New parties, old parties

 It looks like the UK is getting a new political party. And I can see why people came up with that. In the olden days, you would have Labour and the Tories and there would be a clear difference between them. Since Labour has been elected into power for the first time in many years, we have had to conclude that the difference is now small.

I expected Labour to make changes. Get rid of the two child benefit cap, get rid of the laws that make almost any protest illegal, that sort of things. But what they did was leave these things in place, and instead push through reductions in benefits for disabled people. What is that about? Since when is Labour the party of wringing out the poor and kowtowing to the rich? 

It is not, of course, as if Labour and the Tories are the only parties in town. There still are the Lib Dems and the Greens. But I could imagine that someone like Zarah Sultana thinks the Lib Dems are not left-wing enough, and maybe she thinks the Greens think too much about the planet and not enough about humans (even though they, of course, depend entirely on the planet). I don't know! Speculating here.

I do think that Labour has sort of lost it credibility now. But I don't think that credibility is necessarily lost forever. Parties are not static. And I don't know what the effect would be of a new party. In a way it could split the left vote, but what leftie is going to vote Labour these days? Still; few new parties get out of the starting blocks properly, and even fewer manage to last for years.  But I can only wish this new party the best.

I thought it was striking that this happened in the week in which I found out that Dutch Labour as I knew it doesn't exist anymore. In the last election, they formed a so-called list combination with a Green party (‘GreenLeft’). And when early in the week I was having dinner with Jaco and Marjan I asked them if they knew if they would do the same thing for the upcoming elections. And they told me they had actually decided to merge! So in a way, neither of these parties still exists. I was a bit ashamed that I had missed that, but it turned out that it had happened really recently.

Logo of the combined parties

 

I really wish this new party all the best as well! And I think their future looks a lot more rosy than that of the new British party. After all, they are just a combination of two dyed-in-the-wool parties for whom the autumn elections are most certainly not going to be their first rodeo.

Time will tell how this all pans out. What will the situation be by the end of the year? How will the newly merged party have done in the elections? Will Starmer still be Prime Minister? Will the new British party be gaining momentum, or will it already have fizzled out? Will the Labour back benches have managed to bring the front benches back into line? It is anybody's guess!

TNH: summit of Cynhorion

Yes even more running posts. I was starting to feel it myself! I had got out of my car on the usual meeting spot and I was yawning like a hippo. I could still feel last night's race. And the track training of the day before that.

Dyfed, who normally organise these nights, had been elsewhere, and he had cryptically said on social media that it was Girl Power night. Which woman would organise it? It turned out to be Jen, who often runs with her black Labrador. The dog was there too. And she is less secretive than Dyfed, so she just said we were going into Maesgwm, and then over Moel Cynghorion. I was not sure if we would go over the top or just skirt the flank, as we had done a few weeks ago.

Another lady who was here was Megan. I hadn't brought her prize! The one she didn't expect, so hadn't waited for. I had biked it home with me the night before. I knew it was chocolate and a voucher, and I was afraid that she wouldn't be there, so I would leave the chocolate in a hot car, and reduce her prize to an unrecognisable blob.

There was some murmuring about bailing out earlier. I was still tired from last night's race, another lady was tired for other reasons, and a third would soon be travelling and still had to pack her bag. She didn't want to be home too late. 

We ran into Maesgwm. It was a bit grey! The weather had been all over the place. But at least it wasn't stupidly hot.

One lady who had struggled to keep up turned around there. She wasn't even one of those who had been murmuring about bailing out earlier. The rest just kept going!

Approaching the top of Maesgwm

I had expected we would just head for the summit here, but I was wrong. We dropped down to the Snowdon Ranger path and followed that until we approached Bwlch Cwm Brwynog (the pass of the valley with rush); there we headed up to the ridge. I was really feeling it! Iolo, who had come eighth yesterday night, totally didn’t, and was cheerfully running up anything thrown at him. Alright for some!

Ascending to the ridge

It had been absolutely worth it. The views from the top are gorgeous. And the skies were dramatic, which made it even better. And the past down is quite good so I wasn't even that slow descending back into Maesgwm.

On the ridge

About to do the main descent 

From there it was downhill all the way, but on good paths, so I didn't struggle to keep up. Along the way I suggested to Megan I just hang her prize from my front door. I know that on her way home, she passes my house by about 50 meters; if she makes a one minute detour she can just pick it up. 

