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Four years have passed since the last time I ran the Allow Half Marathon. You can read (linked below) about my previous attempt to run it…and my attempt try and find anything interesting to say about Alloa.

Alloa Half Marathon (Iain)

The course had a new start and end point. So unlike previous years it did not finish next to a supermarket. Which meant I did not get my shopping done afterwards. But other than that, the change meant there was more of a start village and a better finish line.

To get to the start I used one of the provided shuttle busses. There is lots of parking in Alloa and the bus only took 10 minutes to get to the start.

Once at the start there was the usual long toilet queue. Please, will race organizers actually figure out how to manage a toilet queue! Its not difficult, just have a couple of folk who know where the toilets are and point everyone at them. In this case the long queue was because no-one in the queue knew there was actually a number of different toilets in the venue so everyone was queuing for just one.

This meant I was still in the loo at 0859. The race started at 0900. I managed to get to the start in plenty of time which means my watch must be telling the wrong time!

The route had changed slightly but nothing major. Starting out of town was quite nice as it got some of the boring road section out of the way early.

I had done al ot of training during the week and I had an injury. So I wasn’t expecting a great time. My hope was sub 1hr 50min but I’d have accepted anything up to 1hr 55min.

I felt fresher than I thought I would be and I ended up completing my run in sub 1hr 45min…just. 1 hr 44min 55 seconds.

Andrew beat me by 30s but he had rested before the race. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

The finishers goodie bag contained a t shirt, a medal and a covid test kit! I’d have preferred a Mars bar.

Overall, its an enjoyable race that is always a good test of Spring fitness.

My eyesight isn’t very good. It’s not as bad as Al Pacino’s vision in Scent Of a Woman but it is getting towards a Mr Magoo level of poorness. Thankfully I’ve not crashed my car… yet!

I suspect anyone reading this who understands either of these references is also old enough to be experiencing similar vision related problems.

My vision has deteriorated to the point where I am unable to read a book at night. As the low light means I struggle to get the letters on the page to focus.

I tried every fix I could think of – turning on all the lights, using a Kindle, reading whilst wearing a head-torch.

None of them helped. After a few minutes the words would go out of focus and I’d have to stop reading.

So I threw money at the problem! I decided to spend more money on one lamp than I have spent on all the lamps I have ever bought in my life. I bought a serious reader lamp – https://www.seriousreaders.com/

And all I can say is that is worth every penny I paid for it because for the first time in years I can now read in the evening. I can read for hours without any eye strain or issues. It is life changing. Since getting it at Xmas, I have read four books. That compares to the zero books I read before Xmas.

This review is not sponsored by Seriousreader but if they want to send me a free lamp then please get in touch!

PS – Once you buy the lamp I recommend you try it out with the excellent book Twinbikerun by Twinbikerun https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twinbikerun-Norseman-brothers-attempted-triathlon/dp/B09T61XGMK

“Ultra-distance runner Markus Torgeby was just 20 years old when he headed off into the remote Swedish forest to live as a recluse and dedicate himself to his one true passion: running. He lived in a tent in the wilderness, braving the harsh Swedish winters – for four years. This is his story. “

It was a rubbish story.

End of review!

But if you want to know why I didn’t enjoy it…

It says he lived as recluse in the wilderness but writes about how he visited his local town regularly, he writes about how he enjoyed it when his friends popped over for a beer on a Friday night and he writes about how he didn’t just live in a tent. He had a comfy bed. He got bed by popping back to the a fore mentioned town and asking the local hotel for one of theirs to take back to his tent/cabin.

I admire his achievements but his exploits are not as reclusive and as inspiring as the sales pitch made it out to be.

Score: 4/10