Furry suit makes it back

Mines and caves can be quite cold; they can be wet and even windy. I really like that I have a rather thick furry suit for underneath my oversuit. It keeps me warm on all sorts of trips. And then I was so stupid as to leave it in the Yorkshire Dales.

The other ladies on the trip immediately jumped in to help. One lived locally, with her husband; he was going to be in the hut where I had left it soon. And it seems that he was working with North Wales cavers. So he could handily hand it over to them. One of these then met Sharon. 

The Snowdonia half marathon is set in Llanrwst; that is only 15 minutes away from where Sharon lives. So after the race I didn't go straight home; I popped over to her place. She wasn't in, but she had pulled it by the front door. I could go and pick it up.

I admired her amazing view! I had suspected she lived somewhere very beautiful. Now I know for sure.

The suit is back now! And I think there is a rather cold mine trip on the cards in the not too distant future. I will be ready for it my lovely snug suit! Thanks to Caver Mail! 

Snowdonia Half Marathon 2026

I like this race! The route is beautiful, and with all its ups and downs it never feels like you’re doing the same thing for a long time. 

I had first done it pre-Covid, and loved it. Then I did it two years ago, and ended up with clanging IT band problems. I still snaffled a category win, though. Last year my IT bands held, and I had another category win. I wanted another one this year. And the weather would be a lot better for it! Not as hot as last year. 

I rocked up and bumped into the organiser. He greeted me by my name. We had a little chat, and he said "see you at the presentation". I like it that I have the reputation of almost standard being presented a medal!

I got my number, had a last sandwich, drank my energy drink, took off all the layers I wouldn't be running with, and then handed in my bag at the bag drop. Time to do a warmup! And have a last convenience break.

When I trundled up the hill I saw that the marshal at the first junction was already in position. That was a bit early! We had a nice chat. His name was Wayne. Then I sneaked off for a leak, and headed back. I then tried to organise a club picture with the other Harriers. I found four! There were more but we didn’t spot them.

Phil, me, Evan, Sion, Robin

I also found Ann, who had been my rival last year. We battled it out over the entire race, but on the famous hill 11 miles in I got ahead of her, and she didn't manage to catch up on the way down or the last flat bit. I beat her by 11 seconds. She is 18 years older than me. And a toughie! 

It was time to line up at the start line, and soon we were off. I knew to take it easy on the first ascent. It’s long, and there are more to follow! I waved at Wayne and trundled on. I also passed Ann. I expected her to overtake me multiple times on the downhill. And after some 3.5 km, I passed a marshalling station, where a lady said I was currently second female. What? This is a sizeable race! And I didn’t think I was going very fast. But I liked it! 

I trundled on. Soon Llyn Geirionydd came into view. The route is flat there. I just thought of my breathing and kept a decent speed. More people along the course confirmed that I was in silver position. Lovely!

Quite unlike last year, I ignored all the water stations. I had a little bottle myself, and it wasn’t very hot. And I trundled up the hill between the lakes. All went well! Even coming to the top and heading down. The gradient is mild, so I can go quite fast and not be scared. And there had been quite some logging there, so views were wide. And the path is bendy, so you can see a bit before and behind you. No women to be seen! Not even Ann.

Running around Llyn Crafnant I went back to thinking about my breathing. All went well! I was feeling relaxed. And then I came to the sort bit of road where you meet the runners coming the other way. I saw one of the Harriers, Sion, and could shout him on. A lot of people shouted encouragements at me. Especially the women. But then the route went somewhere else and I was pretty much alone again. 

I knew I now had a flat few kilometres before the big hill. I kept my speed up! And was a bit worried that like two years ago, I was feeling my IT bands. I had intended to have paracetamol before the race, and bring straps that might help the symptoms, as I had done at the Conwy race, but had completely forgotten. Oh dear. 

I made it up the hill without stopping, and while trying to convince my body all was well. And once on top, I tried to run with big strides, as that fights symptoms too. And the downhill is always difficult. 