When we were back at the car so I wanted my recovery drink, and my drink, and the sandwich I still had in the car, but Megan drove off quickly so I cut things short to get home before she would be at my door. And the scheme worked.

I was pretty tired by now. In 3 days, I had biked 81 km with 1245 m of ascent, and run some 31km with 717 m of ascent. I was really glad I didn't have any running in the diary the day after! I think my running coach would not approve of this overload. But I'm sure that with a bit of rest I would get away with it!

Celebrating the summer in Welsh

 

There is a community of Welsh speakers among the academic staff in the university, and we don't meet up very often, but it does sometimes happen. Mostly, that takes the shape of meetings of the Welsh National College (Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol), but sometimes there are socials, too. And the lady who carries the lofty title of Dean of the Welsh language of the College of Science and Engineering, the very down-to-earth Stella, had organised a summer celebration. The idea was to go for a walk first, then either coffee or food in one of the university cafes.

I decided to go. It's nice to go for a walk with people! And I wanted to keep in touch with this group. So I showed up at our meeting place and so no one. I was already checking the invitation on my phone when Mollie appeared. I was in the right place at the right time! And not much later, Stella herself appeared.

A few more people appeared. Katherine and Neil from Natural Sciences, and Ed from Education (nominative determinism?) And we decided to head for the nearby Roman camp.

It wasn't very eventful, but it was such a beautiful day! Always nice to flaunt some sunny pictures on this blog. At the Roman camp, Neil already had to leave, but he is an Eryri Harrier, so he could do that rather fast.

View from Roman Camp

The rest of us proceeded to the Pier. I was a bit sad we just walked past an ice cream booth. But Stella knew she had to keep going. There were people who hadn't wanted to join the walk, but wanted to join for the coffee or food afterwards. So we had to be back in time. 

On the pier

It was really nice to just walk, and talk Welsh. I don't think I had ever spoken Welsh with Ed and Katherine. Now I have! And I had spoken Welsh with Mollie and Stella many times, of course, but that doesn't mean I'm tired of it.

When we got back to the university café (late, of course) I decided to just head for the office. I had stuff to see to. But it had been very nice!

Felinheli 10k

Another post about running? Well, yes! There's just a lot of it going on at the moment. And the reduced pressure at work allows it.

I had another midweek race; this time, it was the Felinheli 10k. I had not done it before. But I quite like these races you can just do after work. And closer to the time I saw it had a nice route: over Vaynol estate. 

Given that it was Felinheli I could go on bicycle. It's only some 20 minutes from work. And then 45 minutes home. So I got changed in the office and headed that way. Given I was on bike, I had no parking trouble whatsoever! And with 350 runners registered, I suppose many people couldn't say the same thing.

A quiet part of the festival/race terrain

I did my usual pre-start regime: get my number, drink some water, go to the loo, do a warmup, and appear at the start. It was a hot day. I had decided to run without anything: there would be a water station after 5 km. That would have to keep me hydrated. It would be nice to not run with compression belts or vests!

I was aiming for a time of about 44 minutes. Maybe a bit more. My personal record is 43:37, but that was set at a rather flat course, and I had been really going for it. In this race, there wasn't really anything at stake for me. I hadn't done it before, so I was going to set a personal course record anyway. And I had no expectations regarding medals. If you have done a race before and ended on the podium, you are quite motivated to push it hard the next time as well!

We set off. Initially, the field was quite busy. And soon we were on the coastal path. That has lots of potholes, so you had to be vigilant. That sort of path is easier when the field has spread out a lot! But we were working on it. 

Close to the start

I was going slower than my intended overall pace, but well, this was the uphill part of the route. I was just making sure I stayed close to Arwel. And I was enjoying the shade we generally were in. 

When we reached the end of the estate we got onto roads, which initially even went downhill. That sped everyone up! Including me. I ended up overtaking Arwel. And I saw fellow harrier Megan in the distance. She runs in my category! So that makes her someone I really want to overtake. And it looked doable. 

Caught overtaking Arwel (also in Eryri vest)

There was a water station just beyond 5k. I saw they handed out little plastic cups of water. That would barely touch the sides! But it would have to do. I think I managed to drink about a third. The rest splashed all over the place! 

