Once again, the Quakers gathered at Mike’s house, bleary eyed and eager to get on the way.  Once confirmation was received that Bev’s cake were onboard we set off to the Dolphin Centre to collect the other passengers.  Mike’s precision timing for the whole weekend was totally thrown off schedule when Alex and Kevin turned up a full 2 minutes late but thankfully Rob the coach driver managed to make up the time! 

First stop was Blyth Services to pick up Ken the tour guide/organizer, but realized due to a mis-communication there wasn’t a seat on the coach for him as 18 month old Robert was operating the two second rule!!!  Who needed Ken who is fluent in French anyway – we had Jes “the Jester” Smith!!! 

A fairly rough crossing over to Calais saw little drinking taking place, although one or two individuals did try but spilt most of it!  Then a couple of hours later Mike and Jes unloaded the animals, I mean the passengers, two by two off the ark, I mean coach, into our hotel.  A couple of moments later Amiens was brought alive by the Quakers Running Club, well, okay, by a couple of our female athletes (no names mention Sarah, Leigh, Jackie N, Abbie and Julie) as they were the only ones to find the ‘in place’ to be!! 

Saturday morning brought some free time to explore the town, a walk down to the river saw a few of us bumping into a Medieval Fair.  Quite interesting to see how people lived and dressed in those days.  A few remarks were made at how small people must have been hundreds of years ago when we were looking at a medieval bed.  So surprised was Steve that he forgot himself and asked Dave McL to go for a lie down with him!!!  Now Dawn R never found this funny whatsoever!!!  Must have been too much water that made her pee her pants!! 

The marathon runners nervously pondered their fate when Saturday’s coach trip to the Thiepval memorial gave them the chance to experience some of the many hills that they would encounter the following day, unanimously deciding that the course was not for the light hearted – nor for recording personal bests nor for running a marathon!!! 

A fairly sensible evening followed in Amiens that night, well at least to the author’s knowledge as no-one was dishing the dirt!!! 

Early to rise the next day to enjoy a well organized breakfast thanks to Mike!  Steve who had been practicing charades the day before in order for the chef to understand his request for porridge were gone to waste as Steve opted for the continental breakfast to keep his stress levels down, much to the upset of his audience! 

The marathon runners were first off at 8.30am.  Dawn R was in a total panic on the start line as she couldn’t get her chip to secure with the tie wrap.  Thankfully bessie mate Stevie Snook got down on his knees and saved the day.  Dawn and Wayne practically led the race out until Dawn dumped Wayne at 5K for a 6’ 4 Ozzie, only to find he couldn’t stay the pace and hooked up with an Army Officer at 13 mile!! Dawn had probably done more men than miles by the end of the marathon! 

Dawn finally romped home first lady smashing the previous women’s course record  by 25 minutes and was 5th finisher overall out of 122 runners recording a time of 3:05:15.  Wayne never gave in and ran an impressive 3:10:44, despite being a self confessed member of the ‘Flat Earth Society’ overcame his phobia of hills to finish 7th overall and 3rd male in the over 45 category.  Stevie came closest to hitting his target time and ran a very comfortable and consistent race to finish 11th overall in 3:19:08.  If Steve hadn’t stopped at the memorials taking photographs he would have finished 3rd over 50 as the guy who beat him was only one minute ahead!  Word of advice Steve – dump the camera!!  Steve also thought it was an opportunity to practice his French whilst running with a local competitor.  By this point in the race it was drizzling and Steve stated how the weather was very much like the UK – raining chickens (that’s somewhere else we can’t go back to!!!)  Rob Towns shattered his personal best by 20 minutes to finish very strong in 3:31:04 and 19th overall with his many off road endurance races clearly paying dividends!  Dave Whittle clocked a good time of 3:36:28 despite having a break from training due to a calf injury.  Annette Clarke, despite the pain suffered with a swollen ankle muscles still managed to participate despite being told not to by the physio (hope he’s not reading this!!!) and ran a gutsy 3:37:34 to finish 3rd female and first Vet 1 along with endurance training partner Charlie Bogg also finishing in 3:37:35.  Dave Thompson ran 3:40:59 to finish 43rd overall, followed by Billy Harris who finished in 3:44:43 and breaking his previous personal best time by 26 minutes which is amazing considering the course profile (also showed he didn’t run very fast at Edinburgh!!!).  Dave McLachlan never took his eye off the ball and maintained a strict training regime should have easily ran a sub 3:30 but due to severe cramp (and being jinxed by Dawn R) had to limp home for the final 12km and was disappointed to record 3:55:22.  Steve Padgett was next Quaker home to finish 75th in 4:00:37 and again recorded personal best time by knocking 2 minutes, 45 seconds off his previous time.  Ian Hammond stated he had the best day of his life to get a personal best by 3 minutes to finish in 4:07:17 (Ian – you need to get a life!!!).  Roy McDougall who was raising funds for an epilepsy charity also recorded a personal best by 15 minutes to finish in 4:45:23.  Donations are still being received!!! 