On the big downhill, past a cheering Wayne, I was overtaken by several people, but luckily all men. Some furtive looks behind me didn’t reveal any menacing females. The last man overtaking me said he was aiming for a time of 1:45. Ambitious! But well, if it was doable for him, right beside me, then I was clearly on course for a faster time than last year. That had felt fast!

On the flat bit I I tried long strides again. And I was trying to go fast enough to not let any unseen women get past. In spite of my knee. And then I finished, in 1:44:37. 

Finish

I saw a lady standing there already. She must have won! I congratulated her. And then another lady appeared. She must have been right behind me. Oh dear! I escaped a late disappointment. Even though bronze in a race like this is still amazing. 

I went to get my medal and T-shirt, and my bag. Then I went back to the course. I had my recovery drink, and more liquids. And I cheered on the runners. Robin, one of the Harriers in the race, and Sion’s brother, came past like Usain Bolt. Amazing! 

After a while I went back to find the Harriers that had finished. Along the way, I bumped into Paul, of NWRAC, who has assembled the North Wales team for the 10 mile inter-county championships. He was impressed with my time. Maybe he’ll invite me into his team again! And soon after, the presentation started. I was chuffed to get a silver medal! And in this race, they even give you a category win if you have already won an all-out podium position, so I came back for the 50+ medal. The bloke handing it out asked how many of their medals I had by now. Many! 

Proud as punch with my second place

I in turn cheered on the other runners. Winning woman had been some 10 minutes faster than me! And Ann had a category win. Of course. 

After the presentation we all went our separate ways. I walked back to my car over a field, and found Sion and Robin there. We had a little debrief! And then I really left. 

I still can’t quite believe I came second! In a popular commercial race! Although I have managed that before, Twice. And once in a slightly less popular commercial race. And without feeling too wrung out about it! But it was a bit of a bummer my IT band problem had returned. Later this year I want to run a half marathon PB. That is hard if your IT bands are not collaborating! 

Marshalling Moel Eilio

I think it's important to marshal once in a while. Without marshals, no races. And I would really be sad if there were no races. If I'm happy to accept the services of other people marshalling, I should be willing to do it myself as well! And Ras Moel Eilio was coming up. I had quite enjoyed marshalling that the previous year. And I volunteered again.

The previous year I had been on the ridge. It takes a while to get there, but then you get great views. This year would be different; they stationed me at a gate on the Maesgwm path. By coincidence, it was the same gate where I had marshalled the Pedol Peris two years ago. Not a spectacular location, but still beautiful. And that low down, the weather tends to be good.

Walking in

Initially, I would walk up with Steve, the marshal who would be one gate further up. He was not quite sure which gate was his, but when I got to headquarters, they had explained it to him, and he had set off. So I walked up alone. But I was quite early; I just walked the extra kilometre to his gate, and had a chat with him. That was nice!

We had radios, so you could hear where the runners were. So I had a bit of an idea when I would have to make my way back to my own gate. That worked out. And I wasn't very useful there; that gate is generally open anyway, and it is absolutely obvious where the runners have to go. But at least I could shout encouragements, and tell them how much further it was. 

With Eryri Harriers high viz vest. The stripy band is for radio; the blue one for cow bell. All kitted out! 

The first runner was Owain, an Eryri Harrier. He was quite a distance ahead! He would indeed win. Our own TNH Dyfed was, as expected, very fast as well. And a fair while after the first man I saw the first woman appear. It was Elliw, who has just won the Rhostryfan 10k three days before.

At some point, the trickle of runners became a bit less. And over the radio I could hear several marshalling stations pack up. Once the sweep has come through, you can leave! At some point I saw him approach myself. It was Marcus, a TNH veteran. When I saw him appear I threw my stuff in my bag. He invited me to run with him. I said I wasn't dressed for it. He said it didn't matter. I was mainly thinking about my running bra which I wasn't wearing. He said he wouldn't look. I said running bras are not for looks. The civilian bra I was wearing was not too bad though, so I just ran. The backpack wasn't ideal either, but doable.

