Tuesday 19th May: BikeDemCrew to Henry's Burgers

My next challenge post-marathon is to undertake a 100k bike ride for the Rapha 100 in July.  The weekend following the 26 mile race, I rode a 60 mile route of "bare" hills to Brighton.  Not to be recommended per se, but a positive test of endurance and friend's patience to push you on and save you from admitting defeat.  Potentially the sweetest triumphant portion of fish and chips Ive had the pleasure to unwrap on that promenade.

After the 120 mile jaunt out to Suffolk last year on the Dunwich Dynamo Im hoping the Rapha 100k will be doable?!  In preparation, BikeDemCrew are back in full effect by going for  training long trips out on scenic escapes.  Ive traded in long run Sundays with long ride Sundays.  The latest coastal escapade took us to Leigh-On-Sea in Essex for an English Riveria dip and dinner at Henry's Burgers.  It seems you have to leave the culinary melting pot of the capital to find a decent burger joint .  Henry's is like no other diner I've been to before.  They make their own fresh mince daily from grass fed, free range, sustainable farms straight from Lancashire.  These patties come in a menu of new variations and twists with a ridiculously spot-on selection of side-orders including deep fried gherkins with blue cheese dip!  Condiments are also a serious concern with their own formulations of chilli sauces kept safe from children's reach, dispensed in medicine bottles.  The comprehensive cocktail list includes an Aperol Orange Spritz added for the incoming Summer evenings and Bloody Marys for the morning after.  We opted for the malt milkshakes to takeaway for our paddle in the sea pool and train back to the smoke after our Smoke House BBQ buns.  Thank you Henry's, we will return ................. making a U Turn, or as I have now renamed the manoeuvre - the "Usher".    

(All photos by me, except two by Peigh , group shot selfie by Jason, and the burger snap by Henry's as a taster because you have to head over to their Instagram to appreciate it all fully!  Not to mention the open ceiling out to the blue sky of the modern build)       

Southend on Sea

01702 436661

Leigh on Sea

01702 715390

Monday 18th May: Rumble In The Jumble 2015 #RITJ4

"The Music Circle" Charity for which I ran the marathon to raise funds for projects in Eastern DRC has an annual jumble sale "Rumble In The Jumble" (aptly named after the infamous DRC boxing fight).  For its 4th return they raised £25,751 for their new Myanmar cause and for Oxfam's emergency Nepal relief fund.  Here are photos from the day with Gemma Cairney hosting on the loud-hailer and AJ who I shared a stall with where we spent the duration dancing before my turn on the decks. Gemma and I also had a day running around town, gathering up kind donations from the likes of Francesca Burns at Vogue, Tatty Devine, Trace Publicity, Lazy Oaf and more........... many thanks!  

Today is the last chance to get a £5 raffle ticket for the "Music Festival Raffle" to win tickets to a massive list of events from Lovebox, Field Day, Bestival, Standon Calling, Latitude, Secret Garden Party ....... see full list & purchase here: 

http://www.everythingcountspr.com/the-music-circle/

(Photos from Gemma's Instagram, AJ's Instagram , Natasha Scarlet & my own)

Monday 18th May: Red Bull Tropical Edition

Now there is a suggestion of sun and whiff of BBQ in the air, its that time to year to start getting excited for Carnival already!!!! Red Bull asked me in to their HQ to hold a Tropical Headdress making workshop to launch the new Tropical Mango & Guava flavour edition.  Not only is Carnival my favourite day of the year but Mango is my favourite fruit so this was a dream day.  I brought along enough artificial fruit for the whole room to take away their own Carmen Miranda creation.

Monday 18th May: Walter & Zoniel Wedding Day

I had the honour of being asked to conjure up the cosmic headdresses for Walter & Zoniel's May Day Queen bridesmaids.  Zoniel gave me free-reign but wanted a surreal theme and specifically eyeballs in flowers!  So I made tiny planets and integrated eyes into these - spooky magic!  Here's Millie Brown snapped by Grace LaDoja on the beach where the ceremonies took place as part of the day's order.  When Zoniel appeared in her dress and veil, she graced the congregation like a goddess appearing from another dimension.  It was constructed by the master knitter Craig Lawrence who crocheted emblems into the body - with an eye at the heart's centre.  Absolutely incredible!!!!  Head over to Grace's Instagram to see more pics of the complete outfit.  

Follow Walter and Zoniel's adventures on their page, including an event at Tate Britain on the day before their wedding and taking part in the Venice Biennial the following days after!!!!

