Category: Blog

My general wonderings…

It was a tad wet…..

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Last Sunday, the wettest since records began*, saw the annual Great Eastern Run. A half-marathon set in the picturesque** surroundings of Peterborough city centre.

Now to say the morning was wet and windy would be an understatement: it was frickin' very wet and frickin' very windy***. I'm not a great fan of running in the rain, so my first thought when I drew back the curtains was: f###ing hell. In fact it was probably not even I thought, I may have actually said it out loud, and probably loud enough it wake up most of my neighbours.

But, having said all that, I'd put in quite a few miles in training for the sodding event so I gathered my stuff**** together and set off for the proxy place. Initially I was planning to post a new half-marathon PB, but after arriving at the start I quickly decided today was not a day for PBs….

This race has been a mainstay on my race calendar for the last five or six years, so I knew exactly what to expect. Although I didn't expect to have to clamber over a fence, which a marshall wasn't amazingly impressed with*****, just to get somewhere near the start. I must admit it seemed a particularly disorganised start, although the weather and everyone rushing to the start at the last minute probably didn't help.

Now plodding the streets of Peterborough on a wet and windy Sunday morning isn't everybody's cup of tea, although I did spot some slightly amusing happenings:

  • Before we had even crossed the start line a fella, too busy waving to friends in the crowd, ran through a MASSISVE puddle.
  • Overtook a particularly knackered looking Batfink, his sponge 'wings of steel' probably not helping, they seemed to have soaked up quite a bit of water.
  • I ran most of the way in the vincinity of a bloke called 'Simon'. Not entirely sure who he was, but he was getting a lot of support along the way from the crowds. He must have been some sort of local superstar. 13.1 miles is along way to run wondering if Peterborough has any famous Simons. One did come to mind, Simon Bamford, him of Hellraiser fame, although I quickly dismissed this possibility…have you seen Butterball******?
  • Darren Ferguson, Peterborough FC's manager started the event, it was quite amusing to see how many people were avoiding the high-five.

Well suffice to say, I completed the race in a time of 1.37, a minute or so off a PB, pretty pleased with that. My reward:

* this is a lie

** this is also a lie

*** this is another understatement

**** flippers, snorkel, etc.

***** sorry Marshall, needs must and all that

****** obscure film reference

 

Frank Hamilton at Junction 2

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

Sunday saw a visit to Junction 2 in Cambridge to see the fabulous Frank Hamilton. Now I’ve been to the bigger brother, The Junction, a few times but this is a first for Junction 2. A cool little venue, about 200ish capacity, very swish, comfy seats and it’s even got its own little balcony level.

Frank was, as is usual, very good. Great set list of all the favourites including an impromptu visit to the balcony to play ‘Thinking Back’ unplugged. I’ve seen Frank a few times and every time it gets better and better, it sounded great on Sunday. On the back of #onesongaweek he seems to be catching the eye of a few people, new EP ‘Summer’ out soon and in the midst of another succesful tour. All seems good in the world of Frank Hamilton; long may it continue.

 

Running and stuff….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Just an 8-miler this morning, according to my training plan it should have been 13! Doh!

Although I ran 13 miles last Sunday and 12 miles a couple of weeks before so I thought with just two weeks until the Peterborough Half I'd take it easy a bit. It was a lovely morning and didn't really want to spoil it by going hell for leather* chasing a particular pace. I'm confident of completing the race, just need to decide whether or not I'm going to try to beat my PB. I'm going to crack on with the training schedule, throw in a couple of fast 6-milers and see where we're at.

This morning's run did throw up some interesting observations:

  • The amazingly fast walking man – he was walking his dog and going at such a pace I had trouble overtaking him.
  • I nearly killed off an elderly couple – it would seem that didn't hear me approaching and my cheery 'morning' nearly brought on a heart attack.
  • Caused a bit of commotion at the ponds – some fishermen didn't appreciate the dog jumping in the pond and scaring off the fish.

In other news…..

Currently reading 'The Cry' by Helen Fitzgerald, great book about a baby that goes missing in Australia. A dark psychological thriller with a gripping moral dilemma at its heart. Well worth a read!

And finally….

Off to see the fantastic Frank Hamilton in Cambridge tonight….lovely jubbly….

* This is not a phrase I use very often and just wanted to point out that I do actually run in running shoes not some great pair of leather clad boots.

 

I’ll be on strike!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

After watching Look North last night on TV I was compelled to blog….

