A little round-up of my month...
The 50 mile bike ride on October 1st proved to be my last of the month. I'm ok with that. Whilst I might do a ride here and there when the weather suits, I'm happy to get through the winter before doing anything too serious. Not that I have been especially serious about it. I've done nearly 1400 miles on the bike and never cleaned nor lubed the chain
Happily, my left knee (and any associated knock-on effects) appears to be getting better. The day after the bike ride, I did a couple of miles running whilst Katie swam - and it felt wonderful to be out. The following week I did a 3 and a 5; and since then I've done three twenty mile weeks in a row (give or take a tenth). My long run is up to 7.7 miles; and I've been trying to do easy-paced miles on all bar one day a week, when I try a bit of a controlled burn at whichever parkrun works. That's been slowly coming down: 26:50, 25:08, 24:50. Not sure I could go much faster at the moment - but I'm just trying to do an even paced effort. The Bass Belle 10 at the end of November is keeping me focused on that. I am running with my friend Steve who has much longer legs than me - and his easy pace might well be my best effort on the day - so I'd like to be able to do a bit more than just grunt at him every once in a while I'm finishing the month on 71 miles, which felt a LONG way away back at the end of July. Happy days.
The swimming has gone, well, swimmingly this month. Please note the placement of the commas. I did not swim in a well. Overall, I've hit 8.4 miles, split evenly between four pool swims (1 indoor, 3 outdoor), and four lake swims (all outdoor lakes!). I've managed to do the outdoor pool swims in skins* as it's been about 17°C at the Lido, but deferred to wearing my wetsuit at the lake, where it's been typically 13-14°C. My feet are usually the coldest part of me when I get out, but I'm doing ok.
Yesterday was my longest outdoor swim - three laps of Box End lake, which is ~1.5 miles in 58 minutes; and I didn't feel too cold or too knackered at the end of it - so hopefully that's a good start for the Big Welsh Swim (hereafter, the BWS**). It sounds like there will be quite a few Fetchies at the swim, which will be epic.
My dad pointed out that it's 360 lengths of Cefn Fforest swimming pool (a standard unit of measurement in my dad's world). So right now, I've managed 96 lengths Water temperatures will have a say in the length of long swims for at least the next few months; but I'm hoping to get through a winter in the water in one form or another.
Onwards to November! I have 19/24 of the prizes sorted out for December's Festive Fetch Calendar - so I've a bit more work to do on that. Fun fact: I did the first calendar back in 2014, so this is our ninth calendar!!! Plus, just for shits and giggles, let's say I'll sort out one feature request every day throughout November. Let's call it Yesvember. It starts tomorrow Bring it on. Bring it all the way on. Bit further. No, back a bit. Bit more. Great.
Just a little shout out for the Advance Performance competition. In short, they'd like a bunch of email addresses for their marketing database; and as an incentive, one winner will get to pick a pair of trainers, up to the value of £150. And of course you can unsubscribe at any time. Here's a link where you can sign up: fetcheveryone.com/competition-advanceperformance.php
*that's swim speak for "in just your cozzy". It does not have anything to do with tauntauns, but if it gets any colder, it may well come to that.
** bws = bus in Welsh, which is ironic because it comes with a free train ride.
EDIT: I've also just realised that on the weekend, during my run to parkrun I have officially Run Further Than Last Year
The 50 mile bike ride on October 1st proved to be my last of the month. I'm ok with that. Whilst I might do a ride here and there when the weather suits, I'm happy to get through the winter before doing anything too serious. Not that I have been especially serious about it. I've done nearly 1400 miles on the bike and never cleaned nor lubed the chain
Happily, my left knee (and any associated knock-on effects) appears to be getting better. The day after the bike ride, I did a couple of miles running whilst Katie swam - and it felt wonderful to be out. The following week I did a 3 and a 5; and since then I've done three twenty mile weeks in a row (give or take a tenth). My long run is up to 7.7 miles; and I've been trying to do easy-paced miles on all bar one day a week, when I try a bit of a controlled burn at whichever parkrun works. That's been slowly coming down: 26:50, 25:08, 24:50. Not sure I could go much faster at the moment - but I'm just trying to do an even paced effort. The Bass Belle 10 at the end of November is keeping me focused on that. I am running with my friend Steve who has much longer legs than me - and his easy pace might well be my best effort on the day - so I'd like to be able to do a bit more than just grunt at him every once in a while
I'm finishing the month on 71 miles, which felt a LONG way away back at the end of July. Happy days. The swimming has gone, well, swimmingly this month. Please note the placement of the commas. I did not swim in a well. Overall, I've hit 8.4 miles, split evenly between four pool swims (1 indoor, 3 outdoor), and four lake swims (all outdoor lakes!). I've managed to do the outdoor pool swims in skins* as it's been about 17°C at the Lido, but deferred to wearing my wetsuit at the lake, where it's been typically 13-14°C. My feet are usually the coldest part of me when I get out, but I'm doing ok.
Yesterday was my longest outdoor swim - three laps of Box End lake, which is ~1.5 miles in 58 minutes; and I didn't feel too cold or too knackered at the end of it - so hopefully that's a good start for the Big Welsh Swim (hereafter, the BWS**). It sounds like there will be quite a few Fetchies at the swim, which will be epic.
My dad pointed out that it's 360 lengths of Cefn Fforest swimming pool (a standard unit of measurement in my dad's world). So right now, I've managed 96 lengths
Water temperatures will have a say in the length of long swims for at least the next few months; but I'm hoping to get through a winter in the water in one form or another. Onwards to November! I have 19/24 of the prizes sorted out for December's Festive Fetch Calendar - so I've a bit more work to do on that. Fun fact: I did the first calendar back in 2014, so this is our ninth calendar!!! Plus, just for shits and giggles, let's say I'll sort out one feature request every day throughout November. Let's call it Yesvember. It starts tomorrow
Bring it on. Bring it all the way on. Bit further. No, back a bit. Bit more. Great. Just a little shout out for the Advance Performance competition. In short, they'd like a bunch of email addresses for their marketing database; and as an incentive, one winner will get to pick a pair of trainers, up to the value of £150. And of course you can unsubscribe at any time. Here's a link where you can sign up: fetcheveryone.com/competition-advanceperformance.php
*that's swim speak for "in just your cozzy". It does not have anything to do with tauntauns, but if it gets any colder, it may well come to that.
** bws = bus in Welsh, which is ironic because it comes with a free train ride.
EDIT: I've also just realised that on the weekend, during my run to parkrun I have officially Run Further Than Last Year
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Yesterday I was doing some searching on the dark web for swim events to add to our events calendar. I'm always asking you lot to add your events, so it's only fair that I put in a shift too.
I found one site that was boasting that the number of swim events they are listing now is ten times what it was a few years ago. They also claim to have the most comprehensive list of swim events in 2022-23. They have precisely one event listed. So a few years ago they had 0.1 events? But anyway, that's not why I'm here
Eventually, with a bit more googling, I found a few more events to add to our list - undoubtedly making us the most comprehensive list now! Included in this was something called The Big Welsh Swim in July 2023. It's in a lake called Llyn Padarn (llyn = lake), which looks very pretty. They always do in pictures, I find.
I mentioned it to Katie as I was cooking tea, and by the time we'd finished eating, we'd decided to enter! The shortest option is called 'midway' and is 1.5km, where presumably they kick you out of a boat in the middle, and you swim to the shore or perish trying. Then there's 'one way', which is one length of the lake at 3km and includes a ride on the narrow gauge railway, so after you've done swimming, you're near your pants. Then there's 'two way', but that doesn't include the train ride. And then there's 'three way', which means you get the train ride, and a tantalising glimpse of your pants a third of the way in, before a tearful reunion a few hours later.
We've entered the three way
My longest ever swim is 2.95km, in a pool - and it took me 76 minutes. I think I'm a smidge quicker than that now, but it feels likely that I will be spending anything up to four hours in the water. We worked out that it's about 11.2 laps of our local OWS lake. I can do 2 wetsuit laps (1.6km) in about 39 minutes, so I need to see how (and indeed whether) that scales up.
If you're tempted to join us, here's the listing - one of many in our comprehensive list:
fetcheveryone.com/races/the-big-welsh-swim-9km-7548103
*wibble*
I found one site that was boasting that the number of swim events they are listing now is ten times what it was a few years ago. They also claim to have the most comprehensive list of swim events in 2022-23. They have precisely one event listed. So a few years ago they had 0.1 events? But anyway, that's not why I'm here
Eventually, with a bit more googling, I found a few more events to add to our list - undoubtedly making us the most comprehensive list now! Included in this was something called The Big Welsh Swim in July 2023. It's in a lake called Llyn Padarn (llyn = lake), which looks very pretty. They always do in pictures, I find.
I mentioned it to Katie as I was cooking tea, and by the time we'd finished eating, we'd decided to enter! The shortest option is called 'midway' and is 1.5km, where presumably they kick you out of a boat in the middle, and you swim to the shore or perish trying. Then there's 'one way', which is one length of the lake at 3km and includes a ride on the narrow gauge railway, so after you've done swimming, you're near your pants. Then there's 'two way', but that doesn't include the train ride. And then there's 'three way', which means you get the train ride, and a tantalising glimpse of your pants a third of the way in, before a tearful reunion a few hours later.
We've entered the three way
My longest ever swim is 2.95km, in a pool - and it took me 76 minutes. I think I'm a smidge quicker than that now, but it feels likely that I will be spending anything up to four hours in the water. We worked out that it's about 11.2 laps of our local OWS lake. I can do 2 wetsuit laps (1.6km) in about 39 minutes, so I need to see how (and indeed whether) that scales up.
If you're tempted to join us, here's the listing - one of many in our comprehensive list:
fetcheveryone.com/races/the-big-welsh-swim-9km-7548103
*wibble*
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Sounds fabHellsBells9:51am, 28th Oct 2022
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I’m wibbleing at the thought of the one way (haven’t entered yet) so I can imagine how intense your wibble must be.Elsie Too9:52am, 28th Oct 2022
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I’m reducing my wibble by thinking that if I do two and haven’t got energy for three I can then hop on the train for an extra ride.KatieB10:08am, 28th Oct 2022
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Crikey! Sounds like fun (if swim is your thing!)Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G10:17am, 28th Oct 2022
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Wow! I am so impressed - not an outdoor swimmer here, but mentally, swimming past your pants sounds like having to run past the finish line - which I hate!!Autumnleaves10:18am, 28th Oct 2022
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Love the X wing. Impressed by the swim.LindsD11:17am, 28th Oct 2022
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I've swum in that lake. Would be amazing but no idea what im doing with work1step2far11:20am, 28th Oct 2022
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Your pace is fine from what I've seen. We will all be working on some distance next year!Nightjar11:41am, 28th Oct 2022
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I wondered why that church was on a slant as your signature. Should I get my coat?Serendippily12:12pm, 28th Oct 2022
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That's the end of the first week of our school summer holidays. And we love North Wales (and haven't been for a very long time). Plan forming...Angus Clydesdale1:27pm, 28th Oct 2022
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oooh sounds good, though coming a couple of weeks after my big swim next year, I might sign up for the one way. Love the idea of the two way, but tbh I want my train ridefraggle2:24pm, 28th Oct 2022
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The more the merrierfetcheveryone4:54pm, 28th Oct 2022
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Before I started training for Coniston Chill Swim in 2021 the furthest I'd swum open water was 2 laps of my local lake. Coniston is also the equivalent to 11 laps of my local. I was really surprised how quickly I built up to 5 laps! Unfortunately, timing of sessions meant I couldn't do any further, but I managed Coniston - it took me 4.5 hours (30 minutes longer than anticipated), but it's doable. Have fun 😁Loggerhead6:01pm, 28th Oct 2022
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Llyn Padarn is lovelyLizzie W8:30pm, 28th Oct 2022
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*x-wing* ? I need thisrunnerbean7:13am, 29th Oct 2022
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(No hyphen)fetcheveryone7:21am, 29th Oct 2022
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It IS beautiful there. And there's a fabulous gelato shop on the high street for the post swim treat. It is a cold lake though!Pegg10:34am, 29th Oct 2022
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Llyn padarn is lovely. But I guarantee it will be flipping coldThe Mussile11:13am, 29th Oct 2022
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fetcheveryone
11:16am, 29th Oct 2022
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I'll be there. Not too far from the Sushi Shack.Sushi
We could hike up snowdon after. 🤣🤣1:13pm, 29th Oct 2022 -
Dillthedog lovely jubbly5:01pm, 29th Oct 2022
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cu there. i very much wont be swimming but friends will be. I hope you have a pair of Fetch themed budgie smugglers to swim in so we can spot you.olde english8:21am, 1st Nov 2022
Thanks for all your comments on yesterday's blog. It feels like it's something that quite a lot of you have been thinking about, and so I thought I'd do a bit more exploring.
A few people asked about the number of Fetchies who are attending events. This figure (or at least, our best approximation by counting what you put in your event lists) has been falling every year since way back when.
I have a theory on this. Personally, I race far less these days than I used to. I wonder whether it's a 'running maturity' thing. Races are great for focus on personal bests, and very addictive when one is new to running. But for me at least, once the chances of PB's becomes small, it's just as much fun to go out for a run at a relaxed pace - or at the very least to have 'focus' races for when the planets align, rather than a scattergun approach.
And many Fetchies have been around for long enough to have done that journey too. I back up this theory with the fact that our overall training mileage has remained fairly consistent or even trended upwards over the last ten years. We still love to run, but for its own sake.
I also wonder whether parkrun has been a factor in the broader racing world too. Races give us, amongst other things, (1) the opportunity to test ourselves, and (2) a social occasion. Going to your local parkrun, or even touring, is an opportunity to tick both boxes. And as we know, it's free, a bit of fun and consistent, which is hard to argue with.
And it seems that events companies are slowly hoovering up the independent races, offering economies of scale that the independents cannot compete with. For example, a company that hosts 12 events a year might buy its own timing system or gantry, whereas a club may have to pay more to hire one. And once these companies are established, they can ease prices up as they gain a foothold.
It's the point I was trying to make yesterday about ultra races - they are furthest away from the mass market, and furthest away from the hot dog sellers and profiteers. Independent and local events deserve our support, and need it too if we want the racing experience to be something that remains familiar. It's just like FE versus the big orange money ball. Or the people versus the markets? How do you want it to pan out?
I thought I'd round this out by looking at event prices. Our listings have captured entry prices since 2017, so there's a nice bit of data to rummage through.
This first one shows the average price of events in 2019 (pre-pandemic); in 2022; and in 2023. Worth noting that there's limited data for 2023 at the moment, as only a proportion of events are added in.
