Sunday 19 February 2017

Is it Summer?




Sunday Runs

Linda took a group to Yeovilton this morning for their long run and posted:

Great 15.5 mile this morning. Sorry, I had to pull out at the 3-mile point but the leg was just too painful. Got home and got the bike out and rejoined them. Great cycling and bike ride with Katie. Nice and flat.



Marathon Mike

The “Magic City” Marathon

Had planned to run this one last year but didn’t go due to heavy cold and cough. Entered well in advance this year to get cheaper race entry and flights, booked a hotel near start/finish, and what happened…….contracted virus 2 weeks before, heavy cold, cough and chest infection. Housebound for a while and no running for 3 weeks it all looked doubtful again. Past the worst by marathon weekend but still congested and generally wiped out but off we went. An 80-minute flight to Chattanooga Tennessee, and then a 2-hour drive in our rented “muscle car” (cheap at $60 for 4 days), saw us arrive in Birmingham, Alabama for the Mercedes Marathon. It’s sad to see while driving around on these trips just how much poverty exists in this “rich” country, not just in the inner city ghettos, but also in the outlying rural areas, there still exists a massive gap between the haves and have-nots.



Birmingham lies about the centre of Alabama in the Deep South, in the tail end of the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and was named in honour of the English city, although no-one over here calls it Brum (it’s spoken Birming Ham, two words). Founded in 1871 during the post-civil war reconstruction era it grew rapidly around the production of iron and steel. It still is the only known area in the world where the 3 major raw materials, iron ore, limestone and coal can be found together, the soil everywhere around is a rusty colour. It rapidly became the major industrial city of the “New South”; cheap labour was plentiful following the abolition of slavery and the decline of the sugar and cotton plantations whence many jobless blacks moved into the city from rural areas (and became slaves of another sort). Thus, iron was much cheaper to produce here than in the established unionised northern cities, and the rapid population expansion that followed with resultant increasing wealth earned it the nickname “The Magic City”. It also became a large railroad centre and transportation hub, manufacturing rail track and waggons, and distributing freight all over the South. Many whites moved out to the suburbs to escape the poor air quality and today the city is about 70% African-American. The blast furnaces are no longer, but a steel industry and coal mines still exist in the area and rail transportation still prospers. The iron furnaces have been replaced in recent years with modern businesses and it is now a major centre in the South for banking, telecoms, healthcare, insurance and education, and of course not forgetting the marathon sponsor, Mercedes Benz who manufacture vehicles here for worldwide distribution. The city is clean and boasts fine parks, art galleries theatres, restaurants and museums.

Birmingham figured highly in the Civil Rights Movement protests in 1950’s and 60’s, Martin Luther King was jailed there during demonstrations in 1963. A Civil Rights Institute was established in the city which tells the story of the Civil Rights Movement and hosts many visitors every year.

We sauntered round running gear stalls at the expo and picked up race packets on Saturday morning then in the afternoon made a visit and tour of Sloss Furnaces. Iron was produced here for about 100 years; it ceased production in 1971, and has been turned into a National Historic Landmark and museum, a mechanical engineer’s wet dream! It actually contained 2 massive air blowers that were made in Birmingham, England, and installed in the 1890’s. Local artists still cast various metals on a small scale, lectures and classes are held, some people even get married here!



The after-race party was in the Boutwell Auditorium with 4 piece rock band (didn’t do much dancing), barbequed meal, (barbeque is a way of life in Alabama, always pork with a huge variety of sauces and different kinds of wood-smoke), with free beer……well, Miller Light which masquerades as beer over here but after 26 miles we weren’t too fussy. Following a short afternoon sleep and dinner, hillbilly music on the banjo and fiddle, and a drop of local moonshine completed the day. We took a walk around Red Mountain Park the day after to the old mine works where the iron ore was first discovered to loosen up those tired legs and this completed another interesting weekend adventure. Have a trail run next, promise no history lesson!




Jaw Dropper Challenge

Paul Allen and I travelled to London for a run along theThames on Saturday morning. This was 8 laps running just pass Walton Bridge and then back again. The medal was different as you can see. Next up is a double next weekend in Dover with Paul Allen and Meadows, Pete Jakeman and Lynn with support from the award winning photographer Jane. This was going to be Pauls 250th marathon but might be a few more by then.  




Park Run Tourist 


Joanna Henley: Penrose parkrun results for event #99. Your time was 00:24:13.
Congratulations on completing your 47th parkrun and your 8th at Penrose parkrun today. You finished in 60th place and were the 13th female out of a field of 252 parkrunners and you came 1st in your age category. 



From Louise:
Cleethorpes Park Run saw a record turnout of 220 yesterday. 1st place went to a lady. Fez came 8th and amazingly got an overall PB of 19.51 despite being sent flying by one of 3 women who were taking part as walkers and taking up the whole path! I was 84th in 26.39, 30 secs. faster than last time here and Jade in her first Park Run was 98th in 27.02. A very enjoyable 3 loops around the lakes.





Hampton Court Half

From Kevin Stenner:

Early 830am start today at the Hampton Court Half marathon.
Hampton Half is ran over a fast, flat course that borders the river - side grounds of Hampton Palace.
PB course, but unfortunately way of the pace today 1 33 45.
Have decided to give my old bones a good rest for two weeks, so one Free Eastbourne Half marathon entry going if anyone would like to run on the 5th March.

Dark Knights

From Nathan:
Fancy trying something new and joining the regular night runners from the running club? The last race in the Wild Night Running Race series is in Bristol next Saturday. There's a 5 and 10k option and it's the ideal one to try as a first experience of night racing.
From the race website: "Both races will start at Leigh Woods, a popular spot for night running in Bristol. You’ll be starting just as it gets dark so a head torch is essential. The running surface is generally fairly smooth so ideal for beginners and fast runners alike. And we’ve booked the Anchor Ham Green pub for the Prize Presentation after the race."
We usually travel to the race as a group and find a pub to all go back to at the end to make a night of it.  http://www.wildnightrun.co.uk/back-to-black-bristol/ 

Marks Runs

PODIMORE PUB RUN
We split into at least four groups tonight running from Podimore. JC led a fastish run of about 7.5 miles. We passed the other groups at various stages on the way round. From the pub, we ran through the village, turned left and ran past the camp. We continued and turned into Urgashay (still in England), and continued onto West Camel. I'm pretty sure one of the houses had a full-size tractor sat on a bank as a garden ornament. We crossed over and did a loop. The sky was light and clear, even though I could not find the moon anywhere. In the distance was the glow of orange and red lights from the camp. The hedges were neatly trimmed. Later we passed Bridgehampton and Stockwitch cross. The last leg was anti-clockwise along the Podi loop back to the pub. Thanks, JC and all.

SUNDAY LONG RUN

Thanks to Linda and all for the long training run this morning. Starting from the Camp at 9 o clock, the full option was one loop of the marathon course followed by a Podimore Loop making it about 15.5 miles. Conditions were grey but dry with a cool breeze at times. We passed the Goldenstones running group just outside West Mudford. Thankyou all for the sweets, and the real coffee from Katie's support cycle. I found the second run round Podimore needed some force, as it was not easy. More training needed.

Club Events

1. Tuesday Club Night is at  YTFC 6:15 pm 21st Feb.

2. Thursday Pub run is at The George Inn Donyatt at 6:30 pm 26th Feb

3.  Track night on Friday at 6:15 pm  

4.  The Sunday Run will be Goldenstones 26th Feb 9:00 am

5. The next Championship race is  Sun 26th 7.5 ml Babcary (SS) 11.00 am

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