Unplanned Activity

We get up early-ish and drive the thirty odd miles south to a place called Mytholmroyd, near Hebden Bridge in the Calder Valley. This is the setting for Alice’s Run which is a 10k race.



A bit of research reveals that this event is in memory of Alice Redmond, who was a student at Leeds Metropolitan University. One night she climbed out of her kitchen window on the third floor to help a fellow student who had become locked out of her flat. Unfortunately she slipped and fell to the concrete below. She died a few days later. She was 21.

This was in 2005 and ever since an annual 10km charity race has been run in her memory. The event also raises money for Epilepsy Action, whom Alice had worked for during a student placement.



Race registration and the finish are at Calder High School, where Alice was a pupil but they take us across to Brierley Field for the start, where they make us do a lap of the playing field. It takes us over 4 minutes to lap the field and we don’t get a km marker, so I assume there aren’t going to be any. Then my worst nightmare appears... mile markers. Well I need to get used to them, I’ve got thirteen of them to look forward to at the weekend.

After the lap around the field the route takes us onto the river tow-path and then becomes a mixture of road, woodland tracks and footpaths. None of which are too evil on my ankles. The same can’t be said of the hills, which started short and sharp but seemed to get progressively less short as the race went on or was that just my imagination and tired legs.

Some of the uphill sections were a bit narrow and caused bottlenecks as when one person up ahead decided to walk a stretch, we all had to. Overall though, it was all very scenic and somehow I clawed my way around in a very respectable 12th place.

The goody bag was reasonable; Dorset Cereal Bars were a sponsor! There were also crisps for the dogs and of course the coveted T-shirt.

There’s a bit of a mix up at the presentation when they give the over-40’s prize to someone who was behind me! I queried the results, as did several of the other over-40’s who'd left me for dust! I think it was all sorted in the end.

Hopefully this unplanned activity, as I was hoping to have been simply watching others swim this weekend, will have topped up my half marathon preparation and perhaps edged up my appetite into cheeseboard territory.

Which I finally got to indulge myself with... but it was a disappointment. It wasn’t a very local selection and very light on actual cheese, it was mostly salad. The Buck Inn has many things going for it but it won’t be making my (as yet unwritten) Good Cheeseboard Guide.

(Sunday 5th September)

An Interesting Route

A pleasant day around Malham today. Good weather too.



We walk out to Malham Cove.



Then onwards to Malham Tarn.



Then back to Gordale Scar. The path takes you down (or up depending on your direction) the waterfall at Gordale Scar.



This is an interesting route to say the least. That is to say the path goes down the waterfall. Somehow, eight years ago, we got the kids and Doggo to climb it. This time I’m not even sure I could sweet talk L down it let alone persuade the dogs to abseil down it.



We abort and find an easier way back to the Buck Inn.

As well as having decent beer, the food is pretty good at the Buck and certainly plentiful. What’s more, there’s a cheese board on the dessert menu. Unfortunately for the second night in a row the main course has defeated me. I must try harder tomorrow, as it’s our last night.

(Saturday 4th September)

Bit Of An Understatement

L is annoyed. Well that’s a bit of an understatement.

Her weekend, during which she was taking part in two of the swims in Lake Windermere, one of the mile swims on Saturday and the one-off two mile on the Sunday, has been cancelled. Well, actually officially postponed, which is not much good when you wake up on the Friday of a four day break you’ve booked time off for, for the specific purpose of doing those events.

Apparently the organisers are looking at a potential new 2010 date but I can’t see that happening. The algae isn’t going to clear overnight and we’re heading towards winter now.

Where were their contingency plans? Could they have done the swim in another part of the lake or perhaps in another of the lakes?

So what to do… Personally I would like to hit the Lakes anyway, there’s decent beer to be drunk up there and great scenery to do it in but my girl needs to be placated with something more substantial... and that something may be an event t-shirt. Hmmm. I’m less fussy, I just need to be placated with something dark, strong and beer like.

