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Newsdesk 2004
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 162 15 DECEMBER 2004
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
* Ranelagh wins the Stubbs Cup mob match
* Paul Doyle wins the Wynne Cup club championship
* Christmas Party swings
* London Marathon ballot result
NEW MEMBERS
********************
Sorry for the delay in listing new members recently, but belated welcomes to
the following:
Ina Pontoppidan, Rhiannon Lewis, Roger Wilson, Gill Wilson, Luke Wilson,
Holly Wilson, Bruno Wilson-Betancor, Amelie Hunton, Christopher Hunton.
WHAT'S COMING...
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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 December 18th South of the Thames 7.5 miles Championship on
Wimbledon Common starting at 2pm. See below.
Ranelagh 5 km Time Trial in
Bushy Park. 9am start
Saturday December 25th Ranelagh 5 km Time Trial in Bushy Park. 9am
start (yes, really!)
Sunday December 26th Social run in Richmond Park. 11am from the
clubhouse
Monday December 27th Henty Relay in Richmond Park. 2pm start but
you MUST report to the clubhouse by 1.30pm. See below.
Saturday January 1st Ranelagh 5 km Time Trial in Bushy Park.
9am start
Saturday January 8th Surrey County Championships at Lloyd
Park, Croydon
Ranelagh 5 km Time Trial in
Bushy Park. 9am start
Saturday January 15th Surrey League Division One - men on
Wimbledon Common, women in Richmond Park
SOUTH OF THE THAMES 7.5 MILES CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday 18th December on
Wimbledon Common
We are running men's and women's teams in this event over a three lap course
starting at 2pm. The start is right by the horse ride near Cannizaro Road
(where the arrow is here...
). Race HQ, toilets etc
are at Belgrave Hall in Denmark Road (at the bottom of the map). Entries
have already been made but if anybody else fancies a run contact Andy or
Anna.
Julian Smith adds:
"After the South of Thames on Saturday everyone is invited back to 14b
Lansdowne Road for tea, mince pies and mulled wine, and anything else I can
find lying around...". Press the "move south" button on the map to find
Lansdowne Road.
HENTY RELAY Monday 27th December 1.3 miles laps in Richmond Park
This is our Christmas fun relay, the opportunity to run off all that turkey
and alcohol (as if...). All are welcome, including guests and juniors - the
course is the same as for the Junior Points Prize, one lap of Sidmouth Wood.
Teams of three are made up on the day, comprising one "fast", one "medium"
and one "slow". For each team the fast runner has to cover a total of three
laps, the medium two and the slow runs just one lap. The race will start at
2pm but you must come to the clubhouse first by 1.30pm at the latest. This
is to allow the teams to be formed up. Please don't go straight to the
start, you might not get into a team.
LONDON MARATHON 2005
22 names went into the hat at the Christmas party on Friday night and the
lucky five who have won places in the Marathon are Stephen Roberts, Chris
Read, Tim Woolmer, Crispin Willis and Celia Beverly. Step up that training!
NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 19th February at Cofton Park,
Birmingham
It seems a long time ahead, but the entry deadline is not far away. Anyone
can run, so if you want to experience a "National" - and it IS an
experience - contact Andy or Anna straight away.
WHAT'S HAPPENED...
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RANELAGH CHRISTMAS PARTY Friday 10th December
The capacious function room at the Turk's Head in St Margarets was full to
bursting on Friday night and, I suspect, their kitchens were stretched to
the limit to serve us all! But the food was good, the wine flowed freely and
so did the dancers. Many thanks to Jo Turner and Marina Quayle for their
marvellous organisation and to David and Howard Rowntree for providing the
disco.
The numbers in attendance led some to suggest that in future the Christmas
Party should be on Saturday afternoon in Richmond Park...with the small
condition that you have to run 7.7 miles first. Instead, some of us were
just a little bleary-eyed for...
STUBBS CUP MOB MATCH v SOUTH LONDON HARRIERS Saturday 11th December 7.7
miles in Richmond Park
"This Saturday will be the tenth consecutive win by South London against
Ranelagh" forecast Computer Ken on our web site. Having the Christmas Party
the night before might have seemed part of a cunning strategy to ensure that
we would indeed lose, but if so it failed. 45 Ranelagh Harriers formed our
Saturday afternoon mob - not a brilliant turnout, but OK and well in excess
of South London's 27. Some may have been feeling the worse for wear but it
was a fine afternoon for a run in the Park.
