Home
Newsdesk 2003

 ****************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 116            15 OCTOBER 2003
 Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com 
 ****************************************************************************

 SURREY LEAGUE DIVISION 1  in Richmond Park (Kingston Gate)  Saturday October
 18th
 The opening fixture of the Surrey League for both men and women takes place
 this Saturday at the Kingston Gate end of Richmond Park. The senior women's
 race kicks off the proceedings at 12.30pm, followed by the junior women's
 events; then the junior men are on at 2.30pm followed by the senior men at
 3pm. All members are welcome to run. Be aware though that the car park at
 Kingston Gate is not large and will accommodate only a fraction of the
 expected race traffic. Be prepared to leave your car outside the gates or at
 one of the other car parks - or change at our clubhouse and take a long
 warm-up! In any case make sure you give yourself plenty of time.
 Post-race watering hole will be Janet Turnes's pub, the Wych Elm in
 Kingston. 

 MOB MATCH v ORION HARRIERS for the HAROLD LEE CUP in Richmond Park  Saturday
 October 25th
 A week after the League comes the season's first mob match against our Essex
 rivals Orion Harriers. Start time is 2.30pm and the course is two laps of
 our "Thomas Cup" circuit - 7.5 miles in all. In mob matches all finishers
 count towards the final score, so the more runners we have the better our
 chance of winning the Cup. Orion will probably arrive in strength so we'll
 need at least 50 Ranelagh vests on the starting line to have any chance, and
 preferably a good few more than that. If you can run 7.5 miles, please come
 along.
 Mike Peace adds: 
 "We've booked the Rose of York for a simple supper with Orion after the
 race. It will be an early start - 6/6.30 - and the cost will be
 approximately £6 a head. If you're interested please contact me asap on
 01252 543176 or mailto:head@frimley.surrey.sch.uk
 I'll need final numbers by early next week to confirm with the Rose of York".
 
 SURREY VETERANS CHAMPIONSHIP  Saturday October 11th in Richmond Park
 This event is usually a happy hunting ground for Ranelagh, providing us with
 a rich medal haul. Not this time, however, as injury and illness depleted
 the ranks in both the men's and women's events. 
 Margaret Auerback takes up the story:
 "Although we had more runners on the sick and injured list there was still a
 sprinkling of blue vests to be seen in the women's race. It was a beautiful
 day and conditions were perfect for fast times. We did pick up two
 individual medals, Kathy Mallett in her first race back after injury came
 third in the W45 category and Pat Hewlett took the gold medal in the W65s.
 It was good to see ex-Ranelagh member Marlene Pautard having a superb run to
 finish in fourth place". 
 Most sorely missed in the men's race was Marcus Gohar, last year's
 individual runner-up, who was suffering from a cold. Without him, the M40
 team of Mick Lane, Andy Bickerstaff and Stephen Instone all performed well
 but narrowly missed out on the medals. Chris Owens was another near-miss in
 the M50 age group but Pete Warren was rewarded with a bronze in the over
 60s. Sadly we were unable to field an M60 team to defend the title they won
 last year.  

 KINGSTON RUNNING FESTIVAL  Sunday October 12th
 We had a small representation amongst the many hundreds pounding the streets
 and towpaths of Kingston. Best results came from Clare Nicholson, 14th woman
 in the 16 miles event and Adam Tapley, 15th in the 8 miles.
 16 miles
 1 J Rogers (Tri London) 1.30.58
 123 Clare Nicholson 1.59.20
  
 8 miles
 1 J Trapmore (Shaft Barn) 43.22
 15 Adam Tapley 51.12
 86 Phil Aiken 58.28 
 508 Janet Turnes 72.11
 598 Emma Corbett 75.08
 777 Susan Booth 80.58
 834 Jane Wyatt 82.59
 866 Daphne Moynier 85.14 

 GREAT SOUTH RUN  10 miles at Portsmouth  Sunday October 12th
 Anna McLaughlin battled high winds to record a personal best 72.48.