5k prices fell a little in 2022, but look to be about 30% higher next year, based on the limited evidence. 10k's may be about 22% more expensive in 2023. The average HM increases from £29.48 in 2022 to £31.02 next year, which is a 5% increase. And marathons go from £37.05 up to break the £40 mark at £41.38. The average ultra costs £65.89 but it's worth noting that the price of these varies dramatically (more on that in a bit).
Next I looked at price per mile:
This year you'll pay £5.41 per mile for a 5k, making it the most expensive race per mile. That makes a bit of sense though - once you've paid for the start and the finish, the bit in the middle doesn't add too much. The figure falls to £1.41 per mile for marathons, sneaking the win from slightly more expensive £1.54 per mile for ultra events.
But those figures are averages, and averages hide interesting stories. Here's a breakdown of races in 2022 (graph title is wrong, sorry):
It shows that there are some bargains out there - plenty of ultras and marathons at under £30. And quite amazingly, there were three 5k events with a price ticket in excess of £50. Work that one out if you can.
I hope you enjoyed the stats and graphs! Don't stand for it.
A few people asked about the number of Fetchies who are attending events. This figure (or at least, our best approximation by counting what you put in your event lists) has been falling every year since way back when.
I have a theory on this. Personally, I race far less these days than I used to. I wonder whether it's a 'running maturity' thing. Races are great for focus on personal bests, and very addictive when one is new to running. But for me at least, once the chances of PB's becomes small, it's just as much fun to go out for a run at a relaxed pace - or at the very least to have 'focus' races for when the planets align, rather than a scattergun approach.
And many Fetchies have been around for long enough to have done that journey too. I back up this theory with the fact that our overall training mileage has remained fairly consistent or even trended upwards over the last ten years. We still love to run, but for its own sake.
I also wonder whether parkrun has been a factor in the broader racing world too. Races give us, amongst other things, (1) the opportunity to test ourselves, and (2) a social occasion. Going to your local parkrun, or even touring, is an opportunity to tick both boxes. And as we know, it's free, a bit of fun and consistent, which is hard to argue with.
And it seems that events companies are slowly hoovering up the independent races, offering economies of scale that the independents cannot compete with. For example, a company that hosts 12 events a year might buy its own timing system or gantry, whereas a club may have to pay more to hire one. And once these companies are established, they can ease prices up as they gain a foothold.
It's the point I was trying to make yesterday about ultra races - they are furthest away from the mass market, and furthest away from the hot dog sellers and profiteers. Independent and local events deserve our support, and need it too if we want the racing experience to be something that remains familiar. It's just like FE versus the big orange money ball. Or the people versus the markets? How do you want it to pan out?
I thought I'd round this out by looking at event prices. Our listings have captured entry prices since 2017, so there's a nice bit of data to rummage through.
This first one shows the average price of events in 2019 (pre-pandemic); in 2022; and in 2023. Worth noting that there's limited data for 2023 at the moment, as only a proportion of events are added in.
5k prices fell a little in 2022, but look to be about 30% higher next year, based on the limited evidence. 10k's may be about 22% more expensive in 2023. The average HM increases from £29.48 in 2022 to £31.02 next year, which is a 5% increase. And marathons go from £37.05 up to break the £40 mark at £41.38. The average ultra costs £65.89 but it's worth noting that the price of these varies dramatically (more on that in a bit).
Next I looked at price per mile:
This year you'll pay £5.41 per mile for a 5k, making it the most expensive race per mile. That makes a bit of sense though - once you've paid for the start and the finish, the bit in the middle doesn't add too much. The figure falls to £1.41 per mile for marathons, sneaking the win from slightly more expensive £1.54 per mile for ultra events.
But those figures are averages, and averages hide interesting stories. Here's a breakdown of races in 2022 (graph title is wrong, sorry):
It shows that there are some bargains out there - plenty of ultras and marathons at under £30. And quite amazingly, there were three 5k events with a price ticket in excess of £50. Work that one out if you can.
I hope you enjoyed the stats and graphs! Don't stand for it.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Magnificent workRaptors claws are coming to town3:57pm, 27th Oct 2022
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Interesting stuff. In terms of the local (North Staffs) racing scene, the chairman of the league only includes races which are still within his definition of 'affordable' or offer 'no frills' options to runners at a cheaper price; as a result, the two council-provided HMs (Stafford and Potters 'Arf) have been dropped from the league races for the past few years as they're now just too much. This hasn't prevented them taking place, it just means that those who compete in the league aren't compelled to shell out for expensive races.Sigh4:03pm, 27th Oct 2022
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That is interesting.Ness4:14pm, 27th Oct 2022
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How much of this is related to age....I get the feeling running clubs ate getting older, parkrun is getting older, perhaps 5 or 6 to 12 to 15 years ago was some golden age of participation in terms of racing. If you go further back, there were many less races than even now.Ocelot Spleens4:34pm, 27th Oct 2022
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My theory is that it's less to do with age, more to do with your progress through what I called 'running maturity'.fetcheveryone4:36pm, 27th Oct 2022
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Would you expect running maturity to be balanced out by new kids on the Fetch block, gambolling about and snatching PBs every time they go out (them were't days)?Fitz
Has the age profile of Fetchies drifted higher over the same period? i.e. fewer new kids coming through?4:49pm, 27th Oct 2022 -
Interesting, also what price for each race do you use? Just that I know my local half marathon (Robin Hood) not only offers the 'normal' affiliated discount, but can have a (cheaper) medal only entry (so no finish line goodies or tshirt) and also offered an early bird discount and a discount for running this year (but this was also time limited). I'm (in theory....) not entering any races until I know how my knees/body feel over the winter [and actually want to be able to train for them instead of a 'get round the course']Jen Ho Ho Ho B4:54pm, 27th Oct 2022
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For me and I am probably in a minority I never really enjoyed races and rarely perform well at them. When you get older and if you can't improve more there are the WAVA bests which do motivate me. My friends are all running a 10k in November but because I have't trained I can't justify paying over £30 to enter a race I won't enjoy so I'm doing a parkrun on the same morning.Looby Loo4:54pm, 27th Oct 2022
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My feeling is that as commercial entities got into organising races there was an overexpansion of events and some consolidation has taken place, exacerbated by covid etc. I much prefer a club organised race though.Fields4:57pm, 27th Oct 2022
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I KNEW i got something from marathons, I save money! 🤣Frosty The Bowman 🇸🇪5:07pm, 27th Oct 2022
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Spot on Fetch. Although 'age doesn't come alone'. It comes with injuries, pesky calf in particular. This scuppers paying for races as you don't know if they will heal in time or aggravate. After an initial glut, cramming as many events in as possible. Wheels fall off, injuries, weight gain & running burn out. I'm amazed how many events I entered in only a few years. Maybe if I was more restrained and paced myself I'd still be entering several annually now. The Pandemic also knocked the stuffing out of me. Continues to do so, as I'm sure many can identify with. Oh dear I've gone all dour. Viva Le Run! 🤩Rascal5:44pm, 27th Oct 2022
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A couple of club runners local to me have set up their own race events organisation in order to ensure that races are put on at 'reasonable' prices (ie less than a tenner). All credit to them and we support when we can. I just had a look at a (commercially organised) half marathon for next year and at £35 to enter I just think that's a bit too much at the moment. I could do five of my mates' races for that.BaronessBL5:55pm, 27th Oct 2022
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Thank you. AgainLindsD6:20pm, 27th Oct 2022
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That's very interesting to see. Some races seem stupidly expensive for the distances or having to travel good distances, so it's no longer worth it.Garfield6:33pm, 27th Oct 2022
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Superb! Chapeau! Running, ultras & stats together - lovely! Some ultras are crazy expensive (Rat Race, MdS, Cape Wrath), but are maybe targeting a corporate market, or cover multiple days with heaps of infrastructure. I've been at regular at the Lakeland 50/100 and heading back for the 7th time next summer. The price has risen steadily, but it includes two nights camping in lively Coniston, a bus journey, meals and the medal, t-shirt, buff, etc. so was oversubscribed three times over next July (I'm lucky to get a place). As you say, it's no longer about chasing PBs, it's the journey thingy. Thanks!_andy6:49pm, 27th Oct 2022
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Oops, it's "lovely" Coniston. Although 2500 racers over Lakeland weekend, plus supporters, make it lively too._andy6:51pm, 27th Oct 2022
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More data, more graphs, I'm excited! Thank you for putting it all together.tipsku
I agree with the point about saving money by doing marathons, Bowman. When I entered my first marathon in 2010, the Athens Authentic Marathon, the 10k package was €75 which is probably around £70 while the marathon was only 15 euros more, €90 (£84ish). Hey, I only pay 20% more but I'll get to have more than 4 times the fun! Easy decision to make.
When I still worked full-time, I didn't really look at race prices but just entered what I wanted to run. I also had a few nice racecations in other countries.
Now, a student with a part-time job, I have to make smart budget decisions. My club pays for all races which are part of the local championship series so I do those (10-13 a year, distances from 5-10k for women, men up to 20k) plus a few HMs and marathons I pay for myself - preferably a short distance away that can be done by bike or public transport on the same day. I had one destination run, a trail run in the Alps.7:00pm, 27th Oct 2022 -
I've been through maturity and come out the other side. I love racing and really missed races during lockdown. If practicalities allowed, I'd do even more. I also wish there were a dozen Saturday mornings in a week so that I could do all the parkruns while being a stalwart of my home venue.Raptors claws are coming to town8:44pm, 27th Oct 2022
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As an older runner, I'm less interested in road racing these days but have really taken to trail races. My favourite events are cheap to enter, low key and don't offer medals etc and walking the odd hill is OK 😉stilldreamingofawhitechristmas
The age spectrum of my running club isn't getting older, though I'd guess the majority are in the 40/50 age bracket. We range from 17 to 80+.
Very interesting stats ... look forward to reading more.9:35pm, 27th Oct 2022 -
Top stattage. Thanks for following up on my (and others) request for participant analysis.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G3:26pm, 28th Oct 2022
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I've learnt I want to run for enjoyment & that means go where I feel like on the day & choose road/trail, flat/hills, fast/ slow, long/short, solo/group to suit me. Races don't fit that mode. Maybe a challenge every so often, eg marathon or special bike ride or a charity event. Oh and I do parkrun every week cos I'm addictedDingbat5:29pm, 2nd Nov 2022
I thought it would be interesting to look at how the number of organised running events has been impacted by the pandemic years. I looked at the number of events that have been added to the Fetch race database each year.
This first graph shows various common race distances from 5k up to ultramarathon, over a ten year period. Obviously we're not all the way through 2022 yet, so I imagine the 2022 figures will go up a wee bit.
The figures in 2020 and 2021 are probably inflated. Events got listed, but many were cancelled. But overall, the number of events in 2022 is about 66% of the peak figure we saw in 2019, our last 'normal' year. I guess this is some combination of:
1) the risk associated with putting on an event in uncertain times;
2) lowered demand caused by coronavirus caution;
3) the increased h&s costs (coronavirus aside) of putting on any event;
4) free options such as parkrun, or online games of the kind you can find in this very parish.
The number of organised, paid-for 5k events has been dropping year-on-year for the last 10 years. It's hard to imagine that parkrun has not taken away at least some of this 5k audience, even if they've done a good job of making running accessible to as many people as possible in the process. It's hard to compete with free. The post-pandemic figures show the lowest bounce-back of organised 5k events (39.4% of 2019 levels) of any of the race distances. I've pulled the 5k graph out here:
If parkrun has become the established and well-oiled gateway to running, then 10k remains the most obvious next step, and the most popular organised paid-for event. They held steady while 5k events declined; and we're back to 64.5% of 2019 levels - let's hope the upward trend continues.
Half marathons have been on the increase since 2013, and also came back strongly, with a 78.8% bounceback since 2019. And marathons have a 67.5% bounceback, with 437 in the UK in 2022. Remind yourself of that figure next time someone talks about 'the' marathon
And perhaps the star of the show is ultra running. There were 596 ultra distance events in 2019, which was a Fetch record, but we've seen a highly impressive 536 so far this year (that's an 89.9% bounceback). My theory here is that ultra running benefits from: 1) not requiring major road closures; 2) offering plenty of miles in which to stay in your own space; 3) requiring smaller fields in order to be viable; 4) often organised by and participated in by highly enthusiastic and dedicated people - and as such they are more community driven.
That last point feels vital to ensure that running events remain something for all of us. The connection, understanding and passion between organisers and runners is everything. I bang the drum regularly about the influence of big money on the things that shape our lives. Let's make sure that the return of running events is driven by us.
This first graph shows various common race distances from 5k up to ultramarathon, over a ten year period. Obviously we're not all the way through 2022 yet, so I imagine the 2022 figures will go up a wee bit.
The figures in 2020 and 2021 are probably inflated. Events got listed, but many were cancelled. But overall, the number of events in 2022 is about 66% of the peak figure we saw in 2019, our last 'normal' year. I guess this is some combination of:
1) the risk associated with putting on an event in uncertain times;
2) lowered demand caused by coronavirus caution;
3) the increased h&s costs (coronavirus aside) of putting on any event;
4) free options such as parkrun, or online games of the kind you can find in this very parish.
The number of organised, paid-for 5k events has been dropping year-on-year for the last 10 years. It's hard to imagine that parkrun has not taken away at least some of this 5k audience, even if they've done a good job of making running accessible to as many people as possible in the process. It's hard to compete with free. The post-pandemic figures show the lowest bounce-back of organised 5k events (39.4% of 2019 levels) of any of the race distances. I've pulled the 5k graph out here:
If parkrun has become the established and well-oiled gateway to running, then 10k remains the most obvious next step, and the most popular organised paid-for event. They held steady while 5k events declined; and we're back to 64.5% of 2019 levels - let's hope the upward trend continues.
Half marathons have been on the increase since 2013, and also came back strongly, with a 78.8% bounceback since 2019. And marathons have a 67.5% bounceback, with 437 in the UK in 2022. Remind yourself of that figure next time someone talks about 'the' marathon
And perhaps the star of the show is ultra running. There were 596 ultra distance events in 2019, which was a Fetch record, but we've seen a highly impressive 536 so far this year (that's an 89.9% bounceback). My theory here is that ultra running benefits from: 1) not requiring major road closures; 2) offering plenty of miles in which to stay in your own space; 3) requiring smaller fields in order to be viable; 4) often organised by and participated in by highly enthusiastic and dedicated people - and as such they are more community driven.
