An old friend once said to me “So, this is Christmas and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun”. In 1969 I was 6 years old and fresh from all the historic events of that year like Prince Charles investiture as Prince of Wales, England beating the West Indies in a series at cricket for the last time for 31 years, the moon landing and Woodstock. I felt that space travel was the future and living on the moon could be a reality. The reality was the evening news and all the stories of the troubles in Northern Ireland and the war raging in Vietnam. The world didn’t feel safe and I seriously thought it would end as the decade turned into the 1970s, I had never seem a decade change before. and these were turbulent times. Who’d have thought that the Summer of Love would be the Yin to this Yang.

Fast forward to the 80s and the New Year meant dragging myself over muddy or frozen solid football pitches. Football was a strange love for me. I enjoyed the training and playing but felt isolated as a Guardian reader amongst Sun sensationalists. Then when starting running it meant the New Year’s Day Gloucester 10 miler. This should be a potential chunder fest but most runners abstain from the demon drink and remain tea total to participate in the first race of the year. Me; I always had a belly, liver, drinks bottle full of Wychwood Hobgoblin to fuel me and always was competitive even running my 10 mile personal best, a rare distance these days, of 58.50 there.That was then but this is now and 2020 seemed the time was right to ‘perform’ again on NYD. The occasion was the Chard Flyer 10km.

The road trip consisted of our host, ‘Sterling Moss’ Sue Nicholls, Tracey ‘The T’ Thomas, ‘Surfin’ Timmy Byrne and myself. The Pompomadour was absent due to insomnia and housework. We were all rather understandably quiet on the journey out. Once at Chard we met up with other Harriers Lewis Perry and Becci Green.

The Race Director led us from Race HQ, through town to a park about a mile away. The line of nearly 200 runners walking along the pavement must have made us look like a peaceful, non evasive protest. This mild disruption meant the race started a couple of minutes late. Weather conditions were cool but not cold and very foggy which meant it could be damp and slippery underfoot. The course consisted of a rolling path that circumnavigated a lake that somehow Tim didn’t see. We had to negotiate a steep climb at half way and were rewarded with a drinks station. The route interested me and the time flew although I ran slowly and it wasn’t long before the steady climb through a housing estate and back to the cricket club that was the finish. T describe the Chard Flyer is a bit of a misnomer as over three quarters of the race is ran on along a footpath but hardly road. A good race and a better than pleasant course.

My last blog was my 50th and mentioned Phil Hobbs’s 50th birthday and Saturday was my 50th parkrun. Creepy eh, not really. It has taken me four and a half years to reach this milestone. Really quite poor BUT the first year I was receiving or recovering from cancer treatment and I have no excuse after that but 50 is better than none, which it might have been. I’m not a park run obsessive but to complete this feat, for me, was quite an achievement. Will I run 100? Maybe, 150-200? Probably not. I’d like to step back now and improve my volunteering stats, when required/trusted.

The time was largely immaterial. The morning was sunny and with no wind and personal bests might have been on the agenda but a race the following day meant caution was required to an extent. I do realise it’s a fantastic way to get hooked on running especially as a 3 year boy managed to get round the 5km course as did Canvas Love after a skinful of cider, and even managed to pace 22 minutes, and my bodyguard as did ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly after a works Christmas ‘do’.

The following day was the occasion of the Christmas Jingle organised by the Burnham Swim and Sports Academy. Four and one mile races along the Esplanade. This gave me the perfect opportunity to dress up again (people must be thinking that I spend my leisure time in ladies clothes). Many Harriers were waiting to see how the weather would turn out but many did show up. We were represented by ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly Sherriff, Tracey ‘T’ Thomas, Paula and Billie-Jo Hopley, Mark ‘Benton, Benton, Benton’ Benton and Little Timmy Byrne as well as Super Sue Nicholls, Linds and Alan Tilley, and Stuart Tilley.

