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