Lichfield with a Dash of Torch

The Olympic Torch started by landing in Cornwall then made its way north, south, east and west, meandering its way around the United Kingdom before finally heading south towards London.

Saturday 30th June 2012 saw the Olympic Torch in Lichfield where a whole day of events had been laid on to mark the occasion.

This part of the leg started in Derby then headed to Burton-upon-Trent (where they make Marmite) making a stop at the National Memorial Arboretum where it started the Armed Forces Day event, then from there it headed into Lichfield…

We’re off to see the Torch

The weather reports were not looking good and many roads were going to be blocked from 8:30 onwards so we had to get a move on.

The weather was in fact better than forecast and can be summed up by this picture…..sunshine and showers.



We joined the stream of people heading into the centre of the city and saw that many people were already
gathering at various places along the route to catch a glimpse of the torch as it passed.

 

Perched and Waiting

We perched ourselves up some steps on the side of the pavement and waited patiently for the show to begin.

Later that day there would be The Lichfield Dash where brave runners would try to run around the cathedral before the midday bells had finished chiming. Providing a little celebrity for the event was none other than Roger Black who for some strange reason seems to be surrendering.




The people gathered, the sun shone and classic cars from the Cars in the Park event provided a drive-by warm-up.




Now the torch convoy kicked into gear. Lots of police on motorcycles followed by support cars and buses then the various sponsor’s buses.



Then the “grey runners” appeared bringing fun and frivolity?



And finally, the event we had been waiting for, the Olympic Torch (blink and you will miss it)!

The Olympic Torch

The excitement over in the blink of an eye and the crowds depart.

Up the road and down the road. It was a good turnout.


The atmosphere was great and the crowds, officials and police were all polite and friendly. Everyone was having fun.

A very pleasant experience, I am glad we went.

 

But Wait, There is More!

As mentioned earlier, a whole day of events lay ahead….of which I attended only one….The Lichfield Dash.

Set in the shadow of Lichfield Cathedral…



The idea was to run around the perimeter of Lichfield Cathedral (about 430m) within the time it takes for the bells to chime midday (about 58 seconds). Not something for the faint hearted.

Clearly this event was going to take place at midday, but up to that time they were holding various races around the course for all ages. Alongside this they had other entertainments including singing and dancing.

I will cut to chase as it were (pun intended) and describe just two of the events.

Man vs. Bike

Each year they pit a runner against a cyclist. Not entirely fair, so they give the runner a 30 second head start.

It appears for the last two years the cyclist has won.

So was this year going to be different?

Man vs. Bike

Sooooo close!! May be next year.

The Dash

Only four brave souls entered this year….

On your marks!

 

Get set!

 

Go!!!

A couple of them even beat the chimes…

The Lichfield Dash

And to the winner go the spoils…presented by, you guessed it, Roger Black.



With that, I went home.

What, More Chocolate?

Three more delightful chocolates have made it to my discerning palate.

Huge thanks go out to the ineffable force of nature that is @TheFlossieTP for the delightful little number from Hotel Chocolat, and to my sister Julie for the gingery delight by Bovetti (nope, not heard of them before either) bought back from a recent trip to France. I have to thank myself for the third one, the Dark Wasabi from Lindt.

Line Them Up!

From left to right we have:

Chocolat Noir Gingembre by Bovetti

Even my limited language skills manage this translation to Dark Ginger Chocolate with Pure Cocoa Butter.





Top marks for presentation. The packaging, while simple, looked good with quirky little pictures and their trademark ship on the back. The chocolate itself was also handsomely presented with individually worded blocks.




But what about the taste?

I have to admit I have been disappointed with ginger chocolate in the past. Not this time though.
With 73% cocoa I was expecting it to be a little on the strong/bitter side but this was not the case.
It was crunchy with just a hint of the dark chocolate bitterness offset nicely with the subtle taste of ginger.

Chilli and Orange 70% Dark by Hotel Chocolat

The packaging claims:

“Zesty orange gives way to smooth dark chocolate then a gentle chilli tingle.”

They are not wrong and I could not have said it better.



Admittedly, I am a sucker for orange chocolate (yes, I love chocolate oranges) so this was getting points before we started.

Opening the packet I was greeted with the intoxicating mixed aromas of chocolate and orange; I was in heaven.

Even better than this was the surprise of there being not one, but two bars hiding inside!



Again, here I have to give top marks for presentation for the markings and the embossed Hotel Chocolat insignia.


The taste experience was as advertised on the packaging. The orange flavour hits you first followed by the dark chocolate and finally when you wonder where the chilli is it hits you, starting slowly building to a nice warmth which stays with you to remind you of the delightful experience.

Dark Wasabi by Lindt

I always head to the chocolate aisles in supermarkets in the hope of finding something different. On this particular day I was not disappointed!



Wasabi is not an obvious choice to mix with chocolate but I am willing to try anything and when it comes from someone like Lindt you have to have a little faith.

I am not sure about everyone else but wasabi hits me in the nose and has a tendency to make my eyes water and sneeze.

Yes, you guessed it, the chocolate did the same thing.

The wasabi taste was very strong and noticeable but so was the chocolate. My first impression was that of this was a disconnection of tastes rather than a smooth mixture.

Regardless, it was a tasty chocolate and when handed out to colleagues at a recent work event seemed to go down well and in some cases was rated above some of the chilli chocolates.

Not to everybody’s taste but well worth trying!

The Scores on the Doors

The winner here today, hands down, has to be the Chilli and Orange from Hotel Chocolat. The subtle flavour and gentle release of the chilli makes this an obvious choice.

