See below a letter to the Wellie Race aficionados in Casltecomer Co. Kilkenny, giving them an update on the preparations for the Valentine´s Wellie Race to be run next month in St. Gallen, Switzerland - the heart of Europe!
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Dear Chubby,
Here I am with an update on preparations for the Valentine Wellie Race which will take place on the Kretz farm in Moos, St. Gallen. (Yes, Guido Kretz is a real live dairy farmer in Moos, St. Gallen Switzerland.)
But first I offer you and all the Castlecomer wellie race organizers hearty congratulations. You really put the boot in, and it worked; I hear you had a great day with more than 10,000 visitors, and that €000´s were collected for charity. And, as usual the Major Regrets did much to be regretted. I understand too there were a few horses dressed in beef´s clothing.
But now to news of the Valentine Wellie Race due to be run at the heart of Europe on February 9th. To remind you; when I could find nowhere to run a wellie race in Germany, and no one to race with either, did n´t Guido Kretz and his Clare born wife Ann Broogy come to the rescue of me and my wellies. Guido and Ann very kindly offered that we could have a wellie race on their farm, if they and their two daughters all got a bag of Taytos even if they don´t win the race. After some consideration, I thought that was a fair enough deal.
So, preparations are afoot. True, we cannot hope to compete with the Castlecomer Wellie Race on the numbers. But, we can surely give you a run for your money with variety! We have a contingent from Canada who will participate, that shower are taking things very serious indeed, they are all coming with TWO pairs of wellies - each. I am really worried that they plan to scoop up all the prizes leaving no Taytos for anyone else. (Note to self: hide a few bags of Tayto Crisps for self before the Canadians arrive.)
And then we have the Schillings from Budapest, aka Ms. Moneypenny Sr. and Ms. Moneypenny Jr. They are trying to give the ol´? ´we have no wellies, why can´t we just run in our high powered fuel injected runners instead? ` line. But we sorted them alright; we found wellies for them - three sizes too big!
We had a group too with connections to Donegal, and the Island of Reichenau in Lake Konstanz, where Irish monks were ´doing their thing´ for over 400 years. So you would think that mix would certainly sound promising in relation to wellie racing. But alas it looks as if they have no lead in their wellies; they said they were so sorry, that they could not come for the Wellie Race planned earlier. But, when I contacted them to tell them the Wellie Race was up and running once more for Valentine´s, they just disappeared, not to be found anywhere. Sissys!
We had a group too with connections to Donegal, and the Island of Reichenau in Lake Konstanz, where Irish monks were ´doing their thing´ for over 400 years. So you would think that mix would certainly sound promising in relation to wellie racing. But alas it looks as if they have no lead in their wellies; they said they were so sorry, that they could not come for the Wellie Race planned earlier. But, when I contacted them to tell them the Wellie Race was up and running once more for Valentine´s, they just disappeared, not to be found anywhere. Sissys!
But we have better luck with a (sort of) big contingent coming in from Clare. Their coming was all a bit up in the air at first, or more precisely not getting into the air might be more to the point. They were supposed to catch a flight here a few weeks ago, but they got a flat on the way to the airport. Someone was kind enough to give them a pump, but it did not help. The whole family, their luggage, AND their wellies was just too much for the bike. As you know from my last report, because the weather was too cold, the Swiss Dept. of Health and Safety in the Work Place put paid to the race we planned earlier, and fortunately the Clare crew have the chance to come again for the Valentine´s Wellie Race.
But I must say, it is all very vague and mysterious there; all we know is that an Aeroflot plane travelling from Cuba to Moscow will do a quick landing and pick them up behind the local G.A.A. pitch. – They just have to bring a package to Switzerland for someone called Mr. or Mrs. Credit Suisse or some odd funny sounding foreign name like that, more than that I don´t know. But sur´ I don´t care as long as the Clare contingent don´t forget their wellies – and the music for the Siege of Ennis.
But I must say, it is all very vague and mysterious there; all we know is that an Aeroflot plane travelling from Cuba to Moscow will do a quick landing and pick them up behind the local G.A.A. pitch. – They just have to bring a package to Switzerland for someone called Mr. or Mrs. Credit Suisse or some odd funny sounding foreign name like that, more than that I don´t know. But sur´ I don´t care as long as the Clare contingent don´t forget their wellies – and the music for the Siege of Ennis.
Yes, in deference to us having a Valentine´s wellie race, we plan to do a turn of `the Siege…` in our wellies of course, just as the sun goes down behind the Alps on the Valentine´s Wellie Race. - Who says you can´t be romantic and wear wellies too!
That´s it for now Chubby,
I hope you all have fun at the Last Supper.
R. C.
P.S. A technical questions for the Steering and Regulatory Committee of World Wide Wellieracing, aka WWW, head quartered at Powley Vale:
The above mentioned Guido, proud owner of a herd of very happy cows whose milk goes into making the world famous Appenzeller Cheese – which makes them a very exculsive bunch of cows let me tell you!
Anyways, Guido wants to know: if he can manage to get pair or wellies on one or two of the cows could they run the wellie race too? He figures what with the world wide attention the race will attract, it could be a great plug for Appenzeller Cheese. Are there any rules about cows running in the race to promote a product for profit?
(Between yourself and myself I suggested to him he send a nice thick brown paper bag to you in Powley Vale, and then they ´re would be no problem at all with cows or anything else running. But sur´God help us, he had´t a clue; he wondered what you would want with a big brown paper bag, and as he did n´t have paper bags, he wanted to know if he could send you a few plastic bags instead!)
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Two questions from blog readers:
1) Where and I find out more info. on the Castlecomer Wellie Race? See link:
http://www.wellierace.com/
2) What are Taytos?
The best chips in the whole world. Made in Ireland and a great story to boot. See link https://www.taytocrisps.ie/