Despite the marathon runners thinking the course was hard, we should have been in Jackie Henderson’s shoes, or should I say bike – the poor girl must have thought she was cycling in the Tour de France the amount of mileage she had done.  But all runners are eternally grateful for the supply of gels and drinks that she provided.  A word of thanks must also go to the British Government for introducing the Cycle to Work scheme as Jackie was able to have a little bit more comfort on her brand new mountain bike rather than on her racing bike!!! 

Whilst the marathon runners were regretting their entry into the marathon (were we drunk at the time of thinking it was a good idea???), the clubs youngest athlete, 18 month old Robert Marriott, had a memorable day being pushed around the 10K by Dad Jeff claiming his first trophy.  Jeff then jumped in the buggy and Robert pushed Dad around the kids 400m dash. 

Adopted Quaker Julie McKernon opted for the shortest of the four road distances on offer and ran her first 5K race in 34:10. 

The 10K and Half Marathon races which took place shortly after the marathon start saw Nick Watson first Quaker home in the 10K despite just returning from a severe achilles injury clocking 41:43 finishing 22nd out of 192 runners.  Next home was John Clarke who ran an impressive 49:00 despite not running since the arduous ‘Day in the Lakes’ triathlon which involved running up and down Helvellyn!  Abbie Hull ran 51:52 to smash her personal best time by 13 seconds, finishing 4th lady overall, she was followed in by Dawn Bramley who recorded a time of 54:40.  Leigh Ainsworth was next to finish in 55:38 and 110th overall (the effects of disco dancing showed non signs whatsoever!) followed by Bev Snook who suffered a nasty fall in the finishing straight after slipping on gravel but picked herself up in true Quaker fashion and finished in 56:10 (at least this was the story for the carpet burns on her knees, Bev later confessed at dinner that evening that Steve had been very good to her in the bedroom!!!  Too much information Bev!!!).  Chris Crathorne also clocked a personal best of 57:00 followed by Laura Towns in 58:10 to finish 135th overall.  Laura was the only one sensible enough to decide to opt out of the marathon and reverted to the familiar 10K distance – next year Laura I’m sticking with you!!!  Joe O’Donnell recorded 59:39 despite not having raced since last years club trip (Joe is a big believer in not over-training!)  Paul Carling recorded a personal best of 62:02 to finish 168th and  Mike “Hello Everybody” Horan finished in 65:31 to take the 3rd over 60 male trophy.  How pleased were we for our illustrious leader!  Susan New competed in her first 10K and was very happy to finish in 65:27.  Kevin Simpson pipped wife Alex to the post to finish in 67:36 and recorded a personal best.  Next home was one the clubs most determined runners, Susan Limbert, who in her usual fashion saw a bloke in front of her in the finishing straight and decided she had to beat him (I hate it when she does that to me…..) and clocked 69:40.  Alex Simpson finished in 69:57, followed by Caroline Ridley-Marriott (minus hubby and son in buggy) in 77:00.  Sarah Beadle also made a return from a long injury but unfortunately no time was recorded. 

In the half marathon which incorporated some of the mountains the marathon runners had to endure (???), Rob McSherry was first to finish for the club to record a time of 1:46:18 to finish 132nd out of 332 competitors.  Next home was Graham Park 1:46:45 who declared he had done no training – funny, that must have been a figment of my imagination when I passed him at Piercebridge……. and Jez “the Jester/We don’t need Ken the tour guide” Smith clocked 1:47:59.  Damian Wynne finished off preparations for this weekend’s Great North Run by clocking 1:51:43 to finish 183rd.  Dave Curtis shattered his previous personal best by knocking a total of 30 minutes off to record a very impressive 1:53:20 to finish 200th overall, obviously the hills not presenting him with any concerns!  Jackie Nichols crossed the finishing line in 2:00:54 and Sarah Wilson recorded 2:03:19 despite minimal training and a heavy night of disco dancing prior to the race!  Gillian Harris brought the club home to finish in 2:21:14. 

Having had an outstanding day both in terms of the number of trophies won and the performances of its members in general, the club completed a memorable weekend by donating (NB:  Wayne – you really hurt my arm when you put it behind my back like that……) all prize money received to the organizers chosen charity to help to raise funds to purchase specialized wheelchairs for handicapped athletes.  

After having enjoyed the worlds longest prize giving in the world and consuming large quantities of beer, the Quakers headed back to Amiens for another night on the town.  Unfortunately this year no disco dancing took place and Bev come home trophy-less, but this could be due to the very very sore muscles of the competitors. 

As usual, Mike “hello everybody” Horan, pulled off another fantastic trip.  A big thank you must go to him and wife Kath for staying up all night buttering the bread buns, oh, and for arranging the trip….  Thanks also to Jes and Wayne who kept Mike in check and Bev for the endless supply of cakes which kept coming around the coach!  To my knowledge no outbreak of E-Coli has yet to be reported within the running club……. 

So, onwards and upwards, rumour has it next years trip is to Belgium – book your seats early before young Robert plays the 2 second rule card again!!!