and as we levelled out I saw RS at the front of the field in about 4th position.....show off!

I don't tend to make a note of things on a race course...I'm a tunnel vision racer. As I was running with Trin, and because I'd run earlier and was a bit heavy legged, I was able to look around and notice the undulating fields to the left, right and in front of us. We were going at a reasonable pace...I wonder if Trin thought that...and were overtaking those who'd peaked early!

Then we turned left and began to go up the hill...as we approached what I thought was halfway I told Trin we were nearly at the top. I honestly thought we were...honest guv! Unfortunately we had a left turn which then took us still further uphill...it was the peak of this bit of the hill that I'd seen with Nat on our course walk earlier.

Still it was downhill all the way to finish the first lap and as we started the second lap there was Nat..now on the left..shouting at us, jumping up and down..her long red hair flying all over the place!

I like 2 lap races..the second lap always seems to fly by. It did this time too. When we got the bottom of the hill Trin said she wouldn't mind if I went off ahead of her....."You don't get rid of me as easily as that" I gasped. Iran up the hill and when I got to the top I saw Trin digging in some 30 odd yards behind me...so I turned back down the hill to join her on the last bit of the incline and then the sprint to the finish. Well not exactly a sprint..more like long strides!

Smiling for the camera we crossed the line together......making sure we didn't miss out on the Glooston goody mug!

Post race Part 5 to follow........Jackanory.

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........

Don't know where I was standing during the race then - I had to put my hood up! Lol!

Maybe you two were going so fast you didn't feel it

I don't remember any rain after the start....but then I am rather forgetful....am I not, what's your name?

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........

PART TWO

I left the coffee shop before I forgot how to get back to where I'd parked the car, set satnav for race HQ, and off I went. I arrived about 4.45 and was one of the first there. Vaguely considered popping into The Old Barn Inn for a swift one to settle the nerves but decided against it

As they were setting up the race finish around me I realised that I would have to put my beloved Saffi in the big field 'car park' after all and I was just driving in when I spotted Steve and Nat. I still had to get changed and there wasn't a changing area so I sent Steve off while I did a rapid strip in the car

I was just about ready when a text came through. It was from Richard saying he'd just parked and where was I. I looked round and recognised him straight away, then I saw the RF top so I waved, and he waved back We then went and met up with Steve and Nat, who quickly told us about the hill Although I'm a bit behind with my hill training at the moment I wasn't too worried and thought, it can't be that bad surely...

So I went off and had a little warm up and by the time I got back everyone was making their way to the start. I was feeling quite calm and reasonably confident as we strolled down with everyone else. We stood at the start for a few minutes and then without warning a whistle blew and everyone suddenly started running, so Steve and I joined in


TO BE CONTINUED

There was plenty of warning about the start of the race... it's not my fault if you couldn't hear the old man mumbling away at the front - the fact that I could barely hear him stood all of about 2m away is irrelevant!

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Runners Forum Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Been, Gone, a complete success
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - 'Lady Godiva Half Marathon' Race Report Added 27/10/08

I've written my race report for my site, though it's very much from a 'me' point of view, and for that reason I tihnk it more appropriate to link it rather than paste it all here (there's a fair chunk of it!)

http://richardsimkiss.co.uk/running/glooston08.html

Well, that and my website could do with a few hits lol!

I'll write my account of the social side of things when I get a chance

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Runners Forum Winter Social @ Castle Combe - Been, Gone, a complete success
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - 'Lady Godiva Half Marathon' Race Report Added 27/10/08

Nice report Rich

and a pic of the 3 of us on your site too

Good report Richard...only in top 8.3%....Pathetic!

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........

Part 5.

So we'd got to the end...and rumour had it that Trin had won a prize...yippee! The four of us watched the rest of the field come in and then stepped into the hall for the prize giving. ..we waited and waited...and probably wished we'd gone to get changed first.

Eventually the results were announced and the race organiser seemed particularly impressed with the name of the club Trin runs for as he confirmed her 3rd place. Excellent ...applause all round...especially from a particular group of three in the corner!

Time to change and find a beer and some grub! Having got back to the car I opened up the boot and pulled out my bottle of water to soak myself down with...once a boy scout always a boy scout!

Then I noticed the hammer. "What's that for?" asked Nat. Having been concened about maybe being thought of as a mad axe murderer I thought that making a quip along the lines of " Hammers are more effective than axes" may not be the most sensible response so quick as a flash I pointed out that the hammer was part of my allotment gear and showed Nat the box full of twine, shears, secatuers etc...and made a mental note to remove said hammer next time I offer to give a lift to a young lady! Not that I do that very often...if ever!

Part 6 to follow............

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........