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 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 133              17 MARCH 2004
 Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com  
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 HEADLINE NEWS
 *  Ranelagh win silver medals in the South of the Thames Senior Championship
 *  Sub-70 minutes half marathon for Peter Haarer

 FINCHLEY 20 MILES  Sunday March 21st at 1pm
 This is four laps of five miles around Ruislip, despite the name. It
 incorporates our club championship for the Spendlove Cup. It seems to be
 London Marathon long run day, as competing events which will also be
 attracting some Ranelagh runners include the Kingston 16m (and 8m) and the
 Cranleigh 21m (and 15m). If that's not enough, next Sunday sees the Worthing
 20m. 

 BAKER CUP 3 MILES ROAD HANDICAP  Saturday April 3rd in Richmond Park,
 starting at 3pm.
 This is open to all members, all speeds, all ages - the more the merrier. It
 starts in the centre of the Park, near White Lodge, but please note that the
 car park at the Pen Ponds will be closed for redevelopment at this time.
 That should make it quieter for our race, but less convenient for those who
 prefer to drive to the start. Robin Hood Gate car park is probably the next
 closest, but this is a fairly small one and could well fill up.

 RANELAGH RAMBLE
 Peter Saw writes:
 "20 March events include, for the hard men & women, the Orion 15 (a fifteen
 mile race through Epping Forest) and for everyone else the Ranelagh Ramble -
 about five or six miles in the morning and about five in the afternoon. The
 morning will start from Chingford Station at about 10.30am, lunch will be at
 or near the Royal Forest Hotel (Orion Harriers' HQ) and the afternoon
 session will begin at 1.30-ish. Further information from Carol Barnshaw".

 SOUTH OF THE THAMES "SENIOR" CHAMPIONSHIP  Saturday 13th March at Stanmer
 Park, Brighton
 Rain and hail on the road south had given way to a glorious sunny afternoon
 with clear blue skies by the time the race got under way. Stanmer Park is
 perched on the edge of the Downs above Brighton and offered firm going on a
 chalky hillside. 

 Alas, a change of date to the fag end of the season combined with an
 out-of-London venue produced a field of barely 100 runners. When the South
 of the Thames committee meets at the end of this month it is quite on the
 cards that they will decide that they have been flogging a long-deceased
 horse and the race will be discontinued. This will be a shame in some ways.
 Admittedly the cross-country season is chock-a-block with fixtures, but the
 two South of Thames races with their various barring clauses did allow
 lesser lights a chance of some transient glory. Ranelagh has certainly
 grasped the opportunity and our team has finished 4th, 3rd and 2nd in this
 event in consecutive years. We'd better hope for one more race at least, to
 complete the sequence!
 
 On the day, Crawley were in a class of their own in both the 6-to-score and
 the 12-to-score events. They filled 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places behind the
 winning Moroccan and were quite unassailable after that. Captain Bicks's
 hopes had rested principally on the 12-to-score, but as it turned out we
 were always well placed in the main 6-to-score reckoning. Paul Doyle led our
 team from the start, contesting 4th place for a while before settling into
 an isolated 7th. If only he could run up hills as fast as he comes down
 them! PG bounced along as our second runner for most of the way before being
 overhauled by the Captain; Marius meanwhile was gradually closing on both of
 them. PC Mick patrolled not far behind and then we had to wait for our 6th
 scorer to secure the silver medals. 

 This was Handicapper Will, looking strong for two of the three circuits but
 then suddenly losing ground. His foot, it transpired, had gone down a rabbit
 hole but he pressed on without losing any places and most deservedly held on
 as our 6th man, even if it meant limping up to the presentation of the
 medals afterwards. President Peace followed him home and David, Jacus, Rob,
 Neil and Andy completed the 12. Messrs Naish and Jacques were on hand in
 case of emergencies, but Scott Haddow was another to fall victim to the
 bunnies.

 Medals duly collected (you can see the smiling mug shots on our web site),
 it was back to Neil Walford's on the other side of Brighton for a sumptuous
 tea.
   

 BATH HALF MARATHON  Sunday March 14th
 Clare Nicholson writes:
 "Despite dismal conditions (horizontal driving rain) plus being hindered by
 tail enders during the second lap at Bath yesterday, Pete Haarer smashed his
 1/2 marathon PB to run under 70 minutes for the first time and Anna
 McLaughlin BLEW her own 1/2 marathon PB by 2 minutes running 1:33 (with a 10
 miles pb en route into the bargain!).  

 A rare sighting of the lesser spotted Grant Lemke surprised those of us
 foolhardy enough to be spectating at the event.  Jenni Kruse DEFINITELY
 finished (cos we saw her going round the last bend). She had knee trouble
 but ran 1.41. Jane Wyatt came in at 2.21 and second claimer Paul
 Sinton-Hewitt ducked under  74 minutes". 

 Peter's 69.29 moves him up from 16th to 12th in Ranelagh's all-time list. He
 adds: "Yes, Bath can only be described as cold and wet - before the delayed
 start I don't remember being so close to hypothermia since sharing a bog
 with a dead sheep that night on top of Cross Fell.  And next time I do a
 distance race I'll make sure the elastic in my shorts is in better
 condition...."
 
 1 J Riri (Kenya) 1.02.20
 23 Peter Haarer 1.09.29
 40 Paul Sinton-Hewitt (Str) 1.13.58
 273 Grant Lemke 1.28.26
 442 Anna McLaughlin 1.33.06
 891 Jenni Kruse 1.41.46
 3325 Jane Wyatt 2.21.34

 FLEET HALF MARATHON  Sunday March 14th
 No detailed results yet but Wyn Williams ran about 1.35, Simon Burrell set a
 pb of 1.40.50 and John Hanscomb.....finished.