So at 10.25 a motley crew of Father Christmasses, Elves, Snowmen, Crackers and Man in a female cheerleaders outfit assembled on the Esplanade for the start. The route followed the Esplanade southwards, past the yacht club, left at the waterworks onto Apex Park, past the lake back onto the river path and onwards along the Esplanade to the finish at the shelter near Seaview Road. I hadn’t warmed up, not unusual but very bad, and I felt a tightening in my quadriceps so I decided an easy start and then possibly quickening the pace. Tracey and Timmy sped off and a group of Billie-Jo, Kelly, Mark and myself enjoyed much of the race, chatting full of the joys of the season.

Tim finished 6th and medalled in his age group as did Tracey and Billie-Jo. Canvas Love’s children, Zac, Xander and Albany all medalled in the one mile children’s race and I won a prize in the event I was aiming for fancy dress. Regrettably after waiting for the presentation, I was too late to go home and change. It had been okay to walk to the swimming pool early on a Sunday morning but lunchtime, well, people were around and Madame Pompomadour did insist on dragging me into every pub on the way home and putting my wig on every bald reveller. I’m not entirely sure I can show my face in any hostelry again. To make matters worse, Georgina Hainsby took me to task for wearing the same dress two days in a row. Apparently it’s a ladies thing.

As this will be my last thoughts before Christmas Day I want to wish all my readers the very Merriest, Booziest, Chocolateiest of Christmases.

The weather forecast was abysmal, high winds and rain, but I entered my second Weston Prom Series race of the 2019/20 season. I was looking to finish the year on a personal high as my racing recently had become turgid and my training less than it should be. I’ve been suffering a bit with BLT; Busy, Lazy and Tired. Running had became a bit of a drudge and with just a couple of weeks and two races left in the year I decided to finish, as I have ran most of this year, steadily.

The road trip consisted of Kelly ‘The’ Sherriff, Tracey ‘Fourth Favourite’ Benton, Madame Pompomadour, and myself. The Christmas Spirit was in full effect with accompanying seasonal tunes. Once in Weston, Kelly parked about in Portishead, a snotty Cheddar runner asked her to reverse because she couldn’t get her SUV into a parking bay. Kelly was very polite whilst the rest of us made other suggestions.

The Weston Prom Winter Series has become very popular amongst the Harriers as entrant each want to complete the series and improve or just have an excuse to get out on a Thursday night and avoid mind numbing television. Unfortunately regular Little Timmy Byrne was living it up elsewhere with his Happy Mondays moves and Mark ‘Benton Benton Benton’ Benton arrived too late from Basingstoke to take part. Other than ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, Captain Tracey Benton, and myself Team Yellow were represented by , Super Sue Nicholls, Phil ‘Hawaii Five 0’ Hobbs, Harold Petheram, Tony’s McKee and Gore and Adrian Smith.

Start time and off we sprinted with conditions much better than forecast. The rain had passed and the wind not as strong as predicted. We started pretty much together and I ran for about half a mile with Tony G., a generous and knowledgeable man. I caught up with ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly and the previous evening about we were discussing personal bests. The course was a 3 looper and Kelly doesn’t like loops and my theory was to coerce her to run faster than she realised by using distraction (easy as the runners running the opposite way of the loop are only metres away and Harriers to cheer on) and to run at a steady but slightly faster pace than she would normally. Easy yeah and when Kelly stopped talking and insisted I run on without her I knew it was working and voila 10 seconds faster for 5 miles. I was really pleased for her on a fantastic achievement and her hard work. She’s a great runner and a terrific asset to the club. Kelly helped me at the Pawlett Plod and I though it was time to give something back.

All Harriers put in good performances. Harry ran well even though he might not have thought it. Every race is part of a learning curve. I would love it if he ran quicker than I did 10-12 years ago and I would have really enjoyed to train with him, but not now! I’m sure he will run much faster. Watch this space. Great runs from Tracey and the Tonys after illness and injury. A special mention to Phil Hobbs who turned up on a dark December evening to share his 50th birthday with us, and I for one felt privileged to be with him . Team Yellow retreated to celebrate Phil and our evening together with fizz, cake and drinks

Park run on Saturday and all the talk and excitement was about the following day’s Weston AC Christmas Cracker 10k. The annual pre festive run is popular amongst Harriers and this years attracted over 30 entrants from the club. However, there were concerns as the weather forecast for the Sunday was horrendous predicting heavy showers and winds of 40-50 miles per hour and Storm Atiyah was about to strike.

