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Newsdesk 2004
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 150 16 SEPTEMBER 2004
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
* Surrey Road Relay gold medals for our men's over 40 and women's teams
* Relay course record for Jo Ronaldson
* 37.33 10km by Ed Whitlock - new world age 73 best
WHAT'S COMING...
The fixture list for the 2004/05 winter season, can be found on our web site.
More details of the following from
Andy Bickerstaff (07966 552302 / mailto: andy@norris-hobs.co.uk ) or
Phil Aiken (07739 035189 / mailto: phil.aiken@rnid.org.uk ) or
Anna McLaughlin (07971 606521 / mailto: anna.mclaughlin@itv.com ).
Saturday September 18th 124th Season Opening Run and Thomas Cup 3.8
miles handicap at 3pm , preceded at 2.30pm by the annual club photograph.
All members welcome - just turn up and enter on the day in the clubhouse.
But PLEASE NOTE - if you haven't yet paid your subs for 2004/2005 you may
not be permitted to take part - so bring a cheque! See our web site for more
details about the race including the history of the Thomas Cup itself, and
see below for details of the evening's party.
Saturday September 25th Men's Southern 6 stage relay (also 4 stage
relay for veterans) at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot. 12.30pm start.
Sunday September 26th Women's Southern 4 stage relay at Rushmoor
Arena, Aldershot. 3.30pm start.
Saturday October 2nd Page Cup 5 miles handicap in Richmond Park.
All members welcome - enter on the day in the clubhouse. 3pm start.
Saturday October 9th Surrey Women's Cross-Country League on
Wimbledon Common starting at 12.30pm (seniors, followed by junior races)
Surrey Men's Cross-Country
League in Brockwell Park starting at 2.30pm (juniors, followed by seniors at
3pm)
Saturday October 16th Surrey Veterans' Cross-Country Championships
in Richmond Park (women 6km at 2.30pm, men 8km at 3pm)
Invitation match v Oxford
University and others at Shotover, Oxford. See below
SOCIAL - OPENING RUN PARTY Saturday 18th September
This is being generously hosted by Paul Sinton-Hewitt, and all members and
friends are welcome to attend. Joint Social Sec Marina Quayle writes:
"It will begin at 7pm and we are asking people to bring food and wine. We
hope it will be fine so that we can enjoy the garden and we hope to have a
big turnout. The address is 13 Holmes Road, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham and
people should contact either Jo Turner or myself on our mobiles should they
have any queries. Jo's number is 07976 055856 and mine 07951 292379".
COACHING
Robin Drummond writes:
"I am giving 4 x 15 minute coaching talks on Thursdays at 7pm, starting on
the 23rd September. They are entitled 'Lose weight, get rich and knock ten
minutes off your 10km pb' and subtitled 'How much do you want to improve?'
All are welcome".
JUNIOR TRAINING...
...has restarted on Saturday mornings at 10am. Training schedules should
shortly appear on our web site, but in the meantime contact Frances
Ratchford for more details (mailto:grapevineproductions@compuserve.com).
TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE?
Phil Aiken writes:
"On Sunday September 26th our all-conquering women are competing in the
South of England Road Relay Championships in Aldershot. I'm sure they'd
appreciate some support but is anyone interested in running a race on the
way as well? In the morning the Julian Farrell Memorial 10k takes place in
Camberley and it is but a short journey from there to Aldershot. I'll
investigate transport for those without cars but more details of the race
can be found at www.camberleyathletics.org.uk".
INVITATION RACE at OXFORD UNIVERSITY Saturday 16th October
We've been invited back to a race that used to be a regular feature on our
fixture list, thanks to Alice Beverly who is the University cross-country
captain. Although it clashes with the Surrey veterans championships Andy
Bickerstaff is keen to support this event, where there will be both men's
and women's races. All are welcome to take part - contact Andy (details
above) if interested.
CABBAGE PATCH 10 miles road race Sunday 17th October at Twickenham
Note that entries are now closed.
FOUNDERS' CHALLENGE Sunday 17th October from Peaslake
Peter Saw writes:
"This is a 26 miles ramble through the Surrey Hills that will provide
excellent training for all endurance athletes. You can run or walk as you
please. Food at each of the checkpoints and a meal at the finish is included
in the entry fee of £5.00 (less for LDWA members and entries received before
the day). Entry forms in the clubhouse or see http://www.dasha.demon.co.uk.
COMMITTEE MEETING...