SLH's star turn Stuart Major confided to Paul Doyle before the start that he
felt he needed a hard run, and Paul reports that Stuart was disappearing
into the distance down Queen's Ride before he had even woken up. Once he got
going Paul lost little more ground but Stuart ran home the clear winner and
Paul finished equally isolated in 2nd place. More importantly for Paul,
though, was that he will now put his name for the first time on the Wynne
Cup as club champion, after finishing third two seasons ago and second last
year. Congratulations - certainly a just reward for a lot of hard work.
Marcus Gohar and Mick Lane were as reliable as ever in 5th and 6th places
and Chris Owens and Simon Austen - in his last race before returning to
Melbourne - also made the top ten, just ahead of Peter Weir, a jetlagged
Captain Bicks and debutant James Corbett.
We were scoring 24 a side, and SLH unfortunately lost three of their
starters during the race, meaning that every one of their finishers had to
score. We lost one or two ourselves, including John Herries who must have
set some kind of record by dropping out injured after about 500 metres. SLH
almost literally lost another as the man in 3rd place behind Major and Doyle
contrived to run off course. Given the quality of the sawdust trail laid
down by Chief Scout Drummond (he even raked a path through the fallen leaves
to ensure the trail wouldn't disappear), this took some doing!
We were fairly evenly matched but when the maths was done it was Ranelagh
who came out ahead, 554 points to 642, and the Captain was duly presented
with the Stubbs Cup. Well done everybody!
The sealed handicap went by the proverbial street to Bill Harvey, professing
himself puzzled as to what he had done to deserve such a generous allowance.
Peter Weir and Gareth Davies filled the minor places.
JUNIOR POINTS PRIZE RACE 2 Saturday 11th December 1.3 miles in Richmond
Park
Sorry to say I don't yet have the results of this. There seemed to be a good
crowd of juniors present and those of us plodding around in the mob match
much appreciated the support they gave us as we completed our first lap and
at the finish. Results and report will follow as soon as I receive them.
REGENT'S PARK 10km Sunday 5th December
Phil Aiken ducked inside 40 mins, only to find himself absent from the
results! On appeal...
1 S Barrett (Serpentine) 33.42
38 Phil Aiken 39.53
45 Steve Rowland 40.09
60 Bill Harvey 41.55
219 Michelle Harvey 58.37
BUSHY PARK 5Km TIME TRIAL Saturday 11th December
Paul Sinton-Hewitt officiated in style, still dinner-jacketed from the
Christmas party the night before. And it wasn't just your bleary eyes Paul -
it really was foggy! Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot was undeterred by the
conditions and massacred the women's course record.
1 R Simms (Unatt) 17.02
2 V Cheruiyot (Kenya) 17.52
4 Darren Wood 19.56
11 Gill Wilson 25.10
RUN BARBADOS HALF MARATHON Sunday 5th December
Andy Bickerstaff reports:
"'Are you feeling Hot Hot Hot'...whoever sang that terrible record has a lot
to answer for if you ever visit Barbados 'cos from the moment you land it
gets played every day all day. However if you do any running there it can
feel quite appropriate.
A quick seven day visit to the 'Island in the Sun' happened to coincide with
the 'Run Barbados Weekend' so I foolishly decided a 10k would be in order.
Deciding to run was my first mistake as an administrative cock-up meant I
got entered for the Half Marathon instead. This was run at 5:30am the day
after I landed. Starting in the dark at 26 degrees Centigrade I would have
prefered to join the locals still celebrating Saturday night in the rum
shack next to the start. Still I jogged conservatively off the line with 200
other fools and one or two who knew what they were doing.
Passing 9k in something under 35 mins I was beginning to feel - you guessed
it - Hot Hot Hot. Finishing time was 1:28 for 21st place. I dont think Hugh
Jones was impressed: 'You can survive up to 10k pretty well here but longer
gets difficult'. Ummm you don't say. As many time past winner and legend on
the Island he should have added 'for you anyway!'
Thanks to Lana for getting up early to watch me run past and meet me at end.
Thanks to Hugh for marking what was a nice course - just too far, too road,
too early, too jetlagged, and Too Hot".
1 J Kamau (Kenya) 68.16
21 Andy Bickerstaff 88.00
SOUTHERN INTER-COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday 11th December at Stowe School
Sarah Seal and Estelle Damant were members of the second-placed Surrey team.
Estelle was 13th finisher in the associated Under 23s event.
1 D Appleton (Essex) 23.53
36 Sarah Seal 26.30
47 Estelle Damant 27.16
TRAINING
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Robin Drummond's "Improvers Sessions" continue on Thursday nights at 7pm
from the clubhouse, concentrating on speed and technique. See below for an
outline of the next few weeks. Full details can be found on our web site.
