Another one for sorting and painting the garage. 3 days in the sunshine last week. I’ve since outdone Halfords floor tiles down. Just a few finishing touches left to do and a bit of shelf sorting

Then I’m going to attempt to ‘tart up’ that old workbench

What are the chances!!
It’d be worth ringing /emailing Westbrook cycles in stokesley. They’re a Giant dealer and a Great bunch of lads… if they can’t help .. nobody can :-)

Peddlers cycles (local to me) In redcar are showing an XL in stock.

They are operating – my wife is waiting for a call to collect a bike from them.

Thanks all .. It’s the latest 29’er I’m
Looking at.
Devash – thanks for that, guisborough forest and the surrounding area is where most of my riding will be so that’s good to hear.

I’m not looking for something to replace the orange 5. I like the anthem and i like the idea of a quicker XC orientated bike. I’m just not sure how restrictive I’d find it.
For those that have / have had an anthem – what did you use it for?

Zippykona – way back I got my 5 I loved the anthem then but I was young and went with the 5 as it suited me more at the time.

Now I just think I’d like a bike I can hop on for a quick blast out so I think the Anthem would be ok for that BUT I know I’d like to have a bike I can do the odd trail centre visit on too. It wouldn’t be very often and I’m no big downhill type so I’m not planning on big jumps or anything silly

Another question (can of worms I suspect) .. wheel size – are 29 wheels still a popular choice? Will they be sticking around or is the 27.5 more and more popular?

Thanks for the replies. Food for thought

Manchester now confirmed postponed

Just got an email from Alpkit with discounts on the Sonder Cortex

We joined our vets monthly scheme which is £10 a month but it only covers boosters and discount on treatment etc. We have petplan insurance cover. I can’t vouch for other insurers but petplan are very good – or have been for us i should say.
I think you’ll find their quotes can be higher than the average but I can’t complain about them. My vets seem to really like dealing with them. My dog has Had 2 ops totalling approx £10k and it was all dealt with through the vets. I didn’t even have to pay upfront. Sane for ongoing medication – I just sign a form and I’m off. Lifetime cover at £7k a year I have. Claimed a fair bit and still do so it gets more expensive Each year but that’s how it goes I guess.

I sold a similarly ‘obsolete’ 2008 Orange 5 on Gumtree without any bother in November.

My lad has absolutely loved his Puky balance bike. It came recommended on here. He has a Frog pedal bike now but still loves a go on his Puky.

@willstaffs ..what a hero! Oh hang on … I emailed them too and fessed up .. not that you were to know that of course

I’ve been refunded.(Mine showed as shipped).
I think you can all expect the same.
They’ve given me a 20% discount code instead. Can’t argue with that. I wouldn’t have ordered it had I known.
I need a light tho so I might make use of the 20%

I ordered one last night after this PSA. I Live in the north east had no idea what the arrangement was with this discount otherwise I wouldn’t have ordered one. The OP just gave a code so I used it. I have had an email to say they’ve shipped the light so I’ll see how it pans out.

Ordered! I was looking at these the other day as I noticed I get a discount with BC but it wasn’t this much discount! Thanks

They’ve reduced Boardman clothing in the stores today. Jerseys £5, jackets £10 full length thermal bibs £5!

Just been in touch with my LBS where I purchased mine and they are expecting forks to be in in January

Sorry, only just got chance to respond after posting this.thanks for the replies tho. Still digesting then!

There’s some very impressive runners on here that’s for sure! Much more capable than myself and Peekay makes some very valid points imo.

If I want to step up from the 3:18 to nearer 3/3:05 I know I’ll need to be putting in big weeks … up to 70 miles on my plan. Clearly there’s some gifted runners who can run 3 hrs on much lower volume but that’s not me!
I have a plan (based on one of Hal Higdon’s) and it consists of hill sessions, speed sessions, tempo runs , marathon pace runs and long runs. Some long runs will have marathon pace miles in them but I’m a firm believer in running some long runs at at least a minute per mile slower than race pace.

What I do need to start increasing is my core and strength training . Need to get my backside to the gym more

Of course you’re not too old. Just get started, build it steadily .. you won’t be marathon ready overnight so don’t try or you’ll end up injured and fed up. think short term right now … getting round a parkrun maybe. Then a 10k race. Then the half.
You could try the couch to 5k app if you think you’d enjoy that. Parkruns are fantastic for motivation and meeting people so defo aim for those.
Good luck .. it’ll be horrible at first but give it time and stick with it.
Core and strength work in the gym is good 👍🏻

I’m a local! Normanby :-) ran up and around Roseberry many a time

I order mine from Fetch. Good prices and next day delivery.
I think you’ll get 15% off a first order too.

