2012 - Day Out 04: Dudley Action Heart 5

Date: Sunday 26 February 2012

After last years entry into the Dudley Action Heart 5 run and also my first ever race, I decide to go for a Sunday morning jog again this year, doing my best for charity.

Just before Christmas, I checked the Action Heart Running website, and noticed that the dates had been posted for the Dudley Action Heart 5 run, there was also a link to download the entry form, so a glutton for punishment, I filled the form in. With the form filled in and my entry money counted out, I thought that I would go the extra mile and personally hand deliver my entry form to the offices of Action Heart. I pop outside the door at work, turn right and walk to the offices next door, this was also the offices of Action Heart, so I ring the door bell and hand my form in. I enquire to see if I was the first to hand my form in, and also asked "If I am first does this mean that I will get the number 1?" The reply was that I wasn't the first, but she would see what she could do. A few weeks later, Action Heart returned the favour and delivered my race details and my race number and personally hand delivered it through the letter box at work. As soon as I had the envelope in my hand, I ripped it open to see what number I had got. I was shocked when I first saw my number, it wasn't the prestigious number "1", but it was quite literally second best, I will be running the race with the number "2". There were a few weeks to go before the event, so I got in touch with Mr UKBuses to give him the date, and also ask him the question "Are you going to take part this year?"  A quick reply arrived and he declined to be mad like me and take part in the race, but he did state that he would be undertaking the driving duties that day.

After weeks of waiting, the big day had arrived and with a pleasant night's sleep before the day arrived, I woke up and was so enthusiastic that I decided to have an extra five minutes in bed, then another, but I couldn't keep delaying the inevitable I had to get up and get ready, as I waken I realise that I have the start of a cold, something that I didn't really want on this day. I dig out the running tights and shorts and my bright yellow running top, the first outing since last years killer Kinver 10K run in September, all I need to do now is wait for Mr UKBuses, just before 08.45 he turns up and I start getting into the spirit by running across the road to his car. I get myself strapped in and off we go. We pass through Wollaston and Mr UKBuses decides to go via Wollaston Farm, this is where I open my bag and find out that I haven't got my energy drink with me so Mr UKBuses pulls up at the Nisa shop where I run in and buy a couple. The person serving me spots my race number peeking out from under my coat and then asks me if I'm going to be doing the course in my jeans, would love to but they are a bit too heavy and my legs would be sweating by the first half mile. I get back into the car and start drinking so I get an energy boost, and we make our way through Brierley Hill where Mr UKBuses is getting held up by a cyclist who thinks he owns the road, we overtake him as we get to where Harts Hill Garage once stood, but when we get to the lights at Holly Hall he pulls up at the side of us whilst we are waiting for the lights to change. Luckily we turn left and he goes straight on, we are now by Russell's Hall Hospital, and we have been allocated a parking space on the car park at the steel company opposite the hospital. I take my jeans and coat off and put them in Mr UKBuses boot and we make our way across to the hospital. As we are near the reception, my bladder decides to make an appearance so I pop into the hospital where I use the toilet, and when I come out Mr UKBuses is there hanging around by the "Healthy Hub", as he had a change of mind on race day? Sadly not, and we make our way around to the back of the hospital. As we are nearing the corner we pass some mobile toilets and the bladder decides to play up again, so I join the other runners and queue for my last toilet break before the race. With the deed done, we make our way around the corner with the start line in my sights.

There are only a few minutes before the race begins, this time last year I was not sure what lay ahead, at least this year I have an idea and know the course which means I can plan my run around the hilly parts. I do a few warm up exercises and before I know it I hear the klaxon go off and the race is under way, see me in the left hand side of the picture, left. The klaxon took me by surprise and I hadn't done a lot of warm up, but I make my way pass the Bushey Fields part of the hospital, and out up Bushey Fields Road onto the main Kingswinford Road. From here I make my way along part of the 246 route, a road I'm getting used to having run along here last year, and walked down as part of the first 246 Charity Walk in August last year (where I think I ended up running down this road to get to the hospital to deliver a message to Mr UKBuses who had gone ahead on the support bus). At the end of Kingswinford Road we arrive by the Holly Hall School and the marshal helps me across the road safely (it was me marshaling that spot last time I was here), and up the main Stourbridge Road up towards Dudley. Just before I make our way to Queens Cross, I see the "1 mile" sign, which I was expecting this year, and I slow down as I know what lies ahead. As I arrive at Queens Cross, I turn left into Wellington Road, taking a steady space as this is the killer hill (see a graph showing the gradients on the course, above right) on the route, and I make it to the top without stopping, I had to last year at this point as I didn't know how big the hill was, and I turn left into Stafford Street, where at the end of the road, I turn left into Wolverhampton Street. The hill has taken its toll on me again, but instead of stopping and walking up Wolverhampton Street this year, I slow down to near enough a snails pace, which gives me time to recover and a chance to have a couple of gulps of energy drink. As I arrive at the island at the top of the Himley Road, I gather pace again and we turn into Himley Road and this is where I start to enjoy the run now as I know the next bit is downhill.

