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Newsdesk 2006
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 202 11 January 2006
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
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* Women's team retains Surrey Cross-Country title
* Jo Ronaldson 3rd and Anna McLaughlin 6th qualify for club honours
* Marie Synnott-Wells, Phil Killingley, Sam Perkins and Jordan Mungovan
also earn county vests
* Nadia Fidler 3rd across the line in Under 15s but ruled ineligible for
Surrey
* Vital men's and women's league races on Saturday
* Mob match v Blackheath Harriers on January 21st
SEE HERE
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SURREY CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUES Saturday 14th January
Please note the HQ for the men's event at Croydon is NOT the Archbishop
Tenison School used for the Surrey Champs last week. Read on for details.
Our men's and women's teams both carry convincing leads into this, the third
of the season's four league fixtures. The women head Division 1 with 110
points to Belgrave's 164 and Thames H&H's 235. The men are on top of
Division 2 with 364 points to Stragglers' 737 and Dulwich's 765. They are
convincing leads but there's no room for complacency. Anna McLaughlin's
comments apply just as well to both teams: "I believe that this is the big
one.if we can nail it this week, we can all enjoy the last match at home!!"
We shouldn't forget that our under 13 boys are also leading the division.
The combined under 17/under 15 boys team is 4th, the under 13 girls are 5th,
the under 15 girls are 2nd and the under 17 girls are 7th.
The start and finish points for the men in Lloyd Park, Croydon are the same
as for the Surrey Championships, but the HQ is not at the school. Apologies
for the incorrect information given before. It is actually the Striders of
Croydon clubhouse at the Addiscombe Cricket Club in Sandilands Road, a short
distance from the school, U17s/U15s/U13s all run at 2pm followed by the seniors
at 2.30pm. There will be cars leaving from the Ranelagh clubhouse at 12.30pm
- please let Andy Bickerstaff know if you will be using them. Contact details below.
The women's event is at Merrow Downs near Guildford. Car parking and toilets
are at the Newlands Corner Countryside Centre on the A25 between Guildford
and Shere, The start times are 12 noon for seniors, 12.45 for U20s /U17s and
1.15pm for U15s/U13s. Cars for this one will be leaving from the clubhouse at
9.45am.
MOB MATCH v BLACKHEATH HARRIERS Saturday 21st January in Richmond Park.
Our mob match record this season stands at won 1, lost 2. This is the last
one and we should have a good chance of levelling the tally. But as ever,
it's weight of numbers that's most important. We need as many runners as
possible, regardless of speed. You can race or treat it as a training run,
but just being there is the thing. The race is at home in Richmond Park over
7.5 miles starting at 2.30pm. The Pelling-Ratcliffe Cup is at stake for the
winning team and the race also incorporates the club championship for the
Wynne Cup and a sealed handicap. Don't miss it!
JUNIOR POINTS PRIZE RACE 3 Saturday 21st January at 2pm.
The third of the four points prize races will take place before the mob
match at 2pm over the usual course around Sidmouth Wood.
LONDON MINI MARATHON
As usual the London Marathon on April 23rd will include a Mini Marathon for
juniors over the final 4km of the course. Each borough can enter a team in
each age group and the trial for the Richmond teams will take place in
Richmond Park on Sunday 5th February. The course is over two laps of
Sidmouth Wood, the circuit we use for our Henty Relay and Junior Points
Prize events. The timetable is: girls 13/14 and girls 15/16/17 at 10am, boys
13/14 and boys 15/16/17 at 10.30am, girls 11/12 at 11am and boys 11/12 at
11.30am. Entry deadline is Friday 27th January. There are forms at the
clubhouse or you can call the Richmond Sports Development Group on 020 8831
6133.
ROAD RACES
Our club 20 miles road championship will be with the Finchley 20 at Ruislip
on Sunday 12th March - an ideal build-up race for London marathoners.
The popular Thames Towpath 10 will take place on Sunday 9th April.
