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Newsdesk 2004
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 135 7 APRIL 2004
Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
* Baker Cup win for Ian Grange and women's course record for Allison O'Neill
* Paul Doyle finishes 2nd in the Thames Towpath 10
* Marie Synnott-Wells under 3 hours in Paris
* Another record for Ed Whitlock
* Building Fund Draw
THE ANNUAL "BAKER CUP" SUPPER AND PRIZE-GIVING Saturday April 24th
A reminder that this will take place on Saturday April 24th upstairs in the
Dysart. Price not yet fixed, but probably about a tenner. Book with Carol
Barnshaw on 020 8898 9285 or c_barnshaw@yahoo.com.
LONDON MARATHON ACHES AND PAINS PARTY Sunday April 18th
Our usual get together after the race will take place at Janet and Manuel's
pub 'The Wych Elm' in Elm Road, Kingston. All runners (+ medals!),
spectators and couch potatoes welcome - from about 7.30pm.
GREEN BELT RELAY Saturday May 8th and Sunday May 9th
It looks like we'll have four teams out in all, including women's and men's
teams, but there are still a few places left to fill. So if you fancy taking
part, fast or slow, please let me know straight away. You have to be able to
run at some time on both days, but you don't have to give up the whole
weekend. Stage lengths average about 10 miles. See the race web site
www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk for more info. You can find a summary of the stages
at www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk/stage.htm
BAKER CUP 3 MILES ROAD HANDICAP Saturday April 3rd in Richmond Park
Handicap specialist Ian Grange pulled off another coup by storming through
the pack ahead of him to secure another trophy for the Grange mantlepiece.
He already looked a winner at the half-way point, but as the runners set off
on the final leg of the course it was Bert Grieco who was still grimly
holding on to the lead. Ian was tiring but ran Bert down before the last
turn and came home with 18 seconds to spare. Bert ran in strongly for the
silver, followed by Jamie Atkins and Deborah Blakemore who were both
competing as guests. So it was Liz Kipling, 5th across the line, who will
take the bronze medal. Hot on Liz's heels came Adam Tapley, setting the
day's fastest time of 17.28.
Adam's run thwarted what would have been a historic performance from Allison
O'Neill. As it was she set a women's course record, but in the end there was
only Adam between her and the day's fastest time overall - a feat never yet
achieved by a woman. Allison did secure second fastest and Chris Owens was
third. It was good to see some of our juniors well up, Richard Sim finishing
as 7th fastest, Matt Hirschler only six seconds behind in 8th and Jamie
Atkins 15th. The Lotinga Cup will go to Richard for the fastest junior time
of the day.
FULLERS THAMES TOWPATH 10 MILES Sunday April 4th at Chiswick Ranelagh
Grand Prix Race 1
Paul Doyle put in another good road performance - or in this case road and
towpath - to finish an isolated 2nd and kick off the Ranelagh Road Grand
Prix with maximum points. Stephen Instone and Trevor Maguire followed on at
a respectable distance and then came Liz Kipling and Kathy Mallett, 4th and
5th in the women's race and both inside 70 minutes. Brownie points to Liz,
John Hughes, Corinne Bishop, Janet Turnes and John Hanscomb who had also run
the 'Baker' the day before!
PARIS MARATHON Sunday April 4th
Our new second-claim member Marie Synnott-Wells ran exceptionally well to
duck under the 3 hour barrier. "The last six miles were awful," she writes,
"But the flavour of the day ensured that I finished".
Martin Harrison comments:
"The course starts down the Champs Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe and is
simply stunning. Despite the numbers (30,400) the start corrals were pretty
well organised. The course then runs across the city to the east side before
turning round and coming all the way back to the Avenue Foch by the Arc de
Triomphe. Apart from a couple of 3/4 mile stretches in the parkland of the
Bois de Vincennes and the Bois de Boulogne, you run through crowded streets
of cheering supporters, passing one well known landmark after another. The
weather was relatively kind (sunny skies with a stiff breeze) so combined
with the Parisian hospitality and enthusiastic support, this goes down as
one of the truly great experiences, not to mention a great excuse for a long
weekend away in a marvellous city".
Marina Quayle adds:
"Jo and I had a brilliant time in Paris, particularly Jo of course who
finished the marathon in 4.01 a PB 1 hour and 6 min faster than Vienna! I
followed her around the course on the metro and managed to see her five
times, she looked really strong all the way through. The weather was perfect
and Jo was positively glowing when she finished. In
the evening we went to celebrate at Chez Paul near the Bastille, a
restaurant which I knew from having lived in Paris, typically French protein
laden food! Jo wore her medal and was loudly applauded by another table when
she got up to go the toilets and got a standing ovation from the whole
restaurant when we left! We even managed some shopping the following morning
before catching the Eurostar home! Vive la France!"
