Oxford Moonlight Stroll 2009

Ahhh, British weather... don't you just love it. Only a week or so ago, we were chomping on our strawberries in 30°c heat, saying "Come on Murray" and moaning it's too hot to be working in an office with no air con... fast forward scooby doo style and there are black clouds dispensing copious amounts of rain on us as we are waiting for the off in this year's Moonlight Stroll. Yes I know... it's my turn to whinge this year. After all thats where our team name derives from (The Whinging Wanderers in case you don't know).

It's my own fault entirely. I was completely disorganised yesterday and forgot to bring with me the basics. i.e. waterproof pac a mac, a change of clothing or at the very least a change of socks and shoes. You see yesterday daytime was actually quite warm. I cycled up to town wearing said rain jacket and was roasting! So I thought... nah, I won't need this tonight. How silly of me. Helen arrives to pick me up and we are driving over from Bucks to Oxford and what starts as a fine drizzle becomes Forest Gump fat rain when we arrive in Oxford. Whilst we are walking from where we park the car at the race venue to the customary pre walk meal at the Chinese restaurant, it then gets heavier. And by the time we get back to register it is p*ssing it down and my shoes are already sodden... and we haven't even started the walk yet. On realising I had forgotten my waterproof jacket, to then find out they had run out of ponchos made me a really happy bunny. Luckily Helen had one left over from last year so she opted for her pac a mac which she had remembered to bring with her. However she discovered it was actually only 'showerproof' when she was soaked through even whilst wearing it. I would have worn it only she's much smaller than me... Anyway she generously donated her poncho so I was dry from the waist up at least.

So... 10.30pm we set off squelching down the road. We had a cunning plan this year to inch our way to the start line so we could set off on a steady pace. We've been at the back the last two years and its difficult to walk fast when you are bunched up in a crowd. Our cunning plan worked and we had lots of room to get into a good stride. Plus the more we kept moving, the less you felt like you were soaked through already.

The route was different again this year, lots more winding twists and turns through Oxford back streets. I am useless at Oxford's illustrious history so I wouldn't have a clue what land marks we were passing. My limited knowledge of Oxford is of the high street, the theatre, the Ashmolean museum and Magdelen Bridge... oh and maybe Malmaison cos it looks cool. But the college/Uni etc... it all looks very grand, but I don't have a clue what is what, especially in the dark! Parts of Summertown and Little Clarendon were quaint and olde worldy. Maybe one day I will walk around them in daylight to see a bit more. There were shops and little bars/cafes/restaurants that I just know I would never find again! Mind you, you could tell there is a recession on as I am sure more buildings were lit up last year and more bars and restaurants open. It seemed strangely subdued in some areas but perhaps it was just the weather.

So on we plodded and we were starting to think there wasn't a stop off point this year as we had been walking for 2 hours before we came to the bridge where the rest stop was. In actual fact I think the rest stop this year was well beyond the halfway mark, more like 2/3rds along the route. I hate portaloos but the one at the rest stop was sheer relief and I didn't even care that the guy who came out before me said there was a huge spider in there! Then we got the halfway banana, mini flapjack and bottle of Evian which gave us some extra energy 'oompf' (and yes I washed my hands post portaloo and pre banana!). Mind you it wasn't a bad thing that the rest stop was further on than usual as the last stint when everything really started hurting seemed quite a short one, so maybe that was the reasoning behind that I don't know. But the last stretch didn't seem to take as long as it did the first year we took part.

We got back to St Edwards School (the start/finish line) at 1.10am... rather cold, rather tired and rather wet through. We were so knackered we didn't even stay for our complimentary cuppa and bite to eat from the Army boys. Poor Helen still had a 40min drive back home yet to do. God bless Helen, she was so tired we just constantly kept yabbering to her all the way home to make sure she stayed awake. (BIG thank you Helen for driving and also for your poncho).

So our time this year was 2hours and 40mins. Bit slower than last year by about 10 mins but not as slow as our first year which was nearer 3 hours. I am thinking of changing our team name to the 'Wet Whinging Wanderers' next year. I think as it was my turn to be chief Whinger this year... its only fair. But well done to my fellow W.W. team members: Helen, Phil, Elaine and Alison who all crossed the finish line with me. But a BIG well done to Alison's 14 year old son Connor (an OMS newbie) and Elaine's 18 year old son Sam who were part of our group but finished a good 25 mins ahead of us. Ahh to have young long legs again! Well done lads :)

I have never been so pleased get into a warm bed in the wee hours...!

We have raised £725 online and have yet to add our offline total so will post that later when I know but our sponsor page is still open for a while and any more donations are welcomed...

Thank you and good night!