That last point feels vital to ensure that running events remain something for all of us. The connection, understanding and passion between organisers and runners is everything. I bang the drum regularly about the influence of big money on the things that shape our lives. Let's make sure that the return of running events is driven by us.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Nice stats, thanks!roberton3:57pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Sad to see some respected/long standing races closing as well, struggling with lower numbers and higher costsBig_G4:00pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Very interesting, thanks Fetch. I know organisers of several races fairly local to me have commented on the hesitation many runners are demonstrating currently. Races that used to fill up almost as soon as they opened for entry are now not filling up at all, or not until the last minute. When you have to incur hefty costs for road closures, medals etc up front, you can see why organisers are wary of putting on races.LittleDonkeyDaisy4:04pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Love the last paraLindsD
4:17pm, 26th Oct 2022 -
Thank you for sharing the stats for all distances. I found the decline in 5k races interesting but the explanation with parkrun taking up that 'entry level' to running makes sense. Happy to see the growth in the longer distancestipsku
This blog also reminded me that I hadn't updated my race portfolio for a while. I'll get to that later.4:23pm, 26th Oct 2022 -
Utras "highly enthusiastic and dedicated people" - well, that's one way of describing them. Interesting that events haven't fully bounced back post Covid yet. Though remember we still had some restrictions, IIRC, Jan and Feb of 2022? Next year, first full year post Covid will be interesting in so many ways.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr)
Have you got stats on Fetchie participation in said events (perhaps as a proportion of Fetchies training / logging / otherwise active), because it feels like each event only has one or two Fetchies that used to have a dozen. Are we more thinly spread than before? G5:03pm, 26th Oct 2022 -
Cambridge and St Neots halves and Ely NYE 10k, races that pre covid sold out within 24 hours of opening, all still have spaces after more than a month of being openHellsBells5:34pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Interesting stats - thank youBaronessBL5:43pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Thanks, Fetch. i'm wondering if different areas of the country are differently affected? It feels like a large number have gone under here in the Wesr Country, but that's balanced by some strong low key events.Oscar the Grouch6:00pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Personally I don't think parkrun is the main gateway to running clubs are, the number we get through doing c25k these days is incredible. Then they go to parkrun.Ocelot Spleens6:07pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Oops, yes parkrun has knocked a hole in pay for races, and not just at 5k, I am think 5 milestoo. So much so I think it partially explains the financial problems a nber of clubs are having right now. Truss/energy/economy aside.Ocelot Spleens6:10pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Nice graphs. Did you exclude virtual events? If not, it'd be interesting to see how low the numbers go for 2020/21.Sigh6:11pm, 26th Oct 2022
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That's really interesting. GSR this year wasn't sold out, which is the first time in ages I've seen that. Big corporate races aren't all bad IMO, I love GSR. It's sad to see some of my favourite races go bust or be cancelled. I wonder how much if it is habits being disrupted. So if you usually do a race every year and suddenly there's a 2 year gap, maybe you won't come back to it. I think parkrun has seen something similar? Are numbers still way down compared with pre covid?Feleecy Navidad6:20pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Our parkrun numbers are still down, Fleecy, but that's no bad thing - our course was creaking pre COVID.TeeBee
On another note, even before COVID the increase in commercial events in our area was negatively affecting our club races. Our annual half is in May and when I was organising it in the early 2010s it always sold out before Christmas. Now it doesn't sell out, this has gone hand in hand with a load of commercial races popping up that cost £30 MORE than or club race (half marathon).
By the way if anyone would like to host an afternoon 5K in my area, my son - who can't get up for parkrun - would be very interested in running it.7:39pm, 26th Oct 2022 -
Very interesting reading. Races round here are not selling out as quickly as they once did (if they sell out at all!) and I'm not really sure why? Is it lack of money? Apathy? Environmental factors? Will be interested to see what happens next year if we get through winter unscathed by Covid and life returns to some sort of normality.stilldreamingofawhitechristmas8:25pm, 26th Oct 2022
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A lot of it will be supply and demand balancing out. Too many companies started up and put on lots of races thinking it was an easy buck. Most of them are now closing down. What would be more revealing is the number of competitors (or as an approximation, the number (or percentage?) of fetchies) taking part in the collected events.flanker9:00pm, 26th Oct 2022
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I remember the ELY 10k from years ago and you almost had to be up at midnight to enter. I think the bigger events are too pricey. I looked the Chester metric for next year thought about a weekend away but £45 each seems a lot.Looby Loo9:08pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Parkrun numbers going down here as well as some of my favourite races stopping. I’m not doom and gloom about it but it is noticeableSerendippily11:00pm, 26th Oct 2022
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A lot of races seem to be SO expensive now, that I think twice about entering - if I can run the route safely on my own then why enter the race, why not just run it myself? (I'm not bothered about the medal etc.). Whereas running an ultra felt like such a big undertaking, although the route was close to home and I could have done it by myself, paying the race fee to have company, checkpoints, safety crews etc made a lot more sense - and held me accountable to actually setting off on such a daunting long run!Pegg12:05pm, 27th Oct 2022
A while back, I mentioned that Katie and I did a cycle ride to try out her new commute. But she doesn't have a new job. We have a new house!
Two out of Katie's three boys are now permanently living away from home; and the third is away at university for most of the time. So we decided it was a good time to reduce the financial pressure on us both, and find somewhere a bit smaller. We are not moving far, so we can be near to Katie's mum - so it's just four miles up the road, to a village called Bromham. Current house is near the fire station and the local McDonald's - so the new place will hopefully be a good deal quieter. And it's just a couple of miles from Box End Lake, which is handy.
We actually agreed verbally on prices for sale and purchase back at the end of June - but it's taken this long to do all the legal work. There have been some hairy moments - particularly when the first time buyers at the head of our five party chain had to arrange a new mortgage deal in the same week that kamikwazinomics was a thing. And it took three attempts to do the contract exchange. The first attempt failed because the first time buyers didn't have the money in the right slot on the right day; and the second attempt failed because another member of the chain hadn't submitted all their paperwork. But we finally got there.
We are still in our old house until 15th November. The folks buying our house are having a baby any day now - hence a bit of a delay whilst we wait for them to do that and get their breath back. But we're already getting stuck into packing, and our house is full of boxes, and piles of stuff to be rehomed as we downsize.
Here's where I've been working for the majority of the time we've been living in our current house (it was bare blockwork and rafters and concrete floor when we moved in, but I boarded it out, and my dad came and plastered it for us):
In the new house, I'll be working in a shed in the garden. I will keep calling it a shed I expect, but it's actually a fancy office pod thing with a heater. Here it is from the outside (it's the one on the right, obvs):
and here's the inside, with someone else's stuff in it at present:
Looks pretty swanky, but wait until I get all my crap in there - I'll soon lower the tone.
Two out of Katie's three boys are now permanently living away from home; and the third is away at university for most of the time. So we decided it was a good time to reduce the financial pressure on us both, and find somewhere a bit smaller. We are not moving far, so we can be near to Katie's mum - so it's just four miles up the road, to a village called Bromham. Current house is near the fire station and the local McDonald's - so the new place will hopefully be a good deal quieter. And it's just a couple of miles from Box End Lake, which is handy.
We actually agreed verbally on prices for sale and purchase back at the end of June - but it's taken this long to do all the legal work. There have been some hairy moments - particularly when the first time buyers at the head of our five party chain had to arrange a new mortgage deal in the same week that kamikwazinomics was a thing. And it took three attempts to do the contract exchange. The first attempt failed because the first time buyers didn't have the money in the right slot on the right day; and the second attempt failed because another member of the chain hadn't submitted all their paperwork. But we finally got there.
We are still in our old house until 15th November. The folks buying our house are having a baby any day now - hence a bit of a delay whilst we wait for them to do that and get their breath back. But we're already getting stuck into packing, and our house is full of boxes, and piles of stuff to be rehomed as we downsize.
Here's where I've been working for the majority of the time we've been living in our current house (it was bare blockwork and rafters and concrete floor when we moved in, but I boarded it out, and my dad came and plastered it for us):
In the new house, I'll be working in a shed in the garden. I will keep calling it a shed I expect, but it's actually a fancy office pod thing with a heater. Here it is from the outside (it's the one on the right, obvs):
and here's the inside, with someone else's stuff in it at present:
Looks pretty swanky, but wait until I get all my crap in there - I'll soon lower the tone.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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lovelyEvilPixie
especially like the new office space10:41am, 25th Oct 2022 -
Fantastic. Congratulations on new place1step2far10:44am, 25th Oct 2022
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Excellent - the new office looks great - nice to have a view out of a windowThorntonRunner10:48am, 25th Oct 2022
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You’ll be able to wave at my brother. He lives in BromhamFizz :-)10:48am, 25th Oct 2022
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Ohhh how exciting and it looks like a lovely outdoor garden space. Congratulations and good luck!!geordiebells10:50am, 25th Oct 2022
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AmazingPinks10:53am, 25th Oct 2022
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CongratulationsRaptors claws are coming to town Good decision. And two sheds 10:54am, 25th Oct 2022
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Have you told your buyers about the 100s of people turning up mid to late summer and partying in the garden until the end of October?um
Or is that why you're moving?10:55am, 25th Oct 2022 -
That lawn/path needs a lookOcelot Spleens11:00am, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations! You’ll also be handy for the scout campsite should you want such a thingHellsBells11:01am, 25th Oct 2022
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Lovely, congratulations and best wishes for the move. Love the FetchshedI saw ishep come sailing in11:03am, 25th Oct 2022
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That looks excellent, hope it all goes smoothlyDiogenes11:05am, 25th Oct 2022
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Am so pleased to hear this. Congratulations!LindsD11:05am, 25th Oct 2022
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Very nice!Garfield11:06am, 25th Oct 2022
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That looks great! Hope the move goes well.sallykate11:13am, 25th Oct 2022
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Your office chair has seen better days 😀Big_G11:13am, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations! Best of luck with the moveRosehip11:14am, 25th Oct 2022
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Exciting times.westmoors11:16am, 25th Oct 2022
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Very smartAutumnleaves11:20am, 25th Oct 2022
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That's rather good! Congratulations!3FrenchMs11:25am, 25th Oct 2022
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You won't know what to do with yourself! Looks fabmerry minardi *hic*11:29am, 25th Oct 2022
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Shed EveryoneSigh
Glad it's going through. We were in the middle of a chain of 5 when we moved in 2010, just reading your blog brought back the nightmares11:32am, 25th Oct 2022 -
That’s fabulous, congratulations xxCorrah11:34am, 25th Oct 2022
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That shed looks great - I hope you're very happy in your new home xxLittleDonkeyDaisy11:34am, 25th Oct 2022
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Good luck ! hope it all goes smoothlyRRR-CAZmas 🇬🇧11:36am, 25th Oct 2022
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Great news!Ness11:43am, 25th Oct 2022
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Fantastic! Hope it all goes smoothly - very exciting!♪♫ Synge ♪♫11:47am, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations! Better leave a sign in the old garden redirecting Cathedral Challenge finishers to the new place.God Rest Ye Merry Pothunter11:49am, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations! I hope the remainder of the move process goes smoothly.GimmeMincepies12:02pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Splendid!McGoohan12:06pm, 25th Oct 2022
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2 sheds? Just like Arthur "2 sheds" JacksonNicholls59512:10pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Nice ShedGobi12:12pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations! Hope the move goes ok on the day. You won't know yourself with all that width in your new shed.angelrose12:17pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Good luck with it all, I hope it all goes smoothly now.Festive Flier12:23pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Lovely new office! Good luck with the rest of the move, our daughter is hoping to complete on Friday after 2 false starts - she’s been waiting since the sale was agreed in April!Alice Navidad12:34pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Nice shed. Longer commute, though 😉quimby12:36pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Looks lovely. Hope move all goes stress free. Best,Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G1:17pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations you two. Love the new office. I quite like the idea of separation of home and work - even if it’s just the length of the garden.Elfpint1:17pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Looks lovely, I hope that the move goes well.Minnie Mince Pie Mad1:23pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Ooooook! exciting timesAngus Clydesdale2:04pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Ooh, nice. Hope you complete soon.chunkyblizzard2:06pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Ooooo, a Fetch Cave. Good luck for the move.RooA2:22pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Good luck with the move.RichHL2:38pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Bromham? 😲Nightjar2:51pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Congrats! On second look, your new office could be taken as ‘open air’ with that outdoor furniture and no walls! 🤪JCB2:55pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Office shed; nice!D25*xy4aXma5name!2:58pm, 25th Oct 2022
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NIce! Best of luck with the move._andy3:15pm, 25th Oct 2022
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That’s a very posh shed! Congratulations on the move-to-bejennywren3:29pm, 25th Oct 2022
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We are still in the first house we bought. Never going through *that* nightmare again unless there's a compelling reason. But congrats to you both, happy new house and why not treat yourself to a re-upholstered office chair for your new office / shed. You deserve it.Fitz3:59pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Lovely news! Hope all goes smoothly from this point onwards.Cats Whiskers4:05pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Oooo fabulous! 😍😍😍phal4:56pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations. I hope the move goes smoothly.HowFar?4:59pm, 25th Oct 2022
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That looks great, I'd like a garden room . Good luck with the move and happy new home xxoldbiddy5:12pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Shoffice 😎Maccathecracker5:18pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Good luck, hope your move goes smoother than ours is going so far!JamieKai *chameleon*5:29pm, 25th Oct 2022
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When we moved last year we had similar issues over the exchange of contracts because of a longer than ideal chain - hope it all now goes very smoothly to completion.BaronessBL5:33pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Great news. CongratulationsTeeBee6:03pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations! All the best for the move and many happy years in the new house (+shed!)JustCommando!6:34pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations, looks fabnic the fizz6:50pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations! Looks great. I always enjoy running out Bromham way, some lovely routes round there.Lizzle6:59pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Congratulations and all the best for the moveMerrymoo7:31pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Nice officeSeratonin7:59pm, 25th Oct 2022
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We have been in our house for over 24 years and I don’t think we will move. My parents have been in the same home for 51 years.Bazoaxe
I think you are due a new chair though.9:18pm, 25th Oct 2022 -
Delorean picture will look great in the shed!Ron Burgundy10:24pm, 25th Oct 2022
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Llongyfarchiadau a phob lwc. Fetch Super Shed looks tidy likes.Rascal11:37pm, 25th Oct 2022
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congratulazioni e ti auguro di stare sempre bene con i tuoi cari alla fine la casa deve sempre avere una cosa il calore dei cari vicinoZORBAX658:16am, 26th Oct 2022
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Congratulations. I like the new Fetch HQTheScribbler9:35am, 26th Oct 2022
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You'll have a commute!Carpathius11:36am, 26th Oct 2022
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That's a swanky "shed"! Good luck with the move.Tom Tom12:18pm, 26th Oct 2022
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you'll be a commuter, now that you will have to walk down the garden pathDingDocMerrily1:42pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Nice shedMeeps2:06pm, 26th Oct 2022
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Good luck with the move. Bromham sounds a nice change.CK23:52pm, 26th Oct 2022
The folks at Advance Performance (you may know them as our current Member of the Month sponsor) are giving away *your choice of trainers* up to the value of £150 to one lucky winner.
