Dried food testing...

So this is very important testing.. food :) Basically in the desert I am required to carry ALL my provisions with me.. excluding water and tent. Obviously this includes food and lots here has to be taken into consideration. Calorie intake must be as high as possible - but the weight is a factor too... taste very important... so these three things I will be testing out before throwing myself into the unknown.. this will be a little more known then.
Basically it goes like this - I have bought the above foods and will test them for taste first.. I'll post a blog about my results for this and then when I am happy with flavours etc - I want to try a few days living off these products to see how i fair with nutritional value... that's the plan anyway!
The food I have bought is all dried and needs to be reconstituting with water and or milk.. some of these may turn out to be impractical to make in the desert. I won't know until i have tried them.. Snacks as well and really important so I'll be testing a few of those too. Any heated food will be heated as it will in the race - using a butane gas stove...

London to Brighton run!

So the aim of this Ultra was to train for the 50 mile stage of the Marathon de Sables (MdS) next year... So i was in luck when the weather turned out hot... very hot.. Forcast said 29C but running in the sunshine and that goes up to 32-34 or so.. and yes, it was hot! I started at 06.30 from Clapham with two friends, Adam (centre) and Rob (on the right).. it was nice to have some company and start off at a slow pace.. 54 miles to go and i didn't want to waste energy.



Rob last till just before Mitcham about 5 miles in.. at just 9km I had my first toilet stop at Mitcham Common.. at this point the clock said 56 minutes. We were running nice and slowly - it was warm but hadn't heated up too much yet. At Carshalton Adam left me and he ran all the way back to Clapham - good man! So this was my first stage on my own but i managed to keep my speed down. At Woodmansterne I nearly took a wrong turn but checked my map and tracked back about 500m... at this point about 18.32km (about 11 miles) the clock said 1.52 hours... downhill section now! Through a few up and downhills I came to Fannys Farm Shop where Amy was waiting for me.. Great to see her and chat about things from there the weather was really starting to get hot!.. we quickly drank all the water and refilled at a car wash in Nutfield - for free :) cheapest water here!
These roads seemed to go on for ages and we walked a few times so i could get some energy back - plus there was no point on over doing it. James met us in the Outwood area and then there was three!


Before long Amy left us.. If i remember rightly that was at Smallfield.. she had done a great job! At this point around 40km (24.8 miles) and 4 hours in.. me and James took a wrong turn which cost 1 mile but that didn't bother so much... the heat was getting to us though - I had another stop for a Calippo ice pole which did the trick.. Water consumed to this point about 3 litres. It was great to see the Turners Hill sign.. it really did mean progress for me.. lots of walking and running and huge ammount of effort were helping.. James was great - taking photos and enjoying the barriers we were crossing.. Full Marathon and then not long after - my first 50K! We checked at this point 47.23 km and 5hrs 15mins.. Turners Hill here we come!


At Turners Hill I had my first long rest - James left me at this point so i took the opportunity of resting for about 1 hour (and i had a beer lol) .. 51.66KM (32 miles) and 5.49 hours! Phew! I must admit even with the weather the first part was fairly easy for me and a great feeling sitting on the grass chatting to James and his friends... However, I had to press on...
I was now on my own till the end! and that was another 22 miles away.. two nice long downhill stretches took me into the next section toward Ardingly & Haywards Heath - then quickly into the open country and hot sun.. the road was hard to run on most of this section.. no path. I had to keep stopping even from walking and get out the way of traffic.. this was annoying but you have to play safe and keep crossing the road to stay visible to cars and lorries. Ardingly came and went - a lovely village - as too was Lindfield which was full of thatched cottages.. almost every town I went through I bought a litre more of water and filled up my bottles.
At 61.3km (38 miles) I was really slowing down - I really started to think I might not make it.. I had a quick read of comments on Twitter and Facebook - this cheered me up and onwards I plodded.. 6.54 hours at this stage.


Haywards Heath took ages to appear.. it seemed that 3 miles felt like 10 at this point!! more water! legs felt tired and painful - nipples hurt like mad! lol.. and just always felt thirsty.. at HH it was 7.44hours and 66.36 KM. There is a long grinding hill into HH which I walked up all the way but it was tough - very tough. Out of town I had my sights set on Ditchling which was my ultimate checkpoint and goal before Brighton. It was SO HOT.. I cannot tell you how I felt .. jelly babies were going down well and water too - something was missing though.. I needed a break.. And I took 30 minutes in a garden centre just before Ditchling.. 73.47 km (46 miles) and 8.45 hours.. I had a banana bar which tasted as dry as eating sand and a Yazoo choc shake which went down very well.. I ate half the bar and sat in the shade hyping my self up for the last 9 miles.. Mentally I had to overcome some big obstacles at this stage. However, arriving in Ditchling was an amazing moment!

Ditchling in famous for one thing - the Ditchling Beacon.. on the cycle ride its everyones goal to ride up it.. I walked and I am proud of that ;) ... You rise up 814 feet and its the third highest point on the South Downs.. the view from the top is just amazing.


Of coarse - when you are at the top its a downhill section to Brighton... well.. it is on a bike! when you are running it doesn't feel downhill at all on a lot of parts so the walking began again but I could see Brighton in the distance and this spurred me on. at this point the time said 9hours and the distance - 79.33km - which is just under 50 miles..
Some sections to the main Brighton road were quite steep and lovely to run down - but when I reached the road I was as good as there and walking got the better of me most of the way on the outskirts my watch said 10.10 hours and 83.25km.. I needed a break so found a petrol station and fuelled up again drinking more water and Lucozade Sport... rested here for about 15 minutes. by the time I reached the end my Garmin had died - its last reading: 10.45 hours and 54.17 miles..... in kilometers - 87.18....


As you can see by the next picture I got very dirty just running along roads - my lower back suffered a red raw mark from rubbing on my rucksack - my legs were achy all over - I wasn't hungry.. just needed water... I walked straight to the train station - total mileage aprox - 55.5 and around 11 hours to complete.. I learned a lot but it was so worth it.


I want to thanks everyone for your kind texts, tweets & comments during the day.. and especially Amy, Adam, James and Rob for the support runs ,, amazing all of you. :)

London to Brighton route

This Saturday as a training run for my MdS attempt next year - I will be running from London to Brighton, I'm using the SAME route as the BHF Cycle ride I did last weekend... 54 miles... here's the route......

Details in TEXT:

Start at: Clapham Common Southern end.