 HASTINGS HALF MARATHON  Sunday March 14th
 Bev Ali writes:
 "Pat Hewlett and Noel Simpson were the only Ranelagh representatives at the
 Hastings Half. Pat was one of two women in the V60 group, and came second by
 only a few minutes.  Her time may have been her personal worst, but it was a
 very difficult course, the weather was likely not the best, and this is her
 first since her injury and layoff last year - it also looks even better when
 you consider that she had no less than 7 men in the V60 category BEHIND
 her........
 Pat has also become a grandmother for the fourth time - her second grandson,
 if we could all give thanks for a healthy boy!" 

 1 F Mogaka (Kenya) 1.04.23
 731 Noel Simpson 1.42.32
 2977 Pat Hewlett 2.32.10

 FRANK HARMER 10km  Sunday February 29th in Brockwell Park
 1 J Trapmore (Shaft B) 31.29
 4 Paul Doyle 32.52
 66 Steve Rowland 41.43
 82 Alan Davidson 43.03
 138 Phil Aiken 47.24

 SILVERSTONE HALF MARATHON  Sunday March 7th
 One additional Ranelagh finisher: Sally Meekley, 3722nd in 2.01.49.

 MARATHON SEMINAR  Thursday March 18th
 Anna McLaughlin writes:
 "Tomorrow is the third and final marathon seminar at St Mary's in  
 Twickenham.  The seminars are free and start at 7:30pm.  Maybe I'll see some
 of you there! Details and a bit of blurb about it are below:

 Runners heading for this year's Flora London Marathon are invited to the UK
 Athletics Endurance Performance Centre at St Mary's University Twickenham on
 Thursday 18 March to receive tip-top advice. 

 London winners Joyce Smith (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers) and Eamonn Martin
 (Basildon AC) have been enlisted for the third and final seminar in a series
 designed by UKA National Event Coach Bud Baldaro to deliver expert advice to
 this year's hopefuls. 

 Smith, an endurance running pioneer when women were not always encouraged to
 run much further than 800m, will always be known as London's First Lady. She
 was the first woman over the line in the first two London Marathons -
 clocking 2:29:57 in 1981 and 2:29:43 in 1982. To give an idea of how far
 ahead of her time she was, the A-standard qualifying time for the women's
 marathon at this year's Olympic Games in Athens is 2:37:00.

 Martin, so versatile that he won the English National Cross Country title in
 1984 and 1992 as well as holding the UK 10,000m record at 27:23.06 for a
 decade from 1988, was the last UK man to win a London Marathon,
 unforgettably out-sprinting Isidro Rico (Mexico) in 1993".

 ON THE TRACK
 Margaret Auerback writes:
 "The Southern Masters Track and Field League is starting at the beginning of
 May. If you took part last year I am sure you want to be there again this
 year!

 We had a superb team last year but we need some more of you on the team this
 year so that events can be shared out a bit more. This also means everybody
 having a better chance of a good performance in their main event. I
 definitely need some over 35 women 1500 and 3000 metre runners. The dates
 are 10th May, 24th May, 21st June and 12th July. It's very important that we
 get a full team into the first fixture to show we mean business! Please put
 the dates in your diary now. In order to be fit and fast in time for May how
 about joining us at the Thursday night track sessions? These are starting on
 1st April at 6.30p.m at Barn Elms track near the Wetland Centre in Barnes.
 Sessions are suitable for first timers through to whizz kids. The first two
 sessions will probably be fairly short, to get used to the track again and
 also because it gets dark early. 

 Other dates to make a note of:- 
 Surrey Vets track and field champs at Kingston on 19th June. 
 National Masters track and field champs at Birmingham on 26th / 27th June. 
 More details later. 
 See you at Barn Elms on 1st April!" 

 TROPHIES
 Alan Hedger has collected up most of our trophies ready for engraving before
 this year's awards presentation at the end of April, but if there are any
 more still out there would the holders please contact Alan right away on
 01372 740626. 

 TUESDAY NIGHT SESSIONS
 Speed / hill sessions lined up to torture you over the next few weeks -
 starting from the clubhouse at 7pm.
 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
 April 13th 7 x (30 secs + 1 min) Holly Lodge Hill 

 LONDON MARATHON SPONSORSHIP
 Mike Rowland writes:
 "I'm race-walking the marathon for Tim Woolmer's charity again. It's the
 Westminster Pastoral Foundation who help people in need of counselling and
 psychotherapy who cannot afford professional rates. Any potential sponsors,
 please contact me at mailto:mikerowland@tfl.gov.uk ". 

 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 ).  

 Sunday March 21st                 Finchley 20 miles incl Spendlove Cup club
 championship; Kingston Breakfast Run 8 and 16 miles; Cranleigh 15 and 21
 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. 

 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

 FINALLY
 From the London Evening Standard:
 "Veteran runner Eileen O'Neill came last in her home town's half marathon -
 because she stopped to use the loo. As Eileen sat on the lavatory, workmen
 arrived and with a forklift truck hoisted the Portaloo onto the back of a
 lorry. The 74 year old was only freed when running pal Gareth Jones raised
 the alarm. It meant she came last in the Reading half marathon. 'By the time
 I got out of the loo they had cleared most of the course away,' said Eileen,
 who added there weren't any race officials left at the finish to hand out
 her medal."

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