the Nightingale Nightmare 10k . . Revenge of the Jelly Baby . .

27 October

Many many years ago, when I was aged 8 or 9, I remember sitting on the floor with my brother Phil and our cousin Sue at the feet of our Grandad. He was sat in an armchair with a packet of jelly babies, picking them out of the packet one at a time, and inspecting them. It turned out that they all had dirty feet! Nowadays of course we might send them back to Bassetts in the hope that they'd send a whole case of them back by way of apology! Grandad's solution however was to amputate the feet and give them to his doting grandchildren, whilst eating the rest of the sweet himself.

Ever since then I've always had to check the feet of any jelly baby I've been given, which has led to some very puzzled looks during races. I've often tried to explain why I'm checking their feet but this only serves to make matters worse! And I've never found one with dirty feet!

 

I reminded Phil of Grandad's confectionary foot fetish a few days ago and he couldn't remember it. Hardly surprising really as he's younger and it was so long ago. But as I related this tale I realised just how silly I sounded!

 

thanks Debbie

 

So as I lumbered along through Leigh Woods this morning, when someone offered me a jelly baby I took it, said thank you, and popped it into my mouth just like a normal person. Oh, it felt so good! So liberating! But woe betide the incautious jelly baby eater, for this was the one with dirty feet! How else to explain the awful "discomfort" I felt during the middle section of the race, in the middle section of me?

But I digress! The Nightingale Nightmare was a great little race, and although there was an unfortunate issue with marshalling, Southville Running Club are to be congratulated on having staged their first ever event. It was a 10k starting and ending along the Avon Gorge towpath, and in between a lot of climbing, descending, slipping, sliding, working hard, and smiling. The marshalls were great, very encouraging indeed. Many of them were in fancy dress and the one dressed as a scarecrow in particular looked fabulous. Certainly frightened me and I'm not even a crow!

Lots of the runners were in fancy dress. There was a Halloween theme to the event and the mile markers, and the marshal positions, were all marked with pumpkins, each one especially carved out for the occasion. The half way pumpkin even had a candle lit in it. A lot of people went to a lot of trouble with their costumes and face painting, runners and marshals alike, and whilst this would have been an enjoyable race on any weekend of the year the Halloween thing made it all the more so.

It was really great to be with so many friends from Bristol & West AC this morning . . too many to single out really. But a big thank you has to be said to Alison, who came out and supported us all. We saw her twice during the race and she was even still there waiting for me to come through at the 9k point. Several of my friends won prizes, and the rest of us enjoyed cheering louder than our hosts, Southville did for their runners, when one of our runners was given a prize. It was so good to see everyone enjoying themselves so much, especially when some of us hadn't exactly been looking forward to the challenge earlier in the day!

I loved it. Of course it was hard work, and the long hill in the second k meant I soon got left behind by most of the runners. Those of you who've seen the photos will know that the old clown costume came out today. I managed to keep my red nose on for most of the time, and I don't think I terrified any children!

I was overtaken by a returning marshal in the final k. I was a bit confused about where the finish was going to be, and as he passed me the marshal said there were two runners chasing after me. I didn't know if I could pick the speed up or not because I was unsure how far there was to go. And then the marshal started shouting to the two runners behind "the clown's dying, I can see it in his eyes, the clown's dying!". He had a big grin on his face, so he was instantly forgiven, but I wasn't an ex-runner just yet, and at that moment I saw some tape, and a crowd of people in the distance. So I held on to my clowny trousers and hat and made a bolt for the line! I wasn't last!!

And just as I crossed the finish line, my baggy trousers fell down! Ooops! How very dare they!!

 

not sure who this photo belongs to, hope you don't mind me using it . .