1. Head southwest on Nightingale Walk toward Clapham Common West Side - 443 ft
2. Slight left at Clapham Common West Side - 69 ft
3. Turn right at Nightingale Ln/B237 Continue to follow Nightingale Ln - 0.7 mi
4. Continue onto Bellevue Rd/B229 Continue to follow B229 Go through 1 roundabout - 0.7 mi
5. Slight right at Burntwood Ln/B229 Go through 1 roundabout - 0.5 mi
6. Turn left at Garratt Ln/A217 Continue to follow A217 Go through 2 roundabouts - 2.3 mi
7. Slight right at London Rd/A217 Go through 1 roundabout - 0.3 mi
8. Slight left to stay on London Rd/A217 Continue to follow A217 - 0.1 mi
9. Slight left at Holborn Way/A217 - 171 ft
10. Continue onto Upper Green W/A236 Continue to follow A236 Go through 1 roundabout - 0.6 mi
11. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Carshalton Rd/A237 Continue to follow A237 - 1.3 mi
12. Turn right at Hackbridge Rd/B277 Continue to follow B277 - 1.2 mi
13. Turn right at Pound St/A232 - 0.3 mi
14. Continue onto Park Hill/B278 Continue to follow B278 - 2.1 mi
15. Turn right at Croydon Ln/A2022 - 151 ft
16. Turn left at Carshalton Rd/B278 - 0.7 mi
17. Turn left at Rectory Ln/B278 Continue to follow B278 - 0.8 mi
18. Turn left at Chipstead Valley Rd/B2032 - 427 ft
19. Turn right at How Ln - 1.0 mi
20. Continue onto High Rd - 1.5 mi
21. Turn left at Markedge Ln - 1.2 mi
22. Turn right at Gatton Bottom - 0.2 mi
23. Turn left at Rocky Ln - 0.2 mi
24. Turn left to stay on Rocky Ln - 0.8 mi
25. Turn left at London Rd S/A23 - 187 ft
26. Turn right at New Battlebridge Ln - 0.1 mi
27. Continue onto Ormside Way - 92 ft
28. Turn left at New Battlebridge Ln - 203 ft
29. Continue onto Battlebridge Ln - 0.3 mi
30. Turn right at Nutfield Rd - 0.6 mi
31. Slight left at Nutfield Marsh Rd - 1.1 mi
32. Continue onto Church Hill - 0.2 mi
33. Continue onto Cooper's Hill Rd - 1.9 mi
34. Slight left to stay on Cooper's Hill Rd - 0.3 mi
35. Continue onto Prince Of Wales Rd - 0.8 mi
36. Continue onto Dayseys Hill - 0.4 mi
37. Slight right at Rookery Hill - 0.9 mi
38. Continue onto Chapel Rd - 0.6 mi
39. Continue onto Redehall Rd - 1.4 mi
40. Turn left at Effingham Rd/B2037 - 1.1 mi
41. Turn right at W Park Rd/B2028 Continue to follow B2028 Go through 1 roundabout - 11.2 mi
42. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto W Common/B2112 Continue to follow B2112 - 0.8 mi
43. Slight left at Hazelgrove Rd/B2112 Continue to follow B2112 Go through 3 roundabouts - 5.7 mi
44. Slight left at Beacon Rd - 1.5 mi
45. Continue onto Ditchling Rd - 2.6 mi
46. Turn left at Coldean Ln - 1.2 mi
47. Slight left to stay on Coldean Ln - 174 ft
48. Turn right at Lewes Rd/A270 - 2.4 mi
49. Slight left to stay on Lewes Rd/A270 - 171 ft
50. Continue straight onto Richmond Pl/A23 Continue to follow A23 - 0.6 mi
51. Turn left at Steine St - 489 ft
52. Turn left at Marine Parade - 0.2 mi

Arrive at: Marine Parade/A259


Google Map:


View Larger Map

Marathon des Sables: the plan...

Thought I'd just outline what I'm trying to achieve here.. I entered the Marathon des Sables back in the later part of 2008... my entry was accepted but for the year 2011.. here i am suddenly in 2010 looking at less than a year away from going... the actual date we leave is March 31.
I saw the event on a Channel 4 TV program - i was instantly hooked and even while i watched it, I was online getting information.. the rest is history and here we are now...
I'm not only doing this for myself, I thought i'd raqise money for charity along the way.. The Meningitis Trust ( http://www.meningitis-trust.org/ ) improves the lives of people affected by meningitis. They are the only provider of professional meningitis support and aftercare services in the UK, helping thousands of people every year. After a work friend's 2 year old died of meningitis it was my impulse to collect for this.
My donation page can be found here: http://www.justgiving.com/mds2011

The race itself is 150 miles or so across the Sahara Desert in Morocco .. it is over 6 days, this is tough enough but they also ask you to carry ALL your own provisions - the only thing they supply is Water and a Tent... everything else - you carry.
So i have been running lots as you can imagine - plus testing equipment and clothing too.. this year i press on with these things and start adding food to my tests and heat training also... its not scientific and its not too pleasant at times but its working so far and I and slowly feeling ready for the task... more to follow. :)

Smoothie & Richmond Park

Firstly here is my latest smoothie video which is a Carrot & Orange flavoured one containing vitamins such as C & A.. very healthy - this should be really well blended as the carrots takes time to become smooth....



So that's the recipe for today..
I'm sorry not to have blogged for a while - I've been a bit slack and I'll sort that out.. however, there is plenty to say so I might split this post into 2..
I'll leave the running for the next post but in brief I have now fully recovered from the London Marathon and am already looking forward to my next race. I've also started using compression socks which seem to help - however, more about them in this other post later in the week.!!

This weekend was fun from beginning to end and was always going to be tiring.. on Saturday I ran 17.5 miles and then had to go see my parents in the afternoon / evening as it was their wedding anniversary.. a lovely time we had too.
Sunday was a very early start.. I was due to wake at 2.30am but someone revving up their motorbike woke me at 2am... so up i got... Richmond Park was the target and to get there by 5.10 - sunrise time.
Now from my flat it usually takes 2 hours at this time of the morning but i had an absolute nightmare with the buses and I did not arrive till 05.30..!! GUTTED! .. so i missed the best part of the sunrise and dawn before that but i still managed to get some ok shots..


The above shot was one of my first.. you can see there was a lovely misty fog coming up off the stream.. perfect really.. even more annoying i was late. :( Still - you have to make the best of a bad thing sometimes and I walked around for some time shooting various nature themes and landscapes. Later in the morning I came across some Canadian Geese and their gosling's.. i used a Nutragrain Bar to tempt them close and got some fun shots up close..

Richmond Park is most certainly one of my favourite places in London to spend time with the camera.. with all the deer and other wildlife it's always a joy.. You can see the rest of my photos on Facebook .

These photos are all un-edited, in time I'll choose my favourites and edit a few for Flickr... lookout for another blog later in the week about running.. hope you try and enjoy the smoothie!!

http://raywise.co.uk/

Running the London Marathon 2010

So I must point out the two weeks before the marathon I problems with my right achilles heal - I rested it for a few days then took it some runs and all seemed well. Also a few days before the run I got a sore throat / blocked nose and had been shifting that also.
On the day I felt fine - body felt in excellent shape and although a bit stuffed up first thing, my cold wasn't an issue.. great news!! We go to Greenwich in plenty on time but had to wait nearly an hour for the toilet.. As relaxed as i was I didn't worry too much however only left myself 5 minutes to get to my starting point..
I went into my starting pen (3) but the field was already moving up to the start line - result: I was back with slower runners when the gun went and took about 2 minutes to cross the start line.. when i had I was constricted by other peoples pace and had to zig-zag by them ..This meant my first Km was 5.07 and the second 4.43.. much slower than my 4.30 time I had wanted to do.. I had two choices - stick with it until you gained pace or speed up and catch you time... Now i'm no good at running negative splits so I decided to catch my time up by running faster.. So the next few kilometers went like this:

4.21
4.24
4.07
4.16
4.21

before long i had caught my pace up but used an awful lot of energy... Everything seemed to be going well so I kept my pace at about 4.30 (as planned) until the half way stage - Tower Bridge.. My official splits show this:

5K	00:22:54
10K	00:44:54
15K	01:07:11
20K	01:29:48
HALF	01:34:43
25K	01:53:09

I weather was great - a cloudy sky and hardly any wind - however it did pick up a little on Canary Wharf - but I'd expect that because of the high rise buildings... What i did not expect was breathing problems.. I think this started at the 30km mark going under the skyscrapers on the Wharf. Thinking about it this was probably my cold not coping with the huge breaths i was taking.. one way or the other it slowed me down - I wanted to stop but thought dropping my pace was a better thing to do with such a long way to go... Slowing down worked however, my pace times dropped from 4.40 per km to well over 5 minutes... my dream time of 3:15 at the finish was slipping away and there was nothing I could do about it... I felt upset but plodded on thinking a good time could still be achieved. I didn't expect the next bombshell either..

