Bonjour, och aye the noo and sausage swapping in the dales

Well what a couple of months its been for Maltby Running Club members.

First of all there was the trip to France that Jim, Judith, Sheila and I undertook. Purely business, you understand, as we helped out at an event held in St Quentin, where we were welcomed by our friends at ACPI.

Next it was a trip to Scotland where some of us took part in the Edinburgh half marathon. Raymondo Sahara did the full marathon just to rub sand in our wounds, but there again couldn't spot a Premier Inn to save his life (only joking Ray). Jim did us proud on that race, quickly followed by Sarah Attwood (Osborne).

A quick rest for the Memorial Run and then onto Skye where Sarah took the shortcake this time by finishing in 1.46 with Jimbo and Bobbo coming soon after. What a weekend! Mrs H and I went onto Harris. What a fantastic place (see photo opposite) whilst young Jim, Sarah and Hubby Chris decided to climb Ben Nevis (that girl shows promise).

As if that wasn't enough we then went to the Yorkshire Dales and completed the 3 peaks (see photo of the 3 of us on Ingleborough) in 10 hours and 51 minutes.

Many thanks to our friends at Clowne who organised a fantastic event - Andy (x2) Jed, Les, Brian, Judy, you did us proud!

Breakfast had been ordered the night before, en block as some of us took an early night. You should have seen the sausage swapping at breakfast (among other things). Everyone eventually got what they wanted.

Finally the Abey Dash took place on Wednesday when 113 turned up. Many thanks to the marshals, raffle prize providers, and food makers.

I think that's it. oh, one last thing. I retired on 30th June, just in case I hadn't mentioned it before.

Bob

Hard Rockin' in Lisboa

Yes its the "Symbolics" grooving away in Lisbon's Hard Rock Cafe on the recent half marathon bash. You can make your own mind up about who's Sym and who are the, well anyway, moving on we had a fantastic time in a fantastic city. Oh and we ran ran a race as well, which was rather hot. There are stacks of pics on the website that give you a flavour of the race and the weather. The race itself was quite boring as, apart from the first 4 kilometres on the bridge , took place on one road. OK it was flat, but there was very little variation. Plenty of drink stations though, thank goodness. Once again, MASSIVE respect to the supporters who once again played a fantastic role in cheering us all on and, well, BEING there. There's upcoming trips to Edinburgh and one with Clowne in November, but that will probably be it in terms of trips for this year, unless of course someone has different ideas. Keep on Running Bob

Mash Full Pie Signs

Bloatin' in the wind (an ode to OFS)

How many roads must a man run down

before you can call him a man?

How many pints should a runner knock back

before they go down the pan?

yes, n' how many chips should he eat till he knows

that too many spuds have been fried?

The answer my friend is bloatin' in the wind

The answer is bloatin' in the wind

How many times must a runner look down

before he can see his feet?

How many pies must that runner have

before he's had too much to eat?

Yes, n' how many breaths will take till he knows

that too many pounds have arrived?

The answer, my friend, is lyin' round the waist

The answer is lyin' round the waist

How many puds will that runner consume

before it starts to show?

How many chins will that runner have

before he starts to get slow?

Yes, n' how many times can he turn his head

till nobody else is behind?

The answer my friend is prayin' on the mind

The answer is prayin' on the mind

AGM -A Good Meeting

Well it was the annual bear baiting session again, er I mean the Maltby Running Club Annual General Meeting and Presentation Night and it went well -meaning the committee got out alive (not that you'd notice the difference).

In all seriousness it was really well attended and, given that we proposed a couple of rule changes, went without much controversy at all. It was great to see some new (and young) faces there as well and it really helps the club keep going when we can add new blood. The young'uns have brought the average age of the club down dramatically to seventy two (It's a joke Ray) and I think that all looks well.

