Egg and Spoon Race Demons

On the same reminiscent theme as before, one of my clearest early memories is of one of my Primary School "sports days" at the age of around 5. Clearly designed to weed out the wheat from the chaff, school sports days were an opportunity for over enthusiastic parents to come into school and cheer over enthusiastically and drool manically over the thought of little Dave being best in class and maybe even, just maybe the next Linford Christie.

Events included the straight sprint (which in my school was a killer as the field was at a 30 degree angle), the three legged race (designed to also test shcool popularity), the egg and spoon race (a highly challenging mixture of speed and co-ordination), the highly competitive obstacle course, and the sack race.


I can clearly remember one of the most upsetting times of my childhood (second only to when my Mum lost out on that train toy at the Nabb school Jumble sale to another over-enthusiastic bargain hunter) as being when Anna Sykes took the last egg and spoon so that I was unable to compete in the race. Unconsolable, and tears streaming they had to get my older sister to eject me from the field of play!

This weekend my friend Fu arranged a sports day for us older folk for his birthday and I was able to overcome my egg and spoon race demons and take up the spoon once more! Although I lost...

Lucy and I did however win the three legged race (although I dragged her accross the line screaming by the ankle), so not all in vain.

See below a picture of Fu's sack race victory (he was like a regular mountain gazelle), and above Lucy lining up at the far end of the start line though I think she ended up on her face.