As I start making my way down Himley Road, the "2 mile" sign is seen and the gradient starts to descent and  as I gather up pace, it starts to get tricky to overtake runners ahead as the pavements we are running on are getting really narrow due to a large number of cars being illegally parked half on the road and half on the pavement. I decide to do what other runners are doing and that is running on the road, making sure that I don't stray too much into the road and try to keep to the kerbs side as much as I can. I am just passing Grange Park now and am loving this part of the route as the descent is making it nice and easy, I make my way further down Himley Road and just as I pass the junction of Sandford Road, the lovely descent starts to turn into a small ascent and I my pace is slowed as I make my way to the Milking Bank Island. I carry on along the Himley Road, and I have to make my way onto the side of the road again as there is no pavement to run along on this part of the route, just as we arrive at Coopers Bank Road, I know there are only a couple of miles left as I see the "3 mile" sign.

As I turn left into from Himley Road into Coopers Bank Road, I am at the apex of the last ascent and it is another part of the route I like as it is all downhill for about three quarters of a mile. I carry on down Coopers Bank Road and about a third of the way down I am opposite the Gornal Wood Crematorium and it was at this point last year that I thought that is where I would have ended last years race, this year I am looking more hopeful and I carry on down the hill. I am now approaching Smithy Lane and as I make my way into Smithy Lane, the descent turns into another ascent, and I slow down a little as I know what lays ahead again, another hill, not a big hill such as the one at the beginning of the course, but a long small hill which drains your legs of energy. I reach the end of Smithy Lane and I have to turn into Tansey Green Road. From here to just past the High Oak in Pensnett it is uphill and I make my way along Tansey Green Road and pass the sign that points out "4 miles".

It was just before I saw the "4 mile" sign last year that I had to stop and walk for a bit along this part of the route, but as I know what to expect this year, I drop my pace as I run along Smithy Road and along Tansey Green Road and sail past the sign this year. I am now at the end of Tansey Green Road and I turn left again and into High Street Pensnett, I can see what was The High Oak pub in the distance and make my way up the hill. I pass the Post Office and disaster strikes, just as I get to the High Oak, I have something that stops me in my tracks, a dreaded stitch. This causes me to stop for the first time in this run and I have a minute or so to get my breath back whilst holding on to my left side. One of the runner asks me what's wrong as she passes me, and when I tell her I have stitch, she shouts to me as she makes her way to try and run through it, so I take a few stops and as I make my way past the High Oak, the hill levels out and I take a few strides and make my way from Pensnett High Street and up towards Russell's Hall Hospital. Even though my side is killing me, the lady who passed me has given me good advice, I may be running at a snails pace, but the pain is starting to go. I am level with the Fox and Grapes and I have a hill to climb, so I put a bit more pressure on my legs and run faster, I can see the junction of Elgar Crescent ahead and as I add more pressure, the stitch in my side decides to fight back and I have to stop again and walk along a bit. I cross Elgar Crescent and carry on up the High Street, I see Mr UKBuses ahead and I hope that he hasn't seen me walking that last bit, so through my pain I gather pace and make my way towards the first entrance road to the hospital, and pass Mr UKBuses who is videoing me on his camera, as I pass I don't know what expression I was making towards him as I was fighting a bit of a pain in my side, if it was an evil look I apologise to Mr UKBuses but I'm sure the evidence will be appearing on his blogspot for all to see. I'm only three corners away from the finish line and I am having a final blast of energy on the last part of the course, one corner down, and I'm straight into another corner (this was where I surprised Mr UKBuses last year as he was asleep around this part and wasn't expecting me), and another pick up of steam as I pass the mobile toilets (I think those will be used in a while), and now I can see my final corner. On the final corner I can see a clock and it is showing 50 minutes I can't see what the seconds say as I have my thoughts on the finish line, with the final corner down I can see the finish line and there is another clock there and as I pass it I think my time is around the 51 minutes 30 seconds mark (When I get back home, the official time is 51 minutes and 26 seconds), but with a pain in the side (Mr UKBuses is still making his way from the main road so it isn't him), I slow down and stop just by the t-shirt stall where I am given a free t-shirt for taking part and completing the course, see picture above right. I walk a few more steps and I am given a free bottle of water. 

