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Newsdesk 2006
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 210 28 March 2006
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
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* Lauren Shelley 8th in Commonwealth Games marathon
* Mick Lane wins Spendlove Cup club 20 miles championship
* 36.28 10km by Anna McLaughlin
* Winchester wins Ranelagh Cup schools race
* Baker Cup 3 miles road handicap this Saturday in Richmond Park
* Presentation Supper to be held on Friday 7th April
SEE HERE
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ANNUAL PRIZE GIVING SUPPER Friday 7th April at the Hawker Centre, Ham
This is usually referred to as the Baker Cup supper, but sadly this year we
are not able to hold it as usual on the evening of the Baker Cup race.
Instead it will be on the following Friday, April 7th, at the Hawker Centre
in Ham, starting at 7.30pm. Price is £15 including a mixed buffet. Tickets
are on sale on Tuesday evenings at the clubhouse or you can contact Jo
Turner (mailto:joturner_45@hotmail.com) or Marina Quayle
(mailto:marina_quayle@hotmail.com). Cheques payable to Ranelagh Harriers.
This is the occasion for our splendid collection of trophies to be awarded
to their new owners for the next twelve months. Please do try to come along,
especially if you have any silverware to collect.
If any current trophy holders have not yet been contacted by Alan Hedger
regarding the return of their trophies, would they please contact Alan
without delay on 01372 740626. He has to arrange for the new holders' names
to be engraved before the presentation.
BAKER CUP 3 miles road handicap Saturday 1st April in Richmond Park
The Baker Cup race itself will go ahead as scheduled on April 1st, starting
at 3pm near White Lodge in the centre of the Park. It's a 3 miles handicap
on a double out and back circuit on the closed roads between the Pen Ponds
car park and Sheen Cross Roads. All members are welcome - just turn up at
the clubhouse no later than 2.30pm to collect your number.
RANELAGH ROAD GRAND PRIX
Due to one or two question marks in the calendar we have not yet been able
to finalise the ten events that will make up the road GP, but we can confirm
that the first two will be the Thames Towpath 10 miles on April 9th and the
London Marathon on April 23rd.
GREEN BELT RELAY Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st May
We are planning to enter three teams in this event again this year. In
brief, it's a relay right around the outskirts of London, starting at
Hampton Court on Saturday morning, initially heading west along the river to
Maidenhead then north through the Chilterns, round via St Albans and Epping
Forest to stop for the night in deepest Essex. It then resumes on Sunday
morning to complete the circle via Kent and the North Downs. There are 22
stages in all, varying in distance from 5.6 miles to 13.8 miles. There are
eleven runners in a team, and each runner has to run one stage on Saturday
and another on Sunday.
The route has been designed and amended over the years to make it as scenic
as possible and although it's predominantly tarmac, every stage features
some off-road. A number of stages are entirely off-road.
Although it's called a relay, each stage is run as a separate race with all
runners starting together. Aggregate times decide the result.
The way it works is that we have a couple of minibuses and a car or two
following the route. You can choose either to just run your own stage and
then go home, or to follow the whole or part of the race. Teams have to
supply their own support in the way of drinks etc, and each team has to
cover a handful of marshalling points. For those that choose to stay with
the race we book overnight accommodation in Essex.
We have a pretty good record in the race, having won it a number of times.
In 2000 we managed to win the overall, women's and veterans' trophies! At
the other end of the scale, Bev Ali's team won the 'Toilet Seat' trophy for
the last team to finish three years in a row! So there's scope for all
standards.
It's a very enjoyable event. You can see a lot more info about the route and
so on at the race web site www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk.
We have to decide pretty soon how many teams to enter, so if you think you
might be interested please contact me or Anna McLaughlin (contact details
below) or Clive Beauvais (01883 347410).
CONGRATULATIONS...
...to Eileen and Pete Church on the arrival of their first child, Benjamin,
on March 7th.
MOSCOW: THE COLD WAR OLYMPICS
Dave Knight draws our attention to the above programme which is being
broadcast this Thursday (March 30th) at midnight on BBC4.
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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 1st April Baker Cup 3 miles road handicap in Richmond
Park. 3pm start near White Lodge.
Bushy Park Time Trial 5km. 9am start
Sunday 2nd April ASICS Kingston Breakfast runs ( 8 or 16 miles).
Details: http://www.humanrace.co.uk/breakfast/index.html.
Friday 7th April Annual Supper and Prize Presentation at the
Hawker Centre, Ham.
Saturday 8th April Bushy Park Time Trial 5km. 9am start
Sunday 9th April Thames Towpath 10 miles at Chiswick. Details:
http://west4harriers.org/TTT.htm.
Reading Half Marathon. Details:
http://racepayment.mirrorservers.co.uk/readinghalfmarathon/.
