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--- 198309 [2016/03/24 09:48] – old revision restored (2016/03/23 22:20) kclacher
+++ 198309 [2016/03/24 10:08] – [City to Surf in Forty Two Minutes] kclacher
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 by Don Matthews
-Kath Brown was having a surprise birthday party. Not for me to  disclose which one, but it was an event to be celebrated. Nor do I intend to describe the scene at that happy gathering at the Duncans'. I do however feel the need to record the S.B.W.'s tangible-appreciation of the enormous amount of effort that Kath and Jim have put into Club affairs and of the discreet way in which they have helped new chums, both in the clubrooms and on the track. I also felt the need to add my own personal thanks for their companionship over many years by reciting a birthday ode at the party.
+Kath Brown was having a surprise birthday party. Not for me to  disclose which one, but it was an event to be celebrated. Nor do I intend to describe the scene at that happy gathering at the Duncans'. I do however feel the need to record the S.B.W.'s tangible appreciation of the enormous amount of effort that Kath and Jim have put into Club affairs and of the discreet way in which they have helped new chums, both in the clubrooms and on the track. I also felt the need to add my own personal thanks for their companionship over many years by reciting a birthday ode at the party.
-There are some people who can speak with eloquence, dignity, and feeling at the drop of a hat, and there are some of us whose attempts at opera end up as overtures and whose best efforts at serious verse end up as doggerel. As I stood under the shower an the morning of the party washing my shirts and socks, it suddenly struck me that I had better get moving on the ode.
+There are some people who can speak with eloquence, dignity, and feeling at the drop of a hat, and there are some of us whose attempts at opera end up as overtures and whose best efforts at serious verse end up as doggerel. As I stood under the shower an the morning of the party washing my shirts and socks, it suddenly struck me that I had better get moving on the Ode.
 The last time I wrote one it was Owen who threw out the challenge. He rang me at work at lunchtime on that occasion. “I want,” he demanded, “fourteen lines of the worst drivel you've ever written. I want it by eight o'clock tonight.” I was hugely flattered. “If” I replied, “I can think of something in the time it takes to eat my cheese sandwich, then O.K., but otherwise you're on your own.”
-Somehow the cheese sandwich worked. On this occasion, however, the white heat of inspiration was not so evident, and it took six cups of tea, but the germ of an idea had been floating around in the back of my head for some time. It was all to do with assimilation. When I went on my first day walk with the S.B.W., one of the tough lady walkers eyed me speculatively and muttered darkly, “Hmph, they'll burn you off. They're a tough lot.” I wasn't unduly worried at this because I'd been around the bush for long enough to look after myself, but I was a trifle concerned when, during the following week, the tough lot declined my presence on a weekend 'Walk Of quite moderate proportions. “Oh well,” I thought, “after all, they are a tough lot”. Next week I tried again, and_very tentatively approached the Browns about their weekend walk, whose proportions seemed much the same. No problems! I was welcomed with open arms and never looked back. So the ode for Kath is based on fact, and it is dedicated to both Kath and Jim, because I'm sure that's the way Kath would prefer it.
+Somehow the cheese sandwich worked. On this occasion, however, the white heat of inspiration was not so evident, and it took six cups of tea, but the germ of an idea had been floating around in the back of my head for some time. It was all to do with assimilation. When I went on my first day walk with the S.B.W., one of the tough lady walkers eyed me speculatively and muttered darkly, “Hmph, they'll burn you off. They're a tough lot.” I wasn't unduly worried at this because I'd been around the bush for long enough to look after myself, but I was a trifle concerned when, during the following week, the tough lot declined my presence on a weekend walk of quite moderate proportions. “Oh well,” I thought, “after all, they are a tough lot”. Next week I tried again, and_very tentatively approached the Browns about their weekend walk, whose proportions seemed much the same. No problems! I was welcomed with open arms and never looked back. So the ode for Kath is based on fact, and it is dedicated to both Kath and Jim, because I'm sure that's the way Kath would prefer it.
