TNH: Christmas version

Dyfed and Rhian, who organise the Thursday Night Hill sessions, had to put some runners’ advent calendar online. Items in it were things like run up a hill, eat a mince pie, and then run back down the hill. Or run in Christmas socks. This is a bit more specific than they normally are; they can be quite cryptic about what they have in mind. Dyfed never wants to disclose where we go if it is summer and there are options.

For this week’s hill training, they had said we should bring a head torch, come in fancy dress, and bring £5. But they weren't going to tell us what we would actually do.

I have some fancy dress items; in the past I have shown up at fancy dress parties as people such as Empress Elizabeth of Habsburg, or a Victorian lady. But these are not outfits that go together well with hill running. I thought maybe I should go and just get myself a Santa hat or something. Just to show my good intentions! I figured a local big supermarket would sell tat like that. 

They didn’t seem to have Santa hats, but they did have Christmas pyjamas, for children. That could work. I bought an elf version for boys up to 163cm tall. Should be ok! And it indeed fit. But it was cotton. I hoped it wouldn’t rain! And to finish it off I put some green tinsel around my ponytail, and red tinsel around my head torch. The green tinsel was shedding quite a lot, so I am finding little bits of shiny green material absolutely everywhere now. That will teach me.

When I drove up it rained. Absolutely torrentially. Luckily it wasn’t so bad anymore once I got to Llanberis, but it still rained. While I got ready I could feel the rain soak into the cotton. Unpleasant! But I figured more of us would have that problem. 

There was a big variety of costumes. From none at all, via the odd Santa hat (or roast turkey hat with cheerfully flapping legs), to full Santa outfits, but also all sorts of stuff that was not related to Christmas, like a Teletubby, a criminal, and something that I figured was probably a blueberry. That was an inflatable costume with a little inbuilt pump! Some people had clearly not given much consideration to how comfortable their costume would be while running. And Dyfed was in a dress while Rhian was in a suit. I think Rhian wore it better. If only because Dyfed was putting well-being over glamour, and put a little running jacket over his outfit.

I was glad we got started. I was cold in the rain and the wind! And we headed for what normally is the end of our run. And soon it became clear we were more or less doing the normal route, but backwards. Luckily, it stopped raining. And that meant I was comfortable, but some of the people in the warmer costumes were getting a bit hot!

On the second-last hill, one of the runners revealed to me why we were bringing a fiver. On the slope of the last (normally first) hill there is a café, and we would go there! That explained things. 

I thought we'd run up the hill first, and go to the café later, but we already went in on the way up. Well that's fine with me. We came in in a very small room with a roaring fire. We barely fit! And then the proprietor said we should also go in a tiny little side room, that looked a bit like a museum exhibit. A Welsh living room from the 19th century! I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. But we were really allowed in, and could sit down, so we did.

When we got in, with the lens still a bit steamy

The gorgeous side room

We got tea and Bara Brith. Very nice! And then it was announced there was going to be a raffle. That was what our fivers were for. And the raffle was basically a way of raising money while getting rid of things such as race prizes that had remained unclaimed. They were also some race registrations on offer! Very exciting.

My number actually came up! By then, there were only three prizes left on the table. A bag, a box of mince pies, and a handmade plate from the Snowdon Marathon, with the route on it. I took the plate! I have not run that race, and don't think I will anytime soon for reasons of my knees, but I like a handmade plate. And we decided the proceeds would go to Llanberis Mountain Rescue. 

Posing with my plate

Soon after that we called it a day and ran back to our cars. It was a bit weird to run with a piece of crockery in my hand. Not as weird as running dressed as a blueberry is, though. And then on the parking lot we all wished each other Merry Christmas and went our way. I think it was a very successful run, in spite of the rather unpromising cold and wet start!