Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 7

Unwavering Determination

Link to original article: Unwavering Determination

I am very happy to post this inspirational article about, and by, my friend, Matt Lane, whom I greatly admire.

Matt Lane is a parkrun stalwart having clocked up over 500 events. After a diagnosis of MS, he’s returned to parkrun as a walker, and his determination has never wavered.

When I did parkrun #511 I was a runner, by the time I did parkrun #512 I was a walker with poles, not by choice, but through ability due to my MS.

My first parkrun was back in the days when it was still Bushy Park Time Trial. ​A close friend asked me if I wanted to do an, ‘eye balls out’ 5k on New Years Day 2007. ‘Why not?’ I thought, as it was free and a good chance to catch up. So off we went and the rest is history!

Bushy Park Time Trial in 2007 was a very different set up to the parkrun events we know today. It was, as now, a friendly community, but at that time it was very much a competitive spirit that drove us on. To this day, the joy of parkrun is that you can take parkrun any way you wish, to suit your needs and no one else’s, with speedsters and walkers and everyone in between equally welcome.

Initially, my attendance at either Bushy Park or Wimbledon Common Time Trial events (only the two to choose from in those days!) was irregular but as I was marathon training at the time it gave me an opportunity to do some speed work and test myself.

It was when the North Hampshire Time Trial event started up in Basingstoke, that the bug really set in for me. It was my ‘home’ parkrun and I was a regular parkrunner and volunteer there.

I then supported the Eastleigh parkrun event for a while, followed by my home town at the time, Andover,  this is where I have my highest number of parkruns recorded. In 2017, I moved over to the Lydiard parkrun in Swindon and have completed just under 100 parkruns at this event.

​parkrun has always largely been about community for me, meeting friends and having a coffee afterwards, but it has also been a training aid, recovery run, support for others, pacing, tempo runs as part of long runs, the list is endless.

I have some standout parkrun moments including running with my son who has autism and being photographed together in mid flow at Wimbledon Common Time Trial, travelling to Denmark for the very first Danish parkrun, the times that I was first across the finish line at Basingstoke and Andover and also running in the snow at Basingstoke, Andover and Newbury.

It is two years since my MS diagnosis. I was already struggling with running and falling. As time went on it became apparent that I could no longer run. In October 2020 I made the decision to hang up my running trainers. However, I was able to walk, using poles for stability and balance. So this will be my parkrun stance for the time being until there comes that time when I can no longer even walk.

I kept active during the various lockdown periods. In total I did all 70 virtual parkruns as part of Swindon Community Running (which linked up both the Swindon parkruns). I started logging them on the (not)parkrun site but not from the start. Once I could no longer run the 5k courses that were set by the Swindon Striders club, I walked them using my poles but in the opposite direction, so was able to see everyone and give them support. It was a good way to keep going and I was often joined by my wife and another MS’er. It is always good to walk and talk. This has been true as I’ve returned to parkrun, with a friend wanting to walk with me.

I’ve made it to each parkrun since they have returned, so far, and plan to attend as often as possible, although through work commitments I will miss the odd one.

With mobility getting harder, I do not know what the outcome will be, but I will be fighting and keep fighting every step. I plan to continue participating in parkrun as long as I can. I was determined as a runner and so I’ll now carry this determination forwards. Even when I can no longer manage the walk you will see me somewhere on the course using my loud voice to cheer everyone on

I owe much of my strength and determination to my family, my Faith and my parkrun family. To all of you out there I want to say, ‘Get out and mix, share, laugh, cry, but most of all be there for each other.’

It’s been a hard journey for me, but not a lonely one and that makes it easier.

Matt Lane

Esther’s Challenge – Laugh-along-a-Limerick

Happy Monday to you all and welcome, once again, to Esther Chilton’s regular kick-off-the-week challenge.

Today, Esther’s one-word prompt is LIE. So can you write a limerick using the word LIE in it somewhere?

In the world of mass media with little validation, it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish between a truth and a LIE. Sometimes, that dilemma befuddles me so much that I need to have a LIE down. Perhaps you can calm me with your lyrical verse.

But, if you want to side-step the weekly prompt, please feel free to ignore it and write a limerick to suit your current mood and feelings. Just let it flow. Delight us all with your creativity.

Post your submissions in the Comments on this post

Esther

Book Review: Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt

Rating: 5 out of 5. Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The story is based on characters who truly existed and on events which really happened. There are contemporary snippets from the New York Times throughout the book. However, the author has changed the names of the characters and used her creative license to turn the story into a work of fiction. This makes it much more interesting than a non-fictional presentation would have been and puts the book firmly into the historical fiction genre.

The reader is captured by the action from the very beginning, and I was held captive by the pace of the story to the very end. The dialogue and the development of the characters is superb and there was no huge challenge to my imagination. What I mean by that is that the images were conjured up very vividly by Tara’s style of the writing.

The characters Angeline Hanson and her younger sister, Adelaide, are based on the teenage New York society ladies and suffragettes, Adeline and Augusta van Buran. These two young ladies actually did ride their Indian Model F Power Plus bikes from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1916, to both publicise the equality of women, promoting the cause of the suffrage movement, and to demonstrate that women should be considered for the role of dispatch rider in the First World War, with the consequence of freeing up more men for front line duties.

