Club run for runner with cancer

Before the start of the Felinheli race I bumped into a guy called Ian. He is a Cybi Strider I first became aware of him at the 2025 Rhostryfan race; I overtook him shortly before the finish. He was there in Bethel too; Chris knew him from the track. Around that time I started track running myself, and I saw him more often. I remember him early on claiming he was the oldest person there. When I asked if he had asked everybody else their age he said he didn't need to; he knew. Then I asked him how old I was. And he knew what age category I ran in! Because of the Rhostryfan race. And it wasn’t unusual to run in the same group on the track. And I saw him at loads of races too. 

Lately he had been complaining he seemed to have lost his mojo. He just couldn’t run like before. And then, in Felinheli, he told me he had been diagnosed with a particularly unpleasant cancer, and needed to undergo particularly unpleasant treatment. Oh dear! 

A bit later, at the Pentir race, other Cybi striders told me the club wanted to wish him the best with his treatment. They had initially considered flowers or something, but then figured that was a rubbish idea. This was Ian; what suited him was a run. They wanted that to be open for everyone. So I made a mental note of the date. 

On a Wednesday evening I drove to Benllech where we all would gather. I was early, but there already were quite some Cybis. I parked up, wrestled with the parking app, and lined up. There were many familiar faces! Louise, Emma, Llio, Mel, Sion, Richie… a lot of my favourite track and race Cybis. And Ian, of course. 

I had an idea of how busy these club runs normally are; there often is a group pic appearing on social media. Recently it has been quite constant at about 15 participants. But this time there were at least 50. I think there were more! 

Group pic before the run. Ian kneeling in a dark blue T-shirt. 

Before we set off, Emma went through some H&S pointers. Then Kevin pulled Ian to the front and explained once more what the run was for. And Ian took the floor and said it wasn’t about him; it was about stressing that if something is off with you, you should have it checked out. He had very vague symptoms with which it is easy to just not go to your GP. But he had gone, and it turned out it was something very serious.

Then we started running. It was cloudy but dry. We headed west on a sizeable road, followed by a smaller road. Occasionally we stopped to let everyone catch up. There was a lot of talk about races past and present, and yesterday’s track session that I had missed as I had been  camping in the drizzle. 

We also dived into a public footpath. This was getting Thursday Night Hill! And it started raining. We then headed for Red Wharf Bay. On the beach we did a very rainy group picture. Where was that drought? 

Beach pic

We weren’t far from the starting point now; we just had to run back up the hill. All sorts of people appeared, of various ages, and accompanied by dogs. Ian’s family and non-running friends! And there were loads more on the car park. They all looked like drowned rats. The heavens had opened! 

The non-running people had brought water and cake for everyone. And we socialised a bit. Everyone wished Ian the best. But people were getting cold in their flimsy running tops in the pouring rain. 

I had the impression Ian really appreciated all goodwill shown. Good! I don’t know how much we will see of him in the coming months. Maybe he’ll jog some races to feel better? Do half a track training? I wouldn’t put it past him. But maybe he will be too poorly. Either way; I hope he will be back to his full mojo after the treatment. And then he can go and overtake me in the last tens of meters of the Rhostryfan race. Or any other race, really… 

Wet camping trip in between droughts

We were starting to take the drought for granted. In the weekend, Neil suggested he take two days off and we go on a little camping adventure. I had already taken the week off as I was desperately trying to use my annual leave of the academic year just gone by. We didn't even check the forecast until we were committed. It was actually quite cloudy! And there was even a chance of rain. We decided to go anyway. It had been a long, long time since our first trip with a tent. 

I wanted to take Neil to Llyn Glas, on the flanks of yr Wyddfa, where I had camped on my own a few years before. It was the most beautiful place I had done that. 

We decided to park in Rhyd Ddu, and walk up a public footpath that crosses the slate quarry there, and then veer off to the right on a gravel track. That goes into the general direction of the Ranger path, but in order to end up in the valley I wanted to go to you have to turn right before you get there. 