As I take a few sips, I make my way back towards the finish line where Mr UKBuses spots me, Mr UKBuses takes a photo of me, and then decides to take another, but I walk a few steps and take a seat on a waiting bench before he takes the shot, as can be seen pictured left. I spend the next five minutes getting my breath back and as I finish off my water I stand, where my right ankle is now aching loads, and we make our way towards the front of the hospital. I turn the corner and just before I spot the mobile toilets, the water has already made its way to my bladder and I have to make a stop and use the facilities, at least I haven't got to queue this time. After my toilet stop, we carry on towards the front of the hospital and across the main road towards where Mr UKBuses car is parked. As we arrive back on the car park, my legs are now starting to copy my right ankle and ache, we finally get back to the car where I spot a bin and run over to it to throw my empty bottle away, the running bit was a bad idea, and I slowly walk back to the car. I get dressed back into my jeans and coat and decide to throw away my energy drink which I left in the car earlier, this time I walk to the bin and back. I finally crawl into the passenger seat where I can have a rest on the journey ahead. About twenty minutes after leaving Russell's Hall I arrive back home and as Mr UKBuses pulls up outside my house, I struggle to get onto my legs. Before I clamber out of the passenger seat, I "throw" my money at Mr UKBuses which means that I have paid my debts for the train tickets for a trip to London next Saturday, and I say my goodbyes, walking across the road and into home, where after a well deserved "fresh air" break, I have a long soak in a hot bath to soothe my aching bones.

I enjoyed my run even though I was about thirty seconds over last year's time and I suffered a stitch for the last half mile, but at least I can go away knowing that I have raised some money for a well deserved cause. The only let down of the day was the high numbers of cars parked half on the road and pavements along the course, this is out of control of the organisers but it does ask the question of what the local police force are doing. A BIG thank you goes to Mr UKBuses for taking on the role of driving duties and getting up early on a Sunday morning to take me there and also for not making me walk all the way back from Russell's Halls Hospital (via the 246 route of course!), only one thing for it now that I have refreshed my self and wrote this, "Same time next year?", I may not be asking the same question in the next few days as my bones are sure to be aching.


Even though I have completed the run, donations can still be made on-line on my justgiving.com page, to view my page and make a donation (no matter how big or small, every little helps), click here.

* The start and finish line photo's have been taken from the Flickr site: Brian Smith Photography.

2012 - Day Out 03: Nottingham

Date: Saturday 11 February 2012

It is time for the third trip of 2012, and we decide that we try out a new location, Nottingham, a place where we can search for a couple of TV locations and explore a new city.

I make my wait out into the winter weather all wrapped up to cope with the low temperatures that we are experiencing at the moment, I arrive in Wollaston at 07.30, where I have a few minutes to wait for my first bus of the day to arrive, National Express West Midlands Service 276. I board and duly make my way to the back and sit right next to a heater to get some feeling back in my fingers quickly so that I can send the customary text to let Mr UK Buses know that the bus is on its way. Just under ten minutes have passed on the journey where Mr UK Buses boards and joins me at the back of the bus, which will take us straight to Stourbridge Junction via Stourbridge. Before we get to Stourbridge Junction, we pass the new Stourbridge Interchange which is now looking more complete. We arrive in Brook Road, where we alight and have a short walk up to Stourbridge Junction, Mr UK Buses leads the way and we head up the steps to Platform 2 for Birmingham bound trains, that is until Mr UK Buses spots the station information and quickly turns around where we then make our way to Platform 3 which is where our train will be departing from today. As we make our way onto the platform, our train is already waiting and we board onto the recently unveiled Class 172 train and quickly take a seat and start to thaw out. We pass through Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis and just as we are thawing out, we arrive at Smethwick Galton Bridge station where we have to alight and change to Platform 4 where we have a little wait for a Birmingham bound train. We decide to have a little warm in the waiting room, but there seems to be little heating in the room. Our train arrives and we board for the short journey which takes us to Birmingham New Street.