All they want is to get some email addresses for their marketing database.
If you'd like to get your name in the hat, here's the competition page:
fetcheveryone.com/competition-advanceperformance.php
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A mile in Box End Lake for me this morning
All they want is to get some email addresses for their marketing database.
If you'd like to get your name in the hat, here's the competition page:
fetcheveryone.com/competition-advanceperformance.php
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A mile in Box End Lake for me this morning
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Great swimming can't believe it was 14!EvilPixie
Entered too as I need new shoooooes 😜😁4:41pm, 23rd Oct 2022 -
I have also entered. Will make sure I check out their website too (as I don’t expect my normal luck with competitions to change 😁)Cheeky’s Dad6:26pm, 23rd Oct 2022
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Nice swimmingLindsD9:25pm, 23rd Oct 2022
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My wife said she would like to try open water swimming after seeing 6 ladies in the sea at Aberdour. We did a 20 minute dog walk and ate a lot of lunch. Not quite sure I can put that in my training log.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G10:21am, 24th Oct 2022
Thank you McGoohan for giving them their nickname
And thanks to everyone who has ordered one so far! I will close the page at noon tomorrow, so you've got just over 24 hours to get your order in if you'd like one. I won't be ordering any spares (maybe just one or two at most), so now's the time. If you want to buy now, pay later that's fine - but please let me know. Thank you.
fetcheveryone.com/shop-preorder-bobble.php
And thanks to everyone who has ordered one so far! I will close the page at noon tomorrow, so you've got just over 24 hours to get your order in if you'd like one. I won't be ordering any spares (maybe just one or two at most), so now's the time. If you want to buy now, pay later that's fine - but please let me know. Thank you.
fetcheveryone.com/shop-preorder-bobble.php
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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McGoohan My flobble is definitively pre-orderererered.9:49am, 20th Oct 2022
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Just ordered mineauburnette9:54am, 20th Oct 2022
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Mine is ordered1step2far9:59am, 20th Oct 2022
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Thanks allfetcheveryone10:19am, 20th Oct 2022
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Thanks for the reminder, I've just ordered mineSilent Night Runner I've feedback-ed you with my address as I rather foolishly left it off the order.2:35pm, 20th Oct 2022
With another 10+ weeks left of 2022, it's looking like our Fetch swimmers will log over 22,000 miles in the water this year! And (I'm still cleaning the data) it could well be a record yearly total for us! I was worried that 2017 was looking a bit hard to beat - but then I found a few folks who had mixed up metres and miles!
To reflect the growth of swimming, I've built a new thing to try to encourage folks to add their OWS spots to our map.
Here's the map (you can also find it via Train > Swimmers and click the big white tiger):
fetcheveryone.com/poi.php
My new little nudge is that each time you log a swim, the server checks whether it has a latitude/longitude, and if so, whether that's more than a quarter of a mile away from any of our existing swim spots.
If it is, you get an automated fmail that invites you to add the location to our map.
It's totally up to you whether you do or not - but hopefully it's a nice reminder to add those new locations as you discover them. There are nearly 700 spots already listed
To reflect the growth of swimming, I've built a new thing to try to encourage folks to add their OWS spots to our map.
Here's the map (you can also find it via Train > Swimmers and click the big white tiger):
fetcheveryone.com/poi.php
My new little nudge is that each time you log a swim, the server checks whether it has a latitude/longitude, and if so, whether that's more than a quarter of a mile away from any of our existing swim spots.
If it is, you get an automated fmail that invites you to add the location to our map.
It's totally up to you whether you do or not - but hopefully it's a nice reminder to add those new locations as you discover them. There are nearly 700 spots already listed
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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That reminds me, I don’t think our swim spot from Sunday has been added to the map yet.Elsie Too7:38pm, 19th Oct 2022
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Ok it has - you beat me to it!Elsie Too7:38pm, 19th Oct 2022
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This is using your powers for goodI saw ishep come sailing in8:45pm, 19th Oct 2022
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Excellent, have added a new to me open water lake.Corrah9:47pm, 19th Oct 2022
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LindsD7:04am, 20th Oct 2022
I had my first swim at a lido on Thursday. It's been my biggest swimming year to date (36 miles so far, beating 27mi in 2016), but I still felt a bit nervous wandering out of the changing rooms into the open air in just my swim shorts.
I went as low as 16 degrees in Box End lake before feeling the need to start wearing my wetsuit - but 17 degrees in the pool felt quite cold enough. Perhaps it's because everything is so blue - it makes it look colder. The underwater surfaces of the pool are weirdly bulgy. I figure water must have got in underneath the surface somewhere, because otherwise I can't imagine the sides being able to retain their shape with the weight of water pressing against them.
Unfortunately, the pool is advertised as 23 metres long - which ruled out any chance of an attempt at the Eric the Eel badge. I wonder if it's maybe 25 yards (~22.86 metres), as otherwise I can't imagine the decision behind it.
After quite a bit of careful breathing whilst waist-deep, I got my shoulders properly submerged, and from there it's not too hard to get your head involved. I still got a bit of ice cream head for the first couple of lengths - but it settled down nicely.
It was pretty weird (a) being able to see so clearly under the water after a summer of lakes; and (b) hitting a wall every thirty seconds or so before turning round. The turns are fun for a while, especially as you can glide a little bit after pushing off - but eventually it got a bit monotonous, and I realised I must have a preference for open water now. Which was a nice feeling.
Overall, my mile time was a bit quicker than when I was doing some regular pool swimming back in Feb/March - which was another nice bonus.
Magic Fish Katie was swimming alongside me, which was good. And she got out a few minutes before me, and managed to get a nice action pic:
And here's a zoomed in one, so you can see the pure joy on my face:
Silvershadow reports that the lido temperature is already down to 16 degrees (they turn the heating off after a certain time of year) so next time will be just that little bit spicier. And maybe I'll share a post-swim goggle eyes picture - I get it bad
Nice run at parkrun this morning - first in a while. A mile or so jogging there to warm up. Then starting at the back and picking off womp rats. As the end approached I tried to stay with whoever looked like they were going for a hot finish, and got a nice speedy last mile and a bit for my troubles. More than anything, I am delighted that my legs have coped well with three runs in as many days.
Cake in Elsie Too's garden, and a chilled out afternoon before a trip to Box End in the morning!
Have a great weekend!
I went as low as 16 degrees in Box End lake before feeling the need to start wearing my wetsuit - but 17 degrees in the pool felt quite cold enough. Perhaps it's because everything is so blue - it makes it look colder. The underwater surfaces of the pool are weirdly bulgy. I figure water must have got in underneath the surface somewhere, because otherwise I can't imagine the sides being able to retain their shape with the weight of water pressing against them.
Unfortunately, the pool is advertised as 23 metres long - which ruled out any chance of an attempt at the Eric the Eel badge. I wonder if it's maybe 25 yards (~22.86 metres), as otherwise I can't imagine the decision behind it.
After quite a bit of careful breathing whilst waist-deep, I got my shoulders properly submerged, and from there it's not too hard to get your head involved. I still got a bit of ice cream head for the first couple of lengths - but it settled down nicely.
It was pretty weird (a) being able to see so clearly under the water after a summer of lakes; and (b) hitting a wall every thirty seconds or so before turning round. The turns are fun for a while, especially as you can glide a little bit after pushing off - but eventually it got a bit monotonous, and I realised I must have a preference for open water now. Which was a nice feeling.
Overall, my mile time was a bit quicker than when I was doing some regular pool swimming back in Feb/March - which was another nice bonus.
Magic Fish Katie was swimming alongside me, which was good. And she got out a few minutes before me, and managed to get a nice action pic:
And here's a zoomed in one, so you can see the pure joy on my face:
Silvershadow reports that the lido temperature is already down to 16 degrees (they turn the heating off after a certain time of year) so next time will be just that little bit spicier. And maybe I'll share a post-swim goggle eyes picture - I get it bad
Nice run at parkrun this morning - first in a while. A mile or so jogging there to warm up. Then starting at the back and picking off womp rats. As the end approached I tried to stay with whoever looked like they were going for a hot finish, and got a nice speedy last mile and a bit for my troubles. More than anything, I am delighted that my legs have coped well with three runs in as many days.
Cake in Elsie Too's garden, and a chilled out afternoon before a trip to Box End in the morning!
Have a great weekend!
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Good running and swimming. Wall every thirty seconds? That's decent paceDvorak2:06pm, 15th Oct 2022
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Good swimming. I do love a lido1step2far2:10pm, 15th Oct 2022
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Well doneRosehip
I *still* haven’t got to the lido, looks lovely and I feel safer cold water in a pool than the lke2:39pm, 15th Oct 2022 -
I simply can’t imagine getting into any water voluntarily let alone cold water. You’re all made of different stuff to me. Well done though good mermaiding.runnerbean4:01pm, 15th Oct 2022
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The pool was opened in 1911 and is 25 yards long. The bulges are indeed where water has gone under the liner. Repairs would require emptying the pool of water which costs around £1500 plus the loss of income and the cost of repairs, so I *think* there are plans to make some other changes while that is done.Helegant
Hint: Pull your hat a little further down towards your eyebrows - it reduces the ice-cream effect. Your breathing looks 'proper'.8:02pm, 15th Oct 2022 -
Good swimmingNess8:30pm, 15th Oct 2022
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I love all of thisLindsD11:49pm, 15th Oct 2022
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good work, excellent to push yourself and test thingsThe great dollop9:45am, 18th Oct 2022
A week or so ago, I invited your comments on a Fetcheveryone Bobble Hat.
With a slight change of tack, I've been speaking to the folks at OutsideIn. Not only do they make lovely hats, but they are set up to help homeless people. You can find out more about them here: weareoi.com
It was suggested that OutsideIn would be a great manufacturer for Fetch Bobble Hats.
They don't do totally bespoke designs, but I've picked one of the designs from their range. It's called Chilli Blues, and I felt like the red and blue represented our running and swimming categories - times when I am most likely to want to put one on when I'm done. EDIT: They are fleece lined!!!
With bulk purchases like this, OutsideIn invest 20% of the profit into individuals experiencing homelessness. They have partnered with charities in the Simon community (see simoncommunity.org.uk for details) and help fund OCN (Open College Network) courses, and more besides.
After the cost of buying the hats and posting, approximately £7 from the purchase of each bobble hat will go into the Fetch coffers, which helps me to keep offering a free alternative to paywalls
As always, I do a preorder. This means I can order the exact quantity, so there won't be any left over. This does also mean that there won't be any left over so if you want one, now's the time to get your name down. And also as always, if you need to wait until payday - just get your name down, but CRUCIALLY please let me know, otherwise I'll be wondering if you meant it.
The preorder will close on October 21st, at which point I will send the final numbers across to OutsideIn. They will get the hats to me in approximately six weeks, for immediate dispatch. Fingers crossed, that means late November - or just in time for December and Chr***mas.
Here's the link if you'd like to get yourself a lovely hat:
fetcheveryone.com/shop-preorder-bobble.php
Thanks
With a slight change of tack, I've been speaking to the folks at OutsideIn. Not only do they make lovely hats, but they are set up to help homeless people. You can find out more about them here: weareoi.com
It was suggested that OutsideIn would be a great manufacturer for Fetch Bobble Hats.
They don't do totally bespoke designs, but I've picked one of the designs from their range. It's called Chilli Blues, and I felt like the red and blue represented our running and swimming categories - times when I am most likely to want to put one on when I'm done. EDIT: They are fleece lined!!!
With bulk purchases like this, OutsideIn invest 20% of the profit into individuals experiencing homelessness. They have partnered with charities in the Simon community (see simoncommunity.org.uk for details) and help fund OCN (Open College Network) courses, and more besides.
After the cost of buying the hats and posting, approximately £7 from the purchase of each bobble hat will go into the Fetch coffers, which helps me to keep offering a free alternative to paywalls
As always, I do a preorder. This means I can order the exact quantity, so there won't be any left over. This does also mean that there won't be any left over
so if you want one, now's the time to get your name down. And also as always, if you need to wait until payday - just get your name down, but CRUCIALLY please let me know, otherwise I'll be wondering if you meant it. The preorder will close on October 21st, at which point I will send the final numbers across to OutsideIn. They will get the hats to me in approximately six weeks, for immediate dispatch. Fingers crossed, that means late November - or just in time for December and Chr***mas.