As an alternative on Thursday nights, Margaret Auerback and Frances
Ratchford are holding Strength and Conditioning coaching sessions at 7.30pm
in the free-weights room at the gym at St Mary's College, Waldegrave Road.
Coaching at the gym on other days is negotiable. For more information see
below or contact Frances at mailto:grapevineproductions@compuserve.com.
Tuesday nights continue as normal, with speed work for various groups and
Wally's beginners' club. The next few sessions for the "fast" group are
shown below, full details on our web site.
Also Wednesdays at 6.30pm and Sundays at 10am at the clubhouse for a steady
run in the Park.
Thursday sessions. Each also includes a steady run warm up and warm down.
Dec 16th 4 x bottom of Nightingale Lane, 2 x top of Nightingale Lane
Dec 23rd 4 x 60 secs and 3 x 60 secs in Ranelagh Drive
Tuesday "fast group" sessions. Each also includes a steady run warm up and
warm down
Dec 21st 3 x 5 mins efforts, 3 x 3 mins efforts
Marcus Gohar adds:
"You may find this interesting although some of you may have seen it before.
It relates to canoeing but the same principles of course apply to running
and all middle and long distance sports:
http://www.canoeicf.com/devprogrtrprg.php".
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
Frances Ratchford writes:
"Here are the frequently asked questions posed by runners about Olympic/free
weight lifting:
What are the benefits? What will it do for me as a runner? Won't I get big
muscles? Are there any other benefits other than stronger legs? How do I
get started? Why train with free weights when I already use the machines?
Let's tackle the easy questions first.
Margaret Auerback & Frances Ratchford are both qualified coaches and they
will work with you at St Mary's gym on a Thursday evening after 7.30. They
will teach the techniques so you can lift weights safely and effectively.
If you ask nicely they can meet you there at other days and times during the
week or weekend. The benefits of free weights:
Your legs will get stronger very quickly so those hills will seem easier.
Strong legs are necessary for endurance events, like the marathon.
Core strength will be improved and to be more efficient as a runner and much
faster you need core strength. Olympic lifting also needs good posture,
posture control is vital aspect of successful athletics.
Olympic lifts recruit the body stabilisers, something machines do not.
Your upper body strength will also improve; stronger arms again mean a more
efficient and faster running style.
No matter what your age, research has shown that weight lifting increases
bone density and strength, an important consideration especially for women.
Weight lifting increases your metabolic rate, so you may find yourself
getting slimmer!
Olympic lifts are more closely related to athletic action. All athletic
events require an expression of a force against the ground. So do most
Olympic lifts.
Muscle groups can be isolated.
Olympic lifts improve flexibility, the more flexible the runner the more
efficient and faster.
Olympic lifts will not make you bulky because the training programme
emphasises lots of repetitions and low weights.
And finally ghastly Nightingale Lane will seem like a molehill after Olympic
lifting!
HEALTH AND SPORT ROADSHOW
Ruth Morrison of the University of London writes:
"Just a quick call for assistance. As part of my job I am trying to find
people who work in sport or health who would be interested in speaking to
London school children about careers in their chosen area as part of a
health/sport roadshow. If you are interested in finding out more please
contact me on ruth.morrison@ulu.lon.ac.uk or the tel number below.
Ruth Morrison
Sports Development Officer
University of London Union
Malet St
London, WC1E 7HY
Tel: 020 7664 2008
KATHLEEN HARRIS...
...writes from Australia:
"Just wanted to say hello from Down Under as the year draws to a close. Yes
I'm still here and you'll be pleased to know getting back to good running
fitness after a year of a couple of injuries. First a knee reconstruction in
the early part of this year curtailing running and skiing. Then I had a dirt
bike accident and busted my shoulder so running was curtailed there. I'm
getting back into it and loving it. Not got any races planned as yet. We are
in summer now and no-one runs much here then. Except die hards like me.
Everyone else is surfing and enjoying the beach. Great to read the results
emails and see how well everyone is doing.
Please say hi to everyone at the club. I hope to get over to see you all
next year which for me would be quite exciting. Maybe even run with you
again on a run".
FINALLY
'Athletics International' reports:
"Terefe Yae and Shimeles Molla, two Ethiopian runners in this year's Berlin
Marathon, were unable to get to the elite start line in time and, caught up
in the massed ranks, took over 19 minutes for the first 5k and 16 min for
the second. They then covered the next 10k in 30:24 and eventually finished
26th and 27th in 2:17:29 and 2:17:33. The organisers claim that Yae and
Molla probably hold the world record for passing the most runners in a
marathon ... 9,150!"