We then headed back to the estate. And on its outskirts I managed to overtake Megan. Success! I trundled on, and got to where the road went noticeably downhill. It was gradual enough for me to not get cautious. I legged it! The kilometres zipped past.

I could see Eryri Harrier Claire in front of me. She wasn’t very far, but neither was the finish. I decided not to go chase her.

You can tell I’m tired by this point

At some point I passed a sign indicating there were only 200 m left. I was glad they had put that up. The race ends in some sharp corners, so you couldn't see the finish, and sound didn't travel freely either. I came around two of the corners and was almost there. And then I saw Harrier Rhian behind the barrier. She was screaming her lungs out! And waving a cowbell around. That was lovely. It gave me energy for a last sprint. And I could see I had done it within 45 minutes.

Finish pic

Behind the finish there were people handing out bottles of water. I really needed one! And they were also handing out fruit. That was nice. I went for an apple and a satsuma. And I went to my bike to get my recovery drink. When I had downed that I joined Rhian, who was cheering with her friend Helen. Together we cheered on more people.

At some point I got a bit cold. It was past 8 pm. I went to my bike to get a jacket. I also checked my result: 44:52. And 6th woman. I was proud of that! There had been 159 in the race. I could also see I had a category win. That meant staying for the presentation. But I was very aware I also would have to bike home! I was about 45 minutes away. And I only had a few jelly babies to keep me going. After the Llanrug race I hadn't made the mistake again of eating too much too closely before the race. So I decided to go back to the fruit people and request a banana. They were happy to oblige! And I also went to the loo.

With Rhian and Helen I cheered on the later runners. And when the organisation started to back up the course, I went to I knew the presentation would take place. The lady who had won, Emma from the Cybi Striders, had also won the Bethel 5k. She is fast! 

To my surprise, they not only had prizes for the first person in each category, but the top three. I got my prize as the fastest woman over 40, and also the one for Megan as she had already gone home. She lives close by so I could deliver it. Then it was time to go home.

Presentation pic

It was a beautiful evening so biking home was quite nice. And I even got honked at by one of the Thursday runners, Iolo, who had also been in the race. A bit of a long night but worth it! 

Weird dead tree on the way home

Trying to log Track Tuesday

The previous time I attended Track Tuesday, I decided I really should find out how to log the individual laps. How can you tell you are improving if the only thing you have is the total distance you have covered in the entire session? Chris mentioned that my watch has a track run option. So I figured that would be the way to go. I didn't bother finding out about the details, I must admit.

The track 

When the track session happened (two weeks later; I didn't want to do track training in a week I had both the Bethel 5k and the Snowdon Twilight), we would first do a mile at full pelt. The trainer was clearly inspired by the attempt of Faith Kipyegon to break the four minute mile barrier. And I had decided what speed I wanted to run at. My watch would tell me if I was on it! But then when we started running I realised my watch was telling me things I didn't understand. I started pressing some buttons but that didn't help. I chose to run on feeling. I had no idea how I did!

After the mile we had a bit of a break, and after that we would do ten 400 meter laps. I tried to kick some sense into my watch. It wasn't budging! Whatever buttons I pushed, the screen seemed frozen. In the end I did manage to shut it down.

When it came back on, I decided to just put it back on normal running mode. So I have only a limited idea of what my laps (the ones after I managed to get my watch working again) look like, from how Strava recorded them. Not as laps, but you can see the running and resting in the pace graph. One thing I can clearly see is that I tended to start too fast and then trail off. And that is pretty much what I was trying to avoid. With more data you know what pace to go for. Oh well! Next time maybe…

The training was still fun. And it was quite cool, with some light rain. Good running conditions! 

My next goal is: go home and ask YouTube how do I make the most of my watch. I'm sure it can explain some way of logging the laps. And then next time I might be able to get slightly more information out of it, preferably in real time…

Marshalling the Holyhead Mountain race

My rule of thumb with racing is: if it has nasty off-road downhill sections I will marshal it, and if it doesn't, I'll run it. Snowdon Twilight didn't have any downhill so I ran it. The day after, there would be the Holyhead Mountain race, and that does have scary downhill bits, so I volunteered to marshal that. I figured I would be very tired because of the race the night before, but I should still be able to make it to wherever my marshalling station would be. 