 ==== Birthday Ode ====
@@ Line 176: / Line 176: @@
 | I'd joined the S.B.W. |
 | I thought I knew it all. |
-| They looked me up and down_they did |
+| They looked me up and down they did |
 | Those fellows who stood tall. |
 | "You can't go on this walk or that, |
@@ Line 216: / Line 216: @@
 |The use of verb and noun - |
 |A toast in grape or orange juice |
-|To Kath, and to Jim Browns |
+|To Kath, and to Jim, Brown. |
 So we drank our toasts, and listened while Kath responded with eloquence, dignity and feeling. And this at the drop of a hat, because it was a genuine surprise party. Wonderful!
@@ Line 229: / Line 229: @@
 I can't believe it, they are still coming by in thousands. What a kaleidoscope of colour and people, large and small, young and old, we can't see the end of the group from Town Hall yet. They are running, jogging, ambling, cruising, wheeling, pushing and walking. There aren't too many girls, just a sprinkling. Two young men are passing in wheelchairs, it is a mighty effort for them coming up this hill. A group of six men and women is just going past carrying a cloth poster reading “HCF Budget Cover” and another poster says “G'Day Sydney”.
-Each athlete has a number pinned to the front of his or her chest and number 25,003 has just passed. A fee of $4 has been paid by entrants and the Spastic Centre receives part of the proceeds. A few girls are walking here, I expect the hill is too much for them. I feel dizzy watching the crowd as they move up and down. And still they come. One man has his girl friend an his shoulders and he is jogging along energetically. The girls are coming now, they are in the group which will take more than 90 minutes. The road is littered with plastic garbage bags and T-shirtS which people have worn in the race until they warm up and then thrown onto the roadway. There's a black and white dog on a lead and he has a number too. A man has a trolley with a cattle.' dog on it and he is blowing a horn, there is a sign attached to the trolley and it says “Spirit of Australia”. Number 27,000 has just passed us. Here canes a group called “Sedgwick” and they have a red banner.
+Each athlete has a number pinned to the front of his or her chest and number 25,003 has just passed. A fee of $4 has been paid by entrants and the Spastic Centre receives part of the proceeds. A few girls are walking here, I expect the hill is too much for them. I feel dizzy watching the crowd as they move up and down. And still they come. One man has his girl friend an his shoulders and he is jogging along energetically. The girls are coming now, they are in the group which will take more than 90 minutes. The road is littered with plastic garbage bags and T-shirts which people have worn in the race until they warm up and then thrown onto the roadway. There's a black and white dog on a lead and he has a number too. A man has a trolley with a cattle  dog on it and he is blowing a horn, there is a sign attached to the trolley and it says “Spirit of Australia”. Number 27,000 has just passed us. Here canes a group called “Sedgwick” and they have a red banner.
 The tail end is coming up now, and there are another two dogs an leads, they are basset hounds. Two ladies with pushers are going past and I see there are quite a few baby entrants. There goes an army man with his rifle, he is racing along. Now the ambulances are driving past, four of them, and a few mini buses including the Spastic Centre bus. Suddenly it is all quiet, everyone has gone through the tunnel, in 15 minutes the athletes have all passed us. Well, it's over at this end. What a marvellous spectacle... wait a minute, an English taxi is coming along and it has a sign which reads, “Follow me to health and fitness”.
-Here we are at the finishing line and the athletes are looking rather different to when they first started. There is a lot of perspiration and tiredness showing as they come around a bend in the road to the finishing line. What amazes me is that everyone is still keeping up a very steady pace at the end of 14 km. A man is going past wheeling two little children fa pusher and there goes the man pushing his lawn mower with his lady friend sitting on top of it. A partially blind man, number 7,290, is just passing and also the man piggy-backing his girl friend, he still is running energetically. He has done well, he has been running 1 hour 45 minutes carrying a person weighing about 8 stone on his shoulders. I can tell by the expressions on faces there are people feeling exhausted. Three little boys about 6 years old and two boys on roller Skates are going past. An alsatian with his number on his back is passing and so is the HOP Budget group.' Numbers 28,970, 29,218, and 29,466 are just going by. A man dressed as a nun is runninga long, he looks a bit silly dressed in that outfit and wearing a pair of sandshoes.
