Special BOGOF edition! Two races for the price of one!

The Battle of Hastings was fought on the 14th of October, or so Wikipedia tells me, and who am I to doubt?

By contrast, the Birthday of Amanda is known to be the 18th of May.

The "Out of the Blue" Battle 10k is held, this year, on the 18th of May. Whatever can it be commemorating?

It should be said, though, the weather is pissing awful. We stand in our hotel room looking out the window, thinking shall we just write it off? But we're British dammit! Admittedly at pretty much the last moment, we jump in the car and off we go.


Shall we call it a 'moist' start?


Nice weather for Canada geese.

Did you know that Canada geese, while not native to this country, were actually first introduced in the seventeenth century?!


Now that'll make them jealous at SSP - the photographer has his very own brolly-wallah!

Its a bit of luck to some degee that I'm here, as this point is really nowhere near the previous year's route. There was nothing on the web site or in the race instructions so I had to find a previous runner's GPS track on Strava, but chatting to one of the marshals, I gather that the route has never been the same twice. Apparently the estate owners keep changing their minds and the final course was only settled a few days ago.


The course is really dry, they said; so dry that even if it rains heavily it won't get badly muddy. Hmm... Run that by me again...?


Ah, the evening sun glinting on the lake. Ish. Use your imagination.


So ends the battle of Battle!

Back to the hotel for a warm shower and cold champagne :-)

Fast-forward to Sunday, and the Chislehurst Half-Marathon.


Gosh, that's looking a bit different! We have sunshine and warmth for a change.


"Just pummel me with your fists for now, you can use the whip later!"


Making sure the timing mat doesn't float away on the breeze. Perhaps the girls can borrow his hammer afterwards.


Amanda takes part in the warmup from a safe distance.


That child is definitely cheating!


A rather different start from Thursday. Now to jump on the bike and head round to my first interception point.


Whoops. Not going to cycle through the fallen tree, I fear. I try to find a way though the adjacent cemetery, but there's a locked gate just where an unlocked one would be perfect, so it's Plan C now.


Well, anyway, one way or another I make it to the beautiful A20 Sidcup Bypass.


The woodland paths here are dry. The name 'Chislehurst' (yet another fascinating fact of the day!) is derived from the Saxon words cisel meaning 'gravel', and hyrst meaning 'wooded hill', from which you can deduce that it's well-drained soil, not claggy clay.


And back on the A20, we have some entertainment!


1:57? I'll have you know her Garmin says 1:56:59! For a new and unknown semi-trail race, this is a most pleasing result.

That's it for our special double-bill. Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Love to all,

Steve.