We have a bit of time to kill upon arrival at New Street, so we head to the main concourse where we decide to have some breakfast and sample a bacon roll from Burger King, we don't have to wait long after ordering, and we quickly devour our food before I pop outside for some "fresh air" and then head back indoors to W H Smiths to get some refreshments for our train journey ahead, we take advantage of the offers and get two bottles for £2.50, Mr UK Buses opts for a Cherry Coke and I opt for my usual Doctor Pepper, chocolate is also purchased for consumption on the train. We look at the screens and find out that we have to board at Platform 9A and we make our way down to the platform to find that the Arriva CrossCountry train is already waiting to depart. We board and find that a table seat is available, which gives us more room to get comfortable for the journey. The train leaves the station and we are on our way to Nottingham where we will pass through Tamworth, Burton-Upon-Trent and Derby. The train journey will take just over one hour and ten minutes, but this time is increased as disaster strikes just before we arrive at Derby Station. A train has broken down on the points ahead of us, which means that we cannot move forward as the train is blocking our line. Fortunately, Network Rail are quick on the scene and after twenty minutes the train has been moved and we are on our way again, the train stops at Derby and we pass through Beeston before we finally arrive at Nottingham Railway Station.

We alight and make our way into the streets of Nottingham, we manage to exit by the side of the station, and we only have a short walk down to the first destination of the day, so I opt for a quick bit of "fresh air", whilst Mr UK Buses has already got his camera out taking pictures of the Nottingham City Transport and Trent Barton buses in service. We make our way down Carrington Street to the Broadmarsh Bus Station which is an undercover bus station attached to the Westfield Broadmarsh Shopping Centre. After a few photographs have been taken, we head indoors to the Travel Centre to purchase our ticket for the day, Mr UK Buses is ahead in the queue and the woman behind the counter looks at Mr UK Buses with a confused look (something that happens quite often) when he asks for a Kangaroo day ticket. The woman tells him to "hop it" and that he has to purchase it from the driver on the bus. We make our way out of the bus station back into Carrington Street, on our way out we spot that they have catered for Mr D9 with a big "pay-to-use" toilet placed in the corner of the bus station. After we get to the end of Carrington Street, we turn into Collin Street, where we wait and wait until our first bus pulls up, CityLink C2 which is operated by Nottingham City Transport and is a "park and ride" route. We board and purchase our Kangaroo Day Tickets, priced at £3.70, and the C2 takes us to the first location of the day.

After a five minute journey we alight in Daleside Road, we opt for the next stop rather than the original stop that was on the plan, this was due to Mr UK Buses being half asleep and spots the stop just as we pass the stop. After we get off the bus, we make our way back down Daleside Road and turn left into Trent Lane which will take us to the Meadow Lane Industrial Estate. As we head down Trent Lane, Mr UK Buses is again haunted as a National Express Coach passes us. This coach is not in service due to the location of where it is going, but Mr UK Buses spots where it has gone. Meanwhile we arrive at the end of Trent Lane and spot our first location just past the entrance to Meadow Lane Industrial Estate. A few years ago, we went around Birmingham to visit a few filming locations that were used in the ITV series titled "Boon", which starred David Daker and Michael Elphick and also introduced Neil Morrissey to our screens. From the fourth series onwards, the series moved to Nottingham, so whilst we were in the area we thought that we would seek out another location, and located in Meadow Lane Industrial Estate is a building, pictured right, which was used as the office for Crawford-Boon Security (CBS) a joint business venture between the main characters of Harry (David Daker) and Ken (Micheal Elphick). A couple of photographs are taken and with no sign of Harry or Ken, we make our way back to Daleside Road, before we reach the end of the road, Mr UK Buses takes a detour and finds where the National Express coach went, Silverdale Coaches, a local day tour coach operator and also looks as if the company undertakes a few school bus services if the yellow double deckers are anything to go by. A few photographs are taken, and we get back on course and reach the bus stop at Daleside Road, just as we arrive, so does our Nottingham City Transport Citylink Service C2, which takes us back to Nottingham. We alight just before the city centre, and we walk to Pettyfoot Street where we stop at the Trent Barton Bus Depot and take a few photographs. We literally walk around the corner and we once again stop to take pictures of the Nottingham City Transport bus depot. After the depot pictures have been taken we have a short walk up Lower Parliament Street to Southwell Road, where a number of bus services serve the stop which will take us back to the city centre. A Nottingham City Transport Service 43 turns up and we are only on the bus for about seven minutes before we alight again at King Street.