...in the clubhouse on Tuesday 28th September starting at 8.30pm.
WELCOME...
...to new members Monica Ayliffe, Diane Wilson, Kate Roberts, Margaret Fehn,
Tanya Wolken, Valerie Witzel, Sian Tingley, Beverly Walsh, Louise Neville,
Aileen Cahill, Kerry McLoughlin, Leanne Miles, Lucy Stevens, Lauren Shelley,
Crispin Willis, Tim Nash, Peter Weir, Seb Jones.
SURREY ROAD RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 11th September at Wimbledon Park
Until last year the Ranelagh women's team had placed in the medals twelve
times since 1984 but never won golds. In 2003 the team of Sarah Seal, Alice
Beverly, Liz Kipling and Sara Grosvenor broke the duck and in 2004 Alice and
Sara joined Jo Ronaldson and Estelle Damant to try to repeat the trick.
On the opening stage, Jo gave us the best possible start by setting a
marvellous new course record of 16.30. This was a great run and once again
underlines the fantastic improvement that Jo has made over the past twelve
months. She handed over to Estelle with the best part of a minute advantage
over our main rivals. Estelle followed by Sara ran strong well-judged laps
to maintain the lead but both South London and surprise packages Wimbledon
Windmilers closed the gap, so that when Alice set off for the anchor stage
she had just 15 seconds in hand over South London with the Windmilers a
further 9 seconds back. The stage was set for a grandstand finish and we
were not to be disappointed.
South London's experienced Gill O'Connor set off with a will in pursuit of
Alice, and Alice reports having been caught and passed within a couple of
minutes. On pressed O'Connor, up the steep hill to Wimbledon village and
back down to the Park. Alice wasn't panicking but at the park gates with
less than a mile to run O'Connor held a lead of some 50 metres. But the
finish here is deceptively tough. Before the run in to the stadium for the
final lap of the track there's a long slightly uphill drag and this year it
was into a stiff headwind too. O'Connor, suffering from her early efforts,
began to buckle while Alice, still looking strong, inexorably reeled her in.
Alice swept by with 600 metres remaining and O'Connor was immediately
looking back over her shoulder. Defending the silvers was all she could do
now - the race for the golds was over. Alice sprinted home to much
jubilation from her team-mates a good 17 seconds clear. You can see a photo
of the delighted quartet on our web site.
A few figures for the statsheads: our winning time was 81 seconds faster
than last year: Jo, who was in the vets team last time, improved by no less
than 2 mins 20 secs! Alice was over a minute and Sara more than half a
minute faster. Estelle, who didn't run in 2003, was over two minutes quicker
than in 2002.
The first team wasn't the end of the story. We had a record four senior and
two vets teams in the race, and the B and C teams finished 5th and 10th.
Sarah Seal, just back to training after injury, ran a solid 18.12 anchoring
the Bs, for whom we had already seen sub-19 minute runs from Anna McLaughlin
and Clare Gutch and a promising debut from Kerry McLoughlin. Fastest for the
Cs was another newcomer, Leanne Miles.
With some of our faster seniors unavailable for the men's race, it was
decided to go for glory in the Over 40s category, the team bolstered not
inconsiderably by the just-turned-40 Julian Smith. Marcus Gohar demonstrated
that he's right back in shape by running a close second on the opening
stage, a position consolidated by Andy Bickerstaff and Mick Lane on two and
three. Julian on the anchor set off with 25 seconds to make up on South
London but he was well up to the task. Sweeping imperiously into the lead
before the half distance he went on to cross the line with almost a minute
in hand, and set the day's second fastest vets time of 15.10. Marcus's 15.25
was 4th fastest.
Our Over 50s were contesting the medals early on too, thanks largely to
Chris Owens's opening 16.52, the third fastest of the day in that category.
Unfortunately Clive Beauvais, in his first race back as a Ranelagh
first-claimer and taking over in 3rd place on the penultimate stage, found
that he'd brought his injuries back with him too and was forced to jog the
last mile of his lap. But as it turned out, Reigate Priory were saving their
trump card for the final stage and we clearly could not have finished higher
than the 4th place we finally occupied.
We ran two senior teams and not surprisingly they were never in contention
for the medals but there were some encouraging performances. John Kipps ran
a solid opener and Ed Barker showed some good pace to set the team's fastest
time of 16.30. Rob Stillwell and newcomer Seb Jones were both inside 17
minutes and Neil Walford and Gareth Davies brought the team home in 12th
place. For the B team David Powell was fastest and it was good to see Niels
Andersen and Darren Wood back in action.
