March Or Die

[Sweder]

A good pub run session with Lewes AC tonight. 
Met at the Snowdrop Inn at 7pm, joined the intermediate group (I can't see me ever going out with the 'quicks'). Our meander up through the gentler slopes of the town took us past

The Snowdrop
The Dorset Arms
The Gardners Arms
The John Harvey Tavern
Harveys Brewery
The Volunteer
The Lamb
The Lewes Arms
The Rights Of Man
The Two Brewers
The Pelham Arms
The Black Horse

After that we took the climb up to Chez Sweder before dropping down through the Nevill and Landport Estates, back along the river and, finally, back to the Snowdrop Inn. 7.8 kilometers in 52 minutes and change. A Pub Run indeed.

I rehydrated with Burning Sky Saison and a pint of Arise, whilst chatting to various Lewes AC liuminaries including club Chairman Peter Masters. We talked at length about Tom Mantell, a man who put Lewes Athletics on the map in the late 1800's. Here's young Tom with a few of his running trophies.

   

Not only was (Mantell) an outstanding athlete, he was the driving force behind the establishment of the first Lewes athletic club in the 1880s. He was born in Lewes and lived at 161 High Street. He was the great nephew of Gideon Mantell, the well known surgeon and geologist. Known as the Countryman, Tom Mantell competed in and won running events in London and the surrounding area as well as in Sussex.


Masters told me all about his own history with Lewes AC, and his involvement in local building developments, including the purchase and renovation of the YHA facility at Southease. 'We built the wooden bridge that crosses the A26' he enthused. 'That cost a million pounds.' I thanked him profously, not least on behalf of all Moyleman runners, who not only enjoy the shelter and amenities at that YHA facility - our halfway point - but also the convenience of the bridge that marks the start of the second half of the race, the evil climb up Itford Hill onto Firle Beacon proper.

I rather like these monthly Pub Runs. On, on.