It has now been decided that we are getting a bit peckish so we shall now have dinner, we have a short walk from King Street and end up outside of the City Council House and the magnificent Old Market Square, a pedestrianised area of Nottingham, where the Nottingham Express Transit tramway is the only traffic that is allowed in the square. We take a few pictures at the tram stop located near the Nottingham City Council House, and after we have finished taking some photographs, we take a couple of steps behind the tram stop and enter a J D Wetherspoons public house, "The Joseph Else", a clean looking establishment. I stand at the bar and order our drinks whilst Mr UK Buses tries to find a seat. It looks like we may be standing, but as I get served, Mr UK Buses spots that there is another area upstairs, so when I have been served, I take our drinks upstairs and Mr UK Buses has found a table and it is a lovely view as we can see across the huge Old Market Square watching people get on with their everyday lives whilst keeping warm. After looking at the menu, Mr UK Buses opts for the BBQ Chicken Melt but without the "Melt" and I opt for my usual beer and burger. It only takes about ten minutes for our food to arrive and after devouring our grub and letting it settle for a few minutes, we head back outside into the winter weather.

We make our way from the Old Market Square and up Friar Lane to Standard Hill, and just after we enter Standard Hill, I get a bit distracted by a lorry that is parked up outside of the Nottingham Castle museum, I have a close look and on the back are two Daleks and a police box otherwise known as the TARDIS, I cannot see the Doctor and whilst I have been investigating, Mr UK Buses has carried on up Standard Hill. I chase after him and as I look right I see our next location, and yell up the street to get Mr UK Buses attention. We take a few photographs, one of them pictured left, which is another location used by ITV for the series "Boon", and this was the office of Boon Investigations used by Ken Boon in series four. After we have taken the photographs we head back down Standard Hill and back to Friar Lane where we wait for our next bus. Whilst we wait a text has been sent to me by Mr D9 - "Mrs D9 has given birth to our baby daughter 8.10", I later find out that the baby was 8lb 10ounces and not delivered at 08.10am. I send a reply congratulating the happy couple (Congratulations on the birth of Harmony Grace). We see our bus turn around the corner and I put my hand out to stop the bus and the bus flies past us, it seems that Mr UK Buses has put down the wrong stop on the plan. Mr UK Buses runs down the road after it (does he want to take part in my run in a couple of weeks?), and we finally end up around the corner in Beast Market Hill where the bus has left its stop, so Mr UK Buses locates the stop and we wait, another bus turns up and it seems that it is going in the opposite direction of where we need to go, we are at the wrong stop again, our stop being a bit further up the road. We make our way to the correct stop for the second time and after a couple of minutes the correct Free CentreLink bus turns up and we board for the seven minute journey arriving at Victoria Bus Station.

We alight the bus and take a few photographs around the bus station. This is not a photograph friendly station as it is a "pull in - pull out" layout so photographs are hard to take unless you like to take a picture of the back end of the bus. We wait for our next CentreLink bus to turn up and it is not long as the Trent Barton buses operate to a ten minute frequency and we board our bus, which takes us ten minutes to get across the City of Nottingham and drops us off at the Broadmarsh Bus Station. A few more photographs are taken to add to the photographs taken this morning, we have about fifteen minutes to wait and they soon pass and our next bus arrives, Trent Barton's "Rainbow 4" route which will take us to our second City of the day. Our journey takes one hour and ten minutes, costing a fiver for a return ticket and we pass through Sandiacre and Stapleford along the way. As we make our way along the route on-board announcements are made, similar to the buses in London and these announcements are also voiced by the same woman used in the London version. Whilst on route, Mr UK Buses decides it is time for a nap, and as he is snoring away, the announcer has decided to be quiet, only speaking again when Mr UK Buses has awoken. It is my turn for a nap as I get a bit sleepy, but as I start to nod off I get awoken by the woman announcing the stops, does Mr UK Buses have a button to keep her quiet?

