Harry

Fair play mate. Just looked at your route. I’ve done a couple of 10k’s along Chase Lane and King Lane, the initial hill as you go into Chase Lane is manageable. I usually turn at King Lane and towards Horton. I see you went straight on toward Hawkesbury, up to the Monument - that’s a big climb!! Fair play. It’s then pretty lumpy all through Horton and Vinney Lane. Tough half marathon that - good stuff.

@mozo I mentioned I was keen to run up that brutal hill climb you did on Xmas day. Managed it this morning. Wow!! That was tough. Eased myself into the run to start climbing at 1k and got to the top by the golf club at 5k. That 4k distance was quite literally vertical for about 2.5k and only levelled off temporarily a couple of times. An absolute beast!! Was nice turning at the top and running back down it though ?

That’s a hit rate of over 3% for the EFL. The equivalent of over 2 million people in the U.K. testing positive today. And yet football carries on.......

Ridiculous isn’t it. That football is still being played. Utterly ridiculous.

I’ve lost a fair bit of weight since then ? But you’re right. I am ******* angry. More positive Covids among 30 or so people at BCFC than there has been in my school or many hundreds!! More positives today with Derby cancelling. Loads of teams have had positives. Players regularly flouting rules. Yet they can carry on as normal whilst our children suffer ????

No, not announced yet. But the narrative this afternoon, and multiple press speculation (often founded on government insiders) certainly suggests that much stricter measures are going to be announced at 8pm tonight. As for the bit in bold, ie school closures, which you correctly say I’ve mentioned a few times. I’ll fully explain myself. I have a daughter in primary school. I view primary school as the most important function in early years development in children - not just in an educational sense, but in a socio sense. It’s where they learn friendship, relationships, how to interact with people, how to conduct themselves, learn right and wrong and discipline, consequences of actions, essentially it’s where they learn to ‘live’, how to become part of a social society. Early years education is the most important thing in this country. If you don’t have primary age children able to learn all of those socio-skills, then in 10 years time you’re gonna have a cohort of kids who don’t know how to function with each other, and from that you will lead on to increased mental health problems, increased drug dependancy, increased crime, increased poverty, etc etc. During lockdown 1, I saw the impact the lack of proper education, but more crucially, interaction with other children, had on my daughter. She began to stutter. Began to lose self-confidence. Began to behave poorly. Nothing extreme, just little signs here and there that if the lockdown went on much longer, there would be bigger problems. So, given that primary education, in my view, is the single most important thing for a functioning society, I would be incredibly disappointed if our children are once again denied their schooling, whilst a bunch of footballers could still kick a ball about, a bunch of celebs can pop off to Dubai for the week, a bunch of over-politicised gits can ‘protest’ or ‘march’ for whatever cause takes their ire this week, a bunch of bored folks can pop to B&Q to fill their time with unnecessary house adjustments etc etc. I’m 100% NOT in favour of lockdowns. However, if you HAVE to do it, then you have to do it properly. No leeway, no excuses, no ‘you can meet 3 people in a park as long as you have a poodle’ nonsense. Closing schools should be THE absolute last resort. If it’s 1 in it needs to be all in. If schools have to close then everything needs to close - sport, shops, borders, everything. Otherwise, we’ll be back in the same situation in 2 months time ad-infinitum. I hope that explains my position for you. ?

Yep. Lockdown 2.0 is coming. Let’s face it, the November lockdown was just a Lockdown shandy. This one will be proper again. But....will it? If they’re gonna have to go for a strict national lockdown again, and they’re gonna close schools, then they need to do it properly and go the whole hog. If my kids school is closing, then fine. But if people are still flying in and out of the country, playing football, going to The Range/B&Q etc, allowed to ‘protest’ etc etc, then I’ll be ******* angry. If they have to do it, do it properly. If it’s piecemeal, then there’s no ******* point. If my kids education has to be put on pause, then so does football, holidaying, browsing diy stores etc.

