A light-hearted look at running, cycling and general fitness
Ok, so this has nothing to do with running but I know how much you all like to eat, and judging by the amount of entries I got for my limerick competition, it seems you like to write limericks too, so what better than a food based limerick competition?
For a chance to win a voucher for an Innocent Veg Pot, please see my veggie blog, Planet Veggie.
Good luck!
A few days ago I held a limerick competition to win a copy of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.
After receiving twenty six brilliant entries, I decided to pass the choosing of the winner to the Independent Adjudicator.
Personally, I’d have been very strict about the meter but it wasn’t up to me and so the Independent Adjudicator has spoken, and in his own words:
Frances Green has to be the winner for the pink dressing gown, despite it not strictly adhering to the limerick definition. Hels was ok but she can’t win just because.
Mark would have won for his Kent based theme but for having read the book and Suzie for name-checking Local Adventures are worthy of a mention in despatches but Frances gets it.
So, well done Frances, you win the book. And well done to the runners up. You don’t win anything though, sorry.
The winning poem, by Frances Green
There once was a runner from Kent
Whose time was haphazardly spent
racing miles through the town
in a pink dressing gown
turning heads in each street where he went
The runners up
Hels’ limerick
There once was a runner from Kent
A lovely free book she was sent
She said, “freebies, ta”
Then went to a bar
To ask for a free beer, she went
Mark’s limerick
There once was a runner in Kent
Round Chatham and Margate she went
Five miles past Dover
She nearly keeled over
And by Ashford was totally spent
Suzie’s limerick
There once was a runner in Kent
Who always ran at 100 percent
So when juneathon came
and local adventures abstained
He thought “I could win this event!”
After saying to Tom that I’d look forward to his Juneathon sestina (after being promised one for Janathon, dum de dum…), Tom asked if I would make do with a limerick instead.
I said no.
But, it did inspire me to have a bit of fun before the hard work of Juneathon commences and hold a competition, so I’m giving away a copy of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.
I’m not much of a book reviewer (and it’s been a while since I read it) but it’s a book about a bloke who goes running with those Tarahumara dudes in Mexico. It’s a highly entertaining read and a brilliantly written book, as you can see from the glowing reviews on amazon.
To win a copy, all you have to do is write a limerick and post it below. The one I like the best, wins.
To start you off, here’s the first line:
There once was a runner in Kent
Off you go then!
Terms and conditions
Competition closes midnight Tuesday 31 May 2011
UK entrants only (unless you want to pay the postage)
Tomorrow (Thursday 10 September) Sainsbury’s are giving away an 8GB silver Apple iPod Nano as part of a competition that is simple and free to enter.
To be in with a chance of winning all you need to do is answer a really simple question which will be posted on Thursday morning at mirrorcashback.co.uk/sainsburys.
As the competition for this product is only running for one day there is a great opportunity to win.
Thanks to those of you who entered my competition to win a copy of The Crisis Cookbook. There were a couple of good jokes there, but my favourite was Paul HC’s donkey joke:
Man goes for job at a blacksmiths:
“Do you have any experience shoeing horses?”
“No but I once told a donkey to **** off”
Well done Paul, email me your address and I’ll send the book off to you.
Another day, another Juneathon, and with the weather we’ve had the past couple of days, it could well be called a Decemberthon, apart from the fact that it’s not actually December.
I couldn’t really be bothered to do anything today but rules are rules and I don’t want anyone to call me a slacker so the little trusty steed and I went up to the tree and back. And in case you’re wondering why, if I moved to the countryside, there’s only one tree, there is actually more than one but this one’s at a handy little junction.
And for those of you that only looked at this post because the title mentions a competition and therefore freebies, here’s today’s competition.
In the goody bag for Thursday’s Crisis Square Mile Run was The Crisis Cook Book. I’m giving mine away because a) Shaun got one too and we don’t need two of them; and b) it’s full of meat recipes like Spiced Partridge Pilaf and Roast Bone Marrow and as you know, I’m one of those fussy vegetarian types.