The adventures of Angeline and Adelaide are tremendous fun for the most part, although there are a few hairy moments. Twice they are held captive, but I don’t want to spoil the read for you by telling you any more than that.

One aspect that really appealed to me were the diary entries of Angeline which were interspersed throughout the book. This was not overdone, which can be a danger, but they definitely added a seemingly personal touch from the heroine herself, and they confirmed the story as was being narrated by the author. A very nice touch!

Another brief, yet delightful inclusion, was when the sisters met up with the dancers, Fred and Adele Astaire. As the author points out in her notes at the end of the book, she made that bit up and it may never have happened, but I loved that piece, anyway.

One addition to the book that I’d like to suggest, which would have been of great benefit to the readers, would be a map of the route that the sisters took. Many of us foreign readers, and even some Americans, are not familiar enough with the geography of the USA to conjure up a picture of their progress on the journey purely from the textual narrative.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend it to all of my friends and family, and I shall look out for Tara Chevrestt’s next novel.

View all my reviews

Esther’s Challenge – Can You Tell A Story In . . .

It is Thursday and time for your latest five-word story challenge from Esther Chilton. 

This week, her single word prompt is LAUGH. So can you tell a story in five words, using the word LAUGH in it somewhere?

Here are your starters:

Laughter is the best medicine

Everyone needs a good laugh

Please post your submissions in the Comments on this post.

Esther

This is an open invitation to all of my followers and Esther’s to have some fun with words.

The only limits are the boundaries of your imagination.

Esther’s Challenge – Laugh-along-a-Limerick

Happy Monday to you all and welcome, once again, to Esther Chilton’s regular kick-off-the-week challenge.

Today, Esther’s one-word prompt is GAME. So can you write a limerick using the word GAME in it somewhere?

We are very excited as we await your submissions. GAME gives you so much scope. Game of life, politics, sport, thrones, fantasy, space, word games, board games, naughty games, playground games, office games, ice-breaker games and so much more!

Hockey Tour – Bristol

But, if you want to side-step the weekly prompt, please feel free to ignore it and write a limerick to suit your current mood and feelings. Just let it flow. Delight us all with your creativity.

Post your submissions in the Comments on this post.

Esther’s Challenge – Can You Tell A Story In . . .

It is Thursday and time for your latest five-word story challenge from Esther Chilton. 

This week, her single word prompt is SIZZLE. So can you tell a story in five words, using the word SIZZLE in it somewhere?

Here are your starters:

Meaty words sizzle on barbeque

Hot touches make me sizzle

Please post your submissions in the Comments on this post.

This is an open invitation to all of my followers and Esther’s to have some fun with words.

Esther Chilton

The only limits are the boundaries of your imagination.

Esther and I await your submissions. Make us laugh and and entertain all of our followers with your witty flashes.

Esther’s Challenge – Laugh-along-a-Limerick

Happy New Week to you all and welcome, once again, to Esther Chilton’s regular Monday challenge.

Today, Esther’s one-word prompt is WIG. So can you write a limerick using the word WIG in it somewhere?

A WIG can provide a comedic or tragic moment: the perfect or rotten disguise. But, if you want to duck under the weekly prompt, please feel free to ignore it and write a limerick to suit your current mood and feelings. Just let it flow. Delight us all with your creativity.

Post your submissions in the Comments on this post.

Esther

Esther’s Challenge – Can You Tell A Story In . . .

It is Thursday and time for your latest five-word story challenge from Esther Chilton. 

This week, her single word prompt is DRESS. So can you tell a story in five words, using the word DRESS in it somewhere?

Here are your starters:

The dress code today is . . .

Is it time to undress?

Please post your submissions in the Comments on this post.

This is an open invitation to all of my followers and Esther’s to have some fun with words.

The only limits are the boundaries of your imagination.

Esther and I await your submissions. Make us laugh and and entertain all of our followers with your witty flashes.

Esther’s Challenge – Laugh-along-a-Limerick

Happy New Week to you all and welcome, once again, to Esther Chilton’s regular Monday challenge.

Today, Esther’s one-word prompt is SHOW. So can you write a limerick using the word SHOW in it somewhere?

If you want to swerve around the weekly prompt, please feel free to ignore it and write a limerick to suit your current mood and feelings. Just let it flow. Delight us all with your creativity.

Post your submissions in the Comments on this post.

Lance shows his heritage tattoo

Esther’s Challenge – Can You Tell A Story In . . .

It is Thursday and time for your latest five-word story challenge from Esther Chilton. 

This week, her single word prompt is ORDER. So can you tell a story in five words, using the word ORDER in it somewhere?

Here’s your starter:

Write something! That’s an order!

Please post your submissions in the Comments on this post.

This is an open invitation to all of my followers and Esther’s to have some fun with words.

Esther

The only limits are the boundaries of your imagination.

Esther and I await your submissions. Make us laugh and and entertain all of our followers with your witty flashes.