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Newsdesk 2003
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 121 3 DECEMBER 2003
Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com
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DYSART CUP and ELLIS TROPHY RACES Saturday December 6th in Richmond Park
The Dysart Cup is our annual women's inter-club race but more importantly
includes the Ranelagh women's club championship for the Hugh Jones Salver
and the Ranelagh women's veterans (over 40s) championship for Trish's
Trophy. Start time is 2pm and the distance is 6km. Following on is the Ellis
Trophy men's race, scheduled for 2.30pm but usually a few minutes later as
we wait for all the women to finish first. Distance is 8km. All welcome for
both races.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Entry for the Surrey, Southern and National Championships is nowadays open
to all, but entries do have to be sent in well in advance. For the Surreys
(Lloyd Park Croydon, January 3rd) and the Southerns (Parliament Hill,
January 24th) the closing date is almost upon us already. The women's
entries have in fact already be sent in but there's still a few days for the
men, so if you'd like to run contact Andy Bickerstaff or Paul Graham
immediately. The closing date for the National (Leeds, February 21st) will
be following shortly, so men and women who'd like to run there should let
Andy or Paul or Clare Nicholson know as soon as possible. Contact details
below.
LONDON MARATHON
And you'll have to act quickly too if you're interested in taking up one of
the five guaranteed entries allocated to the club for the 2004 London
Marathon to be held on April 18th. Clare Nicholson writes:
"Club members who are not eligible for championship or good for age entry,
or who failed to get through the ballot can apply for these places to any
committee member or the club coaches. A sub-committee of coaches, the club
captains and committee running representatives will meet on Tuesday 16th
December 2003 to review the list of applicants, decide from the list how the
places should be allocated/balloted etc. Don't miss out!!!! If you would
like to be considered for a place, contact Andy Bickerstaff or Clare
Nicholson (contact details below) or one of the committee members or coaches
now...".
MOB MATCH v THAMES HARE & HOUNDS Saturday November 29th on Wimbledon
Common.
It was very pleasing indeed to count in 53 finishers for Ranelagh on
Saturday in our away match against Thames. This must be our biggest mob for
an away fixture for many years and was a just reward for some hard work put
in by several members to encourage more blue vests to the starting line.
That we narrowly failed to overcome the mighty Hare & Hounds was almost a
minor detail. We outnumbered them by 7 - a great achievement in itself - but
they had 14 of the first 20 home. But even with such a substantial early
deficit, scoring 46 a side we very nearly overhauled them - a testament to
the old adage that the outcome of mob matches depends not only on the fleet
of foot but also on the mid-fielders and the tail-enders.
The Common was much drier than might have been anticipated, especially after
the heavy morning rain which relented only just in time for us to venture
out of the changing rooms. There were a few soft patches but even the
infamous 'butts' near the finish were not too bad.
Paul Doyle ran well to mix it with the leading Thames runners and Sara
Grosvenor and Sarah Seal led home the 23 women in the race, of whom no less
than 16 were from Ranelagh. Sara was accompanied across the line by her
brother Alex in his first race for Ranelagh for many years. Alex, Ed Barker
and Christian Vaughan formed a trio that had not run together since they
were all very small juniors back in the mid-1980s!
Anything but small juniors, Messrs Wright, Rowland and Forrest could be seen
running together at one early point in the race: between them they can boast
something over 300 mob matches! For the rest, there were good runs and bad
runs, but most people seemed to be enjoying the scenic tour of the Common,
even Marina and Bev who brought up the rear in the gathering gloom.
Alastair Sinclair takes up the story:
"Having 53 finish an away mob match was an effort much appreciated by many
members and we hope that the trend will continue for the remaining two mob
match fixtures for this season.
As usual after finishing, a few of the faster runners (Bickerstaff, Doyle,
Peace, etc) jogged back out onto the course to cheer the slower Ranelagh
runners back home. Thames's lousy hot water system ensured that these guys,
and the slower finishers, were rewarded with a cold shower!
In the evening Thames hosted the post-race supper at The Albert Arms in
Kingston, a new venue from previous years since the vicinity of their
clubhouse is now void of any appropriate establishments. The evening was
very well attended, especially by Ranelagh. Even Thames were not expecting
such a large turnout from us, as evidenced by the fact the food pretty much
ran out before everyone was satisfied. With chicken curry, chilli and rice
forming the menu, the vegetarian contingent was understandably unimpressed.
The wine (provided by the Brasher fund) flowed fast, yet could still not
make the Thames captain's joke sound funny or worth the wait for the
punchline. Not able to keep up with Thames on the running course, Ranelagh's
'humorous' offering was recited by Marcus Gohar, ensuring that Ranelagh
could match Thames with an equally bad joke. John Bryant entertained by
performing his customary recital of 'The First Meeting of the Thames Hare
and Hounds and the Ranelagh Harriers'. As usual he followed this by leading
the gathering in the Thames Saltire song.
What Thames lacked in the food department, they made up for with gin &
tonic. Towards the end of the evening, several Ranelagh ladies were
surpassing all expectations of participation, fuelled by rather large
(almost half pint) measures of G&T. By the end of the evening, all were
partaking of Thames's generous measures of G&T, many without the benefit of
the T!"
