REDHOUSE RIVER MILE FEBRUARY 2009

Redhouse River Mile: February 2009.

Sunday 22.02.2009; morning we had a slow start to the day. At church I heard a voice saying: "Do you still run Peter?". I had just half greeted a face that looked vaguely familiar but I had no idea who it was. We chatted for a while about running and stuff and all along I was battling to remember the woman’s name. We spoke about the Foot Of Africa, Richard van Schalkwyk, and her wine career and that she was in PE to promote something at the Boardwalk. She told me that she had recently had a Back Operation and was out of running. Charles and Ingrid were playing in the front of the church and Charles greeted me but then this person who I now realised stayed in CT greeted him back. It turned out that she was a sister in law of Charles. and I still had no idea what her name was. Finally the service was about to begin and I said: If you are going to run 2 Oceans half then I will contact you. And asked her to write down her phone number. Sneaky? I know; but this was the only was that I could discover that this was in fact Michelle Stewart who I think is also a family member of Diana Lamb or of John Harwood. After church we went down to Nippers. It had been blowing for a few days and the waves were disgustingly big and dumping. There was a small contingent of Nippers and coaches. Lynne and I took about 12 U10’s for a bit of swimming and boarding. We also did a bit of running to keep warm. After Nippers we drove (with the aid of my new GPS toy) to Redhouse. Ally’s race started at 14.00. Clint and a group of Summies people were there. Clint had been there since 08.30am and had reserved a prime spot. I was glad to see that both Andrew and Bruce had brought their families for the days festivities. Unfortunately the wind had destroyed the tent and Clint had run out of gas for his pot but he solved this with a bit of help from the Bowls Club people. The pot was put onto a stove and then later onto a fire. Ally & I had our numbers written on our arms and then we walked to the start of Ally’s race. Ally’s friends; Meghan and ANO joined her for the walk and I left her to carry on. I saw that Jenny Giddy’s friend? and Arlene Wulfson were back again this year. I walked back to the Finish area and waited to see Ally finish. The Ladies race was exciting with a number of the local youngsters that we know doing well; the two Billson girls Lauren and Carmel, Jessica Liss and Kristie Vaughn all did well. Then came Tara and Ally in a front group. I was surprised and delighted to see Ally doing so well. She finished in about 22 Minutes. I collected her cap and Goggles for myself. I don’t normally worry with Goggles but with the wind in our faces I decided to rather wear the Goggles for eye protection. It was a hot day and I should have used sunscreen as well. I walked to the start of our race with Sean (Crusaders). Debbie Derry and Jacqui Zeelie had a few encouraging words for me. I must have looked apprehensive. I passed Robbie Blaire on the pathway. Shane Norris and Peter Merrington were there. I saw David Emslie and Keith Reading (ex Achilleans) at the start. This race was well supported by local people; I saw people with the numbers in the 1000’s and so the race must have had that number of entrants. The Men’s start went off well. I was surprised to see that after a few minutes after the start there were still some chaps walking down the side of the river. But I determined to try to swim the whole way. Normally what I do is quite a bit of gasping for breath and Breast stroke. Today I managed to swim Crawl the whole way except for a few brief moments when I had to find my way and also when I collided with another swimmer. The first section of the swim is the toughest. We seem to swim forever before we reach the first house. Then it seems to go a lot quicker as we pass houses and Jetty’s. The Goggles helped immensely as I was able to keep my eyes open and felt a sense of being in control throughout the swim. There was a huge Buoy in the middle of the river and as I swam past this then I knew it was not far to go. I pressed on as hard as I could and was soon approaching the finish banner. I saw Christian Fraser and the Mc Gillivray’s ahead of me. Luke and Matthew Hepburn had a good swim as well. My time was not that good, but I had a stunning swim with no breaks and felt good afterwards. We were handed a bottle of water at the finish. I gulped half of it down as the water is very salty and I needed the hydration. People had spoken about the condition of the water. Personally I did not find it dirty. There is a lot of grass and stuff that attaches itself to you as you swim but this did not worry me at all. Back at the Summies area I realised that I had impressed Lukea and Terry with my speedy swim as they commented on my dolphin like style. I think it was probably the spray of white water that I displace as I cut through the water with graceful strokes. Clint had worked on his Sloppy Joe recipe and I immediately devoured my first one after putting on my t-shirt. As the afternoon progressed it appeared that word of Clint’s Sloppy Joe Rolls had spread like wildfire. There were queues of people from all around the venue lining up for seconds. He should go into business on a day like today. I suggest that you diarise the River Mile for 2010. Even if it is only to sample Clint’s Famous Sloppy Joe recipe! Patrick & Terry had bought a couple of batches of doughnuts. This was enough to fill me to capacity. Ally went off to buy ice creams and returned with one for me as well declaring that she knew that I would want one. Was I stuffed? Barbara had brought Digby to Redhouse. Digby always seems to attract affection and attention. Marcus & Susanne Burri were there. Marcus is a good swimmer and won his category. His son, MC, did a good time as well with a 20 minute swim. We all waited for the prize giving which started about an hour late. Unfortunately none of us won a prize nor did we win the Scooter Lucky Draw. Matthew Mc Gillivray had won it last year and we half thought that it might be one of us this year. Once home we showered and were soon ready for bed. Jacqui phoned to say that she was home in London safely. It had been an 18 hour trip for them and they were glad to be home at last.

Lise Mari: Nipper from Summerstrand:
Hi PeterLise-Mari also took part in the river mile.RegardsAnne-Marie Goosen