Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

An Uncertain Future

by Russell Turner - 10:43 on 22 July 2021

Adam’s magic fingers did the trick – my testy tendon feels better than it has done for months. That’s just as well, considering the York 10k is a mere ten days away. Saturday or Sunday has been marked for my return to running, when I’ll cover an easy three or four miles. I’m looking forward to it. And with two gigs this weekend, it’s like life is almost back to normal.

And yet…

Following the cancellation of the Great Scottish Run on October 3, today I learned that two more mass participation events have been scrapped: the Great Birmingham Run on October 10 and the Stirling Marathon on the 24th. The Glasgow Men’s 10k on August 29 (which I’d considered) was turned into a virtual event a while back.

Cue yet more grumbling from runners who don’t understand that event insurance is a bigger problem than safety of participants.

Further cancellations seem inevitable so I’ll just have to hope that Loch Ness and Yorkshire Marathons in October survive. The Dava 50k in November is such a small event (150-200 participants) that it should be safe, but who knows. At least I still have a Virtual London Marathon place in October as emergency back-up.

I could be looking for more small and shorter races in the meantime but a combination of gig dates (we’re getting busy in August and September) and cat-sitting duties mean I’ve only one weekend free between now and Dava. The two local events both require sponsorship, which I don’t want to be involved with at the moment.

So racing could remain virtual for a while yet, and I’ll be taking Covid tests after gigs for the foreseeable future. Life is still far from normal. I’d better make the most of my trip to York.

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