Nights were spent in Mongolian nomad’s huts called Gers. With little insulation and heated only by a stove, we quickly learnt to wrap up warm during the sub-zero nights. One morning at the hot springs, we woke up to a thick layer of snow and enjoyed a dip in the warm pools in the snow. Extraordinarily, the next day we drove to the semi-Gobi desert and rode camels in the arid sand dunes.
Opening a recent news bulletin from the Leeds Chamber of Commerce, a reference to the John Speak Trust immediately caught my eye. I grew up knowing about the scholarships because my Dad was a fortunate recipient 65 years ago and the photographs and his tales about time spent in Northern France were a magical part of my childhood! These souvenirs and his love of French went on to influence my career choice too so we both owe a great deal to the Trust.
Unfortunately Dad passed away 7 years ago but I am so proud of his achievements that I wanted to record his story in the John Speak archive.
Like so many in the West Riding in the 1940s, he began his career in the textile industry, working for Crosslands, a large wool trading company in Bradford. He had excelled at French at Hanson Boys Grammar School (we still have his school reports!) probably to the surprise of his family who had no connection with France or foreign languages. He would spend hours writing out vocabulary and even started teaching himself Spanish and a bit of German. I am not sure what his initial role was at the company but by 1949 he was working as a Foreign Correspondent in the busy office, using French and a little Spanish.
He must have been so excited when he successfully applied for a scholarship which meant, having been given 6 months leave from work, he would at last be able to visit France and live and breathe the language and culture. I think our mum, Kathleen, would have been a little less enthusiastic as they had been courting for a year or so when he announced he was going away for 6 months! Unlike today, this must have seemed like an eternity; there would be no money to allow him to come back for Christmas and their only means of communication was by letter. Dad bought a Kodak camera shortly after arriving in Ascq, near Lille, so at least he was able to send little self-developed black and white photos home to mum and his family to illustrate the places he visited and the people he met during his stay.
Included in the collection of pictures which we still have are shots of Lille, Brussels and Paris in 1949/50. Two shots in particular became an iconic part of my childhood – one of the cathedral of Notre Dame from the river and the view from the Eiffel Tower. Nearly 60 years later, with my husband and two daughters, we were able to recreate both photographs whilst on holiday in Paris and it was so emotional, thinking that Dad had been in both places all those years before.
Dad lived with the Bonte family in Ascq, the owners of a successful international wool company and, as required by the scholarship, had to write an essay in French each month to submit to the local chamber. These were so treasured by Dad that we still have the original letters with his papers. It was particularly interesting to note that, in response to Dad’s first essay, the letter he received expressed how good his French was but asked him not to seek help from his French friends! Knowing Dad, he would have been incredibly indignant at the suggestion and although we don’t have a copy of Dad’s reply, the subsequent letter to him apologised and complimented him on using better written grammar than many native speakers! He clearly didn’t realise how passionate Dad was about the language and in getting even the smallest detail right!
After his return to England, he continued to work at Crosslands as a Foreign Correspondent and married Mum in 1952. In the late 1950s, seeking a higher salary to support starting a family, he left the textiles industry to work at Grattan Mail Order, where he would regrettably have had little chance to use his language skills. He remained there until his retirement.
Fortunately he was able to pass on his enthusiasm for languages to me – enjoying following my progress through to my achieving the Diploma for Foreign Correspondents at Bradford College in 1979, for which I had to study French, German and Spanish. I then went on to actively use my languages in export sales at various engineering companies in Bradford for over 10 years and have many happy memories of corresponding daily with overseas agents and travel to Germany and Austria.
It was so good to read that the scholarships are still being offered – long may it continue! It’s all too easy in this day and age to expect everyone to speak English but if you can make it easier for others to communicate with you, it may well make all the difference for the success of your business.
Villeneuve-d’Ascq, Near Lille, France
Villeneuve-d’Ascq (pronounced: [vil.nœv.dask]) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. With more than 60,000 inhabitants and 50,000 students, it is one of the main cities of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole and the largest in area (27,46 km²) after Lille; it is also one of the main cities of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region.
At age 21 I travelled by train to Belgium to begin a six month John Speak Language Trust Scholarship. I studied French, stayed with a local family and worked for no pay whilst studying. In return for submitting a report each month (written in French) to the Bradford Chamber of Commerce, I received the princely sum of £36 per month toward my board, food and amenities. The monthly reports assisted me in perfecting my written language, an essential tool to communicate with potential customers and contacts.
