Author Archives: Roads

59. Running in Crawley

Posted on 2 July, 2004 | Leave a comment

crawley-west-sussex-summer-2004.jpgSadly, not every lunchtime yields the opportunity to make it beyond the edge of Crawley.

Here are two portraits of the local scenery which I finally decided not to forward to the company photographic competition.

It really is like running though one of those 1960s public information films, or starring in an English remake of ‘Gregory’s Girl‘.

Related articles:
46. On the front line – Crawley’s echoes of Madrid
74. God Jul: from Copenhagen to Crawley
58. Running in the North Downs
39. Woking – from Necropolis to Technology Junction
42. Twenty six times two – marathon dreams in the Surrey Hills

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Posted in 2004, summer, Surrey and Sussex

58. Running in the North Downs

Posted on 30 June, 2004 | Leave a comment

From June into July, the scenery is pretty spectacular around here, and my running routes look at their best. Here are some pictures taken this month whilst running on the Downs above my house, and on my way to work each morning.

summer-north-downs-and-surrey-hills.jpg

Related articles:
138. A winter Sunday on the North Downs
42. Twenty six times two – marathon dreams in the Surrey Hills
134. Before the mast: Pewley Down, Guildford
76. A year of running, rainily

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Posted in 2004, summer, Surrey and Sussex

57. Blackpool Marathon: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Posted on 21 June, 2004 | Leave a comment

I know it’s out of fashion and a trifle uncool
But I can’t help it, I’m a romantic fool
It’s a habit of mine to watch the sun go down
On Echo Beach, I watch the sun go down.
Martha and the Muffins – February 1980


It’s a cold and blustery June evening, beside a deserted beach somewhere in Northern England. Far out to the west, the sun is setting beyond the receding tides, as the Irish Sea is whipping itself up into a swift herd of white horses. The weather doesn’t look that good for tomorrow, but it’ll be far too late to worry then. For when I see this spot again in the morning, it’ll be at the 23 mile mark of the Blackpool Marathon.
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Posted in 2004, music, racing, the marathon journey

56. Paris – a view from the Champs de Mars

Posted on 6 June, 2004 | 2 comments

eiffel-tower-picasso-blue-roofs-and-champs-de-mars-paris.jpgKicking down the cobblestones on a warm and sultry morning, there are just a few marble steps to climb ahead. And already, blue sky is rent by cool bronze metal, still tepid in the hazy sunshine across the river. From here at the Trocadero, the Eiffel Tower stands framed amidst the Champs de Mars. The green baize stretches far into the sun, with only the black morning menace of the Montparnasse Tower revealing the modern face of the golden city beyond.

If a million strands are bound together to make a life, then the thread of Paris runs through much of mine. Continue reading →

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Posted in 2004, A1 - the best of roads of stone, France, music, Paris

55. A redemption in Manchester

Posted on 23 May, 2004 | Leave a comment

great-manchester-run-2004-and-imperial-war-museum-north-salford.jpgToday is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you
By now you should’ve somehow
Realized what you gotta do
Oasis – October 1995

Play: Wonderwall — Oasis
http://www.musicwebtown.com/roadsofstone/playlists/20008/164233.mp3%20

Some day you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supercity in the sky
Oasis – October 1995

How can you make up for a lifetime of neglect ? Certainly neglect is what it had amounted to. Malign intent there hadn’t been, but the effect was the same either way. That was a thought to occupy me, as I joined the motorway at 5 am on Sunday morning, with a very long drive ahead and far too little sleep behind me. But I had to make amends, and this was the only way to do it.

Because for forty years and more, and I’m ashamed to admit it now, I’d just never been to Manchester.
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Posted in 2004, Iraq, music, racing

54. Four minute mile

Posted on 6 May, 2004 | Leave a comment

four-minute-mile-roger-bannister-iffley-road-oxford-may-1954.jpg

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the first sub-4 minute mile. With some help from Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher, Roger Bannister circled the Oxford University track four times on his way to a world record time of 3:59.4.

I used to cycle past the Iffley Road track each day on my way to geology lectures. My girlfriend then lived in Oxford’s nearby Parker Street, the same street where Jack Lovelock, mile world record holder and 1500 m Olympic Champion in Berlin, had lived many years before.
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Posted in 2004, heroes, life and times