Comments on: Roundabout in the Rain http://peteashton.com/2004/04/roundabout_in_the_rain/ June 2000 to June 2010 Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:48:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Pete Ashton http://peteashton.com/2004/04/roundabout_in_the_rain/comment-page-1/#comment-4903 Pete Ashton Tue, 20 Apr 2004 07:08:46 +0000 http://peteashton.com/2004/04/roundabout_in_the_rain/#comment-4903 Oh, I knew the job was important - in fact we'd assumed it would be more important, like stopping traffic and the like - and every rider who passed was given verbal and physical directions to go "straight over" the roundabout. This was even more important when you realised that turing right would take them onto the motorway-esque dual carriageway of the Coventry Road. There were two of us there to cover the slacking off risk. A number of times I'd be gazing in the wrong direction as a cyclist buzzed past but John had caught them. It was very cold and wet though. Oh, I knew the job was important – in fact we’d assumed it would be more important, like stopping traffic and the like – and every rider who passed was given verbal and physical directions to go “straight over” the roundabout. This was even more important when you realised that turing right would take them onto the motorway-esque dual carriageway of the Coventry Road.

There were two of us there to cover the slacking off risk. A number of times I’d be gazing in the wrong direction as a cyclist buzzed past but John had caught them.

It was very cold and wet though.

]]> By: Dad http://peteashton.com/2004/04/roundabout_in_the_rain/comment-page-1/#comment-4902 Dad Tue, 20 Apr 2004 04:06:31 +0000 http://peteashton.com/2004/04/roundabout_in_the_rain/#comment-4902 A marshall's job can be very important - or perhaps my point is that without a key marshall in place, things can and will go very wrong. To illustrate: I went to Southampton University in 1964. The cross country team was legendary at that time, having spawned athletes who had competed in the Olympics. Having represented my county (Shropshire!) in the All England School Cross Country Championships, I thought I could compete with the University bunch. So I showed up at a golf course in Bournemouth and was selected to run the first leg of a four man relay team. Off we went. Soon I was left behind. Every so often I would come across a marshall and would be pointed in the direction of the rest of the race. But eventually I came to a junction in the trail with only pine trees as company. Which way to go? I had no idea. So, looking at the ground I decided to follow the path with the most footprints. Obviously I chose the wrong way. Eventually I found my way back to the start where I was blamed for ruining my team's chances. To this day I wonder about that missing marshall - was he standing behind a tree taking a pee, had he decided to keep warm in a nearby car until it was time for lap two, had the other teams paid him off? I guess I'll never know. But I never ran at Southampton again. So all those cyclists may not realize it, but they owe you, Pete, for being there, for pointing them in the right direction, for suffering the rain and the cold with them. You didn't let one of them down. They may never remember that, of course, but if you had slacked off for just five minutes . . . . . A marshall’s job can be very important – or perhaps my point is that without a key marshall in place, things can and will go very wrong. To illustrate:

I went to Southampton University in 1964. The cross country team was legendary at that time, having spawned athletes who had competed in the Olympics. Having represented my county (Shropshire!) in the All England School Cross Country Championships, I thought I could compete with the University bunch. So I showed up at a golf course in Bournemouth and was selected to run the first leg of a four man relay team. Off we went. Soon I was left behind. Every so often I would come across a marshall and would be pointed in the direction of the rest of the race. But eventually I came to a junction in the trail with only pine trees as company. Which way to go? I had no idea. So, looking at the ground I decided to follow the path with the most footprints. Obviously I chose the wrong way. Eventually I found my way back to the start where I was blamed for ruining my team’s chances. To this day I wonder about that missing marshall – was he standing behind a tree taking a pee, had he decided to keep warm in a nearby car until it was time for lap two, had the other teams paid him off? I guess I’ll never know. But I never ran at Southampton again.

So all those cyclists may not realize it, but they owe you, Pete, for being there, for pointing them in the right direction, for suffering the rain and the cold with them. You didn’t let one of them down. They may never remember that, of course, but if you had slacked off for just five minutes . . . . .

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