I switch the computer on and draw up a short list of races in nice places off the Runners World website, ones that will take entries on the day. After a brief debate and several strong coffees, Caernarfon comes a close second, because there’s no t-shirt, to something called Alice’s Run, a 10k near Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, which does. I feel a weekend based in Malham would be just the ticket. It’s a place I’ve wanted to revisit since we went there a few years ago. Comparing our combined memory banks we actually work out that our visit there was as far back as 2002... How time flies.

Anyhow, car packed and we’re off.

We check into exactly the same campsite as in 2002, and I remember it surprisingly well.



In fact I’m sure none of the toilet doors locked back then either. There are other more pleasant assorted memories that come flooding back along memory lane as well. Of course on that trip we had two youngish children with us, aged 9 and 11 and a very young collie. Doggo would have only been a year old. That young collie disgraced himself on several occasions as I recall. MD would have been so proud of the old man.

We walk into one of the two pubs in Malham, The Buck Inn.



Again it brings back a few memories but I don’t remember this... Old Peculiar on the bar. Well that's me placated.

(Friday 3rd September)

Bunking Off

When the alarm goes off on a morning L often suggests we bunk off. She always comes up with some tempting and persuasive arguments but no, again today I’m not convinced. Tomorrow we can bunk off, I promise, or at least pretend to. We’re off anyway and heading up to the Lake District. L is doing the Great North Swim. I’m spectating and because all that Old Peculiar and Snecklifter needs company, I’ll also be propping the bar up.



Having not bunked off, I’m not sure what’s best to do today training wise, run or bike? On the grounds that I’ve only cycled to work twice during August I choose the bike. Only two trips on the bike in August is terrible. I suppose I did have a couple of week’s holiday in there but even so.

It’s a pleasant pedal.

After work I ride home, kick the dogs’ footballs around the garden for a bit and then get the bus back over to Derby. We have a works meal tonight. It’s Indian, so unturnable really and a good start to my four days off.

Just as I’m ordering my first Cobra of the evening a text arrives on my phone. ‘URGENT: Great North Swim Postponed. Check www.greatswim.org for info.’ Hmmm. Is L having a laugh?

Apparently not. Checking the Great North Swim website reveals that they have ‘postponed’ the event due to the ‘prevalence of blue-green algae and the impact that this may have on your safety in the water’.

Talk about last minute... particularly considering how long the organisers must have known about the problem, as it is not something that has just occurred. We heard a warning about the algae back in June and were told to keep our dogs well clear of the water when we last went up there. Yet despite those algae warnings the Windermere Tri went ahead as planned in July.

So now they have 9,000 disgruntled punters who will have spent months training, booked accommodation and taken time off work. Call me cynical but perhaps the tourist industry didn’t want people to have time to think about cancelling...

(Thursday 2nd September)

Anything For Me?

Wednesday dog training restarts and goes well. I even get a session in with both dogs. Then I take the boys round to see my Mum, whose birthday it is. I’m sure she’s pleased to see me too but sometimes it’s hard to tell, as she greets the dogs and swiftly apologises them for not having any ginger biscuits. They have to make do with digestives. Oh the hardship. They’re not even that distraught about having the broken bits at the bottom of the tin. Soon the tin is empty. Anything for me? Thought not.

L runs 11 miles tonight, combining last night’s swim training with run training in preparation for next week’s Nottingham Half. She always seems to manage to schedule two completely contrasting events on consecutive weekends. Still variety being the spice of life and all that.

(Wednesday 1st September)

I Did The Right Thing

I do my usual four mile run, ending up at work. I thought it was going quite well until protégé drew up alongside me on his mountain bike and told me I was only doing eight minute miles. Hmmm. Perhaps I shouldn’t have deleted the email offering me Ellie Goulding’s selection of tracks to run to. Then again, no, I did the right thing.