(From top to bottom:  bridesmaids & guest by the beach huts, the astral wedding cake, the bride herself, my Butler's Dozen batch of headdresses delivered in cake boxes)

Friday 15th May: Lazy Oaf & JuJu

Doing my bit for supporting Independent British brands, I put my new Lazy Oaf shirt on and headed down to their Juju Jelly Shoe collaboration launch.  The shop had been decked out in wibbly wobbly pastel blumanche props by Bombas & Parr for spectators to investigatively prod into motion like beached jelly fish.  I drank an aqua sea colour Japanese beer which turned my lips to an attractive blue hue.  Lazy Oaf know how to throw a party and take you right back to feeling like your 5 year-old self, going ballistic from number E's and Fizz.  Not to mention the goody bags at the end with jelly beans and their new keyrings inscribed with "Don't Lose Your Shit!".  Thanks LazyOaf!

Thursday 14th May: London Marathon for Oxfam

It's still only just sinking in that I ran the 26.2 miles of  the London Marathon on the 26th.  But after taking training ridiculously seriously for the last 4 months, it all paid off and was totally pain free and a total joy.  I knew I wanted to do another one as I saw the finish line coming into view at Buckingham Palace.  Not only did I complete it in a steady consistent 10 minute mile but also racked up a £3,500+ for the DRC projects I chose via The Music Circle / Oxfam.  Whilst being AWOL from this blog, I recorded the whole process over on Running Rainbow World Tumblr 

I also had the opportunity to share the message on BBC6Music radio thanks to Lauren Laverne, making Coby's mixtape her "Memory Tape" of the week.  See feature here where I note that I am exactly the same age as the London Marathon!  Hopefully I also explained it reasonably coherently through my nerves live on air.  When I pitched to Oxfam to get the place I pledged to spread the word, so this was also a target I wanted to fufill too (see article I wrote here).  Now I feel that I have honoured all duties, I can get my life back, start going out again and return to recording it all on here.  Normal service shall resume.  However I'll still be running.......................  :  )

Thanks to everyone who helped me on this journey:  NikeLab for the training programme, Charlie Dark & RunDemCrew for the love of running, my family & friends for coming out to cheer me on the day, Ash Narod for capturing my antics in colourful cosmic portraits, Rosie Lees for the swish swoosh logos, Stretch London for complimentary yoga, everyone who supported my fundraising,  Verity Keefe for coaching me thru fundraising, all who came to my quiz night, all the kind donations as prizes, Gemma Cairney for hosting, Kate Hutchinson and The Music Circle for introducing me to Oxfam, and most importantly Oxfam for looking after me so well from start to finish.   

(Images:  customising my outfit thanks to Kitty Joseph's vinyl collection, pre-race chat with record breaker Paula Radcliffe, cycling between work and training sessions, my race-day rainbow hair, at the   post- race Royal Academy reception held by Oxfam)

Thursday 14th May: Record Store Day 2015

Wow,  I have so much to catch up on!  Since running the marathon nearly three weeks ago I have had a marathon of deadlines.  Just taking a breather now to catch up.  So much can happen in such a short space of time.  Especially in the current climate of bulldozing going on at every other block in London at the moment.  As I cycle around I can't believe what a swift shift I am witnessing and not recognising familiar streets.  It's like watching the sound bar display on an amp, with columns quickly falling down and shooting up.  The weekend before the marathon I went to the parties around Berwick Street for Record Store Day.  The following week I go back to buy some vinyl to find that half of the road has been shut down for re-development with my favourite shop packed up and gone.  How the hell can this happen?  It's as if we had unwittingly buried it alive and danced on the grave.  I can't cope anymore.  Even more reason to look forward to next year's annual festivities to celebrate what is still surviving.  

Despite not clocking that Fourtet was on his way to play in-store at Phonica when he was chatting outside ............  I didn't miss any of the action at neighbouring Sounds Of The Universe where I stayed all day until the police shut it down mid Mr.Thing.  Is there a theme occurring here ............ #LondonTownIsClosingDown 

Listen here to hear SOTU's manager Nicole McKenzie and DJ from the day, Alexander Nut join DJ History Bill Brewster and Discogs founder Kevin Lewandowski to discuss "Has the internet ruined the joy of record collecting?" in a new podcast series from The Vinyl Factory (Phonica).  

Saturday 25th April: Marathon Mix compiled by Coby Sey

Running Rainbow RDC / DRC Marathon Mix 2015 compiled by Coby Sey by Fred Butler Style on Mixcloud

Thanks so much to Coby Sey for compiling a cosmic Marathon Mix for me to spread the word of my DRC campaign.  Take a listen to the selection featuring sounds from Awesome Tapes Of Africa, Nozinja, Shabazz Palaces, Theo Parrish, Beat Spacek, Sheila E and more!
Thanks to Rosie Lees for the RunDemCrew logo!