MABAC League 5 miles at Winterfold (on
the North Downs near Shere). 11am start. All members welcome. More details
at http://www.mabac.org.uk/
Friday 14th April Maidenhead 10 miles. Details:
http://www.maidenheadac.co.uk/.
Saturday 15th April Bushy Park Time Trial 5km. 9am start
Saturday 22nd April Bushy Park Time Trial 5km. 9am start
Sunday 23rd April London Marathon
WHAT'S HAPPENED...
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FINCHLEY 20 miles road race incl Spendlove Cup club championship Sunday
12th March at Ruislip
Steve Whitehead writes:
"I was reasonably happy with my time. I ran alongside Mick for the first
seven or so miles and then heard him share with a fellow runner that he was
aiming for a sub 2 hour time. As I knew that was beyond me, I then eased
off the pace a little!"
Mick just missed his target despite finishing in an excellent 5th place. The
Spendlove Cup club '20' championship will adorn the Lane mantlepiece in due
course. The winner, Barnett of Aldershot, was a mile ahead of the field!
1 E Barnett (AFD) 1.50.34
5 Mick Lane 2.00.09
16 Steve Whitehead 2.05.22
320 Clodagh Fahy 3.12.25
343 Derek Bieniek 3.25.10
EASTLEIGH 10km incl Inter-Counties championship Sunday 19th March
Another week, another inter-counties! Anna McLaughlin writes:
"I had a really good race despite the wind and it was nice to race a 10k
without a cross-country race the day before! Anyway, I ran 36:28 so a
massive new pb for me! Overall, in a quality field, I was 13th lady and I
was Surrey's 3rd scorer where we won the silver in the inter-counties. Jo
Ronaldson unfortunately didn't have a good race and had to drop out at
approx 5.5.km... she is fine but was just out of sorts!" Anna's 36.28
elevates her to 4th place in Ranelagh's all-time ranking list.
Women
1 L Elliott (Winchester) 33.36
13 Anna McLaughlin 36.28
Men
1 A Maclean (Soton) 29.47
212 Clive Naish 41.45
COMMONWEALTH GAMES MARATHON Sunday 19th March in Melbourne
Lauren Shelley reports:
"Well it has been a busy and exciting last two weeks and I think it will
take a few more weeks to really sink in. But overall it's been a fantastic
experience. The opening ceremony was great - particularly as we waited
before rushing out onto the bridge into the centre of the MCG - a real rush.
But it was all over so quickly, and the next day the mood in the village was
no longer one of excitement and more one of anticipation and preparation for
the hard days of competition to come.
I was really relaxed going into the race - I'd had a good preparation and
had been training as well or better than leading into Tokyo, so I was hoping
for a good run. I'm not one for nerves but there was certainly a sense of
excitement, and I was glad to be competing early in the games as I was
looking forward to racing (and then hitting the 24hr food hall!).
The day of my race was about 24 degrees max so a little warm - but I coped
well with the heat. Walking onto the MCG before the start I could hear
friends and family in the crowd cheering. We started on the track with 3.5
laps before heading out into Melbourne for our 42km tour of the city. The
support on course was the best I've encountered in a race - there were so
many people out, and of course the majority were cheering for us Aussies!
The cheering crowd as I ran into the MCG was something I certainly won't
forget.
The race itself was exciting - the first 5km was relatively slow (18:45) and
we ran in a pack of 15 over the early undulating stages of the race until
about 15km, with only 11 of us left by 20km. Half-way split was 1:16:24 so
going along well and I felt comfortable. It was great to run a competitive
race in a pack as so often in marathons you run alone.
But by 22km the leaders were cranking up the pace and I dropped off, and
soon after there were only three runners left at the front. From there it
was a battle to the finish, trying to slow as little as possible and stay in
touch with those in front. My legs started to really tighten up and it got
harder and harder to run fast. My times got slower and my final 5km from
35 - 40km was run in 20:25! Nevertheless, despite me slowing considerably,
everyone else was suffering the same fate and after a couple of tussles with
the Scottish runners and the Lesotho runner, I managed to hold my place in
the end and finish eighth in 2:39:13. Kerryn McCann (Aus) won in an
exciting sprint finish in the stadium with the Kenyan runner in around 2:31,
with the other Australian Kate Smythe finishing in 7th, 43sec in front of
me, and not looking quite as fresh. She was placed on a drip afterwards and
has recovered fine.
I have mixed emotions about my run - it was a fantastic race to be in; I was
able to stay with the leaders early on; I felt I ran my best on the day; I
coped with the heat well and had a good preparation. The field was strong
and to finish eighth in my first major championship marathon and beat
several strong runners that beat me in Canada last year was good.