In 1965 (age 23), I was lucky enough to receive a second John Speak Trust Scholarship which allowed me to travel to Germany and enhance my language studies further. As previously, I provided a monthly report (written in German) to the Bradford Chamber of Commerce in return for a monthly payment of £40. Again, I studied and worked (for no pay) in Germany for six months and again resided with a local family.
I personally feel that six months is not too short or too long to gain a very good social and commercial knowledge of a foreign language. Living and working with those employed in the business was absolutely essential in getting to grasps with the language in this short period of time.
The first three months of both scholarships proved mentally exhausting as it meant translating to and from English all forms of verbal communication, but by the half way stage it became a realisation to have acquired the basic skills to listen, understand and speak in their tongue without visiting English. This was a tremendous morale booster and my confidence grew very quickly and my language skills improved rapidly.
As well as learning a new language there were also the commercial pluses of improving skills in all aspects of production and knowledge of how others live and work. A great part of exporting is to understand the methods and how business is conducted in other parts of the world. It is essential to understand this philosophy in each of the markets (or segments of each market) to conduct business efficiently.
My career as an Export Executive, Manager and Director allowed me to travel extensively to many major European countries. Exports to Europe were always a priority business.
I continued to use my language skills until I retired ten years ago in 2004. I will always maintain that if a language or languages can be locked onto a skill then the value of that in terms of career improvements and remuneration can definitely be seen.
I would recommend most highly the John Speak Language Trust Scholarship programme and hope that many more language students will benefit in the years to come.
Brian Moeller
During my two months in France I have been immersed into the French culture and language, my language skills have vastly improved. Each day, I have a little more confidence when I’m speaking to other French speakers and I feel that people are becoming friendlier, especially at work!
At my school it had been compulsory for ‘A stream’ students to study French and Latin. Ideally, I would have preferred to study French and German but this was only available at ‘B stream’ level. I do, however, now speak basic German and Italian after studying both languages later in life at night school and on my travels.
After leaving school, I began working for a local Wool Merchants.
To enhance my employment opportunities, in 1949 at the ripe old age of eighteen, I applied for and was lucky enough to receive a John Speak Scholarship (I had to wait until I was eighteen before I could apply as stipulated in the Terms and Conditions). My family were very supportive of my decision to travel and study French abroad in order to further my career opportunities. My journey began with a train journey to London, train to Dover, ferry to Calais, train to Paris, train to Toulouse and finally a Michelin rail bus to Mazamet in Tarn, France.
I spent six wonderful months in Tarn, France living in ‘digs’ with full board. I was lucky to have my own room with a wash basis but no hot running water. The room was very basic with no television, radio or telephone. The toilet was located at the very end of the garden! Although the amenities were very basic to say the least, I loved it, I really did!
As well as studying the language I worked full time (unpaid) to help improve my French.
In 1949 there had been restrictions in place which only allowed those leaving the United Kingdom with a maximum amount of £25 in their pocket. The Scholarship (approximately £30 per month) provided enough income to pay for my ‘digs’ and food but during my stay the Government devalued the Pound Sterling to the French Franc meaning my monthly allowance was reduced to £25 per month!
Thanks to the language skills I gained following my scholarship and my time in France, I was involved in the export trade for many years throughout my career. French proved to be an essential language for negotiating with Countries such as Algeria in my work. My French also came into its’ own many years later when spending time holidaying in France with my wife and family. Very useful when booking caravan sites and negotiating a fair price!
I will always be grateful to the John Speak Trust for the Scholarship I received all those years ago. My career would have definitely taken a different path had it not been for the opportunities it provided.
I am very pleased that the Trust continues to live on after all this time. The Scholarships have assisted many language students such as myself pursue a career in helping the export trade of the United Kingdom and may it continue to do so for many more years to come!
Frank Clayton
Tarn, France
Tarn is a department in the Midi-Pyrenees region in the southwest of France, named after the Tarn River. It was formed in 1790 of the three dioceses of Albi, Castres and Lavaur, belonging to the province of Languedoc
I spent a week Taiwan and travelled to various places. Other than Taipei, I also went to Hualien, Gaoxiong, Yeliu and Kenting. I had a wonderful time there, and the weather and seafood were two constant highlights. I enjoyed strolling through the night markets, practicing my Chinese with locals (they speak a lot slower there), visiting the national parks and experiencing Taipei’s nightlife. I wholeheartedly recommend anyone to go to Taiwan for holiday!
