Perfect day for cheering on your friends in the sun

Twenty-fourth of May, which I have always known it to be, has by far been one of my favourite holidays of the year.

To me, there’s no better way to spend the day than sitting in the sun, cheering on your friends as they participate and, of course, eating a home-cooked meal.

Up until I was about 16, I remember us having to wake up early in the morning and get out the door by 7am because we had to be in a certain spot by a certain time in order to catch the runners.

I didn’t even wake up that early to go to school but it was a holiday so there was no complaining from me! I recall one year, I drove all the way from my home in town to Somerset just so that I could sail down with my parents, my sister and our children.

It poured with rain that year (2002) and I’d never experienced such rough water, so needless to say that was the last of that tradition.

As my family expanded, I decided the time had come for me to start my own May 24 tradition with some friends.

We sorted out who was bringing what and what time to meet.

There was just one piece of the puzzle that we hadn’t figured out... where we were going to sit.

We knew that families had spaces where they sat every year but little did we know how serious some people were about this.

I remember us knocking off from work and heading to Front Street.

There was tape everywhere. We were stunned.

And apparently extremely naïve because there are some families out there who had the practice of reserving “their” space down to a science.