ASICS Target 26.2 - 2013

i think that bootcamp will be a great experience for you all........whether you get shortlisted from that or not.............

you have nothing to lose as you are already prize winners.........

Hello all. I'm new to the forum and relatively new to running. And I love it.

I have only found out about this forum after making it to boot camp, I'm really looking forward to it. As much to get my first bit of professional advice as anything.

I've had to annoy a lot of people in work to arrange the day offto make it to bootcamp, but I'm sure it will be worth it.

I don't really know what to expect but I'm looking forward to meeting you all.

Jon.

Welcome on board hairofthedog - to the forums and running! Stick at both. You get lots of help from almost everyone and when the going gets tough there is always someone to pick you up!

Look forward to meeting you next week!

Jenf - I'll be flying the Vet flag as well. Power to the oldies!

I didn't make it to bootcamp but will be following all the oldies with much interest!

Keep posting and let us all know how the day goes....

Great news to all those that have had "THE CALL" - dead excited for you. ENJOY!

seren nos wrote (see)

i imagine they might talk more to you at bootcamp about posting on the forums.........they said they would last year and one of those picked at bootcamp hadn't posted at all and continued not to post at all when the vote was taking place so that noone could find out about them at all.................such a waste of a place......

She was in my category seren and still to this day don't know what was going through her head to get that far and not post??? Agree it was a complete waste as there were loads of people who didn't get through and should have.

SteveT 23 (and all other relative newbies) being on the RW forums for the past 5/6 years has helped my running loads and there are threads on this site that you can find & feel at home on for the info and like minded people on there - a font of knowledge. Best thing you can be is yourself & honest.

Good luck to you all.

another quick tip for those who get through bootcamp..........don't set up lots and lots of threads asking for votes............it will really piss off some of the regulars...........and lose you votes..............

just set up the one thread.............and you can also then ask for votes on other regular threads that you have been on and contributed on.

the reason it upsets some of the voters is that with 20 of you being shortlisted..........then thats 20 new threads on the forums making it harder to find the regular ones............if the 20 all set up 5 or 6 threads then thats over 100 new threads.....

so to not lose votes set up the one thread and stick with it...............

I think one of the ones in the running last year lost out on the votes because of that simple mistake........

geting exciting.hope you all have a great time in bootcamp and the weather is good for you

DS2/Malcs, let me know if you find any good accommodation as I'll be travelling over from Surrey the night before to avoid doing battle with the M40!

I hope the weather's better next week – I went for a run last night and it almost turned into swimming training it was that wet.

Steve - I had a look yesterday and there are a lot of hotels. Since I'll probably up there quite late I'll probably look for something cheepish. Only really need a warm bed and a shower. I'll let you know what I find.

If you're coming by car, apparently parking can be a bit tricky. I called the facilities contact and he said that because they are still in term time the car parks can get very busy so you need to arrive early as you may have to hunt for a space. He also warned that there are alot of local road works in operation. 

All the car parks are pay and display. He recommended the North car park of Pritchatt's Rd or the South off Bristol Rd.

Maybe public transport (at least locally) is a better option? You probably spotted that there's a station at the university which is on a main line from New Street.

I'm wondering whether getting accommodation near to a station might be better than taking the car. 

Has anyone from previous years got any handy tips?

Parking was no worries at any of the meets last year, use the north car park as it is close to the track and sports centre.  Take loads of change at it is £4.50 for the day pay and display.

I echo the points made by SN & KR, stick to one thread and post about you, your running, engage with people and answer the questions honestly and with a smile and it is a pleasure.  SN asks tough questions, but for the right reasons...and yes there are some less than charible people out there, but there are everywhere so don't worry about it.

Best piece of advice I can give is smile and enjoy the whole thing is sooooo much fun

Thanks for the info Choisty. Did you stay overnight or was it close enough to drive on the morning?

Hi all

Just to clarify (so you're not all worried about post-lunch 5k-ing) only one of the groups will be unlucky enough to get that slot.  They kind of rotate the sessions so whilst

Group 1 doing the physio assessment

Group 2 + 3 will be out on the track - each doing something different

Group 4 will be playing with trainers

Then you swap to the next session with one of the indoor sessions between each track session.  Well that was last year...

7 more sleeps peeps

Yep, I drove up in the morning as I live close to Newbury so it was only about 1:30 away

Ah! Yes, not too bad. I'm probably looking at 3 hours and it's a Friday morning so maybe more. My old body would struggle to run at all if I drove up on the morning!

BTW - loved following progress last year. great performance! What are your current goals?

The rail link is brilliant and there is a train that comes from Birmingham New Street and stops at the University campus - University (Birmingham). I did look into driving but when I saw the train it was a no brainer.

Beginning to think that way now knight rider (btw. well done on last year!)

I would never drive up on the day at that time but on the train it might just be possible. Would need to leave the house at 6 though - ouch! I haven't seen 6am for a long, long time  

Malcs.did they forget to mention that if you win then you have to run at 5 am every morning

Agree with Seren's advice one thread for voting that was my mistake got too excited....didn't appreciate the damage I was doing. SB also made the mistake re a thread name. If not used to being on here tread carefully or ask for help before starting. Enjoy the day.

DS2, thanks it was great fun, just got a HM out the way which was the autumn focus (1:16:56), now the base building for VLM, target 2:40