How was everyone’s 2020 then. Mixed bag for me. Started the year doing just a few runs on weekends between weekly 5 a side. Lockdown allowed me to really ramp up the running, hitting a high of 157k in July. Started playing football again in August and went back to full 11 a side in September (not a great idea at 46 and a 9 year break!!), which had a knock on effect on my running and also gave me lots of niggles. Was hoping, with no 11 a side football since Nov that I’d ramp up the running again, but a combination of a few little tweaks and niggles here and there has limited my distances. Ended the year with 1,213kms in total. 1,083 of running and 130k of football in various guises. I’ve got a target to beat for 2021 now - obviously football/injury dependent!! I reckon there a few of you on here who’ve done at least 1,500k and beyond......

I find it a bit weird that they’re stopping kids going back to school, but football can carry on as normal. That’s the kinda shit that gets me triggered. ?

I’m still amazed at the inconsistency. We’ve seen some games in the EFL cancelled due to positive tests, others have gone ahead. Man C had 2 positives on Xmas day and were allowed to carry on and play Newcastle the next day. Now it transpires, 2 days later, that they have more positives. Surely that should mean that all the Newcastle players should isolate for 10 days, but no, they’ll be carrying on as normal. Just seems really inconsistent in how it’s applied to each team but also how it’s applied vs the rest of the population. I’m just not ‘getting’ it, to be honest.

Great work mate. You’re coming along amazingly. I remember that first half I ran with you at Forest of Dean, 3.5 years ago. You’ve taken about an hour off your time now. Brilliant ?

Yeah, it’s an absolute beast. I drive up there regularly, whether to play at the golf course or to drive to Nailsworth, Tetbury or wherever - it avoids going through Wotton which can sometimes take a while. And yes, the view is superb. The route you did, the climb technically starts just past Renishaw, and obviously gets huge as you go up Old London Road. Gonna have to do it soon. Yeah, I’ve sometimes done the route past Renishaw on the B4058, no path for about a km once you leave Charfield. I’ve only done it if I’m up early enough on a Sunday morning, knowing there’ll be little traffic. If you’re trying that route again, there’s a way around it. Turn at the petrol station in Charfield, down the hill, right at the first junction and you go up past Swinehay (there’s a Grand Designs House up there, at the back of Renishaw pretty much), then you drop back down the hill from North Nibley and you’re back up the hill by Bradley Green (just up from the Rowe Vets you’d have passed). I’ve scribbled over your route through Charfield, below. Anyway, fair play mate, that’s some distance for Xmas day, and to go up that beast of a climb is superb on such a long route.

@mozo Wow. Just seen your run on Strava from Xmas day! 26k. Fair play mate. You pretty ran past my house (coming through charfield) and then you went up the massive hill up to Cotswold Edge golf club. I’ve been planning on doing that one soon - it’s an absolute beast!! What was that like? You were probably already on about 15k when you got there!!!

So, there’s more positive tests today at Man City and Rochdale, hot on the heels of Portsmouth, Ipswich, Sunderland, Rovers and more, all in the last 10 days. Over the last 2 months, how many footballers have tested positive? There’s been quite a few. I wonder what sort of ratio there is in football. The percentage of players versus the percentage of players positive must surely be higher than in any other workplace. I’m actually amazed the games are still being played. Surely it’s only a matter of time.

Exactly. This was mentioned a number of weeks ago when we had our ‘outbreak’. I was amazed. It certainly went under the radar - I think most people thought weekly or even bi-weekly testing was taking place.