We arrive in Derby, and we alight at the bus station, the second station today with the "pull-in pull out" layout which I don't like. The bus station, which was opened in 2010, is situated under a newly built "Holiday Inn" hotel, and opposite the main bus station is a lay over area, which we investigate and are able to get some pictures at this location of the vehicles as they rest between duties. We have just under an hour in Derby, so we decide to have a warm and after a short walk from the bus station, we find a public house, "The White Horse", a traditional feeling pub and also the place of today's dearest round (£6 in total) paid for by Mr UK Buses, so he deserves a seat to recover and he does look a bit pale in the picture seen right. As Mr UK Buses is recovering and I am getting a warm we have a selection of 1960's and 1970's music playing loudly from the jukebox, and I resist the challenge laid down by Mr UK Buses to select some Metallica to play, I don't want to upset the locals. After finishing our drinks and Mr UK Buses makes sure he drinks every last drop to make sure he gets his moneys worth, we visit the toilet before our journey back. We make our way back to the bus station and Mr UK Buses seems to like his walking today as he walks right to the other end of the bus station before realising we have to catch our Rainbow 4 from bay 6 which is back at the other end of the station.

Our bus arrives on time and we board and take our seats at the back of the bus where we hope that the heat from the engine beneath us will keep us warm on the return journey. The journey is going great and the driver has got a speed on, he has to slam the brakes on when he flies past a passenger waiting at the bus stop, and finally pulls up a few hundred yards down the road, after a couple of minutes wait for the passenger reaches us, she boards and doesn't look to happy, and she isn't on the bus for long as she soon gets off in the next village, she should have only been charged half the fare as she had already walked half the distance. We arrive back in Nottingham just before half past five, arriving back in Broadmarsh Bus Station, the first port of call is in the shopping centre attached to the bus station and after walking half a mile around the shopping centre we arrive at the toilets for a much needed bladder stop. Luckily we arrive five minutes before they are due to shut. After we are relieved, we make our way back to the bus station, where it is now to dark to take any more photographs today, so we decide to take the short walk to the railway station, this time entering the station from the lovely looking front. We notice that a train is due to depart, so earlier than planned, we make our way to the platform and onto the filled train to take us back to Birmingham.

We take our seats and as soon as we sit down, the train leaves the station and we are now on our return journey back to Birmingham, passing through Derby Station, Burton-Upon-Trent and Tamworth along the way, with an escaped Chelsea Pensioner announcing the upcoming stations when we are near them. We are nearly back in Birmingham, and we cannot tell as it is dark outside, but we then spot the lit up Selfridges building at the Bull Ring. We arrive back in Birmingham New Street just after 19.00, and we spot the local train is about to depart to Smethwick Galton Bridge, so we make our way to the platform where our train is waiting for us. We depart on time at 19.08 and we soon arrive at Smethwick Galton Bridge and change platforms, and notice that we have a while to wait, so we pop out the front of the station for some "fresh air", before returning to our platform to find out that our train will be delayed by a couple of minutes. Our Class 172 train eventually arrives and we manage to find a seat on our train made up of two carriages, which then takes us to Stourbridge Junction, stopping off at all the stations in between. When we arrive at Stourbridge Junction, we change platforms and decide to wait in the warm waiting room before the "Stourbridge Dodger" arrives to take us down the small Stourbridge branch line into Stourbridge Town. We have a while to wait for our last bus of the day, so we decide to have a walk around the new interchange to see what is left to complete, the new interchange is due to be open at the beginning of April, so it looks like the works will be completed on time. After our brief tour, we head down to Birmingham Street, where we wait for our Black Diamond Service 276A which takes us back home. I alight first in Wollaston saying my goodbyes to Mr UK Buses before calling into Lucky House for my now traditional Chinese takeaway meal after a good day out.

Overall it has been a brilliant day out, and this is due to the excellent planning carried out by Mr UK Buses (Thanks) both for the Boon locations and timing of the public transport. Nottingham is a wonderful city and I can say without doubt that we will be back, hopefully it will be warmer on our return visit.