It's a Monday and i'm not at work. Why? Start of the Summer holidays that's why :) So much to catch up on, some of it adding to the Purple Book but all worth a mention.
The 10 @ 10 - One Sunday in June
I love Purple Book entries that name themselves. I'd promised myself a truly random entry into the book and after feeling peckish one evening and downing 4 Weetabix had an epithany. "I'm going to eat 10 Weetabix for breakfast", and that's what I did. One Sunday I woke up and the time happened to be a little after 10 in the morning (it was the weekend, don't judge me...) so of course, the challenge was set. I stacked 10 chocolate Weetabix on a tray, got the milk ready and got to it. 4 in the bowl, down with minimal fuss. In went the next three. That's when things got tricky. Had to take a wee breather after the seventh. After 15 minutes or so it was 10:45 and I wanted to finish by 11:00 so down it was to the final three. This was my second official eating challenge after that beast of a pizza with Abz and Sean in Brighton and I was reminded of the pain I felt back then. Nine Weetabix down with one to go, never has breakfast felt so painful. The 10th block was downed with 5 minutes in the hour to spare and I felt a tad food drunk for the next hour or so. The 10 @ 10 had been conquered :)
Man vs Food & Starlight Walk - 22nd June
The pub in question is located near and named after Tilehurst's sole landmark, the Water Tower. After a few changes from a pub to a Thai restaurant and back to a food serving pub i'd heard good things from the place and would be meeting up with Boss & H, two very good friends who I used to work with at John Lewis. After meeting up with them and having a quick natter it was onto the menu. The usual pub grub was laid out before me until something caught my eye 'EATING CHALLENGE'. I sat transfixed. An eating challenge in England. Such a concept is usually unheard of on these shores as it is deemed most Un-British. This would be my second eating challenge in a month and all the better as it was so unexpected :) The challenge was this, a burger comprising of 2 x 12oz beef burgers, two chicken fillets and bacon with a side order of onion rings and chips. While Adam Richman, legendary eater on 'Man vs Food' might have deemed this a mere starter it was quite a feast for myself and most British peeps. My two friends picked modest meals, more concerned with finishing first and breaking out the pom poms to cheer me on. At stake was the chance to get on the wall of fame, an equally Un-British concept but one which I simply loved the idea of, immortality on glossy paper.
I tried to remember the tactics laid out by Adam. Get the cold drinks close, smother the bread bits in sauce and just keep at it, don't stop. On Man vs Food he makes big mouthfuls and downs them asap. This wasn't really sinking in though and halfway through my fellow compatriots showed me an error of my ways, I'd order a fizzy drink - big mistake. My main problem came in the fact I still had a second challenge yet to conquer that same night, the starlight hike. This was only supposed to be a nice relaxed couple of hours with some friends but had become something more. I grew with confidence as the two burgers went down effortlessly, the great tasting chicken followed and the onion rings offered little resistance. The pain started with my nemesis, the bun of the burger. Looking back I should have downed it first but had left it to last by mistake. My eating speed slowed and with the walk still to come I admitted defeat, a matter of minutes away from victory. If it wasn't for the walk still to come I'd have gone through the pain barrier but i'm certainly glad I didn't (more on that later). It didn't help that an ex-student of Prospect was our waitress and sarcastically let me know plenty of women had conquered the challenge. Nice! Round 1 goes to food, the rematch begins next month with a little help in 'Prospect vs Food'...
