2013 SUMMER OUTRUN DATES
This year's outruns schedule is now finalised and can be found on the right hand side of this page.
Below are Neil's blogs for 2013 so far. See the archive page for prior years.....
8/5/13 - Berkeley Arms, Wymondham
With the pressures of filming gone, it was back to relaxing, running on the intended route from Wymondham this week. Just when everything seemed to be going to plan, I received a distress signal from my favourite son, Jed, who made the elementary mistake of thinking his car runs on fresh air and not petrol, hence he came to a grinding halt about 2 miles from the A1. Leaving the map and route with the team, in the hope that they would follow it correctly, I embarked on a mercy dash, getting Jed back on the road before heading back towards Edmonthorpe, meeting everyone at the top of the Drift.
Joining them, we headed on a track to Millennium Avenue, a tree-lined vista, opened by the Queen in 2000, the day after she ran the Hose Pose. This led to the field where I got injured last year and, although it felt really spooky (it didn’t really!!), being there, I have got the monkey off my back! Our Treasurer, Theresa, has okayed some money for the erection of a blue plaque to commemorate the event.
Talking of monkeys, I was surprised to receive no entries to last week’s blog quiz about marmosets. The correct answer was: 22 species, including the Pygmy, Golden, Black Headed, Black Tailed and the Buffy Tufted (what does that look like?). The marmoset is not new to science, or indeed literature. I am sure you all know from your schooldays that Shakespeare mentions it in ‘The Tempest’, when Caliban says he “will instruct his new master” (Stephano) “on how to snare the nimble marmoset”, which I am told makes a tasty meal. The Tempest, of course, is set in South America, following a shipwreck, possibly up the Orinoco (the river, not the Womble!). Did you know that Bernard Cribbins celebrated 70 years in “the business” recently. This week’s question is: Who was Bernard’s favourite Womble?
It is time to update you all on facts and figures this week.
Total runners: 27 (joint second overall). Record of 29 being set in 2000 at Ashby, including the Queen, as part
of her Millennium Tour. (I’m not sure why I appear to be stuck on the Queen theme, there must be a reason).
New runners: 4. We are up to 31 this year – Richard G and Ian J disputed this for a while, as they thought
we had an additional new member but it was Matt with a haircut. If you were a criminal in a police line-up, you
would want them identifying, wouldn’t you?
100%’ers: 11. A major prize up for grabs – who will win?
Beer of the week: Blond Witch. If anyone knows (and I am sure you can think of someone) who the Blond
Witch in question is, email me and I will collate a graph, or indeed, a pie chart to record the results.
With an actual prize this week (well done, Greg), we raised a further £27 for Air Ambulance. This brings the total, after 3 runs, to £70 – a great effort. Thanks to everyone who chips in and no thanks to those who don’t.
Nice to see Vicki with us, she is obviously still on trial but I think she may make the grade. Will the floodgates open and the Wreake flood Melton? Who knows?
15th May – up at the Club, with either a speed session or and off-road run.
Regards
Big Leggy©
1/5/13 - Rose & Crown, Hose
A staggering 4 runners of the 19 running on Wednesday, got in the spirit of the fancy dress theme – more on that story later. It's a cracker (not really just trying to build up the suspense).
Once again, there were murmerings of discontent about the pathfinder but what I have been dying to tell you, although due to contractural obligations I have been unable to do so until now, is that this week’s run was the 2nd episode of a 15 programme reality TV show sequel. It is called “Get Lost”, directed by the great N J Abramms. The knight’s garment I was wearing, cunningly concealed a hidden camera in the centre gemstone of the cross and I was encouraged to put the group in a difficult, unusual or dangerous situation to monitor reaction. It was a chraracter-building exercise in an attempt to get us bonding together, finding out who is a natural leader and, in the pressure cooker situation of being one field off the footpath, who would crack or break down? It was noted that the “faster” runners were seemingly unable to handle themselves in a group situation, clearly preferring to with their peers. Would anyone panic by being close to a scruffy farm where a farmer had been waiting for such an opportunity to use potential deterrents and give his slobbering, angry (and starving) mastiff the chance to feed?
As night enveloped us and we huddled together like penguins in an antarctic winter, our thoughts turned to food – the $64,000 question is “Who do we eat first?” I know we are not adrift in an open boat in the Pacific, with just a barrel of seawater and some hard tack, but if you have a suggestion for “Who to eat first?” send me an email. (As part of the production team for “Get Lost” I am, of course, exempt from any cannibalism on your part!!)
Casper: What is he talking about? There was no waffle when I wrote the Blog last week...
The results will be sent for pyschoanalysis by Sigmund Fraud and published in a feature length blog. Don’t miss it.