Road trip was with bungy jumping Sue Nicholls and Madame Pompomadour. Sue mentioned seeing Kelly and Lindsay in their tutu’s waiting on the Berrow Road like it was a casual Sunday morning occurrence, which knowing them it probably is. The weather didn’t seem too bad as we left but when we reached Weston the wind was picking up and so was the appearance of Harriers in all sorts of Christmas inspired fancy dress. The Madame was certainly going to have a tough time spotting us. I wasn’t even sure if she knew what I was wearing. We assembled for the obligatory team picture with as many Harriers we could muster, even the local press snapper wanted a piece of the Team Yellow Christmas action. Soon after we were called to the start line and set off on our race.

We ran up and down Weston beach being bucketed by the wind. At times it really was like running to stand still. We ran past the dazzled Madame Pompomadour three times in that first 4-5 km and she had no clue who, why, where we were amongst all the elves, Christmas trees, Father Christmases and even a Charlie Chaplin. I don’t think any Harrier was dressed as a silent movie comedian that was hated by Captain Blackadder. The course was along the beach, turn back past the start, back along the beach to Uphill back to Weston and a final kilometre along the beach again to the finish at the Grand Pier. Although the sand was quite firm, it was heaven to reach the road and the shelter Uphill. Running up that way against the wind felt like I wasn’t moving at all. I caught up and ran with Tracey Thomas and Steve Wilcox for the final couple of kilometres and we crossed the finish line together.

Steve Wilcox was with Tracey and myself but didn’t appear on any of our pictures. The three of us were fortunate enough to be presented with spot prizes and vouchers from Bristol running shop Easy Runner. A few of us went back to Weston College, the race’s headquarters, to put on warm clothing. Madame Pompomadour waited for others to finish and I would go back. Unfortunately once changed and still cold, Mark Benton insisted I follow him to café and be revived with Americano. All thoughts of the cheerleader left my sieve like mind until Tracey Thomas came in and said Sue was looking for me. I suddenly remembered and dashed out where Sue Nicholls, Jason Vickers and Adrian Smith said Sue was worried where I was. Kelly Sherriff even messaged me on Facebook. Normally this could be considered as some kind of amusing farce but mental health issues can have dark cognitions. I met up with a cold and angry cheerleader outside and we went to the café for the presentations. Super Sue Nicholls won her age group and received cash which can be exchanged for goods and services anywhere unlike Easy Runner gift vouchers but it will give me a lovely trip to Bristol and look and buy some nice shiny running things.

Thursday evening, six-fifty and panic akin to the opening scene of Four Weddings and a Funeral. It’s the evening of the third Prom 5k and I’ve nodded off after a very trying, tiring day at the Temple of Doom/Jam. Where’s my vest? Damn in the wash, I’ll have to wear my tee shirt. I’m sure to be late and do I really want to run this? Of course. Running is my hobby, pleasure, vice, obsession and release of all my stress and anxieties and I can meet up with some Harrier chums.

Pom pomless Sue wandered to the start line on the Esplanade; while I hot footed it to the Swim and Sports Academy to collect my competitor’s wristband. I was planning a warm up but this was different gravy because warm ups rarely have an element of panic. Why was I worrying? I made it to the start line with 4 or 5 minutes to spare and enough time to greet my fellow Harriers, Kelly ‘I Shot The’ Sherriff, Lewis ‘ No Nickname Yet’ Perry and James ‘Gaddy’ Gadd.