After saying my goodbyes to Boss and H it was off to do the Starlight Hike at Green Park. The previous year i'd jointly won the 'race' with Dad and a short Polish woman. I say race, it's a sponsored walk really with 99% of the people there simply up for the craic of being there. To me though it is the one event I have a chance of winning and had every intention of doing the same this year. I arrived close to the start time, The crowd was consisted almost entirely of the fairer sex were doing the warm up, my warm up of downing a whacking great burger was hardly ideal preparation. I signed in and waited with Dad near the start at the front. After 10 minutes or so there was the countdown and we were off. Last year Dad quickly went to the front following the short Polish woman and the three of us walked the entire route together, this year I was in for a shock. Two brazen hussies RAN out in front and formed a sizeable lead. Not happy. Dad told me to bide my time but I was incensed, jogging on a sponsored walk? Most Un-British, it was borderline queue jumping and having tea without milk. They were cheating on the race I was going to win (they weren't, but it felt like it!). For the second time this evening I was faced with an unexpected challenge but this time nothing would stop me. I darted off at my quickest walking pace, quicker than most people I know can jog. The two girls in front kept looking behind and could see me getting closer. The musicians who line the route of the Green Park course where still getting set up when I got close to them. They'd stopped jogging at this point but I wanted to get out of sight in case they started up again. After 1/4 of an hour my ankles were burning. The marshals were giving each other knowing looks wondering who the hell this was going like the clappers but only walking. After the first of three laps I checked the time and was pleasantly surprised. The whole route would cover 6 miles and I had a chance of doing it in under an hour. The two girls at the start had given me an incentive so I kept going. On the way around the support from the artists and the officials was great. On the final lap I started lapping, various people ended up jogging alongside me before giving up and being overtaken. Third and final time to the roundabout with the band playing Status Quo songs, everyone else went right while I turned left towards the finish. Indulgent? Most definitely. You can't explain how good it feels crossing the line first, a jogger I may never be but a walker I most certainly am. I finished a 6 mile walk in 57 minutes which means my best average walking speed is just slightly over 6 miles an hour. The lady in second place, another short lady though not the Polish lady from before finished 10 minutes later, shortly followed by Dad who ended up in third place. The two girls from before finished way back in the pack. My epic burger from an hour or so before threatened to make an appearance at the later stages of the walk which is why I'm definitely glad I stopped when I did! A great evening an deserved entry in the book.
Pirate Night - 12th July
Friday came, I brought in all the stuff and at the end of the day went down to get the eye make up on from GT and Jesster. I'd been dreading this bit as to that day i'd never worn make up due to heterosexuality, no longer living in the 80s and no stag do's that warranted it. GT did a cracking job as once the wig and outfit were on I looked as close to the real Captain Jack as I could. A few students walked in, one of which was the campest in the school. We both duelled with our campness as I started getting into the character. The arms were always raised above waist height, the mincing walk and the other mannerisms. I went back up to the staffroom were people cracked up and reached for the camera phones.
In the end the Pirate Night lived up to its name in entertainment if not in name. In total there were 4 pirates including yours truly throughout the day, everyone else played it safe and missed out on the photo ops. I always knew going on a night out with a 'prop' such a cool looking hat gets you noticed so going the whole nine yards as Captain Jack was the proverbial magnet. I soon lost track of the number of photo ops and yes, all of them were women ;) A fantastic afternoon and evening with the best picture of the evening ranking as one of my top 10 favourites of all time.
Color Run - 14th July
After dropping off my pirate outfit at Fun & Frolics me and Sarah headed off to London on the train. It's always great to find someone who shares my passion of doing new and different activities, I could tell we were equally up for the day's events. We met up with Sarah's mate and went straight to Wembley. We followed the tutu wearing volunteers to the start line and were greeted with a sea of people wearing the same white t-shirts and temporary tattoos as we were. We arrived in plenty of time, almost too much time as we had over an hour and a half in the sun before the race was due to start. There were a few distractions to keep entertained, photo with the dulux dog, company who were rather obviously sponsoring the race and providing the colour. Things were far from ideal at the start, those taking part crowded together near the start where three girls stood on a platform trying to get people to warm up. We all thought a) we really don't need warming up and b) good luck trying to do lunges when standing this close to each other. Eventually we were let though the start through to another start line, a long path leading up to Wembley stadium. Eventually we were let off in various groups, trying to grab goodies being thrown into the crowds by the organisers. Sarah's mate darted off in front and me and Sarah jogged together. After the 1st kilometre the question of when the colour would come was answered, we were greeted by a giant section of pink. Pink banners, someone dressed in pink and bags full of pink powdered paint (try saying that quickly 3 times ;) ). We stopped, got a handful each, chucked a bit in the air and then pelted each other in it. It felt so dusty we coughed and spluttered and got over to the pavement for the first picture.
Rossifer x
