housemate

Ok, just a couple of disclaimers for this post, in small print:

(If you think you might be offended by brutal descriptions and despairing comments, please do not read this post)

1) This post is LONG. Sorry. Not even 1000 words long. If you’re going to read this, you may need to clear your schedule.

2) Much of this post is hearsay and all of it is personal opinion. While many believe these things to be fact, none of this would hold true in a court of law. I am not publishing this to be malicious, nor do I have any intention of publicising this information beyond my blog. Names have been removed. Any single part of it could in fact just be a figment of my imagination. Most definitely the part that appals you is. Any chance that the offending statements sound real, or like they happened is, in your case, entirely coincidental.

3) If you’re reading this, part 2) stands to cover me. All of this post is real. None of this post is real. Any comments or complaints you may have can be sent to the email address listed in the About section. I cannot be guaranteed to respond though.

racing for life

Bank holidays in the United Kingdom are wonderful things. Every now and then, they charitably donate an extra day to the weekend, allowing the general population to rest easy on a Monday morning.

So, this Bank Holiday weekend we travelled. We traversed the M25 and headed into East Anglia, specifically, Norwich. A town renowned for Mustard, Delia Smith and in my mind, Belgian cuisine. The latter is a fantastic restaurant, although I’m informed that since attaining 5 star status it has become rather pricey. Still, it is tasty.

So yes, Norwich. Home of Stephen Fry and the Canaries. We travelled to visit a good friend, and to pledge support in her quest to Race for Life. Now a national event, Race for Life is pretty special. I won’t go into what it is too much – the link is there if you’re interested. What I’ll go into is an account of Norwich’s Race for Life in a first person perspective.

RUN!

‘Twas a warm and fluffy day that beheld the event. People gathered and milled. We arrived to swathes of pink and green. The first impression that you get of this event was one of pure, simple fun. People were there to have a good time to the extent that running 5 kilometres can be fun.

Picture lots of women walking around with smiles, grins, exchanges and laughs, pink shirts and black shorts, black outfits with pink undergarments worn on the outside for effect, a pinkish hue fancy dress.

A very happy place.

We haunted the awning of a tree and watched as we were guided through warm ups by the Nivea Male Cheerleaders (a cohort of fantastically over enthusiastic ear drum destroying jeer purists) and then an aerobic work out warm up held by an ageing fitness instructor with way too much joie de vivre.

warming up

I must admit at this point that as a male, I was not racing. This event is a solely female exercise. So in true male stoicism, I stood stock still during the warm ups, and smirked at the decidedly “camp” presentation the Nivea team made. They made the best of the situation I guess. I definitely would not be able to do much better.

The race started up, and ran its course. The course trailed around the show ground in Norwich, allowing us ample follow the runners space right up until the finish, where every runner is met with some tape and a big screen appearance. My friend ran her 5k in a solid time of 29 minutes, which was not too far of the winning pace of 20 minutes (turns out the winner was a UK national runner). If you had wanted to sponsor my friend it is a little late now, but I’m sure making a donation to the charity itself wouldn’t go amiss if you do. They are a worthy cause.

Before the race began, they played a short video to the assembled crowd in which they displayed a fact that I personally hadn’t been aware of, but recognised:

1 in 3 people will have cancer at some point in life.

You have a 33% chance of being diagnosed. I conducted a 1 in 3 test of my own, of the people I was with that day (me, my wife and friend), 2 in 3 of us have been diagnosed with cancer. Startling.

Thanks to the research that this charity helps to fund, cancer can be caught and stopped far more easily than ever before. More people are being diagnosed and then going on to survive. It’s fantastic. The video gave famous examples and public examples of people who have beaten cancer in an uplifting and motivational manner. More and more people survive in the modern age, and with Cancer Research UK’s mission to diagnose 2 thirds of all cancers at a stage where they can be treated, many more will too.

But of course, some do not. If you can, spare a moment for those families.

…

heart FM event sponsor, and kid with skateboard.

Race for Life is an annual affair in the UK. If you want to give it a shot, there are still events this year, which can be found here.

Men can join in too with the Race for Moore and Run 10k events.