最后，我十一的时候去了台湾。我呆了七天，参观了很多地方。除了台北以外，我还去了华联，高雄，野柳和垦丁。我过得十分愉快，那里的天气和海鲜都总是非常好。我享受逛夜市，和当地人练习说话（在那儿他们说得更慢），参观国家公园和经验台北的夜生活。我强烈地推荐任何人去台湾旅游！哦，我还看到了一些猴子。
过去的一个月，我在北京大学习惯我新的生活和定期班。我享受我在北京的生活但是一个我还没习惯的地方是污染。污染最近如此厉害，很多参加北京马拉松的运动员需要放弃，以免他们损伤呼吸系统。幸亏，我有口罩所以它能保护我免受大部分空气污染。尽管污染，北京天气最近非常好。冬天天气还没来到所以我不应该抱怨！
最近有兴趣的新闻是中国对应对印度成功火星卫星的反应。有些我阅读中国报纸头条的报道称赞印度卫星的成功，祝贺印度人。我最初没想到中国国家媒体如此愿意恭维印度科学家因为印度（周边一个与中国有相似数量人口的发展国家）是中国的竞争对手。不过，我最初对中印关系和中国人对印度火星意见的视角是错的。
这些报纸表达这个态度：不仅是印度的胜利，还有是亚洲的。印度火星卫星的工程是每个发展的胜利，特别是亚洲的。印度现在树立了一个榜样，所以其他有航天项目的发展中国家想仿效印度。因为中国正在发达它自己的载人航天工程，另亚洲国家成功第一发送卫星到别地球的尝试肯定鼓励中国推行更多太空工程。我新中国反应的解释是一个“友好的太空竞赛”。中国和印度都为了实现新成功竞争但是互相祝贺，支持对方的努力，也许来跟有太空项目历史的国家竞争，包括美国和俄罗斯。
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
In the past month, I have been settling into my new life in Beijing and regular classes at Peking University. I have been enjoying life in Beijing but the one thing I have not yet adjusted to is the pollution. The pollution was so serious recently that many athletes participating in the Beijing Marathon had to quit for fear of damaging their respiratory system. Luckily I have a face mask with me that can protect me from most of the air pollution. Despite the pollution, the weather in Beijing has been good recently. Winter weather still hasn’t arrived so I should not complain!
A recently interesting aspect of China is the responses to the success of the Indian Mars satellite. A couple headline articles in newspapers that I read have been praising the success of India and congratulating the Indian people. My initial thought was that Chinese state media would not have been so quick to praise the success of Indian scientists as India, a neighbouring developing country with a similar population, is a competitor to China. However, my initial perspectives on Chinese-Indian relations and the Chinese reaction to the Mars satellite were wrong.
The papers expressed the attitude that it was not just an Indian victory but an Asian one too. The success of the Indian Mars mission was a victory for developing countries around the world, particularly those in Asia. India has now set an example for other developing countries with space programs. As China pursues its own space program, the successful first attempt of another Asian country to send a satellite to another planet will surely encourage China towards further space missions. My new interpretation of the Chinese response would be a ‘friendly space race’。 Both nations compete to achieve new successes in space but congratulate and support each other’s endeavours, perhaps in order to compete with nations with a history of space travel, including the United States and Russia.
Oktoberfest
Es heißt Oktoberfest aber es fängt in September an. Ich habe viel Glück bekommen weil durch meine Zeit hier in München ich wohne in der nähe von eine der größten Bierfest in der ganze Welt! Ob man kennt nicht, Oktoberfest ist eines jährliches Fest bei der Theresienwiesn in München. Es ist nicht nur einem Bierfest es gibt Ritte und auch Essen da. Jeden Münchner Bier hat ein oder mehr Bierzelt auf die Wiesen. Sie sind nicht wirklich Zelten aber große vorläufig Gebäude. Durch diese drei Wochenende und zwei Woche tausende Leute tragen Tracht an und Tanzen und Singen den ganzen Tag. Drin die Zelten es gibt ein Band das Musik spielt und die Leute stehen auf die Bänke und singen und neue Leute kennenlernen. Es ist definitiv eine der seltsam Party Erfahrung und ich nichts ähnlich kenne.
