Comrades 2021

Debra Bourne

baldstan: sympathies for your not being able to do your Masters 10K - that's frustrating. Here's hoping you're clear.

lowrez: sounds wonderful. I don't think I would have been in shorts!

Dubairunner

Final run of the year at lunchtime, 26 degrees and glorious sunshine, perfect.

Off to get ready for our New Year eves party.

Happy New Year everyone!

1owrez

Blimey; it's New Year's Eve, better get some goodies in! Enjoy the party Mr Dubai

Happy New Year

marty74

lowrez - loved the pic. Glad the run was fun with cars hooting their horns as they passed you.

baldstan - take care and fingers crossed you and family are all ok.

Dubai - enjoy your party. I am about 23 degrees cooler than that!!! Took ages for my hands to warm up this morning on my run.

Debra - just knew you wouldn't be able to rest for three weeks

And Happy N

marty74

Doh. My last sentence got cut off!!!!

And Happy New Year to everyone. Just wish I had a time machine so I could skip over 2021 and move directly to 2022 to start living again

Debra Bourne

Happy New Year everyone. Wishing all of us a year full of consistent, enjoyable running and no injury-enforced rest periods!

Southern Snail

Happy new year to everyone.
 Baldstan hope you’re ok and haven’t caught anything. 

Dubai - enjoy the party, weather and the ability to meet more than 1 person 

marty - I’ll join you in that time machine if I can please. Reckon it’s going to be a good while before 2021 will be any better 

1owrez

This way to 2022 everybody. They are shocked I managed to sprint past them (especially as I am so under trained) that's why they are looking down The Time Tunnel. Baldstan set the controls for me, that's where he works you know, all I had to do was creep in through that blue chink of light he left open next to himself on the right and shazam - I am commenting on this thread from the future, c'mon everybody (as Eddie Cochran said) they are rubbish tacklers, run past them whilst they are still confused and haven't rumbled Stan is the mole; he's on his marks to follow after we all get through...

Slow Duck

Happy New Year everyone.

The bar has been set very low for 2021, let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint!

Dubairunner

Baldstan, hope you're okay. 

I wish we couldn't have a party, suffering today and off out again. Managed 1.31 miles and said no more! 

Debra Bourne

We stayed up to see the new year in, mostly to be sitting here calmly while the fireworks went off, in case the Chaos Kitties were frightened. Thankfully they didn't seem to mind them.

I did a very easy 4 miles today for my club's virtual self-handicap. Now resting again - aim is to rest until 11th January then hopefully hop back into training feeling refreshed. Also doing yoga - try to stretch some of the tight areas such as hip flexors.

baldstan

lowrez, how did you find that photo? I thought all the evidence had been destroyed... That was of course in my younger days, when I had more hair. Or is it from the future? It gets very confusing when you start going down Time Tunnels.

Happy New Year everyone. Pleased to say I'm out of self-isolation and don't think I've had any symptoms so I've hopefully dodged it this time. Even managed to do the BMAF 10K this morning - as they extended the deadline for entries - and knocked almost 30 seconds off my PB. Perhaps I need to self-isolate before all my races in future.

Hope everyone's running, resting, and yoga goes well this year.

Debra Bourne

baldstan: pleased to hear you're in the clear, and well done on the 10K PB! Sounds like your legs were nicely refreshed by the enforced rest days.

Peter R

Happy new year everyone. Baldstan, good to see you dodged it, or if you had it then you didn’t know it. 

Just plodding along here doing the mileage on the road and the bike waiting to see what 2021 races are on, much like everyone else I suspect. 

Not looking forward to returning to working tomorrow!!!

baldstan

Peter R, like you I'm waiting to see what 2021 races are on, but if we can't travel to any big races abroad this summer I wondered what other events people are thinking of doing.

I'm entered in the SDW50 in April and Three Forts Marathon in May, but otherwise my summer is empty (if Comrades isn't possible). I wanted to do North Downs Way 50 in May, but as this year's race was cancelled that's already full, and SDW100 in June is full as well, though I hope I'll be able to volunteer on both of those instead. Quite like the look of the Serpent Trail 100K in July, but which others would people recommend?

Debra Bourne

baldstan: there are still places for the Centurion Autumn 100 (16 October), the Wendover Woods night 50K (July), the Wendover Woods 100 mile (July) and NWD 100 (7 August). I've spend too long dithering about the WW 50 mile in November and now see it's full. Ah well. I like the NDW.