As I came off Canary Wharf on a small downhill section I felt my achilles strain under pressure.. this was not good - and this now made me panic a little putting fear in my mind that i wouldn't even complete the course. My breathing got worse at this point and there was nothing I could do but walk.. So walk I did, for about a minute when I had got my breath back. My heal was throbing and my pace was slow due to my breathing - I felt uncomfortable but the crowd seeing this were shouting my name and giving me loads of encouragement.. amazing! After 33 and 34 KM marks I picked up a bit but as soon as i did my breathing got worse and I had to walk again!! This was not in the script but was really necessary... running again I went by my charity support group - The Meningitis Trust at about mile 23 - they were SO LOUD! Excellent - I picked up the pace again but breathing once more got the better of me - Blackfriars Underpass approached and I knew my friends were waiting on the other side.. So I walked again for about a minute to get my breath back and to run in front of my mates - lol.. well, you have to eh?!

Out of the underpass I looked to the left to see my friends and low and behold they were not there! I was really upset at this point - but I tried to focus as there were only 2 miles left until the end. (Later I found out they were shouting their heads off on the other side of the road ) I really did have to dig deep at this point - my earlier push to catch my time up was a really stupid thing to do - however, no complaining now - what's the time? I looked at my watch.. I worked out I could still get under 3hours 30 mins if I kept going at my current pace.. But my heal was killing me now - its severity made me walk again on the Embankment - once more peoples encouragement made me run again and although in pain managed to pick up the pace... Birdcage Walk was my last slow low when I walked for about half a minute before throwing myself into a final push under the 800m sign and round the top - past Buckingham Palace - under the 385 yards to go marker and into the Mall.. I was in real pain and probably looked bad but again my charity girls from the stand lept up to give my the biggest cheer I have ever witnessed.. with a smile and a wave and picked up again to the finish line with a tear in my eye.

My official times for the second part of the race looked like this:

HALF	01:34:43
25K	01:53:09
30K	02:17:40
35K	02:45:04
40K	03:14:14

Total
place (total)	3834
place (gender)	3415
place (cat)	531
finish time	03:26:54

___________________

In summery - I need more discipline if I can expect to get better, and I know i can. However, I'm really pleased with my time - it is after all a personal best. I have found out I can dig deep when it counts - and listen to my body enough to know when to slow down.

Marathon week tips

As I head toward another London Marathon, tapering this and carb loading that, I'll be focusing on certain things before and during the race.. I thought I'd share some tips for you just in case you fancy running 26.2 miles one day...


* For the two days before don't eat out - you are risking an upset stomach or worse - cook for yourself.
* Expo - every big marathon has an Expo one or two days before the event. Go to this early as possible just in case you have to re-visit.
* Read the race day instructions! And then - read them again! These notes may not all seem important but it is worth knowing everything.
* Day before event - a TOTAL rest day. Make sure you have everything you need around you - ie food, Expo done etc so you don't have to leave your house.
* Carb Loading - don't over eat!! Eat your normal amount of food - but rich in Low GI Carbohydrates.
* Stick to tried and tested things - ie, clothing and food.
* Check you travel plans! Make sure you leave plenty of time to get to the event, the larger the event - the more people will be travelling to it.
* Friends - ask them where they are going to be watching and give them an idea when you will pass.
* Extra items; Make sure you have everything with you including stuff to change into after race - make sure everything fits into your race bag.
* Number & Tag; its much easier to attach your race number and timing tag before you leave home! (always use 4 safety pins on your number)
* Race items - ie gels, sunglasses, watch etc.. check this all through, is the watch charged? Make sure everything is there and you have enough of it.
* Clothing - seems obvious but make sure your race day kit is clean and in good condition to go!
* Breakfast; eat your usual breakfast, the one you have been used to eating in training - try not to break the habit.. if it worked then, it will work on race day (remember don't eat less than 2 hours before the race.)
* Drink - up to 30 minutes before the race! TRY not to drink sugary liquids before the race unless this works for you.. too much sugar and you could be running for the toilet - not the gun.
* Stretching - not a great idea before the race. Instead go for a light jog or action stretches, like jumps instead.
* Bin liners.. take a bin liner with you - cut a hole in the top - if its cold or raining you can keep warm in this after you drop you race bag off.
* Toilet; don't be afraid or worried about using the toilet more than once or twice before the race - this is very normal and advisable.
* After; If you are meeting your friends after, make sure you give them an exact location on where you will be.. on large races you may have trouble using your mobile.
* Just before the gun; it is quite normal to feel heavy and tired before the start - don't let this bother you - remember your training and everything will be forgotten when you start to move.
* Pens; Make sure you are in the correct timing pen at the start for your finish time - this is important to you as it is other runners.
* Water Stations; If you intend to take water move toward the left of right near the station before you arrive at it.. If you don't intend to take any water - move away from the area - this is where a lot of accidents happen.

Banana & Apple Smoothie!

Ok, this is probably going to look awful but what the heck - I'm up for a laugh. So a few people have been asking me about smoothie's so i thought I'd give you a private lesson ;)
Just watch the video and I will explain how its done but here is the recipe briefly:

Put in a liquidiser 1 chopped banana followed by 3 tablespoons of rolled oats & nut mix or musili - then one large tablespoon of natural yoghurt - then fill to the 500ml mark with any fruit juice - i used apple!.. blend and drink!
If you made this and liked it - please donate to my charity - The Meningitis Trust at the following link: http://www.justgiving.com/mds2011

Thanks for watching - please forward to anyone you think might be interested.

Carb Loading: what?

Ok, so this is all about Carb Loading (CL), let me first say briefly what that means. CL is a change in diet just before a long race, like marathon or triathlon. This means a high intake of carbohydrates in food. This might sound easy but it does have draw back and a little science behind it.

Most 'first time' marathon runners will get advice like stuff as much pasta as you can in the night before the race.. this is not entirely true so be careful of exactly how much you eat - ie, don't over eat! Firstly, there are 2 main methods of CL:

1) the last two days before race day have a high intake of LOW GI foods

2) 5,4 & 3 days before eat only protein rich foods, cutting out carbohydrates and ruducing fat to almost zero. Then 2 & 1 days before race day, eat LOW GI Carb foods in your diet.

