Now whats the ideal preparation for a race? Lounge about the day before, curl up with a book or movie, bed early might be the majority choice. Wendy decided that retail therapy and the potions and lotions of Coco Chanel was just right. I chose a trip to Somerset to see Paul Lamberts Yellow & Green Army demolish the upstarts of Paulton Rovers. Glynnis decided that the modern Soviet Opium of the Masses, Vodka, was worth trying.

Wendy's choice was probably the more expensive, mine was probably the most important and Glynnis chose the one that was good at the time but after a short sleep was the least effective.

The weather was very kind to those of us who assembled at Marazion for the third running of the Remembrance Day run. With a son who is in the armed forces and has experienced the front line in Afghanistan we wished to pay our respects to the young men and women who are doing such a great job and those who will have the chance to experience the joys of running on a Sunday morning.

Our friend Jane joined us for the race and after Wendys concerns that she hadn't paid an exorbitant sum to park the car were assuaged we headed for the warmth of the Yacht club and a splendid cup of coffee. Good to see Yvonne on the mend after her serious operation and that her sense of humour had not diminished over the months.

We were requested to wear red if possible for the day and if you look on the MBH website you will see us in unfamiliar colours. The poppy pinned to our numbers was a nice touch and after a briefing

that talked of climbing over pipes and Shingles the imagination ran wild with speculation as to whether we would ever get back.

After the two minutes silence the hooter sounded and we set off. With no intention of doing anything that involved too much effort or the possibility of self harm, especially with the Cornish now slightly less than 7 days away, a gentle jog was assumed and before too long most of the small but dedicated field was well ahead of us. Firm sand soon turned turned the shingle and then the first water jump was encountered. Bob Beamon couldn't have cleared it so it was straight through and forget the wet feet. Just after that we encountered the first pipe and Wendy and Glynnis had three faults each for a refusal. Luckily at the next pipe they chose the easier jump position and the judges didn't penalise them. Of course all the faster runners had turned by now and were running back towards us. Now I know what faster runners look like and one or two grimaces reinforced my belief ours was the better running tactic for the day.

We maneuvered our way around the hairpin that was two miles and started back with the wind more or less on our backs. A nice jog back and soon we were over the pipes, shingle and water jump and crossing the line.

We raided the cake stall in the yacht club and picked up our very hand desk tidy mementos and that was it. A well organised and marshalled run, a run worth doing because of its significance and in one of the areas finer settings and who could ask for more. 6 Carnies took part, the ever improving Nigel just pipping Janet who was third lady home, Alison who had already ridden down there with other Carnies and TriLogiccers who gave plenty of vocal support (thanks) and then the aforementioned slackers.

The number of entrants increases each year and it would be nice to see a few more Carnies turning up for this one although it did clash with Tavvy7 this year to be fair. If the weather is kind then this is a lovely little trot and definitely one to put on the agenda. And Glynnis, I wonder if RW will be able to publish your new theory on pre race nutrition.