The crew strapped my motorcycle securely to deck and I climbed the stairs to my “club-class” seat, which turned out to be a seat like any other except it was in an exclusive part of the ship separated from the rest by a chrome gate, which turned out to be a part of the ship like any other except you had to flash your ticket to a steward to get to the other side of the gate. I struggled to justify the additional cost of “club-class”, there were complimentary nibbles and what could be described as mature coffee but I’m not sure that cut it. Perhaps travelling in a gated community was the real benefit.
What did make up for it was the company, a teacher from Armagh who worked in Manchester. She and I talked and entertained each other for the entire journey. I didn’t notice the weather turning during the crossing and by the time we got to the Welsh coast it was cold wet and windy. I missed her company as I got back on the road but soon the journey took over and I was focused on the road, always a good thing when on a motorcycle!
I had to make a stop in Bangor, the city I attended University, and have lunch at my favourite spot in town, the Fat Cat Café. I ordered their amazing loaded potato skins and reminisced over a questionable cappuccino, well you can’t be an expert in everything and some things never change.
I was soon back on the road and heading into the weather. It rained pretty much all the way but that didn’t bother me in the slightest. There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes!!
I got to Newcastle late that night, about 8 or 9pm. There was just enough time for food and a glass or two of wine before bed time. My friend Kerry is a teacher and is naturally up at the most outrageous time of the morning and is never late for anything unlike like me, I tend to arrive just on time… most of the time.
Consequently I was up earlier than my mind and body could cope with and after waking into a few doors and almost falling up the stairs (I know, easier to fall down you’d think) I caught up and was ready to get going. We caught the Metro to Newcastle city centre and walk the rest of the way to the starting area.
It really is a magnificent sight, something in the region of 55,000 runners lined up ready to run the largest half marathon in the world. After yesterday’s half marathon and a marathon motorcycle across two countries and a sea crossing I was feeling tired and felt that I might struggle but to my surprise I ran the entire route without much difficulty. I didn’t do as good as Dublin but I crossed in a respectable 2:00:00 (09:00 min/mi).