Here's a good question - why do we carb load? Muscles store glycogen and use this up over extreme lenghtes of exercise..ie marathon running. when glycogen runs out, we hit what is known as the wall - after than our body starts to burn the next best thing - fat, when this happens you really are in trouble and that is why its important to top up glycogen while you race - ie, Gels.

The second question you might ask; what is LOW GI? Well GI stands for Glycemic Index, and all carbohydrates have a GI.. they are all measured on a scale from 0-100, however, we usually rate them as LOW, MED and HIGH GI.. Got it? So LOW GI foods (like pasta) give your muscles glycogen to store for use later - whereas HIGH GI (like jelly babies) gives you glycogen to burn straight away... link at bottom of page.

That should have covered what carb loading is all about.. there are lists of LOW GI foods on many websites, again, I have a link to one of them at the bottom of this piece. Basically CL goes hand in hand with Tapering (which i covered in my last blog).. So I have some tips that work for me which maybe you want to consider:

1) Don't over eat - eat the same as usual - however, make sure you are getting plenty of LOW GI foods.
2) Avoid protein the day before it does little anyway.
3) Avoid HI GI foods except on the day of the race.
4) Stick to what you know works - don't try new ideas - this will help mentally as well as physically.
5) The day before race day is a TOTAL REST DAY.. make sure you don't have to leave the house.. rest means rest - food should be all bought and ready to eat etc so you don't need to do much - just relax.
6) Avoid eating and drinking things that make you hyper - ie, coffee and chocolate etc.. this only makes you want to do something other than rest!

I'll list my food intake down on my 'day before' day... This might be useful to someone but not only that it keeps me occupied whilst the day passes.


Links:

Glycemic Index: http://www.glycemicindex.com/

GI List: http://www.the-gi-diet.org/glycemicindexchart/

Race Gels: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/reviews/nutrition/energy-gels/24.html

Tapering?

So yes, I'm tapering - what the hell does that mean?
Before a big race you need your muscles and body to be it tip top shape- its a fact they need proper time to repair because of all the training. So here's me, 2 weeks before the London Marathon and starting to do just that.. here's a little insight.

Up till last week I've been running approximately 50 miles a week in total. Tapering is exactly what is says - you taper down from these miles to virtually nothing.. So this week the plan will be to cover around 25-30 miles. And the final week only about 15 miles probably made up of 3 * 5 mile runs.. none of these will be at 'fast' pace, just a slow easy run. The Marathon is on Sunday 25th and so, Friday and Saturday I will not be running - Friday I'll prepare myself so that Saturday I don't need to leave the house - just be lazy basically.. LOL.. easy??

Tapering allows your body to rest after all the training you have put in - rest for the muscles to repair and any small aches and pains to mend so you are fit and healthy by race day.. Of cou8rse, you have to keep the body motivated and that's why you continue running - if only a small percentage of before.

To non-runners this might seem like bliss and a great idea - however, when you go running as much as 50 miles a week - you need time to fit it all in.. Suddenly this time is free again when you are tapering.. this bothers a few runners and therefore they break the rules and go out for a jog.. this is not a good idea - personally I'll either go to the gym and do some work on my upper body or go for a walk instead as you feel you have achieved something.. :)

In the last few days before race day, tapering goes hand in hand with something called Carb Loading.. you may have heard of this already - however, I will be covering this in a separate blog on another day.. till then - happy running :)

Charitable Change?

I've just watched Dispatches on Channel 4, which was about the London Marathon and allegedly where it's money does and doesn't go.. Just before the program, the London Marathon put out a press release - which you can read, the link is on this page. In a nutshell they claim the London Marathon (LM) company is making a lot of money from the LM every year and not giving it to charity.
I'd like to take a view on this but remove if I can the thoughts from this program and take my own personal view on this hugely popular event..
Every year they tell us it is over subscribed by 3 or 4 times... that's approximately 120,000 people trying to get in and only 30,000 actually do.. The cheapest entry is a ballot place - which this year would have cost £32.00. We know that LM is also a charity giving to local schemes up and down the country although this is never made very clear to us. We also know for a fact that charities pay LM £300 - yes.. three hundred pounds for every gold bold place they hand out...

Now - admittedly the LM has to make money to pay for staff, race costs, advertising, and blahdy blah... BUT they must make a lot!.. I mean - WHY charge charities at all?? please someone answer me this very simple question... as here is my addition to that last statement - it cost £32 for a ballot place... thirty two pounds... charge everyone the same!? Charities too if you have to - but £300?? come on?
In the pre race magazine we have also been told that future ballot places will also get phased out... only people that tried for ballot in 2009 AND 2010 are able to apply. So what will happen then? I'm annoyed to think that in this day and age we can still not put on a large event without stinging a charity.... think about it for a minute - what would YOU do?.. Let me give you a push, I'm thinking - those in rightfully are people that are good for age and elite.. the rest - give ALL the places to charity.. yes ALL of them.. and then get the charities to find runners.. charge the charities the entrance fee (£32) and they can ask the runner for this... now... the good part.. the charity will no longer need to ask you to raise £1500 or so.. and the good thing is every charity would get in on the act now.. that seems fair to me..Plus - why not have more runners?? Is that asking too much?
I'm sure (putting the program aside) that the LM earns plenty of money through sponsorship deals, £32 *30,000 = just short of £1m, and also the aid it is given by helpers who don't get paid (ie water station staff).

That to me is logic - that to me is a charitable change.. it might take programs like Dispatches the fear to do this but should it...?

On a footnote the program does include an interview with the London 10k organiser.. I again find this race very over priced at £29.50 - and I have to say very un-organised. The BUPA London 10k is about £25 too - and this begs the question are these events themselves getting over priced and forgetting what the real aim is - to keep fit and have fun.

Links:

Dispatches web page:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/articles/tracing-the-marathons-millions-producer-feature

London Marathon press release:
http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/news-and-media/news-and-media/dispatches/

Backpack Training

Well I have been running with a backpack now on longer runs for nearly a year and a half.. Basically since I knew I was taking part in the Marathon de Sables.. Up till now the most I'd put in it was around 6-7 kg but today I used 10kg...


after running - my video diary

I needed to test equipment to use on the Sahara run and make some notes about running with a heavy load.. In the desert my pack will start off anything between 12-15 kg - so it's important to test these things now rather than later.
Points:

1) Pack felt heavy at first but got used to this very quickly. Happy that back felt fine and shoulders too..
2) Although shoulders felt good - the straps on the OMM Backpack tended to cut in a little.. this could get painful with use in hot conditions.
3) Turning round while running - do this very slowly or when you turn back to face forward, the pack can roll round and knock you off balance.
4) Breathing: straps NEED to be pretty tight and therefore restrict breathing.. this needs to be done in long slow breaths rather than short little ones.

That was the OMM Backpack and next time i'll test the Raidlight one to see how that fairs.. The other thing to remember is that the weight will be better distributed throughout the pack - for testing I put two dumbbells in a towel which tended to stay at the bottom of the pack in one area... Maybe I will have to try out better weight distribution too.

