XC at Vaynol

On the club social media accounts, there was a call for marshals. This concerned some cross country (XC) championship. I've marshalled for that sort of thing before; my first marshalling was actually for XC. And I would have a busy weekend; on the day after that, there was a Borders League race. But if the club needs a hand…

It turned out to be nothing to do with the club. They were advertising for a third party! I was a bit miffed at that. I am struggling a bit combining a busy job, running, and a relationship. The weekends are just too short. But well, I had put my name down now. But then there was no communication from the organiser. At some point I got annoyed and I asked them if they could confirm they still needed me. No answer! I decided to not go. But then, the evening before the actual marshalling, they did get in touch. So I decided to show up.

It was an absolutely glorious day, and the venue was also amazing. It is the estate of the old owner of Dinorwic Quarry. That's quite glamorous!

Attempt at arty shot of the mansion 

I found the tent that was HQ. There we got a radio and a hi-vis vest, and we were assigned positions. The route was some distorted figure of eight, and I was right next to the top loop. About as far away as you could be from start and finish.

I made myself comfortable there there. I had brought a mat to sit on, clothes for if it would be either warm or cold, a book, and materials to do some hair maintenance that I had fallen behind on quite severely. And, of course, lunch.

As a traditional, the races started with the juniors. First the youngest ones, all locals, that only did one full loop. Then the slightly older ones, running for their perspective countries, that did two. Then a relay, with only four runners on the field. One for England, one for Ireland, one for Scotland, and one for Wales. And that tended to be the order they came in. I suppose that may reflect population size! If you have a large population, it is easier to draw strong runners from it.

I didn't have much to do. The whole route was demarcated with tape, so there was absolutely no ambiguity about where they had to go. I just cheered them all on. I suppose I was mainly there in case of emergencies. We all had radios. And I could hear that some of the other marshals sometimes asked for first aid. I suspected some sprained ankles. I saw two runners misstep a bit, limp for a bit, consider their options, and then decide they were good enough to keep running. It would be easy to imagine that sometimes they wouldn't end so well!

The rather uneven ground the runners were running on 

Talking to the organisation afterwards it turned out that first aid was mainly called for kids who had dehydrated. It was marked! And they ran such short distance! What would happen to them in summer?

Anyway; my radio was basically in use for keeping headquarters informed on which runners were in the lead. There was an announcer with a very loud sound system, and they could keep everyone informed.

After the juniors it was obviously time for the seniors. These were running for their clubs, not their countries. I recognised many local clubs. There weren’t many Harriers running! But Helen had changed from a marshal to a runner. And the runners had their age on their back. There was a man in the 85+ category! I don't think I had seen that before. He wasn't fast but he was going for it.

Then the last race, with faster age categories, was run. They ran five loops. And the front runners did it in no time! I had lots of déjà-vus. The last runner wasn't very fast, but he was steady. And when he came past the last time I knew I could pack up. I have read four chapters of my book, and used all the thread I had for hair maintenance, and eaten all my lunch. Time to go home!

I could really have done with that day for myself, but as marshalling days ago, this was perfect. Lovely venue, perfect weather, and I could use the time between races for something useful. And I always get vicarious joy out of seeing other people run. So it was as good as it could've been! But as a club we have now decided to not advertise for marshals for third parties anymore. There is only limited enthusiasm for such tasks, and we need to save some for our own races! 

Film: how deep is your love?

Bangor turns out to have its own film festival.  Or at least; be part of a Wales-wide film festival. The WOW festival. I had never noticed! But this year I got an email about a specific film being screened. It was about the deep sea. I suspect they made sure to send it to everyone in Ocean Sciences. And it looked interesting!

On the day I was quite knackered from a heavy week, but it started at five. It was tempting to just stop working at half past four and bike to main campus. And I did. And to my surprise, the cinema was packed! 

The film is basically about the Clarion-Clipperton zone, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean;  the largest known field of manganese nodules. These are lumps on the sea floor, roughly potato to sugarbeet size, that are full of the sort of metals industry wants for mobile phones and solar panels and whatnot. But they are also non-renewable; it takes millions of years to form them. And they are quite possibly crucial for the deep sea ecosystem. 

The film was basically report of a scientific cruise with the James Cook, on which I sailed some ten years ago, which aim to go there, and to do as good as possible a job of inventorising what life is there at the bottom of the sea. If you don’t know what’s there, how can you effectively protect it? 

Footage of the cruise was cut through with footage of negotiations about whether to mine or to protect the area. I can imagine people are keen on these metals for the energy transition, but at what cost? 

The cruise also tried to find the traces of some trial mining in 1979. That sounds so hard! But they did it. The sea floor looked like it had been churned up yesterday. 

The cruise had a robot with lights, cameras, a grabber and a hoover, and could therefore see and film what life was down there, and grab them and bring them to the surface. The scientists clearly had bleeding hearts when they decided to bring a creature up. They don’t survive it. But about 90% of the species there weren’t known to science, and you can’t legislate protection for what you don’t know exists. 

