Yes, it’s Friday already ( well almost!) and my heading for this post, borrowed from the Bard, is the nearest our brave racers are going to get to anything which could be described as “As You Like It” this weekend. Lowering the literary tone, the best word I can find to describe the weather predicted for this weekend is “pants”. It feels like a repeat of the Great South Run weekend; that time Storm Ashley intervened. This weekend we have Bert, complete with Yellow Warnings here and there! I still bear the scars from GSR cancellation, necessary though it was. Maybe I should have gone for “To Be Or Not To Be” as my heading on reflection…!
So, the declared runners for this weekend are:
🌟 Shake-and-run , the inspiration for my Shakespeare outbreak, Sandie1961 making a welcome return to the UK race scene, both accompanied by HU Champion Sausage Muncher and Berlin Marathon star TailChaser . They are all planning to line up on Saturday for the annual Draycote 10k run around the Draycote Reservoir. The latest forecast I have seen shows gales of mid twenties mph with gusts of 50 mph plus and rain to boot! The only positive note is that the temperature is predicted to hit 9C by noon!
On Sunday, the scene shifts to Cleethorpes where we have:
🌟 misswobble who has her suitcase packed and is all set to head out for Cleethorpes for her annual autumn marathon (The Maravan). Similar weather outlook to Draycote. The temperature is forecasts to be in the teens, but again we have winds gusting to 50 mph plus. We know that missw will take on the elements and beat them if it is safe to run; but we also know that she has her head screwed on, as we say up here, and she won’t take unnecessary risks.
For all of our runners, having this late spanner in the works is really frustrating after all the training, but I guess the only thing to do is keep your eyes on the weather and the race websites and, above all, stay safe.
So, Pom Pom shakers, a special morale lifting cheer for our fabulous four please; whether in the end they are able/allowed to run or not, they absolutely need you.
As usual, if anyone with a race this weekend missed the November Pom Pom Post, just sing out and we will add you to the list.
I’d like to think I’m battled hardened by now BC but I am getting a little fed up with this weather! Mind you, it is a circuit so hopefully it’ll be pushing us along for a little of the route. And it might be shorts rather than the triple layers I’ve been wearing this week 😂
Nice to reply to Pom Poms a bit early for once! I’ll try to hold on to them whilst I’m shaking them about whilst battling Bert’s blowing, especially for misswobble on Sunday. Hopefully it will have died down by then. Big cheers for my running partners Shake-and-run and Sandie1961 . We have to think of the post run treats, there must be a decent pub nearby for afterwards 😋🥳🥳🥳
I am sure that you are battled hardened TC. It was the organisers, no doubt advised by various authorities, who decided to pull the plug on the GSR. It does look pretty rough this weekend though, except for some welcome warmth. I never lost my paternal streak 🙂. You are all experienced enough to make your own decisions. Hope you find a pub with sausages!
Looking at Dexy5 ’s photos from that Sunday, I think they made the right decision. We’ll just see how it goes. If we have to abandon and spend the day in the pub, well that’s just a sacrifice we’ll have to make 😁
Good luck everyone 😀👍🌪💦☔️🌊 I hope conditions aren’t as bad as forecast🤨🤞. I think temperatures and visibility are pretty good. That’s ok then 🙂. I’m hoping not to get blown into the sea 🙏😀
I’ve not packed my bag yet BC. I’m saving that job til I can’t put it off any longer ☺️
I hate packing as much as running in windy weather 😀. I always forget something. I got a new travel bag for my birthday , with lots of storage and cubbies all over the place, so that should encourage me to get organised 😀
🙂 I open up my case about a week in advance and add items as I go along. Good job we all have the right gear. I am hoping to go for my second comeback run today before the gales arrive. I won’t be running in the forest over the weekend; trees and branches tend to crash down around my ears in significant storms. Running in a hard hat would look a bit odd! 👷♂️
Hi BC, it wound up being neither. Woke up 6am late and then work took over the rest of my day. So now it may be an indoor treadmill run tonight or maybe outside. Sunday is a long run somewhere TBD still.
It is miserable today but I missed my morning run so will do something tonight hopefully. Still have Sunday long run in the wings. All the best for Maravan! Hope the weather cooperates
We can’t know how these things will turn out 🤷♀️ Being soaked really makes me irritable though 🤨
Sunday is wet and wild but not too cold - apparently. We won’t know til we toe the line though
I’ve dug out a cheapo Decathlon gilet to wear over my waterproof jacket. It’s very thin but has loads of pockets for stashing my snacks. I’ll have to try it on beforehand as I’ve put weight on since last time I wore it ☺️
The cubbies run across the back of the gilet and there’s a smaller pocket on the front for my Haribo’s 🙂
Going to the portaloos with soaking wet leggings on is going to be interesting 😏
On a brighter note it’s confirmed that I have a hotel room with a BATH! 🛀
I should start packing but on here as a diversion activity. OH is hogging the shower. It’s match day and we can’t set off til he gets back. It’s 3 pm kick off. Dinner booked for 8 pm 😏 Not ideal but hey ho 🙂
I hope we win⚽️ or it’ll be a miserable drive to the seaside 🤐🫣😁
You are doing well; only 3 points off the pay offs and a decent goal difference. Good to see Barrow doing well too; takes me back! Hope the pitch drains well!
