50 Wilmslow Festive 10K (and Blue Badge trial run!)

Today was the day of the Wilmslow Festive 10K.  Unfortunately I wasn’t well enough to go and cheer the team on and to be official photographer, but they managed to get one or two pictures of their own, after their run.  Other photos are from the Run North West official Instagram page. 

Run North West

There was the usual chaos and crowds before the start with Niamh and Cal unable to find Jake and Jess.  Jake’s brother and his fiend were also running today, but I don’t think they all managed to get together until after they had finished. 

It’s been very cold here recently and today was no exception but it was also bright and dry, so perhaps good conditions for running (says someone with no knowledge at all of what constitutes good conditions for running!).

Niamh continues to struggle with her hip injury, which has impacted on her training and flared up again this morning.  She is a little disappointed in her time of 1 hour and 5 seconds and I think she’ll be giving running a miss for a while now (she is however, talking about some sort of swimming challenge and a coast to coast walk, so there really is no stopping her!).  

I haven’t heard the times for the others yet but have heard that winner of the women’s race, Eilish McColgan achieved a new course record of 32:40 (perhaps I was right about the running conditions after all?!) .

The guys have collected their medals and headed home for a well earned rest, some warmth and a Sunday dinner! 

Well done all of you …absolute superstars ❤️❤️❤️❤️

In other news, my Blue Badge arrived in the post on Friday and I manage to give it a test run on Saturday. 

I met up with my lovely friends Brenda and Karen and we all squashed into my little car and headed off to the Christmas Makers Market at The Lowry.  It took a lot longer than planned to get there (the Mancunian Way is definitely to be avoided at this time of year!) and we were a little confused by the disabled parking arrangements, but managed to suss it out.  We received a top tip from the parking attendant – keep a photo on your phone of your Blue Badge – and may even look as if we know what we are doing next time! 

We had a lovely couple of hours looking round the market (although our total purchases for the day amounted to a loaf of artisan bread and a bobble hat – I don’t think we are quite committed to Christmas yet!).  I have been feeling a bit rubbish lately but found an afternoon with good friends really lifted my spirits …thank you, you two ❤️

Another thing I learnt was that if you try to eat a crepe with melted white chocolate, whilst standing up, holding a bag and a walking stick, when you’re feeling a bit wobbly, you will end up with melted white chocolate all over you! 

We returned to the car park and realised we had been so focussed on sorting out the parking ticket (which was lost for about 10 minutes) and the Blue Badge, that none of us remembered where we had parked the car!  So there we were, 3 supposedly intelligent women (all teachers!) with no sense of direction, spacial awareness or memory between us! 

Julie is still doing well on her alcohol free November challenge …not long to go now Julie! 🥂

I’ll update you on other plans soon xx

GoFundMe

47 More red tape

My Blue Badge assessment wasn’t too bad in the end.  An observed pavement and stair walk, followed by an interview.  I had taken some medical notes and letters with me, which proved helpful and the interviewer asked me lots of questions to extract information to gain as many points as possible. 

Today I heard that I had the required number of points (12) and now qualify for a Blue Badge.  I had hoped to pick it up this afternoon (as I work in a neighbouring building) but apparently it has to be posted to my home from somewhere in Nottingham (why does it have to be so convoluted?!).

Once I have the Blue Badge I can then apply to my work place parking team (who work in the same building as the Blue Badge assessor) for a parking permit.  Until then, you may still see me wobbling about in the streets near my work place …I will try my very best not to fall on my face or get run over whilst waiting for this to be sorted out!

In other news, the four Wilmslow Festive runners are getting some training runs in and wondering what they’ve let themselves in for.  It’s rather cold and damp here at the moment, so let’s hope it’s a bit brighter on the 25th!  

There was a bit of a kerfuffle earlier in the week when everyone’s race numbers arrived, well, 3 of the 4 arrived as it transpired one doesn’t know her own postcode!  Let’s hope she doesn’t have similar problems with the route on the day! 

Here’s a map showing the starting point just in case!

I’m  hoping to get a little team together to go down and cheer them on – do give me a shout if you’d like to come along.

If you’d like to sponsor Jess, Jake, Callum or Niamh, please see them in person or click on the link below (please mention them in your comment). 

GoFundMe

38 Half Marathon sponsorship update

On Sunday 14th October, 5 amazing people took part in the Manchester Half Marathon.  For everyone except Nick, this as the first time they had run this distance, so it was a huge challenge.  They all worked so hard to prepare and achieved amazing times when they crossed the line. 

I have finally counted up all the promised sponsorship money for the event and we are delighted to let you know the total raised is …

Thank you so much Heather, Nick, Gleaves, Connor and Niamh …you are amazing! 

Thank you to everyone who sponsored them …every penny is very much appreciated.  I want to give an extra mention to everyone at Stephenson’s Catering Equipment for their kindness and generosity.  

We have a couple of sponsored events coming up in the next few weeks …

Peak District 58 mile mountain bike challenge 

Adam, Connor, Gleaves, Carl and Johnny are in training for this gruelling challenge and we have started to receive sponsorship funds already!  They have had to postpone their original plan to do this on Saturday and we will have a new date very soon.

🚴🏼‍♂️ 🚴🏼‍♂️ 🚴🏼‍♂️ 🚴🏼‍♂️ 🚴🏼‍♂️

Wilmslow Festive 10K

Jess, Jake, Callum and Niamh will be taking part in this event on Sunday 25th November.  Training has begun and I hope to be there to cheer them on, on the day.

🏃🏼‍♀️ 🏃🏻‍♂️ 🏃🏼‍♀️ 🏃🏼‍♂️

Dry November

My wonderful work friend Julie is planning a dry November and will be collecting sponsorship money for doing so.  Julie’s preparation involves spending the half term holidays drinking a month’s worth of Prosecco! 

🥂 🥂 🥂

If you would like to sponsor any of the superstars mentioned above, you can do so at the Go Fund Me page linked below or by speaking to them in person.  

Thank you to everyone for your continued support, whether by taking part, by donating or by sharing my story 😘

GoFundMe