Here's the link if you'd like to get yourself a lovely hat:
fetcheveryone.com/shop-preorder-bobble.php
Thanks
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Nice one. I ordered a few bobble hats from them when HowFar? first talked about them. I can confirm they are lovely and are beautifully warm.TeeBee1:19pm, 13th Oct 2022
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Good choiceRaptors claws are coming to town (As a knitter I'm already awash with hats, some of which will go directly to poor people who don't have any hats of their own, but I like the company and the design.)1:24pm, 13th Oct 2022
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Does this one have the fleecy lining? I’m in if it doesFragile Xmas Ornament1:30pm, 13th Oct 2022
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@FDNB - I have asked the question for you. I'd assumed yes, but will report back as soon as I know.fetcheveryone1:34pm, 13th Oct 2022
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ExcellentThorntonRunner . I thought of Howfar's contact when you first raised the idea and ment to look it up and suggest it to you, but then got sidetracked. Glad someone was more on the ball than me. It reinforces the ethos of the site . Have ordered👍1:37pm, 13th Oct 2022
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*meant* !ThorntonRunner1:38pm, 13th Oct 2022
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@FDNB - yes they do!!!!fetcheveryone1:45pm, 13th Oct 2022
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Yay! Thanks Fetch.1step2far1:46pm, 13th Oct 2022
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Ooh, now that looks very nice.McGoohan
Fetch Bobble Hat = Flobble hat?2:09pm, 13th Oct 2022 -
fetcheveryone2:11pm, 13th Oct 2022
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Yay!Fragile Xmas Ornament2:15pm, 13th Oct 2022
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Ordered. Yay, thanks. And I just realised I may have messed up the reference by adding THX on to the end of my reference. If you have some automated script processing it. If it's you reading it though, you won't mind a wee extra THX will you? Thx.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G2:44pm, 13th Oct 2022
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And Oi sound like a fab organisation. Well done with going with them.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G2:45pm, 13th Oct 2022
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HappyLindsD3:28pm, 13th Oct 2022
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Done. Sucker for FetchMerch. That's not easy to say, you know.RichHL4:39pm, 13th Oct 2022
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I wasn’t going to but you can never have enough cozy hats so yes, I will have one *goes off to order*Corrah5:16pm, 13th Oct 2022
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McGoohan, I see Flobble Hat, and I’d offer Bob-a Fetch.nme2no1
For no good reason.5:21pm, 13th Oct 2022 -
Nope don't want one, nope don't need one - oh hold on will be good on the paddleboard in the winter so best order one 😂Merrymoo5:29pm, 13th Oct 2022
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Never have too many bobble hats.Nightjar6:55pm, 13th Oct 2022
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NiceJenelopy I won't be getting one becuase (a) I have too many hats already and (b) I suspect shipping to NZ would be pricey, but it looks a really good choice!9:00pm, 13th Oct 2022
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I like it but it's not fetch enough for me.merry minardi *hic*8:52am, 14th Oct 2022
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Can I ask will it have a Fetch logo, and an Oi logo? - or just O? - I agree with Minardi, it's not entirely Fetching with a capital F, altho it is nice. (and I'm taking a degree of credit, along with Phal for steering us into a philanthropic direction)MazH9:07am, 14th Oct 2022
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There’ll be a Fetch logo on it - like on the picture.fetcheveryone9:43am, 14th Oct 2022
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Right, done. Flobble me up!McGoohan12:10pm, 14th Oct 2022
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DoneBig_G9:22am, 15th Oct 2022
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Am I too late to order two?RunningRonnie9:48am, 26th Oct 2022
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Probably RR - although at the moment there are three left unpaid for. One person has let me know their plan, the other two have not. So I'll see whether they get back to me.fetcheveryone9:50am, 26th Oct 2022
I appear to have entered a race! (plus new Garmin import queueing system)
12:02pm, 12 Oct 2022
Just looked back - and the last proper race in my list was Abingdon Marathon in 2018. I've had a few failed attempts since then (Newport Marathon, rescheduled so many times, then I was undercooked so I canned it; and Hastings Half, injured my hamstring).
A friend of mine from university got in touch to see about meeting for a catchup. He's done some running (but is more of a swimmer I'd say), so we started looking for an event that would be roughly half way between our homes.
I've now got seven weeks to try not to get injured. Fingers crossed my knee (and associated ligaments) seems as close to ok as it's been since I fell off an SUP in July. It's still stiff after long periods of inactivity, but it's getting better slowly. And hopefully this means that I am running with my normal stride, so that I'm not putting too much pressure on my glass calves!
Here's the event if you're interested:
fetcheveryone.com/races/bass-belle-10-6815689
Goal time is just to finish it, and hopefully we'll have a nice catch up on the way round.
--
In site news, you've probably noticed that the site develops a bit of a Garmin importing backlog sometimes (when the queue gets big, a popup appears at the top of Train > Overview). This is most obvious at about 10am on Saturdays, because there are lots of you doing parkruns, or else just getting out for your runs, rides and swims first thing.
Up 'til now, I've been processing this queue in the order it arrives. But I had a brainwave. Now it's based on the time that you last logged in. So if you've come to the site to look at your training, you automatically get shunted to the front end of the queue. And if you connected your Garmin one day, and never came back to Fetch - you'll be in happy oblivion at the tail end of the queue.
Hopefully that will make the Saturday morning wait a little bit shorter
A friend of mine from university got in touch to see about meeting for a catchup. He's done some running (but is more of a swimmer I'd say), so we started looking for an event that would be roughly half way between our homes.
I've now got seven weeks to try not to get injured. Fingers crossed my knee (and associated ligaments) seems as close to ok as it's been since I fell off an SUP in July. It's still stiff after long periods of inactivity, but it's getting better slowly. And hopefully this means that I am running with my normal stride, so that I'm not putting too much pressure on my glass calves!
Here's the event if you're interested:
fetcheveryone.com/races/bass-belle-10-6815689
Goal time is just to finish it, and hopefully we'll have a nice catch up on the way round.
--
In site news, you've probably noticed that the site develops a bit of a Garmin importing backlog sometimes (when the queue gets big, a popup appears at the top of Train > Overview). This is most obvious at about 10am on Saturdays, because there are lots of you doing parkruns, or else just getting out for your runs, rides and swims first thing.
Up 'til now, I've been processing this queue in the order it arrives. But I had a brainwave. Now it's based on the time that you last logged in. So if you've come to the site to look at your training, you automatically get shunted to the front end of the queue. And if you connected your Garmin one day, and never came back to Fetch - you'll be in happy oblivion at the tail end of the queue.
Hopefully that will make the Saturday morning wait a little bit shorter
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Sounds very good. Thank you, Fetch. And good luck with the preparations for that race. 🍀Ness12:10pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Excellent news - I think I've only experienced the queue once and everyone seemed to be blaming Garmin at the timebigleggy12:10pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Really nice sorting of the upload queue!Frosty The Bowman 🇸🇪12:54pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Good luck with your event! And great update to upload training thanks Fetchgeordiebells1:00pm, 12th Oct 2022
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'Bout time regulars got some perksRaptors claws are coming to town Thanks, Fetch, that's brilliant. And while I'm here, I also appreciate getting the starting time of a session on my training log in hours and minutes 1:20pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Good luck with the training. And thanks for giving us regular users a priority!westmoors1:21pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Good luck with your race and training. I did look at that and initially read it as "I've now got 7 weeks to try and get injured."Ground HogFather1:24pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Good tweakDingDocMerrily2:00pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Like the tweak. Do we have to have looked at our training or does faffing about reading blogs, counting to a million, commenting on Motsi's hair in Strictly also automatically push me to the front of the queue too? Hope the training for the race goes well!BaronessBL2:31pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Anything works, so long as you’re logged in.fetcheveryone2:51pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Clever - noisiest go to front of queue!Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr)3:22pm, 12th Oct 2022
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*nosiest!Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr)3:23pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Loving this. BothLindsD3:48pm, 12th Oct 2022
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"Bassingbourn-cum-Kneesworth"! Very apt. And probably easier than trying to climb the Utah summit that goes by the name of "Knee Weakener".♪♫ Synge ♪♫4:24pm, 12th Oct 2022
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I have run the Bass Belle 10 twice but not for 5 years. Assuming it hasn't changed since then, it is a very nice event, well organised with a pleasant route. If the wind is in its usual prevailing SWly direction, the last 2 miles from Litlington can be very fast.Flatlander
If you want further information let me know.
Enjoy.
If you don't mind a little bit of searching, you might be interested to find out why the race is called the "Bass Belle" (hint, it has a local link with a 1990 film).4:52pm, 12th Oct 2022 -
Nice solution to the training upload.Flatlander4:53pm, 12th Oct 2022
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I just love the village name Bassingbourn cum Kneesworth! Could anywhere sound more Fast Show?Cheeky’s Dad7:23pm, 12th Oct 2022
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I think I've only noticed it a few times when waiting for my rundle numbers to come through! But I like the solutionJen Ho Ho Ho B8:19pm, 12th Oct 2022
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I did Basse Belle in 2019 and don't remember hating itLooby Loo8:22pm, 12th Oct 2022
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One of those blindingly obvious with hindsight solutions 😃Nightjar10:53pm, 12th Oct 2022
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Quality solution.Santa Badgey
Hmm, that race isn't far away and has been in my maybe list for a bit11:04pm, 12th Oct 2022 -
I like your thinking. Thank you!TeeBee8:44am, 13th Oct 2022
Now that the water outdoors is getting a bit sharp, I thought I'd make a badge to cheer up all you swimmers being forced back to the pools. Fancy a challenge?
Do you remember Eric the Eel, who became famous as we watched him swim 100m on his own in the Sydney Olympics? It looked like he was slowing up a bit towards the end - and looked way slower than the other swimmers. But he clocked an impressive 1m52.72s.
To get your Eric badge, all you've got to do is log an exactly 100m swim in 1m52s or less. That's four lengths of a typical 25m pool. NB a swim of greater than 100m doesn't count. We've all had a watch that accidentally slips us a length* so let's be 100% sure by making it a little time trial.
fetcheveryone.com/badge.php?bid=716
*whoops, I've just unlocked the Oooh, Matron badge
Do you remember Eric the Eel, who became famous as we watched him swim 100m on his own in the Sydney Olympics? It looked like he was slowing up a bit towards the end - and looked way slower than the other swimmers. But he clocked an impressive 1m52.72s.
To get your Eric badge, all you've got to do is log an exactly 100m swim in 1m52s or less. That's four lengths of a typical 25m pool. NB a swim of greater than 100m doesn't count. We've all had a watch that accidentally slips us a length* so let's be 100% sure by making it a little time trial.
fetcheveryone.com/badge.php?bid=716
*whoops, I've just unlocked the Oooh, Matron badge
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Ha, I’ll need to get a lot faster to be able to get this.Corrah4:03pm, 10th Oct 2022
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🏊😁Ness4:38pm, 10th Oct 2022
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That's a target.RichHL5:51pm, 10th Oct 2022
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With the best will in the world that's too speedy for me.D25*xy4aXma5name!6:02pm, 10th Oct 2022
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oh FFS my pool is 17mfraggle6:38pm, 10th Oct 2022
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so 5.88 lengthsfraggle6:45pm, 10th Oct 2022
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Not a badge I expect to be in danger of bothering any time soon but pleasingly randomCheeky’s Dad6:49pm, 10th Oct 2022
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I've got more chance of the *Oooh Matron* badge.flanker8:37pm, 10th Oct 2022
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Love it!!Angus Clydesdale I'm in 8:56pm, 10th Oct 2022
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28 seconds a length.Angus Clydesdale8:57pm, 10th Oct 2022
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Nope, that's a rubbish badge ideaRaptors claws are coming to town9:02pm, 10th Oct 2022
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My pool is 33 1/3 but that's a timeill never achieve. 🤣1step2far10:16pm, 10th Oct 2022
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I might try, although it's a bit quick!Carpathius10:57pm, 10th Oct 2022
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Mmmm, I'm generally around the 2.30 mark when I swim 500/1000m. We do have a lovely open air 50m heated pool here so that's obvs only 1 turn. I've found the Fenix 5 to short change me if using GPS so I'll just do a normal pool swim. Good target to have, thanks Fetch.FunkyPOM11:43pm, 10th Oct 2022
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I might have a chance to try this weekend.Garfield8:00am, 11th Oct 2022
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Argh! Can get this one in principle but just left my pool for 2 weeks! Gonna be tough to find somewhere to swim before next week at the earliest.Icy Turkey Guzzler 🇮🇸2:44pm, 11th Oct 2022
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Oh and yeah... local pool next week is prob 17m 😖Icy Turkey Guzzler 🇮🇸2:45pm, 11th Oct 2022
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Just logged a couple of 100m intervals at the pool for some reasonGoofee2:50pm, 11th Oct 2022
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@Goofee - it needs to be a swim of exactly 100m. See blog for detailsfetcheveryone2:56pm, 11th Oct 2022
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So timed intervals of 100m using the interval button on the watch don't count? My swim just now was 550m warm-up, then two 100m interval swims followed by a swim down.Goofee3:03pm, 11th Oct 2022
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Correct. The whole training entry must be 100m long.fetcheveryone3:07pm, 11th Oct 2022
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So I could have swum exactly the same session and just used different buttons on my watch and it would have counted!Goofee3:09pm, 11th Oct 2022
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Yes. A manually added training entry for the right distance should still count though - if you wanted to.fetcheveryone3:12pm, 11th Oct 2022
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I think I'll just swim an extra 100m session next time I'm at the pool!Goofee3:34pm, 11th Oct 2022
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Will you get the required time?fetcheveryone3:37pm, 11th Oct 2022
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Just looked. You willfetcheveryone3:37pm, 11th Oct 2022
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50m in that time would be a severe challenge for me.ChrisHB5:09pm, 11th Oct 2022
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I'll just go for the Oooh Matron badge I think.BaronessBL5:25pm, 11th Oct 2022
Here's a page you might not have spent much time on:
fetcheveryone.com/routes-public.php
It shows all the routes on Fetch that have been made public.
As it stands, it's littered with dozens of black dots - especially if you go to that London Thing* for a nose around.
Not very useful - it's hard to pick the wheat from the stuff that isn't wheat.
But wait... there's a new dropdown box just above the map.
It's default is 'All route types', but if you click it, you get these options:
Loops
Journey
Long Journey
Very Long
The first of these will restrict the results to routes that start and end in more or less the same place. You can couple this with the min and max distance boxes to find a loop that suits you.
The second option is 'Journey' and here's where it gets exciting, or at least interesting, or at least different, or at least shut up. Each route classified as a Journey has an A and a B that are at least 5 crow miles apart. The map is that little bit quieter, and you get to see various little adventures that folks have been on, or planned.
Then there's 'Long Journey'. Same deal, but with A and B at least 20 miles apart. Now you're hitting the real pilgrimages.
And finally there's 'Very Long'. Same again, 50 miles apart. I've found this to be the most interesting of all - seeing trails and plans that snake their way across large swathes of the country.
I hope you like it.
*There used to be a sign on the M4, with distance to London (of about 44 miles, if I remember right). Somewhere between Bristol and Reading anyway. Someone had sprayed 'Thing' on it, so it read 'London Thing'. Anyone know if it's still there?
fetcheveryone.com/routes-public.php
It shows all the routes on Fetch that have been made public.
As it stands, it's littered with dozens of black dots - especially if you go to that London Thing* for a nose around.
Not very useful - it's hard to pick the wheat from the stuff that isn't wheat.
But wait... there's a new dropdown box just above the map.
It's default is 'All route types', but if you click it, you get these options:
Loops
Journey
Long Journey
Very Long
The first of these will restrict the results to routes that start and end in more or less the same place. You can couple this with the min and max distance boxes to find a loop that suits you.
The second option is 'Journey' and here's where it gets exciting, or at least interesting, or at least different, or at least shut up. Each route classified as a Journey has an A and a B that are at least 5 crow miles apart. The map is that little bit quieter, and you get to see various little adventures that folks have been on, or planned.
Then there's 'Long Journey'. Same deal, but with A and B at least 20 miles apart. Now you're hitting the real pilgrimages.
And finally there's 'Very Long'. Same again, 50 miles apart. I've found this to be the most interesting of all - seeing trails and plans that snake their way across large swathes of the country.
I hope you like it.
*There used to be a sign on the M4, with distance to London (of about 44 miles, if I remember right). Somewhere between Bristol and Reading anyway. Someone had sprayed 'Thing' on it, so it read 'London Thing'. Anyone know if it's still there?
