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 ****************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 193               19 October 2005
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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 HEADLINE NEWS
 *********************
 *  Paul Doyle and Marie Synnott-Wells win club 10 miles championships at the
    Cabbage Patch 10
 *  Paul, Marie and Anna McLaughlin all in the top ten overall
 *  Women's team second
 *  Seven medal winners in the Surrey Veterans' Championships
 *  66.30 20km by David Benton
 *  Junior Captains appointed
 *  All runners needed for the Lee Cup mob match v Orion Harriers on Saturday
 *  First Junior Points Prize race on Saturday

 SEE HERE
 *************
 MOB MATCH v ORION HARRIERS  Saturday 22nd October in Richmond Park
 A word of explanation for the newcomers: mob matches are "all hands on deck"
 jobs. Only two clubs take part and each side fields as many runners as
 possible. All finishers count towards the final result. It's 7.5 miles
 starting at 2.30pm and we need everybody we can get, male or female, fast or
 slow. Orion are planning to bring a coachload of 50 or more so we must try
 to match that at least. If you don't fancy a hard race just treat it as a
 training run - you'll still count. The Lee Cup is the reward for the winning
 club and the race also incorporates Ranelagh's men's veterans championships:
 the Hastings Cup for the Over 40s, The McDowell Salver for the Over 50s and
 the Maslin Mug for the Over 60s.

 Noel Stoddart adds:
 "Afterwards Capt Andy is hoping we'll have a pint or two and while
 discussing it over a post-training champagne last night, we thought we might
 head to the Richmond and Twickenham Real Ale Festival at some point in the
 evening. It takes place at York House in Twickenham (the finish of the
 Cabbage Patch Race) and you can find more details on the said event plus a
 list of brews available at
 http://www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.ASP?WCI=ShowDoc&DocID=12066". 

 NATIONAL ROAD RELAYS  Saturday 22nd October in Sutton Park, Birmingham
 Excused from the mob match are our women's teams running in the National
 Road Relay Championships on Saturday. Best of luck to them! 

 JUNIOR CAPTAINS
 Captains and Vice Captains have been appointed for the boys' and girls'
 junior sections of the club as follows:
 Boys: Dan Jermy (Capt) and Matt Hirschler (VC)
 Girls: Rebecca Clayden (Capt) and Victoria Elbourne (VC)
 Congratulations! 

 JUNIOR POINTS PRIZE RACES
 This is a series of four races in Richmond Park with prizes for the overall
 points winners in each age group. All under 17s are welcome. The first event
 will be before the mob match at 2pm this Saturday. 

 CHRISTMAS PARTY  Friday 9th December
 Last year's great party at the Turk's Head in St Margaret's is to be
 repeated on 9th December. More details to follow but put the date in your
 diary now! 

 CLUB KIT
 Evelyn Joslin writes:
 "You may have seen the club long sleeved technical t-shirts and winter
 training jackets that some of us have been wearing and wondering how to get
 them! These are not carried as part of the basic kit stock, but will be
 available to order on a "one-off basis" this month. 

 Technical T-shirts High performance 'micropore' polyester for maximum
 breathability and low moisture retention, again blue with the club logo/name
 silk printed in gold on the front. Available with short (£16) and long
 sleeves (£18). Sizes from 26" up to 44" in 2" increments. 

 Winter training Jackets Ideal for pre- and post-race wear or training in
 cooler conditions. Soft peach finish polyester fabric with Teflon treatment
 to enhance durability with the Ranelagh logo printed across the back (in
 blue on yellow).
 Stain Resistant * Rain Resistant * 2 large pockets * 360° Scotchlite
 Reflective Tape * £40 * Sizes from XS (34") to XL (42"). 

 I will be placing the order at the end of October, so if you are interested
 in either of these special order club items and haven't already signed up,
 please email me on joslinem@yahoo.com for full details. 