I read on the internet the other day a review of the inaugural Two Inns race from Creggan Inn to Clachaig Inn, Glencoe. Only thirty seven runners took part. The race covers 24km and 1770m of ascent taking in the Corbett Fraochaidh before heading for Sgorr a' Choise. I assume they are a couple of evil looking mountains.

And you know what, there wasn’t a free pint at the end. Was there a T-shirt? Don’t think so. Not even a mug. We've noticed that the tougher the race, the lesser the pressie. The people who do these races are probably so tough that they would spit at a t-shirt. I think that the form it that you just compare injuries in the pub afterwards or sit and tell mountain rescue about it all when they have to come and find you.

L is swim training for this weekend’s Windermere swim and takes Son with her again. So it wasn’t just a one off. If he’s not careful he’ll end up getting fit.

Squash, is a bit of a cliff-hanger and I don’t often say that. Leading 2-1 I eventually lose 3-2. I feel a bit like Derby County... throwing away a lead like that. Overall though a pleasing performance. Hmmm, I sound like Derby’s manager now.

My opponent blames it on being a bit tired from golf yesterday... I’m sure his weekend wasn’t as busy as mine.

(Tuesday 31st August)

Retirement On Hold

Daughter returned last night from the Leeds Festival. It sounds like it went well apart from the cracking blisters she’s got from spending the weekend in willies. That paper round could be quite an interesting hobble this morning. We expect Son to turn up sometime today, maybe. Guns n Roses, of course, rounded the whole thing off in their own diminutive style. Late. Though only by thirty minutes of so, which is modest by their standards. Of course they ran well over again but clearly they’re going soft. Both Son and Daughter seem to cite their festival highlight as Pendulum... hmmmm.

I’m back at Scunny for another day at the agility show up there. The first two runs bring two eliminations for Doggo. Mostly my fault really. On the first one, I sent him over start jump rather than finish jump. Oops. Which was a bit silly of me but not as unlikely as it sounds. The second run though, we stormed round. We was quick! Mainly because a German Shepherd went round the course before him... and that wound him up. He has a thing about German Shepherds. Perhaps we were too fast, because we got one jump wrong and that was us out. I’m a bit annoyed with myself but for now the retirement’s on hold. He does get a good solid clear later on but unfortunately there isn’t a German Shepherd in front of us this time and it isn’t so fast.

Meanwhile I'm thrilled with MD, who bags a couple of clears with accompanying rosettes for 15th and 16th. Excellent and I know we can go a lot quicker.

L tells me she’s cooking lamb chops in red wine tonight because that’s what Mikael Blomkvist (of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo') always cooks for his current shag... I wonder if she’s expecting company or just me.

(Monday 30th August)

Amateur Talent Night

L says that some fool has entered us into a 10 mile race, as I recall it wasn't me. This morning we're at the Chesterfield Spire 10 mile race.



It's a very well supported event despite the exceedingly changeable weather. The course was all on road and basically a four mile climb up some fairly steep hills followed by a six mile plummet back to the finish. The first stretch was a bit of a slog to be honest, not helped by the sudden downpour that seemed to last for most of the uphill section. I was in a good position after that stretch but then quickly started to go backwards through the field. I have nil descending skills. People were skipping past me with ease on the downhill sections and I was doing sub-seven minute miles which I thought was impressive but obviously not.

73 minutes it took me in the end, which is a bit tardy when you consider that the winner, Andy Greenleaf of Winchester & District Athletics Club finished in 53:11. Show off.

The post race was good though, they had a bar at the finish line, then we had coffee in the car, then a hot bath and quality time with L at home as the kids were still festivaling, followed by a trip out for Sunday lunch. This included the second excellent beer of the weekend, Brunswick Brewery’s Father Mikes 5.8%er. Very nice. I drink in its ‘home’, The Brunswick and have always avoided this due to its strength. Not sure I can continue to be a stranger.

