Brighton’s 21st Half Marathon

Ten of our guests were taking part.

Brighton’s 21st Half Marathon was run on Sunday 20th February with over 8,000 runner’s taking part. Because it the 21^st anniversary of the half marathon, the current Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Geoff Wells cut a birthday cake on Madeira Drive, near the starting line. 

The start was at Madeira Drive, which is only 

a few meters away from Brighton Marina House Hotel. 

The Half marathon has become one of the biggest events of its kind in the south east and we are expecting about 12,000 for 2012.  

The is also a youth races but the start for this was at the end of Madeira Drive, very close to Black Rock car park. Brighton Marina House Hotel also had a youth staying with who too part in this years run.

The main idea of this Marathon is to raise money for the for men and women living with HIV. The main charity involved is the The Sussex Beacon (It is a clinical care centre for men and women living with HIV/AIDS. 

We are based in Brighton, Sussex and have a ten bedded Inpatient Unit as well as Health Management Services including, Anxiety 

Management, Sleep Service, Day Service and Women & Families Service).  

The race kicked at 9am with Mike East (Commonwealth gold medal winner and ex Olympian) supervising the start.

The Brighton Marina House Hotel is the ideal place to stay as you can walk for two minutes to the main road and watch the runners and also see the finishing line by crossing the road.    

Not all the runners were able to run the who distance. Some walked for a short while before continuing with their running.  

Some of the runners chose to wear unusual outfits. There was a person dressed as a skeleton, some wore cuddly toy outfits,  another wore a toilet seat and one person ran carrying a young child.   

The race was won by David Wardle, who finished in 1.06.22. 

There was a real carnival atmosphere at many points as onlookers were cheering and clapping the runners. 

We are already looking forward to next as we look to play our part in making the Brighton Half Marathon the most popular in the UK.

Brighton Marina House and the Snow man winter 2010

Brighton Marina House Pictures of the story of Snow man winter 2010

Lovely Sunshine not too long ago 

First Signs of Snow on December 2010

Soon the snow built up

So much snow fell we build a snow person?

Our Street had 4 inches first day

People started to come and we too their pictures

Even at night admirers also came

Birds looking for food the morning after

One little friend did find some food

Few people dared to walk out

The 2nd night

Ice

Our patio after the first snow 

Poor tree in the patio

The Marina House Snowman!

Snow of 2009

It as Winter 2010/2011 and for many years prior we did not have snow that had settled. 
The Met Office was warning of overnight snow in Brighton with temperatures predictions showing a drop to between -4C to -6C the next day. This may break records as we had not seen such cold weather conditions for decades.  The weather forecast were warning of overnight snowfalls in south-east England of up to 6-9 inches.

Well the snow did come but with a vengeance and as usual all things started to come to a halt.  

Schools closed down, trains were far and few between, people could not get to work, the roads became treacherous, people were leaving cars on roadsides, airports had delays and many other difficulties. 

As usual the Highways Agency was advising drivers to take extra care on the roads. The A23 and M23 saw very slow traffic but those had taken a chance in driving fast paid the price with over turned cars or having a crash. 

Local news papers were running all sorts of stories with hundreds of pictures being sent, mostly taken from the modern mobile phones. 

Also book makers were not to be left be and were offering all sorts of bets.  
 No doubt the snow had certainly made many parts of the country look pretty. Hundreds of people who were in Brighton from a warmer climate made their way onto the beach or parks and were have a whale of a time.   

Brighton had huge stacks of snow and many skiers were enjoying the white fluffy stuff. Home made sledges could be seen as we saw some being pulled and other pushed.

There was great excitement for the children though. Snowballs were being thrown all over the place and snowmen were being built in many places after many many years. 

Just a few minutes walk from Brighton Marina House children and adults were seen building a snowman and the excitement was clearly visible. 

There were some very creative snowmen and snowwomen being built. Some families has come with a bucket and spade, hearing this you could be forgiven for thing this is height of summer but the families came prepared to build a snowmen.                                                                

Some were build by individuals and some with a group. The size varied from about one foot tall to over six foot tall.  Most were solitary but few builders had taken the trouble to make a couple and some were showing families.      
                                                                                                                                                     Most snowmen were really naked but there were those who were dressed beautifully in hats, scarves, sunglasses, cigars and even a coat around one.  Some were a little rude, most were not but all made with great determination and grit as all creators has t suffer the below zero conditions.     

 Why recycle:  

Recycling helps businesses and families save money and hence we try and recycle as much as we can.

For us it makes sense to recycle items. This means fewer new items and consumables need to be produced, saving raw materials, energy and space used in landfills.

We look to collect paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, metal, clothing, shoes and others.    

If you and we were to recycle a plastic bottle, we would save hundreds of years in the landfill. We would also save our environment from dangerous emissions when a new bottle is made but also save the oil used in producing a bottle.

Our council collects recyclable things from us on a weekly basis but we also make a trip to our local waste and recycle area when large items have to be disposed off.  

You can read more on recycling here:

http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=b1000037

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-of-recycling.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-7-Benefits-of-Recycling&id=3200097

http://www.recyclenow.com/what_can_i_do_today/can_it_be_recycled/

7 Reasons Not To Mess With Children

 A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. 
 
 
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. 
 
 The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. 
 
 Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. 
 
 The little girl said, 'When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah'. 
 
 The teacher asked, 'What if Jonah went to hell?' 
 
 The little girl replied, 'Then you ask him'. 
 
 
 
 A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. 
 
 As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. 
 
 The girl replied, 'I'm drawing God.' 

 The teacher paused and said, 'But no one knows what God looks like.'
 
 Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, 'They will in a minute.' 
 
 
 
 
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. 
 
 After explaining the commandment to 'honour' thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?' 
 
 Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, 'Thou shall not kill.' 
 
 
 
 
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink.. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. 
 
 She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, 'Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?' 
 
 Her mother replied, 'Well, every time you do something wrong and make me unhappy or cry, one of my hairs turns white.' 
 
 The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, 'Mummy, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?' 
 

 
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
 
 'Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor..' 
 
 A small voice at the back of the room rang out, 'And there's the teacher, she's dead.' 
 
 
 
 
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, 'Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.' 
 
 'Yes,' the class said. 

 'Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?' 
 
 A little fellow shouted, 
'Cause your feet ain't empty.' 
 
 
 
 
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch.. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:
 
 'Take only ONE . God is watching.' 

 Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. 
 
 A child had written a note, 'Take all you want. God is watching the apples.' 
 
 
 
 
 It doesn't matter how many people you send this to, just remember if it made you laugh, your friends will laugh too.