Fancy a fast flat 10km? A new event is being organised at Dunsfold Park Airfield
on Sunday 5th March.
DAVE TAYLOR...
...writes from Stockport:
"Dave Locke's item last week refers to endorphin addiction, a phrase that I
used to explain my behaviour for many years. I can remember the time in my
late twenties when I quite suddenly became addicted to rugby training,
having previously just suffered it. However, I came across a learned
article in 'Scientific American' about a year ago which purported to show
that it is not endorphins that we are addicted to but cannaboids. There were
elaborate graphics to show how cannaboids, produced naturally by the body,
moderate activities at nerve synapses. The article pointed out that these
cannaboids have the same base as the more famous cannabis and have very
similar effects in terms of pain relief and mood. Happy New Year indeed!
On a more serious note, only this morning the Home Secretary was reported as
linking cannabis use with mental health problems which explains even more
about distance runners, that was previously only guessed at".
NOEL STODDART...
...also comments on Dave Locke's contribution:
"Just wanted to correct something in the e-news - I wouldn't want fellow
Ranelonians being misled! Lydiard was a fan of Long STEADY Distance, not
Long SLOW Distance. In fact, Lydiard states that runners when in a good
state of fitness should be covering their long runs at their 'best aerobic
effort' - that certainly isn't slow! Whether all runs should be undertaken
at this intensity is open to debate but what is certain is that merely
running Long and SLOW, whilst it will bring about an increase in fitness,
will not have people reaching their potential. There isn't a (long and) easy
route to the top, so no excuses people, the work has to be done! It is
always good to see people interested in and discussing training methods -
none of us should ever think there is nothing more to learn".
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WHAT'S COMING...
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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 14th January Sweatshop Surrey League Div 2 at Lloyd Park,
Croydon. See above.
Surrey Ladies League at Merrow
Downs, Guildford. See above.
Bushy Park Time Trial 5km. 9am
start.
Saturday 21st January Mob match v Blackheath Harriers for the
Pelling-Ratcliffe Cup. 7.5 miles in Richmond Park at 2.30pm
Junior Points Prize Race 3 in
Richmond Park at 2pm.
Bushy Park Time Trial 5km. 9am
start.
Saturday 28th January South of England Championships at Exmouth
Bushy Park Time Trial 5km. 9am
start.
Saturday 4th February Sweatshop Surrey League Div 2 in Richmond Park
from 2.30pm.
Surrey Ladies League in Richmond
Park from 12.30pm.
Bushy Park Time Trial 5km. 9am
start.
Sunday 5th February Junior Mini-Marathon Trials in Richmond Park
from 10am.
WHAT'S HAPPENED...
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SURREY CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 7th January at Lloyd Park,
Croydon
Our women's team were the title holders but of last year's scoring team only
Anna McLaughlin was present this time. But our current strength in depth is
more than up to the challenge and we packed five home in the top twenty to
retain the cup with some ease.
Individually Jo Ronaldson made her intentions clear from the start, racing
into a 10 metres lead inside the first 400 metres and quickly extending this
to some 30 metres. At this point Anna McLaughlin was leading the chasing
pack with Marie Synnott-Wells - just back from six weeks out injured - not
far behind. If Jo had her opponents worried, they did not panic. Former
county junior champion Genevieve Gardner of Guildford made gradual inroads
into Jo's lead and passed her towards the end of the first of the two laps.
Aldershot's Emily Adams followed soon afterwards but Jo held on for a clear
third place and the individual bronze medal.
Anna suffered breathing problems in the closing stages but held on grimly to
6th place. The reward for both Jo and Anna will be the club honours award -
congratulations both! Despite the lack of training Marie gained a couple of
places on the second lap to finish 8th and Liz Kipling closed in the scoring
four in 17th place, half a minute ahead of Jenny Lloyd-Jones. Sonia, Sandra
(who missed the start) and Louise provided backup. The team result was a
clear win for Ranelagh on 20 points to runner-up South London's 40. Jo, Anna
and Marie all received their call-up papers for the Surrey team for the
Inter-Counties championships in March.
