I’m proud that my blog has been chosen along with 32 others in the UK Blog Awards Sports and Fitness category. If you’ve enjoyed reading my blog over the last three years then maybe you’d consider voting please.

Here’s the link … Vote Here

Clicking on this link will take you directly to the category and then all you need to do is page down to irunoffroad and click the heart icon. It’s as easy as that.

Voting is open for the next six weeks and then a shortlist will be judged.

Once again, thank you for reading my blog.

Roger

I’m pleased to say my blog has been nominated for the Best Personal Blog in the Running Awards competition. If you enjoy reading my blog and you’d consider voting then follow the link and navigate to the Blog listings that are in alphabetical order.

Click here……     Voting Link

You do have to log in and create an account but this is simply to stop anyone voting numerous times for themselves !!

Thank you for reading and hopefully thanks for voting 🙂

I promise I won’t endlessly remind you all !!

Regards Roger

I’m very chuffed that my blog has been chosen from the 100 nominated. The initial shortlist is down to 64. I’m very proud that runultra have chosen to include my blog against tough competition 🙂

All that’s needed is your name and email address, no registration required !!

Quick and easy ……….. please vote Roger Thomasson.

Click here to vote

Much appreciated 🙂

 

The voting for Best Blog has opened. I would be very grateful if you would consider voting.

Just follow this vote link ……  Vote 

The Publications & Online category then has a Blog section, just scroll down to irunoffroad & vote. You do have to register if you haven’t voted before but it doesn’t take long and you won’t be pestered with lots of spam emails.

Thanks & enjoy your running

Roger

They say a picture paints a 1,000 words and when I look at this photo the two that immediately come to mind are “happy & proud”. As the best blog award was announced  and the big screen display changed, it was very exciting to see all the shortlisted logos and fantastic to see mine right up there. I’d like to thank all the people that voted for my blog both last year and this year. Two years blogging and twice shortlisted #amazing !!

In this post I have tagged as many people as came to mind and if they write a blog I have added a link to it via their name.

The venue for the Running Awards was once again the Indigo Rooms within the O2. I travelled up to London in the afternoon and checked into the Pilot Inn which is literally 0.6 miles away. I’d recommend the pub rooms as a stay over because I had a friendly welcome, free overnight parking, a good sleep and quite a funky room.

As I strolled towards the O2 I contemplated the evening ahead. What did I hope it would bring ? Realistically 401 marathons Ben had to be the favourite and second/third spots were up for grabs but my main goal was to meet the bloggers that I read the most and spookily enough that all happened within the first hour or so.

We’d been emailed that the Bloggers Forum would start at 8.30pm and on arrival the Indigo Rooms had the awards lit up in lights. The people from the majority of the other categories were dinning downstairs and we were in the balcony bar above. Once I’d had my official Running Awards photo taken I checked in at registration. If it’s anything like last years then you’ll get the sense of pride and achievement that I felt. Who would have thought that tapping away my thoughts at home would bring me to London !!

On arrival I was given my yellow wrist band that signified I was a blogging shortlisted candidate, this also meant I received a Bloggers goody bag. The Running Awards red kit bag in itself was quite cool and this photo shows you what was inside. The 500ml soft flask will come in very handy, all the gels and the Hi5 nutrition pack will definitely be used and I hope not to need the rock tape but it will be useful to carry as a precaution. The battery free Million mile lights were a great idea especially for those early/late trail runs where there’s no street lighting. I will definitely try the Totum Sports hydration drinks sachets after listening to Alice their rep and I’ll drink it from my Camelbak soft flask that has a clever open and shut valve, so there are no spillages. Thanks one and all for these gifts.

With the advantage of these bright red kit bags and his distinct Scottish ascent the first person I bumped into in the VIP Lounge was shortlisted Mark Gallacher. Mark has a great sense of humour and is a bundle of energy so the conversation flowed easily considering we have never met in person, only through twitter. On sitting down we were then joined by fellow blogger Paul Addicott and his wife, then not long after Liam Martin and his wife Judy. Liam’s Ginger Running man blog along with Mark’s are a couple of my favourites. Liam is fresh from his success in the recent runultra blogging awards.

