Fetcheveryone Member of the Month

pedroscalls asks: Congratulations on the MoTM win um, my question is if tme and money were no object what race or route would you love to do?

um says: Hi pedro. I think I’m too old for ‘short’ races, and too soft for undue hardship. So it would either be a half marathon somewhere, off road, or a longer race. I’m very tempted by the Jurassic Coast Challenge, 3 marathons in 3 days. But I’d want a bath, bed and good food each night rather than a sleeping bag in a tent with lots of others. The distance would stop me racing it, so force me to take time each day, and a few photos.
But I like local ones as well, whether local village or bigger. I prefer smaller to big, and I hate bottlenecks at the start. I used to love the Neolithic Half, across Salisbury Plain, but since they moved the finish from Stonehenge, it’s lost a bit of it’s appeal.

westmoors asks: Congratulations um. If you could meet anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?

um says: Hi westmoors. This is another single answer one I find really diificult. Far too much choice.
So I'll go with one similar to what I may have seen on these questions before.

Me. At 20 (or so).
I'd love to have known then what I know now about life in general.
But I do wonder if the 20 year old me would have listened to some old f**t talking about life & experiences?

Mandymoo asks: Congratulations Um. Other than the NF, where is your favorite place to run/walk?.

um says: Almost anywhere Mandy. I am currently doing the SWCP the ‘soft’ way, renting a house for week and walking sections. With (as above) a bath at the end of the day, good food and a real bed.
But you can also find me in the Lakes, Peaks, or almost anywhere that’s fairly remote and rugged with wildlife of some sort.
I have been known to cycle from Whitstable to Pegwell Bay!

And I think all 'foreign' holidays in the last 20 years have included some walking or cycling.

RRR-CAZ 🇬🇧 asks: Congratulations Um. If you were to receive golden tickets for any sporting event what would you choose to watch?

um says: A loaded question .. as a supporter of Gillingham and Southampton, I equate ‘watching sport’ to a form of slow dementor-like torture, sucking any optimism and hope out of me.

But with a golden ticket, there’s probably 2 options for me.

Either all 5 days at an Ashes test match, any location. I tried that in 2020 as a belated retirement gift to myself. It was WI though, not Ashes, and look what happened. At least I got the money back.

Or, and you may have seen this coming, next year, any of the Paris Paralympic Cycling. Well, assuming fitness and selection, and certain events, even though I suspect watching on TV is better coverage than watching live. But if she (daughter) were to get a gold, I’d like to be there.

Ness asks: Congratulations on winning MOTM, um. You've travelled to lots of fantastic places either for work or for holidays. Asking as advice as a recently retired person... What location would you suggest shouldn't be missed off my 'travel plans' list, and why?

um says: Another ‘best’ question. I’m poor at these because I have too many options. So in reverse, the one place I’ve disliked in Las Vegas. Tacky, noisy and seeming to encourage and celebrate all the worst human traits.
List of ‘must not miss’ ? Although it could be a long list
Singapore – probably my top ever, I enjoy everything about it. Only when I started going it was very cheap. In the last 10 – 15 years it stopped being quite so cheap. Unless you live like a local.
Australia – so many different styles and places and scenery. Never ending options.
US – Yosemite (unbelievable) or the Grand NP Circle we did in 2019 (Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Moab (Arches, Canyonlands Dead Horse, ), Bryce Canyon, Zion, Death Valley. But San Francisco & the South Bay area seem like a second home with the amount of time I’ve spent there.
Grenada – a small hotel on the north coast, Petite Anse.
Venice - we went ther for our honeymoon in 1989 and returned for our 25th anniversary.
Greek Islands - hiring a small boat and finding deserted little beaches to spend the day lazing and snorkelling

And UK … whether out the door and across the fields, New Forest, SWCP, Lakes, Peaks etc etc

Still here? I suppose my real answer is ‘try everything and enjoy it all’. I really like ‘nature’, tranquil or wild, some element of challenge, and engaging with locals, whether people or wildlife.

Sorry, was that too much?
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Late edit, after a few days thinking about it. My top 2, if pushed would be
- Grand Canyon at sunrise (easy with jetlag) and do go down & up while still fit enough (not in summer heat)
- Yosemite, it's unbelievable

HappyG(rrr) asks: Excellent, well done. How did you get into running and what has it meant to you in the past, present and the future? Congrats again. G

um says: Thanks HappyG. Running? I suppose I got into it as a way to keep fit for hockey when I was travelling a lot. I couldn’t train at & with the club mid-week, but I could always go for an early morning run. And I found not just the physical benefits, but also, before it was a thing, ‘mindfulness’. My head, when running, can be completely empty, and some of my best ideas (or in work terms, solutions to problems) have come to me while running.

And when I stopped hockey, I continued running - it could bedone anywhere, almost anytime, and adapted to fit home or work needs.

It’s meant I see a lot more of places than if I just stayed in the hotel, met locals, and got to know some colleagues better. My last manager (a scot & a runner) used to say he had to run fast enough to stop me moaning incessantly for 40 – 60 minutes. If I was waiting in the hotel lobby at 6am, he knew he was in for a fast run 😉

Present – my days of fast times and speed are waning. So I run for enjoyment and fun, and to a level that I could repeat the next day if I wanted to. And always with a rugged sweat & water proof camera of some sort. Off Roader also running helps, because we spent most days out for a run together. Although she doesn't stop when I do for pictures.

The future? I’m wondering how many more years I have. Not morbidly, but fitness wise. I can’t, for example, see another 20 years running. But 10? Maybe. Or 5, or what? So I will do what I can to ensure I extend it as long as possible, while I’m enjoying it, but conscious that it’s not infinite and running will become walking (if I’m lucky) and to really make the most of it while I can.