The hooter sounded and we set off. This was the last Prom race before Christmas so of course all these serious runners were wearing bells and tinsel, not. Lewis and Gaddy sprinted off not to be seen until the finish. The evening was cool but not too cold and breeze a typical Burnham hoolie. I started the first loop quick but gained a minute of time each mile on the subsequent laps. Ironic that I entered the series to get quicker and I’m getting slower with each race. Kelly ran but due to the gale was unfortunately unable to pb. I hope she tries again. Gaddy finished in a creditable 5th and ran his fastest 5k.

December and one turns one’s attentions towards Yuletide but runners have an extreme month of Christmas related races and the first began on 1st December with the Brean Down Santa Scramble at…Brean Down. This race is the Winter version of the July race and again ran on the eco friendly route along the cobbles. I say cobbles because it’s not a proper road and the race is clearly on trail, *Canvas Love*. Another change was not issuing Santa suits with registration but this didn’t stop nearly all of the runners dressing up in some sort of festive attire.

The short road trip consisted of ‘Smiling’ Georgie Hainsby, neighbour Sarah Smith, Madame Pompomadour and your correspondent. It was pretty quiet, well for me, as I couldn’t get a word in. We met up with the other Harriers, their spirits as high as their hopes and expectations. I decorated my Santa hat with chocolates but they didn’t last long in the pre exercise sugar loading rush. Tracey Benton, Cadburys.

Race start, a timid 3-2-1 and off we strode but not for long. I started close to the back and it seemed like the 140 or so runners had stopped to walk up the first hill to the Down. It needed some zig zagging, tripping over dog leads and a few excuse me. Once at the top I found some rhythm an got into my stride. Even though it was cold and breezy, running along the ‘road’ wasn’t too bad. We were well sheltered from the wind and, now running, warming up. After a couple of miles I saw Harry Petheram storming along and well in front of Mother Christmas cross dressing Matt Powell and both Harriers looked well set to win their respective races, Harry 10k and Matt 5k.

I turned at the fort and headed back along the same trail to the start and back again for the second lap of the 10k. Now, the competitors had thinned out as most of the 5k runners were finishing. A smiling Harry came running towards me and to the finish line and by now he had extended his lead to unbeatable proportions. I felt quite satisfied that Harrier runners had won, or about to win, both races. On finishing I was told the facts of our offensive. Harry 1st 10k, Matt first 5k, Billie-Jo Hopley 1st female 5k and 1st in her age group, Lisa Bowen-Howe 3rd female 5k and first in her age group, Paul Young and Paula Hopley also won their age groups.

The clocks have gone back an hour. The mornings are dark. The evenings are dark. Everything feels dark. The long dark days of Winter are beginning to kick I and over the last couple of weeks since the end of British Summer Time it feels like it hasn’t stopped raining. This weekend has certainly brought Winter into focus. Watch rugby on tv, steam could clearly be seen rising from the powerful behemoth of the scrum. Looking out of the window at the darkening skies offered no comfort. Seasonal Affective Disorder or Winter Blues is now in full effect.

I admit I’ve been suffering from this recently and coupled with unnecessary hassles at work I find myself in need of some sort of salvation and redemption. This time of year coincides with my mother’s birthday, she died in 1984, and the date my Dad died both on 27th October. My Dad died in 1997 and never saw me run the London Marathon, a race he watched religiously, and I like to think he would be proud of my achievements in that race and many others. That’s always a bumper filled fun day in the life of your second favourite blogger. I’ll be honest, I dislike Christmas and Winter. It’s dark, cold, windy, rainy and dark. Can it be over come and break the cycle? SAD is “a depression that occurs each year at the same time, usually starting in fall, worsening in winter, and ending in spring. It is more than just the ‘winter blues’ or ‘cabin fever. Even for normally cheerful runners, these feelings can be common when temperatures drop and you get less exposure to the sun, and daylight in general.

Can the cycle be broken. As a runner, running has to be the first port of call. Endorphins are produced and realised whilst doing any exercise or physical activity and this increases wellbeing both in the body and mind. I’m sure a lunchtime walk each day would have boundless benefits and break down some work related stress. I’ve tried aqua aerobics and even considered returning to yoga or pilates.

