Five years ago when I started Girl on the River, it was just a way to stop boring my husband about rowing. "Why don't you write about it?" he said one day, rather wearily. So I did. Yet since then Girl on the River has grown bigger than I could have imagined and come to mean so much more to me than just an outlet for my rowing talk. It's been my place to offload the disappointments and, at times, despair when things have gone badly in my rowing - and to hear back from people who knew how much it hurt. It's been a place to laugh at the absurdities of our sport - old folks in lycra, crazy rowing parents, even crazier coxes. It's where I recorded my first, momentous win and my first tentative steps in coxing. And where I've made incredible friendships across the world, many of which have morphed into real life friendships. I've gained so much from everyone who's read my blog and connected with me, that it seems a little greedy to ask more from you. But still, I'm going to do just that.
The thing is, I've entered Girl on the River into the Sports and Fitness category of the UK Blog Awards. A lone rowing voice in a world of twenty-something fitness bloggers with washboard abs, perfect hair and legions of followers, I'm realistic about my chances. I am, in every sense of the word, a microblogger. And yet... who knows? Maybe there are enough people out there prepared to support the uncool underdog - after all, look at Ed Balls (seriously, go and look again. That Gangnam Style cheers me almost daily).
So I'm getting down on my knees here to beg, unashamedly, for your vote. Just the once (though, you know, if you wanted to vote on different devices and platforms, who am I to stop you?!) And only taking up about 15 seconds of your time (yes, I've tried it). Voting is easy peasy!! All you need to do is to get to my profile page and then click again on the giant CLICK HERE sign. You'll be directed to a Vote Now section where you fill in your name, email address and choose the sports and fitness category, then press "submit". (They've promised me, by the way, that they only ask for your email address to make sure people don't do multiple voting - I did check!) Couldn't be easier. So... please, please...
because you want a rowing blog to make a splash.
because you want to support the underdog.
because you miss Ed Balls in Strictly, because you want an excuse to take 15 seconds away from your desk, because you haven't got anything better to do.
Whatever your reasons. Please just vote. And I can promise I'll carry on bringing more fun from the river into your life, with even the occasional foray into YouTube this year. Mwah!
