May 4, 2009 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Event, Running
Suzan and Carol the two founder members of the Surrey Housewives Set (SHS) have been relentlessly running the Bushy Park 5k time trial over the last 2.5 years and this Saturday they finally reached the 100 runs milestone.
500 kilometres ticked off (each) by the grim determination to get out of bed at the crack of dawn almost every Saturday. Pushing themselves through just about the worst running distance ever invented.
I think I’ve been equally relentless in my avoidance of these painful little runs recently but I dragged the non-runner out of bed this Saturday so we could celebrate the grand achievement from the side lines.
I don’t think I’ve won over a convert to the cause, the whole event was rather a strange spectacle, 450 runners turning up at 8:55 to run around the park and then shoot off again after about 30 minutes of painful sweating. You really could be forgiven for wondering why anyone would do it, from our vantage point at the 4k mark, no one appeared to be enjoying themselves and there were quite a few concerning retching noises from within the pack.
Of course runners, know why they do it and even though I was glad I didn’t pack my running shoes, part of me hankered after that smug post run satisfaction and now I’m half tempted to set the alarm early for the occasional Saturday to come.
After a quick congratulatory pat on the back I felt the swarm of the sweaty crowd and shot off out of the car park.
When the photos came out I wasn’t all that popular with the NR who discovered she’d been dragged from her sleep to attend the strange event and then yanked away just as the champagne and buns made an appearance.
Popularity: 21% [?]
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Tags: BPTT, bushy park, ParkRun, SHS, Surrey Housewives
July 6, 2008 at 1:45 pm · Filed under Event, Running
This time last year I came face to face with the world renowned shambles that is the British London 10k.
Fortunately, this time round I was invited to join the Surrey Housewives Set in their annual attempt to show Michael O’Reilly how mass participation events should be organised.
Under the auspices of SHS1 the humongous portaloo/baggage drop nightmare of last year was replaced by a rather well equipped room in the Royal Horseguards Hotel no less.
Here we were able to leave our bags and eye up the breakfast that we would devour as soon as we’d got the running thing out of the way. The bathrooms were worth admiring as well, in contrast to the usual race day alternative they were delightfully perfumed and had neat little piles of personal face towels.
Outside, chaos reigned supreme as the afore mentioned Michael O’Reilly forgot to organise the promised baggage buses and the hoi polloi wandered round looking for someone who knew what they were doing.
Luckily SHS1 stepped into the breach and established a start line and pronounced that the race would start in 5 mins, ready or not!
Of course Michael was not ready and so many runners had to set off with their backpacks and handbags slung over their shoulders – they should have joined the Surrey Housewives.
It amazes me that good ole Mikey can arrange for a Spitfire to be plonked in front of the Houses of Parliament each year and for the Dad’s Army band to come and play “There’ll always be an England” but he can’t sort out a functioning baggage drop.
As for the run, it was hot, sweaty, painful but also strangely uplifting – who can fail to attempt a little sprint finish when Chariots of Fire blares out at the end? If pressed on actual numbers I will just admit to having achieved a personal worst but on all other fronts this race has been pushed well into the ranks of personal bests.
At the end, we were congratulated by the Queen’s Cavalry before being ushered back to the hotel for a continental breakfast with champagne. Quality organising and my only complaint is that now every other race is going feel ever so slightly down market.
Popularity: 23% [?]
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Tags: asics, breakfast run, british london, SHS, Surrey Housewives
November 4, 2007 at 6:42 pm · Filed under Event, Running
This post should be subtitled “Portaloo Anxiety”, if only to warn you that what follows will be somewhat focussed on bodily functions. However thats giving the game away before I’ve even started, so lets crack on.
Todays race involved me gate crashing the elite Surrey Housewives Set (SHS) for a trog around the muddy woods of Hawley Lake.
At some ridiculous hour in the morning, visibility was down to 10 yards or so, a little worrying for a back of the packer who has a tendency to lose sight of the back of the pack very quickly. Still, I had chance to build up the anxiety a little as I needed to pay a visit to the little ladies room.
When I first turned up the portaloos were empty but I thought I’d put it off as long as possible. Not sure what I was waiting for, did I really expect someone to pass by and spruce the cabin up, deodorising and leaving a selection of Moulton Brown toiletries? Nope, as any seasoned event attender knows all too well, these places only get worse the longer you leave them – much worse. I blame SHS member no 3 (names withheld to protect the innocent) who horrified me when she returned from her foray into the cabin, completely smeared in some strange slime.
In the end I decided to start the race with a full bladder, hoping that my body would just learn to reabsorb. I also thought it might make me run a bit faster, it always seems to work when I’m on my bike. I break all my records cycling home from the pub as the quicker I go the sooner I get to use the loo. For the record, it doesn’t translate so well for running, especially not hilly, uneven, cross country running – the first downhill section reminded me of the importance of pelvic floor exercises!
I do apologise for the banality of this post but I did warn you, I was preoccupied. My playlist selection for this event was last sundays omnibus edition of the Archers. Perfectly timed to last my predicted 1:13:00 time and the ideal accompaniment to keep my mind off more pressing matters. Well it would have been if I hadn’t somehow managed to load up an edition that I had already listened to. I like the Archers but I cannot listen to Eddy snogging his girlfriend for a second time in a week and they had the cows mooing so loud in the recording that I kept having to make sure I wasn’t about to be attacked from the undergrowth.
So I was left with my thoughts which oscillated between, “I need the loo”, “That’s a pretty mushroom, do you think I could just stop and pick it?”, “Christ I’m gonna wet myself!”, “Check out that flippin puddle – am I supposed to swim?”, “How come I’m always behind the walkers?” and “ooooh I NEED the loo!”.
You get the picture. It was lovely though. The marshalls were very pleasant and I got a great cheer from the SHS crew as I reached my final sprint for the portaloo.
Special mention goes to Suzan (SHS member no 1) who stormed home, breaking the 60 min barrier with 1 1/2 mins to spare! I think members 2 and 3 are still trying to fathom out their precise time (give or take 5 mins) as they were relying on a rather interesting timepiece, one lacking a second hand and minute markers.
Race t-shirt here.
Popularity: 25% [?]
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Tags: SHS, Surrey Housewives, t-shirt