The headline: parent to sue school over closure. I don't really have to go into details, just to say this particular school is going to close on 1st October because of the joint NUT/NASUWT strike action; this particular parent is not happy. In fact he is so unhappy he has written a 'strongly worded letter' to the school.

I have sympathy with parents who have childcare issues but I don't think he quite understands the impact this government is having on the education system: the education system is becoming disjointed. The failure of the government to enter into talks aimed at reaching an agreement has lead to the industrial action. The majority of teachers are concerned that the changes the government are imposing on the profession is having an effect on the recruitment and retention of teachers and the delivery of quality education for pupils. I am one of these teachers.

The unions have tried writing a 'strongly worded letter' – this hasn't worked – that is why teachers are striking – the government now needs to enter into talks to resolve the issues.

As for our lorry driving friend who is going to sue his child's school……let's just imagine he is a Tesco supermarket lorry driver….would he like a letter from my lawyer when there are no baked beans on the shelves?

 

The day my love affair with ‘Trivial Pursuit’ ended….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

I have always loved 'Trivial Pursuit', although it has probably been 20 years since I lasted played it. Even now I am not entirely sure why it has taken so long, I have had the idea of playing it swimming around my head for years, just never quite got round to playing it.

So Saturday arrived and it was time to head into the garage and retrieve the dusty blue box from the bottom of a box of 'crap'. To my delight it was complete: board, questions, cheeses and even a dice.

The time was fixed: Saturday evening. The opponents: old. The stakes were high: £10,000* to the winners.

Playing the original 'Trivial Pursuit', circa 1983, clearly gave our older opponents an advantage. They promptly got off to an early lead and within half hour of the start they had bagged three cheeses, due in part to their extensive knowledge of anything pre-1950s.

A mid-game break involving the eating of a fantastic home-made Banoffee Pie** was our chance to claw our way back.

After a couple of hours of intense questioning and answering, the 'oldies', clearly lacking endurance, had faltered and we were all square: six cheeses each and all heading for the middle and the finale. We each had a couple of opportunities to win the game only to be thwarted by impossible questions. Then it happened: the moment my love-affair with 'Trivial Pursuit' ended.

Our opponents once again reached the middle. We needed to pick a category. They had been struggling with green all night, Science and Nature. We choose green. The question:

What are the three usual flavours in Neapolitan ice cream?

Yes, you read that correct!! What are the three frigging flavours in frigging Neapolitan ice cream!! Since when is that a science or nature question!!! As you can imagine they answered the question correctly and we were left reeling. Cheated out of a victory by the makers: Horn Abbot International Ltd. They will certainly be hearing from my lawyers shortly.

As for the game, that is back in the garage at the bottom of the box of 'crap' never to be seen again!

* This was later changed to the losers do the washing up.

** Made with my own fair hands.

 

A godson, a baptism and a letter….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

Yesterday my beautiful nephew became my beautiful godson….

Stanley was baptised. It was a fantastic day, my sister and her husband had thought of everything, everyone enjoyed themselves and the day went off without any problems at all. But then I began to think a bit more about the day. It was Stanley's day. It was his baptism. So I began to wonder what sort of day HE had had.

A letter from Stanley….

Dear Mum and Dad,

Thanks for a great day on Sunday, although it was a little bit different to our usual Sunday. Normally I'm allowed to chill in my cot for a bit and then get to have a very lazy day being played with and generally have a very relaxed morning. Today I didn't get a chance to relax at all. From the moment I woke up it was panic. I was put into an outfit I have never worn before and had to put up with ooooos and aaaahs from everybody I met for the rest of the day. Let alone being forced to wear a hat that I tried to make clear I wasn't impressed with, but you kept stuffing on my head.

We then went to this huge place that I have never been to before, although from what I understand you should have been taking me regularly since my birth. I met loads of people, all intent on cuddling and kissing me. If that wasn't bad enough I was passed to this fella in a black outfit who promptly tipped a load of water on my head. It's no wonder I zonked out.

I also understand that I have some lovely godparents, but they seemed more eager to show off my certificate than actually allowing me to be in the pictures.

Also, considering it was MY day I was a bit surprised that you let my sister play with all MY presents and eat the sweets that had been given to me. I can't wait until I'm a bit older, I am so going to get my own back.

At one stage I started to get very worried when a knife started to get waved about, especially because of the crazy face you were pulling. Although the cake was lovely, I had enough of it stuffed into my gob throughout the day.

But overall, I had a fantastic day and would like to say thanks.

Love

Stanley