Then what’s the thing to do on a night at the fag end of August when the weather is already turning Autumnal and if you take this morning into consideration, downright ugly. Go to the open air theatre of course. Well it seemed a good idea at the time we booked tickets.

It’s Shakespeare of a sort; a play called ‘Love In Shakespeare’. I say ‘of sort’ because the setting for the play was an amateur talent night at The Shakespeare Arms pub. A chap called Chris tells us his own love story with the help of a touch of magic and a selection of Shakespeare’s most romantic bits which are woven into the acts on talent night. Its decent Sunday night entertainment and the Shakespearean bits are very good but often come as blessed relief from some dodgy pub jokes, marital bickering and a chap failing to contain a dodgy Chinese meal.



The cast are excellent, particularly when in Shakespeare mode for which you really needed the programme to keep on top of. An old couple’s act morphs into the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. A stand up act converts to Helena’s pursuit of Demetrius from the Midsummer Night’s Dream. Whilst a performance of Marvin Gaye’s ‘You heard it through the grapevine’ in mime, yes you heard right, in mime, was turned into a scene from Othello. Then there's the Salvation Army doing a segment from The Winter’s Tale and Henry V’s courting of Princess Katherine of France but I can't remember how we got to that.



There are even songs from Dr Hook and the Beatles, ‘All You Need Is Love’ naturally. Then just when you’re expecting Chris to run off with the apparently more than willing landlady Kerry, something completely different happens. Well I suppose Shakespeare would have approved of that.



It’s a fun and enjoyable evening but all a bit bizarre. Unfortunately the standard of writing of the new material doesn't quite live up to the old stuff, obviously, but I commend the writer on a brave idea, that perhaps didn't quite come off. Instead it perhaps just shows up how crap and unromantic we all are these days and perhaps that was the point.

(All images by Nicholas Ripley)

(Sunday 29th August)

You Can See Why They'd Rather Be Outside

There may not be anything impressive happening on the pitch at the moment at Derby County but at least they seem capable of constructing something impressive off it. A statue of the Derby’s championship winning partnership from the early 70’s, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, was erected yesterday. Today was my first chance to see it.



You can see why those two preferred to be placed outside the stadium rather than in. Derby were 2-0 and cruising against the early league leaders, a rather unimpressive (today at least) Queen Park Rangers, with 90 minutes on the clock. Goals for the visitors in the 92nd and 95th minutes ensured a 2-2 draw. Thoroughly depressing.

I could really do with revisiting that excellent beer from last night, Tucks Tipple. Damn, we’re in Broadway and damn, it’s still on but I'm trying to be AF tonight, race tomorrow. A coffee and a juice then please.

We’re in Broadway to see 'The Girl Who Played with Fire', which is the second instalment in the Millennium trilogy and the sequel to 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', which we saw earlier this year.

One year on from the conclusion of the first story, Mikael Blomkvist is back at work at Millennium magazine when a young journalist and his researcher girlfriend approach the magazine with a meticulously researched exposé of Eastern European sex traffickers which implicates several people in high office.

Meanwhile Lisbeth Salander is drifting around the globe, eventually returning to Sweden with a bang. When the journalist and his girlfriend working on the trafficking story are killed, Salander’s prints are on the gun. Then Lisbeth's hated guardian Nils Bjurman is shot dead as well. It’s not looking good for the dragon girl.



She is accused of murder and Blomkvist embarks on a quest to exonerate her but she’s not totally helpful at clearing her own name. No one can even find Salander, who hides out in her plush new apartment that no one, especially not the authorities know about.

Shadowy characters linked to Salander’s past go to her registered address but Salander has sublet the place to her friend and occasional lover the kickboxing Miriam Wu. They kidnap Wu and leave her in the hands of Ronald Niedermann, a thug with a bizarre medical condition called ‘congenital analgesia’ that means he feels no pain, oh and he’s built like a brick shithouse as well. He beats her up in the quest for information she does not have. It falls to a friend of Salander’s, a real life boxer called Paolo Roberto, played by the man himself, to rescue her in a bare knuckle fist fight with Niedermann.