 Regular stock items such as club vests, cotton t-shirts and sweatshirts etc.
 remain available in stock".

  WHAT'S COMING...
 ************************
 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 22nd October      Mob match v Orion Harriers, incl men's club
 veterans championships.  7.5m in Richmond Pk. 2.30pm start.
                                          Junior Points Prize 2km Race 1 in
 Richmond Park.  2pm start.
                                         Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km.
 9am start.  

 Saturday 29th October       Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km. 9am start. 

 Saturday 5th November      Priory Relays (men and women) at Reigate from
 2pm. 
                                         Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km.
 9am start.

 Saturday 12th November    South of the Thames 5 miles Championship at
 Croydon  5 miles starting at 2.30pm
                                         Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km.
 9am start.

 PRIORY RELAYS and SOUTH of the THAMES CHAMPIONSHIPS
 The Priory race at Reigate on November 5th is a six stage relay for men and
 a four-stage for women, both using the same lap which is about 2.5 miles.
 The South of the Thames one week later is an open 5 miles race in Lloyd
 Park, Croydon, with team competitions for both men and women. For the men
 this race will provide the opportunity for a preview of the course to be
 used for the third Surrey League race in January. Anyone is welcome to run
 in either or both events - please contact Andy or Anna if you are
 interested.

 FOUNDER'S CHALLENGE  Sunday 23rd October at Peaslake
 This is a 26 mile challenge event in the Surrey Hills, walking or running,
 organised by the Long Distance Walkers' Association. More details from the
 LDWA London group web site at http://www.dasha.demon.co.uk/Founders.htm.

 WHAT'S HAPPENED...
 ****************************
 CABBAGE PATCH 10 miles  Sunday 16th October at Twickenham
 A £600 cash prize for the winners ensured there would be a strong field at
 the front. Sub 52 minutes was required just to make the top seven, which is
 quite unusual these days. Paul Doyle was a little short of training and a
 fair bit slower than last year but made it into the prize list in 10th
 place. He will be rewarded with the Callis Cup club 10 miles championship.
 Grant Lemke and Adam Tapley were the only other Ranelagh men inside the top
 hundred in the massive field of over 1200.

 Paul's performance was topped in the women's race by Marie Synnott-Wells
 whose 60.59 personal best brought her home in 6th place and also moves her
 into joint 6th place in the Ranelagh all-time ranking list. Anna McLaughlin
 was not out to race hard after her Great South Run efforts but ended up only
 a few seconds slower than seven days earlier in 10th place. There was
 another PB for Clare Gutch in 26th place and as a team this trio finished
 runners-up to Serpentine.

 It was good to see 44 Ranelagh names in the results. The final word goes to
 Roger Wilson: "I only have one question - even if you are a slow runner, do
 you get a bit faster by putting in the miles? Hope the answer is yes".

 SURREY COUNTY VETERANS' CHAMPIONSHIPS  Saturday 15th October in Richmond
 Park
 As usual we hosted this event, though we had relatively few actually taking
 part - the Cabbage Patch the next day being a strong counter-attraction.
 Nevertheless, Ranelagh runners did come away with a hatful of medals though
 none of them were of the brightest hue. All but one, indeed, were bronzes.
 Our solitary silver medallist was Pete Warren in the M65 class and he also
 picked up one of those bronzes in the M60 team race along with Martin Clark
 and Jim Forrest. Martin was also 3rd amongst the M65s. Chris Owens finished
 3rd in the M50 class and Margaret Auerback did the same in the W55s.
 Margaret joined Sonia Rowland and Michele Gibson in taking yet another
 bronze in the W45 team event. Near misses were recorded by our leading
 finishers in the men's and women's races, Mick Lane (4th M45) and Sandra
 Foot (4th W35).