On the other hand, I finished 5min 30 off my PB in Tokyo last November, I
slowed considerably and struggled in the second half. I felt like my four
marathons in eleven months had perhaps started to catch up with me, and I
feel that Tokyo was definitely a better run. Having said that, if I had my
time again I would do everything the same - run the race the same, and do
the same marathons leading up to the Commonwealth Games - because without
them I wouldn't even be here. But I also know I can do better next time...
Tonight we have the closing ceremony and my last chance to soak up the
atmosphere of the 'G, before flying back to Esperance tomorrow. I've had a
great time living in the village, catching up with friends, and watching the
aths, but I'm exhausted now and starting to tire of village life and 24hr
food halls. I'm looking forward to heading home, taking it easy for a few
weeks, jogging along the foreshore, dipping the legs in the ocean post-run,
and cooking my own dinner - back to normality!
Thanks for all your support - anyone for Beijing 2008?"
1 Kerryn McCann (Aus) 2.30.54
8 Lauren Shelley (Aus) 2.39.13
(5km splits: 18.46, 17.36, 17.59, 18.04, 18.24, 19.06, 19.46, 20.25)
Former Ranelagh member Stuart Hayes was also in Melbourne, finishing 9th for
England in the triathlon.
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 18th March
Windsor's Tim Haughian became the 16th man to dip inside 16 minutes. Despite
the cold and windy conditions the BPTT's press officer Roger Wilson ran his
fastest time by 4 seconds but he was eclipsed by Evelyn Joslin who took a
whopping 30 seconds off her previous best.
1 T Haughian (WSEH) 15.59
11 Iain Wilson 18.20
18 Nick Wright 18.42
21 Darren Wood 18.59
33 Chris Read 20.11
41 Chris Camacho 20.30
47 Roger Wilson 20.44
66 Adam Wright 21.45
78 Chris Wright 22.12
80 Andrew Morris 22.23
81 Evelyn Joslin 22.24
95 Charlie Withycombe 24.13
96 Alan Craig 24.19
100 George Hutchinson 24.45
108 Gill Wilson 25.35
114 Julie Naismith 27.15
RANELAGH CUP SCHOOLS RACE Saturday 18th March in Richmond Park
Charterhouse had registered three consecutive wins in our schools race, but
this year they were overturned by Winchester despite providing the
individual winner. There were 108 finishers representing 14 schools.
1 J van Deventer (Chart) 21.18
2 T Samuel (Westminster) 21.32
3 C Dodd (Eastbourne) 21.41
4 M Kiralyzi (Winch) 21.54
5 F Richards (Winch) 22.07
6 J Morwood (RGS Guild) 22.15
Teams (4 to score)
1 Winchester 29
2 Charterhouse 57
3 Westminster 71
4 Wellington 71
5 Eastbourne 76
6 RGS Guildford 76
FLEET HALF MARATHON Sunday 19th March
Niall O'Connor reports:
"On Sunday morning I grumbled my way to the Fleet half-marathon muttering
about the length of the journey, the inconvenience of the train route and
the proximity of the event to A) St.Patrick's day and to B) the previous
evening's 'Triumph at Twickenham', which had led to celebrations. Three
hours later, because of a p.b. which led to a change of outlook, the O'
Connor family are going to spend their annual summer holiday in Fleet's
finest caravan park.
The 19th March was bright, clear and crisp in Fleet, with a slight swirling
breeze. The course was described in the notes as 'flat' but would more be
appropriately described as 'flattish with lots of bumps'. I started
erratically, setting a mile p.b. of 5:54 breaking it by the second mile
(5:53) before slumping to a 6:50 - no point in starting too slowly or being
consistent! My 10km time was 39:35 and, urged on by the many spectators
lining the course, I finished in a p.b. of 1:25:10.
I didn't see any other Ranelagh jerseys during the race but did note that a
certain Phil Killingley, running for Winchester, finished third in 1:10:24,
and Duncan Bell representing his Army unit was 29th ".
1 T Lambert (Alton) 69.09 (chip time 69.09)
3 Phil Killingley (Winch) 70.24 (chip time 70.23)
29 Duncan Bell (1WFR) 76.40 (chip time 76.36)
139 Niall O'Connor 85.14 (chip time 85.10)
BATH HALF MARATHON Sunday 19th March
1 S Kasimili (Kenya) 64.08 (chip time 64.07)
147 Colin Frew 82.29 (chip time 82.22)
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 25th March
On a windy morning there was a second consecutive PB from Roger Wilson and
improvements also from Iain Wilson and Chris Read.
