Saturday, May 08, 2010

 

What a day - highlights and the weather.

What a day!
There have undoubtedly been highlights - but the weather was not one of them.
The day for some family members began early - maybe they got little sleep last night.
This morning at twenty past seven our latest great nephew was born.



He is Charlie.
He is son of our niece Megan (my brother's daughter) and Tom.
So, there was an early morning highlight - though we didn't get to see his picture until much later in the day.
Charlie - I am jealous! When I was young I can remember working out in my head which date sounded the best to have a birthday, and May 8th was it!
Bill and I have been timekeeping at the County Championships. Our first County Championships was in 1982 - and we look back with rose tinted spectacles on a succession of warm, sunny days for this event.
Today it was cold, windy, grey and at times very wet.
There is no roof over the timekeepers steps, so we all huddled at the back to get as much cover as possible - "all" means 7 people.
We worked and we chatted.
Here, Bill, Gerry and Dennis are working.


Time to pose and smile.
The starters are Tony and Jim (the plumber).
Jim was well protected on his feet for a rain soaked field.
Mandy is employed by the sports centre - and is just about the only one who knows how to organise the track and equipment for a meeting.
Soon after this there was drizzle and them much heavier rain.
Very rarely are athletics events cancelled because of the weather.
That's fine for the athletes who are out in the weather only for as long as their event lasts.
Officials are out in it for the entire meeting, which today was about 7 hours.
We all began to feel cold - wearing many layers and gloves.
This is so not fair for May.
There were a few short breaks and you can imagine that we all crammed into the small officials refreshment room for a warming cuppa.




This is Chris Carter - what remains of his hair is gleaming with the wetness.
Chris was once a great athlete - British record holder for 800 metres.
He competed in the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 and Mexico 1968.
Now he is chairman of the Amateur Athletic Association.
He has always taken an interest in me - and lately because I have something in common with his son - the removal of the bladder. Richard was able to have a reconstructed bladder from large intestine tissue - but I certainly didn't have enough of that left.

This was a view from the timekeeper's steps of the Under 15 girls high jump competition.
You see that the competitors kept out of the rain by sheltering under the pole vault mat covers.
Pink socks has been called to jump.
There were some good competitions.
The highlight for me was the men's hammer competition. Mick Jones was competing again - I guess he has done so for all those years since our first in 1982.
He became the British record holder and competed in all the major championships.
Today he became a world record holder.
He threw the hammer further than anybody else in the world has done in his age group. Mick is now 47.
He is such a nice man.
He laughed when I said I wanted a picture of a world record holder - "I am just Mick" he said.
So here is a picture of Mick - who happens to be the best hammer thrower in the world for his age.

After such a hard day, I cannot think why we want to do it again tomorrow.
The weather forecast is better.
There are other friends to meet up with - and tomorrow there will be no feeling of pressure.
Bill was chief today and I felt I should try and stay alert to support him.
Time for a nice warm cuppa and a nice warm bed now. Good night.
Congratulations to the new grandparents.

What a day - highlights and the weather.
posted by Grandma P on Saturday, May 08, 2010