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Photoblog From The West Coast Eisteddfod - ( courtesy of Brian Y Tarw Llwyd )
By Ceri Shaw, 2011-09-28
Tomorrow is the last day to vote in the Top Ten Hardest Welshmen Poll. Get your final votes in now!! Early indications suggest an easy victory for Owain Glyndwr although our distinguished Welsh pirates are doing quite well too. The poll can be found on the front page. Results will be announced on this blog and in the group thread on January 1st. We will be allowing extra time for nominations for the Welsh Album of the Year 2008 and launching a poll on Sat January 10th.
The front page textbox where the "Hardman" poll currently resides will be used for a complete listing of all Left Coast Eisteddfod competitions from Jan 1st. This will facilitate easier access for competition entrants.
Yes we know it's early but Christmas arrives earlier every year. Book now to ensure our lower seasonal rate and secure prime advertising spots together with supporting blog articles and extensive social media promotion!
There are a limited number of ad spots are now available in the right-hand column on AmeriCymru. These ad spots appear on 20,0000+ pages and on the AmeriCymru home page, which has google page rank 4.
Your ads appear with new features - interviews, blog posts, articles - which are syndicated daily to tens of thousands of viewers and on all major social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.).
AmeriCymru has two 250 pixel x 250 pixel spot at a rate of $75 NOW $60 for six months and four 125 pixel x 125 pixel spots at a rate of $50 NOW $40 for six months.
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We are also pleased to now add short-term available advertising spots on our new site, the Welsh-American Bookstore , for $10.00USD per month.
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Follow the whole nine yards here (a 95 part series) :- Half Marathon Blog
Why I am running:- West Coast Eisteddfod Bryn Seion Church
For details of how to sponsor see this post
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A short post today. Work pressures have once again bitten into my available blogging time. I did, however, mange to browse the running and marathon news on google and came up with this rather interesting piece of advice from Boston Marathon winner Sharon Cherop :-
Know the course
Don't let race day be the first time you see the marathon course.
I can easily see how this would be very important psychologically. When I have done distance running in the past I have always had a detailed plan of the route I would follow. Consequently it was easy to console myself with the knowledge that I had reached the half way or three quarters mark and that the finish line was not too far distant. I guess if you don't have this information available 13 miles can seem to go on forever and the likelihood of demoralisation is increased.
So with this rather timely advice in mind I am hoping to take a trip out to Sauvie Island next week and drive around the half marathon route. It will also be an opportunity to take some photographs of the the island which we will present for the delight and delectation of our readers
Next week should also see the implementation of our new sponsorship graphic embed and a report that I have finally broken the 15 minute barrier. I need to get my running endurance time up to about one hour by the end of this month so progress must be made soon.
Watch this space
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As many of our regular readers will know AmeriCymru has partnered with Celticos to help develop a new initiative for American tourists wishing to visit their ancestral homeland in north Wales. Janet and Don Folatjar of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are amongst the earliest visitors to take advantage of the Celticos/AmeriCymru Trail Tour.
We interviewed Janet before she left for her vacation ( read the interview here ) and we will be posting a follow up interview with her after her return this weekend.
As you can see from the image gallery further down the page, Janet got to meet a few celebrities in the course of her stay. She is pictured below with Scott Quinnell ( former Welsh international rugby league and rugby union player ) and Gareth Wyn Jones ( Welsh hill farmer extraordinaire and media personality ). You can listen to a recorded interview with Gareth Wyn Jones here .
In the course of her stay Janet's genealogical researches were ably abetted and refined by Keith Morris of Segontium Searchers. Keith's researches add a whole new dimension to the tour by enabling every visit to be uniquely adapted to the individual visitors requirements. Want to visit the place where your ancestors lived and worked? Take the AmeriCymru/Celticos Trail Tour!
Our recent interview with Keith Morris can be found here AND here is a link to the section on the S4C news program 'Heno' about the tour ( about 17 minutes in ).
READ MORE ABOUT THE AMERICYMRU TRAIL TOUR HERE
Excellent welcome from RNLI MOELFRE, Anglesey - the home of hero Dic Evans
Conway Castle
Janet & Don Folatjar meet Scott Quinnell and Gareth Wyn Jones on the AmeriCymru Trail Tour
Cofeb y Chwarelwyr - Quarrymen's Memorial at Allt-Ddu
Welcome from Dave, New York Cottage Museum Penmaenmawr, Janets relatives worked in the quarry
Snowdonia
Follow the whole nine yards here (a 95 part series) :- Half Marathon Blog
Why I am running:- West Coast Eisteddfod Bryn Seion Church
For details of how to sponsor see this post
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A short post today before I rush out to work ( followed by some early half marathon training ). In yesterdays blog I mentioned running for 13 miles in Cardiff back in the 80's. Basically I had two routes. The first involved running circuits around Pontcanna Fields ( see map below ). I did 8 or 9 of these and though I do not know the precise distance I believe it is about 1.25 miles around the perimeter of the field.
My second route involved running from Cardiff Castle up to the 5 mile marker along the Taff Trail . There was a little overgrown stone by the side of the path which recorded the fact that you were 5 miles from the castle. I would invariably throw in two circuits around the playing fields on my way back to make up the distance.
Clearly the distance of the perimeter around the playing fields at Pontcanna is important in both sets of calculations. Is there any kind person with an intimate knowledge of the geography of Central Cardiff ( or the ability to perform measurements from Google maps ) who can confirm my calculations? If so please post here. I'd love to know if my rough estimate was anywhere near correct.
In other news. We are now up to a total of 100 dollars in pledges ( many thanks to Peter Griffiths and Swansea Jack ). If you are minded to support me in my latest folly please go to this post and make a pledge in comments or go directly to the PayPal Donate button on this page. All proceeds go toward the West Coast Eisteddfod and Bryn Seion Welsh Church.
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I can not finish todays post without mentioning the sad death of fitness enthusiast Ged Clarke who died immediately after completing the Reading half marathon. I am sure we would all like to offer condolences to his family and friends. This was a tragic ( and extremely rare ) event and I note that nowhere in the press accounts is there any mention of the cause of death. Has anyone seen anything that I missed?
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View Pontcanna Fields allotment in a larger map
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