Ice Bath

(contains offence language)

Went for a run today.. that was 21.5 miles and I thought after.. let's do this Ice Bath thing.. it's suppose to be good for you, so why not... well.. as you can see I was in a lot of pain! However, even though I only lasted 2 minutes, I did feel better for it.. When I got out of the bath I felt my legs warm up very quickly - the blood was being pumped in so fast.. amazing! I think I will probably do it again but try and stay in a little longer - I got out because my toes felt extremely painful.. they actually felt like someone was cutting them off!! lol! Well, you get the picture, if not, watch the video.. warning - there is some swearing in the video!
The run rounds off another long week of runs - this time totalling 52 miles.. I've spaced them nicely and not run too hard and that's why I feel good now.. next week more of the same and soon I will start to 'taper' before the London Marathon.
As I write the total on my charity page is now £1,170 so I am very pleased with the donations I am getting.. At the moment I am running a bet with EVERYONE for £50.. basically it goes like this - you pay £5 into my charity then let me know what time (down to the second) my official London Marathon time will be... you could win £50.. maybe give it a go? I'm hoping to arrive between 3.30 and maybe 3.20 if i can... up to you.. page is here: http://www.justgiving.com/mds2011
Ray ...x

51 miles..

So this week i managed to rack up 51 miles in total.. that's running. On top you think - that's a lot.. then consider the Sahara Marathon is 150 miles in 6 days (not 7) and it brings you down with a THUMP. However, moving from 40 to 50 miles was easy.. I now feel moving greater distances from week to week is easier than when i was running less miles.. ie 15-20. When I was running 20 miles per week, an increase of just 5 miles was very noticable... Now, that has changed drastically.

I'm not sure exactly what this is down to but i'm glad that it has come to light.. It means my goal of the MdS seems so much nearer - just add the heat and weight (on my back) as extra factors - but I am sure I'm nearly there now. I'd like to moderate my training through summer, regulating it from say 35 miles up to 60 miles per week.. but not always the same mileage.. terrain must change often too - like trail or mountain running for instance.

I'm planning on running the marathon distance maybe twice before the actual London Marathon in late April - this will prepare me even more for the distance. I'm happy to have passed the 50 mile mark - its a milestone if you will pardon the pun. ;)

Infrared

abandoned boat
Originally uploaded by Ray Wise
Without an infrared camera or film for my old 35mm its near impossible to make an image which resembles one. However, using an infrared effect in Photoshop helps... This is an example. Taken in New Zealand on the South Island its a basic shot of an old abandoned boat. The image was first edited using Tonal Contrast to bring out the details and then the Infrared mask was applied. This difference between it and using black and white (desaturation) techniques are quite astounding - bare in mind this doesn't work with all scenes and should be taken lightly. Lastly I applied some contrast and sharpening.
Tools used are all from Color Efex Pro 3 by Nik Software - details here: http://www.niksoftware.com/colorefexpro/en/entry.php

Ray
http://raywise.co.uk/

Post Processing

Most photos really need a little post processing on a PC or Mac when you upload them from your camera. This shot is a prime example - I've opened it for you in Photoshop CS2 to show you the original version:

(click on photos for larger view)

You can see lots of light from behind the tree but the tree itself and other details are too dark - ie sheep and wall. Now, if you wanted silhouettes you could increase the contrast and be done with it but I'm going to attempt to show you how I bring these shadows up a little.
On the next screenshot I am changing the colour scale in Colour Balance - you can use Auto Colour but this doesn't always give the result you are looking for.. Remember this is NOT the same for every photo and you have to use your eye to gauge when it is at its best.


Shadow/Highlight is next - again this can be easily overdone so be careful.. my settings below should be ok for most processing however, watch out for added gainyness or halos.. Halos form between highlight and shadow - if it is pushed too much a white glow will occur around a dark object which looks surreal and unpleasant.



So without pushing the shot too much I still need more exposure on the dark objects - even after the above trick. Below I am going to create a new layer. Layers are found in the windows list but are usually out already on the right hand side of the screen. Right click and duplicate layer. You will be asked what to call the layer - I have left it as is.. "Background Copy"

Once you chave named your new layer it will appear in the layers box above the 'original image'. Make sure the top (copy) layer is selected.

Next I went to Exposure and made the exposure +1.00... Click on ok and you see a big change straight away - however the lighter areas will lose their colour somewhat.

Getting the colour back could not be easier.. Select the Eraser tool and set it up as you see below.. Opacity about 28% and Flow about 31%... You can now erase the areas you lost the colour on.. and the layer underneath (original) will come through.. I erased the sky and the grass areas.

Afterwards right click on the layer and Flatten Image.

The only thing missing next was a little colour in the tree.. again a little trick for getting this back is a follows: Make a new layer with nothing on it - select this layer.. and then select the gradient tool. I selected the already made grey to clear brush and changed the grey to yellow.. I then dragged the mouse from the top middle of the image to the bottom middle..
If you have done this correctly the gradient will be on the top layer (new layer) and the original image underneath still intact. Looking like below...

As you can see that look is unatural - but if you go to layers again and change the style from Normal to Soft Light, it will only appear on the dark area.. (the tree)

Finally I'm happy with the shot - sometimes at this point you can add some sharpening but I don't feel it's necessary here. Below is a split with the Edited version on the left and the original on the right:

New Shoes!!

New trainer time for me - Asics Kayano 16 - which is a step up from the 15 I was wearing.. these are a bit lighter and have more shock absorption in the heal.. which you can really feel if you walk in them - however, this is not entirely comfortable.. These are out and out road running shoes - built for the over pronator, which is me :)
Trainers need to be replaced anything from 300-400 miles - or if the drastically start to wear - however this might mean a wrong fit. Trainers need to be worn in - that means no more than 30 minutes running per day in them for the first 2 weeks. This will mould them into your foot better and reduce the risk of heal blisters. This is a pain for me as I'd increased my runs to at least 7-8 miles at a time - about 50-60 minutes.. So I've had to cut this down - however on Sunday when I ran 13 miles I took my new shoes in a rucksack and changed into them 30 minutes from the end :))
It's a good thing to slow down for a couple of weeks anyway and give my muscles a rest to recouperate. Next race for me is the Fleet Half Marathon in March so i have plenty of time for these to bed in before then,.

Photography Meetups winter theme competition

Well I have some good news to share.. one of my shots just one a competition :)
I belong to a Photo Meetup group, as you may know. They had a winter themed competition and my above image came in first place.! I'm stunned and happy at the same time as we have a lot of very talented photographers in the group... The other good news is that my shot is that it will be on show, with some other images from the group at Putney Library from 14 Feb - 6 Mar. the address is 5/7 Disraeli Road, London, SW15 2DR > more details are here.
Details about the shot. I have to say it's not one of my favourites but from a shoot I did in Jan 2009 at Richmond Park in Surrey (not far from Putney). The temperature was about -6C and everything was covered in frost - including me by the end of the morning. More examples from that and other days to Richmond Park can be seen at my Flickr Account.
If you live in or around London and are interested in joining the group, here is the Photography Meetup website:
http://www.photographymeetups.com

Ray..

http://raywise.co.uk/

Your chauffeur awaits m'lady

Your chauffeur awaits m'lady
Originally uploaded by Ray Wise

Last summer I went with my sister and family to Hever Castle in Kent.. there was a wedding on there and I was lucky with this shot when the Rolls Royce arrived it parked plumb in front of me. Luckily there was nobody around to erase from the shot and I got a clean image.. The castle frankly dominates the shot for me and the car just an interesting feature. I used a sepia tone to bring out the contrast better however, the colour version works well too.

