When many people look at my motherland they see it as flat and barren. But they, of course, are wrong. If you want a good view in most places in the UK you have to go up something high like a hill or a tower or a tall person. Not so in The Fens. Without useless things like high ground to get in the way you can see for miles from pretty much anywhere.
This does have two distinct disadvantages, however. Firstly, when learning to drive a car you have to practice hill starts in a multi-storey car park. This is a true story, I’ve done this crap. Secondly hill training is, well, pretty impossible.
True story number two involves me falling off a bike. I was in my first year at university and I needed to get a book from the library before it closed. So I borrowed a bike from someone in my halls so I could get there quickly, check the book out and write my essay for the next day.
The plan was flawless. But the library at Loughborough University is at the top of a hill. Not a big hill, but a hill all the same. Being from The Fens I’d never cycled up a hill in my life and as a result I’d rarely had to change gear. Half way up the hill to the library I ground to a halt, toppled over and fell into a bush. I learnt a valuable lesson that day: there’s a bus that will take you straight to the library.
Ten years later I seek out hills to run up. But if the theories behind why Kenyan runners are quite so good have any truth in them, being born and bred in Peterborough has already set me a at huge disadvantage. But without hills, we have some the quickest courses in the UK and that’s why every year I make the pilgrimage home to run the Great Eastern Run half marathon.
In 2010 the Great Eastern Run recorded the second fastest half marathon time in the country: 62min 16secs. That was run by Edwin Kipyego. Yes, he’s from Kenya.
Enjoyed your postings about Caballo Blanco’s talk on Monday, just like I enjoyed the talk. Enjoyed the rest of your blog too and have given it a vote – good luck!
Have just voted for you. Started blogging myself in last couple of days to link in with my attempts at running and my love of cake and coffee (those last 2 being the reason I need to run). I checked your blog out for some inspiration – which it gave, both for running and writing. ( http://challengescakesandothercwords.wordpress.com/ )
Best of luck with the Cosmo award, I look forward to reading more
Teehee – soooooo true! I’m from Essex so I know what you mean – moving to the top of a hill was a shock!