Christmas Haiku #32

Christmas tree moulting,

Pine needles coat the carpet;

Stuck to everything.

Christmas Haiku #31

Cracker snaps in two;

A joke, crown and toy drop down

Into the gravy.

Christmas Haiku #30

Hoping for just one

Kiss beneath the mistletoe

With the girl I love.

Christmas Haiku #29

Coal eyes, carrot nose,

Gran’s old scarf and Grampy’s hat;

Melting in the sun.

Christmas Haiku #28

Listening to the wind,

I’m too excited to sleep.

Whats in the big box?

Christmas Haiku #27

Rudolph’s red nose glows

Like a headlight on Santa’s

Reindeer powered slay.

Pudding Race Results and Pictures

The official race results are in (HERE), 82.22 mins which is nearly 3 and a half mins faster than last year (85.43), by looking at the results I can see there were a lot of slower times compared to last year and there were a lot more men finishing around the same time as me whereas last year I was last Senior Male by quite a while.

I also have a couple of pics of the run, none of them are particularly good (I blame the camera for some, my speed for others and my “rugged good looks” on the rest) but I thought I’d post them anyway for a giggle.

Maerthyr Mawr Pudding Race 2009

I completed the race today in about 82 mins (pending official results), which is equally pleasing because it’s better than last year and I feel I ran better than last year too; and disappointing because I only shaved a couple of mins off when it actually felt like I’d gone much faster.

The race started at the foot of the big dipper and I marched my way to the top and whereas last year I thought I did well at this section, this year I found the ascend far more taxing and I also think the bottleneck at the top seemed to take longer to clear this year (maybe I lost more time here than I did last year?).

After the dune we hit the road, and this year I managed to keep my concentration and focus on running and never stopped as we progressed over the swing bridge and through the muddy field and onto the main road. I did however falter when we hit the big hill and walked a large section of it but after that my only other pause was at the water station situated at the top of the mountain.

At this point I found myself running with another runner and we shared conversation (or light chit chat between strained breaths) and encouragement for the next couple of miles and this really helped, it kept me focused on not stopping and distracted me from what I was actually putting myself through (thanks Becky).

I think we maybe over-cautious but made good time none the less as we descended the mountain and crossed the bridge and made our way down to the river bed. From there we made our way onto the common where I found myself running alone again and struggled to keep going but when I hit the first water hazard I was invigorated, they were all deeper than last year, the first was half way up my shins, the second was up to my sorts and the splash of jumping in soaked me up to my chest and even splashed my glasses and the third was shallow to start but got deeper with each step and involved a tricky climb out.

From there I trundled to the finish line where I had a well deserved drink, water has never tasted so good.

I found myself jogging part of the way back to the car as my nephew who had slept while I raced decided he now had to RUN RUN RUN so my poor soaking feet got even more punishment.

This was the most unprepared I have ever been for a race, not through lack of effort but I seemed to time my pre race runs badly, got some blisters from playing football and I even ended up running through Cardiff yesterday in a Calamity Capers style incedent trying to renew the parking ticket on the car before it expired but overall I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the run; I’m happy with my performance but disappointed with my time.  Once again everyone from marshalls and police to the other runners where encouraging and friendly and some even remembered me from last year. I can’t wait until next year!

Christmas Haiku #26

Wrapping books is fine

But teddy bears and footballs

Are more difficult!

Christmas Haiku #25

Wrapping a present,

Sellotape stuck to my lip,

Blood soils the paper.