MY 2005 WELSH CASTLES WEEKEND

11th/12th JUNE 2005

Mine was somewhat different to those accounts of this weekend that you have read previously. This was because I didn’t travel on the minibus or spend the whole weekend with Wesham Road Runners – not because I felt I was too good for you, either! The reason was that I spent my Saturday evening in Cardiff watching the 4th in the series of International Speedway Grand Prix meetings. But more of that later.....

I made a decision to join the rest of the team/spectators at Caernarvon, (the first leg started at 10:30am on Saturday 11th), and followed the first leg or two before making my way to Cardiff. The reason I did this was that I had never done the Welsh Castles weekend before and wanted to take in some of the atmosphere – also my computer programme told me it would take about three and a half hours to get from Caernarvon to Cardiff. Never tell me that computers don’t lie!!!!

I made it to Caernarvon, (it was a lovely day and it was nice driving through Wales, which was something I hadn’t done before), at about 10am and met the rest in Caernarvon Castle. I watched them start the first leg and then drove down to the best vantage point for the first leg – about half way – cheered on Phil Leaver, (Wesham, for those who do not know), and Sarah Tatton (Lytham), and made my way to leg 2, (and got lost – no comment J.B.!)

I found some of the others walking from the finish and told them that I was off and would see them tomorrow - (I was doing leg 18)

Whilst it seemed a good idea at the time to take in the atmosphere, it was a big mistake.

As I said before, it really was a lovely day and driving through Wales was great – it would have been a lot better had I not been panicking all the way about the time.

I was supposed to meet my friends in the Prince of Wales pub in Cardiff about 4pm. and thought I had ample time to get there. Joke! It took me four and a half hours to get there, (5pm), and then couldn’t find the Youth Hostel, (Cardiff being somewhere I had not been to before and the map supplied by the YH not being the best ever. Eventually I found it, booked in, dumped the stuff in the room, shot out, and missed the bus by 1 minute – it was 5 minutes early! I began to think that this was not the best idea that I had ever had in my life, (the Speedway started at 6:30pm and it was now 5:40 and the next bus was in 30 minutes). I had been given a map of Cardiff in the YH and decided to do something I am reasonable at - RUN! (Thank you Wesham for, without you, that wouldn’t have been an option)

I managed to catch a different bus and got to the stadium at 6:00pm. The next problem was to find my friends – I booked my tickets separately and was in a different part of the stadium. I eventually found them and got earache of Dave – my mate from Halifax who I have been friends with for 30 years this year. “Where the hell have you been – fancy going running first. We were worried you weren’t going to make it.” I couldn’t really say anything except to agree with his last sentiment. I did keep in contact with him throughout the journey and he did know that I wouldn’t make it to the pub but the point was made.

Enough waffle, the evening was one of the best of my life and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world and it was certainly worth all the trauma of the previous few hours. I am going again this year and, fortunately, it is the week before Welsh Castles!

One of the problems with being late on Saturday was that I forgot to get the petrol that I needed for Sunday. Having spent two hours seing the sites of Cardiff I got the bus back to the YH and got in the car thinking, “No problem. I’ll soon find a petrol station.” Another joke! I drove round Cardiff for ages until I went into a Volvo sales room to ask for the nearest petrol station - (3 miles away!) By this time the orange light was on and I was in panic mode again. It was 12:15pm and I had to be in Merthyr Tydfill for 1:00pm, (the leg started at 1:40pm).

I eventually made it at 1:00pm and then the next problem arose - there was nobody from Wesham. I’d told Alan the previous week that the one thing I did not want to do was leave my keys with the car. Nobody had arrived by 1:40pm, (it turns out they arrived 1 minute afterwards). It takes a lot to get me annoyed but I am afraid this was one occasion when I was.

I ended up carrying my keys for 6 miles – thinking to myself how could they do this; my first Welsh Castles, according to Alan I’d saved the day as I was willing to split up my weekend, and they can’t even be bothered to turn up to see me off, “Some bloody team this is!”, and other such not so nice thoughts – until they caught me up. You never knew I was so fast did you? Maybe it had something to do with the route being on tracks and fields. Alex came across the road and I gave him a mouthful – sorry Alex.

As I had not had the best preparation, and was not in the most wonderful of moods, I decided that I was not going to kill myself to get a wonderful time but, seeing as I basically had 10 minutes a mile to beat the cut off time, I felt that, unless I had a major injury, I might just make it in time! I took 74 minutes for the 9.1 miles and it was a lovely leg thereby beating the cut off time by 17 minutes.

As I said, it takes a lot to get annoyed and, by the same token, I soon forgive people, and I would like to say that Alan organised the trip brilliantly and I cannot wait for this years, (probably already happened by the time the magazine goes to print). I do intend, if selected, going on the minibus and sampling the whole weekend’s atmosphere. If the weather is half as good as last year’s then we cannot complain. A bit warm for running but magnificent for the 19 legs that you can spectate.

Alan took Andy Yelland back to the start of the leg to drive my car to the end and I drove Andy down to Cardiff Castle to see the finish, which was brilliant – what a wonderful setting. We then drove home after a great, if slightly traumatic, weekend

Written by:Peter Cooke

Submitted: 8th May 2006

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Website/Magazine Editor