1 R Stannard (Unatt) 16.34
10 Iain Wilson 18.07
22 Marc Snaith 19.06
25 Chris Read 19.13
30 Darren Wood 19.29
38 Chris Camacho 20.16
44 Alan Davidson 20.41
45 Roger Wilson 20.42
52 Tim Woods 21.24
61 Amelie Hunton 21.58
62 Chris Hunton 21.58
64 Adam Wright 22.05
125 John Hanscomb 26.15
138 Janet Turnes 27.56
CRANLEIGH 15 / 21 miles Sunday 26th March
Over 400 runners completed the full 21 miles, despite the temptation of
calling it a day after 15. Four of our complement of six opted for the
shorter distance and John Hanscomb was the first over 70 to finish. Pete
Warren found the final circuit a bit of a trial but was 3rd over 60 in the
21.
15 miles
1 J Macenhill (SoC) 1.33.07
93 Geoff Bell 2.27.12
98 Derek Bieniek 2.29.04
99 John Hanscomb 2.29.31
124 George Coates 2.39.05
21 miles
1 R Barr (Serpentine) 2.12.14
189 Pete Warren 2.59.55
325 Clodagh Fahy 3.26.18
WIMBLEDON PREMIER 10km Sunday 26th March
1 T Kingsnorth (Bristol) 33.39
117 Layla Smith 44.50
265 Jacqui Reid 50.50
G3 10km Saturday 4th March at Newlands Corner
"Without doubt, the toughest 10K I've ever run," gasps Steve Whitehead.
1 D Rollins 41.18
10 Steve Whitehead 44.53
JUNIOR POINTS PRIZE RACE 4 Saturday 4th March in Richmond Park
Results were in the last e-news. Anna Mallett adds:
"On a cold day in March, 32 competitors in the junior section lined up for
the last race in the points prize, one lap of Sidmouth Wood. 15 people
managed to do a PB, and the fastest person on the day was Jamie
Taylor-Caldwell, with a time of 8.04, with fastest girl Stephanie Espinosa
not far behind him, in a time of 8.47. Amelie Hunton, age 11, also competed
in the inter-club race afterwards (nearly 4 miles), and this was after
getting a fantastic time of 8.49 in her first race. After our run we went
down to the clubhouse where the winners received medals and certificates
were given to the runners. Some nice food (samosas!) were also provided,
along with tea and hot chocolate. Thanks to Frances and Clare for all the
organisation and effort put into the races, and well done everyone who ran!"
WORLD MASTERS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Friday 17th March in Linz,
Austria
Alan Davidson reports:
"The three lap 8km race was run in snow and freezing rain.The deep snow on
the course was 'improved' by a machine to make it a treacherous, tricky mix
of deep snow, uncovered ice stretches and even mud! I was on the start line
with a slightly sore adductor bandaged when the GB&NI team manager said make
sure you finish as we could win a team medal and our likely 3rd counter is
running with an injury.The state of the course meant sprint finishes were
replaced by staying upright.The injured man did push me back to 4th Brit and
out of the medals. I couldn't risk the half marathon run two days later in
sunshine by the blue Danube so for solace I took a train ride into the
mountains".
M55 Category
1 M Hager (GB) 28.53
26 Alan Davidson 37.48
THAMES TURBO JUNIOR SERIES RACE 2 Saturday 25th February in Bushy Park
Tri-Star 2 2.5km
Boys
1 Luke Penney 11.17
2 Alex Rowe 11.42
Girls
1 E Cottingham 11.47
2 Bea Purdue 12.59
4 Alice Clemens 14.14
5 Immy Walker 14.51
6 Danni Croucher 14.56
Tri-Star 3 3km
Boys
1 George Inman 15.22
Girls
1 Steph Croucher 15.34
Tri-Star 4 3.5km
Boys
1 Robert Curtis 15.27
2 Max Bridger 15.46
3 George Hutchinson 16.06
THAMES TURBO JUNIOR SERIES RACE 3 Saturday 25th March in Bushy Park
There were big improvements from most of the runners over the times set a
month earlier. The final event is on Saturday 29th April at 9am from the
Cricket Club near Hampton Hill Gate.
Tri-Star 2 2.5km
Boys
1 Luke Penney 10.45
2 Luke Wilson 10.57
4 Alex Rowe 11.15
Girls
1 E Cottingham 11.46
2 Alice Clemens 12.05
3 Bea Purdue 13.07
5 Danni Croucher 13.56
Tri-Star 3 3km
Boys
1 George Inman 13.47
Girls
1 Holly Clemens 13.37
Tri-Star 4 3.5km
Boys
1 Robert Curtis 15.00
2 George Hutchinson 15.46
FINALLY...
It's those rats again! Apparently running while pregnant may be good for the
foetus. Researchers in Berlin have established that rats who ran during
pregnancy produced offspring with 40% more neuronal cells than more
sedentary mothers. The increase was in the area of the brain linked to
learning and memory. The running babies tended to be slightly smaller at
birth but quickly caught up physically.