Restructuring the physical curriculum

When the university went through another financial restructuring, it left the School of Ocean Sciences alone, but it did point out that we needed to attract more students on our physical programs (like geological oceanography, and physical oceanography) in order for it to stay that way. So we figured we look at what we offer. Were there additional things we could offer, were there things we were offering but could make more attractive? And one Monday morning we gathered, and had a good think. 

We figured we could reduce the number of programmes a bit, to make the remaining ones stand out. We also considered their names. And we thought of strengthening the build-up of skills through the years. 

In the end we only planned one new module. One module became twice as big. One was absorbed into another. There was some general shuffling around. 

The Hockey Stick graph by Mann er al. (1999), plotted here by Klaus Bitterman. Climate is one of the topics of which we shuffled the modules around.

Altogether we didn’t plan huge changes, but I think the changes we did plan are positive. I will have to go and think about the details of my affected modules. 

We can’t just go and change things. If you offer students a certain curriculum, and they sign up for it, you have to deliver it. And a student could be with us for five years, if they do an integrated master’s with a placement year. So you have to keep doing the old stuff for quite a while. And with a bit of luck, you can run some of the old and the new in parallel. And only in the long run can you do only the new stuff.

I think we did a good job! I am keen to start on it. It will take years before we know it was a success, but it already succeeded in lifting my spirits. And that’s all I could hope for at this stage…

Finally making progress towards senior fellowship

I have been talking about Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy for at least two years now. How much has actually happened? Not an awful lot! But that is changing now.

I even got kicked in the bum by HR. They checked whether I was aware that I wasn't going to get incremental wage increases if I didn't get to fellowship. I confirmed I knew it. But then I also had to get on with it. 

The lady who is responsible for that kind of application is actually in my School, so I asked her if she had a few minutes to talk to me about it. She did. And she already helped me out greatly; I turned out to be on the wrong track. There are two ways towards senior fellowship, and I had been reading up on the wrong one! Luckily, I hadn't prepared much that wouldn't come in handy for the correct way. 

I mentioned already I have to come up with two case studies that show pedagogical leadership. I will indeed use the two positions within the school I have for that: EDI lead, and Academic Integrity Officer. I have no idea if that will be good enough. But one way to find out! 

Another big part is a so-called claim grid. The HEA has three sets of five criteria you have to meet. And in the claim grid you have to list activities that prove you have met every single one of these criteria. You are supposed to spend about 1500 words on that. So you need to elaborate a bit. I must admit, sometimes I am a bit clutching at straws. But we'll see! Only one way to find out if it is convincing.

The other aspects of the applications are: a teaching philosophy statement, and two letters of recommendation. The former sounds a bit vague, but it has to be evidence-based. The latter have to actually comment on the content of the application, so firstly it is quite a lot of work, and secondly, the application has to be pretty much ready by the time you ask people to write those. I had better get on with it!

I am making good progress with my claim grid, and have been making a start with the philosophy statement. So the process has started! That’s a critical change. I hope I will be satisfied with what I have by December! And then it would be a matter of keeping my fingers crossed…

University gardens

A long time ago, the University closed the terrain around the Main Arts building and Pontio. It was the wooded flank of a hill, with some paths cutting through it. The idea was to renovate it.

It’s done now! I think it took a few years. And when I came past and had some time to spare, I had a look. It’s gorgeous now! A great place to sit down and have lunch, for instance. It must have cost a lot, but the result is great! 

The entrance

Up to Main Arts

Along the slope; some benches there

Snowdonia trail 10k

I had quite recently done two rather hot races: in Felinheli and Pentir. They even felt hotter in contrast with the Twilight race. But I knew I would have to add an even hotter one to that. Three days after the Pentir Fun Run, the Snowdonia Trail 10k would be run. And after these races where I hadn’t felt much had been at stake, this time I came with expectations. I had come second the previous time. That had been very good for my ego! What could I do this year?

In the past I had biked to this race, but I knew what the weather would be like, and I also knew how long the headache had lasted the previous time I did that, also on a hot sunny day. So this time, like last year, I would drive. I had hoped that there would be space on one of the nearby rather big parking lots. That was only true in some sense of the word. I admit I took a somewhat liberal interpretation of a parking space! And there were literally tens of other cars doing the same. 

