Another week of our lives has nearly passed by and the Green family have again reached the level of tiredness that only those with children will understand! How do we do it I've been asked? There are many things that bring it all together but here are our secrets.

Planning, we have a family diary that works 12 months ahead of where we are including holidays, school holidays, childcare, races, birthdays, etc. If there is something we want to do, we add the approx. date into the diary along with the date we expect entry/tickets/flights to go on sale. We plan a rough training schedule around the race dates and since February, all LFR club nights and committee meetings have also entered the list.

About two weeks in advance we transfer all the information onto a weekly sheet which includes menu's, additional work requirements, after school activities, date night and most importantly who's running where and when.

Edison now wakes at 5am and requires constant entertainment (and food), whilst Arriana thinks she is a teenager at times, but hey, these are just things all parents have to deal with. To us the children are always at their happiest being outside, in the woods, at races, club nights, camping, walks, bike rides etc. So running and athletics fits in really well and they too have become part of LFR as are more and more of our members partners', children and friends. It's great to see so many of the under 14's at Park run every week and hopefully one day these will be the ones we are being overtaken by.

Which brings me onto a huge thank you for the awards Vicky and I recently received during a drunken evening at the clubhouse. We are truly humbled by the extraordinary recognition, the trophies are now sat on the windowsill. It’s never been on our minds or in our plans to do things for this reason, we just wanted to put something back into the club and share our enthusiasm with everyone.

It's now Sunday night and this week we've been away, the yearly family holiday to the Isle of Wight. Even on our trip we try to run most days. As with every year it coincides with the Isle Of Wight Running Festival (Needles XC Half as it was known until this year). We all took part in one race or another. Vicky ran in the 10k race on the Saturday which was a touch on the warm side with trails, fields and a rather daunting hill, but she and Annis (who was on the Island for the weekend) loved it, especially the medal.

Arriana and Marcus (from the Harrison stables) smashed the 2.5k fun run and took home a medal and a bag of fruit.

You know when you run a tough race, that every painful moment cannot easily be forgotten! Well this is 13.1m of that. I recall every twist, turn, every trail, the promenade, the woods, the sand, jumping groynes, THE STEPS, the Hills, the Moorland, the Hills, the Needles with the bagpiper playing whilst stood on an old ruin, pointless stiles and more kissing gates than I’d ever imagine exist (all sponsored by locals). As for the marathon, you’d need your head examining to even consider what that had in store!!!! Steve, Janice, Richard and I all took it in our stride and loved every minute.

“It’s the best event ever”, said Janice, “we’ll be back” and so will I. There are many options from 5k to 10k on the Saturday, half to full marathon on the Sunday and a half ironman over three days. There’s a campsite, a coffee van, a pizza van, free use of the sports centre pool and showers for competitors and they even showed “chariots of fire” in the sports hall Saturday night. Games for the kids and a bar! If you want to see all the sights of the Isle of Wight and the most spectacular views then come join us next year when we plan to make this the club trip.