We chatted about a wide range of blogging topics including Paul and Mark’s London marathons on the Sunday. As more people arrived I was pleased to see Darren (@Runnersknees) and his fellow @ukrunchat group. I borrowed this photo so that I could include Matt , Jen, Pip, Darren, Kaya, Clare & Big Carl in my blog.

Darren and I met last year when Strava took the bloggers for a run. Darren may not have been shortlisted but his RunnersKnees blog defiantly deserves it both in terms of numbers and content “next year” 🙂

By 9.45pm we made our way down to be escorted into the main arena for the awards themselves were the more corporate guests were finishing their three course meals. Sam and Rachael from the Running Awards have been emailing us in recent weeks so again it was great to meet them in person. We settled at our table, with the free drinks !! ( bottles of cold larger to follow on from my cider in the VIP bar) and Mike Bushell from the BBC set off the presenting proceedings by entering the stage on a space hopper. Guest presenters also included Susie Chan, Martin Yelling, Dame Kelly Holmes and 401 Ben.

My local Gosport running shop Absolute Running had been shortlisted  but unfortunately didn’t figure in the top three of their categories. However, it’s a great achievement for a relatively small shop to have made it that far. A testament to their success is that they have recently opened at second shop in Southsea.

So, the time came for the top three bloggers to be named. Third, Gemma‘s marathongirl, second Mark Gallacher and first 401 Ben. With Mark sitting next to me it was fantastic to see the unparalleled joy in his face. I was both excited and pleased for him. Ben has had an amazing two years and deserves every award that he is nominated for and with a nice touch Gemma came over to congratulate Mark . I popped over to see if they were all posing for photos, Ben and Gemma were there, either side of the PR Breath Unity lady.

Naturally only three people can figure in the Gold, silver and bronze positions but I think I can speak for our remaining nine bloggers that we all felt privileged to have been voted into the shortlisted top twelve out of more than eighty blogs that put themselves forward. I borrowed the official photo of Mark in his moment of glory 🙂

Once the announcements had all been made I said congratulations and goodnight to Mark and then mingled for a while to see who was around now that we’d stood up from our tables. Bumping into Darren and Jen again I also got to chat with ultra man Shaun Marsden who’d also been on last years pre awards Strava run. When I chatted to him last year he’d just finished his Artic Ultra !! I briefly chatted with Ben and offered my congratulations and then had a quick chat with Big Carl who is an interesting character and I take my hat off to him as his “Big Carl” relates to him once being 30 stone.

So in summary a great evening catching up with old friends and making new ones. Could the Bloggers Forum have been more constructive, probably yes, but then again the informal chatting did work. Could I have taken more photos, definitely, but sometimes it’s good to take in what’s going on rather than keep snapping away 🙂

As I strolled back towards the pub and my accommodation I bumped into Liam and Judy who I’d sadly missed saying goodbye to so this was a perfect end to the evening as I shared a quick lift up the road in their taxi and got to say goodbye too. See you at Race to the King Liam 🙂

I was waiting for the official “photo on arrival” before I posted this blog because if nothing else it proves I was there …. ha ha 🙂

Roll on 2018 ….. maybe 3 shortlistings in a row ???

Cheers ….. Rog

 

 

Thanks very much to Runultra who have selected my blog to be in the shortlist from the original 108 blogs that entered. I am proud to say I’m in the last 62 Blogs.

The public vote is now open, just page down to Roger Thomason, click on the vote button, then scroll down to the bottom of the page, enter your Name and email, click enter and, this is the exciting bit …….. you get so see what position my Blog is in !!

Click here http://woobox.com/bcwjz6

Many thanks

Roger

I’d like to say thank you to Strava and the Running Awards for looking after us Bloggers before and during the Awards. I’d also like to say a huge thank you to everyone that voted for my blog which meant I could be shortlisted and attend.