Couple of things. First, I was quite surprised to see that City were putting 4 games on sale at the same time. Tier 2 begins 19th Dec for Bristol. South Glos Tier 3, due to be reviewed 2nd Jan. In that time until the South Glos review, we only have 1 match, on 26th Dec. The next matches are 10/1, 16/1 & 24/1. So, by the time 2nd Jan comes round, South Glos residents could be allowed in, but the limited tickets will likely have already gone. Right up til the end of Jan. Hardly seems fair to South Glos fans. Conversely, the 2nd Jan review may even see Bristol back in Tier 3, so tickets would then have been unnecessarily sold for games up 3 weeks later! Not sure why they don’t just sell tickets for the current review period. Anyway, 2nd point is following today’s announcement. I’m actually quite staggered that, if we are currently in such a dangerous position that people can’t meet more than 1 person outside, nor have any family to their house for Xmas, that football is still going ahead. Seems like utter madness to me. As someone said above, you can’t pop over your mums for Xmas dinner but next day you can sit in a stadium for 2-3 hours with 2,000 strangers. If this latest strain is so potent and worrying, then I’m amazed football is even allowed to continue, let alone having fans in. It’s not exactly ‘essential’ is it really. I don’t wanna be a party-pooper here, but it just makes no sense to me how you can do 1 thing with thousands of strangers but can’t do another thing with 1 member of your family.

The extra is going toward Brunt's wages. ?

Ha ha. Exactly. My idea of a plan that’s been ready since the summer would be : 12pm - Govnt announcement 12.05pm - Publish the pre-written article outlining the plan.

Caught on the back foot?? So why has Ashton come out and said they’ve had a “clear operational plan since the summer”?

Typical City. All these questions on the last 2 pages of this thread, as well as loads of questions and uncertainties on social media. We’re told that BCFC have been ready to implement their plan since the summer. A “clear operational plan” no less. Now that they get the chance to advise their supporters how it works, they’re gonna wait 24 hours to tell them and then another 3 days before they sell the tickets. If this operational plan had been so clear since the summer, surely it’d be ready to be communicated as soon as the call was made. Instead, there’s hundred of questions and uncertainties over what’s gonna happen, who can apply, where they’ll sit, how much it’ll cost, etc etc. Why not just publish the plan today, as soon as the green light was given? It’s such a clear operational plan that’s been ready for months, surely it must be ready to go immediately. Nah - keep the fans hanging on, uncertain over everything, prompting multiple questions.

Phew!! Glad I’m in South Glos!!! *joke, by the way ?

Fair play mate. Yeah, you’ll hit the 1500 easy

Yep. Still cracking on. After my running took a hit with Saturday football, since lockdown 2 I managed to step It up again and have done 120k in the 4 weeks since LD2. Back to 5 a side and football training this week though, and already feeling stiff again this morning!!! Our team aren’t returning to playing full games until 9th Jan though, so I’ve got a good few weeks before I start to suffer again ? I don’t mind the cold. Did a 10k in the country lanes between Wickwar and Hawksebury on Sunday morning. It was 1 degree when I started. Bloody cold for the first 10 minutes but you soon warm up ? I love it like that, a beautiful, crisp and fresh sunny winter Sunday morning. Mate, you are putting some serious miles in. Brilliant. I don’t like it above 16. It’s why, in the summer I prefer to go out early before it gets too hot. I’d much rather run in 3 degrees than 23 degrees.

Question. Is part of the covid regs to allow fans back in, that they should be ‘discouraged’ from singing? I’m not sure but thought I read it somewhere. If so, why were Liverpool allowed to play YNWA, encouraging the fans to sing?

Ha ha. Yes mate, I remember that, you belter!! Sadly I wasn’t able to enjoy the evening in Bath afterwards. I got arrested when we were 3-1 up and carted off to the station. When released at about 8pm, I got the Badgerline bus back to Longwell. I was singing “we beat the Rovers 3-1” all the way home on the bus and was getting some funny looks. Twas only when I got off the bus and met some mates in the Crown at Longwell that they told me we’d won 4-2!! ?? I’m sure it was the same night that we ended up at my mates at 4am watching the Bruno-Tyson fight. I must’ve been absolutely wrecked that night!!!