We weren't expecting a great team result for the men, though their final 6th
out of 18 complete teams was respectable enough. The excitement came from a
great individual performance from Phil Killingley, who quickly established
himself in the top ten and ran a mainly isolated race to come home 9th. He
too should be inside a Surrey vest in March. Behind Phil, Nathan Mills was
also putting in a good run despite losing a good deal of ground retrieving
his shoe from the mud on the first lap. Nathan wasn't the only one to meet
with misfortune: after a promising start Mark Middleton took a fall, injured
his hip and spent the rest of the race drifting back through the field.
Julian Smith, running gingerly to protect his hamstring, was our third man
home and fast finishing Andrew McLauchlan finished right behind Mark.
Captain Bix closed in the scoring six and Messrs Snaith, Peace and Aiken
followed on in a large field of exactly 200 runners.
We had two starters in the Men's Under 20 race. Three Aldershot runners
cleared off rapidly from the start while Sam Perkins and Jordan Mungovan
settled into 4th and 5th places. Sam - still a week short of his 18th
birthday and with two more years in this age group - looked stronger and
stronger as the race progressed and a late charge left him just two seconds
adrift of the bronze medal. Jordan was himself 4th last year but this time
had to settle for 6th despite running almost exactly the same time as he did
on this course 12 months ago.
Sam and Jordan should also feature in the county teams and we thought there
would be one more in the shape of Under 15 Nadia Fidler. Fast-improving
Nadia ran a great race to cross the line in 3rd place only to be
subsequently excluded because she lacks the necessary county qualification.
Without Nadia the team of Georgia Miansarow, Rachel Price, Arabella Skinner
and Victoria Elbourne just missed the bronze medals. Amelie Hunton and Becky
Withycombe were our two under 13 girls in 19th and 41st places and Taylor
Nunn was the sole under 13 boy in 23rd.
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 7th January
There was some class at the front of the field as track international Faye
Fullerton ran the second fastest women's time seen on the course so far,
only 25 seconds slower than record holder Sonia O'Sullivan. The only man
ahead of Faye, Bristol's Tom Kingsnorth, ran 16 minutes dead.
Peter Weir ran 17.41 in his first BPTT to move into 6th place in the
Ranelagh rankings on this course. Behind him Darren Wood extended his lead
in the points competition with Chris Wright not far behind in 5th place.
Joss Moran led a small contingent of juniors.
1 T Kingsnorth (Bristol) 16.00
2 F Fullerton (Havering) 16.47
6 Peter Weir 17.41
20 Darren Wood 19.36
24 Stephen Instone 19.54
25 Chris Read 19.59
26 Chris Brook 20.09
28 Joss Moran 20.19
35 Chris Wright 20.48
38 Kerry McLoughlin 21.07
43 Adam Wright 22.06
56 Sam Hunton 22.46
61 Tony Appleby 23.02
69 George Hutchinson 23.50
75 Karen Broadbent 24.21
76 Julie Drummond 24.22
77 Evelyn Joslin 24.23
82 Robin Drummond 24.57
86 Holly Clemens 25.07
101 John Hanscomb 27.09
112 Steve McClune 29.08
TADWORTH 10 miles Sunday 8th January
Fari Shams was 5th woman home and John Hanscomb was the leading over 70.
1 I Boneham (Notts) 56.43
54 Fari Shams 69.13
519 John Hanscomb 98.16
536 Geoff Bell 100.17
REGENTS PARK 10km Sunday 1st January
1 D Bickham (Highgate) 33.00
31 Steve Rowland 40.53
69 Sonia Rowland 45.56
HENTY RELAY Saturday 31st December in Richmond Park
It was Josh Smythe who partnered Duncan Bell and Georgia Miansarow in the
winning team.
FINALLY...
According to 'Which?' magazine, Puma trainers have marked on the box
"Average contents 2".