Running to the finish together 

With the three of us we trundled on, with some 2 km to cover. We came past three more marshalling stations by gates. And then we reached the finish. I had a little chat with those who were there. Then Arwel asked if I would walk down with him. Of course I would. He was walking with a bit of asymmetry; he said he had done his legs in at the Rhostryfan race. Oh dear!

When we got to race HQ, the presentation wasn't far. I stayed for it. And I thought I'd have a bit more water while doing so. So I rummaged in my bag. No flask! Oh dear. I must have forgotten it at my marshalling station. That sucked! I would have to go back. I briefly entertained the thought of driving part of the way. But it was only 3 km (be it with 160 m ascent), so I dismissed that thought. And just walked up! With some jogging.

It was still there. I emptied it while making my way back down. And I was back at my car a few minutes after my parking ticket had expired, but nobody had noticed. So I could go home.

I prefer to be a little bit more useful when I am marshalling, but in spite of that, it had been a good day. And the next day, I could race again myself!

Squirrel

When I moved here, I didn’t see many squirrels in the garden. In recent months, this has increased a lot. I see a squirrel in the garden really often. And I see what they leave behind; I don't grow any peanuts, walnuts or hazelnuts, but I find lots of empty shells thereof in my garden. I suspect that is just a squirrel not tidying up after their lunch. And I find lots of little holes. They are too shallow to be mouse or rat burrows, so I figured they were probably places where the squirrel had hidden a hazelnut or something, and dug it up again.

Not my food waste! 

Little holes in the lawn

Most of these holes are in the lawn. But some of them are in flower pots. One of the flowers I had bought for the front of the house is looking miserable. The soil it was in had been very disturbed. The pepper plant had also had a treatment. That is a bit more unfortunate.

Ravished plant

One day I was outside, and I heard a strange noise. I wondered what it was, and my surprise, it was a squirrel running around on the wall of Neuadd Ogwen, shouting at a cat (not mine!) in my garden. It looked like the squirrel wanted to chase it away. It even worked.

That looked very territorial, so that made me believe that it is not that I just see lots of squirrels in my garden; it is probably just one squirrel I see very often.

Notice the squirrel on the gate keep an eye on the cat

 

I have later also spotted a squirrel (the squirrel?) shouting at my cat who was just lounging in the garden. I really think the squirrel is territorial! In the end, the cat got tired of the noise, and indeed went inside, mewing plaintively. 1-0 for the squirrel. 

I think someone is feeding this squirrel somewhere. Where else would you get so many unshelled hazelnuts, walnuts and peanuts from? I struggle to imagine that people are just trying to enjoy these outside, only to have them stolen by an adventurous squirrel. And then this squirrel takes them to my garden, hides some, and eats others. Well, they are welcome! But don't expect me to accept your territorial claim over that of the cat. And I have put protection around some of my plants. Let's see if we can establish an equilibrium here…

Squirrel protection 

Written dissertations ready for marking

In the middle of all the hassle about the dissertation presentations, I also had to look after the dissertations themselves. This is again a case of making sure 45 members of staff know what to do and how to do it. Ideally, they not only know it, but also do it. It is a bit of a case of cat herding. 

I made sure I assigned a second marker to every dissertation, and that the online forms were ready where the first and second markers upload their marks and feedback. And I sent all the instructions on how to go about it to all academic staff.

It wasn’t even that much work! That was great. But there might be a bit more work involved in checking everyone is indeed doing what they should do. If they are not, not only might we get in trouble with the students, but also, the external examiners might moan at us again. They really want all the students receiving feedback in the same way. It's not so easy to make 45 stubborn strong-willed people do the same thing. But all the external examiners look at this module. It is heavily scrutinised! The students only get to see their own marks and feedback, so they might not realise if they get their feedback in a different format from their mates, but the externals certainly will. 

But with that all sorted, the big thing now is actually doing the marking. I won't get to it right away! First I want to do the first year essays. The second year essays were also submitted before the dissertations, so I might do these first too. Before I even get to the dissertations, the exams may well have come in. That's life at the end of the semester! Marking-tastic. Wish me some well-written texts! 