The seasons have a biological rhythm, so the way you run in the winter will not be the same way you run in the spring. It may be a good idea to cut back on outdoor running and substitute these sessions for strength training or core and stability training

Try to avoid running alone. Running with a friend or group helps you out of the door and that important first step which can be the most difficult. Sparkling conversion can be the most uplifting of things and take your mind off how low the season is making you feel. These chats may encourage you to enter races or try a different training method or stimulate you in other ways.

What other things can help, Clive? I’m glad you asked that. During this time of year we all suffer with a lack of Vitamin D which is absorbed from sunlight but adding more fish and eggs to your diet can boost your levels of Vitamin D but this can only be a physiological affect. It’s the psychological affect that needs addressing most but I love prawn omelettes and it’s still that exercise thing that’s the deal breaker.

Prom,Rom.Com

Last Thursday evening was the third event in the Weston Prom 5 mile series. I entered for the whole series last season and ended up racing only once. This year I thought I would enter on a monthly basis. The series consists of 9 races and in reality even if I race only half of them it would be worth the money. Over the 9 months conditions will change immensely from mild Autumn, cold Winter to warm Spring and probably mostly windy.

Harry Petheram was kind to drag us out to Weston and Sue insisted on providing a sat nav commentary, providing she could see the appropriate signposts. I admit I was most interested in Harry’s development. He’s been running increasingly quicker race by race. Stalking his Strava, I see he is training really well mixing plyometrics and strength and conditioning with the necessary run sessions. A little criticism, run the occasional slow recovery session. I know it’s hard when running well but an easy 3-4 miler really does help tired legs.

The series races are usually well attended by Harriers and this evening was no exceptions. We were represented by The Bentons, Kelly Sherriff, Adrian Smith, Little Timmy Byrne, Tonys Gore and McKee, Sue Nicholls, Stuart Anderson as well as Harry and myself. The course started at the Tropicana and travelled north along North Parade and back three times. Conditions were cool and still so quite good for running and the potential for personal bests.

Conditions were surprisingly good with a slight tail wind on the way out, cool but not too cold, and light drizzle getting heavier later. Usual suspects Tim and Harry sped off while the rest of us scampered along. It wasn’t to be the night for the Tonys. Tony McKee was struggled with man flu and Tony Gore tweaked his hamstring early into the race but of the others Harry, Adrian, Kelly and myself ran personal bests and Marky Benton was just outside. Great results on a good links run night.

A little poetic licence!

‘Where are you running on Sunday?’ asked Tracey Thomas after the Harriers Tuesday night’s run. ‘Trellock near Monmouth’ was my response thinking that it sounded more Scottish. ‘No, it’s Treleg’ was Tracey’s reply. Technically we were both correct as this village is famed for having historically 30 different spellings although only 4 are still in common use. The three roads leading into the village are all signposted differently.

Philosopher, writer, historian, political activist, Nobel laureate and all round clever dick if ever there was one, Bertrand Russell was born in Trellech. The largest medieval settlement in Wales is here and was discovered by borrowing moles bringing broken pottery to the surface.

After the rain and the gale force winds of the previous day, race day was calm and much brighter. Yoda Booth who came up with the idea of this hustings trip to South East Wales was unfortunately unable to join us as his wife’s birthday had slipped his mind. In order to bank some good Jedi points he doted on his wife and his son’s family in Gloucester. It was left to write the theme tune, sing the theme tune Dennis Waterman lookalike Kev Clements, a much better feeling Madame Pompomadour and myself to represent the Harriers in darkest Monmouthshire. Dark indeed it was. On arrival we were met by low cloud/mist and could not help but feel we were walking into a scene from Silent Hill. It’s quite odd running outside Somerset as we didn’t recognise any runners or running clubs although I remembered Les Croupiers and Forest of Dean running clubs and from my previous life. Also in attendance were runners from Llisswerry Runners who organise a hugely competitive 8 mile race in January which I ran once. Unfortunately my result is recorded in some dusty ledger or tapestry and not on the interweb.