Sorry to wazz you about ☺️ OH had organised builders this morning which was news to me 🙄 so I was getting organised for that and brewing up . Replacement of sewer pipe too which was most inconvenient! 😁
Thanks you!! Looking at the weather outside my bedroom window, here to day , it really does seem so pertinent! White over... frozen ground underneath, sleet and a strengthening wind! I am glad I am still in bed!
OH and I were in our conservatory last night when there a massive crashing sound, like a bomb going off, and then a huge thud as an avalanche of snow from the main roof slid off and landed on the conservatory roof. I nearly had a heart attack ! We felt the room shake 😳
No damage as far as we can tell from a cursory look this morning 💦☔️🌫
Enough of Mother Nature sticking her oar in on race weekends. 🙄 I hope you fabulous folk are able to run and get your bling. I’m keeping my fingers firmly crossed for you all, whilst at the same time clutching my pom poms. Extra clutching might be required in Bert’s wind and rain. 💨 💦
I’m also hoping Bert allows us to land safely in Bristol as we’re returning from our little trip to Spain tomorrow afternoon. I’ve watched enough planes come in sideways over Felton Common and have always felt relieved not to have been on one of those flights! 😳
Good luck to you all for these races this weekend 🎉. Hope the weather arrives after you’ve run and after cheekychipmunks lands safely from her hols! Pom poms waving for you and everyone running this weekend 🎉🎉🎉
This is certainly not ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ as ‘The Tempest’ is coming.
As TailChaser remarked last evening, who would name a storm Bert? I think of Bert being sat at home reading a newspaper by the fire in comfy slippers.
Yes, this is very much like the GSR lead up, with the will they, won’t they run the race? As UpTheStanley is RD at parkrun tomorrow, he has pre-warned runners that if the forecast does not improve here, it will be cancelled- for the sake of the volunteers who would be out in it 90 mins at least.
So good luck to TailChaser, Sandie1961 and Shake-and-run - I know you were so looking forward to this running buddy run, but no doubt you will enjoy each others company (and the pub) whatever the weather! Best wishes also to misswobble in the Maravan on the east coast!
Pom poms will be tethered down and blowing in the wind.
Good morning Dexy5. I am sure that UpTheStanley will have things organised and well under control . Bert? As you will know, it was the Irish Met Office who named the storm; we may have lots of very athletic Berts writing in to grumble about your mental picture! 🫣 I think that your mental Bert probably has the right idea!
Thank you. Heaven knows what they’ll do with the food table. Apart from lash it to something. Possibly a caravan 😁 I think the baggage gazebo won’t be happening. Not that I’m dropping any of my gear off. I’ll be wearing it all ☺️
I believe the food tables are very popular at your Maravans. Yes, thankfully you aren’t going to have onshore gales, so might even get some wind advantage on some oh your route. Have fun!
Good luck to you all. Let's just hope it's not quite as bad as predicted at race time. Battle hardened or not... it would be nice to be able to enjoy it!!!Pompoms will be waving in the wind for you!
I’ll be honest, I don’t miss this aspect of long distance running 😂 Well done for even contemplating going out in that. Best of British luck and weather to you all. 👍🙏
I’m dreading it TBH. When it was windy one year it drove me mad. It was hot, cold, jacket on,jacket off. C Trying to wrangle a jacket in a gale really made me swear 🤬
Good luck all of you! It's not looking great is it!! I'm signed up to take part in the local cross country with my run club while half of them have jetted off to Benidorm for the half / 10k there! Think we got the worse deal but also here in South Wales we seem to have been a bit sheltered from what the rest of you have had.... famous last words 🤣 Pom poms waving from here 🎉 good luck and good weather for you all.
Weirdly mild though- 13 degrees on the farmyard this evening - I kept looking for a fire 🤣 Got all my stay dry before the start kit ready 😃 Hope your race was good. Been lacking internet today so missed seeing stuff til now!
Thanks everyone. The hoped for cancellation email hasn’t arrived, so will have to don my big girl pants and brave the wind and (thankfully not as heavy as feared - yet!) rain to run round an exposed reservoir 😬 Hope it’s a nice medal 😂
Good luck Sandie. I can hear your teeth gritting from here. It is snowing and laying up here and the wind is picking up. The snow, which looks like sleet really, is forecast to turn into solid rain soon as the temperature steadily rises from 1C to 12C by the end of the day. Added to that will be a dash of fog/mist from about 10am. Molly has gone back to sleep. She recognises a dud day when she sees one. Tempted to join her! I hope everything goes well for the three of you, and the rest of the field.
oh I have loved reading this post and comments, so many great Shakespeare references, well done everyone. Shakespeare loved the drama of storms with references in most of his plays including Othello, Lear, Tempest, Hamlet, Julius Caesar Twelfth Night and Macbeth as well as three shipwrecks in Pericles. In theatres todays there are lots of special effects for creating storms (I once felt very seasick watching a performance of the Tempest at the RSC) but Shakespeare’s players had a bare stage to work with. They use to roll canon balls to create the sound of thunder, but most of the imagery comes from the words spoken, hence these fabulous descriptions!
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Wow it's Friday again! 🤩 Let's do a little POM POM dance!!!