Well, it has arrived, International Barefoot Running Day (IBRD) the first attempt at getting everyone out for a barefoot run on the same day.
The forecast was not looking good over the weekend, the rain started on the Friday night and went into Saturday morning but then cleared and just left grey cloud.
Would the rain hold off for Sunday was the question I had on my mind as I went to bed on Saturday night.
The answer came on Sunday morning, no, it was pouring down. Maybe it would ease off and stop by 10am I hoped.
I got a call from a friend of mine who said he was at the meeting place early, I threw some gear into a bag and set off for Grange.
The rain was coming down quite hard, the cars wipers were going and I had my headlights on. I parked up in the car park near the cafe. The rain was coming down steadily. I saw my friend getting out of his car and we looked around for some shelter. There was a plastic sun shade on the grass by the beach so we headed over there and waited to see if any others would turn up.
Shortly after David turned up with some VFF's, he was still fairly new to barefoot/minimalist running and was trying to get a feel for it. A little later Andrew and another Andrew turned up, one rather bravely cycling the 13km from the city in the pouring rain.
More people started to show up shoeless and I thought wow, news must have travelled further, around 10 others were now sheltering under the roof. But, no, they were not here for the IBRD they were just there for soccer training on the beach.
After introductions and a bit of background information swapping we all agreed that we could cope with the 2km of road run and 2km of beach.
It was actually very enjoyable running through the rain and puddles, it wasn't cold, it was around 16C and by the time we got to Henley the rain has eased off. Everyone got there in one piece without any injuries.
A brief rest there then onto the different surface of the beach. The tide was out and it felt great running up the beach in a group.
All 5 of us made it back in one piece, there may be the odd stiff calf next week but all enjoyed it and we rewarded ourself with a coffee at the local cafe before heading home.
I have a few photos but will have to work out how to post them.
Neil
The forecast was not looking good over the weekend, the rain started on the Friday night and went into Saturday morning but then cleared and just left grey cloud.
Would the rain hold off for Sunday was the question I had on my mind as I went to bed on Saturday night.
The answer came on Sunday morning, no, it was pouring down. Maybe it would ease off and stop by 10am I hoped.
I got a call from a friend of mine who said he was at the meeting place early, I threw some gear into a bag and set off for Grange.
The rain was coming down quite hard, the cars wipers were going and I had my headlights on. I parked up in the car park near the cafe. The rain was coming down steadily. I saw my friend getting out of his car and we looked around for some shelter. There was a plastic sun shade on the grass by the beach so we headed over there and waited to see if any others would turn up.
Shortly after David turned up with some VFF's, he was still fairly new to barefoot/minimalist running and was trying to get a feel for it. A little later Andrew and another Andrew turned up, one rather bravely cycling the 13km from the city in the pouring rain.
More people started to show up shoeless and I thought wow, news must have travelled further, around 10 others were now sheltering under the roof. But, no, they were not here for the IBRD they were just there for soccer training on the beach.
After introductions and a bit of background information swapping we all agreed that we could cope with the 2km of road run and 2km of beach.
It was actually very enjoyable running through the rain and puddles, it wasn't cold, it was around 16C and by the time we got to Henley the rain has eased off. Everyone got there in one piece without any injuries.
A brief rest there then onto the different surface of the beach. The tide was out and it felt great running up the beach in a group.
All 5 of us made it back in one piece, there may be the odd stiff calf next week but all enjoyed it and we rewarded ourself with a coffee at the local cafe before heading home.
I have a few photos but will have to work out how to post them.
Neil