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Newsdesk 2004
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 132 10 MARCH 2004
Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
* Allison O'Neill finishes 28th in the Inter-Counties
* Jo Ronaldson runs 82.49 Half Marathon
* Andy Bickerstaff wins Inter-Club
* Dan Jermy, Robert Curtis, Alex Hook and Alex McKenna win the Junior
Points Prize titles
SOUTH OF THE THAMES "SENIOR" CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday 13th March at Stanmer
Park, Brighton
It's the very tail end of a long cross-country season, but we picked up
bronze medals in this event last year and finished as runners-up in the
12-to-score competition. We may not have as strong a team this time but
Captain Bicks has a good crowd heading for the coast on Saturday and if
anyone else fancies a run they can probably be accommodated. Start time is
2.30pm, then it's tea at Neil Walford's!
RANELAGH RAMBLE
Peter Saw writes:
"The next Ranelagh Ramble will take place on Saturday 20 March. It will be a
figure of eight based on the Royal Forest Hotel/Orion Harriers HQ/Butlers
Retreat/Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge (an interesting museum open on
Saturday afternoons) in Epping Forest. Everyone is welcome to join us. The
morning will start from Chingford Station following the arrival of the 10:34
train (10:07 from Liverpool Street, 10:22 from Walthamstow Central [Victoria
line from Vauxhall which is on the main line from Kingston etc. and Richmond
etc.]). The route has not yet been fully planned but will pass the Royal
Forest Hotel before heading south along the River Ching to Chingford Hatch
and then turn north to Pole Hill and lunch at or close to the Royal Forest
Hotel. The afternoon will not start before 1:30 p.m. if anyone wants to join
us for the afternoon only. It will head north towards High Beach and will
provide a chance to support the Ranelagh participants in the Orion Fifteen".
VIRUS WARNING
Computer Ken writes:
"Please be on high alert for the current e-mail virus W32Netsky. It's quite
prolific at the moment - I have received six in the last three days. Delete
any e-mail you are unsure of, and don't on any account open the attachment
containing the virus".
INTER-COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday March 6th at Nottingham
Allison O'Neill writes: "I was in a Northern Ireland vest for the first time
in 20 years! I had a good run in 28th, managing to stay ahead of Lucy
Hasell, Dorchie Lee and Jo Kelsey (the Surrey champ, whom I hadn't raced
this season), and only 7 secs behind Julia Bleasdale, who was 2nd in the
Southerns when I lost my shoe". Behind Allison, Sarah Seal was 6th scorer
for the Surrey team that finished in 5th place and Alice Beverly, in her
first senior county vest, was tracking her all the way. Jessica Harvey and
Anair Beverly represented the county in the junior events, while for
Oxfordshire in the men's race Peter Haarer had what he describes as a
"respectable" run, 109th and 3rd man home for his team.
Women
Peter Haarer was in action again a day later, finishing 2nd in the Oxford
Mail League for Headington Road Runners and securing for himself the senior
and overall individual titles.
READING HALF MARATHON Sunday March 7th
Reading's new course was generally considered fast, but runners had to
contend with hail and snow showers during the race. In the circumstances, Jo
Ronaldson's 82.49 for 10th place in the women's section was outstanding. It
lifts her to 4th in Ranelagh's all-time list and augurs well for a fast time
in the London Marathon. There were good runs elsewhere in the pack too,
including some half marathon debutantes. Anna McLaughlin's apparent demise
can be explained by the fact that she was pacing some friends (that's her
story anyway).
The offical results don't include club names, so the list below may be
incomplete. If anybody else took part, please let me know.
1 J Kimtai (Kenya) 1.01.38 (chip time 1.01.38)
62 Paul Graham 1.17.37 (1.17.18)
165 Jo Ronaldson 1.22.49 (1.22.45)
1290 John Keep 1.40.15 (1.39.29)
2294 Alice Gilks 1.47.56 (1.44.09)
2305 Evelyn Joslin 1.47.57 (1.43.33)
2412 Julia Langensiepen 1.48.22 (1.44.18)
2720 Eleonora Zona 1:50:30 (1:49:38)
3375 Simon Burrell 1.54.40 (1.47.49)
4795 Rodney Oliver 2.03.51 (1.57.46)
5640 Marina Quayle 2.10.16 (2.03.14)
5783 David Rowntree 2.11.41 (2.10.55)
6211 Lorna Smith 2.16.50 (2.09.49)
7256 Anna McLaughlin 2.44.02 (2.36.22)
INTER-CLUB 3.8 miles Saturday March 6th in Richmond Park
Inter two clubs only this year, and just 27 starters. Andy Bickerstaff took
the opportunity to record a victory by 10 seconds but the next three home
were from Hercules and this gave them the edge in the team scoring. Will
Graves followed the red and gold vests home, with Mike Peace and the
improving Trevor Maguire not far behind. John Herries and Christian Vaughan
completed the Ranelagh scoring six.