Sombrero asks: Congratulations Um. If you could go on a photo shoot and run anywhere in the world, where would you pick?

um says: Hi Sombrero – too much for me to easily choose just one. What’s still on the list? I suspect southern hemisphere. Either the Great Barrier Reef again, with a 3 or 4 day reef stay, rather than a day visit, 4 hours of which was on the fast-cat getting there and back; or some of the 4-5 day walks on the headlands or islands off Tasmania.
But again, I’m lucky, I generally can find the same enjoyment running and taking photos from home, or anywhere.

Carpathius asks: Congratulations um! What's your favourite run or race, and why?

um says: Hi Carps. Another toughie. Well tough to narrow down to just one. I like half marathon distances best. No need to be to fast. No need for intensive long term planning. And I can move the next day.
Clarendon was good – and my first ever and fastest, so that’s a plus. But I like finishing in Salisbury and easy exit. Now it’s nearly always in Winchester and a bus to the park and ride, it’s hassle I don’t need.

The Neolithic was great, until they moved the finish away from Stonehenge.

The NF10 is also a good race. But it’s all on shale tracks or roads, so a bit too fast for me.

And Singapore half was a bit special. Even though it was all road and stupid heat. The half started 30 mins after the full maraton, so within about 20 mins, I was passing slower marathon runners/walkers. As I was in the finish straight, the women’s full marathon top 10 or so runners came down and past me. That put me in my place as I realised (a) how small and slim they were and (b) their pace at the end of 26 miles in the heat and (c) the 'crowd' probably weren't cheering me and my union jack shorts.

Pothunter asks: Congrats! What would you have for your death row meal? Starter, main, dessert and something to wash it down.

um says: Hi Pothunter. What a macabre thought. I’d start by doing my best to avoid it. Then, if that failed, meal selection? Probably something with a file or skeleton keys in, if possible. Or a take away, ‘if I could just pop out to collect it’.
If not that, then maybe something with arsenic, cyanide or any similar painless option, to remove the public spectacle and tedium of the next day.
But … failing all that, probably buffalo wings to start. Moules mariniere for main. I like mussels, but with my gout I have to be extremely careful. If it was my last meal, I assume things would be complete before the uric acid & gout kicked in? Dessert? A selection of blue cheeses, with biscuits AND butter. With a good French red …

run free asks: Congratulations! If you could change the world, what would be your top change and why?

um says: Hi run free … change the world? Probably find a way to reduce the human population without the inherit anguish that it would bring. I think most of our problems, whether climate, plastic, other pollution are largely caused by our survival and breeding rates. If there were (eg) 50% less of us, would it be a better world? But I have no ide how to achieve that, other than a century of ‘only 1 child’ type controls, which wouldn’t go down too well.

Failing that, I think we need to find a way to get all people better attuned and aware to get along, treat each other nicely, treat & nurture the planet (and other life on it) nicely. Find ways to enjoy what we have rather than an incessant drive for more.
And of course, praise and help people trying to make the change with real action, like you. Not some of the glue sticking motorway stopping mayhem. (unless you joined that as well?) I think I would be tempted to either leave the glue stickers there, or get a jack hammer, cut them and about 30 kg of tarmac stuck to their hands out, and leave them to it. Does that make me a bad person? If so, sorry.

Mushroom asks: Congratulations. What sporting event or person inspired you to put on your trainers and be active?

um says: This could be a long answer. First off, probably my non-sporting parents encouraging cricket in the garden and tennis at Dad’s company sports ground.

And then, I wish I could answer ‘It was Tim Briault, a biology teacher and Cambridge, England & GB cross country runner who took us out after school’. But that wasn’t the case. I went a few times and didn’t bother. The compulsory school cross country run in the last week of term before Christmas didn’t do much for me either.

At school, I was the ‘slower’ one who went in goal for football at breaks and then hockey in games. And was quite good at it. Then in 6th form at school we got a ‘modern’ PE teacher (as opposed to those that sent us out in the cold while they sat in the pavilion), who had new fangled ‘tests’. I was poor on speed and strength, but top of the group in hand/eye co-ordination, speed over 5 metres (mainly reaction time) and stamina (possibly from cycling to school). So I took a bit more interest in what I was good at. And a hockey master who pushed me towards the School ‘Old Boys’ hockey club. I found that I enjoyed the hockey, and probably the pub straight after. It was odd, my parents didn’t like me going to the pub with my friends, but somehow, because the hockey club was mostly ‘professional’, going to the pub with them was OK. The underage bit never mattered in those days

Hockey goalkeeping became my main sport, at school, club and uni. Along with tennis, also playing for the school and local club. Then at uni I took up squash as well. These all continued through most of my adult life. I moved from hockey goalkeeping to outfield in my late 30s. Firstly I wasn’t too keen on astros, it gave the forwards too much advantage. And I wasn’t too keen on the ‘lay down and let the ball hit you’ coaching at the time. My outfield career lasted another 10 years or so.
Running came along around age 30, as above, as a way of keeping fit. And although I wasn’t ‘fast’, I could plod along for as long as wanted. I won the ‘round-the-village’ race a few times before progressing to half marathons. Normally finishing about ¼ of the way down the field. The other sports dropped off as I aged – squash because I was beginning to think 40 mins frantic heart bursting exercise was only going to end badly, and hockey, because I couldn’t do stairs for 2 or 3 days after a game. Whereas running (and walking and occasional cycling) carried on and continues to this day.

Too much info?