A new species needs a name. The important one is the Latin one. But they get colloquial names too. And these speak of the weirdness of the animals found. The gummy squirrel. Barbie pig. Headless chicken monster. And a lot more! I was hoping to see a purple sock but that didn’t happen. 

It was quite a long film and I was tired, and I skipped the Q&A session afterwards. But I was glad I had come! You don’t get to see footage of such a remote and deep ocean floor very often. And it was poured into a great narrative form. But I think everyone left that cinema a bit sad... 

A crinoid (sea lily); they still exist! 

A Barbie pig, and the shadow of the grabber that tries to sample it

New computer, new troubles

The good news is: I now have a computer that runs on Windows 11. The bad news? I can’t dictate to it. 

New desktop! 

I had Dragon voice recognition software installed on the old PC, and the new one obviously didn't come with it. When I raised this with the bloke who had done the transfer, he first said he would be able to move it across, but then he changed his mind. And the old license I had didn't allow me to install the software on any new machines. I had had it for years!

I figured it had been worth a lot more than it had cost; I had had it for years. I raised the matter with Stuart and he agreed that it was worth buying a new license. But he wanted it at the lowest possible cost. That makes sense. I relayed his to IT, who should do the purchase. 

There hasn’t been a response yet. I hope one is imminent! It’s a pain to not be able to dictate. I get around it by dictating to my phone, and then emailing myself the text. It’s a bit cumbersome. And it’s not helping my RSI to take these detours! 

PhD viva

I suppose I came to chairing PhD vivas is a bit late. The first one I did was only 2024. I suppose I was quite old when I became academic staff. And my very limited experience was also not typical; the one I had done had been online. The candidate was living quite far away.

Now I was asked to chair one in person, of a student based in the UK. She was modelling the climate in the Archaean. Interesting stuff!

Getting there on time was a bit of a challenge. The only availability of Mark, the external, was on a date when I was in the field with the students in the morning. I would have to pretty sharpishly get to our campus, make myself presentable, and then show up for lunch.

When we were done in the field, Jaco and I left in his car, and he dropped me off home. There I had a bit of a scare; my little car was parked in, but that was easily resolved. The vehicle was associated with Neuadd Ogwen, and they had made sure to keep the back door open so I could just walk in and ask the people there to make space for me. Which they did!

Note what you want to see if you have a place to go to. But it worked out!

When I got to Menai Bridge I decided I had time to have a little shower. Then I put my smart outfit on. Then I filled two flasks with hot water; these vivas can last a long time, and I need to look after myself. I was ready!

When I got to the room, Mattias (the supervisor), Dei (the internal examiner) and Mark (the external examiner) were already there. They weren’t looking as smart as me! Maybe I could just have showed up in my field outfit. But that was too late now. I dived into the lunch as I was hungry now. Mark and Dei discussed examination strategies. Mattias left. 

Then it was time. Anya, the PhD candidate, came in. And it started!

As the chair I basically only had one job: to keep the internal and external in check. But they didn't need that. So I was largely furniture. I think I only came in use twice: once when Anya couldn't think of a word, and I had correctly guessed which word she was looking for; and at the end, when both men had asked sufficient questions, and then asked her if there was anything she wanted to discuss. Then I told her that it was highly unlikely she would ever have these two men at her disposal again, so that I thought she should take this chance.

Altogether it didn't last very long, and in the end the external told her that she had passed with minor corrections. A great result!

When it was over, Anya met up with people of her choice, and Mark, Dei and me waited for Mattias to come back from the teaching engagement he had had. And when he was back we first went for a little walk over Church Island. It is only a small walk, but with lots of views you don't get in London, where Mark is based! And then we headed for an Indian restaurant for a curry.

A view on our walk

It had been a bit hectic, but it ended up being a very good day. The field trip couldn't have gone any better, I had made it to the viva on time, and that had gone really well for everyone involved. What more could you want! 

Cwm Idwal in gorgeous weather

If the weather we have for it is great, Cwm Idwal is my favourite trip with the students. The landscape is beautiful, the science interesting, and the stress low. What’s not to like! 

This year, the weather was ideal. It was sunny there was barely any wind. So it was perfect! But I got there in an unusual way.

I had to chair a PhD viva straight after the field trip, so I had to leg it from the field site to the Ocean Sciences campus. The most efficient way of doing that is not going with the students on the coach, which goes to Bangor. And I decided to car share with Jaco, who was also not travelling on the coach. That worked out well! Because he wanted to be sure to have a parking spot, he picked me up quite early, but we had both brought some work we could just do sitting on a low wall in the sun, waiting for everybody else to appear. Very efficient!

We were one staff member down, so we had bigger groups than we ideally would have, but it was still quite manageable. And if there is no wind, it is easy to be heard by sizeable group. I had a really good time! I hope the students did too.

Glorious weather 

The chance that we will have equally good weather for the second field trip is small, but we had one amazing trip in the bag. I can't complain!

New and old practicals

The students who do the trip to Lleiniog do a practical afterwards, and I have never been a part of that. But last year, Mike thought he could improve on how this module was run, and suggested changes. We thought they were amazing, so they were implemented. And that involved a practical session on our Ocean Sciences campus, where the students describe a core that was taken as a part of his PhD project some 20 years ago. And given that I have done core description exhaustively, it would make sense to have me involved in that. So on the Monday after the beach trip, that kicked off.