Senedd elections 2026

I could vote again! There were elections all around the UK. Local elections in England, and senate (and equivalent) elections in Scotland and Wales. And I can vote in the Welsh one. 

The electoral system has changed since the last time I did. My constituency is a lot bigger now; Anglesey, Conwy, Bangor. And we had six seats to divide. It was widely reported to be a two horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform. Labour was expected to be obliterated.

In my constituency, polls suggested that of these 6 seats, 3 would go to Plaid, 2 to Reform, and it would be a battle between Tory and Lib Dem for the 6th.

Normally, I vote first thing in the morning (if I get to vote, that is). Then whatever ever happens in the rest of the day, that is done! But with all the stress of the dissertation module, this year I ended up voting in the evening. I got home, I started dinner, put it in the oven, and while it was looking after itself, I popped to the polling station. 

I had been struggling to make up my mind what to vote. My natural colour is Green, and they were indeed standing in my constituency. So that would make sense. But wouldn't Plaid be in a better position to keep Reform out? That's very important too. Or should it be Lib Dem, in an attempt to keep the Tories out of the last seat? I had to make up my mind on the very day.

With polling card

Polling station in old school

In England, the counting started a lot earlier than in Scotland and Wales, so that's where I had my attention first. It was scary! Reform was making such big gains. Hopefully, they will screw up a lot of local politics, and people will not be so keen on voting for them in the next general election. I'm still nervous about that! But I'm afraid that national elections might not be that heavily influenced by what's going on at the constituency level. 

Then, through the day, Welsh and Scottish results were also coming in. Plaid was, as expected, in the lead. And my constituency was the first northern one that declared. It had been true about the three seats for Plaid and two for Reform. The last one had gone to the Conservatives. The Lib Dems even got fewer votes than Labour. Only about a third of what Labour got! Predictions don’t always come true.

When the results were still coming in

 

Later on Friday the full results were in. There were 43 seats for Plaid, when they need 49 for a majority. What will they do now? My hunch is, a minority government rather than a coalition, but we'll see.

One thing that might change a bit is that with Plaid the biggest party, and the party leader being from Anglesey, there may be a bit more attention for the north in Cardiff from now on. As a northern resident, or a Gog, I think that's a good thing!

Mop-up presentations

We have 197 students in the 3rd year. They all have to do a dissertation presentation. 55 of them had received an extension. Some submitted their slides, but didn’t show up. Luckily, quite a lot of them only had extensions of a few days, so they could still present in the original session. I didn't have to deal with 65 students who had to get another chance! I still had to keep track of so many it was a bit of work.

The first challenge was: figure out who had presented. I can see who has submitted their slides, but if these slides don't have a grade, that could either mean the student didn't present, or the member of staff just hasn't uploaded the grade yet. So then you have to ask 45 people to give you these details. Not as straightforward as one would hope.

Then I needed to find time for session. This has to be before the exam period, because you are not allowed to get in the way of the students’ exams. That meant: the Thursday and/or the Friday of the week after the presentations. Then I needed to find staff for it. These presentations have to be marked by two members of staff, so I can't just do it myself. And annoyingly, the lead-up second year module, which had its presentations in March, also did a mop-up session on these days. That had siphoned off a lot of staff. But I found two who had a two hour slot free each. 

In the end I had some 15 students. That fits in 4 hours. So I was sorted! Once more did I sort out paperwork. And on Thurdsday afternoon I headed for the main building for the first session. 

Two students showed up, one of them late. Not a great turnout! But they presented. And my colleague and I had plenty of time left to agree grades. As soon as I got to my computer I placed these marks where they should go. First day done!

The second day we had four students show up. Still not a brilliant turnout. But four more students who have now fully completed this assignment. And again; we could agree marks there and then, then as soon as I got to my desk I uploaded them.

I think there are now two students or so left with long extensions that I will have to deal with later. That is manageable! So now I can focus on the written dissertations…

Looks unrelated, but there were soft corals in one of the presentations