Midnight Mountain Marathon

As I drove to the Brecon Beacons for an evening marathon I was scarily under-trained for, it occurred to me how bonkers my whole plan was. I'd left at 6am for a 5:30pm race, why? Obviously it was so I could bosh out a parkrun first. More specifically, the brand new Penallta parkrun which - hilariously - is described as "mostly flat" on the website. The Welsh do crack me up. I wouldn't say it was hilly but it definitely wasn't flat.

I have an ongoing love affair with all things hilly so I didn't mind the undulations one bit. My love for hills is why I was on this crazy journey in the first place. I had entered the Midnight Mountain Marathon and was far too excited about it to put my sensible head on. My knees had been duff and I hadn't run more than one 5k a week since the end of April, so I knew full well that a very challenging marathon was a bit silly but my heart was in it and I just hoped the body would follow.

Salisbury parkrun: The Map Guide

Salisbury parkrun isn't the easiest course to navigate. Visitors and bloggers alike have rightly described it as having many twists and turns. There's a lead biker, a tail runner, loads of marshals and more arrows than most marathon courses, but there's still always at least one who manages to go the wrong way.

If you've run our course and are still confused or are planning a journey to our shiny, new parkrun, look no further. Follow this guide and you should make it around Salisbury parkrun without navigational disaster. Just remember to run three laps!

New Forest Drivers

Having regained my cycling confidence on gloriously quiet Dorset roads, a ride in the New Forest brought back the inner panic. What is it that makes drivers in the New Forest so much more angry and rubbish at driving than anywhere else?! The New Forest is such a beautiful place to cycle and it is a terrible shame that motor vehicles and man-powered ones can't live in harmony.

If it wasn’t a coach ploughing down the Forest’s “main roads” with no idea of their own size, it was aggressive, impatient drivers who refuse to wait until it is actually safe to overtake, or who wait for the right moment but then choose to squeeze past you anyway.

Three New Forest Rangers passed by throughout the ride in their big off-roaders; they all managed to overtake like normal, safe drivers – excellent. Perhaps they could start delivering a course, a quick driving course for anyone entering the New Forest?.. They could get drivers to demonstrate a safe overtake of a cyclist and a horse, then they could get a little flag to display on their left wing mirror that allows them to drive around. If at any point a pedestrian, cyclist or rider can remove the flag whilst the car is in motion then that driver is banned. Simple?