The core is beautiful! And there is enough to see. Unfortunately, Mike, who doesn't have an awful lot of teaching experience, just told the students to go and describe it. If you've never done it before, you don't quite know how to start! So I found it quite tiring to look over their shoulders and check if they were doing everything the logical way. Apparently, it doesn't speak for itself that the top of the core should also be the top of the core log. Or that a core log has a linear depth scale. I think Mike is open to providing a bit more guidance next year.

The core. Pic by Mike

That same week I also had my own practical, that I have been doing for years. That was a lot more relaxed! I suppose all the difficulties have been ironed out over the years. But it did mean quite many hours with pretty much the same students in the same teaching lab in one week. But that's it now for this academic year! 

Eryri Harriers presentation night

After a lot of preparation from the committee, it all came together on the actual night! And you should see "night" here in a wide sense. Activities started at 4 pm, with a run we had tagged onto the night in an attempt to attract more people. I'm not quite sure if it worked. There were seven of us (and a dog) lining up in our fell running gear. I think all of us would probably have attended as well without the run. But at least we would get a nice run out of it!

The idea was to run the route of a new race in the Tuesday Evening Series. That's a series of short fell  races. This one will be quite long in that context. The furthest point would be Gyrn Wigau. 

In spite of the predictions, it was dry when we started, and we happily headed for the first public footpath into the hills. Mary, who was leading this run but not the race, was keeping an eye on the map. Where would the checkpoints be?

Soon we started to cross the valley. We were on the western range, and had to move to the next one along. The ridges are quite dry, but the valley is not. It was inevitable we would be coming out with soaking socks and shoes. Doesn't matter! We had dry clothes waiting for us.

View during the run

I was glad to reach the other side. Then it would just be a long ascent. That is what I am best at. But at some point I heard Mary shouting behind me. I waited for her to find out what that meant. We were running out of time! We had to cut the route short. So we did not actually reach Gyrn Wigau. It meant downhill pretty much the rest of the way. I am slow at that! But so be it.

We both got back in time for dinner, and before the rain started. Success! And it turned out that the cricket club, which was our venue for the night, had showers available to us. So I grabbed my dry clothes and headed for them. The first changing room was full of men, so I headed for the second one. That one turned out to have urinals! So I figured the men were actually in the wrong place. I went to go and tell them that before they were all in the showers.

Most of them left. One was reluctant as he was already far in his preparations. He politely asked if I was ok with him just staying. That was not very British of him! But I am not British at all, so I was fine with it. And there were two shower cabins so plenty of space for both of us.

When we were clean again we went into the room where the event took place. Time for some socialising and a drink. There were lots of lovely people! Neil had come too. We settled on a table with Borders League veteran Tony and his partner Lesley. 

Soon there was food. I was peckish! And then there were the awards. And handing them out was done, in my opinion, with a lovely balance between attention for the individual winners, but not dragging it out for the audience.

They started with the juniors. I don't know these, but it looks like we have some smashing kids in the club. And then we went onto the adults. And they were awards for the third, second and first finisher in the road, cross country and fell championships. I'm only competing in the first. And I had come second! So I got a little memento. In a way, the road championship was the most exciting, as all winners were actually there. Quite unlike the cross country and fell awardees!

Road championships winners

We also have special prizes: special achievement of a woman in fell running, most improved male, special contribution to the club, and outstanding athlete. The lady who had won the fell prize was away, but her mum was there to pick it up. Tony had Juan most improved male. I knew he knew he was up for an award, but also that he didn't know which one. It turned out to be this one I could see he got emotional. I thought that was sweet. He deserves it! But I could imagine that he had imagined that award would go to some young up and coming runner, while Tony is almost 60. But he has been in great form in spite of big medical problems. A worthy winner!

Special contribution to the club went to Helen, who has been our cross country chief for years. And he is also a Borders League stalwart. 

Outstanding athlete this year was Tinka, the superfast Dutch lady wins races like there is no tomorrow. A big one she won for instance was the She Ultra. She had been nominated a lot!

After the awards, our guest speaker took this stage. This was David "Jacko" Jackson, who turns out to be a former professional rugby player and now leading coach in breathing for runners. But in my circles, he is more well known for being my former colleague Suzie's brother. He did a great talk! And he was quite convincing saying that breathing is an under-emphasised aspect of running, and a lot of improvement can be made via that route. He also asked for a volunteer at some point, and I stepped up. It turned out he wanted the volunteer to shove a cotton tip into his nose. Well, if he's sure?

The club has arranged with him that he will do some sessions for us at mate’s rates. I sure will try to get a place on one of them! And I also bought his book.

That was the program of the evening over. There was a bit of time for socialising, but then everyone went home. It was a Sunday evening, after all.

I had greatly enjoyed myself, and fortunately, so had Neil. I know a lot more people, and I even got an award! So then it's easy to enjoy yourself. But it has been so well organised that it was for the likes of him as well. Success! And I will try and get first place in The road running championship next year. With Anna being pregnant, this would be the year to do it!