MAYLARCH 10 Km Sunday November 30th at Eynsham
Peter Haarer finished 2nd overall but won the Oxfordshire championship.
1 A Gardiner (Windsor) 31.59
2 Peter Haarer 32.35
REEBOK CROSS CHALLENGE Saturday November 22nd at Liverpool
1 J Pavey (Exeter) 18.30
65 Alice Beverly 22.14
85 Estelle Damant 23.06
WOLVERTON 5 Miles Saturday November 22nd
1 K Cullen (Chelmsford) 23.46
37 Mick Lane 27.33
VETERANS AC 6.2 Miles cross-country Saturday November 22nd on Wimbledon
Common
(Over 65)
1 Alan Howard 42.45
KINGSTON & POLY 7 Miles Saturday November 29th in Richmond Park
1 A Arbour (K&P) 39.52
9 Stephen Instone 44.38
REEBOK BRIGHTON 10 Km Sunday November 16th
Further details:
Women
1 A Fletcher (Dulwich) 35.33
5 Sarah Seal 36.50
59 Sonia Rowland 43.27
192 Thérèse Panetta 50.28
217 Janet Turnes 51.50
241 Julie Naismith 52.47
Men
1 S Moran (Brighton) 30.52
156 Jacus Engelbrecht 39.12
354 Steve Rowland 43.38
THE BALLBUSTER Sunday November 9th at Box Hill
Bridget Cuthbert fills in the gory details:
"The Ballbuster...aptly named as it a race and a half..well I think so
anyway. I don't know what it is about it as I have completed many more
gruelling events like a 24 hour adventure race, Comrades marathon and the
likes. But it has to be said Box Hill 5 times is tough...especially the
final 8 mile run!
Even though I classify myself as a runner more than a cyclist, I never feel
like one as I dismount the bike and my legs feel unnatural and my gait is
awkward as I try to stride out. This year was my 4th attempt at this event
and I did a PW (yep a personal worst!). On my third lap on the bike I
simply ran out of fuel and decided it was wise to stop at the side of the
road and quit, however I happened to stop next to a chap who had come 4th in
the event the previous year and he gave me an energy bar and a drink. After
a chat with him, I thought I had better finish this race as I would not be
able to forgive myself for quitting, so I got back on the bike and completed
the final lap and the run.
So next year I will be back, hopefully with more training under the belt,
but I always appreciate the beautiful countryside at this time of the year,
when all the leaves are changing colour and the early morning mist glides
over the top of Box Hill. For info on the race if you are interested in
doing it yourself see www.humanrace.co.uk ".
A CHRIS BRASHER MISCELLANY
This is a collection of quotes by or about Chris Brasher, plus some
reminiscences from Ranelagh members and a few pictures. I have already sent
it in the form of a Word file to some of the membership but I'm aware that
at 1.8mb not all e-mail systems will accept it, especially Hotmail. There is
a version on our website (look under News) which includes all the text but
excludes most of the photos and other illustrations. If you haven't received
a copy of the full version and would like to, please contact me.
MAX SPORTS
Malcolm McBride of Max Sports in Twickenham (sponsors of our Dysart Dash and
the Surrey Ladies Cross-Country League) is celebrating the shop's 10th
birthday and for this Thursday, Friday and Saturday only all stock items
will be 25% off for Ranelagh members. Show a fixture list or something to
prove membership.
TUESDAY NIGHT SESSIONS
Speed / hill sessions lined up to torture you over the next few weeks -
starting from the clubhouse at 7pm.
Dec 9th 2 x 7 mins effort, 2 x 5 mins, 2 x 2 mins
Dec 16th 3 x 5 mins effort, 3 x 3 mins
Dec 23rd Christmas special!
SLH CHRISTMAS PARTY
There will be a Christmas party with a band in the South London Harriers
clubhouse at Coulsdon on the evening of our mob match with them on December
20th and any Ranelagh members who would like to stay on will be more than
welcome.
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 December 6th Inter-club races in Richmond Park: Dysart Cup
(women) including the Hugh Jones Salver club women's championship and
Trish's Trophy club veteran (over 40) women's championship - 3.8 miles
starting at 2pm; and the Ellis Trophy (men) 5 miles starting at 2.30pm.
Saturday December 13th Surrey League Division 1 - men at Reigate
(2.30pm juniors, 3pm seniors), women at Lightwater Country Park (12.30pm
seniors, 1.15pm and 1.45pm juniors)
Saturday December 20th Stubbs Cup Mob Match v South London Harriers
at Farthing Downs, Coulsdon. 7.5 miles, start at 2.30pm. All runners
welcome!
Tuesday December 23rd Junior Points Prize race 2, 2.30pm in Richmond
Park. Hot mince pies promised afterwards!
Saturday December 27th Henty Relay in Richmond Park. Our Christmas
fun relay for all members and friends. 2km legs, start time 2pm but be at
the clubhouse by 1.30pm to be sure of getting in a team.
Steve Rowland
e-mail: srowland@calor.co.uk
Tel: 01926 318734
Fax: 0870 4006901