On my bucket list for the future, but looks like I'll have to wait at least a couple more years now: Highland Fling, Devil o' the Highlands and of course the full version, West Highland Way race; Lakeland 100. Those were all the ones I was going to start pursuing in 2014, after I did the Lakeland 50 in 2013 - but the tendon mess followed by the broken ankle put paid to that.

1owrez

C2C may never be run again (never say never).

My mouth waters at The Northern Traverse.

More realistically Glasgow to Edinburgh looks nice.

But across all that my eyes are definitely too big for my stomach in my current state of lethargy

Peter R

Thanks Debra, I might take a look at some of those.  I was going to enter Race to the Stones on 10 July, but then got a better offer .. England are playing at Lords.  Then I ask myself do I enter anyway as the chances of actually getting to go to the game are reducing by the day and I was also book to go on the British Lions tour to SA a couple of weeks later.  

Debra Bourne

Race to the Stones and the others in that series seem overpriced and with too large a field to me. The RD of the Ridgeway 86 is hoping that will be able to happen - 28-29 August, and present price is £86 (+£5 for medal).

Hm, it's three weeks after NDW100 and 7 weeks before A100, and I'd like another shot at it, see if I can improve my time...

Becca7

Happy New Year everyone.

I wasn't a fan of Race to the Stones.  A well-organised event and a nice route, even if I did fall over three times, but just too many people on narrow trails for me.  

PeterDHM

I was signed up for the Ridgeway challenge last year, but of course it didn't happen..I'd really like to have a go this year but worried about if it will be possible with travel restrictions etc by then.  I've done race to the stones and I really enjoyed it.. It's a bit more expensive but very well organised (and my first ultra).  I didn't have any problems with the trail being crowded but I was fairly closer to front of the field

baldstan

Debra, Becca7 and PeterDHM the Ridgeway 86 is really tempting. They're closed to entries at the moment, but hopefully restrictions will have lifted by the end of August, and it wouldn't involve an overnight stay away from home (just a run through the night, so that's allowed isn't it). I've covered a large part of it already so wouldn't be worried about not having recced it, if that's not possible, and it's a good intermediate step for me before taking on a 100 miler. I've also heard the Autumn 100 is a good first 100 miler for later in the year.

1owrez, it would be great to do one of the Scottish races, I've eyed up the Glencoe Marathon and and the Great Glen Ultra, but I don't think this year is the right one to plan a trip north of the border.

1owrez

I forgot to mention a 40 miler close to my heart as it runs to my home town; K2B, also now offering the shorter C2B.

There is a Hadrian's Wall type run too isn't there.

1owrez

Oh and if any ultra organisers are watching W2W has yet to have anything staged on it!

Southern Snail

Ooh all this talk of running - makes me want to get out there - but its so warm in here 

I've just remembered I've got a delayed marathon next weekend. Thank goodness it will be delayed again. Just not feeling the love. Too easy to give up a running day at the moment. Not that I've a lot else to do!!

Right thats it - I'm going out.

1owrez

When we were at senior school we used to mimic a stern and angry teacher who would shout "Get oooooooooout!"

Debra Bourne

baldstan: Ridgeway 86 followed by A100 sounds like an excellent plan. The Ridgeway 86 has the navigational advantage of being on the Ridegeway all the time until the turning dropping down to Avebury - you just have to check at every junction and not go off on a different footpath or bridleway. A100 is good for a first 100 because you get back to your drop bag every 25 miles, so you don't need to decide what to put in which bag. And the multiple out-and-backs make for friendly running seeing the other runners.

baldstan

Hope you're run went well Snail. I'm freezing indoors at the moment, but can't go out as the gas engineer is here replacing my old boiler. Wouldn't mind a run to warm up.

Rat Race organise a Hadrians Wall race in June 1owrez, but that's already sold out for this year. I see they're also advertising a race along the Pilgrims Way to Canterbury on the same day as NDW100, but hopefully the two routes don't overlap too much, and they do a C2C, but by mountain bike.

Debra, I think turning off too early was how the RTTS leader got lost in 2019, but Threshold had signs saying 'Not This Way' on most of the turn offs, so it was hard to make a mistake.

PeterDHM

I'd agree the RTTS signage was spot on, I was dependent on it and it never let me down, and the "not this way" signs were very useful.  I've just seen someone saying they had a room booked in the Durban Hilton for June, and they've received an email to say the booking is cancelled and the hotel is closing until further notice..  hopefully not permanently!

Edit - actually not sure if his booking was cancelled, but he did receive the email about the closure

1owrez

That new covid strain is hitting SA real hard.