Second MMX AGM – Swanage

Attendees:

Leaf, Baptiste, Machine, Gasman, 2 jeans

Items discussed:

1. MMX Kit – No progress to date. Leon to chase Rich on status of polo shirts

2. Media and press releases – Leon requested to have a Twitter feed, others less interested. Conclusion is that Leon can maintain Twitter feed if desired. Andy to bring a laptop for blogage.

3. Transport part 1 – Steve and Matt will be taking their cars. Riding shotgun in Steve’s car was quashed and some sort of rotation system will ensue on the way down and way back.

4. Transport part 2 – Steve and Matt to check breakdown cover. Andy has breakdown cover but needs to check whether it works in France

5. Transport part 3 – Steve and Matt to check France jacket i.e. lash jacket, GB sticker etc. (expecting Machine to construct hazard triangle, GB sticker, yellow lights from various pieces of household materials. Steve likely to just buy a pack from Halfords)

6. Transport part 4 – Steve to put Andy on his car insurance. Andy to send copies of drivers licence to Steve. Matt to put Leon on his car insurance. Impacted parties to make arrangements amongst themselves.

7. Travel part 5 – Andy and Steve to start in Reading. Matt and Martin to start in Brentwood. Leon to start in Brentwood or Dover depending on HS1 timetable.

8. Travel part 6 – Hotel to be booked round about Lyon on the way down. Hotel to be booked relatively close to Calais on the way back. Andy to look in to this.

9. Travel part 7 – Outbound ferry to be booked for about 10:30 – 11:00 on the morning of June 22^nd. Time of return ferry based upon location of hotel on the journey back. Andy to work out where we are staying on the way back. Martin to make ferry booking once he knows approximate time of return leg. In the meantime, Steve and Matt to email Martin with car registration numbers.

10. Travel part 8 – Journey down. Andy to find this out.

11. Champion’s dinner – No longer black tie due to increased faf, likelihood of it being hot in Nice and baggage allowance. Monday night Champions dinner replaced by Champions BBQ. Champion’s dinner will now be held on the Tuesday.

12. Itinerary when we are down there – None, take each day as it comes. Except Friday 25^th when we have to go to Nice to register, rack bikes etc. Logistics for the Sunday to be worked out on the Friday/Saturday morning.

13. Tools – Everyone bring their own, so that they have the right tools for their own bike. Steve and Andy to bring a track-pump each.

14. Travel insurance – make sure everyone has it.

15. Martin’s Race Cape – signature given for this to be destroyed at Champions BBQ. Martin to bring said jacket.

16. Linen in the Villa – Andy to clarify with the owner about what we need to bring.

17. News received since committee meeting – Rich now arriving on 23^rd June and staying until 30^th June. Plane gets in at 4pm and probably easiest to pick up from the airport.

Virgin London Marathon 2010

The London Marathon would not be complete without at least one member of 14AC, or more specifically, team MMX lining up on Blackheath. News came in early that Chris Wrighton had come down with a virus on the Friday and would not be running, so that left just Andy and Martin on the start line….or so they thought. Only later it emerged that one mysterious member of MMX had bagged himself a club place un-be-known to the rest of us.

Once again, Martin made sure he attained prime placing on the start line to get on to BBC1. However he got greater exposure than bargained for, as he appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal the following Monday. Meanwhile Andy and Leon (our mysterious sportsman) were a few rows back.

Early showers had left the road damp for the early miles, but the humid and hot conditions speculated earlier in the week did not really materialize until later in the day. The crowds and atmosphere were great in the East London boroughs and all three runners took the first 10k steady, citing experiences from previous marathons. The light breeze could easily be avoided by tucking in behind other runners and, by half way, the sun was out, the crowds were out, and the road had thinned out. And in true ‘Machine’ style, Leon was gearing up to nail the second half to achieve a negative split.

By Docklands, the rating on the hazy scale was pushing ever higher, and those early comfortable miles were being replaced with tough, painful and what seemed like endless, miles. Even so, Martin and Andy were ticking off the iconic landmarks of Canary Wharf, the Tower of London and the Monument, while Leon was ticking off the iconic railway stations of Limehouse DLR, Cannon Street and Blackfriars.

Soon Big Ben was insight and the prospect of entering The Mall and completing the 26 miles was drawing ever closer. Substantial crowds all the way along the Embankment and Birdcage Walk brought us home in very respectable times of 2:28:51, 2:47:13 and 2:54:28 for Andy, Martin and Leon respectively.

Great work all round with Andy finishing in 48^th place, Martin clocking up his 8^th London Marathon and Leon completing the second half with a 5 minute negative split.

Now for the simple task of completing that distance after the 112 mile bike ride and 2.4 mile swim – simple!