tim2

Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy. We had a look at Hardy's poetry at our poetry group and the novels were mentioned. I've never read this one, and it's the one that killed off Hardy's novel writing because it had a bad critical response. As one of the printing apprentices said in Tom Sharpe's Wilt, "It's about a bloke called Jude"

Maybe there'll be a new Bassetlaw MP soon. 95% chance in the latest polling.

That's just daft!

Very good win for Sheffield today. Whitehaven had won 2 out of 2 and it's a tough place to go.

Went to Tamworth on Saturday to do Tamworth Castle Grounds parkrun. Lovely park, but I really struggled on lap one. I never know when these bad weeks are going to come. I walked for a bit then managed to run lap two and felt OK at the end. That's 132 venues and 370 total now. Someone just did their 1000th parkrun as a volunteer (this includes junior parkruns). Not keen on the yellow colour they've used for the T-shirt. Still, if I live long enough to reach 1000 parkruns (I'll be in my eighties) I'll be happy enough! Edit: Tamworth Castle is worth a visit too.

He's a big lad. I'd be astonished if Doncaster are relegated. Good playmakers and some serious speed round the outside. Eagles would have been more comfortable if Cory Aston hadn't left his kicking boots at home and they hadn't conceded so many penalties. And, additionally, a decent crowd of 1700. Good atmosphere too considering how cavernous the stadium is.

Sheffield's defeat in the NL2 promotion final against Keighley at Widnes in 2003, followed by lots of games in the following season when all the positivity of the previous year fell apart. The standard of the final was OK, but the Eagles weren't quite up to their best and the consequences of losing took two whole seasons to sort out.

Recent parkrun jaunts were to Bramley and Huddersfield, both classic Yorkshire courses. That's 130 events now. Next up, Riverside, Chester-le-Street. Bramley was less manicured than Huddersfield with howling gales at the top of the course and warm sunshine at the bottom. Huddersfield was heaving, 653 runners. Obviously the stats issue is having a massive effect on numbers...

I thought Donny was a warm up game but it was the 1895 Cup! It appears I'm living in 2023. Hull KR, Donny, Midlands, Newcastle, York, Batley, Swinton and now Toulouse. 8/8 wins. Wigan may be a step too far, but you never know. Then back to a tricky league game at Doncaster.

True, I forgot Hull KR. That's a lot of matches.

I think Sheffield, although they played well, will think that getting Toulouse at home in game one after the Eagles have already played six warm up and cup games was a good outcome of the fixture list. As Mark Aston said, they are big, strong and play quickly. They'll be a handful in France for sure and should end up top 3.

I would continue after a drop goal, until a try or penalty was scored, or the 2x5 had finished.

Nice to see a try win it. Wakey will be a lot better when the grounds are dry, but so will Fev. Terrific ball retention all round in the conditions.

Golden point

That was a nasty cheap shot by Fev's 9. No need to slide in like that.

I switched on after 5 minutes and thought it was the second half based on the mud on their shirts!

The best way to end up with £1 million after investing in rugby league is to start with £10 million

Shorts and tags of varying colour, and tags. I'll message you my email and number.

I like the look of that Midlands Prem lineup. We might finally be recovering to the levels of about 10-15 years ago.

I keep thinking about doing Masters again. I'm gold shorts now. I've got a load of Masters kit going unused if you're interested. I'm only about 15 miles away.

Markeaton in Derby includes times from a cross-country course in Darley about 5 miles away that was regularly flooded so they moved to a tarmac course in Markeaton Park.

I did Lincoln a couple of weeks ago and Gateshead last week. Both lovely parks. I'm not sure how many people are aware of the "controversy" surrounding the removal of some the "fastest time" and "most events" records and tables from parkrun's website. Basically I don't care but some people have gone completely crazy about it. Set up a petition, trolling all of parkrun's social media and so on. The reason given by HQ is that speed records put off newcomers. Others are claiming (but parkrun deny) that it's linked to transgender women claiming women's records. The complainers claim it's because they love stats, not because they're transphobic. Either way, it must seem very odd when viewed from outside. People getting furious and abusive because a free event changed its website. It's all very 21st Cntury First World problems when people are struggling to pay their bills and people are dying in Ukraine and Gaza.

It's a very English thing to abuse those above you, whilst secretly wanting to be like them, and to defecate on those below.

That must have been the thinking.

I'm not sure the Newcastle players will be.