Blinked & the weekend was gone but not without a pleasant surprise & a lot of hard work. Things took an un-expected turn on Thursday afternoon after I dropped Georg & Simona off in Cardiff for Georg’s operation, brave man! As I checked my e-mails before driving back there was one from Liz Barker saying Paul I’m attempting the Paddy Buckley this Saturday, my support runner for Leg 4 looks like he’s going to pull out due to illness, do you fancy it? Slight hesitation because I’d already decided to not run Moel Elio due to a likely busy weekend at the Cafe, phone call to Dorina, yes you can, commitment made.
Saturday dawned to clearing skies (so much better for Liz than for her partner Jim 3 weeks ago) as we drove over the Crimea at 06:45 by which time Liz was already nearly 6 hours into her schedule having started from Capel at 1:00 am (yes I said one). With Amelia giving me updates as the day progressed it was clear she was going well so I was summoned to Llanberis an hour earlier than initially planned to await Liz who arrived 30 minutes up on her very demanding schedule. By now she had been on the go for over 14 hours but I was still nervous, would my fresh legs keep up?
Thankfully they did as we made our way steadily across Elidir Fach, Elidir Fawr, Mynydd Perfydd & Y Garn before meeting up with Jim at Devil’s Kitchen. Liz again kept to pace up Gyder Fawr (never an easy climb) as well as over to Glyder Fach before beginning to tire a little on Tryfan with it’s horribly steep final descent. This leg took 4 hours 10 minutes, my legs were aching a little from the descent so just what Liz was feeling after over 18 hours god only knows but as she started Leg 5 with Jim in pursuit once he’d sorted her final support bag it was clear that the mental battle of Leg 4 had been overcome & she was going to do it!
Kean & Sandra had kindly waited for us to complete leg 4, my plan to run the 5 miles back to the Cafe for our Open MIC Night was easily abandoned when Kean said ‘Hodges can I offer you a lift’? Thanks mate!
Back at the Cafe, beer in hand I thoroughly enjoyed the Open MIC so thanks to Alan for organising it at the drop of a hat & of course thanks to the musicians & the 50 or so of you who joined us.
Sunday morning was extremely busy but it was great to see so many people enjoying themselves & relaxing, for those who waited longer than ideal your patience was much appreciated, as you probably saw we were doing our best. Just after 1:00 pm I began the long return trip to collect Georg & Simona from Cardiff, thankfully the roads were quieter than expected so we got back to the Cafe by 9:00 pm, where’s that pint?
Monday was another good day weather wise, again the Cafe was busy although less so than Sunday morning but by 8:30 pm I could take a relaxed walk to the Tynny to be joined later by Dorina for an excellent meal & deserved chill out with friends.
We saw over 1,000 people visit the Cafe over the Bank Holiday weekend, hopefully you too felt chilled out during your visit, sadly one couple didn’t, they decided to speak at us & not to us & got exactly what they deserved, in the context of what Georg has just been through they could do with getting a Life, rant over!
A final word, great run Liz, 22 Hours 23 Minutes, you make me dream, could I do it? True mountain people, great to see you in the Cafe on Sunday morning, you looked far fresher than you had any right to be! Thanks for giving me my first taste of a Paddy assist, plenty for the grey matter to now chew!