Is there anybody running at Thunder Run next weekend? I ran it last year in a team of 5 and somehow got roped into going again this year!
It’s a great weekend. I’m definitely not watching the weather forecast already :-0

My wife was in Tennis Courts but this was 11 years ago. She said it was ideally placed for campus, town etc. Good sized rooms. Recommends it.
Might be worth a look.
In her time they ran open days for accommodation so might be worth keeping an eye out if they still offer those.
Edit: this relates to university of Birmingham – Edgbaston

@turboferret phenomenal .. just phenomenal. Well done 👍🏻

Thanks @tarka_the_rotter but it’s next year I’m looking for a marathon.

@downshep – that seems to be the consensus regarding the Edinburgh route . I am in it for the PB so I’d like a relatively nice route but equally I can live with some sh1tty sections

The promotional video shows a very quiet stadium and the smallest inflatable finish line .. not even a clock in sight! Maybe I’m mistaken but it really put me off.Id expect a gantry with a clock and crowds! Is that how it is or is it just a poor video?

I realise these places need to string a 26 mile route Together so I don’t expect paradise around every corner but I’m looking for closed roads – not running alongside dual carriageways or on cycle tracks. York is excellent in that it meanders through the centre then out to the villages .. there’s plenty of support and a great finish area. I guess I’m looking for something similar

Agree on the great north run. I avoid it like the plague. The vale of York half is on the same day and it’s far, far better and without the hassle.

Thanks all. Chester is a good option for autumn but I’m starting to get my head around a spring marathon now and getting it done.
Edinburgh appeals given its the end of May so I can ramp the training up after Xmas as opposed to Manchester which would start a couple of weeks before Xmas.
Milton Keynes Is aN option since I have family living there but read mixed reviews on the course and having watched the promotional video on the website, the finish in the stadium looks remarkably underwhelming.
Stof41 – is that what you’ve found having ran it?

Thanks @turboflard … I’ve done a few trail marathons.
I’m Looking for a road marathon to better my York time last year.

Should have mentioned that I’m looking for a PB kind of course!

Go outdoors – £15 freedom trail waterproof trousers. Bought some a few weeks ago for a 50 mile ultra- much like you, to leave In my bag but iended up Wearing them for 30 miles.

Bluetooth earphones and Spotify on my phone in a flip belt … does the job for me

https://flipbelt.co.uk

Settle in.. I can waffle :-)

As mentioned on the previous page – I took part in the Hardmoors 50 yesterday which is a run on the North York Moors from Guisborough to Helmsley. Here is the event link

Hardmoors 55

Ok… I’ll start by saying I didn’t finish it. Let’s get that out the way.

I’ve ran quite a few Hardmoors races from short night races to half / full marathons and a two years ago I ran the Hardmoors 60 which is kind of the sister to the 50. Between the 2 runs you cover the entire 110 mile Cleveland Way path. If you’re a complete loon you can do the full lot in one 36 hour race in May. No thanks!

Onto the race. As I said, training since November has been far from adequate. I ran York marathon in October and kind of slipped into retirement after the training of that :-) I’ve been running and doing club sessions but only a handful of off-road runs and nothing more than 18 miles.

Genuinely up until a week before the 50 i was planning to bin it off but the lad I was running with (who hasn’t trained much more than me either) wanted to start so we thought why not just turn up, take it easy … meet the Cut-offs and see how we go. We’d paid for this so why not :-)

The forecast looked reasonable early on in the week but by Friday heavy rain and gusts were forecast. Looks like I’m starting in full waterproofs!
We registered Friday night. Kit checked and trackers fitted.

There was close to 500 running and we all got stretched out fairly quickly. We had a double ascent of Roseberry Topping to do in the first 4 miles. The wind up there was fierce!
At the first main checkpoint 10 miles in (Kildale) i had to change my tracker as it wasn’t working, it seemed to those watching that I hadn’t bothered to start. We arrived at this checkpoint pretty much bang on schedule.

Out of Kildale and into what for me is the worst section – over bloworth crossing to Clay Bank. An impressively bleak moorland track that just goes up and up and on and on.