Movies seen lately

For full reviews go to my Flixter page.. However, all the films i've seen lately tend to be on a par with each other as ratings go.. My opinion may not count for much but i like to let you know what i think and who knows, it may save you some money :)
My favourite of the bunch was It's Complicated - a romantic comedy with a twist - or two... or three. Meryl Streep stars along side some great acting from co star Alec Balwin. Steve Martin also plays an important role however, i did find his work a little dull and doesn't really add to the comedy value.

(Matt Damon)

The Informant was a great suprise - starring Matt Damon this is a true story about a business man who turns informer on his company.. Damon plays a great part and really shows us his true acting colours which is nice to see... I hear also he is making another Bourne film - could this be a step in the wrong direction? We'll have to wait and see..
The other two are fairly run of the mill action thrillers which are a good ride but nothing much to write home about.. Watching out for Fish Tank and 44 Inch Chest - two British films which are receiving some great reviews - hope to bring you these real soon...x

Photo Mettups - Battersea

Every month or so I attend a photo group meetup organised through Facebook. They also have their own site : http://www.photographymeetups.com/ . We go to various places al over London - this time we went to Battersea Park and surrounding areas. Its always a nice day out and a great chance to meet other people interested in photography also.

Well the weather was very grey and cold - it wasn't long before the gloves came out. But the worse thing was that the light was poor. Grey cloud covered the sky for most of the time we were out and this made getting some good shots difficult. I had to bump up my ISO to get as much light in as possible.. Still, there were plenty of people out and children on scooters - all making great subjects :)


Top shot is from a rose garden which had some interesting features including this item.. I used bleaching techniques to get the effect. Above a shot across one of the small lakes - the building is a pump station which looked nice in the frame.. Processed in HDR. Below, is a simple effect gained from opening up the aperture and using the curve of the fence to take you to the people - a bit of abstract fun.


All the photos from the day are in my Facebook Album if you have access.

http://raywise.co.uk/

New Website - Ray Wise Photography

I've finally gone ahead and bought my own domain and set up a photography portfolio. Here's the link http://raywise.co.uk . The site is broken down into a few categories and will show my style of photography across these ranges. Users can add comments without logging in and add links to their own sites or others.
I have to say thanks to my many Flickr friends who have given me the encouragement to pursue this idea. Their comments have given me belief in myself to go forward and take a chance in the professional world. Thanks also to Getty Images for giving me the chance to share my work in their database - some of which have been licensed already.
Have a look at the new site - please let me know what you think of the design and any problems you might find.. cheers.

a little love goes a long way....x

a little love goes a long way....x
Originally uploaded by Ray Wise

I've been looking at this image for a while wondering weather to upload it or not.. However, blending it with the Haiti disaster made a lot of sense because a picture paints a thousand words and what I had to say went with the photo..
I think too many of us take our lives for granted - going about our daily habits, regardless of others less fortunate. Even walking down the road for others is either impossible or fearful. There's a well know saying that goes - there is always someone worse off than you.. this is true to a point - but someone is always on the bottom of that list.. think for a minute about that..
#
#
#
brings it home doesn't it? I find that bringing myself back down to earth is a good thing and I try to do this often. Events like the Haiti Earthquake hits everyone in such a shocking way that we all feel this. However, if we all remembered this at least once a day throughout our lives, I'm sure that the world would be a happier and peaceful place. x

40 mile week

Another Sunday gone and this is the stage I tot up my weeks running miles... So this week, I ran every other day starting Monday -11 miles, Wednesday - 8 miles, Friday - 7 miles and today - 15 miles. This makes this week a 41 mile week.. great news as I thought it was going to be tough to achieve this through the winter - without the use of a dreadmill... but lets face it, anything longer than 30 minutes on one of those things and you are just sooo bored.
It's always nicer to get out on the street and run there. So I have been increasing the length of my runs from 7 miles and over. The shortest used to be 5 miles which I'm glad to put behind me. This coming week I may cut back to around 30 miles again but I will see how it goes.
The best news is I am feeling very fit without many aches and pains (there are always a few). I've probably put the mockers on it by saying that but hey ho.. The only thing I think will happen soon is me buying new trainers... the present ones are still ok - but the mileage is up and heels are starting to wear down.. must buy some new ones at the end of the month..
Happy Travels..x

in the deep mid winter

in the deep mid winter
Originally uploaded by Ray Wise
When I arrived at this point it was actually quite dark although the snow helped reflect the light. Processing a shot that is a little under exposed is tough, so over exposing a little can be a good thing.. I shot a single exposure which came out very well - however had to use adjustments in Photoshop to bring out the best in the photo.
I changed the colour balance away from blue to yellow slightly and used exposure and gamma to enhance the light patches. I've added a fog gradient layer and erased nearer details like the bush and trees on the right and close trees on the left.. Sometimes photos don't need sharpened but i find shots with branches and twigs usually benifit so i added this also.. hope you like.

http://raywise.co.uk/

Winter running

Some people might say that running round London in the winter is beyond crazy.. However, if you think that running in temperatures of around -4C is bad... think again, the competitors running the North Pole Marathon face temperatures of around -30C... Think again?
However, it's still bloody cold out there and above is the kit I where when I go out and its below 2C. It's all about layers and avoiding spongy materials like wool, cotton should also be avoided.. Clothing has to breath but still stop wind and stretch when you run. Material to look out for is Gortex ,Lycra and many other similar longer names of fabric.
Base layers should be tight fitting and that which wick sweat from your body.. I use Nike Pro Fit compression shorts and top - these also help prevent chaffing. Amazingly enough your legs - once warmed up - stay very warm in cold conditions - you'll get used to what you can bare, for me, anything lower than 2 degrees C and the tights come out - but i will still where the compression pants under them ;0)
Again with tops - avoid cotton and try to keep layers lightweight and wickable material. Gortex jackets can be heavy and uncomfortable but are very good keeping out the wind. The days are shorter in the winter and weekday runs are usually in the dark.. I bought a cheap (£10) fluorescent bib to wear so that traffic and pedestrians can spot me a little easier.. this is well worth the money!
On top I wear a lightweight hat which is good up to about -4C... Anything more and you might find this uncomfortable on longer runs. Bio-ear is like plasticine and moulds into your ear nicely - they stop the cold draft from getting in completely. Moisturiser for face and lots of Vaseline for lips and we are ready to go.
Getting too warm whilst running? On longer runs I personally thing you should keep clothing on all the time... I seem to go through a warm stage after a few miles but this passes and if i have removed clothing it needs to go back on - this throws my body temperature again and i'm in a constant battle.. best to keep clothing on unless you are running under 5 miles or so.. again, you will know what is or is not best for you... Remember, these points are from my own experience so they may not work for you at all. Thanks for reading.

ice cream sky

ice cream sky
Originally uploaded by Ray Wise
I think that with landscape photography you have to allow an element of luck when it comes to the nature side of things.. take this shot for instance - in a different time and space it may not look as effective.. The snow on the ground and the soft ripples in the sky work really well together.. Very helpful :)
I also moved the camera to the right of the gate to make the angle go with the cloud formation... Its a funny thingbut something as simple as moving the camera placement can change the outcome of a photo dramatically.

