Ready or not here we go

Hi there arrived at Richmond on time, what a lovely town, all ready, packed, willing not sure about ready and able,, but here we go possibly.. not sure if i can sleep but have taken some sleeping draft, in a glass called Johns Smith.. x2 each lovely. Weather looks ok for the morrow, a tad cooler than originally thought it was going to be. Rucksack has more stuff in it than i think it was designed to take but he ho ..im not unpacking it now! to infinity and beyond!!

john & David

Poppyline Marathon

Hello all, I said that I would update you about the Poppyline marathon when I had a minute so here I am.
          It's 5am on Sunday 12th June, most people are enjoying a well deserved lie in but that's not for us! no were off to run around the Norfolk countryside like a pair of looneys. 6.20am and we are on our way. its around a two hour journey into Sheringham where we meet in the community centre, the runners can leave for the start at 9.30am while the walkers are free to leave earlier from around 8am. It's difficult to tell how many people do these LDWA events because of the staggered start times and the fact that they are a very much relaxed event's. we arrive in plenty of time, sign in at registration then do all the usual pre race functions if you know what i mean! 9.20am armed with written route instructions, rucksack, map, cup and compass we are off. The sun shines down on a beautiful morning, we head off towards cromer and we are almost immedaetely questioning the instructions but we find the way in the end with David being the interpreter of the written instructions. Off we go up and over beesons bump with sand under foot, quick photo shoot and away we go for Beeston Regis, West Runton, East Runton, Cromer, Felbrigg etc etc over meadow, secluded dirt track lanes, cow fields, up and down steps, through hedges etc, all in all its a great varied route with muliple terrain which is my favourite! Highlight of the day was the Beautiful steam train that we stood and admired as it made its way past us on the viaduct around stone hill. We were just coming down a steep slope as the train slowly passed infront of us over the viaduct, sun in the sky with the sea in the background....perfect. All in all we both had a great day, the weather was kind to us and the food that was supplied during and at the finish must almost have cost the all of the tiny entrance fee! dont know how they do it but glad they do.

thanks for reading.

john

Last long run

Had my last long run with John on Sunday, along the Roman road to cambridge, we were hoping to meet some of the other the club runners from my local running club but we arrived 3mins late and me being me said "they are always late" so we waited for another 15mins and thinking they had cancelled we set of leisurely with our full load of equipement ie coat, leggings, gloves, hats, phone, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, like to keep my hair tidy!!! camera, map, sat nav, spare underwear, you never know who you may meet, socks, cash, camera, water bottles, drinks, sweets, gels, kitchen sink, and as anyone who has run with me knows, my usual six rolls of toilet paper, cheaper if you buy in quantity, off we went into the dark unknown, thinking we were on our own, and the weather again great.... am i wishing too much to expect nice weather next week, my mug clipped to the back of my rucsac kept making noises like a rattle which after a while became somewhat soothing, we and the mug made good progress stopping only for the odd picture, pee, and pose, the miles soon passed and as we approached wandlebury we met Dave Greenham running in the other direction, Its Dave's fault I love distance running, it was he who I always and still do aspire to emulate, thanks mate... "the others are about a mile ahead of you" he said, so we sped up to catch them passing Terry Braverman also going in the opposite direction, putting in some secret training, he was going so fast he could not stop in time to speak, but just groaned, as he flew passed, on we pushed and made good time to the meeting point at parkers peace, only to find a guy giving a lecture on the history of Parkers peace, I'm sure he was trying only to impress the two girls he was with, and was making up most of what he was telling them. We waited right in the middle of parkers green near to a fancy lampost, then did a couple more laps to get the garmins up to twenty miles, but nobody, missed them again, then off to Drummer street to get the Bus back, and guess what.... as the bus rounded Parkers peace we saw from the back seat of the bus, through merky windows some of the group making their way back to the car park, I just hope they had an enjoyable run like I did, thanks John for your great company, and I am sure we will have a great time next week what ever comes our way...Thanks again..

Burdock

Count down

Getting closer, we did the poppyline marathon (ldwa) Norfolk/Suffolk group, Sunday in preperation for our coast to coast challenge, you know, to try out our equipment/gear etc, all seemed to work well, and the weather was perfect, and that it is about the only thing I worry about for our challenge..the one thing we have no control over, lets hope its ok, it would make it a lot more pleasurable if it was fair...all my bits are crossed.

Grown up Daughters & a big Thank you

Its just occurred to me that I have 1 Daughter who has just finished normal schooling and is going into six-form college & 1 daughter that has just officially finished six-form college and is moving out to attend Uni a little later in the year! Doesn’t time fly by! Anyway I’m on here tonight because it's about time I said a big thank you to my misses for entertaining this slightly nutty trip that I am about to undertake (16 days till blast-off) for putting up with me, for finding the cash to fund this trip from an already stretched household budget, for letting me sod off for 10 days into the unknown....and all on top of what has been an extremely difficult year for her in lots of ways including changing her career, undergoing major surgery and that just the tip of the ice-berg...anyhow THANK YOU Mrs B, it hasn’t slipped past unnoticed, you are 1 in a million!                                 
Ohh and while I’m here, good luck Jess, I hope you have a great time at the Download festival this weekend, be safe, Katie you are brilliant, I wish you a great weekend too, as for me I have a marathon to run in Sunny/Rainy Norfolk (delete as appropriate) on Sunday, I will let you know how that goes at a later date!

Thanks for stopping by reader

John

The Schedule

Well, this is where we will be when we will be etc!.....Click on the links to see where we will be staying...

• DAY 1 - 25th June - drive to Richmond (205 miles 4 hrs approx) where the car will be parked for the duration untill our return. Stay overnight at The old brewery. 
•  DAY 2 - 26th June - take the bus from Richmond to St Bees. Straight into day 1 of our crossing. 23 miles to The Black sail youth hostel here we will spend the night.
•  DAY 3 - 27th June  - Black sail youth hostel to Patterdale. 23 miles...we will spend the night at Noran bank farm.
•  DAY 4 - 28th June  - Patterdale to Kirkby Stephen. 37 miles...we (if we make it) will spend the night at Redmayne house.
•  DAY 5 - 29th June - Kirkby Stephen to Reeth. 23 miles...we spend the night at Dales bike centre.
•  DAY 6 - 30th June - Reeth to Danby Wiske. 25 miles.....we spend the night at Ashfield House.
•  DAY 7 - 01st July - Danby Wiske to Blakey Ridge. 30 miles.....we spend the night at August Guest House
•  DAY 8 - 02nd July - Blakey Ridge to Robin Hoods Bay. 29 miles....where we stay at Streonshalh
•  DAY 9 - 03rd July - Bus back to Richmond to collect the car & drive home 205 miles & 4 hrs approximately. 

back soon.

john