Home
Newsdesk 2003

 **************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 108             29 JULY 2003
 Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com  
 **************************************************************************

 WEDDING DAY 7Km  Friday 25th July in Bushy Park
 A wet day gave way to the traditional fine evening for this ever-popular
 event, though thankfully it was not as hot as often it is. We were presented
 with another revised course this year, and some accurate measurements for
 the first time. So it seems that the original course for the first 21 years
 of the race's life was 7.27km, last year's was 7.38km and the new was the
 shortest of the lot at 7.15km. A kilometre off-road section has been
 introduced but the grass was smooth and firm so alas I could find no
 legitimate excuse for slowing down on it.   
 We had a pretty good showing of 44 across the line, which was actually
 exactly the same as the number fielded by Epsom Allsorts who again won the
 "Father Onn" trophy for the highest number of finishers. Unfortunately we
 had one or two not registered under the club name so just missed out. It
 seems our fate to "just miss" trophies at this race. Our mob invariably
 comes up a liquorice stick short of the Allsorts, and we also regularly fall
 foul of Stragglers' preference for aggregate times to decide the general
 team result. This year our women would have been first team based on the
 usual positional scoring, but Thames's first finisher - one Sonia O'Sullivan
 - came in minutes ahead of her opposition and gave Thames an advantage that
 we could not overcome.
 We would have welcomed those team awards because pickings otherwise were
 pretty slim. Only Sarah Seal featured at the presentation, 5th overall in
 the women's race but third senior. Liz and Eileen were 10th and 11th. There
 were more near misses for Mick and Marcus, 4th and 5th vets home, and new
 over 55 Carol Barnshaw was third in her category. Pauls D and G showed up
 well again, as did Keith Firkin. Continued improvement from Adam and Barry
 had the Captain looking worried - or pleased, it's hard to tell.
 Come-back kids Robin Drummond and John Herries brought up the rear of the
 Ranelagh contingent, jogging and walking and still contriving not to be
 last. John did however have the distinction of posting the worst "Age
 Grading" score of the 554 finishers with 36.73%. Top with 91.3% was the
 afore-mentioned Ms O'Sullivan who finished 8th overall and outscored by
 1.05% the men's winner, Australian international Craig Mottram..           

                                                   
 ROAD GRAND PRIX SERIES 2003
 A raft of new names racing for the first time this summer at Bushy Park on
 Friday brought the total number of scorers in our GP to a whopping 105,
 which could well be a new record. There's still one race to go, the Surrey
 5km at Wimbledon on August 10th. Leading scores: 

 OPEN:  Paul Doyle 93,  Stephen Instone 56,  Mike Peace 54,  Mick Lane 52,
 Eileen Church 37,  Paul Graham 36, Simon Lawrence 31,  Peter Haarer 24,
 Darryl McDonald 24,  Marcus Gohar 20,  Grant Lemke 18,  Evelyn Joslin 18,
 Adam Tapley 18,  Alan Davidson 17,  Chris Owens 16,  John Hanscomb 16,
 Chris Read 15,  Andy Bickerstaff 15,  Sarah Seal 14 

 OVER 40:  Stephen Instone 36,  Mick Lane 29,  Simon Lawrence 22,  Marcus
 Gohar 11,  Bob Beatson 7,  Andy Bickerstaff 7,   David Powell 6,  Ken
 Fotherby 6,  Clive Naish 6 

 OVER 50:  Mike Peace 44,  John Hanscomb 21,  Alan Davidson 19,  David Meaden
 15,  Chris Owens 12,  Tom Reay 10,  Alan Meaden 10,  John Hughes 6,  Brian
 Chard 5,  Steve Rowland 5  

 WOMEN:  Eileen Church 38,  Evelyn Joslin 23,  Sarah Seal 18,  Thérèse
 Panetta 12,  Bridget Cuthbert 11,  Eliete Nascimento 8,  Teresa Segovia 7,
 Marlene Pautard 6,  Corinne Bishop 6,  Jackie Alderton 5,  Sophie Timms 5,
 Louise Piears 5,  Emma Corbett 5,  Liz Kipling 5.

 Full scoresheets can be found on our website. 

 GRAND MASTERS
 Ed Whitlock writes from Canada:
 "I did not go to the World Masters Championships in Puerto Rico for various
 reasons, the main ones being lack of initiative and planning.
 My injuries seem to be in remission at the moment and as I get some training
 behind me my performances are improving. Last weekend I went to the biggest
 15k in America, the Boilermaker at Utica NY. The Kenyan caravan was there
 because of the prize money. I managed to inveigle myself into the elite
 runner category so got to chat with Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter in the
 warm up area. I was very pleased with my race, statistically my best in more
 than 2 years at 58:55, 296th of 8832 finishers".       

