Arden '9'

Dear Blog,                                                                                                                                                    Today was the Arden ‘9’ at Hampton-in-Arden. My daughter ran, hence my going over to enable me to continue my CBT, Come Back Trudge; I managed about 3 miles of walking with a few tentative shuffles. Very pleased as it is the first time for nearly a month that I have manage anything resembling a trudge!!!! Yesterday I managed 2 by 50 minutes walk. So things are looking up Blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Arden race was interesting. It started about a decade ago as a Fun Run organised by the local tennis club who didn’t really know what they were doing athletically; the race involved running on country roads then main highways, followed by crossing a major road very close to the finish. Actually cutting across a major road! The same unsuitable course is used. You should have seen the traffic hold up Blog, on the final road crossing. Impressive it was. No way would that course get a permit to enable it to be run in Coventry. But because it is established, now organised by an athletic club, it gets a permit in Warwickshire, but no way would that course get a permit to be run in Coventry. To cause an hold up on a major route for a field of about 250 is unbelievable, but more power to their elbow but still no way would that course get a permit to be run in Coventry. No police presence, just marshals. Marshals holding up the traffic. Unbelievable! Coventry council has all but strangled all road racing in the city. Road closure is demanded for an event and that costs money, a lot of money for a race organiser to find. Any profit a local club would make from organising a road race would be swallowed up paying for a road closure. So the Coventry Council can proudly say fingers to the local athletic club road race events because the Fun Runs for charity can cough up the dosh so that’s OK then. Company sponsored events can cough up the dosh so that’s OK then. Council organised events can cough up the dosh, so that’s OK then. And the poor athletic clubs who do all the grafting at the athletic grass roots, the poor athletic clubs who do so much to help the kids of Coventry, the poor athletic clubs who help out other events in so many ways are poor because the road races they once organised cost too much to promote. So that vital cash cow has been shot by the local council. Great!!

                                                                           Colin