Now, stop right there and just hang on a minute or two. All this excitement happens pretty quickly in the film, whereas it took weeks of perseverance with the book for me to get this far. I feel cheated already. Lots of background and character development have already been skipped. It’s also like Salander has immediately been presumed innocent, that’s not how it was. Out go the dynamics within the police force, and most of the murder investigation. Even the sex trafficking angle is only touched upon very lightly.

Ok, so it’s always difficult when converting a book to film to decide how much to leave out and what to focus on but I think they got this one wrong. The first film was a genuine whodunit, whereas this time they’ve removed the ‘who’ because it’s clear who ‘dunit’ almost from the start. This causes the film to lack substance and become far less interesting, even the mysterious ‘Zala’ suddenly does not seem that mysterious.

There’s no sustained tension. There can’t be when the film sped along at such a frightening brisk pace. So much so that Salander‘s escape from being buried alive was treated so flippantly it was almost comedic. It’s probably my own fault that I’m un-enthralled by the story because I’ve broken my golden rule of seeing the film of a book I’ve read.



That said, it is faithful to the book, but only as far as it goes and that's a synopsis of the main events from the book. There are so many elements that are hinted at but not explored. Everything else has been jettisoned to cram what’s left into two hours. In fact the film looks like it’s been cut. Why not take another half an hour and flesh it out.

Oddly the first film choose to discard Blomkvist’s relationship with Erika Berger, whereas this second film includes it but with little explanation. A change of director clearly brought a change of approach.

On the plus side, the action is riveting and it still a good film, highly entertaining with Noomi Rapace brilliant again as Salander.

Perhaps I should just read less.



(Saturday 28th August)

Off The Leash

A day off and a dog show, what else?

MD obviously likes running early, we run number 5 and he has a great run. One slight mistake and we almost missed a jump but it wasn't a refusal as he didn't go beyond the wing of the jump. That's the rule... but the judge faulted us. I'm livid. He's so on my black list now. A spectator who I didn't know even came up to me and said it was clear. Well at least no poles went down. Rant over.

We do get genuine refusals in his other runs, which is a shame cause he's jumping well today, no poles down at all, weaving very well and he's quick. When (if) it all comes together we'll be awesome.

Bodger (aka Doggo) has two nice runs, both clear. Both top 15 placings but not quite good enough for a rosette. I promise to tell L about my embarrassing moment at the hands of Bodger during his third run when I meet her later...

I think perhaps he’s trying to tell me he's ready for retirement. He left the ring for a sniff three jumps from end of course when clear. So embarrassing.

I meet L in Broadway and we eat out. With both kids away we're off the leash this weekend. Not that it usually stops us anyway. Heaven help us when we're off the leash for an extended period when they’re both at uni. L reckons it'll be nothing but sex and nights out... Sounds great! Financially, it would be cheaper to concentrate on one of those options.

The ale is good tonight as well, excellent Milestone Tucks Tipple. Only 4.2% but tasting much stronger.

Guns N Roses Leeds performance on Sunday could be worth seeing, if anyone can stay up that late... after they started their Reading Festival set tonight at 10.30pm, an hour late. Despite them being scheduled to finish at 11pm and an absolute curfew of 11.30, the band still managed to play until nearly midnight. Then as the band tried to return for an encore, the power was cut. As they played 'Paradise City' only the drums could be heard as all other instruments had been switched off. Axl Rose decided to sing the track through a megaphone.

No great surprise, stories of Axl Rose turning up late are the thing of legend. When they last played Reading/Leeds in 2002, they took to the stage at Leeds after they were supposed to have left it. Suppose any publicity is good publicity to them.

(Friday 27th August)