Yorkshire Day

Today is Yorkshire Day and to help us celebrate this we are asking you to tell us what 'Yorkshire' means to you?

Yorkshire is...

Cricket
Countryside
Beaches
Breweries

Salterhebble - Where's that!!

I was on holiday last Friday and thought it was a great opportunity for a spot of running. Instead of deciding a route in advance, I decided to just run for two hours to see how far I could get!
This seemed like a good idea at the time - however, I may not have thought it through!! My route took me to Shelf roundabout and then to Brighouse, passed Kendals ice cream shop (i didn't stop off). I continued to a large roundabout and turned right towards Elland. From Elland I ended up in Salterhebble - not a place I'd been to before.
It so happened that it was opening time and I found myself in a lovely pub called the Watermill. A taxi back was in order - which cost me £12 and I have since driven the route and clocked it at 9 miles. Only 8 weeks left but with a bit of a push I reckon I can build it up even further – who knows, next time I may make it past the pub......

Ogden - Done!

Thanks everyone for coming back to check up on me! Training programme is going well and last week, with the help of my team, we managed to complete a marathon in our works gym. I only did 5 of the miles but it's progress!

Ogden - Saturday 26 February.

Well as usual, it was tipping it down on Saturday for my run around Ogden Reservoir in Halifax. I finally dragged myself out of the car and made my way to the onsite café (which was shut unfortunately!)

I set off anti-clockwise and despite heavy rain, the paths were still in great condition. A new newt pond has been put in on your right hand side, which is great for anyone with children who love pond dipping. It rained the whole way round and when I got back to the duck feeding area near the café, I was ready for a brew.

Last year, our contractors Mott MacDonald Bentley, were onsite for around three weeks doing investigations and we'll know shortly if we need to return to carry out further work. Our dedicated reservoir investment page will be kept upto date with any developments so feel free to visit yorkshirewater.com/reservoirs

Loads of parking is available at the reservoir but it does get busy (particularly in summer). I met loads of people on my way round a few other runners. Definitely one of my favourite places to visit and highly recommend it – preferably on a sunny day though!!

Visit my charity page to find out more about why I am doing the marathon www.justgiving.com/john-bond

Belfast Marathon

Over the next few weeks, one of our colleagues and self-confessed salad dodger John Bond, will be using this blog to let you know all about his efforts to prepare for the biggest challenge he has ever faced - running the Belfast Marathon. Keep checking back to see how he is getting on......



For those who know me, it will probably come as a bit of a shock that I am running anywhere, let alone a marathon!! It's certainly came as a shock to the ladies in the canteen at work, who I get bacon butties from daily. For those who don't, I have worked for Yorkshire Water for 8 years now and am 33 years old.

My role in Community Engagement involves communicating our investment programme across Yorkshire, including our reservoirs. Therefore, it seemed an ideal opportunity to link my training with our reservoir improvement work so expect a few insights into the work being carried out at our reservoirs, as well as tales of toil, sweat and the odd humourous training accident along the way!!

You can find out more about what investments are taking place near you by visiting the 'in your area' section of our website. Just pop in your postcode and you have access to a whole range of useful information.

I have already run around Embsay reservoir and am visiting Ogden this Saturday and I will update this page regularly as I visit new sites.

Please feel free to come back to check up on my progress. When not running around reservoirs, you may see me running around Bradford and Halifax in my bright orange t-shirt and steamed up glasses.

My training programme started last month - better late than never and any help or advice, would be much appreciated. The event itself takes place on the 2nd May so is rapidly approaching. Since speaking to a few friends it does seem that there a lot of runners out there, so feel free to get in touch.

I am raising money for Macmillans, which is a great cause. My brother-in law recently lost his brief battle with cancer and was from Balyclare, near Belfast and I know he would be laughing his head off watching me trying to run around his city!!

If anyone wishes to sponsor me, please feel free to visit my page on just giving, the link is www.justgiving.com/John-Bond