In The Words Of

If you look closely at my picture above, you will see I have had a monumental change to my hair colour. Quite drastic! I have always wanted to get blonde hair since I was very young, even if only to see what I would look like. The reason I finally took the plunge? Well... I had opted to take the COVID-19 vaccine. It mainly was peer pressure as I am one of those people who has never had the flu jab, and I have never had the flu. So, I am not anti-vax; I am just pro-health and pro-fitness. I had the vaccine injection, and to cut a long story short, I got very ill from the side effects. I had problems breathing, cold sweats, hot sweats, and no sleep; this went on for only 24 hours, but it was still enough to make me think that life is too short - hence, the hair colour change! I like it. I know my family has told me it suits me, which is a challenge to get any compliments. I had it done at Ocean Hairdressing in Roath by Ijan Davies-Emrus and Lauren. I know I was in there for hours, and Ijan is such a find if you fancy the ultimate advice on a new style; do book in with these guys, although it might be a few weeks to wait, as they are that busy!

TV/Films

Black Summer (series two) - Netflix - available now.

Perhaps you may recall before that I loved season one of this show. It was in my top three

by Carl Marsh

for that year. I have been waiting since then for this second offering. OK, so I binge-watched the whole of Black Summer series two - I seldom do this! It’s an addictive and muchneeded distraction from what is going on in all of our lives. It’s a great show that had to be delayed for COVID, but thankfully, completed at the end of 2020. The acting steps up a gear from the first series, and so does the budget in the effects. Fortunately, it’s not as apparent as the last series of The Walking Dead, where you could see they used less cast for COVID protection reasons, which only made Black Summer series two even better for me.

Reviews

With no events over the last 15 or 16 months, it was nice to be asked to go to something. That something was The Parkgate Hotel. Venture to the next page to read and see what I thought. I can only hope this won’t be the last new hospitality establishment to open up this year in Cardiff!

Interviews

To make up for the above review and only one interview, I have a special one, and it’s a proper local lad who’s done well: Colin Jackson. He is as lovely as you would expect him to be; then times that by twenty. That’s all!

Until next month; enjoy your July! Viva la Summer!

Carl Marsh

Twitter - @InTheWordsOf_CM Facebook - @InTheWordsOf YouTube - InTheWordsOf

Located next to the Principality Stadium, The Parkgate Hotel is a collaborative venture between the Welsh RFU, The Celtic Collection and property developers, Rightacres. It is set to open its doors properly in October this year, in time for the Rugby internationals. It’s not really a review of this new hotel as it’s still in the building stage, as seen by the pictures. However, I did get to sample some of the food before I was given a guided tour around and obviously, a hardhat and a high visibility jacket were necessary!

From what I saw on the day, this is going to be a special place. I know the budget on the project has gone over, but these times are strange that we all live, so I can only presume COVID price hikes have hit this project hard. I have seen many CGI pictures of what the rooms will look like and the rooftop spa, dining room, conference room, and entrance. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and if you knew the place before, the old Post Office and County Court building, then you will be in for a treat, as you’ll recognise some of these features still. What I appreciated the most was knowing that the food will be sourced by using the local fish market, the local butchers, and other local fresh food suppliers. Supporting Welsh industries is very important to me; I wish that all of the other competitors - restaurants or hotels - did the same in Cardiff, but those that know, know.

I look forward to coming back in October to sample the finished product and hopefully get to stay overnight, too! (Potential Score out of Five) - Five, as this is gearing up to be the best hotel in Cardiff. And by a mile. Or should that be a conversion, seeing as the Welsh RFU are involved!

Colin Jackson, perhaps I don’t need to do a big introduction here. So I won’t! He’s a Welsh Legend. Top class, both in his early career and now. Known as being Great Britain’s fastest hurdler at his peak, he’s now slowed down but still running, and still winning 5k races, albeit in a team at RunfestRun. I got time to chat with Colin before he got some running practice in!

Carl Marsh

It’s not that far to get to from Wales, and seeing as you live here in Cardiff, what is RunfestRun, and what’s your involvement with it?

Colin Jackson

Do you know that RunfestRun is one of the best initiatives that brings music and running together? I don’t understand why it hasn’t been thought of before because they’re two powerful uniting forces. To get people together via sport and music from across the world. The event (to me) has that real harmony and the fact that it’s a family-friendly environment that works wonderfully well because sometimes you want to experience good things and unusual things with your close family and friends. It’s a water cooler moment in years to come; you know when someone could say: “Do you remember when we went to the RunfestRun in the UK, and I was in Colin Jackson’s winning team?”. And I can’t get away from the fact that I did win the last one! [Laughter]. It’s pretty cool, and the fact that it comes together so wonderfully well is great.

Carl Marsh

Being the competitor that you are, I can only assume that you will be looking forward to holding onto your team winning crown over anything else this year?

Colin Jackson

Yes, of course, I’m looking forward to it, as I’ve got to hang onto that title! They’ll be grabbing at my leg because what’s so great is a sprinters team wins over a middle distance and distance running team. I love that! There is no force for people to have to run all the events. They can attend. For me, for example, I do like the 5k, which is kind of a comfortable distance for me to run. So it’s great. I really, really enjoy it.

Carl Marsh

We all know you from the short distance events such as the indoor 60 metres and 110-metre hurdles, but you now like the 5k. When did you get into this middle distance running, as I know you couldn’t do it when competing in the sprinting phase of your athletics career?

Colin Jackson

Yeah, exactly, you couldn’t do it, as that type of running changes your muscle structure. But, it was once I kind of finished athletics, as running is one of the easiest things to do. You can do it from your door. You can open the front door and go! You don’t have to be Paula Radcliffe. And you don’t have to do marathons. People can do a 5k, which I think people would (actually) walk 5k when you are back at home in 45 minutes. So with the 5k, it’s such a good distance for people because it’s doable.

Carl Marsh

What’s your best running routes around Cardiff then, in case people want to get started?

Colin Jackson

Well, I’m a little bit biased as I’m over the other side of Penarth, right. So, of course, I’m going to say run around the Bay or the marina, as it’s pretty flat. So if you’re not that great, like me, you can do that. If I can go for a 10k, I would head towards The Pumping Station Antique Centre; after doing the hilly bit, I would run around one of the bypasses there, then head towards Cosmeston Lakes. It’s relatively flat around there, with some hilly bits. And then you can head back to town. It’s also a pretty safe environment (Cosmeston) as it’s off the road. Colin Jackson is a team captain at RunfestRun, between 2729th August, Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire. For tickets, visit www.runfestrun.co.uk