As I made the two hour drive I pondered on how surreal the day felt. I joined twitter Christmas 2014 and started my blog a year ago, in that time I have talked to and met so many like minded spirits and that’s the beauty of our running #community, so, as The Clash once said it was “London Calling” !!

On arriving at the O2 I’d pre booked parking so there was no stress involved there and I had all afternoon to take in the sights and sounds of the area as well as the London marathon exhibition. On walking towards the O2 I saw this sign in memory of Prince which I thought was a nice touch, what with it being such an iconic music venue. Later that evening there was also a sign that referred to the weather … “Purple Rain”   🙂

As I caught the tube/train across to the Excel there was no doubt it was London marathon weekend as I saw countless club T shirts. I chatted to 2 Welsh runners on the tube and chaps from Exeter & Hull while waiting for my return trip. The Excel was a hive of activity with runners collecting their numbers etc before entering the Expo.

I’d sum up the Expo by saying it was like being a kid in a sweet shop. My highlights were meeting Mike Gratton of 2.09, talking with the chap from the Lock Ness marathon (“If you’re going to put yourself through hell, you might as well do it in heaven”) and the enthusiasm of the Runtastic people. The Runners World Trailblazer lady was very interesting and I told the Saucony people how much I like my Peregrine 5’s.

I noticed the time was getting on so I made my way back to the car, full of anticipation for our run with the Strava guys out of the Intercontinental hotel that’s just behind the O2. A number of people including the bloggers had been invited to go for a run with the Strava representatives before the Awards and attend a Q&A chat with Parkrun COO Tom Williams, Strava UK’s Simon Klima and Marathon Talk’s Martin Yelling. As I registered I recognised Runners Knees (ukrunchat’s Darren Smith) from our twitter conversations and we were paired up with room keys to change in the hotel and shower after (separately) 🙂

As we stood outside the hotel for a quick H&S chat our group included Susie Chan & Shaun Marsden, Runners Knees, the The Mohican runner (Richard Hayes) and Nikki Jones, who is a local blogger and friend of mine, as well as her also being shortlisted for the Blog Award. I also chatted with Ryan from Ireland and Shaun about his recent Arctic adventure. As we reached half way this group selfie in Greenwich Park, from Susie, summed up the informal chatty run that we’d been on. The 6.6K also ran along the Thames to give us that “London” feeling.

I apologise to the other guys for not remembering your names. We headed back, showered and changed and as we walked over to the O2 Indigo Rooms I chatted to Ian Visser who concentrates on speed, hence his twitter name & blog being called Sub what ? The awards styled “running man” outside was a reminder that there would eventually be winners later that evening but to be honest I was chuffed with my shortlisted lanyard.

 

The other Strava groups gathered in the Balcony bar as well as our guests for the Q&A. We talked about the impact of parkruns, the growing strength of Strava with photos to develop more of a social media side and all three guests kept up a lively and interesting chat with the banter we have come to expect from Marathon Talk. Food, drinks and more chatting followed in another bar and then it was time for the Shortlisted bloggers to join the rest of the “downstairs” invited guests.

Photos : The Balcony bar & the dinners downstairs.

With wine and beer available on the table I carried on with my coke (hey ho !!) and I chatted with Rhona Red wine runner who’d come down from Scotland to combine the marathon with the awards. I cheered loudly when Absolute Running placed third as they are my local running shop. Equally  I’ve chatted to Andy Palmer recently from White Star Running so it was great to hear their name called out by Mike Bushell from the BBC who was hosting the night. Well done to everyone that was either shortlisted or in the top three for all the categories.

In the end my Blog didn’t feature in the top three but I’m pleased and proud with how far it has progressed and the new running friends that I have made along the way, in our great running #community. Happy Blogging !!  & there’s always next year 🙂

PS I may add more photos of the night as they become available.