SILVERSTONE HALF MARATHON Sunday March 7th
1 M Smith (Tipton) 1.06.07
2304 Scott Haddow 1.51.48
2981 Steve McClune 1.56.34
3973 Karen Broadbent 2.04.00
STEYNING MULTI-TERRAIN HALF MARATHON Sunday March 7th
Tom Reay finished in 1.59.09: "The time is slow by half marathon standards
but it is a hard course. There are two very steep hills, where it is nearly
quicker to walk than run".
GLOUCESTER 20 MILES Sunday March 7th
Lucy Burnett finished in 2.45.25.
FRANK HARMER 10km Sunday February 29th in Brockwell Park
Complete results haven't surfaced yet but it was another strong performance
on a hilly course from Paul Doyle.
1 J Trapmore (Shaft B) 31.29
4 Paul Doyle 32.52
Steve Rowland 41.43
Alan Davidson 43.03
Phil Aiken 47.24
JUNIOR POINTS PRIZE RACE 4 Saturday February 28th in Richmond Park
This was the final event of the series, with big prizes at stake! OK, little
prizes, but the competition was fierce nonetheless. There were fewer
competitors than in the earlier races so boys and girls ran together this
time. Dan Jermy very rapidly detached himself from the crowd and disappeared
into the distance and the rest wouldn't have seen him for dust if the
available dust hadn't been firmly frozen to the ground. His 7.51 was the
fastest time of the whole series, and secured him the Under 15 title ahead
of Matt Hirschler who also chased him home today.
Alex Hook had things pretty much her own way in the Under 15 Girls section
and she crossed the line just ahead of the tightest finish of the lot, the
Under 13 Boys. Robert Curtis just got his nose in front of Tom Culverwell
and Harry Graham and this was sufficent to give Robert the overall win. In
the Under 13 Girls section only one point had separated Alex McKenna and
Victoria Elbourne before today, but at the start Alex was nowhere to be
seen. Delayed in traffic she arrived five minutes late but was allowed to
run a solo time trial. This turned out to be 8.54, the fastest time of the
season for her age group. Victoria also put in a great run of 9.09 - both of
them faster than the boys! - but the overall title went to Alex.
Boys Under 15
1 Dan Jermy 7.51
2 Matt Hirschler 8.22
3 Frank Brown Griffiths 9.19
Final scores: Dan Jermy 18, Matt Hirshler 16, Joseph Rake 13, Frank Brown
Griffiths 12, Lloyd Bridger 4, Max Heartland 2
Boys Under 13
1 Robert Curtis 9.37
2= Tom Culverwell 9.38
2= Harry Graham 9.38
4 David Ready 10.37
5 Hugo Muirhead 11.55
Final scores: Robert Curtis 18, Tom Culverwell 15, David Ready 12, Harry
Graham 11, Max Bridger 9, George Brown Griffiths 7, Hugo Muirhead 2,
Sebastian Graff 1, George Hutchinson 1, James Cordwell 1, Alexander Woods 1
Girls Under 15
1 Alex Hook 9.34
2 Rhiannon Mehta 17.13
Final scores: Alex Hook 18, Rhiannon Mehta 14, Emma Sibley 5
Girls Under 13
1 Alex McKenna 8.54
2 Victoria Elbourne 9.09
3 Becky Culverwell 10.01
4 Stephanie Croucher 10.11
5 Georgia Mainsarow 10.55
6 Rosie Polyer 11.15
7 Anna Mallett 11.24
8 Carolyn Guildford 11.30
Final scores: Alex McKenna 23, Victoria Elbourne 21, Becky Culverwell 12,
Stephanie Croucher 11, Holly Clemens 5, Georgia Mainsarow 4, Anna Mallett
4, Martha De Ferrer 4, Rosie Polyer 4, Carolyn Guildford 2, Rhian Lewis
2, Sophie Clifford 1, Manon Quayle 1, Clare O'Neill 1, Pamela Watson 1
ILKLEY MOOR FELL RACE 5 miles / 1260 feet climb Sunday 22nd February
This was the "warm-down" after the National for the incorrigables.