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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You're a genius, did you know?mulbs9:42pm, 4th Oct 2022
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London Thing faded I believe. I used to look out for it as well.chunkyblizzard9:43pm, 4th Oct 2022
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SuperbRosehip9:59pm, 4th Oct 2022
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Love thisLindsD10:37pm, 4th Oct 2022
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Brilliant 😁panad6:18am, 5th Oct 2022
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its known as That London where all pavements are covered in gold. In our neck of the woodsSpanners998:03am, 5th Oct 2022
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Gotta love all those black dots :DGooner
10:08pm, 7th Oct 2022 -
Love this! Thank you 😁Pegg7:32am, 10th Oct 2022
154 entrants already! If you haven't entered already, here are all the details:
fetcheveryone.com/doctorkcup.php
fetcheveryone.com/doctorkcup.php
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Is there any kind of fundraising / donation option, for anyone who wanted to put a fiver in a pot in memoriam?Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G2:37pm, 3rd Oct 2022
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We’ve not done that before. Up to you if you’d like to do something like that.fetcheveryone2:43pm, 3rd Oct 2022
I did my second fifty mile bike ride on Saturday afternoon, so I wanted to record some thoughts to look back on.
The first twenty miles went pretty well. I soon discovered that the wind was blowing pretty strongly from the west - although nothing at all like my hurricane namesake that was tearing it up in the Americas this weekend :-/
I went through 20 miles in 79:14, about six minutes quicker than my first attempt a couple of weeks ago. I was pretty pleased at the time, but the next three miles were on a crappy surface straight into that westerly wind. Everything felt wrong. My shorts got uncomfortable, my backside was sore, and I got very grumpy. The route for the whole ride looks like a dead sheep, and I contemplated lopping its head off at mile 23, effectively saving me 12 miles. But I stuck with it, and drank some water (I need to get better at doing that more regularly, as it always feels like I am overdue when I do drink).
At some point (I can't work out exactly where), the view ahead opened up. I wished I had some sort of helmet cam to record the scene. It was so peaceful. There was a hillside field with a church at the top. About a dozen or so detectorists were dotted randomly around it, passing their machines over the earth. One was crouched down. I wanted to shout "What you got?". It made me smile, and kept me going.
I had an increasing feeling that I was due a nice portion of downhill. It felt like the whole ride had been a collection of uphills. The trace does sort of show this (although when I got home, my house was 15 metres lower than when I left, because elevation data is just **ass**). Each uphill was followed by a little bit of give-back, but it never felt like quite enough.
But hey, I got to 30 miles in 2h5m, about four minutes ahead of schedule. There must be some downhill payback soon, and I can still do this. Pride comes before a bridleway.
I had definitely seen this on the map. I had peered at the satellite view. I had made the call that although it might be a bit bumpy and slow, it was no more than half a mile long. The alternative was major rerouting. In hindsight, I will never cycle on another bridle path ever ever again It was a rut about 10 inches wide, with nettles and ditches on either side. Every 20 metres or so, it would drop into a pothole and back up.
After trying to ride it for as long as I dared, I hopped off the bike and took the opportunity to post the emergency Snickers into my gob. I pushed the bike as I chewed, and enjoyed the change in posture for as long as it lasted I am wondering whether I can cable tie a Toblerone to my handlebars, so I can break pieces off as and when.
Path of doom dealt with, and with some distracting peanut fragments to work out of my teeth, I worked my way to 40 miles. The last couple of those did at least give me some downhill for recovery and to make back a bit of time.
At this point I was about a minute and a half slower than schedule, but I suddenly remembered that way back at the start of my route, less than 0.4 miles in, I had waited for a minute or so at some traffic lights. If I rode 50.4 miles, and if the lights were kind, I could win back some time!
Getting down to less than 10 miles to go gives you something to count down, rather than counting up. The road out of Sharnbrook was a beautifully smooth one; and my recollection of the route told me I had one last significant hill to go. I spat and swore and struggled my way up it. I was behind schedule, and beyond caring!
It comes down to a traffic light lottery when you reach Bedford, and I did ok. And remembering the little bit extra I needed to do, I wove in and out of side streets on my way back to the house. Fetch Benchmarks gave me 3:36:35 for the 50 miles, just 15 seconds slower than I'd hoped for. I will most definitely take that. And along the way, I managed to improve my 20 mile benchmark time too = WIN.
Putting the wind aside, I'm interested to hear your opinions on the elevation differences:
I personally think that Ride 2 has a harder profile than Ride 1. Garmin gives them a very similar total ascent (531m vs 523m), but it feels like Ride 1 accomplishes this in fewer climbs; and is overall pretty kind after about 32 miles. Ride 2 was still throwing me around until 40+ miles.
Anyway... I survived to tell the long and boring tale. And by far the best news of the weekend is that I did a little test run on Sunday morning whilst Katie swam, and my knee and calf behaved reasonably well
The first twenty miles went pretty well. I soon discovered that the wind was blowing pretty strongly from the west - although nothing at all like my hurricane namesake that was tearing it up in the Americas this weekend :-/
I went through 20 miles in 79:14, about six minutes quicker than my first attempt a couple of weeks ago. I was pretty pleased at the time, but the next three miles were on a crappy surface straight into that westerly wind. Everything felt wrong. My shorts got uncomfortable, my backside was sore, and I got very grumpy. The route for the whole ride looks like a dead sheep, and I contemplated lopping its head off at mile 23, effectively saving me 12 miles. But I stuck with it, and drank some water (I need to get better at doing that more regularly, as it always feels like I am overdue when I do drink).
At some point (I can't work out exactly where), the view ahead opened up. I wished I had some sort of helmet cam to record the scene. It was so peaceful. There was a hillside field with a church at the top. About a dozen or so detectorists were dotted randomly around it, passing their machines over the earth. One was crouched down. I wanted to shout "What you got?". It made me smile, and kept me going.
I had an increasing feeling that I was due a nice portion of downhill. It felt like the whole ride had been a collection of uphills. The trace does sort of show this (although when I got home, my house was 15 metres lower than when I left, because elevation data is just **ass**). Each uphill was followed by a little bit of give-back, but it never felt like quite enough.
But hey, I got to 30 miles in 2h5m, about four minutes ahead of schedule. There must be some downhill payback soon, and I can still do this. Pride comes before a bridleway.
I had definitely seen this on the map. I had peered at the satellite view. I had made the call that although it might be a bit bumpy and slow, it was no more than half a mile long. The alternative was major rerouting. In hindsight, I will never cycle on another bridle path ever ever again
It was a rut about 10 inches wide, with nettles and ditches on either side. Every 20 metres or so, it would drop into a pothole and back up. After trying to ride it for as long as I dared, I hopped off the bike and took the opportunity to post the emergency Snickers into my gob. I pushed the bike as I chewed, and enjoyed the change in posture for as long as it lasted
I am wondering whether I can cable tie a Toblerone to my handlebars, so I can break pieces off as and when. Path of doom dealt with, and with some distracting peanut fragments to work out of my teeth, I worked my way to 40 miles. The last couple of those did at least give me some downhill for recovery and to make back a bit of time.
At this point I was about a minute and a half slower than schedule, but I suddenly remembered that way back at the start of my route, less than 0.4 miles in, I had waited for a minute or so at some traffic lights. If I rode 50.4 miles, and if the lights were kind, I could win back some time!
Getting down to less than 10 miles to go gives you something to count down, rather than counting up. The road out of Sharnbrook was a beautifully smooth one; and my recollection of the route told me I had one last significant hill to go. I spat and swore and struggled my way up it. I was behind schedule, and beyond caring!
It comes down to a traffic light lottery when you reach Bedford, and I did ok. And remembering the little bit extra I needed to do, I wove in and out of side streets on my way back to the house. Fetch Benchmarks gave me 3:36:35 for the 50 miles, just 15 seconds slower than I'd hoped for. I will most definitely take that. And along the way, I managed to improve my 20 mile benchmark time too = WIN.
Putting the wind aside, I'm interested to hear your opinions on the elevation differences:
I personally think that Ride 2 has a harder profile than Ride 1. Garmin gives them a very similar total ascent (531m vs 523m), but it feels like Ride 1 accomplishes this in fewer climbs; and is overall pretty kind after about 32 miles. Ride 2 was still throwing me around until 40+ miles.
Anyway... I survived to tell the long and boring tale. And by far the best news of the weekend is that I did a little test run on Sunday morning whilst Katie swam, and my knee and calf behaved reasonably well
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
-
Really pleased to hear about the run. And well done on the bike. The bridle path sounds horrendous.LindsD1:14pm, 3rd Oct 2022
-
I'm loving all of this, and I agree ride 2 looks tougher.Diogenes1:48pm, 3rd Oct 2022
-
Nice riding. Bridleways can be very hit and miss, and can absolutely destroy your average pace. But I like to remember that you are much less likely to encounter poorly driven traffic, and much more nature.Jigs1:54pm, 3rd Oct 2022
-
Degree of difficulty based on the data you have.....eL Bee!
I use metres of elevation ascended per mile over the whole ride, so those rides are both in the 10metres/mile bracket.
I then look at the pace that I have ridden the ride, and make a rough calculation as to what that would have been if the ride had been flat.
It turns out that for every 10m/mile of climbing, corresponds to a 2mph reduction in pace compared to a flat ride.
So if you rode those rides at, say 13mph, you'd estimate 15mph on the flat.
I haven't actually plotted the ascent for the full ride against average speed over multiple rides, but as a rough guide it seems to work quite well and I know that if it calculates a 19-20mph flat ride - It has been a good pace for me (and *us* on the tandem)
and if it converts to a 15mph flat ride - it was a slower one for us.
It would be really interesting to collate the ascent- per-mile and average speed data for loads of rides and I predict the middle of the graph (5metres/mile to about 40metres per mile) would be quite straight - with a shallowing of the graph at the far ends of both.6:14pm, 3rd Oct 2022 -
I'm not an experienced cyclist but ride 2 looks harder to me, certainly from a mental perspective. I still remember the unwelcome surprise of Richmond Hill at about mile 90 of Ride London!sallykate6:50pm, 3rd Oct 2022
-
(Or it might have been Wimbledon Hill - not my part of town so my knowledge is sketchy.)sallykate6:51pm, 3rd Oct 2022
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August (14)
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April (7)
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March (11)
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2021 (187)
December (14)
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If you don't like hills, this must be getting tiring :-)
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September (14)
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August (11)
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July (10)
A bunch of site goodies :-)
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Holy Simmering Mercury Batman!
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365 graph
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June (11)
Benchmarks - a *tiny* little improvement
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May (8)
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April (11)
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Castle Challenge Coaster!
My chess rating
Jab - symptom watch
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March (18)
The Fetcheveryone Castle Challenge
Running vs Cycling Cadence
Fetch vests and shirts (and swim caps)
Elevation vs Follow Roads
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TomTom users
Music by year: 1993
10k Analysis: Part 7 - Length of Training Runs
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Time to update your injuries :-)
User profile - sticker button.. EDIT and race standard
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10k Analysis: Part 5 - Training Pace
February (17)
Year on Year mileage comparison
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It's all kicking off in chess club!
Music By year: 1991
10k Analysis: Part 4 - Weekly Training Habits
Tagging virtual races
Chasing rainbows
Rainbow Shirts
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Blog writing improvements
10k Analysis: Part 3 - Accuracy of human predictions
Music by year: 1990
Smacking bots
29 slices - my seven days of dinner
10k Analysis: Part 2 - Age and Performance
Pass it on
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January (31)
January
Mobile Usability Team Helping All Fetchies...
Salmon Ramen Recipe :-)
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Backup dog
The best GPS watches in the world... volume 1
Pick it...
People who liked...
Obscure bugs
Zen & The Art of Heart Rate Training
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Keep the change, ya filthy animal
The honeymoon is over
Dirty data
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Oops
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It's Hip To Buy Squares
Related Threads - Exposé :-)
The Batshit Association
Jobs
Tag Team
Feed the monster!
An ad for Fetch Chess Club :-)
Estimating VO2Max
Three little birds
A not uncommon swelling
Church Mouse January
Honey, where's my super suit?
Not here.
2020 (128)
December (6)
Blog A Day 2021?
9 years ago today
Chewie, We're Home! Happy Fetch Independence Day :-)
Be Prepared
Becoming an effluencer
A few Fetch Mugs left
November (10)
The Festive Fetch Calendar is back!
FIT file import
Mugs!
Thank you, mysterious Fetchie!
Chess
UTMOST in the age of COVID-19
This'll cheer you up for sure...
Lost in translation?
Annual Infographic... updating now.
In theory...
October (11)
Training Plan Analysis
Mini plans with the training plan
5k with The Boy :-)
Welcome to tomorrow
Thank you
Become tradeable!
Pre-Race Training Volume
Doctor K Cup Week
Last orders
Advice for a friend
Trader Makeover
September (6)
The shop is open!
Hoodie Colour!
New Fetch Hoodies
A big up/holler!
VO2max
A benchmark derailed by GPS data *nerd*
August (8)
10k analysis
Officially a Sheepy Shuffler!
Pi Watering
Pre-order Avoid Everyone Face Masks
I got sent these...
Other sites? :-O
Benchmarks - an infinitely configurable set of ladders.
Try the monthly infographic :-)
July (10)
Update on Monthly Training Infographic
New Infographic
Monthly Summary (with a little tweak)
A quick Garmin update
Open Water / Wild Swimming Database
Avoid Everyone - spares
OWS Locations
Thread-level search
New Sharing Graphic & New Pastures
My first lamp post
June (16)
Replacing the Who's Training page
Combining some pages
In pursuit of the Gridmaster Ultra
15th Anniversary Kit - Spares
Shoelaces
A new How To video
Training Plan Updated
Black Lives Matter
Avoid Everyone Spares + Second Batch
Wikipedia page
Another YouTube video for sharesies :-)
Getting data to Fetch from **other places**
Feature Voting - some further updates
Feature Voting - speeded up
Another How To video - this time, Conquercise
Fantastisches Tweeten
May (13)
A video for sharing
Bees!
Fetch Introductory Zoom Presentations
A promise to all Fetchies
Fetch Virtual Weekend: Replacement Bus Service
How has Fetch use changed?
Fetch Weekly Virtual Races
Zoom Meeting - Thursday 9 til 10am
WAVA Standards Update
WAVA Standards + Poll
Fun with Age Grading :-)
New Badges Day
The test shirt fabric has arrived :-)
April (14)
Zoom Podcast - watch the video
What is WBC?
If you did the free Amazon trial...
Some small amends (and shirt version)
Pre-orders open
I was only joking, but...