I already had my race number, so I basically only had to go to the loo before the start. But queues were long, so I was glad I had a bit of time. I cheered the runners at the start of the half marathon, which took off half an hour before us. I decided against a warming up; it was so hot, I was more afraid of overheating than of not getting my heart rate up quick enough.

I then went to the safety briefing. I would later find out I hadn't paid enough attention! And there was a sort of compère, who had also got the crowd going at the start of the half marathon, who livened up the occasion. He was a bit of a Duracell bunny. And then we went to the start. He still kept singing and chanting and trying to elicit responses from both runners and supporters. And then we started.

Near the start, with the lady with whom I would do a lot of leapfrogging 

I knew how long we would have to run uphill so I didn't want to start too fast. Almost immediately, women started overtaking me. But not very many. Quite soon I started flopping between fourth and fifth position. So not as well as last year! But there was still everything to run for.

It was hot, but doable. I was wearing my vest with a litre of water in it. I had received an email from the organisation saying that was compulsory, but at the briefing they had only recommended it. I had decided to just stick with it. I remembered the Felinheli race with its meagre water station! And that had been a relatively flat race, in less searing heat.

The race goes uphill in the southern direction, then parallel to the valley for a bit, then crosses the valley, hits the road the Llanberis path splits off from, goes down to the main road, between the two lakes, then up the zigzags, through the woods, and then also back down through the woods. When we had crossed the valley I was briefly very close to third position. But from there the route is steep downhill for a while, so I knew that the lady in bronze position, whom I had just caught up with, would run away for me as soon as we would hit the road. And she did. She properly vanished.

Approaching the road. Here I was really close to bronze woman! It wouldn’t last. 

I then battled it out with the blue-shirted woman I had pretty much started the race with. She overtook me on the downhill, but I got her back on the flat. And then I got away from her a bit on the zigzags.

I made sure I pushed it on the uphill. Soon it would go downhill and then I would be rubbish! So I could rest then. And so it happened. On the downhill I am a bit hesitant, and several blokes came running past. That's fine. But even when I got to the end of the steep bit I couldn't see the blue shirt behind me. That meant I was so far ahead of her I would probably manage to keep it like that! But just to be sure I legged it on the downhill bit, and the last horizontal stretch. And then I hit the finish. I thought. I leaned a bit on the fencing and had a breather. Then I casually walked to where runners were offered fruit and biscuits and water and suchlike. It only occurred to me later that that was actually where the finish was. But it didn't matter. No one came past me, so I kept my position. I know I was likely to hit what I thought was the finish (which had been the start; the compère later referred to that the safety briefing had mentioned that the start and the finish were not the same thing) only a few seconds after the full hour. My actual chip time was 1:00:39. Oh well! Still 4th woman, and I figured also a category win, as the ladies who I had seen in front of me had looked quite young. It would be the fifth consecutive one! 

Casually walking over the finish

It was 10:30, and presentation was scheduled at 12:30, so I had some time to kill. My first priority was to cool down. I didn't even go to my car to get my towel or anything first; I just walked straight to the lake, took my socks and shoes off but nothing else, and got in. It was SO lovely to feel the cool water around me. I really needed that!

After a while I came out, feeling a lot better. And my wet outfit kept me cool for a while. I thought my next step would be to see if I could spend a voucher. I had three outdoor sports vouchers, won in three different races. One was for Crib Goch, and they had a stand on the terrain. Only when I was already there I noticed it was run by TNH participant Jude. We had a nice chat! And I had an idea of what I wanted to buy with my voucher: waterproof socks. She said they didn't have them on the terrain, but they would have them in the shop on the High Street, which was only a few minutes away. So I went there. I had a £25 voucher I had won at the Felinheli race, and waterproof socks were £25, so that seemed like fate! The shop, by the way, contained two more employees who are also TNH and/or Tuesday track runners. 

A dog cools off where I had done the same 

I then went back. It was noon! Soon it would be 12:30. And I also wanted to get some ice cream. I did that, and then found space on a picnic table under a gazebo. I also saw bronze woman there and made space for her.