 LONDON TO BRIGHTON  54 miles   Sunday October 5th
 Andy Hayward reports:
 "The day was just dawning clear as 106 intrepid runners, or nutters
 depending on your perspective, lined up across the road level with Big Ben
 at 5 to 7 on the morning of Sunday 5th October, much to the astonishment of
 the assorted taxi drivers and surprising amount of other traffic out in
 Central London at that early hour. The mercury had dropped down to 4 Celcius
 - a remarkably different temperature to all my build up races throughout the
 summer and gloves and long sleeve shirts were much in evidence for the first
 time since the spring.
 The first chime of the famous bell signifying 7am began the 53rd annual
 running of the London to Brighton Road Race, and the 200th year since the
 first recorded timed competitive performance over the course in 1803 by
 Captain Robertson (who covered the distance from Brighton to the current
 start at Westminster in 14 hours).
 This was my third running of this famous race, and each time has been a
 learning experience. The first time in 1998 I had done two 35 mile races and
 a number of marathons as build up races, but it was my first attempt at
 anything above 35 miles. I decided to just run as I would a long slow
 training run, and that worked well for me. I felt strong and within myself
 all the way, and apart from some cramp in the last three miles, had a good
 finish in 7 hours 27 minutes, finishing 18th. Then in 2001 I had wanted to
 better that, and having a similar build up but being fitter, went off with
 the leaders, in hindsight an obvious schoolboy error. I struggled from the
 25 mile point, which is a long time to struggle when you still have 30 miles
 to go. The worst conditions in the race's history probably helped me
 maintain my place though as it caused everyone to struggle, and I finished
 17th in 8:09. So this year I decided to go back to the original plan of
 running easy and letting pace and position take care of itself. I was
 relying on the fact that I am a bit fitter than in 1998 (albeit five years
 older!) so the pace should be better. This year the finish was at the
 Brighton Levels, rather than the seafront to avoid the dangerous traffic
 over the last mile, so the distance was 54 miles 198 yards, instead of the
 previous 55 miles.
 The first few miles are all about sorting out your own pace, and positions
 change around quite a bit as people settle down into a rythym. Between 5
 miles (Streatham) and ten miles (Croydon) the tension of the race disappears
 and you tend to feel fairly comfortable, as long as you don't allow your
 mind to dwell on the distance and terrain waiting for you down the (long)
 Brighton Road. The sun came up, although it never got hot, and made for a
 near perfect running day, which is great when you are running all day! The
 first test came at 15 miles with the long climb up onto Farthing Down where
 we were rewarded at the top with stunning views. From there it was plain
 sailing through country lanes and a lot of downhill into Redhill at 21 miles
 and the first of three junction areas spread out over three miles or so that
 were enthusiastically manned by Ranelagh Harriers.
 It was largely because of the last minute offers of help from Ranelagh and
 Blackheath that the race was able to go ahead at all, as there were some
 late withdrawals of help which almost resulted in the event having to be
 cancelled, so this was much appreciated.
 Although there are a couple of good hills in the first 27 miles, the second
 half of the course is much hillier, and pacing becomes crucial. I was pacing
 very evenly; through ten miles in 75 minutes, and through twenty in another
 75. The marathon point, although not called, was passed in 3:15. The third
 ten was actually my fastest at 73 mins, and then 76 for the ten to 40 miles
 (35 miles passed in 4:21 - far faster than my other 35 mile races this
 year). Several of the Ranelagh marshalls who had finished their junction
 duties came down and caught me on the course, and gave much needed
 encouragement from around miles 36 to 52. This was very good for me as it
 kept me going in places when the going got tough. I felt really good until
 about 44 miles, but then started feeling the effects of the hills. I had a
 bad patch between 44 and 49 miles, which was the section up to and including
 the dreaded Ditchling Beacon - 800 feet of climbing in just under a mile. I
 did walk a couple of times for a short distance plus up the Beacon. However
 the rousing reception at the top of the Beacon from Ranelagh, Road Runners
 Club and family, and the view of the sea just over five miles away was
 enough to spur me on to a strong final push for home. I managed to resume
 seven and a half minute miling at this point for most of the last four
 miles, except for the final cruel hill at Hollingbury two miles from the
 finish.
 I had been in 19th place at ten miles, and worked my way through the field
 to 7th by 30 miles, which I hung onto for around 20 miles. I was
 disappointed to lose three places going up the Beacon, to people (including
 the first woman, well known USA ultra runner Ellen McCurtin) who had
 obviously paced their runs better than me. I then concentrated on trying to
 get at least one place back, and was rapidly catching the runner in ninth
 place when disconcertingly over that distance, I ran out of road, finishing
 24 seconds behind him. I finished in 7:08:10, a pb equivalent of about 12
 minutes on the full distance, earning a silver standard medal, and a nice
 bonus was the South of England AA bronze medal for being third South of
 England man home.
 Overall, a marvellous experience on a perfect day for running. Chris Spink
 ran a pb too, knocking 70 minutes off his time of two years ago in the
 famous hurricane year! Now, we only need one more next year (possibly the
 last year due to traffic safety concerns) and we could go for the team
 title!"
 1 B Hennessy (Crawley) 6.24.04
 10 Andy Hayward 7.08.10
 53 Chris Spink 8.48.41

 TUESDAY NIGHT SESSIONS
 Look on our web site for full details of the sessions, which all start at
 7pm from the clubhouse.
 21 Oct  2 x 7min efforts, 2 x 5min efforts
 28 Oct  3 x 3 x Holly Lodge hill
 4 Nov   10, 8, 6 & 4 min effort, plus 3 x 30sec effort
 Wednesday night (6.30pm) training continues from the clubhouse too, plus
 Sunday morning runs at 10am. 
 
 NEXT...
 A full fixture list for the 2003/04 winter season is available on our web
 site. 

 More details of the following from Andy Bickerstaff (07966 552302 /
 mailto:andy@norris-hobs.co.uk or Paul Graham (mailto:paulgraham28@hotmail.com)
 or Clare Nicholson (07710 348030 / mailto:clarenicholson@hotmail.com).  

 Saturday October 18th        Surrey Cross-Country League Div 1 in Richmond
 Park (Kingston Gate). Women from 12.30pm, men from 2.30pm.  

 Sunday October 19th        Cabbage Patch 10 miles road race at
 Twickenham. See www.cabbagepatch10.com   
       Also today, the Founders' Challenge 26 miles
 at Peaslake. See above.

 Saturday October 25th        Lee Cup mob match v Orion Harriers  7.5 miles
 in Richmond Park. All members encouraged to run please!

 Saturday November 1st         Priory Relays at Reigate  

 Saturday November 8th         South of the Thames "Junior" Championships at
 Coulsdon
 
 FINALLY
 More power to Dave Bedford's elbow as he takes on the 118 118 "Got your
 number" people. He claims they have stolen his 1970s image for their
 television campaign. If it weren't for the red socks they might have got
 away with it...     

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