We walked up in light rain and drizzle. I was trying to keep my socks dry. I wasn't in my clunkiest boots as I was trying to keep my feet comfortable. The path was gorgeous! I don't think I had done it before. And the most spectacular bit was going through the quarry. In there we also met a bunch of friendly DofE kids, who interviewed us for their project. And we walked through a cattle herd. 

Path under the clouds

I failed to take any pictures that do the quarry justice

When we go to the gravel track, navigation was less easy than normal because visibility was quite rubbish. And we kept following it for a bit too long. We had walked all the way to Llyn Ffynnon y Gwas. So be it! And I suggested we might want to actually camp there, as the higher valley would be in the cloud, by the look of things. But we didn't really see an obvious camping spot. We decided to go to my initial destination after all. 

By then my phone was almost empty. I found out later it had been taking about 100 pictures of the inside of my trouser pocket. So frustrating.

It was less sheltered in the little cwm with Llyn Glas and Llyn Coch than I had hoped. I did show Neil the spot where I had stayed the previous time. He acknowledged it was beautiful, but there was not enough space for a bigger tent. 

In the end we decided to head down the hill again. We were just looking for shelter. And in the end we found a spot on a little river island at the bottom of the slope into the cwm. It was sheltered enough! Obviously, there was plenty of water. By that time I was hungry. We pitched the tent and I sat down to cook spaghetti. Neil put on his long trousers. I didn't expect him to wear these at all, the entire month.

My tent with in the background the ridge with Ranger Path on it

After dinner I had a quick wash. I wanted to put on trousers as well. And dry socks. My attempts at keeping the original pair dry had failed spectacularly! Neil thought it was too cold for a bath. And after my bath we boiled some water for coffee and tea. And we had brought the last two beers of the team prize of the breakwater race. We drank them. 

Our spot had beautiful little carnivorous plants 

It started raining a bit, so we went indoors. We were both actually quite tired. When the rain stopped we went out to brush our teeth, have a last leak and then call it a day.

I slept alright, but I had to go to the loo in the middle of the night. I had been drinking too close to bedtime. Neil never noticed, but he spent other parts of the night awake.  

When we woke up, the weather was pretty much the same. I woke up first, and went out to boil water for coffee and breakfast. After breakfast we packed up. We decided to follow the fence nearby (the only explicit sign of human activity in the far surroundings) back to the gravel road. That showed us some new terrain, and some of it was quite pretty, but also, it wasn't very well travelled, and some bits were a bit trying, with soggy and/or very uneven ground. But we got to the gravel road. 

On our way back

From there it was straightforward to get back to the car. We both were keen to get out of our soaking socks and into our crocs. 

Back on the gravel track, heading for the quarry

Leaving the quarry

It was a bit weird to have such a damp camping trip in the month that probably will turn out to be the driest one in Wales on record. Bad timing! But given that the drought is expected to return, maybe we could do another one this summer? One that is dry? And that has excellent visibility? Stay tuned! 

Paying for a new car

My little Corsa had to go up for its MOT. It's 19 years old, and I'm not the best with car maintenance, so anything could happen. It served me well for 7 years and it doesn't owe me anything! This time, there was good news and bad news. The good news was: it had just passed. The bad news was: there was a lot in the pipeline that probably would need addressing by the next MOT check. It looks like by then, it will need new brake discs, a new tyre and new axle swivel pins and bushes (whatever they are). And, most importantly: the body structure has started corroding. The garage told me that last year, I had a little hole in it. This year, it was a bigger hole. They said the structural integrity was still ok, but by next year, it would probably need work. And that would get expensive. 

I figured I needed to buy another car before it came to the next MOT. I had come to terms with that I would have to let go of it in the not too distant future. This message from the garage told me about what time scales that would involve. 

Given that I live in North Wales and that public transport isn't all that here, and not everything is doable by bike, I need a car. Going to see Neil, which by car costs half an hour, costs at least two hours without one. So I decided to start looking.

Neil had an idea. His elderly neighbour had just given up driving, and wanted to get rid of his car. Maybe that was an option? But by the time he inquired, the neighbour had already sold it.

