Waddington 3, 4 & 5

Its only just over a week until the Scottish Widows Parish Walk and several "in the know" have suggested that Jock Waddington will make it three wins in a row. More about that next week.

The night before last I stayed at the Waddington Arms in the delightful village of Waddington in the Ribble Valley. Its a village that used to be part of the West Riding of Yorkshire but ended up in Lancashire when the county boundaries were changed. My sampling of the Waddington Brewery ended with four pints.

I was being collected at 7 am the next morning and unfortunately had to miss the breakfast on offer. But I still had an early morning delight when I ran five miles to and from Waddington at 5.45 am. The name of the road (Fell Road) should have been a clue and my outward 2.5 miles was entirely uphill! I don't think my miles splits have ever been more varied starting with 7.59 and 7.28, recovering to 7.03 on a half up and half down mile and finishing with 5.22 and 5.14.

I'm used to running undulating courses but that was something else. Hope to see some of the usual crowd in Ramsey tonight - those that trust their TV recorder or don't like football.