Date: Saturday, 13 October 2018

From: John

John eats, walks ... no running on a full stomach

Hi all, currently spending time in a little town called Possagno in northern Italy. It is home to the famous sculptor Antonio Canova with approximately 2,000 people and is not far from Venice. The area is hilly and makes for great walking (I have eaten too much here to run). The weather is unusually warm which is a bonus also although I just wish I didn't pack so many winter clothes. I have made many trips to Venice. I trust all is well back home.

Date: Wednesday, 27 June 2018

From: Neil

Melburn Roobaix delivers

Melburn Roobaix 2018 ... done! Officially 48km, I did closer to 90km with getting to the start, and back from the finish. This year's distractions included : serious bicycle traffic jam along the Yarra Trail, coffee at Coffee Supreme sponsor, beer and food at Temple Brewing sponsor, climbing ridiculously steep steps with bike, free mulled wine by sponsor, cupcake and cowbell giveaway, several navigation errors, filling out competition entry forms, laughing at weirdly dressed riders on crazy bikes, cobbles, gravel and back street graffiti and scenery.

Date: Sunday, 6 May 2018

From: Tom

I'll take that as a Postcard Tom

Missed Ferals yesterday. Here’s why. Completed the Nail Can Hill Run. They weren’t kidding when they said some serious uphill sections! Everyone walked the hill around the 3km mark as you can tell from the times. After that it was all downhill, followed by more uphill, then repeat a few more times.

Really happy with that time and results. I think Monaghetti retains his record of just under 35 minutes. Goes to show how good he was.

Date: Wednesday, 24 January 2018

From: Bob

Round Two with Trumpie

        Trip 2: How to Beat Trumpies Censorship Squad - The Postcard was posted at Sydney Airport
        Just returned from the United States of Trumpia where we celebrated Thanksgiving with our Trumpian family who live in Fort Wayne (F troop country, and yes, Fort Wayne does have a replica of its fort). As it was early Autumn there were a number of runs organised before their snow season begins, and we had been entered into two of them, Fort4Fitness (10k and 5k runs. As I was on holidays I entered the 5k run) and the 'Fort Wayne Thanksgiving Turkey Trot'. The Fort4Fitness run was a twilight run which runs through the riverside parks. As the lead runners (not me, maybe I was slowed by jet lag) pass different points the town's Christmas lights are turned on for the first time, very impressive. The Turkey Trot is run early on Thanksgiving Day and is very social with lucky draws,etc..
        The Griffith Feral Joggers shirt was a bit of a conversation starter with the locals, some thought I came from Griffith, Illinois (south east of Chicago).
        All in all two very interesting trips to a country that is truly blessed with natural beauty and wealth, and many, many of their people are also very welcoming and pleasant ... it's just the others that are a worry!

Date: Tuesday, 23 January 2018

From: Bob

Battle with Trumpie

Trip 1 : The "Lost" Postcard:
My last postcard from the United States of Trumpia seems to have been lost in the post, perhaps it was deemed to have contained only fake news and Donald's media police intercepted it. Anyway on that trip we decided to run around a couple of National Parks in an attempt to spread the philosophy of and demonstrate what it is to be truly Feral. So collected our family in Fort Wayne before flying to Las Vagas, no doubt the ultimate example of what Trumpia is striving to become, and what all its excess is all about. As they say 'God blessed Trumpia' but its good citizens are doing their darndest to overdevelop it into 'the Trumpian Dream' by digging up, shooting up and generally stuffing up, and burying all its natural beauty under tons of concrete and high rise, and wrapping them in neon lights and other garish excesses, after all this is 'the Trumpian way'. And then there is its people, while many are very nice and even informed about about what's making news in their country (and even some in what's going on in the rest of the world) , all too many are way over weight (seems like a wheel chair for the obese is a fashion item in airports and casinos in LV, and many other parts of the country for that matter), and alarmingly ill informed, truly believing that the solution to every serious, and not so serious, issue is to use deadly force; even being pulled over for speeding, can see you looking down the barrel of a 'politely spoken officer of the law who seems scared s--tless that you too may have a gun', so hands on the steering wheel in clear view of the officer, NOW ! Everyone seems to be mindful that citizens of Trumpia have the right to bear arms and to store an arsenal in their homes, and this has a negative affect on their disposition. No one seems to be totally at ease and it certainly has an impact on their sense of humour! No wonder John Wayne was such a Trumpian hero figure as he seems to have modelled the way Trumpians problem solve. Needless to say this concern about your good neighbour has given rise to the belief that everyone needs to have a house full of guns and 'pack iron' when out and about (we even saw some Trumpians wearing holstered guns as they vacated in LV, I guess that's the Trumpian take on packing for holidays) to protect themselves and their family. On the up-side it does seem to encourage polite conversations and has eradicated anti-social behaviours like road rage. Finally what do Trumpians think of Trump? Answer: While there are those (and there are more then you would expect who think he's the best thing since Hugh Heffner, many, most, express their dismay that out of 280 million people, this was the best they could come up with. Even saw a bumper sticker that said 'I'm Republican but I didn't vote for Trump', it appears the majority disliked Hillary and the Clintons even more than Trump and took a punt, and are now seeing themselves as the laughing stock of the world.
So not impressed with Las Vegas and the type of holiday it offers, our decision was to 'head for the hills' or at least the National Parks as quick as we could. And what magnificent places these parks are: first stop stop Paige(Arizona) to raft down the Colorado River in Glen Canyon (including going around Horseshoe Bend) and then to 'track' through Slot Canyon which has been sculptured by rushing water and wind (a real highlight), then it was off to Bryce Canyon (Utah) for a gentle jog to the bottom of the canyon and back up again in the snow, truly beautiful !! Our last port of call was Zion National Park , completely different, where sheer rock faces and rocky tracks (not dissimilar to the Hill tracks) contrasted to the other places we 'jogged' around. Plenty of wildlife and magnificent scenery; a must see and for Ferals, a must jog!