Thanks for this. I read Shadow of the Wind towards the end of Uni and remember enjoying it. Had no idea there had been follow-ups since though, so will check those out now. 

For the first time ever we had the whole family out today, with my youngest (6yo) taking on the full 5k after doing the junior 2k ones for a couple of years. I ran with my 9yo and my wife jogged round with the younger one.

Great way to start the weekend and it's amazing to see the growth and popularity of the Park Run concept. All you hear on the radio from 8am are messages from people on the way to their local race.

I had never heard of the "special" races before either, so ended up attending both Xmas Day and NY Day races in the past couple of weeks. Pretty impressive crowds!

My stats so far:

1k  - 3:37
1 mile  - 6:07
5k - 19:48
10k - 42:32
Half-Marathon - 1:41:29

Cheers and happy running for 2020!

I recently read the Ronnie O'Sullivan book called "Running". His best 10k time was down in the low 30's and he's won a few open races around Essex area in the past. There was a fascinating section where he talked about picking and choosing which snooker tournaments to play based on whether they clashed with a running race he wanted to enter!

Agree on not stressing about the times. Especially when it will be the first "race" you have done in a while.

The great thing about Park Run is the massive variety both in ability and general level of competitiveness. While it's fun trying for a PB occasionally, I also really enjoy cruising round with my son at a more comfy pace.

Ok, cheers for the tip. Although now just going to fall down a rabbit hole watching people play through weird challenges on FM20!

I love FM but dont have the speakers or I would give it a bash

I remember from previous CM/FM threads. I even went back for a bit of CM0102 recently.

Maybe lacking people in the Champ Man fan / Echo owner niche here then

Anyway, v1 of the game is publicly available now if anyone wants to check it out. Link below or just say "Enable Soccer Manager".

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081LTSSKR/

[Amazon Echo/Alexa]

Bumpage of an old thread for a related topic...

I've played these games since CM2 when I was about 13 or 14 (including decent stints recently on 0102 with community researched updates).

Recently i have dabbled with building a couple of kids games on the Amazon Echo/Alexa, and decided to have a go at a voice controlled football management sim next.

Clearly nothing like the complexity of CM/FM right now, but as a hobbyist project (*cough* biased) i still think it's quite fun.

Anyway, it's not published yet as i think there are still a few issues to iron out. Therefore looking for a few people who own one of the Amazon speakers to give it a play through for me.

If you're keen please DM me the email associated with your Alexa account and I can trigger the beta app link.

Cheers!

I think you are missing a trick, you should sell your services as a package offering for a set price. The set price should be based on what you know these companies are willing to pay and what you want to earn from it. For example for this current contract they are prepared to pay £30k for a certain outcome by a certain date (or sooner) and you think you can do this in 4 weeks (£10k). Agree to charge them £20k, as a whole not a day rate, for no longer than 8 weeks. Deliver it in 4 and earn £1k per day. They wont care that you delivered it early but they will be impressed that you delivered for £10k less than they were expecting.

Definitely this. There are some good Reddit threads where day rates for IT contractors (usually devs) are discussed. The bottom line tends to be that where upside for the client is massive (either potential profit or general urgency), you should just charge accordingly if you can be picky about the work.

Also the referrals comment is spot on too. Once you have a backlog satisfied customers and case studies you really shouldn't need to rely on recruitment agencies.

Pretty rare to play online now, and only for a punt on a massive field Sunday event usually.

Live i’ll occasionally make a Reading/Luton £100-200 event but don’t enjoy it as much as I used to. Only time I really put some hours in is when I happen to be in the states with work and play live cash. Vegas plus a couple of random local casinos that have friendly games.

Ivan Toney 6-1 EW four spots is also golden for top scorer. He's on seven already. We turned down £4m for him on deadline day (Barnsley and Chalrton were both in) and, unless someone comes in with a crazy up-front offer in January he won't be going anywhere.

Every time I do a bet like this the guy moves in January!

As you were then.

It makes sense (and remember the option being available on the BSQ/PP back end) but also requires a bit more effort from the person making the decision.

In a lot of cases it’s just less risk/bother making it x% across everything.

If someone was a massive donator on racing but seemed weirdly good at tennis or whatever that could be an exception, but then you run the risk of annoying them and losing the horse profits.

I seem to recall it was just printing cash backing the big underdogs on the handicap for the first few weeks as the bookies just assumed everyone except the test nations would get steam rollered.

A mate of mine fancies Argentina to get out of Group C, and then potentially give anyone a decent game from there. Main theory being based on the fact Pumas have crushed this season and the club side is pretty much the national side.

Probably plenty worse 50/1 shots around.