I had not received any communications about it so I assumed they didn't need me. Until I woke up on the day before. I had a message from the organiser: Katie. Was I still available? I hadn't planned anything else, so I said yes. And that night I saw her in person: she was also running the race. Not only that; she won it! Excellent performance.

On the day I drove up to the Breakwater Country Park. Given that we only ran half the distance the night before I was quite fresh. Once there I encountered some stress; it is paid parking, but the machine only accepted coins, which I didn't have. There was no pay by phone code displayed. I knew I would have to get to my marshalling station, so just hoped for the best. If I would get a ticket I would try to fight it. I don't think in 2025 you can have coins as the only available payment option! 

I found Katie, and she gave me a hi-viz vest, and a little map. She had circled where she wanted me to stand. And she said the route was marked with ribbon. I didn't get a radio or anything, but I did get her phone number for in case. Suppose you  get a runner with a sprained ankle; you can't sort that on your own, but I would be able to contact her. 

I walked to North Stack, and from there I navigated to my post. The ribbons went off the main path, onto something narrower and steeper. That would be easy to miss! I understood why she wanted me there. Now I needed to wait for the first runner. Because of the layout of the terrain I would only be able to see them if they would be really close.

Ribbons marking the route. North Stack is just behind the hill.

It wasn't cold, but it was quite windy! There was also quite a lot of fog. Typical Holyhead weather. I remembered I had once done a race here, but a different one. That had been sunnier, even though it had been in January!

After a while the first runner arrived. An Eryri Harrier! I pointed him but he had to go, but he wasn't having any of that. He said the route went straight ahead. I was confused. If that was true, why were the ribbons going the other way? I phoned Katie. No answer. Then other runners arrived. They, in contrast, were convinced by the ribbons, and happily trundled up the steeper bit. I dropped Katie another voicemail. I was starting to feel confident the first runner had just been wrong. At least he hadn't strayed from the route very far.

After a while, Felicity appeared. She said she was sure she was the last runner. I wished her a good rest of the race, and figured I would walk back to Race HQ, over the route the runners had taken to get to me. If Felicity was wrong and there was still someone else, I would meet them. And I could make a start with removing ribbons.

Selfie while walking back. The fog is lifting!

Back at HQ, Katie was at the finish, with some other marshals, timing the runners who were coming in. I had a chat with her and with some of the finished runners. There was Harri of Parc y Moch fame, and Rhian who runs Track Tuesday, and had also run in Bethel. It turned out there had been quite a lot of confusion about the route. Katie thought she had set out the route to the same way as last year, and had probably told the runners that. But she hadn't quite remember it correctly; hence the confusion at my marshalling station. Last year, apparently the route did go straight ahead. And there were a lot more confusing points in the race. Later one of the other marshals appeared (he had been the Harrier at yesterday's finish who told me it was indeed the finish) and he said the runners were coming at him from three different directions. Oops! Maybe next year use more marshals. 

When all the runners were in, Katie did the presentation. This also came with a little bit of controversy; the man who had finished 4th was a bit miffed he hadn't been given a prize, even though he knew that numbers 2 and 3 hadn’t done the whole route. Due to a navigation error they had accidentally cut off a corner. He then also got a prize. 

Some of the runners turned out to have been ex-students of ours! That was cool. And there also were three cute dogs. 

After the presentation we took down the Eryri Harriers gazebo. And then it was done! A successful race I would say. Not flawless, but successful. I could see myself marshalling again next year…

Snowdon Twilight

As soon as I heard about the Snowdon Twilight race I wanted to run it. A race that only goes uphill! That's perfect. And there's not many of those. Last year I tried to register for it, but I failed. I suppose I was just googling for Snowdon Twilight, but it didn’t seem to have had its own website. You had to find it on its sister race’s site: Ras yr Wyddfa. I didn't look there as that was not the race I wanted to run.

This year I spotted a call on the Eryri Harriers Facebook page for marshals for the Snowdon Twilight. So it was run! And there was even a link! I registered like the clappers. I can do my marshalling duties some other day.

Later when I checked the practicalities I noticed the site said ‘the final Scott Snowdon Twilight race’ and started to worry. Was this going to be the last one? Shit! But at least I would get a chance to run it once. And we had recce’d it on a Thursday night, in a heatwave.

