JOHN GHENT'S
BACKYARD MARATHON CHALLENGE
April 2014 Update
Tis the dawn of season two in the Backyard and the yearlings are stirring, the anticipation of this season's various National events is sending a chill up my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck are standing to attention.
The race birds have been paired since March 1st and having all sat the first round the eggs were pulled from various pairs to allow them to to be trained and go down again. The perfect scenario has since developed, the yearlings are all down and due to be chipping on basketing night for the BICC Falaise race which will be the First Team's first foray over the water into the land of the Gauls! The remaining birds, a mixture of spare cocks, some trained yearlings, a few foster parents who have raced in the young bird season of 2013, will commence their training in the middle of May with the Nationals in June and July being their target!
The beauty of living in the middle of the country means many National clubs are accessible, so the MNFC and the BICC will be utilised this year to gain vital experience for the yearlings, and the four 2 year olds who remain, as they continue on their quest to the Catalonian city we all know and love!
A fairly untypical training regime has sorted out some of the "also rans" in the team, indeed four birds have been dropped in training. We started with a 15 mile spin to wake them up a little, followed by a 45 mile toss 2 days later and then onto Hemel Hempstead, Junction 8 of the M1, all 66 miles of it, a week to the day before basketing for the first race! Not a bad three tosses for them, hard but fair is the way I want to challenge these birds. I learn nothing from asking them to tackle 15 miles five times a week. I may get closer in the sprint racing but that is not the end goal here. Only one place is the end goal and out of a current loft of 34 racers, if I finish the year with 10 I will be more than happy as that will be 10 birds that will be closer to going to Barcelona in 2016! On that note I shall close this latest chapter on the Backyard Marathon Challenge and bid you a good start to the season! My next update will come towards the end of May once the Nationals are in full swing!!
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Elimar - April 2014