Good day for it

Soon the compère announced that the presentation would be delayed by 15 minutes. And when these were almost over, he said they had been delayed a bit more, but he didn't know by how much. In the meantime, he was making a big event of every half marathon runner who finished. He was still singing and dancing and whatnot. And he seemed to be able to greet every runner in their own language. This was a trail world championship, so people had come from all over the earth! I think I heard him speak Spanish, French and Thai. Impressive.

I did a bit of blogging and a bit of chatting to Olivia, the bronze lady. But at some point I got a bit bored. There was a DJ playing in the tent where the presentations should take place. At some point, he played a cracking 80s tune. I don't even remember what it was! But it was good. And I decided that if I had to wait anyway, I might as well have some fun. I told Olivia I might as well go and shake my stuff. And I did. I went to the empty space in front of the tent and started dancing. Only seconds later she was there too. And then a French lady, who had probably done the half marathon, came running as well. And then a lady with her little daughter. And we had a whale of a time! The DJ made sure to keep playing danceable songs. But after a while people started approaching us. An American lady, and the lady who had won the 10k, and a lady who was 2nd F50 in the half marathon. They all wanted to know what was happening with the presentations. We didn't know. But it sort of took the momentum out of the dancing. And we decided to sit back down and have a drink of water. 

Soon after that, a bloke took the microphone and said he had an unpleasant announcement. Races that were still ongoing, which were the marathon, the ultramarathon and the 24 hour race, had been aborted for reasons of the heat. And that basically meant that the entire Always Aim High team (the organiser) was now busy getting runners back to the event terrain. Some would just make it on foot, but others were quite far away and it had to be bussed back. So nobody was available to do the presentations.

They said something about the presentations for the longer races being merged with some associated activity, but the 10k had no associated activities, so it would not get a presentation at all. Bummer! 

Some of the prize winning ladies then got together and decided we could make our own ceremony. No prizes, but at least a podium pic! Nice to celebrate each others’, and our own, successes. But then we all went home. We had all finished more than three hours ago! 

Silver, gold and bronze woman

Winner of the F40+ or F50+ category?

A few days later we got a message saying that we would have our prizes sent to us by mail. That sounds expensive! Maybe they have insurance for that. I also saw I had been on the list as the winner in the 50+ category. I did email them to say I was actually in the 40+ category, but they told me they go by your age on the 31rd of December, not on race day. So it was real! My first 50+ prize! 

I think I’ll be back next year! And then I hope things go a bit more according to plan…

Graduation 2025

With July comes graduation. I am a regular. So this time again I got myself to main campus and got me a gown. It was black and red this time. And after some socialising in the Council Chamber we lined up, paraded doen, paraded into the hall, and took our seats. 

This episode’s gown

In essence it’s always the same. You just listen to someone recite ‘the college on the hill’, clap for everyone, listen to the harp interval, clap more, sing the national anthem (badly, in my case), and then parade out of the hall into the courtyard for pictures. And then it is over!

After the ceremony you normally go and try to find individual students (which is not easy, as they are all dressed identically) that you want to specifically congratulate, and after a while you bring your gown back and go to the reception, where are you socialise a bit more with a glass of bubbly in your hand.

Staff pic

General pic of the bigger courtyard (not the one where cohort pictures are taken). Picture by the university

This year I saw three of my dissertation students come by on the podium, but I could find only two of them afterwards. That is a pity! The one I could not find had managed to overcome quite a lot to get there. And, to my surprise, I did find the gentleman who had defended his thesis so successfully almost a year ago had come to receive his PhD diploma in person. I also found Liberty; we hoped one day we would race each other. I seem to have got her hooked on running! I was also glad to see one of the students who had consistently been one of the more responsive ones in his year. That was appreciated! And I was glad to hug a lady who I had had to give a penalty on her dissertation for reasons of inappropriate use of AI, but who had made it in spite of that. And several more lovely students. It was a good day.

