Please give generously to Cancer Research : https://www.justgiving.com/Dan-Thompson11/
Date : 19th November, 2017
Time : 54’ 50”
Number of runners : 266
Total distance run to date : 1310 km
Run map and details : https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2342396698
Media : http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20171121/dan-is-running-round-world
When I first envisaged Run the World, I imagined that I would run most of my 10 ks as part of organised races round the world. It then transpired that there isn’t always a race at 10 pm on a Monday evening – or even at 5 am on a Tuesday morning. Which is unfortunate because, more often than not, those are the only options my schedule allows.
The net result is that, while I’ve often joined running clubs for their training session, I’ve never actually done a 10 k as part of an organised race.
So you can imagine my excitement when the lovely people at the Swans Running Club and the Mid Atlantic Athletic Club (MAAC) told me that they’d arranged for me to run in the Bacardi 8km organised by MAAC. (They’d also arranged to pick me up from the airport at an antisocial hour on the Saturday evening – thank you Keith and Marla – and then from the hotel before the run on the Sunday morning – thank you Sharon and Chris.)
Now, the more astute mathematicians amongst you will have noticed that the race was 8km long. And that this is less than my mandated distance of 10km. We’d also picked up on this so Sharon, Chris, Marla, I and a couple of others went for a pre-race 2km in central Hamilton.
before making our way to the start line.
And off we went.
I mostly ran with Chris who, as Club President, seemed to know everyone so it was very social run. ( I should probably note at this stage that Chris was returning from serious injury. I doubt that I could have kept pace with him otherwise…)
At the 7km mark, I thought, ‘I’ve run 59km this week – all at a sensible, energy conserving pace to help me to get through all the runs and the travel. I’m going to give it a go for the last km to see how I do’. I explained my thought to Chris and set off.
Frankly, I was hoping to put in a sub 4 minute kilometre and show them that I can still run a bit. (Not really sure who ‘they’ are…or why I wanted to prove anything to ‘them’… but I guess that’s a race environment for you.)
Sadly for me, the next half kilometre was all uphill and I missed my target by 15 seconds. Still, I did gain a few places and ended up 100th – out of 266.
Not that great a performance but an excellent race – well organised, well marshalled and well provisioned. I really enjoyed both the run and the company.
Here are a couple of videos of the race for anyone’s who’s interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6CmpoCRwJ4
https://www.facebook.com/BERMEMES/videos/1516658231736554/
I thought that was going to be about it. But no, this was a proper, full blown event.
In front of the Bacardi building in Hamilton there is a large terrace and an even larger lawn. Which was used first for a post run spread and then a medal ceremony. The medal winners included Sharon and Scott (who was interviewing me at the time for the Bermuda Royal Gazette ). Yours truly was given a large bottle of Bacardi Exquisito rum. Which will be turned into Dark ‘n’ Stormys – Bermuda’s signature cocktail – at the next appropriate occasion. (Apparently the Dark ‘n’ Stormy name is trademarked so I hope no-one’s planning to sue me…)
I thought that was going to be it again. But wrong again. That afternoon Chris and Sharon took me on a tour of Bermuda which really is as pretty an island as you’re ever likely to come across. Not just for its famous beaches
and pink sand
but also for the fact that around every corner there’s a stunning view.
I’ll certainly be back one day – quite likely for the Bermuda Triangle Challenge weekend in January (organised by the Bermuda National Athletics Association) which involves a mile race on the Friday, a 10km on the Saturday and a full and a half marathon on the Sunday. Lots of international runners make the trip and it is, by all accounts, a fantastic weekend.
It just remains for me to say a huge thank you to Sharon, Chris, Keith, Marla, Helen, Scott, Bacardi, photographer Tony and everyone else who helped make my trip to Bermuda so memorable!
Please like Run the World on Facebook to receive notification of future blogs and news about runs, races and running clubs across the world. And please donate to Cancer Research if you’d like to help fight the global scourge that is cancer.
Photographs courtesy of Tony Bean and Sharon Craig.
Facts & Stats
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 1,070 km (665 mi) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; 1,236 km (768 mi) south of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia; and 1,578 km (981 mi) north of Puerto Rico. The capital city is Hamilton.
Bermuda’s economy is based on offshore insurance and reinsurance, and tourism, the two largest economic sectors.[5][6] Bermuda had one of the world’s highest GDP per capita for most of the 20th century. Recently, its economic status has been affected by the global recession. It has a subtropical climate.[ Bermuda is the northernmost point of the Bermuda Triangle, a region of sea in which, according to legend, a number of aircraft and surface vessels have disappeared under supposedly unexplained or mysterious circumstances. The island is in the hurricane belt and prone to related severe weather; however, it is somewhat protected by a coral reef that surrounds the island and its position at the north of the belt, which limits the direction and severity of approaching storms.
Bermuda’s pink sand beaches and clear, cerulean blue ocean waters are popular with tourists. Many of Bermuda’s few hotels are located along the south shore of the island. In addition to its beaches, there are a number of sightseeing attractions. Historic St George’s is a designated World Heritage Site. Scuba divers can explore numerous wrecks and coral reefs in relatively shallow water (typically 30–40 ft or 9–12 m in depth), with virtually unlimited visibility. Many nearby reefs are readily accessible from shore by snorkellers, especially at Church Bay.
Bermuda’s most popular visitor attraction is the Royal Naval Dockyard, which includes the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Other attractions include the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the Botanical Gardens and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, lighthouses, and the Crystal Caves with stalactites and underground saltwater pools. It is not possible to rent a car on the island; public transport and taxis are available or visitors can hire scooters for use as private transport.
The current ruling party in Bermuda is the Progressive Labour party, commonly referred to as the PLP. They were voted into power in July 2017 after Bermuda was ruled by the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) for 5 years, from 2012 to 2017. David Burt is currently (2017) the Premier of Bermuda replacing Michael Dunkley who led the OBA.
World Bank Data
Here’s the latest World Bank data for Bermuda – with the year 2000 as a comparison.
GDP $5.57 bn 2013 $3.48 bn 2000
Population 65.3 k 2016 61.8 k 2000
Primary school enrolment* 90% 2015 101 % 2001
CO2 Emissions** 8.84 2014 8.36 2000
% below poverty line*** NA
Life expectancy at birth 81.0 yrs 2015 77.9 yrs 2000
GNI per capita $106140 2013 $34290 1995
*Percentage can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over and under aged students
** Metric tons per capita
***The World Bank notes that the methodology can vary between countries and over time within a given country. (While most of the World Bank data generally follows understandable trends, this number often oscillates wildly suggesting that different methodologies are frequently used over time within a given country.)
Greatest Sporting Nation Data
Finally, here’s the data from Greatest Sporting Nation on how Bermuda performed in the global sporting arena in 2017:
Global Cup – 104th
Per Capita Cup – NA
The Global Cup aggregates results from over 1000 events across 80 sports to produce the definitive annual ranking of international sporting success. The Per Capita Cup uses the same data to produce an annual per capita ranking.
dansgoldchallenge 