http://raywise.co.uk/

the country lane

the country lane
Originally uploaded by Ray Wise
I am jealous of anyone who lives in a rural area.. I love these old country lanes and the stone walls that surround them. This shot was taken first thing in the morning and had to be a fairly long exposure.. however, i think , in fact almost regret not going back in the middle of the day to get a brighter shot.. C'est le vie as they say.. still, you can see what i was trying to produce here and the dark edge gives it a twilight feel- and with the purple tone of the early morning light - almost surreal.

http://raywise.co.uk/

Oxford - Thames photo walk

Map details

So last week it snowed a lot! Even in the centre of London we had a few inches last a couple of days.. however, outside the capital was hit really bad and I thought it was an opportunity not to be missed with the camera. Travel surprisingly was not a problem and I actually got to Oxford earlier than I planned.. so I started walking from the train station in the dark at 07.22 .. the sun was due up at 08.10...
There was a LOT of snow, even the main roads had tracks of a few inches.. not good for cars - great for me.. it was still dark but by the time I'd got to my starting point the light was picking up and the sky was changing colour... It was really cold - I'd say about -5 or so and as there wasn't much wind, this was bearable.
Taking shots in such conditions is hard going - tip is to leave the lens cap off or it will keep misting up. I'd got so many layers of clothes on I felt warm anyway - and two pairs of gloves was a good idea.. under pair were my thin running gloves so I could still operate the camera with them on.
Soon the sun came up though and things felt a bit warmer.. Its was handy I was walking towards it as it was a nice feeling on my face.. and still no wind.. nice! A little indecision at the Abingdon bypass roundabout (where i took the next shot) and then I got on the Thames Path from the A4074.

Once on the Thames Path I followed it down towards Lower Radley.. trust me, if you ever want a beautiful river walk - this one is well worth a visit. Of coarse, it looked even better in the snow so the camera was snapping away like there was no tomorrow.. These shots are from my smaller point and shoot Lumix - the Canon 50D shots will be uploaded to my Flickr account.


After a bit of walking I realised that it was going to take longer to get to my target, which was Appleford. However, when I got to Culham bridge I made a stupid mistake a carried on rather than crossing over the river .. lol.. well, I thought the river walk was so pretty I didn't want to break off to early and go by road... There were NO river crossings until i got to Clifton Hamden - and then I had to walk back - this put another 6 miles onto the hike.. phew! Big mistake! Lucky thing is when I got to the train station I only had to wait 20 minutes.. it turns out the trains are about every 2 hours on a Saturday.. so phew again!


Last shot about reminds me of walking down the final couple of miles and a few cars not giving way to me - making me leap in to the bushes.. it seems funny now but this is the reason you wear bright coloured clothing and walk toward oncoming vehicles.. maybe some people who driving need to take a long walk sometimes ;0)

http://raywise.co.uk/

we begin here..

START: Well thanks to a few friends I am now blogging again.. So I thought I'd start fresh one. So what's it all about - basically an online diary of my events etc - mainly this will cover my training for the Marathon De Sables 2011, plus my general fitness activities, it'll also cover my photography - how that's going, the place I visit etc...and the odd movie review.

Raymondo interview by Adam Symbiosis

A wise old man once told me the secret to being a good DJ is to enjoy yourself. If that holds true then there’s one wise guy that’s had all the success in the world. Entertaining the masses for longer (and better) than some of today’s know-nothing upstarts have been eating solid food, Ray Wise, better known as Raymondo, has consistently provided great music at parties across the world in a career that’s seen him turn his skilled hand not just to DJing, but running a successful party, a fantastic website and also documenting the scene through his photographs and summarising it all into the famous club laws. To be honest if he hasn’t done it, it’s not worth doing.




But earlier this year he made the decision to abandon it all and spend some quality time on himself for a change. Deciding to retire from the full time rigours of DJing and running the website, the last few months has seen him take stock of his life and get back to the finer things. Raymondo’s Last Stand was a line in the sand, “It was a finishing point, I’d had enough and I wanted to take it easy. It was a great celebration of what I had and hadn’t achieved. Just like Mr Ben coming out of that little shop, don’t expect me to be away for too long. Just to prove that the old boys can do it.” I wondered nonchalantly if we might see him wearing a bowler hat for his return to the decks on October 7th, though you might be lucky to see him in his slippers and carrying a pipe. If however you’d like to be the one to help him in with his bag, then please send your details on the back of a postcard to the usual address. “I don’t want to be perceived to be coming back. I’ve got nothing to gain and really I’ve always had my full time job. Even when I was playing 6 or 7 gigs a weekend, I still went to work on Monday. Personally I don’t think you should lose track on that sort of thing, cause when it all falls down, where does it leave you? I’ve come back because I still have some love for it, I just don’t want to be doing it all the time. You’ve got to be something special to make a go of it as a full time DJ and you’ve got to have you’re head screwed on.” I wondered if it might also have something to do with the way some promoters paid their DJs. “I think the perception of our scene is a little higher than it should be. Our scene isn’t as serious as it should be and therefore perhaps the promoters don’t pay as much as we used to get but they shouldn’t take the piss. The larger events bring in more money, so they should pay the DJs more. I’ve been paid more money for playing in a small club then playing in a big club. DJs do get a raw deal at the end of the day. You could blame the promoter but then you could also blame the DJs, not to individually pick someone out but there are too many DJs who will play for free.” Maybe there should be a DJ union? Could DJs club together, with the shop floor stewards having it on the dance floor? There’s a thought to ponder. “If you pay good money for DJs, you tend to get good music because people are more bothered.”

It’s interesting, I thought as we joked about record trolleys with wheels and zimmer frames and the like. Is there an upper age for DJs? Should they be made to retire when they become older than the average clubbers parent? While this in no way affects Ray yet, there are plenty of other ageing DJs and rockers (think The Rolling Stones) still growing old disgracefully. “I’m not that old anyway,” he countered with a wry smile. I wanted to drill down into his reasons for coming out of his self imposed exile and playing for Chemical Reaction (CR) at Twisted this October. Of course if you haven’t heard of Chemical Reaction, you’ve been missing out. Constantly surprising the most jaded of clubbers with the depth in their DJ selections his reply wasn’t that much of a surprise to me. “I’m playing for Annetta (of CR), she asked me to play a classics set and would I mind coming back, as it were. It’s just what I wanted to do.”



Ray had a great understanding of the highlights of his career and as he recounted the challenges and successes of his career, you could see the excitement and the memories flash brightly in his eyes, “Personally I set out to achieve one thing and that was to have a fucking good time and I did that without a doubt. I just set myself one goal after next. The first goal was a warm up set, the next was after 12, then it was last set, then something in the middle. Then it was I want to play at Camden, The Fridge, I want to do this, I want to do that, I want to go abroad. There was always some new goal to reach and some goals I didn’t get.” He never played at Camden in the main room for example; refreshingly there wasn’t any bitterness, just a tacit understanding that there are always some things that you might miss out on.