 TRIATHLON NEWS
 Purely by coincidence we have a lot of triathlon news this week. First from
 Chris Spink about the newly-formed Ful-On-Tri Triathlon club:
 "I have now successfully set up a triathlon club based in Fulham. Anybody
 interested should contact myself 07974 088 543, Gareth Davies or Sophie
 Timms as the Ranelagh reps or visit www.fulontri.com   

 Kristina Semple writes from France:
 "I have not been present at Ranelagh for many a month, as my training
 schedules, partly due to a knee op in November last year, have been a bit
 different recently. However I am still thinking of you, and miss the tough
 Tuesday night sessions with you!
 To give you some perspective, I have had the fantastic fortune to be allowed
 by the company I work for, Celerant Consulting, to work part time.  I have
 therefore improved considerably in all 3 disciplines and this has permitted
 me to race at international level this year.  I have been adopted by the
 French Pro Team Montpellier for whom I race in France.
 I have just completed the France Iron Tour, which involves 5 triathlons in 4
 days.  The races are of different lengths, formats, and venues, passing
 through Grenoble, Alpe d'Huez, Paladru, and Lyon.  The race also coincided
 with an unprecedented heatwave in France, which meant that the daytime
 temperature never sank below 30 degrees for the entire Tour!  
 On the 2nd day the race climbs Alpe D'Huez, after a 1200m swim at the
 bottom, and is followed by an 8k run at the top, at an altitude of 2000m.
 It was an enormous challenge, and wasn't helped by the fact that I came off
 my bike on a tricky descent just before beginning the big climb, and rode
 and ran the rest of the event missing serious skin on my shoulder, side and
 leg.  Not that much fun!  But limping home was all worthwhile as my team was
 2nd overall by the end of the 4 days.  The event was up there with my all
 time best life experiences, with the beautiful locations, the nerves, the
 excitement, the competition and the camaraderie.
 You can find more information about the race and results on the web at
 www.sportup.fr or www.fftri.com  if you are interested". 

 Geoff Jones is another whose triathlon career seems to be blossoming. He
 writes:
 "I'm not able to keep in touch as I would like as my increased commitment to
 triathlon and now with the Cambridge Tri Club drags me in other directions.
 It is interesting to note that near us a high number of the faster runners
 are now triathletes. In Cambridge the Tri club have a stronger men's and
 women's teams than the local running club C&C.
 My season is going well and I managed to qualify for the GB age group team
 for the world championships in Queenstown, NZ in December by finishing 46th
 overall in the Windsor Triathlon. I have improved swimming and biking to
 such an extent that running is in danger of being my weakest event!" 

 NIKE 10Km
 Chris Owens writes that Nike's 10km race in the Park is scheduled for Sunday
 September 7th. They will need marshals for which they pay quite well but you
 have to be available on both Saturday (Thomas Cup day!) for training and
 Sunday for the race. If you're interested contact Chris at
 mailto:aachrisowens@yahoo.co.uk or telephone 01932 229680. 

 SOUTH DOWNS WAY  Saturday August 16th
 There's still time for anyone interested to join a team for the SDW relay on
 August 16th. The route is 70 miles from near Petersfield to Beachy Head,
 with three people per team. So each team member has to cover a total of a
 little over 20 miles all told, broken up into sections of between 1 and 5
 miles. Contact me for more details.   

 LOST PROPERTY
 Clare Nicholson writes:
 "There is a substantial number of items of clothing and shoes left in the
 clubhouse which have been put into one of two boxes.  The first is on the
 table by the doll in the Ranelagh vest.  The second is by the door to the
 boiler room.  Anything not re-united with its owner by the end of August
 will be laundered and donated to a good cause.  The shoes will be given to
 the Sweat Shop to be sent to Ethiopian runners, the kit will be put in a
 Barnardos bin". 

 ROAD CLOSURES
 I'm told that Petersham Road is to be closed for re-surfacing between Star
 and Garter Hill and Sandy Lane most evenings over the next three weeks
 between 9pm and 6am. Fridays and Saturdays seem to be excepted. 

 NEXT...
 A provisional fixture list for the 2003/04 winter season is now up on our
 web site.


 More details of the following from Andy Bickerstaff (07966 552302 /
 mailto:andy@norris-hobs.co.uk ) or Clare Nicholson (07710 348030 / 
 mailto:clarenicholson@hotmail.com ).
 See our web site for details and scores in the Ranelagh Road Grand Prix.
 
 Sunday August 10th Surrey 5km at Wimbledon, 10am start.  Race 10 in the
 Ranelagh Grand Prix series 2003. Entry forms in the clubhouse or send your
 details to Derek Crookes, 209 Lynmouth Avenue, Morden, Surrey SM4 4RX. Fee
 £3 payable to Surrey CAA. Entries on the day £4 at Belgrave Hall, Denmark
 Road. 

 Saturday August 16th South Downs Way Relay. See above. 

 Saturday September 6th       Thomas Cup Opening Run handicap  3.8 miles in
 Richmond Park 

 Saturday September 13th      Surrey Road Relay Championships (men & women,
 including vets categories) at Wimbledon Park 
 
 Sunday October 19th Cabbage Patch 10 miles road race at Twickenham.
 Likely to be popular so get your entries in early to avoid disappointment.
 See www.cabbagepatch10.com  

 Steve Rowland
 e-mail: srowland@calor.co.uk
 Tel: 01926 318734
 Fax: 0870 4006901