RIVER RELAY Sunday 12th September
We also ran a couple of teams in this charity event along the Thames from
Windsor to Ham. More details to follow.
ED WHITLOCK
More news of Ed's amazing exploits in Canada. This comes via Julian Smith
from the Runner's World web site at
http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/daily_news/0,,s6-0-0-0-0,00.html. Follow the
links to see a photo of Ed in action and sporting his Ranelagh vest!
"Ed Whitlock, 73, Sets Age Group World Record With 37:33 10K at Toronto
Island race.
In addition to his amazingly fast running performances, Whitlock could win
Great Hair contests with his full dome of strikingly white locks. He's the
Canadian who ran a 2:59:10 marathon last fall in the ScotiaBank Toronto
Waterfront Marathon, and apparently he's going to take another crack at it
on Sept. 26. He's the oldest runner ever to break 3 hours. The previous
fastest 10K for his age group was 38:04, also run by Whitlock.
Whitlock Runs To Race, Loves To Joke About Cemetery Running
On his favorite training course, in a cemetery: 'I don't have to show off in
here. You don't like to shuffle along when you're out on the roads, whereas
in the cemetery there's not so many people watching'. Why he runs: 'The main
reason I run is to race. I suppose there are health benefits, but like
anything it's not 100 per cent good or 100 per cent bad. I don't know what
all this is doing to my body'. We know what it's doing: it's making him
faster than any other 70+ runner".
PROMENADE 10km Sunday 12th September at Portsmouth
Mike Marshall was the leading veteran in 36.24.
SPIRE 10 miles (incl Derbyshire championships) Sunday 5th September at
Chesterfield
Phil Aiken reports:
"Funny thing county eligibility. I qualify for Warwickshire on the basis of
2½ years at the start of my life that I don't remember, yet being resident
in Chesterfield for more than ten times that length counts for nothing.
Hence the unchecked Derbyshire Qualified box on the entry form. Not that I
was ever going to be County Champion mind.
Still, I was afforded the opportunity to enjoy some long overdue hospitality
at the expense of my parents, catch up briefly with former clubmates and
assess whether I was actually quicker this year than last, as I believed.
Oh, and realise that South West Trains doesn't hold a monopoly on cocking up
train journeys; never before have I been asked to change onto a defective
train.
At last there was the welcoming sight of the Crooked Spire, that most
striking sight and the thing that makes Chesterfield different from
everywhere else. Well, not quite. Apparently there is a society of towns
with crooked spires. I'm not a member.
So to the morning of the race. At 8 a haze lay on the hills. An hour later
the sun was out and by 10, race time, it was a touch warm.
The start was in Holmebrook Valley Country Park, a couple of miles out of
town, the science fiction mining planet landscape of the days when it was
being opencasted now nothing more than a distant memory. The first three
miles are almost all uphill, 500 feet of climbing into Cutthorpe, past the
Three Merry Lads, the Peacock, the S bends which offered a deceptive change
of gradient and the Gate, preceding the steepest section, a half mile helter
skelter of ups and false flats to the top of Grange Hill.
Last year the third mile took me 9 minutes; this year it was 9 minutes 45.
Already a minute down and thoughts of improvement were disappearing fast.
But there was still another seven miles.
From here the route ran along the edge of the Peak District National Park,
down and up to mile 4. Turning left back towards Chesterfield brought
another short sharp climb to the top of Pudding Pie Hill where the four
miles of descent began. The legs weren't quite ready, threatening to run
away from the body down the initial and steepest section. But the gradient
levels off and control returned. Here I began to claw back places, claw back
time and by 8 miles I was now only 30 seconds adrift. There was still a
final climb up to 9 miles, unforgiving for tired legs.
The last mile was a gentle uphill. I was passed but followed the tempo of
the runners in front. Turning onto the service road I had 90 seconds, but
the finish is always further away than you think. Through the gate into the
park, double back into the car park and there's the finish. Stop the watch:
76.20, a ten second improvement.
It hardly seems a lot to get excited about and it was my second slowest ten
miles ever, but an improvement is an improvement. Maybe there's something in
this short hair lark after all".
1 C Shelton (Chesterfield) 55.59
102 Phil Aiken 76.20
386 finished
TRUST ME! THERE'S A GAP UP AHEAD!