Blurb from the book:
The Crisis Cook Book has been edited by Nicholas Lander who has had the enviable job of being the Financial Times restaurant correspondent for the past 18 years and is a long time supporter of Crisis, the homeless charity. During this period he has made the acquaintance of many of the top chefs around the world who have generously donated three recipes their favourite starter, main course and dessert for this book. The Crisis Cook Book comprises 84 recipes from 28 top chefs including Mario Batali, Paul Bocuse, Sally Clarke, Alain Ducasse, Chris Galvin, Mark Hix, Ken Hom, Simon Hopkinson, Tom Kitchin, Joel Robuchon, Rick Stein and Alice Waters, which have been converted into an easy-to-follow format by cookery writer, Silvija Davidson. The second section includes ten introductory essays on wine by Jancis Robinson.
It also says the other main objective of this book is to raise funds for Crisis, the homelessness charity www.crisis.org.uk which will receive a significant proportion from each book sold.
Although obviously not from the 2,700 copies they gave away on Thursday.
So, if you want to make such mouthwatering recipes as Squid and Mackerel Burger or Chicken Liver Terrine with Juniper all you have to do is post a joke and the one I like best wins.
Rules
UK entries only please (unless you have a UK friend who will post it overseas to you)
Competition ends Friday 12 June 2009
Stats (cycling)
Distance: 2.19 miles
Time: 14:01
Speed: 9.4mph
Calories: 62
Weight: 9st 4
Juneathons completed: 6/30
Competitions: 1
After an overwhelming response to my competition, mainly responded to by woodworm who came from a freeloaders’ forum (Adele was spot on when she commented on how many people come out of the woodwork when there’s something for nothing on offer), I have adjudicated and conferred and all the other important stuff one has to do when judging a competition, and my winners are:
1. Mr Tom Roper. For using the word peregrination which I had never heard before and so had to look up and then go and have a long Facebook status conversation about it.
2. Miss Strumming, Running & Drinking. For taking the piss out of me and making Shaun laugh.
3. Mr Sore Limbs. Because the huge amount of email, Facebook messages, late night phone calls, bricks through the windows, aeroplanes trailing banners flying over my house, all containing the message GIVE ME THE BOOK is quite frankly getting a bit embarrassing. And I hate to see a grown man cry.
So, well done you three, email me your addresses and I’ll get the books sent out to you.
I get contacted by a nice lady from Mitchell Beazley who asks me if I’d like copies of two books to give away on my Planet Veggie website. FREEBIES?!! Like she even needs to ask; just send me the freebies, and so I email the nice lady back and say yes please, send me the books and I will run a competition on my site and she sends me the books which are Veg: The Cookbook by Gregg Wallace and The Seasoned Vegetarian by Simon Rimmer and I think hmm, I’ve seen Masterchef and I don’t remember Gregg Wallace being a vegetarian and so I look at Veg: The Cookbook with some suspicion and it doesn’t say anything about being a vegetarian book on the front cover, nor on the back cover and neither on the inside front cover or inside back cover and so I flick through the book at the recipes which all look very nice and are indexed by vegetable but then lo! my suspicions are confirmed when I see a recipe containing beef. Eek. And it says something about slicing up the dead cow and I drop the book like a hot potato although I’d rather have a hot potato than a dead cow and I email the nice lady and say I’m sorry but it’s not a vegetarian book and therefore I can’t give it away on Planet Veggie but I do have another blog where I allow meat-eaters to come and play and I can give the book away on there if that’s ok? and the nice lady emails me back and says yes, that’s fine and so I have three copies of Veg: The Cookbook to give away and I’ve been trying to think of a competition but failed miserably and so all you have to do to win one of three copies is to write a comment telling me why you should win the book and the three comments I like the best will win and I really hope that more than three people comment otherwise I’m going to look like a saddo.
Stats:
Copies of non-vegetarian books to give away: 3
Copies of vegetarian books to give away when I get round to it: 3
Date competition ends: 28 February 2009