Die Hauptveranstaltungen sind drin die Zelten aber es voll und populär ist deshalb drin sehr schwierig gehen ist. Am Samstag man muß sehr früh gehen ob Sie ein Sitzplatz bekommen möchte. Aber es ist möglich man glücklich sein kann. Zum Beispiel am das letzte Wochenende ich mit eine große Gruppe war aber wir haben eine Tür ohne Schlage gefunden und gerade in Zelt gegangen waren. Nachher hat eine Kellnerin uns ein Tisch gefunden und wir sehr schnell ein Maß bekommen waren. Nachher wir hatten ein Prost zu unsere gut Glück gemacht! Leute aus der ganze Welt besucht München durch der Fest und ich habe Leute aus der Türkei, Österreich, Polen, Süd Afrika, Amerika und noch anderes Länder kennengelernt. Es gab auch da viele Leute aus Italien, und das zweite Wochenende Italien Wochenende heißt.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Well I have certainly been lucky with the timing of my stay in Munich. I live around the corner from the site of one of the largest and most famous beer festivals in the world. If you are not familiar with Oktoberfest it is held annually at a site known locally as the Wiesn. It’s a beer festival but also there are rides and food places all over the site. There are a limited number of ‘tents’, I say this as they resemble anything but tents, huge temporary structures that can house thousands of tracht clad punters. Tracht is the collective name for the traditional Bavarian clothing that nearly everyone is wearing. There is live music played by bands inside the tent and later on in the evening everyone is standing up on the benches, singing merrily and embracing complete strangers. It’s certainly one of the stranger party experiences I’ve ever had and it’s not really comparable to anything I’ve been to before.
The main events are held inside of the tents, but inside is popular and overcrowded, which made getting inside very difficult at peak times. On Saturday’s if you didn’t arrive early then it was very difficult to get a seat, even outdoors in the beer gardens. But you can always get lucky and on the last weekend, as a big group, we somehow managed to go in through a door without a queue, walk into the Augustiner tent and immediately a Kellnerin (waitress) showed us where there was a spare place for our group. A large one litre beer followed very quickly and we drank a toast to our good fortune! There are people from all over the world visiting and I met people from Austria, Turkey, Poland, South Africa and America to name but a few. The Italian presence is also very strong and the second weekend of the festival is known as the Italian weekend.
Mongolia
住在北京最大的好处可能是去其他地方十分的便宜和方便。虑到中国国庆节长达一周的假期，我和几个朋友决定尽可能远离北京拥挤的人群和污蒙古 世界上最地广人稀的国家。毫无疑问，这次的旅行是一次探险。从扣人心弦到光怪陆离的景色，我们 毫无疑问地收获了很多的经历.
第一个探险是从中国越过边境。人们不可能步行穿过边境线，相反，每天有几百辆苏俄的吉普车载人穿过。我们找到了吉普车，并且将几个可疑盒子放上车，然后就开始穿越边境。越过边境以后，我们发现中国跟蒙古的明显差异。从没有白云的清澈的蓝天到没有城市的一马平川， 我们觉得我们肯定离北京很远了。
然而，当我们到达乌兰巴托后，就发现乌兰巴托作为世界上污染最严重的城市之一，它和北京没有太大的区别。我们游览了所有的旅游景点：蒙古议会大厅、无数的成吉思汗纪念碑和我最喜欢的政治受害者的博物馆。更加奇异的经验包括在北韩的饭馆吃饭以及观看蒙古国际歌剧。虽然我们一个词也听不懂，但是这些多彩的传统服装和那些令人难以忘怀的半裸的蒙古摔跤手的外貌，都使得这些歌剧非常有趣。
在乌兰巴托享受了几天比较豪华的旅社， 我们离开了首都来开始接下来的旅程。在蒙古没有遍布全部的铁路，在无止境的没有铺好的道路上，公共汽车也十分有限，因此如果没有一个司机，在这个广大的国家是不可能四处旅行的。在特殊的苏俄篷车，我们又开车游览了一座寺院，戈壁沙漠和温泉。
我们晚上在蒙古游牧民族的圆顶帐篷休息。因为小屋不绝缘，而且只有小加热炉，所以我们很快的发现我们需要在非常寒冷的夜里穿很多衣服。我们有一天早上在泡温泉，我们走出小屋的时候发现了很厚的白雪，然后我们在白雪中享受泡温泉。更加令人惊奇的是，我们在第二天来到了戈壁沙漠，并且在沙丘中骑骆驼。
这次旅行中最难忘的部分就是蒙古美妙的风景。最好的例子是在俄罗斯边境的湖泊。我们在拥挤的公共汽车里，在坎坷不平的道路上经过了二十小时的旅行之后，我们十分期待这个湖泊。很幸运，我们一点也不失望。我们乘坐马车，沿着172km湖泊的部分路线行走，而且我们还看见了群山环绕的清澈透明的湖水，这些风景真的很状况。
尽管存在很大的语言障碍，我们遇到的蒙古人都非常的愉快以及热情好客。 我们在农村的家庭吃中饭的时候，他们不停的给我们牦牛饼和木马牛奶。似乎他们知道的唯一的英文单词是“吃”，他们在给我们更多饼的时候尽可能地用这个词。但是蒙古的菜有时候比较难吃。传统菜包括开羊肉、下水饼和新酿的牦牛奶。虽然我们尽量试吃当地的菜，我们最终还是依靠吃我们的燕麦饼干来生存。尽管回到北京的时候，我们可能会变瘦，也可能有营养不良，但是蒙古的确是对北京严重污染的最好补救。
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Perhaps the biggest advantage of living in Beijing is the ease and low cost of transport elsewhere. Given the week long holiday to celebrate Chinese national day, a few friends and I decided to get as far away from the crowds and pollution of Beijing as possible: Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated country. The trip was definitely an adventure. From the breath-taking to the bizarre, we certainly encountered a wide range of new experiences.