MEDOC MARATHON Sunday 12th September
Paul Sinton-Hewitt reports:
"Three months ago, at a time when I was vulnerable and half asleep and
hardly knew our newly appointed social secretary twins, I was invited to
accompany some runners on an expedition unknown to most runners. Billed as a
42.2 km fancy-dress party where the wine flows directly from the taps of the
world's most famous vats directly to the runners' dusty throats, I was
intrigued. My running had taken a serious decline and all the research I had
conducted led me to one conclusion - there must be a secret potion
undiscovered amongst the majority runners and after having tried most things
I figured this could be it. So I booked my ticket and waited for the miracle
to begin.
A miracle it turned out to be. It's a miracle that anyone can run this
particular marathon. 42.2 blistering kilometres with 10,000 other runners
all competing for the same single track path and fighting with the
supporting crowds who had decided this was the day to take the family for a
ride on the bicycle. I'm not joking when I say that the cyclists have as
much priority and sometimes even more than the runners.
The UK contingent, checking in with the Quayles: Simon and Marina, Steve
McClune, Joanne Turner and myself, arrived faultlessly at Gatwick airport
with time to spare. A good start, which belied the events that were to
follow. It's a small and finely closeted world that Marina lives in! How was
she to know that taking knives on board a plane might cause a stir?
Nevertheless, cheese knives, even when they are wrapped in gift paper still
constitute a breach of the law and after much pleading with the airport
officials they decided it was a safer option to have Marina in France and
they let her go.
A quick coffee, a bite to eat and cutting it finely we headed off to the
only 13:15 Bordeaux flight on the departure board at gate 48. Had we walked
any further we might have been in Southampton. Arriving with minutes to
spare the Air France ground staff rudely informed us we were flying with
British Airways and that we had better run as they were diametrically
opposite across the apron. Hence our warm up began.
However, this was only the start of our problems. Just settling into our
seats, breathing a sigh of relief and closing our eyes to catch some well
earned rest when the captain announced that we shouldn't be alarmed at the
presence of the fire trucks surrounding the plane and that yes it was true
that they had fire alarms going off in the cockpit but that he was sure we
weren't on fire. Much to our disappointment he wouldn't let us use the
escape slides but instead taxied back to the airport where we disembarked
for a few hours. In the end, they decided to fly without the Auxiliary Power
Unit because the plane had a history of failed alarms and the captain was
sure he could deal with any emergency that presented itself. As there was no
other plane available this was our only hope of reaching France before the
race.
Arriving safe but late, our friends and hosts for the weekend chaperoned us
to the race HQ for the runners to get their numbers. The race is
headquartered in the town of Pauillac on the shores of the Gironde. This is
also the start and finish of the race and is nestled in the centre of the
Medoc wine region. Expecting slightly cooler weather we were surprised by
the humidity even this late in the day.
Our hosts, Martin and Ann-Marie, an Anglo/French couple whose chateau is in
the neighbouring village of Sainte-Estephe, had arranged for the local hotel
to open their modest dining room and serve dinner to an enlarged group
including the neighbours who were part of the Medoc Marathon organisation
team and who also provided us with accommodation for the weekend. The
miracle was about to begin. The red wine came out and I never remember it
being put away for the rest of the weekend. There might have been a moment
when it was replaced with rum punch and another when the Remy Martin made
the rounds.
After dinner, it was off to bed for the runners who had an early start as
the marathon started at 9:30. The race was compulsory fancy-dress and you
know how long it takes the girls to get ready in the morning.
My host loaned me his bicycle, a smallish mountain bike with flat tyres, a
very low saddle and covered in years of dust. After the tyres were pumped I
headed off to catch the start some 5km away, only to be overtaken shortly
after by a couple of hysterical females on their way to the start causing me
to veer off into the bushes. Halfway to the start, and cramping badly from
the unusual cycling position, I stopped a local cyclist and asked him to
adjust my saddle. This saved my day as I was able to complete the course and
some. Steve helped himself to a hearty breakfast and then went with our
hosts to the 31km mark where they sponsored and ran a revitalisation and
entertainment station. I have it on good authority that Steve surprised many
a French athlete with his 'keep on going, not far now, you're looking great'
comments. What was an Englishman doing running a water station in the Medoc?
It was Steve who noticed Formula 1 racing driver Alain Prost come through -
nice one my son!
