Every Spring, a group of the club's track and field athletes take off for warm weather training to Portugal. Of course, it's not all work with no play!!!! This year's group were Tim Jolly, Ash Pritchard, James Davies, Matt Cullen, Mat Wright, James Wright, Lewis Stead, Jack Andrew, Carl Van Schie, Adam Edgar, Amy Regan, Danielle Parkinson, Katie Holt, Jessica Taylor, Bella Hailstone, Grace Smith, Beth Williams and coaches Christopher Bartram & Neil Donvaband. A regular on these annual trips of work, fun and frolics is long-time club stalwart Danielle Parkinson. She encapsulates what happened - including becoming trapped by volcanic ash!……..

Meeting at the airport at the usual unacceptably early time, it was obvious some athletes were sooooo serious about their training that they didn't want to waste time sunbathing so had already got a nice spray tan. The group separated for different flights and found excess very strict baggage allowances so one of the group had to wear several layers to get away with it, The annual, familiar trip to Monte Gordo (MG) was on its way………

We arrived at the hotel, dumped our bags and off we went to "Ed & Willems" to get some food to fuel an afternoon's tanning (or burning for the usual culprits). A nice "late" start on day two, we had the traditional, much appreciated wood run but, with the usual frontrunners injured, the title was up for grabs ( and this wasn't me!). Bored of her family holiday in Lagos, Beth Williams made the journey across Portugal to join us for a couple of days and soak up the "MG WWT" experience. After a few days we were also joined by Matt Cullen, much to Jack Andrew's delight, who had booked very late and kept it secret but had to lodge at Hotel Baia, unlucky!

We soon got in to our daily routine of train, tan/burn, eat, sleep, train, tan/burn, eat, sleep, train, tan/burn, eat, sleep, Conscientious 'students' would even take their revision to the pool or beach but didn't read it - it's the thought that counts! Evening activities included some very competitive charades and watching DVD's but we rarely saw the end as many went for an early night.
After several days, came a momentously awesome encounter that would change many of the following days for even the most dedicated followers. Whilst most lazed around in Bar 42, a group ventured into town for an ice cream (purely for the protein boost of course!!!!), but finding the shop closed, entered an unfamiliar cafe and were rewarded with the discovery of CHOCOLATE WAFFLES! Hmmmmm. So tasty, they warranted a licking of the plate,….. and several return visits. Even the super healthy athletes couldn't resist.

After 2 weeks of sunshine, as the majority of the group were preparing to return home, unwelcome rain arrived.  At the same time, we began receiving texts that there was to be no flying thanks to an Icelandic volcano. We initially assumed they were a joke, but soon discovered they were true. The 2-weekers had to re-locate to apartments in Vilamoura to wait for the ash cloud to clear, but day after day passed with no prospect of a flight home and were eventually told it could be another two weeks before we'd have a replacement flight. With all possible travel options considered, it was time to jump on a coach or two for a l-o-n-g road trip home. With one coach departing earlier than expected the apartments may have been left even messier than when they were inhabited, but a sorry note and small, well very small, tip was left!

Meanwhile back in Monte Goro, the 5 remaining athletes who'd mastered their athletics (!!!) branched out into teaching James to dive, with the help of some of the 'youthfully challenged' hotel guests and they worked on core stability with a bicycle stopsies tournament. We were planning and hoping for a fourth week but the skies reopened & the sun shone, so as the other weary road trippers neared their homes, we also packed our bags. With hand luggage loaded with food in readiness for long delays at the airport we headed to the airport, checked in, took off, received a complimentary meal and drink and even landed back in Manchester 10-minutes early! This didn't go down well with the 2-weekers, and doubtless will be a sore point for quite some time!