The first adventure was crossing the border from China. This cannot be done on foot, instead hundreds of dilapidated Soviet-era jeeps ferry people across every day. We duly found a jeep and after several suspicious boxes were loaded in with us, crossed the border. Once across, the difference between China and Mongolia was immediately obvious. From the cloudless clear blue sky to the expanse of land with not a single settlement in sight, we certainly felt a long way from Beijing.
However, once we arrived in Ulaanbataar we were disappointed to discover that as one of the world’s most polluted cities, it was not so different after all. We saw all the tourist sights: the parliament building, endless Genghis Khan monuments and, my particular favourite, a rather ramshackle building that was the Museum for Victims of Political Persecution. More bizarre experiences included a meal at a North Korean restaurant and a visit to the Mongolian National opera. Despite not understanding a word of the singing, the colourful traditional costumes and unforgettable appearance of some semi-naked Mongolian wrestlers made the opera thoroughly entertaining.
After a few days in relative luxury staying in a hostel in Ulaanbataar, we left the capital to start the next leg of the trip. With no national railways outside the capital and very limited bus services on the endless unpaved roads, travelling round the vast country is impossible without a driver. In our quirky Soviet style camper van we were driven across the country to visit Kharkhorin monastery, the Semi-Gobi desert and the Tsenker hot springs.
Nights were spent in Mongolian nomad’s huts called Gers. With little insulation and heated only by a stove, we quickly learnt to wrap up warm during the sub-zero nights. One morning at the hot springs, we woke up to a thick layer of snow and enjoyed a dip in the warm pools in the snow. Extraordinarily, the next day we drove to the semi-Gobi desert and rode camels in the arid sand dunes.
Without a doubt the most unforgettable part of the trip was the breath-taking scenery. The best example of this is that of Lake Khovsgol right next to the Russian border. After a 20 hour journey on an overcrowded coach driving through unbelievably bumpy unpaved roads, we had high expectations of the lake. Fortunately we were not disappointed; on a horse trek along part of the 172km long lake and were rewarded with spectacular views of the crystal clear water offset by the surrounding mountains.
Despite a substantial language barrier, everyone we encountered was cheerful and exceptionally welcoming. We stopped for lunch in the home of a rural family and were presented with an endless supply of Yak’s cheese pancakes and Mare’s milk. The only English they seemed to know was “eat” which they made full use of while pressing more pancakes into our hands. However, the Mongolian diet was a challenge to enjoy at times. Traditional fare includes boiled mutton, fried offal pancakes and a drink of fermented yak’s milk. While we did try our best to experience the local cuisine, we inevitably ended up relying on cereal bars and biscuits to survive. Despite returning to Beijing several kilos lighter and with borderline malnutrition, Mongolia and the perfect remedy to the oppressive smog in Beijing.
A pesar de que he estado en Madrid durante casi cuatro meses, uno de los mejores días en España fue ayer y el resto de mi año en el extranjero tiene mucho que vivir.
¡¡Ayer fuimos a Holi Run!! Holi Run es una carrera de 5 kilómetros, se organizan en diferentes partes de España y este mes se celebró en Madrid. La carrera empezó sobre las 11 y continúo hasta las 10 de la noche. Las reglas de la carrera es que te diviertas mientras te manchan de pintura. El nombre del evento no tiene ninguna relación en absoluto, no hay nada de correr.
