Extreme Knitting Redhead: Awesomeness!

Monday, October 22, 2018

Awesomeness!

I have several running friends from across the pond and I always love hearing them say "awesome" and it reminded me to write about Mr Awesomeness himself, Nick Nicholson. Why does he deserve that accolade? Because for the last few years he has been quietly devoting his whole life to smashing records in the marathoning world and pushing himself beyond what is considered the norm.

How many people can do a loony jump like this during a marathon?!

Seen here with his lovely girlfriend Lorraine who's appeared on my blog several times. It can't be easy having a bf who's always jetting back and forth between here the the USA.

Here's a selection of his races for late September/early October. Of course the ones in the USA also require air travel as he covers the whole country.

Nick is originally from Pensacola, Florida and following a painful divorce he decided to challenge himself to do something amazing and in true Forrest Gump fashion he chose to run. Unlike some of the airy-fairy records claimed by some people, who go out for a training run of marathon distance (which is unverified) and claim it as a proper marathon, all the marathons Nick has completed are all official events in which his name appears in the results so his records are verifiable.

Here are some of his stats:

2018 is the 3rd year in a row when he has completed 200+ official marathons:

2016 - 202 marathons

2017 - 253 marathons

2018 - 201+ marathons as at 6th October which was also his 700th official marathon

He set the record for most official marathons in a year (270) between 22 July 2017 and 21 July 2018. I can't really get my head round that can you? - how can a body sustain such a high level of activity? It just shows what grit and determination can achieve.

He has completed 50ks (ultra marathons that are longer than the standard 26.2 miles) in each US state in Alaska on 24 July 2018 in 40 weeks and 4 days.

Not only is he an awesome runner, he's a nice guy too. Keep on pushing the boundaries Nick; you are truly awesome (except when you hunt me down and overtake me in the latter stages of a marathon which is just rude!).

More awesomeness

What else deserves that title? Mother Nature, that's for sure. I have loads of beautiful photos to share so will make a start with these:

I was doing the washing-up when I spotted this beautiful Greenfinch sitting on the Borage in the herb bed.

I thought he was catching bugs........

...........but he was actually eating the flower-buds!

Unlike last year when I was snapping lots of assorted fungi, this year I've hardly seen any as yet! I'm hoping they'll just start appearing all of a sudden. This gorgeous shaggy inkcap, aka Lawyer's Wig, Coprinus comatus, appeared at the edge of the lawn a few days ago and I watched it develop and disappear over 3 days:

Day 1

Morning

Afternoon

It looks like tufts of hair!

Day 2

Morning

Afternoon

Day 3

You can only just make it out!

Almost gone.

I'll leave you with a photo my one of my Christmas Cacti which started flowering at the beginning of October. It's 4 years old and usually starts to flower at the beginning of December so I think it's a bit confused as my others are only just starting to produce very small buds!

I've got my favourite Trail marathon, Beachy Head, this weekend so I'm hoping the weather stays nice and bright as the views are amazing on a clear day.

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.