If Fetcheveryone did lockdown merch
Site outage - Thursday 16th April 11pm
On exercising responsibly
My Sports Quiz - how would you have scored?
Your creative thinking required
WBC My Favourite Teacher (a bit later than the deadline)
Updated Training League
Server Downtime, Thursday 9th 00:01BST to 04:00BST (and thank you!)
March (13)
New Fetch Game: Hide and Seek
Free trial of Audible
Do you have a good memory?
New Opt-In for Fetch Miles
New Badges for Fetch Miles
The Fetch Five: Don't Let CV19 Win!
Amending event dates and notifying of cancellations
A green light comes on over your head, and you can get on with life
Most Popular Shoe Brands 2019
A review
Android: Session I
Compare Your Training
Book Now to avoid disappointment :-)
February (10)
Imports from Suunto, Fitbit, Polar and TomTom.
Plot A Route - mobile improvements
Happy tugging!
Something to play with
Adding A New Feature
February Treasure Hunt
Server Downtime
Miles = Smiles
Build Your Mile
Pop Will Eat Himself: Update
January (11)
Clarence the Cadence Kitten
Trim your trails :-)
Seven Day Leaderboard
Let's try that again
Some minor blog amendments
Try the new Forum Search Prototype
Pop Will Eat Himself
A card from HowFar?
Thank you HowFar? (Statement, not a question)
Take the red pill
Climb every mountain
2019 (134)
December (7)
The Christmas Poem
Where your treasure is...
Listen to the dog breathe
Chewie, We're Home
Thursday's Challenge
Which GPS?
Fetch Shop (of sorts)
November (12)
The zeroth challenge
Polar users - auto import
Calling all Polar users
Mobile Optimisation
Calling all Android users
Did your ads disappear?
Pin that sucker down :-)
Easier tagging
Category now editable from VIEW
Kit now editable from VIEW
Working towards tagging
Manual Add Training bug
October (16)
Boring Cricket Blog
Books Part 2
Books :-)
42
Training tags Part 2
Training tags
Let's Jazzercise
My precious
Cricket Week 4: Footage :-)
Forum Training Threads
Benny Neutrino Returns
Cricket Week 3: Wingardium Leviosa!
Benny Neutrino's Filter Tips
Cricket Week 2
Continuing Amazon Affiliate Saga
In case you haven't seen...
September (11)
Updated: Spare Anniversary Kit
Affiliate links
I did a cricket!
Fetch365 - enjoy responsibly
Filth
My dear old things
Buddies vs Follow
Server Invoice Day
Our new MOTM sponsor
Fetch Power!
Race Listings: Please Read
August (5)
Everyone *rainbow*
Almost there...
Quick blog
Country Badges
A new set of badges
July (6)
Pre-orders open
Anniversary Shirts v2
Fetch 15th Anniversary Shirts
Fetch Fest 2020
Shout Outs
Missing imports from Garmin yesterday
June (13)
Who Squares Wins: 64 screenshot
Who Squares Wins: 64 Player Edition
Training summary - older pages
Training sub-menu rejig
Try the infographic
Steady Edina
Annual Summary Infographic
The height of daft things
The training summary - the morning session
The training summary - a wordier blog
Try the annual summary thing
How to listen to the Fetch Podcast
12 month summary mega-graph!
May (15)
£79.99 off the bottom line
Competition
parkrun reviews - now with routes
Fix It Friday; Project Joker Week 2; and some shout outs.
Fetch Kit Cupboard Sale
The bonus ball
Project Joker - Week 1
Fix It Friday
A quick update on the server
Fetch 15th Anniversary Kit
There is a good service operating
Oof.
In case you're wondering...
Trouble auto importing from Garmin?
Fix It Friday: Stuff that came to me in dreams
April (12)
Feature Voting - now with virtual badges :-)
The moment of triumph!
New Feature Voting
Fix It Friday: What would your horse be called?
Marathon Pacing: tyre-kickers required
Fix It Friday: Back to Basics
Podcast Poll
Fix It Friday: The League Of Everyone
Dom, dom, dom, I've got DOMS, I've got DOMS!
Crouch, Touch, Pause.... longer pause... what am I doing again?
Training Log - Update
Site Update: New Font
March (15)
Fix It Friday: An Endless Mission
Naming and faming :-)
2nd in my age category!
Fix It Friday: Brought to you by Surprise Inset Day
New training log
Route Matching - Ready :-)
Fix It Friday
What's your unit of measurement?
Ciderthon competition
Fix It Friday: Stroopwafels of Doom!
Route Matching - Update
This week's cool list
Me in the river
Big Fetch Miles 2019
Fix It Friday: Fingerprints!
February (13)
A Maths Challenge
Fetch Legends: Activate!
Whose coat is this jacket?
Fix It Friday: The Fix Awakens
Joining the awesome list...
Fix It Friday
Naming and faming :-)
Fix It Friday - Monthly Summary
Training Month Summary
Podcast Q&A
If you can't read this, don't panic.
*redsaber* The force is strong with these Fetchies!
Fix It Friday *bluesaber*
January (9)
Some shout outs :-)
Fix It Friday!
Podcast Ep 3, plus some naming and faming :-)
Fix It Friday
Fetch Chaos
Oooh! Second chance Berlin trip! And new subbers, podcast episode, and Trader.
My week of running
Naming and faming - this week :-)
Naming and faming :-)
2018 (138)
December (8)
A Christmas Message (in podcast form)
Rungeon :-)
Hey, Everyone!
France Trip Vote
Happy Fetch Independence Day
Actual free trip to France (incl. flights)
Litter
Sombrero's Lovely Cards
November (14)
Hoodies + other spares
Spare Fetch Kit
Festive Fetch Calendar 2018
Avatars
Book Giveaway - Can We Run With You, Grandfather?
Fix It Friday
Bedford Harriers Half - place offered
Updated Kit Bag
Family Fortunes :-)
Any adidas experts out there?
No Fixes Today - just two challenges
Big Fetch Mile Cardiff
Fix It Friday
Festive Fetch Calendar 2018
October (14)
Hello landlubbers
Embedded polls
Member of the Month
Fix It Friday
Spare Fetch shirts and vests
Abingdon
Fix It Friday
My Fetch Mile
One thing's for sure, we're all gonna be a lot thinner.
Fix It Friday - 'Ave It!
Automatic route matching
Automatic route matching
One last reminder for those cycling jerseys
Fix It Friday - Forensics and User Experience
September (14)
Fix It Friday
Server Downtime 2.30pm 26th September
Never Again
Fix It Friday!
Handling your weirdness
Cards ordered :-)
Just wondering...
Fix It Friday :-)
Try the Fetcheveryone Tutorial
40 days and 40 nights
Fix It Friday
ARION insoles - review part 1
Fetch Shirt - Black Ones, and sizing
Shirts and Vests Pre-Order
August (14)
Fix It Friday
Blog Height squished
Site Outage Last Night
New Mobile Nav
Fix It Friday
New feature - how you doin'? :-)
Sunflower spread
Fix It Friday
A new pre-race mileage graph
Fetch Social: Draycote Water September
Fix It Friday: The Supermarket Analogy
A run with _andy :-)
Suunto 9 Review
Fix it Friday
July (5)
Fix It Friday!
Five Get Wet In Devon
Big Glasgow Weekend - Part 1: Gies A Cwtch
Tom Williams Interview - Final Part
Glasgow Big Fetch Mile Results and Pics
June (17)
Abingdon Week 17 - P&D Booster rockets
Interviewing Tom Williams: Part III
Walking League (and one just for Nellers)
Follow Roads - continued
Week 18 in the bag
Tackling turds
Abingdon Marathon Training: Week 18
Interview with Tom Williams - Part 2
Server
Five Questions (ready for serious answers)
Kick some tyres for me
Interview with Tom Williams - Part 1
Five Questions
Follow Roads saga
Google maps progress, plus Abingdon plans
Training Summary - Infographics
Who Squares Wins - ranking update
May (10)
Training log maps converted
More mapping updates
Who Squares Wins - The Wizard's Hat
De doo doo doo... another one bites the dust...
Invisible changes
Silverstone 10k
Three year throwback
Why your support makes the difference
Some high mileage Fetchies
dryrobe winner
April (14)
Interviewing Tom Williams
Swimming Caps!
#finishformatt
New batch of shirts and vests
You make big mistake my friend
Fetchpoint
Glasgow Big Fetch Mile announced
Two tickets to the Running Awards
Pics from Dudley Big Fetch Mile
Notes for London Marathon Fetchpointers
Results from today's Big Fetch Mile
Who Squares Wins - prototype board
Attention London Marathoners!
New game - coming soon
March (9)
Intervals, Solidarity, Swimming and Fmail
Ready to give the new fmail a try?
More on fmail
New fmail system
Win a dryrobe :-)
For jabberknit...
Updating the Training Home page
Pics from Bedford Big Fetch Mile
Sledgends :-)
February (13)
Buffs On Sale
Big Fetch Mile Bedford
Vlog :-)
Marathon Talk
Important GDPR stuff - PLEASE read
A page of historical importance
Vlog :-)
Road Rash, Marathon Prediction and T-Shirts
This :-)
Capturing the dog
It's BACK!
Enter Wilmslow Half Marathon
An advertisement
January (6)
Local Fetchies - Opt In
Revealed: World's Best Shoes
How I chose the Big Fetch Mile venues
Big Fetch Mile 2018 - Venues & Provisional Dates
Try adding an image to your training entry
Mileage Targets 2018 - Update
2017 (147)
December (12)
Mileage Targets 2018
Thank you
Brownie Recipe :-)
Phew
Fetch Hoodies + Buffs SALE Update
Chewie, We're Home
Fetch Hoodies SALE - what's left
Fetch Hoodies! SALE!!! (and Buffs available too)
Chewie, We're Home
Sharing pics
Fetch Jingle Mile Cambridge photos
Glorious Failure: Bedford Harriers Half Marathon
November (20)
Serpents, hamstrings and inversions
A special anniversary approaches...
Hamstring and prototype updates
Training Log Prototype - Today's Improvements
Red Venom sale
For what it's worth...
Training Log Prototype - Update #2
Training Log Prototype - Update
Big Fetch Mile - venue hunt
RT for a Garmin
Training Log Prototype - To Be Fixed
fetcheveryone.com/amazon
The Weekly vLog (by me)
Thanks :-)
New Training Log Prototype - Available Now
Thanks for following
VLog - footage from the Cardiff Big Fetch Mile
Big Fetch Mile[s] 2018
Win a place in the Surrey Half
I vont to scan your barcode.
October (12)
Big Fetch Weekend :-)
Fetch Mile Results
Festive Fetch Calendar :-O
Calling Parkers everywhere!
In which I decorate a cake.
Regent's Park Fetchie Discount
Elevation in colour
"I didn't come here to walk to Sparta!"
New elevation info
Chicken Ballot-ine, with a side order of beef
New training log headers
Ballot day tomorrow - help needed
September (19)
Weekly vLog - COCONUTS!!!
River Thames Half Marathon
The lollipop update
On failing gracefully
Doctor K Day
Fetch Kit Sale - Updates
Weekly vLog
Fetch Kit Sale
Training Log View Update
Fetcheveryone Weekly? Vlog?
Fetchie Race Discount - Regent's Park 10k
Training Log Tags - Live
Training Log Tags
Weekly vLog - Derby Mile, and a pause to salute the legendary Doctor K
24 hours later
Doctor K donation page
Doctor K
Fetch Weekly vLog
Derby Mile - tomorrow!
August (8)
Race Prices; and an alien earworm
Straight outta Cromford - the Fetch Weekly vLog!
A Fetch vLog! With prizes!
Quick search location for sharing
New WAVA graph
Weird FIT file thing
Back from me 'olidays :-)
Linking race results to training log entries
July (12)
Race Pricing - crowdsourcing
Appdate for Android and iPhone
Inhalers
Fetch Mile - Cardiff?
Bookends
Race listing omelette
Coding and town planning
Please review your races
A2B winners
Motivational Sounds - the final 10
Two more Big Fetch Miles? :-)
Bedford Fetch Mile Results
June (19)
Big Fetch Mile
Motivational Sounds
Fetch fug - updated design
Fetch fug (available at the Fetch mile)
I've done the naughtiest thing ever.
Donating Blood - my Vlog
Fapp In the App Store :-)
Can I kick it?
A***biscuits
This just in...
For Bean
Your app status is Waiting For Review
A2B
Fetch Caps
Garmin Communicator Plugin
Fetch App - strong and stable testing
HTTPS is here
Fetch App progress
https access to the site
May (14)
Fetch App
Apostrophes
[Untitled]
[Untitled]
Site down at 11pm
Round and round the garden
Try the new home page layout
Server down tonight @ 11pm
Browser testers wanted
The Big Fetch Mile!!!
Site *NOT* down tonight. [cough]
Bluffer's Competition - Winner
Bedford parkrun timelapse
Return of the cap
April (8)
Fetchpoint (London and Milton Keynes!)
Base camp, VMLM
Bronze!
Just for D2
Off to the awards
Bloodvlog
Hoodies - it's on!
Updated Training Home Page
March (6)
'Train' page
Project Joker
Hoodies and Londons
Hands up, hands UP! Draycote Water 10
Bluffer's Competition
Project Joker
February (12)
Draggable?
Running Awards shortlisted
Route Plotter now with OpenStreetMap
Plan for Bluffer's comp
Update to Route Plotter
First update to the route mapper
For Angus
Virtuous Circles
Competition coming soon
Race Guide Ads
Club La Santa vLog
Fetch Fixtures
January (5)
Word Clouds
Buckets Ready
New Home Page
Do me a favour...
Limited Companies, filing accounts, that sort of thing
2016 (128)
December (11)
Festive Fetch Calendar - Winners
Festive Fetch Calendar - Winners
Five Years Ago Today
Pantsfest! May the stains be ever in your favour!
#FEXIT
Photoshop SOS
Attention: Fitbit users
Bedford Half 2016
Luton Fetchmob: Breaking Point
Vote Fetch!
Breaking news: Paris Marathon
November (21)
How to end a LiveChat.
Define wrong
TomTom Runner 3 Review - Any Questions?
Deliveryman
Movember: Project Beard: Day 24: Beardraggled
Festive Fetch Calendar 2016
We're gonna be in the Hudson
Hey Chiefy
I've written summat
Going Postal
A special mention
Training Log Beta
Spare Hoodies
Updates to Training Beta
Movember: Project Beard - Day 8 (The Seven Day Itch)
Vote for Fetch
Training Log Detail View - Some Changes
Aberdeen University Study
Consultation V2
[Untitled]
Fetchpoint - October Winners and November Prizes
October (16)
Alien nuggets!
