Well folks there you have it. Yes, a momentous start to 2013 indeed, because --- wait for it... YES.... wellie racing can now be experienced right bang in the middle of Europe! YES YES YES!
Read on for the exciting details...
A Report on the First
Ever Wellie Race in the Middle of Europe. Posted from St. Gallen, Switzerland.
As President Michael D. himself said, if ye can´t get
to the Gathering, bring the Gathering to you!
So on January 1st. 2013, simultaneous and at the same time as
the wellie race in Castlecomer, a wellie event took place under the Santis
Mountain in Switzerland, only a
Kazensprung - not a stone´s throw as ye non-German speakers might say, from St.
Gallen in Switzerland.
Now we all know
de lads in Powley Vale are very high cultured well read sort of chaps, so they
would know all about St. Gallen. But a
lot of the rest you might need to be reminded that St. Gallen was founded by a
friend of St. Columbanus way back in 612 A.D.
So it was felt, naturally, a wellie race was the most fitting way to end
the year long celebrations of the1400 anniversary of the founding of this
UNESCO designated world cultural site.
There was a lot of ´wanna be´participants in this the First Ever Wellie Race in the Middle of Europe who were
automatically eliminated from the race, because their footwear did not comprise
of what would be described as the
dictionary definition of a ´wellie`. For example there were a few who insisted on
wearing warm leather boots, but it was made very clear to them if they and
their feet were not going to be freezing in wellies like the rest of us, then they
could not participate. Likewise a few
smart a-ses wore what appeared to be wellies, but on closer inspection, their
footwear was found to comprise of runners and leggings. A few more turned up with wellies alright,
but they wanted to race with their skis on too.
And one boyo had wellies tied onto his snowmobile and caused a great
rumpus when he was told he could not participate. Fortunately a Swiss Ban Garda took him in
hand in no time.
So even if due to the aforementioned ´logistical´
issues the number of participants in the First
Ever Wellie Race in the Middle of Europe, in St. Gallen, Switzerland was ´a
tad´ lower than the numbers participating in the Castlecomer race, Germany,
Switzerland, the county of Clare and the townland of Coolgrange were well represented
none the less.
The winner in the under 50s age group was 5 yr old Martina Kretz age (she
of Swiss-Co.Clare origins), closely followed by her sister Mary age 6.
Interestingly the over 50s prize went to their father Guido, mother Ann -
who is responsible for the Clare connection in the Kretz-Broggy family came in
not too far behind. So the Kretz family left their mark indeed on
the St. Gallen Wellie Race at Moos, 9116
Wolfertswil. The winners all received a bag of Taytos, flown in from
Ireland especially for the big event*. It was felt Guido Kretz looked far
too young for a man over 50, so he had to produce his birth cert to prove he
was before he got his bag of Taytos.
The prizes were presented by Herbert
Ehinger of Germany, who it must be acknowledged, took great care to ensure that
no harm came to the bags of Taytos before the big prize giving event.
(*Regarding the Taytos; what with Switzerland´s
stringent rules on importing foods and all,
nobody knows nothin´ and can´t remember anything either, about how the bags of Taytos got flown from
Ireland and got smuggled into Switzerland).
Roisin Hausfrau January 2, 2013