3 new runners this week – Amy, another Mike and another Matt. Matt turned out to be a bit of a sheep whisperer, as he cleverly shepherded an errant lamb away from us and left it bleating in the middle of the field, hundreds of yards from it’s mother. Clearly an expert.
Sheep Matt is not to be confused with Lycra Matt who, had he gone the extra mile and wore a hat or a wig, must surely have won the fancy dress for his budgie smuggling gear. However, the contest was down to 4, with my knight’s outfit, Luke who sprayed himself purple and wore one of his extensive collection of tutu’s and Ian M who came as Frank Spencer in some authentic clothes from the 1975 Frank Spencer collection by Vivienne Westwood, some of which sold recently on Flog It for £13 less 15% commisssion. The clear winner though this year was Rooster Jim Hatherley, with chaps on his legs and his six-shooter in his hand (I nearly said weapon!), who shot up some Morris dancers before mounting his 2-wheeled stallion and riding off into the sunset.
The quiz this week was a “no result” but £24 was raised. Thank you. There are some people who are like the Queen and do not carry money (also they squeak when they run). In fact, the last time the Queen ran with us (she is an honorary member) at the Millenium Hose Pose, she won the fancy dress competition dressed as Helen Mirren.
Beer of the week: Marmoset from the Monkey Brewery. A marmoset is, of course, a type of South American monkey which lives in small family groups. The question this: week is How many species of Marmoset are there? Email me (along with the answer as to who to eat first). The beer itself had fruity overtones, we got hints of grapefruit, peaches and kumquat – lovely!
Stop Press: The producers of “Get Lost” have just told me they now have enough footage for the show and we won’t need to get lost again.
For artistic purposes, let’s hope for a good run next week, with no detours or diversions. It starts from the Berkeley Arms at Wymondham.
24/4/13 - Carington Arms, Ashby Folville
It’s back!! But whether it is going to be any better, you decide. I am not sure if you have missed the Blog more than me?!?
22 runners assembled in the car park of the Carington Arms to begin this year’s summer runs. Richard A’s posse took to the roads, while the rest headed up across the fields towards Barsby. We lost Julie halfway through the first field, who headed back to the pub. Abi, very kindly, ran back after her, as she only wanted a short run following her success at the London Marathon. Unfortunately, they failed to meet up immediately and ended up running on their own to start with.
The rest of the group had an uneventful start to the run, as we headed to South Croxton through endless stiles and gates, before eventually reaching a big field, where Greg, Jim, Luke and Ian J could stretch their legs and the rest of us slightly slower ones, caught them as they waited at the road.
It was lucky for me that Mike was there, so that I wasn’t left on my own at the back – this being the longest run for some 9 months (knackered!). Although I am pleased to say that my knee, along with Mike’s “girlie foot”, held up well. Mike attributes his recent accosting by a faith healer outside Boots for the speedy improvement to his foot.
Heading away from South Croxton, many people thought (for the first time) that I had got lost. Far from it. I took this opportunity for a short detour, in order to view the ancient (and recently restored) mansion of the medieval knight, Sir Edmund de la Vere. He was a close friend of a recently-dug-up former King of England, who may have stopped at the de la Vere mansion for a light lunch, on the way to a decisive battle. We all took note of the local stonework, the mansard roof and the famous Leicestershire sash windows, before nipping over the hedge and regaining the path.
The long drag up the hill took us past another famous Leicestershire residence, that being Thimble Hall which, after a fire some years ago, was thoughtfully and sympathetically restored, to look nothing like the original building. (It used to be tiny!). Regaining the Midshires Way, we enjoyed the long downhill stretch back to the pub.
£19 was raised this week for the Air Ambulance through our regular quiz. Some members left before I could get their donation but I’m sure that won’t happen next week, after all, it is a very worthy cause and we do run in some relatively inaccessible places as well as on very rural roads!
This week’s road-based question was won by Ian Mason, who was a mere 4,000 miles out in his answer but was easily the closest. Unfortunately, his prize of a bucket of tarmac was stolen, probably by someone who is fed up with the Council taking so long in getting the roads mended and taking his or her opportunity to sort it out! It is said that because of the amount of pot holes to be filled, there is a countrywide tarmac shortage and it worth more, pound-for-pound, than jam – pricey indeed! At the current rate of repair, it is estimated that all of the pot holes will be filled in the year 2525 – if man is still alive (for those of you who are old enough to remember the song).
Beer of the week: Grainstore Cooking
There will be a prize next week for the Hose Pose Fancy Dress. This is run from the Rose & Crown. Try and get in the spirit and don’t forget your donation – it promises to be great fun.
Please note: This week’s blog has been written by my ghost writer, Caspar. Just in case I have written anything I shouldn’t have! (I don’t think I did).
Big Leggy's archives
To see the blogs from prior years, click on the archive link on the left.