Our aim was to get to the next main checkpoint at Osmotherley (31 miles) by 4pm in reasonable condition. From that point the going got a little easier in terms of terrain …. all of the big climb is done by 35 miles on this race. If we could get out of Osmotherley we’d have time to walk it if we had to and meet the midnight cut-off.

The wind was relentless .. with hail battering our faces. Thankfully the wind wasn’t cold but my gloves were soaked and I was looking forward to getting to clay bank to put my warmer dry gloves on. That turned out to be a ball-ache .. getting wet, old hands into a pair of thick fleecy cycling gloves isn’t easy. I spent the climb up to Wainstones trying to get my fingers into them.

I knew we were going slow by this point. My running buddy wasn’t moving fast and he was walking on sections that we should have been running.
The wind over the wainstones ‘three sisters’ was scary. It could knock you off the track. Definitely the wildest conditions I’ve ever ran in.

We made it through Carlton Bank, next stop Scugdale. A few jelly sweets and some Pepsi and we continued.
I was starting to feel a little tired but still quite upbeat and optimistic although I knew my partner was probably thinking he might want to stop at Osmotherley. He didn’t tell me this until we were a few miles from the checkpoint but I had a feeling it was coming.

We got into Osmotherley village hall at 17:15 – much later than we’d hoped. The cut-off was 18:15 so we were well within that.
We had a discussion and we decided to call it a day.
Honestly, I was gutted not to complete it but on the back of very little training we did remarkably well covering 31 miles and almost 7400ft ascent in brutal conditions.

I do believe I could have carried on … I would have if my partner had but 20 Miles on my own, in sopping gear, wet gloves, in the dark .. on the only section I’ve never ran before I think I would have slowed down dramatically and potentially got myself into a spot of bother.

By all accounts around 130 DNF’d which is a huge amount for a Hardmoors event. Some even stopped after Roseberry Topping at 4 miles and TBH I can well understand that!

Unfortunately i didn’t take any pictures. Wet gloves, cold hands, hail, sleet and a phone buried in my bag out of harms way meant it rarely came out.

A Strava link is all I have
https://www.strava.com/activities/2217889954

You did ask how it went :-)

Taking part in the Hardmoors 50 on Saturday . Eeek!
Training over winter hasnt been great … the number of long, off-road runs I’ve done is way down on what I had intended to get done so it’ll be an exercise in pacing it out with the aim to finish within the cut off time.
Incessant checking of the weather and it looks like I won’t avoid the rain / wind / snow…and god knows what else the North York Moors can magic up. The bbc weather is all over the place tbh so I’ll only start taking notice of it tomorrow night.
I’ve come close to cancelling but where’s the fun in that!
Wish me luck .. I’ll need some :-)

Yes 12k or 7.3 miles in my language according to Strava.
A couple of good tester hills in it yes but all runnable (albeit slowly for me yesterday!). It was a great course and as I said, great experience. It’s a bit crazy when the gun goes off with 2000 blokes charging up the hill 😄

@sboardman brutal! Well done. 56:20 was my time. I had no plan in mind. Training over winter hasn’t exactly been brilliant so I’m reasonably happy with that result.
It was a great experience and I thought it was a great course but I found it tough. I had to have a word with myself at the start of lap 2 and give my head a shake but Boy was it hard work today for me. Wonderful to be part of it and the weather was perfect. That start line was something else!
I ran the BHF half marathon there last year which is a great event but completely different route to today.

@turboferret if I was doing your kind of weekly mileage I reckon i’d need to try to win brownie points at any opportunity 😄

@sboardman I’m in Middlesbrough so it’s not far for me. I expect I’ll get trampled on from all angles but it’ll be a great day I’m sure 😄 looking at last years times I won’t be at the back so it’s a good 7 mile training run in my eyes.
On the plus side .. the slower you are .. the less the queue to leave 😄
Have a good run 👍🏻

Is anybody else running in the Nation XC championship at Harewood House tomorrow?!
Since it’s in the North-East my club is putting a team in. Clearly I’m going for the experience – nothing else!
There are 8000 runners competing over all races 😳

Have an 11 plate 2.0 diesel 163bhp titanium spec (manual) galaxy for 3 years now.
Day to day it averages about 42mpg which I don’t think is too bad given it’s size.
I’ve never driven a 140bhp version but Ours shifts along really well.
I love driving it. I just find it quiet and relaxing.
It hasn’t cost us anything other than tyres and discs/pads and it’s coming up for 78k now. Hopefully it’ll continue to prove reliable.