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 15th October 
 Numbers continue to hold up well, with 64 on the starting line this week,
 but unusually there were no pbs amongst the Ranelagh contingent.
 1 D Symons (TH&H) 16.29
 3 Sam Perkins 17.07
 8 John Atkinson 18.18
 10 Marc Snaith 18.42
 16 Darren Wood 19.49
 19 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 20.15
 21 Chris Camacho 20.25
 33 Chris Wright 21.50
 46 Anna-Maria Plaza 24.33
 47 Kerrie O'Connor 24.34
 52 John Herries 26.19
 55 Luke Wilson 26.32
 56 Wally Garrod 27.12
 57 Janet Turnes 27.30
 58 Julie Naismith 28.48
 59 Julie Drummond 28.49

 PARIS 20km  Sunday 16th October
 David Benton reports:
 "For my last race before my end of season break, I decided to do the Paris
 20km. This is one of three major 'mass participation' races in the capital
 (Paris Marathon and Paris-Versailles being the others) and had the added
 advantage of starting just 5mins jog from our apartment. The first half of
 the course takes in the Bois de Boulogne and the second half runs along the
 quais of the Seine, before finishing at the Tour Eiffel. 19,999 other people
 thought it would be a good event to do as well!

 My aim was to run around 66-67mins, which I reckoned was worth a 70min half
 marathon - a reasonable assessment of current fitness after a summer spent
 recovering from long distance duathlons.

 Soon after the start, I got in a good group with 4 other guys, knocking out
 kilometres in 3:15 - 3:20. We got to halfway in 32:45 - fast, but not
 suicidal, and I focused on staying in contact with the group. Around 12km I
 got dropped and quickly lost 10-15 metres. However, after another kilometre,
 I realised the gap wasn't growing, and I made a conscious decision to close
 it. The power of positive thinking proved itself, and I bridged the gap
 immediately.

 We went through 16km in just under 53mins (where would that have put me in
 the Cabbage Patch?), with me still grimly hanging on to the group - perhaps
 it's thanks to all the bike training, teaching you never to lose contact
 with the wheel in front of you! Finally lost contact for good just after
 17km, leaving a tough run in to the finish.

 Finished 38th in 66:30, which was pretty much 'mission accomplished'. Now
 for a few easy weeks, then back into training to help with the cross country
 promotion campaign".

 ABINGDON MARATHON  Sunday 16th October
 Tim Woolmer writes:
 "My time was 3:35:27.......this delighted and surprised me, and may perhaps
 do wonders for my Ranelagh M60 rating. Very much recommend the
 Abingdon....well organised, flat and fast".
 Indeed, Tim's time takes him up to third place in Ranelagh's M60 rankings.
 1 C Paton (Army) 2.40.13
 241 Tim Woolmer 3.35.27
 501 Tom Reay 4.14.47 

 SURREY CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE DIVISION 2  Saturday 8th October on Epsom Downs
 The full results have now appeared, allowing us to recast the team scoring
 to include our "Virtual B team". So here are the entirely unofficial team
 results:
 1 Ranelagh A 170
 2 Stragglers 315
 3 Dulwich Runners 397
 4 Croydon 490
 5 Striders of Croydon 535
 6 Hercules Wimbledon 573
 7 Epsom & Ewell 596
 8 Ranelagh B 606
 9 British Airways 649
 10 West 4 719 

 So a good start for our Bs, ahead of two clubs and not far behind several
 others. Both the A and the B team need to keep the pressure up. Remember
 it's ten to score for each so we need a minimum of twenty runners in each
 race. Next fixture is in Richmond Park (Kingston Gate end) on November 19th.

 SURREY LADIES CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE  Saturday 8th October on Wimbledon Common
 The result of the combined Under 17 / Under 20 race has finally appeared.
 Our one-woman team Emily Ball finished in 8th place, ahead of two other
 one-woman teams!
 1 Z Shannon (D&MV) 18.56
 12 Emily Ball 24.27

 FINALLY...
 For a whole new slant on Richmond Park:
 http://davidicke.www.50megs.com/icke/magazine/vol7/richmond.html.