OK, you may have noticed the Discovery has gone and in its place is a shiny Defender.  With mrsm now in possession of a Freelander 2 (which I have to say is a beautiful car), I could buy a Defender as it would not be the main family car.

On advice from previous owner and from the noise from the rear mounted spare wheel each time I went over a bump, I bought a Britpart rear wheel carrier.  I had this fitted as I was getting some other work done anyway and new I wouldn’t have time.  Ian at 4X4 store kindly welded up my knackered rear door at the same time.

I had researched in advance and found this information on fitting a Simbars Discovery rack to a Defender wheel carrier was hoping to do the same.

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OK, so this is not beer or gear related. 

I started training for the Belfast marathon last year with my sister in law who, unfortunately, had to drop out of training for a while due to injury.

Yesterday was Larne 1/2 marathon.  I had only previously done one 1/2 marathon in about 9 years (Lisburn) but I had a PB of 2:02 to beat.

Anyway, Larne gets quite a hard time of it, especially by people who’ve never been to Hull, but I have to say this was a great event, very well organised with easy parking, registration etc.  Water was every 4 miles or so and there was plenty of it.

I had a slight issue with registration as someone had taken my number and bag – I just registered again and got £5 back as they’d run out of T-shirts, result!

Route was mostly flat along the coast road with a quick excursion inland at Ballygalley – which was a bit hilly.

I recorded 1:54:51 on my runkeeper and official race time of 1:55:55 and chip time of 1:54:47 (runner 1425) finishing 696’th of 1300 or so.

Runkeeper embed – that still probably doesn’t work!

Well pleased, beating my PB by 8 minutes or so. 

Highly recomended event – well done to Larne Athletics Club for a great event – they event got the weather right.

Breakfast

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Since I was the nominated driver, I had stopped drinking early – but still felt pretty wrecked – probably from all the planking I did the night before.

Nice drive up to Dingle up Conor pass. 

Dingle was a bit desolate and not as nice as I remembered it – everything was shut and we wondered around an hour or so before finding a spot for tea.

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After a bacon bap and a shower John headed us along the coast from Westport and then we cut in through some stunning countryside, passed lots of wild rhubarb.

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We woke at 4 am with old mans bladder and then again at 6:45 – as this seems to be the time John normally gets up.

We quickly packed the tent and then blagged free coffee, use of toilets in Jackson’s and got an early start to the day – picking up our challenges and heading off at 8.

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We started a the day with jaunt up the North coast.  I suggested a detour passed Torr head – that was not too popular – burning brakes and general moaning.

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‘After a few beers set off for John’s and Martin’s.

And after a short wait we were off

Like all professional sports teams, the top beer rally team understand the importance of preparation.  Race preparation for an international motoring event, such as the scally rally, involves four key areas:

• Scrutineering to ensure driver and spectator safety
• Decoration so the car not only looks good but satisfies sponsors' advertising requirements
• Mechanical preparation for maximum performance and reliability
• Logistics so driver, navigator and mechanic have everything they require for the arduous journey

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The DS4 in France

A few times a year I hire a car.  I drive a 1995 Land Rover Discovery, which could hardly be describes as sporty.  Occasionally I drive Fiona’s Seat Altea – but not too often at the moment as the gearbox went on our last outing – so much for the reliable modern car.  So I look forward to getting into a newish car with luxuries such as air-con that works, gears that don’t require two arms to operate and brakes that do more than suggest slowing down.

Invariably I a disappointed.  Last year I upgraded to an Alpha only to be given a Renault Modus   -  which was like driving a Smiths song around.

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