1 S Bailey (Staffs M) 35.31
59 Andy Bickerstaff 47.13
76 Chris Owens 49.15
108 Mike Peace 51.42
207 Neil Walford 59.24
209 Sarah Seal 59.34
McLEOD CUP
With just one event to go in this winter season points competition - the
Baker Cup on April 3rd - Mike Peace is unassailable in the men's competition
but the women's is still undecided. With Sonia Rowland, Sarah Seal and
Louise Piears all having held the lead over the past few weeks it's now
Louise who has come out on top and she pretty much only has to turn up for
the "Baker" to secure the prize. A full scoresheet can be found on our web
site. Current top ten:
Men
Mike Peace 1485, Andy Bickerstaff 1159, Will Graves 930, Paul Doyle 888,
Marcus Gohar 880, Chris Owens 847, Peter Haarer 796, Paul Graham 769,
Phil Aiken 761, Clive Naish 739
Women
Louise Piears 1131, Sarah Seal 1093, Kathy Mallett 969, Sonia Rowland
955, Corinne Bishop 929, Eliete Nascimento 762, Liz Kipling 584, Michele
Gibson 555, Carol Barnshaw 548, Lynsey Morris 483
CONGRATS...
...to Alice Beverly who has just been elected Captain of the Oxford
University Cross-Country Club.
TUESDAY NIGHT SESSIONS
Speed / hill sessions lined up to torture you over the next few weeks -
starting from the clubhouse at 7pm.
March 16th 2 x 5 x Ham Cross Hill
March 23rd 1/2/3/4/4/3/2/1 min efforts
March 30th Nightingale Lane hills: 4 x bottom, 3 x top, 4 x bottom
April 6th 10 x 2 mins
THE RON WHEELER HANDICAP
Andy Hayward writes:
"I work in the insurance industry in the City, and have run at lunchtimes
with a crowd of runners from that market for a number of years, several of
whom are Orion Harriers. I first ran with some of them in the 1970's and
80's, but only regularly for the last seven years. When I joined Ranelagh
eighteen months or so ago, I ran across John Hanscomb, and the previous
times I had met him were in the Insurance Athletic Association races of the
70's and 80's. He asked me about some of the characters from those times,
and mentioned the "Poly Handicap Race" that used to be run the last
Wednesday of the month from near Tower Bridge in the 70's. As it turns out,
these were some of the same guys that I am still running with at lunchtimes
now. I mentioned the race to them, and they all came out with fond memories
of it, but said that it had become too dangerous to continue with the
traffic (it was run along The Highway).
After a few beers, following the Insurance Athletic Association 10k last
summer I was talking to Alistair Aitken, the Athletics Weekly etc.
journalist, who with his connections always managed to get the results of
the original race in the Daily Telegraph. I wondered if it would be possible
to resurrect the race, although it would have to be on a safer, preferably
traffic free course. I floated the idea round via e-mail, and the response
was very good. A course was suggested, and even measured. The organisation
was taken on by Phil Hernon of Orion Harriers, and a permit obtained.
The result is the Ron Wheeler 2.5 Mile Handicap Race (named for the chap who
recorded the times at every one of the original races, and who passed away
fairly recently). It is to be held at 1:15pm on the last Wednesday of every
month, and the start (and finish) is along the canal just round the corner
from St. Katherine's Dock. We would be pleased to see anyone who wants to
take part, and John has promised to try and make it one month at least".
The first two editions of the race have already taken place, with Andy,
Chris Read and Alan Davidson amongst the competitors. The next will be on
March 31st.
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 March 13th South of the Thames "Senior" Championships
7.5 miles at Stanmer Park, Brighton starting at 2.30pm
Sunday March 21st Finchley 20 miles incl Spendlove Cup club
championship; Kingston Breakfast Run 8 and 16 miles
Sunday March 28th Worthing 20 miles
Saturday April 3rd Baker Cup 3 miles road handicap in
Richmond Park. Start near White Lodge in the centre of the Park at 3pm. Note
that the Pen Ponds car park will be closed at this time.
Sunday April 4th Thames Towpath 10 miles at Chiswick.
See www.west4harriers.org Ranelagh Road GP race 1
Sunday April 18th London Marathon. Ranelagh Road GP race 2
Steve Rowland
e-mail: srowland@calor.co.uk
Tel: 01926 318734
Fax: 0870 4006901