I can now stay away from these gowns until December, when the MSc students get their diploma. And by then, these gowns won't be uncomfortably hot anymore! As they sure were this time…

Pentir fun run

Last year, the Pentir fun run happened just after I had joined the Eryri Harriers. I actually found out about it because of hanging out on the Harriers Facebook page. I didn’t have a club vest yet, and I didn’t know anyone. 

That was not the only difference. Last year it was a decidedly autumnal day. Rain from morning to evening! And this year that would not be the case. The jet stream had been all over the place; from heatwave to autumn back to heatwave. I had spent the weekend in waterproofs and gloves! That felt so long ago. 

I biked in, and came across most of the Edwardses, a Harrier dynasty. Ian was already recce-ing the route. 

I got my number and tracker, and chatted a bit with the others. Then I took my bike to the start. There, more chatting took place. And a team pic. And then we could start. 

Eryri pic

At the start

I wanted to start fast. I knew there kissing gates coming up, and I didn’t want to be in a queue. So I legged it! Got into the first field without problems. I never had more than one person in front of me at a gate. I knew Emma, who had just won the Felinheli 10k, was ahead of me, and by the time we got out of that field another lady came past. 

I also started leapfrogging with a boy; the usual thing was going on that he was faster on the downhill and on uneven terrain, but I was faster uphill and on even terrain. It was nice; we gave each other space when we recognised the terrain was changing into something the other one was faster on. 

While that was going on I felt a hand on my arm. It was Arwel! He was coming past too. Another chapter in the rivalry! But there were still several km to go. 

We ran through the fields back to the road. And there I overtook him again. And I made sure to keep my speed up. It worked! I stayed ahead. And I could see that the lady that had overtaken me earlier on was not far away, but too far to try to overtake her. Then I finished. 

Home stretch!

With Arwel right behind me

At this race, there are home-made cakes at the finish. Lovely! I went to get some. And then I had my recovery drink. And more water. And more chats with fellow runners. I found out that Emma who wins loads of races is also Dutch! And with Tinka being super fast as well (winning, for instance, the Nick Beer10k and the She Ultra), the Dutch are clearly overrepresented in female North Welsh running. 

Hot at the finish

After a while we made our way back to registration, where the presentation would be. They have an unusual system: if you have won something, they call you forward, you pull a number out of a metaphoric hat, and then you get the prize with that number on. And I had come third! Good stuff. With a time of 21:36; much faster than last year’s 23:44, when I had come 7th. But then it had been slippery. 

Last year I had a category win and won a big box of jelly babies. I had eaten all of them by now, as well as the additional ones I had won in the Gladstone 9. I could do with a restock! But I saw there were no jelly babies on offer. I won a bottle of mead! An unusual prize. Ian and Emma had won! Hurray! 

Collecting my prize

I also made myself useful: I ended up chatting with a Harrier who had run the Siabod race. He hadn’t seen the results. I could send them to him right there! I had wondered how the organiser would communicate them. It looked like he hadn’t decided yet. 

This was my first proper podium place of the year! The Welsh Athletics silver one doesn’t really count. I was chuffed! I hope I can get a few more before the year is out…

Track Tuesday: pacing

This week the drill on the track would be simple: just run 2 km, three times. Sounded good! I am better at the slightly longer distances.

When we got ready we lined up. There were some people who knew they were running at roughly the same speed as me, so we teamed up. And I was just going to use my watch in the traditional way (unlike last week), so I would understand what it would be saying. I had decided I wanted to run at about 4:20 per kilometre.

Nicely cloudy track

I ended up at the front. That's fine with me! My watch can tell me if I'm running at the right speed. And it did. And I was feeling good so we regularly dropped down to 4:15. The others were thinking about minutes per mile, not per kilometre, but they had their own watches on that setting so they could keep track of whether they liked what I was doing.

It was a nice group! There was a lot of encouragement going around. And checking if everyone was okay. And even some running gossip. Who was going to run which upcoming races? And quite a lot of us were registered on the Holyhead Breakwater race. I look forward to it! These will be fab people to race against.

Some people seem not to like going at the front. But I was quite happy with it. I did all three sets. And the others were quite appreciative. It was a veritable feel-good evening! And not even too hot…