Start time was nearing and I decided to join Kev in jogging the first couple of hundred yards. It was going up and getting steeper so I considered it to be counter productive as I needed my swallow, fragile ego massaging.

11.00am and off we set and I felt good and moving well until other runners started streaming past me as if I were running in treacle. Kevin was well gone on his assault on the pointy end of the field. The first half kilometre was on road and the first 2 miles was uphill to the Beacon. The remainder was flatish or downhill with a small climb towards the end.

As I ran I looked around trying to capture the essence. It would be great if you liked trees, fern, heather and mud and we were treated to a tremendous views of the Wye Valley, Brecon Beacons and the Malverns on route. Again the various colours of the trees and leaves were a sight to behold. The race was very technical with all the twists, turns, mud, tree roots and rocks. In the spirit of the event I tripped up twice and ended up face down in the mud much to my colleague’s amusement at the end. In total of the 6 miles race I reckon all but around one kilometre of road felt like wading through ankle deep mud in Monmouthshire’s finest forestry. Kev finished in a creditable 19th place and second in his age group and I much further back.

The event was staged by the wonderfully named Spirit of Monmouth Running Club. Friendly and efficiently organised and marshalled superbly offering lots of encouragement. One shouted ‘well done, gorgeous’ and another complimented me on travelling so far to run. Some of the Harriers hardened trailsters missed a beaut here and it’s a race I would attack again, and beat.

The nights are drawing in and the clocks fall back an hour on the weekend of race number 22 of the Somerset Series to be staged in the Blackdown Hills and the Halloween horror of the Herepath Halfish Marathon. I had entered this race last year but decided to run the Stroud Half instead but after running the Piddle Wood Plod in the Summer I was keen to make amends and run it this year. The only preparation I could think of for this arduous trail race in the Quantocks would be the Pyjamarama Park Run. Obviously a 5k run wearing a ladies nightdress carrying a teddy bear perfectly replicates the hills, woodland and mud of Herepath.

Unfortunately Madame Pompomadour was unwell and unable to fulfill her civic duties as the Harriers cheerleader and left the drivers with no car key custodian. The road trip was a reduced party of Adrian Smith, myself and genial host, Ian Yoda Booth. Chat consisted of England’s sensational victory against the All Blacks in the rugby World Cup semi final and Yoda’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the course we were about to run.

We rocked up at race hq, Thurlbear Primary School, and met up with the other Harriers Ian Waude, Timmy Byrne and Paula Hopley. It was a real surprise to see Paula as we thought she would be running in Shepton Mallet and this might be a little out of her distance range. Weather was really good after the previous day’s wind and rain at Park Run. Although chilly, the sun shone brightly on a beautiful Autumnal day. A huge feature of these kind of races is the fabulous array of cakes which regrettably I can’t dig into to before the run.

The race briefing was clear and concise before being led out and released into the woods. The first 6 miles were constant climbing. Running through woods with the dappled sunlight momentarily blinding and then returning to shade, ankle deep mud and exposed tree roots but the view at the summit was magnificent and made the all the hard work worthwhile. The road sections, after running on soft ground, I found excruciatingly painful on my back, hips and knees. More proof if it was needed that I’m an old bugger. The final couple of miles consisted of a boggy trek around a field and a technical assault of more woodland, a bit more bridle path, a huge puddle and some road.

The course record was broken and the Harriers put in some great performances. Little Timmy was first in an incredible 1.47 followed by Ian Waude, Myself, Adrian, Yoda, and best of all a smiling Paula. I watched her as she picked up her finishers drinking vessel and then the change on her face to elation as she won a spot prize of a can of gin and tonic.

Often during races I found myself immersed in a song that reflects the way I feel at that point in the race and during those last few miles Running on Empty by Jackson Browne was that tune as I felt completely spent, and coincidently the first thing that Paula said as she approached us was that she was ‘running on empty’. Great minds, eh.

Overall I found the Herepath Half Marathon to be a terrific, if tough with over 1200 feet of climbing, race which is well organised and brilliantly marshalled.