BC 250

Nothing to do with the First Punic Wars. This year the Bath Chronicle is celebrating 250 years and I thought I should not ignore it.

What has this got to do with this blog or with running?

It was the Chronicle that first sparked the idea in my head of entering for the Bath Half Marathon. The paper gave the opportunity to local people to put in an early entry to the Bath Half using a two-piece code that was provided in 2 weekly editions.

And I did - as described under Auction Fever in my earlier post Reasons Why.

The celebratory 250 anniversary edition - issued last week - describes the early Chronicles as being:-

"A mixture of the bizarre and the banal, of the ludicrous and the tragic."

Not that different from today - especially the Readers‘ Letters.

Some reports down the years read remarkably alike. The report of the bombing of The Corridor in 1974 and that of the exploding gas cylinders at the SouthGate were similar - at least in the described experience of the journalists concentrating on their routine reports only to be interrupted by the sound of explosions.

Another theme down the years is reports of visiting celebrities - and those later to become famous.

These include:-

• Princess Victoria in 1830 before she was Queen
• Winston S Churchill - an obscure parliamentary candidate whose first ever political speech was at Claverton Manor (The American Museum) in 1897
• The Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie in 1936 - afterwards lived in Bath during his exile years
• Princess Diana - visited Bath in 1985
• Michael Palin in 2010.

The poster read - "Michael Palin in Bath - Pictures”.

"The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villainous -licentious - abominable - infernal - Not that I ever read them - no - I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper." Richard Brinsley Sheriden

Past Performance - 2

Once I participated in an oxymoron - a Fun Run - and survived to tell the tale.

The impossible had happened. I had volunteered for the Dew Pond Run. Seven miles uphill from sea level to 2817ft on Ascension Island. I had done no running (other than for the odd train) since I had been at school 30 years before, when I had striven not to be last in cross-country runs.

So reads the opening paragraph of a piece I wrote for an internal newsletter at my work. Remarkably it was published unchanged - but with some appropriate graphics - headlined “How I went from George Town to Dew Pond in 1 Hour 49 Minutes and 30 Seconds” in July 1992.

On the cover was written To Be Seen By All Staff . But that may be because it also contained a lot of management propaganda about pay and equal opportunities.

My placing was 83rd overall, 4th out of the 8 in my team of colleagues from the office, and a mere 49 minutes behind the winner - an RAF PTI who allegedly was a bit miffed to miss the sub-1 hour target he had set himself.

So, you may say, I am not a virgin runner after all.

Well, my case is that I did a lot of walking - I did not “go all the way” running:-

The air was cooler and more damp at that altitude. I was running again and found I was catching up and passing many exhausted runners slipping about dispiritedly. Previously having walked to the Dew Pond I knew that the hardest part came at the end: maybe they knew too.

What lessons does this hold for me now?

"Past performance is no guide to future returns." - The FSA

Past Performance - Part 1

The language of athletics has been adopted into workplace jargon.  These days, whether working in commerce or government, you are expected to have a proven track record in the field and when the starting gun goes off you are required to hit the ground running.
Buzz-word Bingo anyone?

Reversing the process, here is my early running CV:

School Sports at Moat Farm - Athlete No 21 - Faraday House

1. Egg and Spoon - dropped out
2. Sack Race - fell
3. Three-Legged Race - tripped
4. 100, 200 and 400 yards - unplaced
5. Slow Bicycle Race - disqualified for using outriggers

Sorry, but the last one is a lie. I always wanted to enter but did not have a bike.

Going up to the big school the sport was compulsory rugby.  Too small for the scrum and not fast enough as a winger, I was trampled into the mud.  Not really my scene.  After 2 years allowed to choose something else.

Cross-country running. No less muddy - indeed more so because the cows were herded twice daily up and down part of the route. Thick hedge on one side barbed wire fence on other - deep mix of mud and dung in between. Serious risk of suction removing shoes. But no risk of letting side down.  Endurance not speed. Aim - not to be last.

School moved to new location. New instant traditions instituted - including compulsory rugby for those in the 4th form.  Hey Ho, back to running around muddy fields grasping odd-shaped balls.

But big freeze. Ground too hard. All contact sports cancelled. Instead cross-country running again, this time with the opportunity to play Spot the Location where The Avengers was filmed for TV.

Thaw. Rugby restarted. Skive off every week until name appears on list of those AWOL and due for punishment.  After couple of days see that some of the names have been crossed through. When nobody about, cross out own name. Not spotted!  Mentally prepare to deny all knowledge. Hear no more about it.

Dishonest?  No, just the swings and roundabouts of outrageous fortune.
Bingo!

"Sport, sport, masculine sport
Equips a young man for society
Yes, all turn out a Jolly Good Sort
Its an Odd Boy who doesn't like sport"  Viv Stanshall