I had been saying for years that my next car should be electric. I figured I should take the jump. I feel guilty every time I see my fuel meter crawl towards lower values. I am burning fossil fuels there and then! And second-hand electric vehicles are currently a lot more expensive than the older end of used petrol/diesel cars, but one should put one’s money where one’s mouth is.

It didn't look like in my area, there were loads of used and affordable EVs. I spotted two Nissan Leafs (I don't think it should be Nissan Leaves) on Anglesey; one from 2012 at £3000, and one from 2016 at £5000. Everything else was a lot more expensive. And if you are willing to go very far away, I am sure you can find more choice, but then you also have the problem of having to go and check out the car very far away, and getting it home.

I figured that the car from 2016 would be a better bet. A 10 year-old battery sounds old enough as it is! And I decided to pursue this. If this wasn't the sort of car I wanted, what was it? What would the better offer even look like? So on Saturday, I decided to drive to Anglesey, and check out this Nissan.

I checked the opening times of the garage online: at 10 am it would open. So shortly after 10 I was there. Standing by a closed gate. By coincidence, the Nissan was the car closest to the gate, so at least I got a good view on the outside. It looked fine.

Soon some bloke appeared who was similarly puzzled. I decided to give the garage a ring. A man answered, and he said he would be there at 11. You can't always believe what you read online.

I decided to do my food shopping while waiting for him. I knew Llangefni, where I was, has at least one supermarket. I popped to the nearest one. They had what I needed, except my Saturday paper. The next supermarket didn't either. I decided to head for a corner shop on the High Street. That worked! And by then, it was time to check if the garage was open now. And it was.

I told the garage holder I was interested in the Leaf. And what I wanted first was a view on the battery capacity. You would expect it to be somewhere between 80 and 90% by now. That would be good. But of course it could be worse. The man had no idea how to check this, but I googled it. He gave me the keys and let me work it out. I dived into the car and had a good look at the instruction manual. I don't have much experience with electric cars! Only the shared car of my town. The car seemed to still have 80% of its battery power. Enough for me. The cable and the charging point looked fine to my untrained eyes. 

I asked the garage holder if we could take it for a spin, and he complied. It worked fine! But it only had 21 miles left to go on the remaining battery charge. Oh dear.

I said I needed to think about it I would go home. If I wanted to buy it, I couldn't do it over my phone anyway. So I had to get home and make a decision.

At home I also did what I should have done before: check the MOT status of the car. It would run out in about a week and a half. That's not good! You don't want to buy a car and need to have to go through the faff of having it get an MOT test, only to potentially end up with a bill for things that might be wrong with it. I mulled it over for a bit and I decided to ask the seller if he would be OK with me buying it on the condition he would get it MOT’d. He agreed. And that was it! I had committed to buying a new car. The most expensive one ever for me.

I transferred the money to the garage's bank account and hoped for him to sort out the MOT. I also asked for him to make sure there would be at least enough charge to get me home. I hoped that would be sorted quickly.

A week went by and it wasn't. When I phoned the man he said he struggled to charge it. There was a charging station at one of the nearby supermarkets, but he couldn't get the app to work. That was also charging at nearby M-Sparc, but these were rapid chargers, and if you charge a battery too aggressively it won't last. Modern Teslas are built for it, but 2016 Leafs aren’t. And I could check the MOT status online; that didn't change.

It's a bit frustrating! I have paid thousands of pounds for a car but I can't use it, and I have no control over what happens to it. I regret I paid the full amount. I should have paid only half, only to pay the second half upon pick-up. But that's Captain Hindsight talking. 

I hope it will all turn out ok. I want to try out my new car! And sell the old one. I know it is the 19-year-old piece of rust, but I bet there are people who are interested in buying a quite reliable piece of rust if it's cheap and it has 11 months of MOT left. I'm in limbo! Keep your fingers crossed that this will turn out ok in the near future…

Holyhead Breakwater race 2026

I was excited about the Breakwater race. I had really enjoyed it last year, and not just because I did well and came third. I liked running on the breakwater. And the atmosphere was good.