His early years playing in London started in 1995 for Sunnyside up at SW1 Club, better known as Pacha now. This led to more gigs around the capital and Raymondo became a well-known name on flyers and at parties like Sunflowers and Pickle. “My set for Pickle in the main room of Brixton Academy had to be my best ever set. I think it was their birthday party and it was a big honour.” Playing after a Dutch DJ hitting the crowd with some German trance, he recounted how the crowd just needed something different to pick them up. “Everyone was having a good stomp but I changed the beat a little bit and it went down really well. I finished up playing Underworld – Born Slippy and well…” You could say the rest is history. Resident at Pickle from more or less the start, he met both the Pickle and the Fever promoters in a black room with splatters of fluro paint thrown around the walls. “I got to know the both at the same time and luckily they both took me on! Pickle was a great party to play for. The way they did things were out on a limb, word of mouth type parties. We started off doing squat parties then moved up to bigger clubs; Stratford Rex is one I remember well. Then we went to Imperial Gardens where it really took off. There was a real good vibe.” Confirming just why they were the good vibe tribe and making me reminisce about some fantastic Pickle parties I went to.



Parties were always on Ray’s mind and he was putting on Overdrive down Croydon way long before he was playing in London. “Starting parties gave me some leverage in getting gigs in London. I’ve got some friends to thank for helping me with the parties. Me and a guy called Michael put this party on and the plan was to get one known DJ down from London every time to play at the party, which only ran till 2am. We’d put the DJ on last, I’d play before him and maybe another mate Ian before me and that worked well for me because even though the party wasn’t that packed I’d end up getting a set in return at the guests party or they’d put in a good word for me.” As his bookings grew the party had to be dropped, though the seeds for what was to become CiL / HDL were sown. “I was so busy and a lot of people wanted to know what I was doing so I made up a site just about me. Unfortunately I got a bit too involved in it and it started to take over. I think I forgot about DJing for a bit and cracked on with the website.” Changing the site from Webmondo to Clubbing In London (CiL), forums were added, DJ pages were inserted and pictures posted up. The fledgling site was born.



“Between all that came the record label. I had my own label, Transation, which had five releases. My first release came out on Tongue In Check, a record label in Oxford.” Another bug had bit Ray and he sat and learnt as much as he could during a series of visits to a studio. “I blagged it with Sid, who owned the studio, to make a track and he said, ‘Yeah, but the rights are mine.’ I though yeah fuck it, I want to get a track out so we went and cut a track. It was called Vanguard, the B side was something else to be believed in, but it was my track and it was out there.” I had to laugh when he told me the tune was released on a 10” vinyl but the pride in his voice was flowing over and I nearly spilt my drink as we talked about having a 10” record box. “Every time Adam from Lab4 sees me he always asks when I’m going to give him a copy of the track. They made a record and dedicated it to my track. It wasn’t even till later on in my career that he said it to me and I was quite astounded! I got very embarrassed about my tracks. When somebody played my records I used to run out of the room.” I wondered if his spare time might lend itself to producing again and floating around by the masses of records he stores away I was issued with a super secret copy of a never before released track, which has now been spirited away in my CD box. “Well if anyone wants to take it on, then let me know.”

We moved back onto the site and the change from CiL to Hard Dance London. “Looking back on it I should have just changed the site and not the name, it should have been made more versatile. At the time CiL was all about hard dance, though I had many people checking it out looking for other types of music. Still nothing ventured, nothing gained.” On the back of both the sites were some legendary Thursday and Sunday parties. CiL parties were being attended by all walks of people long before many of our junior wannabe promoters were even out of school. “I owe that all to Blair and Brendan who used to run Charged and they started Sids and made me monthly resident. Believe it or not it used to get packed there on Sundays. We sort of took over from them and took it to the next level, Thursdays was just an extension. Blair gave it a good crack, but had an argument with Victor (of Sids) and gave it up. One or two years later I thought I’d give it a go as Victor was begging me to go down there, I did it for a bit, gave it up and then started again. I’d been advertising it quite blatantly on HF so decided to be a bit more discrete and called it CiL and things just went from there.” In fact most people will tell you that it was the unofficial HF meet up for so long, it was by default the official HF meet up, with nearly everyone from back in the day attending at some point. “It was all a matter about getting the right DJs in. We weren’t charging on the door, there were some deals at the bar and we had Superbok by the tank. We were also quite lucky to have a pole in the middle as well. It was tiresome to run it ever week but I was helped out by Adam, my Australian friend who assisted on the party and the site. I was trawling through CD after CD though I always thought if someone went to the trouble of handing in a set then I thought well why not. It was all about giving people a chance. Even in the early days we had people who are now very famous, people like James Lawson and Tania Mann. Unfortunately Victor got a bit aggressive sometimes with the customers so in the end we had to pull it.” Still it’s not as if the party didn’t do the Mondo any favours in the many years it was running and he continued on to recount stories of Dean Peters, Phil Reynolds, Matt Clark and of course Ray himself taking turns to go on the decks on a messy Sunday afternoon. “One person would put a record on, then someone else would fall over and the next person would have to have a go. People just loved it.”



In the background we had an old mix tape playing with some acid 303’s buzzing up and down and as the track developed it Ray pointed out it was one of his first mixes. I was suitably impressed by the skill shown so early on but it did bring me back to his semi-retirement. Taking it easy was a theme he couldn’t ignore but I wasn’t surprised after his many years of being an integral part of the clubbing scene. “I’m still coming down,” he told me with a laugh. “I’m doing all the things that you give up when you go clubbing. Simple things like going for a drink and a meal on Sunday afternoon, I was never interested before or was too busy playing or being asleep.” You might find him sitting next to your local pond fishing, or by some well-known attraction taking a photo from an unusual angle for his new site www.photolondon.net



I was interested in some final words from the Great Raymondo (as I was first introduced to him by a certain number plate), some thoughts on the club scene. Quite frankly no interview would have been complete without mention of the club laws. Brought into the scene primarily as a marketing tool (and quickly copyrighted) they soon took on a life of their own with clubbers collecting them like addicts looking for their next hit. “There were 63 club laws, there could be more, I’ve got them written down somewhere. We were running a party called Choon Town and it was all part of the promotion for that. We’d booked out Imperial Gardens before any other trance or hard house party had, it was a garage location before and the first time I’d heard about the venue I’d heard that someone had been shot outside, so I thought that was worth checking out,” he said with a laugh. “Instead of doing flyers, I decided to make a little booklet with each of the laws printed so that page one had laws 1 to 4, page two had laws 5 to 8 and so on. Then we shuffled the lot, got them photocopied, then gave them out randomly at clubs and people just started collecting them like mad. People would come up and say ‘Have you got page 9 as that’s the only one I’m missing!’” As a parting shot I challenged him on law 14. “Jesus!! I think that’s Rizla, but I’m not sure. You know when you get these annoying people come up to you and they don’t even speak, they just roll their fingers together expecting you to do something and you’re like what?? If you’re going to fucking smoke, bring your own fucking gear!! I always thought to carry some toilet tissue to hand out to these people, lets see you roll with that.”

Adam Symbiosis

Photos courtesy of Raymondo and Adam Symbiosis. Not to be reproduced without permission.

http://raywise.co.uk/