+Here we are at the finishing line and the athletes are looking rather different to when they first started. There is a lot of perspiration and tiredness showing as they come around a bend in the road to the finishing line. What amazes me is that everyone is still keeping up a very steady pace at the end of 14 km. A man is going past wheeling two little children in a pusher and there goes the man pushing his lawn mower with his lady friend sitting on top of it. A partially blind man, number 7,290, is just passing and also the man piggy-backing his girl friend, he still is running energetically. He has done well, he has been running 1 hour 45 minutes carrying a person weighing about 8 stone on his shoulders. I can tell by the expressions on faces there are people feeling exhausted. Three little boys about 6 years old and two boys on roller skates are going past. An alsatian with his number on his back is passing and so is the HCF Budget group. Numbers 28,970, 29,218, and 29,466 are just going by. A man dressed as a nun is running along, he looks a bit silly dressed in that outfit and wearing a pair of sandshoes.
- Now we are near the finishing line with its photo finish camera and the runner's check. Gold-banners add to the colour and spirit of the day and the officials stand alongside the finishing line which is crowded with men and women. We are to be given the names of the finalists who arrived long before we did. Andrew Lloyd, a 23 year old man has won the race in 42 minutes. Second is Zephaniah Ncube from Zimbabwe-and third is David Forbes. Fourth is Rhonda Mallinder and fifth is Moira Xane.
+ Now we are near the finishing line with its photo finish camera and the runner's check. Gold banners add to the colour and spirit of the day and the officials stand alongside the finishing line which is crowded with men and women. We are to be given the names of the finalists who arrived long before we did. Andrew Lloyd, a 23-year-old man has won the race in 42 minutes. Second is Zephaniah Ncube from Zimbabwe-and third is David Forbes. Fourth is Rhonda Mallinder and fifth is Moira Xane.
-A little 3 year old is jut crossing the finishing line and his dad is pushing the empty pusher so that he can walk to the finish of the race. Here come all the clothes on a trolley and there are also champagne bottles and glasses so that the runners can celebrate after the race. Two men a lady in a wheelchair and she is enjoying it all. Michael Cleary, Minister for Sport, says: “What a wonderful success this race has been. We  give credit to the Sun who organised it and handled an extra 8,000 entrants this year.”
+A little 3-year-old is just crossing the finishing line and his dad is pushing the empty pusher so that he can walk to the finish of the race. Here come all the clothes on a trolley and there are also champagne bottles and glasses so that the runners can celebrate after the race. Two men are pushing a lady in a wheelchair and she is enjoying it all. Michael Cleary, Minister for Sport, says: “What a wonderful success this race has been. We  give credit to the Sun who organised it and handled an extra 8,000 entrants this year.”
 Andrew Lloyd who ran a wonderful race is receiving a large cup and trophy with an athlete on it. Andrew says, “I would like to thank every one involved today, it was fantastic to share in the race. I hope you enjoyed yourself, I did.” Zephaniah Ncube from Zimbabwe says, “I have been in races in the past and I enjoyed this one. I have competed in the Commonwealth Games. Congratulations to those who participated.” David Forbes says, “It is not where you start it is where you finish.” A young man is running past us with a flag which reads "I am going to finish dead last," and he is the last athlete in the City to-Surf race with 33,708 official athletes.taking part.
-Several:members of Sydney Bush Walkers took part in the race and they included Barbara Holmes and Evelyn  Walker ... walking,. Jo Van Sommers, Owen Marks (number 18,032); Bob Hodgson, Jim Percy and others unknown. Mrs. Marks and Owen invited members of Sydney Bush Walkers who ran in the race or who were onlookers to their home after the race and a good time was had by all. A special welcome was given there to Jenny Hodgson, the new baby daughter of Margaret and Bob.
+Several members of Sydney Bush Walkers took part in the race and they included Barbara Holmes and Evelyn  Walker... walking, Jo Van Sommers, Owen Marks (number 18,032), Bob Hodgson, Jim Percy and others unknown. Mrs. Marks and Owen invited members of Sydney Bush Walkers who ran in the race or who were onlookers to their home after the race and a good time was had by all. A special welcome was given there to Jenny Hodgson, the new baby daughter of Margaret and Bob.
 ===== Arthur and Us =====