Birds of a Feather

The hotel we are staying in serves breakfast next to a beautiful pond. The fish dance beneath and the swans sail gracefully across the surface.



Each morning we are delighted with the different sights…

Duck!!

Ok, not actually a duck, looks more like a goose but who knows (must remember to ask hotel staff).
I think he/she must have had an itch of some kind because they were preening and rolling around in the water for ages.



Here is the same bird in a more graceful pose.

Black and White

Two swans performing synchronised swimming manoeuvres. Can’t say I have seen a black swan before.



And I have no idea what this swan is doing, but shouldn’t those legs be padding like mad under the water?



Now if you’ll excuse me I need to order another waffle.

It’s Still a Tough Job…More Tales of Hardship.

Earlier this year I documented here the arduous task of sampling various brands of chilli chocolate.

Throughout the year I have been keeping an eye out for more chilli chocolate and selflessly sampling the wares that I find.

Here are some of the chocolates that have crossed my palette.

Fiery…or not.

Staring at me from my timeline last week on twitter was a picture of chilli chocolate from Thorntons. Of course, passing the shop yesterday and the 3 for £5 pound offer, how could I resist…..

This is a dark chocolate and does taste nice, but the Thorntons is a light weight amongst the chilli chocolates. If you’re wanting afterburn and a strong heat then this is not the one for you.

Chocolat

Fellow chilli chocolate lover and all round class act @TheFlossieTP was kind enough to give me some Hotel Chocolat Chilli Pralines (thank you, thank you, thank you!).

Top marks here for presentation, the photo is poor but if you look carefully you will see bits of chilli poking out of the chocolate. A nice touch!

Sadly, despite these being very delicious (gone in 60 seconds) the heat was a little too subtle for my tastes.

Sexy!

The things I do in the name of research!

On a recent visit to Edinburgh we went to the Real Foods shop not looking for chilli chocolate but finding it in abundance.

One of the most notable bars was the Sexy one. How could anyone resist such blatant marketing?

The chilli side of this worked very well. It had the perfect afterburn experience, kicking in a good 30 seconds after you start eating it. Sadly the chocolate taste didn’t do it for me. A little too smooth and milky for my taste but still a commendable product. And boy what great packaging!

Montezuma Strikes Again

Finally another Montezuma’s bar. These people really do know how to make great chocolate.

Their Dark Chocolate with Chilli came out on top in my last roundup and this Milk Chocolate & Chilli wins hands down this time too.

This is a milk chocolate bar, like the Sexy one, but the addition of the lime really does make a huge difference.

It is soft and smooth, and the chocolate, chilli and lime all merge together to caress your taste buds.

Very, very nice.

The End

That’s the lot for now, but you can sleep soundly at night with the knowledge that someone out there is tirelessly working to ensure no chilli chocolate is left un-tasted!

Every Second Counts

Pipped to the post by 1 second!

Stewards enquiry!! 

Three Hours Earlier

Arriving by train, Birmingham stood before us, grand and majestic (the floosy is off to the right of the pic).

The station and city packed with runners and their support teams was a comforting sight as we made our way to the start, briefly being accosted by someone from BRMB to have our photo taken (see the gallery here ). Helicopters buzzed around the cloudy but bright sky as the first wave of runners was about to set off. Birmingham was well and truly packed.

As is our tradition we stopped for the pre-run photo tweet:





Being unconfident of our times we found ourselves in the Pink wave, the last wave to go. Not only in the last wave, but we also found ourselves towards the back. In retrospect this was quite good as it is good for the soul/ego to be passing lots of people rather than being passed.

So, we made our way to the Pink Wave start area.

By this time our support team had split up. Our father had caught the train to catch up with us as we staggered through Bournville and @julietims, having seen us to the start and carrying the bags, was now filming and taking photos from the start/finish.

And we’re….almost off!

The Pink Wave amassed, waiting to go through the start line.

And we’re….still almost off!

This picture sees us minutes before the start of the run. @jazzlegs looks up momentarily from playing Words with Friends, both of us prepping the running apps on our phones. There were a lot people, though at 15,000 runners it was by no means the biggest. We were surrounded though by a lot of people. All ages, all shapes and sizes and many in fancy dress. The atmosphere was great and the sun was shining….only 13 miles to go.

 

The Run

I would like to say that we had a relaxing run and were able to take in all the sights of Birmingham, but come on, we were running a half marathon!

I do know that Pershore Road is bloody long, dual carriageways in Birmingham go up as well as down and the gradient map of the course did not do the last three miles justice at all!

We saw our father twice around Bournville (he was able to cut through the station to catch us the second time) and he took some action photos and video.

@julietims was waiting at the finish (with our father) poised and ready for action to capture our triumphant arrival. As the beginning of the post attests, this was done perfectly.

13 Miles Later…

The Finish!

We did it. We ran all the way and even managed a sprint at the end.

This was a distance that neither @jazzlegs or myself had previously done and I think we are quite rightly pleased with ourselves for this achievement.

As tradition dictates, the post-run photo was tweeted:

Support

Huge thanks have to go to our support team: @julietims and our father.

It’s always good to have people on the ground to help with bags, take action photos and meet you at the end.

Also, a huge thanks to the people of Birmingham who lined the course giving support, encouragement and High-5s to all the runners. It was much appreciated.

And finally a thank you to the organisers of this year’s Great Birmingham Run who did a fantastic job.

Great Birmingham Run 2012

Here it is for all foolish enough to take part:

http://www.greatrun.org/Events/Event.aspx?id=14

Needless to say I have already signed up for next year!