1 A Tolosa (Ethiopia) 2.08.56
1266 Marie Synnott-Wells 2.58.17 (chip time 2.57.55)
14729 Martin Harrison 3.59.56 (3.52.56)
17804 Jo Turner 4.10.11 (4.01.15)
OMAGH HALF MARATHON Saturday March 27th
Trevor Maguire reports:
"This was quite a big race with a lot of runners from all over Ireland. I
finished 47th out of 391 finishers and my time was 1 hr 25 mins 22 sec. This
was a PB and funnily enough I also did a PB for 10 miles - 1 hr 5 mins 40
secs - which was 1 sec faster than I did in the 10 miles last weekend on the
Thames Towpath 10!"
PADDOCK WOOD HALF MARATHON Sunday March 28th
Tom Reay finished in 1.40.21.
23rd CORRENDO NEI GIARDINI 10k Sunday 7th March 2004 at Ladispoli, Italy
Sandy Clark reports:
"After the despair of watching Scotland sucumb to the might of Italy in the
Six Nations there was only one way to restore national pride; take the
locals on in a road race! So it was that having caroused the bars of Rome
until 2am and fuelled by Frascati and Grappa I received the wake up call at
6.30 am for the 35 mile journey up the coast from Rome for this 10k race.
Naturally the skies opened the moment I left the hotel to walk to Termini
station and prompted some self doubt as to the sense of this exercise.
Arriving in Ladispoli it was apparent the race was actually taking place,
however with a two hour wait until the off there was plenty of time for a
warm up and a few large espressos to counter the previous night's alcohol.
By the start of the race numbers had swelled to a few hundred and within the
first few hundred yards the rain had started again and the wind got up; so
much for the Mediterranean weather I had expected. Having got into a stride
of sorts through two kilometres my confidence was dented by an attack of the
Grappa effect and an increasing lethargy in my thighs before the course
suddenly veered off the road and down country tracks into "la campagna". Of
course I was unprepared for this having brought neither dry socks nor a
change of T-Shirt to change into after the race. The country aspect was akin
to running a few laps around the pen ponds on a wet January day with similar
enormous puddles. Concentrating on not tripping and falling into a puddle
seemed to relieve the Grappa and the 7k mark arrived without further
incident. The last 3k was into the wind and the finish along the beach
front promenade was reached in an approximate time of 44 minutes (the full
results and official times have yet to be put on the organizing club's web
site).
With 90 minutes to wait until the train back to Rome I had time to watch the
prize-giving ceremony and reflect that at least the gift of a bumbag for
finishing was better than the tray of artichokes won by one lucky lady. What
that could have done to my guts! The conclusion? - well I was not last and
there were a good few Italians behind me which was more than the rugby team
could say for themselves".
ED WHITLOCK...
...writes from Canada:
"My problems seem to be in remission at the moment and a couple of weekends
ago I managed to beat the M70 world indoor 1500m record 5:12.22 without any
speed work. Long, slow, distance seems to work well for me". Photo
DEVIZES TO WESTMINSTER CANOE RACE
The very best of luck to Milos Dusek and Bridget Cuthbert who have teamed up
to attempt this gruelling 125 mile race over the Easter weekend. They have
already completed the Devizes to Newbury 35 miles event as a warm-up, which
they finished in just over 6 hours. This puts them on schedule for a 22 - 24
hours time for the full Monty. Bridget writes: "We should be at Teddington
Lock between 7-9 am on Easter Sunday morning, so come along and support if
you fancy it! Maybe a run/ride along the river towards Westminster. Our
race number is 345 and our boat is orange".
BUILDING FUND DRAW
Winners of the draw made after the Baker Cup race:
Alan Meaden £150, Carol Barnshaw £63 and Chris Read £37.
MARGARET AUERBACK'S...
...e-mail address is now margaret.auerback@btinternet.com
TUESDAY NIGHT SESSIONS
Speed / hill sessions lined up to torture you over the next few weeks -
starting from the clubhouse at 7pm. Marathoners excused!
April 13th 7 x (30 secs + 1 min) Holly Lodge Hill
April 20th 3 x 5 mins and 3 x 3 mins
April 27th 1500 metres time trial + 3 x 3 mins
NEXT...
The 2003/04 fixture list, together with details of the 2004 Ranelagh Road
Grand Prix, can be found 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 April 18th London Marathon. Ranelagh Road GP race 2
Sunday May 2nd Sutton 10km. Ranelagh Road GP race 3 and
Surrey Road League race 1
Saturday May 8th / Sunday May 9th Green Belt Relay
FINALLY
The Scottish Schools Football Association have decreed that any match where
the half-time score exceeds 5-0 should be restarted at 0-0 in the second
half with the losing side allowed an additional two players.
This is a splendid idea which we could very well adapt to our cross-country
season. Mob matches, for example, could be stopped after one lap and
restarted with the last placed runner setting off first. That might put
Thames Hare & Hounds in their place....
Steve Rowland
e-mail: srowland@calor.co.uk
Tel: 01926 318734
Fax: 0870 4006901