Lisbon is looming on the horizon and we are all looking forward to a bit of FADO (Portugese folk music). OK I am looking forward top a bit of FADO and will try and find a bar that plays it. Obviously Tony R can't wait to come along as well because he loves the music that I listen to.

As I mentioned previously, the last few months have been hard for some members of the club, what with injury and illness. However, one thing really hits home and that is that whenever anyone of us is not quite right the others chip in with their support and well wishes. Its good to be part of a set up that cares.

Bob

When they meet it'll be moirder! (see note below)

Forget Ali /Foreman, forget Nicklaus/Watson, Borg/McEnroe forget even Beatles/Stones. We have a new duel about to start and its in your very own running club. A member of the club, who shall remain nameless (Brian) once famously stated when the age of our runners was mentioned, "We'll soon have more vets that members'. Well that was over 20 years ago and now most of us are approaching the very vet stage.

Newcomer to the 60's category is a certain Mr James Rust, obviously a very good friend of Brian, but very competitive nonetheless. Now Jim has been injured over the months and put on loads of weight (I have seen suitcases at airport check ins heavier), so he's obviously going for the power approach.

No-ones actually made any comments, but we (Jim, Brian, Big Tony and me) were relaxing after a particularly hard run on Sunday, when talk of the upcoming season came up and obviously Brian, who of course is South Yorkshire Cross Country Champion is in the same category as Jim.

Now far be it from me to say that the mind games have started, but I find it rather strange that Brian suddenly turns up for training on Tuesday unable to run with a twisted ankle, and to prove the point, he rolled his trouser leg up to display a white bandage. Now anyone who knows Brian will tell you that when he has got a bandage on he is a very dangerous animal indeed. With two its watch out.

I think its a case of watch this space.

Bob

Note

All our members under 40 (Lindsey and Susan) will remember the truly terrible American TV series Hart to Hart. The saving grace was the very wonderful (and very late) Lionel Stander, who played butler Max. The saying at the start of each episode was "when they met it was murder" with the strange pronunciation of murder.

The year ahead (and the year behind)

I have been trawling through my photos to send through to our website guru (that's Steve to you and me) and came across this lovely photo from Edinburgh last year.

Most of the people on this photo are going back up again this year (to run the half marathon this time though). This was taken on the glorious Saturday before the race with the wonderful castle as a backdrop.

However, what resonated with me was the fact that on this photo , yes there are some runners, but there's also the backbone of the club, our wonderful supporters (that's wives to you and me). I suspect that they do enjoy these trips, but really they give an awful lot of time putting up with the moans, groans, wails and whinging. And that's before the race.

Before Edinburgh, it's Lisbon soon and, you guessed it, our supporters will be there and we runners will be doing the same thing - drinking the first night, saying that we are going to run rubbish on the Sunday (but not really believing it), and our supporters will do what they always do. They will be there, cheering us on, putting up with our moans, and, most importantly being there at the end, and if one supporter is really lucky (Sheila), I may even find my way back to her at the end of the race.

Thank you ladies.

We could not do it without you.

2011 Here We Come

Happy New Year everyone!

I have finally got off my Harris and decided to send another enthralling blog to everyone. What a start to the year with Brian completing a South Yorkshire double in the Cross Country Championships as both league winner and the championship in his age group (over 60's). He did all this without the aid of support stockings, Kendal mint cake, porridge, paracetamols or any other pharmaceuticals. what a man! Well done Brian!

Special mention too to Barbara who picked up third in her age group (over 20's). yes I am still as diplomatic as ever.

Hope that you can all make the AGM/presentation at the 3 TUNS, Stainton on 9th February at 7pm prompt. it should be a good night with one or two surprises.

Just in case you were wondering about the David Bellamy impression above, its from our trip to Madiera in September, when Mrs H and I decided to have a quiet holiday (if that's possible with me in it).

It will soon be Lisbon and I hope everyone is training hard. We are really looking forward to it, as it should be great.

Anyroadup

That's it for now

More Blogs soon

Bob