Closer to this year's race I realised this race boosted my ego in more ways than just giving me a third prize. I had accidentally set the course record for women over 40. And that at 49.6 years old! I don't think that record will stand very long; there are some women in their 30s that are a heck of a lot faster than me, and they won't stay in their 30s forever. But it is my first course record I am aware of, and I am proud of it! Unfortunately, the course record for women over 50 is considerably faster than the record I just set for women in their 40s. So not much of a chance I'll ever manage to touch that.

 

Proud to be on that list! 

Anyway. The 2026 edition was coming. This time, Neil was going to support me. We drove to Holyhead together. Obviously, there were a lot of people there I knew. And I saw Anna, an Eryri star runner, was back. She had had a child only 2 months earlier. Husband and kid were there too, to support (or be quite oblivious to what all of it meant, in the case of the baby). I also managed to squeeze in a toilet visit and a brief warmup.

It would soon be clear that this year would be different from last. There was more wind, and with that there were bigger waves. And these were crashing over the breakwater, especially towards its end. And it has a barrier on the outside, but if you get caught by a wave coming from that direction it might wash you off the other side where there is no such thing. So the organisation had decided to only make us go to the last bend in the structure. They would position a marshal there, that we would have to run around. This would make it a 4 mile race rather than a 5 mile specimen. 

The Breakwater on the day

We lined up for the start, and off we were. I trundled off in my standard fashion. No need to exhaust oneself at the start. But after a while I realised I was not too far from Emma. Last year, she won it. Being close to her surely meant I was doing well! I also saw Tony unusually close. 

The startline

When we got to the breakwater I was still slowly gaining on them. I noticed my speed was very high. I was doing 15 km/h, which is Race the Train speed. But it felt ok, so I didn't slow myself down. 

By that time, the first runners had reached the turnaround point and were coming back the other way. Anna was the woman in the lead! Amazing. She is back with a vengeance. And then I saw a girl I did not recognise. And then there was only Emma. I was in 4th position! If I am, I always try to wrestle my way to the podium. I overtook Tony, and then I overtook Emma. What was going on?

I made the turnaround myself and then got the wind in my face. That explained my speed on the way out. My run back surely would be slower. And I noticed Emma was close behind me. I would have to watch her! She might very well just hang back for a bit and then overtake me at any stage before the finish.

Beside Emma I had another worry: the waves. On the way out I had stayed dry. It looked like on the way back I would not be so lucky. And indeed, I got hit by spray twice. It wasn't dangerous, but it does mean getting a face full of saltwater. Not ideal!

By the time I came off the breakwater, Emma was a reasonable distance behind me. Then in front of me was some bloke. If I would just keep a reasonable speed up now, I would come third. So I tried to do that, and it looked like it was working. Emma didn't approach.

On Beach Road

Almost at the finish

I stormed over the finish and got my medal from Louise's daughter. And I really needed to catch my breath. I was tired! Neil found me quickly and was very proud. I quickly reached for the water bottle I knew he had in the outside compartment of his bag. I had another one of those instances like I had in Deganwy, where I felt like I might throw up if I wouldn't quickly get some water into my system. So I emptied the bottle but then I was fine. Neil was distracted by a very handsome dog. 

I cheered on some runners coming in behind me, and then I went to get my recovery drink. Runners were coming in thick and fast, and we wouldn't have to wait very long for the presentation. They had the same trophies as last year. I like them. They gave the first three men their trophies and then took a picture of all three of them. I hoped they would do the same with the women. Unfortunately, Anna, who had indeed won, had felt the need to go home with the baby. So it was only a picture of silver and bronze lady. A pity! And silver lady was running in the under 18 category. If she wants to keep this going, can you imagine how good she will be in her 20s!

Bronze and silver female and a representative of the sponsor 

It turned out there also was a team prize, for the fastest two men and two women from a club. And Eryri won, with Josh Keogh, Ian Edwards, Anna and me doing the job. We won a box of beer. Anna and Josh don’t drink, so it was all for Ian and me. 

Three quarters of the winning team 

After the race presentation there was the regional presentation. I got a gold medal for being the fastest F50+. And then we could all go home. 

I had done it in 25:50, which made it my fastest race ever, after Race the Train, at 14.4 km/h. Wow! There is still progress in these old legs!