When the day came I left work early. The race would start at 6 pm, and registration would close at 5:15. My running vest was ready with the compulsory waterproofs and head torch. I had put on my running bra in the office, and put my running shorts on underneath my trousers. That way I went to Llanberis. When I got there, I noticed one of my tires was floppy. I sorted that out first! Then I went to get my number. I immediately got the race T-shirt and a coaster. They clearly want that out of the way as soon as possible…

I also asked race organisation veterans Ann and Sharon if it was true that this was the last one. They said it was the last one sponsored by Scott. If the race would find another sponsor, then they supposed it could just keep going. I have no idea how difficult that is! The upcoming trail race also used to be sponsored by Scott, but then swapped to Xterra. It is clearly a thing. But there are no guarantees.

I also heard that we were not going to run to the top. The weather was too bad! That heatwave in which we had done the recce was a distant memory. I hadn't seen that on social media. I am clearly noteworthily bad at locating information about this race. A pity about the short race! But understandable. There are wind conditions in which you just don't want to be on a peak. 

I had a little warmup, went to the loo, and then went to the start. There we got a little race briefing. And then they set us off!

The first bit, on asphalt, is actually quite tough. We do that every week in winter. I know exactly how steep it is! But soon after that we got to the actual Llanberis path. It is nice to get off the asphalt. And for most of the way, it isn't actually very steep. It just is always uphill. I just got into a tempo that suited me, and plodded through the rain and the wind. It was rather bleak weather! And when we got to the first gate I was actively shouted at. The Edwardses, a prominent Eryri Harriers family, were out in force and cheering on all their fellow club members. That was lovely! I think I suddenly went twice as fast.

Running through the fog. Pic by Ian

And onwards. Pic by Ian

The field was quite spread out now. I could see a bloke in orange in front of me, and I seemed to slowly gain on him. Further ahead was a woman in a stripy top. At some point I overtook the bloke in orange. And I started to wonder if I could take on the lady in the stripy top as well.

At some point I started noticing people already coming down the hill. That was expected; the briefing had been to finish, not linger, and just return to HQ. They were shouting encouragements, but I had to make sure I kept an eye on where my feet were going. The path is very rocky and uneven in many places. So I couldn't pay that much attention to them.

More fog, and the man in orange now behind me 

I had understood we would be running until the second underpass. There is quite a steep bit before it, but the very last bit is not so steep, so there you could just run off the last energy you have. I knew I was not that far off the steep bit when I managed to overtake the stripy lady. And then there were lots of people by the path. What was going on there? And there was some sort of tablet set up. I suppose I might have been a bit stuck in my convictions. Once I think we run until the second underpass I might be good at ignoring evidence to the contrary. When I passed the tablet (which was, of course, the chip detector) I saw another Harrier standing there, who hadn't been that far ahead of me. I figured this was actually the finish already. He confirmed that. And he said that the bloke doing the briefing at the beginning had said so, but I hadn't recognised the location he had mentioned. Oh well! I had clearly finished the race now. I could have thrown it all into a final sprint, but I had been saving my energy for later. It didn't matter. There would have been one bloke I could have overtaken. But I'm not generally racing against the blokes! The women are more important. And I had got the stripy lady.

I had a little breather, took a finishing pic of myself; with difficulty, as it was so wet; and I put on another layer. Then I set off back down.

Finished!

The glamorous finish line setup

I am very slow on the downhill so many people overtook me. That is fine! I also sometimes almost got blown off my feet. I was glad they hadn't let us run all the way to the top. I imagined it would be really difficult there to stay upright.

I also walked up for a bit with one of the marshals: Felicity, who had done the one Wednesday training I had attended. Back at HQ I made sure they registered I was back of the hill. Then I went to dump my running vest, get my jacket and my bag, and return. I figured they would do the presentation soon. Hence that I did not bother doing a more thorough job putting on dry clothes. I was completely soaked! But I could have my recovery drink and some other sustenance from the bag.

There were many Eryri Harriers winning prizes. Unsurprising! But I cheered for everyone. And I didn't think I had performed very well myself, but I was actually called forward as I had been the fastest 40-something woman. Yay! (When I checked I saw my category was only 3 people, but hey ho. Stripy woman was one of them!)

When the prizes had all been given, everyone went home, including me. I looked forward to getting out of my damp outfit. And apart from that, I can only hope that some other sponsor appears. I would really love to do this race again! Especially if it goes all the way to the top! I will have to keep my fingers crossed…