None of us were prepared for what we were presented with at the start of the
race. The first spectacle we encountered was a large group of runners all
dressed in French maids outfits marching to the start under the musical
accompaniment of a Scottish bagpipe player, closely followed by an equally
large group of ladybirds. Marina and Joanne, dressed in English schoolgirl
outfits were accompanied by Simon in a beret and cravat and Marina's
brother-in-law, Gerard, running his first ever race (of any distance),
dressed as a pirate. The pandemonium continued to escalate as thousands of
runners, all of them dressed in fancy dress for the occasion, the 20th
Running of the Medoc Marathon, made their way to the start of the race. We
saw French maids & prostitutes, Maya the Bee, Airbus A360 and Concorde
aircraft, snails and other French delicacies, Arab Sheiks, cannibals and
Vikings, pom-pom cheerleaders, bottles of wine, bunches of grapes and Ray &
Sue Cockle from our neighbouring club, the Stragglers, dressed as cockles &
mussels. The three musketeers, many babies and an awful number of
bare-bottomed French men and a number of newly married couples in full garb
too. The costumes were too numerous and inventive to do justice to the
exhibition in this article.
As the start-gun fired I made my way out of Pauillac towards the first major
chateau: a majestic building on the main road to Saint-Lambert and housing
Chateau Latour. The runners were forced to make their first of many
excursions through the chateau and then back out onto the main road where
they were offered their first glass of wine. The congestion caused by an
excess of runners and floats on the small roads meant that Marina and Joanne
came through the 5km mark after about 50 minutes. It was then that I
realised I had signed up for a six hour bike ride. My backside was already
complaining. How inconsiderate of the girls!
And so it went on. Kilometre after kilometre, chateau after chateau, winding
their way between the vineyards towards their final goal. Marina had
surveyed the course in advance with local experts and had a number of 'must
stop' chateaus where the wine was reputed to be of a high quality. Included
in this list were Chateaux Lafitte Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild and Marquis
de St-Estephe. All in all there were 21 official refreshment stops, most
with musical accompaniment. I do not exaggerate when I say that the runners
were forced to stop at each of these for between half a minute and two
minutes to navigate the drinkers and floats etc. Perhaps that goes some way
to explain the slow times. In typical French fashion the food being served
at these stops ranged from oysters to oranges. I have never seen anything
like it.
Simon stopped fairly early to indulge in the local fare and was about 3
minutes estranged from his wife by the halfway mark. He blames tiredness and
muscle fatigue for his poor performance but I suspect he couldn't extricate
himself from the better vintages. A beautiful Bordeaux day, the heat played
its part as the girls discarded their costumes before long. Our virgin
runner was showing dogged determination as he ran past 2 hours for the first
time in his short 55 years.
Gerard went on to finish in 5:59, an amazing feat considering. Joanne and
Marina, hand-in-hand, crossed the finish line in 5:24 and Simon beat the
cut-off time of 6:30 by a handful of minutes. Relief, gratitude, elation,
surprise and delight. Each finisher received a beautiful medal along with a
bottle of local wine, a t-shirt and fleece all packaged in a special Medoc
marathon haversack.
As mentioned before, the wine didn't stop flowing. Our hosts seemed to have
a never-ending supply which was only interrupted to fill our mouths with
even more delicate cuisine. The 'canard-du-confite' was the highlight of our
culinary experience closely followed by the tarts, cakes and champagne.
You are probably wondering about the title of this rather long expose. Well,
its has its roots in a comment Simon made to me the day after the marathon
when we were walking through the vineyards towards the Gironde and I
encouraged the group to carry on walking through the fields as there was a
gap in the hedge at the end which could lead us to our destination. I had no
problem hurdling this rather insignificant obstacle and couldn't understand
why Simon, Marina and Jo had so much trouble with it. I don't think Simon
trusts me anymore. Steve is now serious about running three marathons in the
next year. His commitment to this task is undeniably determined as he was
caught on camera smoking a fat cigar and drinking Remy Martin.
In a previous article about a triathlon we completed in the summer, I
referred to Marina as a 'bossy tart'. After much harassment from Marina I
started to think I might have been unfair with my comments. I will leave you
to decide if this is true. I have two closing statements. The first is that
after lunch on Sunday, Marina had secured another 4 people to run next year's
race, two of whom are novices. My second observation refers a comment I
heard Marina make after the race. 'How come the men in England don't lift
our dresses while we are running to see what we are wearing underneath'?"
FINALLY
Jo, Estelle, Sara and Alice have yet to see their relay gold medals - they
were found to be engraved with "men's champions"...