Something happening with the collapsed wall

Readers with a good memory might remember that in February 2022, my neighbours’ wall collapsed. That was a pity! I suppose the big draw of that house was that it had generous decking right above the river. In summer, you can sit there and have a drink while taking in the amazing view. However; without a wall to hold up the decking, that is not a good idea. The decking was cut back to minimalist proportions. 

The neighbours had to have a wrangle with the insurance about who would pay for this. And then they needed to find someone who would actually do something about it. If you do that work, you have to do it right on the riverbank. There is no path going there. 

One day I noticed a cement mixer and some tonne bags by Alan’s (the neighbour) house. I was a bit surprised; would he really have such a big project on? But the day after I saw Gwawr, the other neighbour. She said she finally had found someone to do the work. It had started! That explained the equipment. She hoped the work wouldn’t cause disturbance for me. I had faith it wouldn’t. 

I later had a look and the work is showing progress! I’m glad something is finally being done. I have faith it will soon be as good as it was, or better. It’s not actually anything to do with me but I am clearly emotionally involved! 

Progress! 

Duallt station with Miles

It had been about a year since I had last been on a little adventure with Miles. I was hoping that we could use the summer for another one. And Miles could fit me in.

On a sunny day we met at the café in Tanygrisiau and first had a nice cup of coffee or tea. While we were doing that we discussed what we might do next. Miles had an idea: the Ffestiniog railway comes past, and it famously has an altered route. The cafe is between the railway and the reservoir, and originally, the railway went over what is now the reservoir bottom. In order to gain enough height to make it to this higher route, a loop had to be added. This was largely done by volunteers. Near this rather amazing loop by Duallt station there is a viewpoint. Miles had never been, and suggested we visit it. I thought it was a wonderful idea.

We walked in the hot afternoon to the public footpath, which starts on asphalt, but soon we could veer off and walk on a cute little path. I had done some of that before, but by the time we go to the other side of the reservoir I was in unknown territory. It was beautiful! It was also noteworthy that there, you wouldn't be able to tell we were in a drought. Everything was lush and green! I suppose the mythical bad-weather status of Blaenau has its advantages. 

The reservoir 

Near the reservoir. What drought? 

It looks like this viewpoint is not very widely visited. We only bumped into two other walkers on the way there. And after a while we got to Duallt station. This is basically in the middle of the loop. And it is where you come off the through-route to get to the viewpoint.

Reaching the loop (and the station)

Ghost station

View on where the railway crosses itself

The viewpoint is nice, but I thought the station was more atmospheric. It looks like it is waiting for something. There is a little building on the platform, and a bigger one next to the track. There were some sheep having siesta there. That was it! Nothing stirred. Strange place. And the loop is quite something.

After we had seen both, and I had had a sandwich, we kept going for a bit; that allowed us to make the loop a bit bigger and not just walk the same route on the way back. It was still a very silent and beautiful landscape.

Slate plaque marking the viewpoint 

Viewpoint selfie

We could also catch up. Things had been going on with jobs and kids and partners and parents and pets and houses and cars and whatnot. And we do sometimes send each other a voice message update, but talking in person is different.

When we got back to the lake we walked back around the other side of it. And that brought us back to the car. Time to say goodbye again! It had been really good to catch up. Hopefully another adventure next year! 

More small steps towards tidy house

I would love my house to be tidy. It is just that I would like quite a lot of things, and a lot of them cost time. One has to pick one's battles, and this one isn't always picked. But now that I am taking some annual leave, there is time to make some progress on this. And I already had; some of it to do with repairing the damage caused by the installation of my infrared panels. Some of it to do with the inside of my kitchen cabinets. And some of it to do with their outside. Some of it just on the initiative of Neil.

There is more going on! One of the things I have recently done is empty out my wardrobe, going through everything that was in there, deciding what should not be in there, and put everything that should be back in an orderly fashion. That hadn't happened for a while. It feels good! And I will be ready to either give some clothes to a charity shop, or put them in one of those clothing containers. 

I don't think any of my efforts will ever live up to Neil's exacting standards, but I feel better about every little improvement. Onwards to the next part of the house!

Tidy! At least by my standards.