Grizzly Stuff

I didn't get out until mid-afternoon today, and what a beautiful afternoon it was! Seriously spring-like, with blue sky, sunshine, heat, the lot. This was fine if you were an idle birder, vaguely hoping to catch up with a decent gull down the river, but less joyous if you were a not-quite-as-fit-as-you-needed-to-be runner taking part in a very tough 20 mile cross-country race. Unseasonal warmth in a long-distance race is a curse. I know this from experience, so was full of pity for all the Grizzly runners who'd been out in it today. However, in the far distance I could hear a public address system announcing straggling finishers. Blimey, I thought, they must have been out on the course 5 or 6 hours or more, and hurried in to town to watch some pain...

I've written a blog post about the Grizzly once before - in 2009 - but that particular post was destroyed in the Great Deletion. Here are a couple of photos from that day...

Runners gathering for the start - loads and loads of them

Here's just a tiny percentage pouring onto the shingle beach (a modest taste of the evils to come)

Just across the road from the beach are a couple of watering holes, where this afternoon the pavement was solid with folk soaking up the sunshine and large amounts of fluid. Many of them were adorned in fetching blue tee-shirts which loudly proclaimed the harmless idiocy that afflicts a lot of people with as-yet sound knees...

Of course these were all happy finishers, their ordeal over. The town was stiff with them. Many were limping to a gratifying degree. 'No pain, no gain' I expect (like me) they were thinking.

Meanwhile, the hapless few were still straggling home...

Yay!! 'Bit Slow' it says on that cardboard sign. 'Bit Knackered' was written everywhere else!

Plumstead Runners from Greenwich, London

As each runner hove into view the PA would announce their name and where they were from. A ripple of applause greeted everyone. A nice touch. I have many (thankfully blurred) memories of the glorious relief that comes with an approaching Finish Line. The three girls above illustrate the feeling perfectly!

Eventually I headed off to do a bit more birding. From the Tower Hide were 4 Meds among the late afternoon gulls. We've had a good spring passage of Meds, with some superb adults in full breeding dress. On 3 or 4 occasions we've had courtship behaviour between an obvious pair, something I've never seen here before. Mind you, I have noticed that a low-flying helicopter is the birding equivalent of a cold shower. Today's birds were 2 adults and 2 1st-winters. Here's one of the latter...