Those of you who live where snowfall is regular, may wonder why I'm so happy about snow. But it's pretty rare in Cambridge, south east England. I had a day's nordic skiing in a local park in February  2009, and was able to introduce a mother and her 2 daughters (all fortunately had roughly the same size feet as me) to the sport. However, Friday 18th Dec 2009 was even better. By chance, it was the Away Day of MRC Epidemiology Unit, where I started working as a Research Nurse in August 2009. The Day was held at Downing College, Cambridge - by chance, the college where my sister had studied law in 1980s, and where 3 student nurses caused confusion, when my sister told fellow students (sex ratio approx 3 males:1 female) that her sister and 2 other student nurses were coming to visit (we got train from London and cycled last 20 miles from Royston), but omitted to mention that the others were male! Anyway, awaking to snow cover, I engaged my partner to help retrieve my nordic skis, poles & boots from our loft (with a non attached ladder, this is by far the most dangerous outdoor activity related activity we do!), and set off to ski the 2 miles to the College. I had to remove skis and walk over the covered bridge for cyclists & pedestrians over the railway, and chose to detour to cross the grass of Parker's Piece (some connection with early days of a boring game called cricket, I believe), then into Downing grounds. It's pretty rare to see a skier in England, so I got lots of comments from people I passed, all friendly and intrigued, including a paper boy who helpfully mentioned nearby hills, mothers walking their children to school, cyclists carefully negotiating roads etc. At the meeting room, I removed skls outside, then went indoors to change boots, remove clothing etc. Obviously, that didn't go unnoticed. The Director couldn't get in for the start of the Day, so it was started with a welcome from the Assistant Director, who began by announcing a prize for "most active commute to work" - at the evening meal, I was presented with a bottle of champagne by the Director, which was a lovely surprise. Perhaps I should admit to having type 1 diabetes to work colleagues - so far, none of them have needed to know, so I haven't told any.
Boxing Day in the UK is a popular day for sports - mostly watching horse racing or football, but also more active informal local games, such as injury inducing hacker (hockey without rules, best played with wellington boots with newspaper as shins protectors) which I played as teenager, mad barrel rolling races, open air swimming etc. Today, I was able to race in an orienteering event around Milton Country Park and village, on the outskirts of Cambridge. Icy conditions on pavements and paths did make route choice interesting to say the least, but it was a fun event, made even better by being able to partake in mulled wine, as we were driven there by the father of my non driving partner.
Just realised that this post contains quite a few references to alcoholic beverages - and Sardina report, too. Well, sport and alcohol isn't a bad combination!
Best wishes for the New Year to all MAD members.