El evento cuesta 17 euros por cada billete y todos los participantes reciben un kit para la carrera – una camiseta con el logo del evento escrito encima, un paquete de pintura en polvo y una caja de caldo de pollo que nos pareció bastante extraño hasta que nos enteramos de que el evento fue patrocinado por Caldo.
Llegamos bastante tarde al evento ya que tardamos 45 minutos para llegar al destino desde la parada de metro. La carrera fue fácil encontrarla, ya que había muchas personas en las estaciones de metro y caminaban como nosotras. Tan pronto como llegamos allí, había personas cubiertas de pintura, todo el mundo estaba lanzando pintura antes de la carrera, incluso antes de que comenzara. Había niños pequeños y perros participando en la carrera. En cada kilómetro, había una estación donde arrojaban más pintura y en función de cada estación, tiraban un color diferente. Había cinco estaciones de color todos junto; amarillo, verde, púrpura, rosa y azul. La cantidad de pintura que fue lanzado por nosotros dependió de la estación y las personas que estaban trabajando en ello. El Rosa era el peor.
El evento era como un mini festival. Había un bar que servía coca cola y cerveza, obviamente todos optaron por la segunda opción. Los baños eran como un festival también. Había seis aseos portables por la etapa en la que había estado sonando la música de baile. En el escenario eran bailarines que también arrojaban pintura. En un momento había pistolas de pintura. No había furgonetas de alimentos como en un festival, sólo algunos paquetes de patatas fritas para comprar en el bar. Afortunadamente, fuimos con un poco de comida para tomarnos en el camino antes de salir para la cena después de la carrera.
Como todos teníamos que ir a trabajar la mañana siguiente, nos dejó la carrera a las tres que nos dio tiempo suficiente para llegar a casa, recuperar, lavar toda la pintura y lavar nuestra ropa. Por desgracia, descubrí que la pintura no sale demasiado bien y ahora tengo las converse azules.
Creo que la única parte negativa del evento fue que hay que recoger los kits desde un lugar diferente del día anterior y tarda casi una hora en llegar, había una enorme fila en el centro deportivo, y sólo había dos días disponibles para recogerlos. Creo que tuvimos bastante suerte este fin de semana, ya que el sol ha vuelto en Madrid!
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Even though I have been in Madrid for almost four months, one of my best days here was experienced yesterday and the rest of my year abroad has a lot to live up to.
Yesterday we went to Holi run!! Holi run is a 5km colour run that is organized in different parts of Spain and this month it was hosted in Madrid. It started around 11am and it goes on until 10pm in the evening. The rules of the run is to have a lot of fun whilst throwing paint at each other and despite the name of event, there is absolutely no running at all.
The event costs 17 euros per ticket and everybody gets a holi run kit – a t-shirt with the event logo written on it, a packet of powder paint and some chicken stock which we thought was rather strange until we found out that the event is sponsored by Caldo
We got to the event quite late as it took us 45 minutes to get to the destination from the metro stop. The run was so easy to find as there were hundreds of people at the metro stations and walking along side the roads with us. As soon as we got there, there were people covered in paint already, everybody was throwing paint around before the race had even started. There were even little children and dogs participating. At each 1km, there was a colour station where they threw even more paint and depending on which station you were at, they threw a different colour. There were five colour stations all together; yellow, green, purple, pink and blue. The amount of paint that was thrown on us depended on the station and the people that were working on it. Pink was possible the worst.
The event was like a miniature festival. There was one bar which served either coke or a beer so as the choice was very limited we obviously all chose to take the latter. The toilets were just like a festival too. There were around six portaloos by the stage where they had been playing dance music. On the stage were dancers who were also throwing paint into the crowd. At one point there were paint guns. There was no food vans like at a festival just some packets of crisps to buy from the bar so thankfully for us we took a little pack lunch just to keep us going before we went out for dinner after the run.
As we all had to go to work the next morning, we left the run around three o’clock which gave us enough time to get home, recover, wash all of the paint off and wash our clothes. Sadly, I discovered that the paint doesn’t come out too well and I now have turquoise converse.
I think that the only negative part of the event was that you have to collect the kits from a different venue the day before which takes almost an hour to get to and there was a huge queue that went all round the sports centre, there are only two days available to collect them. I think we got rather lucky this weekend though as the sun has come back out in Madrid!