Keeping a tight lid on the biscuit tin
Training Log Beta
100 Running Words
Pssst....
Fetchmob, December 3rd
Where to mob?
Little things
That All-Time Mileage League
The sudoku that keeps on giving.
Sub-25 for 1km :-)
Fetchmob - December 3rd
New Training Log Preview
Fixed the overlap...
Why the new training log isn't ready yet...
vLog
September (12)
Doughnut or Donate
Training Log - Sneak Peek
Fetch Shop Sale! Old stuff clearout!
vLog!!!
The consultation system...
Garmin support for timezone info
The GMT/BST/Timezone problem
Training Log Consultation...
Training Log - Consultation
Fetch Social Runs
Subscriber shirts, vests and hoodies, and determination.
Fetch Voluntary Subscriptions
August (3)
Ze Gryndylows! My first #OWS :-)
Testing Fetchpoint exclusion zones
Fetchpoint scoring system
July (7)
Conquercise Prize Draw?
Fetch Games: Checkpoints (and what's wrong with them)
More owls...
Your Favourite Fetch Game?
Even More Utmost Than Before...
Chiswick!
15 days later...
June (10)
Five days on...
[Untitled]
A quick thank you...
What do you think?
If you'd be so kind...
Poised
Which watch?
Run Bedford 10k
Import from a TomTom
Attention TomTom users
May (10)
Race Distance poll
An ungainly fish
A five year plan
What Club La Santa can learn from parkrun
Cream Me Up, Scotty
Greetings from Club La Santa
And a quick poll...
Club Charter
A poll about intervals
More owls!
April (11)
Robin Hood and his Merry Dad :-)
Warning: Dull - some screen res stats
Responsive Design Update
For all you marathoners
A Poll
Fetchpoint
Ditching the forum categories?
Moving to Responsive Design
Sandy 10: Be Kind To Horses
Owls!
For Adam and Jamie
March (11)
Bacon Smoke!
Benchmarks Update
Bath - Race Report
PB!!!!!!!
An annoying eight-year-old.
Let's Cook and Cut and Paste :-)
Let's Cook :-)
RIP Gramma
Book Winners
Dog farming
Site header update
February (5)
Book Giveaway
Pi Club
Pi Project Update
Because I'd like to check the blogging badges are working...
Crapruary
January (11)
Snooker Freak
Badges - Another Update
Unlockable Badges - Update
Unlockable Badges
TomTom Runner 2 Review
Gallery updates
Snowball coding and Fetch Unlockables!
Achievement Medals - what do you reckon?
Run The Sum
2015 Book List (and a bit of a review / plan)
Festive Fetch Calendar - Winners
2015 (175)
December (7)
Red Red Wine
A Poll
Gis a job!
Bedford Half
REMEMBER!!!
Vote for Fetch
Now you've hopefully got the idea...
November (13)
The Festive Fetch Calendar
Don't get excited or anything...
Slightly Dismal Friday
Pre-order your Fetch Buff now :-)
A message from our sponsor
Dr Fetch will see you now
Only the grumbliest, achiest chocolate... :-)
The Stanford Experiment
Buff Design
Snugs - Review
Love, Commitment, Support
The pre-wedding blog!
Good morning Fetchers, good morning Everyone
October (9)
Monthly Totals
Did you write a blog yesterday?
The First Rule of Web Server Maintenance
The gain line
Fectch
The zipper challenge!
Sugar daddy
Now in colour!
Competition Time!!!
September (14)
Teach your kids (or yourself) to code
Sticky Training Choices
Goodies: GetMore water and the Alcatel OneTouch Watch
Shirt size guidelines
This nearly made it...
Subscriber Shirt Design
I've got wood!
Humbled
New Beginnings
Some more questions answered
Swimming
Some responses to your comments
Standing on the shoulders of Fetchies
Funtleks
August (8)
24 hours in the south
24 hours in the north
Fetchies Assemble!
Thank you
Better knowledge than riches
Fitbit Urge
The villainous Mr Fetch!
Uncomfortable rear
July (8)
Why don't you play Conquercise?
Another week of strange training
Book Giveaway - Winners
GPS Reviews
Criteria for reviewing a GPS
Auto-bike-detector :-)
Win some bookses :-)
Half Way!
June (13)
Time Lapse Clouds
TomTom Bandit - very QUICK first impressions
My wings are like a shield of steel!
Running plus Cycling update
Embarrassingly...
Stalkers Paradise!
Recommend me a bike :-)
Holy Steamrollers Batman!
Rest day (no such thing)
Sqveeeeze!
We will now imitate the flight of a goose :-)
You made me ink! Snorkel safari :-)
Good morning from CLS :-)
May (10)
Club La Santa :-)
The AWESOME Power of Fetchies!
Home Insurance Shaftage :-/
Editing Forum Posts
The Future!
Some London Marathon stats
Walking On The Moon
Hardest parkrun?
New found wisdom
Week 1
April (11)
Marathon vLog
I owe some hugs!
And that concludes the voting from the Danish judges
Adventures in geocaching
Your video clips wanted!
Jelly with no spoons
Random Ultra
Suncream in my eyes - a review of 'Running and Stuff'
Books what I've read this year
Measuring the effect of wind
Wind Roses
March (18)
Watching the tide roll away
A great week of running!
Happy Jigs Wisdom!
Mobile Fetch
I don't do this very often...
Breathless Optimism
20 miles yesterday
This Week's vLog
Decision Trees and the sub-4!
Democracy Street
Mayan Maths
Bath Half (at last)
Still a chicken
Costume Drama in Bath
TomTom importing
Updated 'Train' page
Zonked
Nearly
February (29)
Pheasant
An Unexpected Journey
Wind picking up...
An unplanned kit alarm
Race Pace Test
2nd place
Week ends
Bounceback
Barking carrots
Bedroom pizza
Top of the mountain
Blogs get the mobile treatment
Supersonic Katie, and a marathon pace question
Back home
Racing parkrun ;-)
Unblocking the sink
Start in Darkness
Some times I'd like
Mobile Site - Forum Section
All-Time Leaderboards
Batteries
Sword fighting
PB Attempts
Duct tape and WD40
Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants
Lessons
Shoe horning
Training vLog Week 13
Big February Project
January (35)
Cake, invalidated
Small sips
LiRF, award shortlist, beginners, books, boy.
Dog Available :-)
Cutback
New Recipe Section
Lazy
Another threshold run
New Beginnings
Blah
But far more importantly...
Fetch Beginners Programme
Give it a go :-)
Training vLog - Week 11
Threshold Run (a running blog)
Long day, short blog
(Lack of) Pump Action
A thread to follow
This Boy Can
Local Leaderboards for Checkpoints
Choking.
February 18th
Godzilla!
The Travelling Checkpoint Salesman
Acorn Antiques
Bearing Up
Deleted Bridges and Dodgy Lasers
I'm Batman!
Healthy and Appy
Punch O'Clock!
The plan, then.
Ten mile toes
On Parliament
[Untitled]
Bold Claims, and a Challenge for 2015
2014 (262)
December (9)
A trip to Wales (vLog)
Christmas Messages from Fetchies
Various
FERC London Marathon Places - Draw
It's gone in my sock...
Festive Fetch Five
This Week's Training
To the Post Office!
Training vLog - Week 4
November (12)
I Am Groot!
Slightly Dismal Friday
Week 3 - in which I nearly drown my wife!
I said yes :-)
Free Daps! aka Test GORE-TEX® footwear this winter!
Training vLog - Week 2
More chances for VMLM entries
Marathon Talk
My first training vLog :-)
Second place?
In :-)
Questionnaire about personality traits amongst runners
October (16)
Adidas API
Horseplay minimiser
Running with the big dog
Flat and Windy
Who'd like to test the Garmin API then?
Advantage Borg
Deal?
Jumble
Milk Tray Reps in the Rain
Geneva
Quote
Hatfield 5k, and some other running thoughts
Site layout changes
Vote for Training Plans
Maths help
3-2-1
September (8)
A quick device poll
Garmin Connect API
Cake at the lake :-)
Empowering Women
This Week's Training
Tick :-)
Article help
First outing with the Harriets
August (7)
Book club and Harriers
A treasure trove for bookish types
What I did on my Summer Holidays
Local decoration
The Fisher King
Mojitos and no mosquitos!
Cake-athlon
July (26)
James Mason
Missing Week
Camping View
Wild Camping
Quick
Transalpine Race
In brief
Urgent! Pair of runners wanted!
Fetch Kit Available to Pre-order :-)
Fetch Anniversary Kit - Preview
API and FAK!
That dog has a puffy tail
More books
Reverse Moses
Zombies vs Plants
Shovel required
Nightfever
Dayfever
Catcher in the Rye
My sister the psychologist
Drink your strong limey drink
Keep me in the loop
Bread knives, hedgehogs and the dog in the night time
Whoops
Pinteresting
Q&A?
June (34)
Checkpoints video
Walden
Happy boys and giggly imps
Spring loaded
Elbow grease
Fetch 10th Anniversary Kit
Fetch YouTube Tutorial - Race Guide
Finding the Library folder on a Mac
Stoat!
Sonic screwdriver
Live wires
Wiring help needed
Garmin Express Experiment
Scalded sloth
Garminge
Potching
New Forum Layout
Further updates to the blog layout
New blog layout
First woodpecker
Beastin' parkrun
Pantoball
All was well
USA! USA! USA!
Marking Territory
The People's Poet Is Dead :-(
Holy Water
Throwing shapes
Life moves pretty fast
Recursion is beautiful
Win an OS Explorer / Landranger map of your choice
Intervals with a Suunto Ambit 2S
Tick
Economy done two ways
May (31)
[Untitled]
Vorsprung Durch Lego Technic
How do I liberate my boy from his XBox?
Questions?
Life in the Woods
Lazy
MovesMissed
Intervals with a TomTom
Electioneering
[Untitled]
Tree fluff
More camping
Zen and Camping
Not eaten by bears
Bear food
Camping List
Camping Venn Diagrams
Floppy dog
Routes but not Rathbone
Illustrator wanted
Masking
Highlights
The Cosmic Ballet Goes On
Silverstone 10k :-)
Quick one
[Untitled]
Superhuman snooker
Dogturdflagman
Numbers!
Whittlin'
Chapter 1
April (29)
King Bin
Quiet day on Feedback Mountain
Listing
42
Go directly to parkrun. Do not pass Godzuki.
A day in Wales
[Untitled]
Spanner
The Lost Diadem of Fetchbook
Falling asleep in my dinner
Egg
Sofathon
God gave rock and roll to you.
Sugar Mule
Not bad, consid'rin.
Tinkering
Can U Dig It?
A weekend in Wales
Looking forward to Oliver!
Thank you, and more App talk
RIP Nan
Blah
Appy
Pyjamas at both ends.
Thump. Saturday has started.
Sore tum :-/
Zombies aside... first impressions of the new TomTom
TomTom Runner Cardio Press Event
Am I pregnant?
March (31)
Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes
Sandy 10
#bedfordhappy
Me on YouTube
New graphs live
Follow the dot
Only the best for the Captain's table
Mrs Diahann Wagner is GOING HORNY
Sport Relief Win
Hot dogs, quick blogs
Toton Sidings
A sign!
Owen Farrell visualisation technique
Kebabs!
Booster fails to ignite
Myton Rugby Run (5 Miler)
Rugby before rugby
Sweetcorn antidote
Custard factory
Pooped
I did some intervals :-)
Speed work?
Many things
A bit cabbagey here.
Angry Wasp
Minty
Rainbow's End
Core Dump
Bath Half (in detail)
A quick overview
Down to business in Bath
February (28)
Made it to Bath
Unexpected hugs
Slider
I like to go a-wandering
Spring cleaning
Tongue-lolling
Because We're Worth It
I don't know what!
Thanks Jim
Enough now
Clearing the pipes
Crouch, Touch, Pause...
Medication, that's what you need.
Symptom Tour
Hello FBI
Dazed day
Why I'm an optimist
Mobius birds
Snotty knuckles
In this house...
Retch Everyone
Carrots
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
Ultrahalfmarathoner
Angry Birds
Belching
Clarkson averse
Good day :-)
January (31)
*bunting* *cake*
Bigger Boys
Zombies!
Pretending to be Saga Norén
Waiting for the AA
Ship shape
Readthrough
Technology takes you further
Love Garden
Cushions
High Heel Striker
Bit of a rubbish one
Ta
Hot Re-fills
Coding Grinch
An august prediction
Some Running Goals for Q1
Wipe-clean dog
Breaking it down
Snakes and Ladders
Bigger Ponds
Drink Your Weak Lemon Drink
All in All
Panning the pancake
Does JK Rowling own a dog?
Back to the kitchen table
Steve Davis shoes
Pigs on a water slide
Sloshing
Protocol
19 books :-)
2013 (29)
December (3)
Oh...
Engine Management Light
Hannibal Vector
November (3)
Speed skating
Stew-pendous
Cool Hand Grandpa
October (3)
Bookish
Minecraft Cake
Random dump
September (2)
Blog by Email!
Catchup blah
August (3)
Big Green Caterpillar
Questions answered - final CLS blog
Last Days at Club La Santa
July (10)
A nice morning of swimming and tennis
Please Read: Questions for a sports coach
Snorkeltastic
Hitting the straps
First Impressions at Club La Santa
Mile High Blog
Clocking off
For the second week running...
Another Club La Santa catchup
The Floor In The Plan
June (3)
Club La Santa
Bulk Uploading, and win a book
FERC Charities 2011-2012
March (1)
Bath Weekend
January (1)
Meet Steve
2012 (39)
December (2)
Tired Now Boss
Bath - Week 14 + Foodbank
November (3)
White Level Reading
Bath - Week 15
Bath - Week 16
October (2)
Onwards!
C'mon Dave
July (1)
RIP Arnie
June (2)
Rub some bacon on it
18 weeks
May (9)
Techy not tetchy
Time for a techy blog
Time to walk the dog
Stevington 12k
Properly coldy
Still a bit coldy
New blog design live
A bit coldy
Blogs Redesign
April (2)
Easter
SERIOUSLY LORD FETCH, SORT IT OUT
March (8)
A long run up
Running Tick
Weekend
Sport Relief Mile
Back once again
Swimming sweetcorn and other vegetables
Joy Rides, Sticks and Medals
Training Tip
February (9)
And...
Katie, ICT, and some more MySQL
May The Ground Force Be With You
Functions
Well done Batman.
Optimisation Crossword
Snow Days
Gallery, and parkrun
Pleased
January (1)
There Are Some Really Sexy Girls On Fetch
Comments
I've had two sessions of chain unsticking in the last month. New chain, but not enough lubricant, probably.