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Newsdesk 2006
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 231 24 October 2006
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
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* 125th Anniversary Run this Sunday
* Duncan Bell wins Orion mob match but Orion take the Lee Cup
* Marie Synnott-Wells wins Abingdon Marathon inside three hours
* Mick Lane 6th at Abingdon
* Kerrie O'Connor 3rd in BPTT
* 125th Anniversary Mass Mob Match on Saturday 4th November
SEE HERE
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RANELAGH'S 125th ANNIVERSARY
Birthday Run
At 4pm on Saturday October 29th, 1881, the first-ever run of the
newly-formed Ranelagh Harriers took place from the Green Man on Putney Heath
to the Windmill on Wimbledon Comon and back.
This Sunday at 4pm, 125 years on to the hour, we will be recreating that
run. We won't be able to follow the exact route our predecessors took -
there's a busy A3 in the way now - but we will follow it as best we can,
using the pedestrian underpass. It's a mile and a bit each way.
All members are welcome to come along, and if possible please come in 1881
costume: long shorts and plain half-sleeved or sleeved tops for those who
are running. Crinolines and whiskers...use your imagination! Note that we
need to be running sharp at 4pm - the clocks go back the night before, so it
will be getting dark by about 5pm. Aim to arrive from 3.30pm.
Afterwards there will be a FREE buffet in the pub.
Mass Mob Match
The final anniversary event will be on the following Saturday, November 4th.
It will be a run in Richmond Park against all our traditional mob match
opponents - Blackheath Harriers, South London Harriers, Orion Harriers and
Thames Hare and Hounds. It should be a great day, not to be missed. The
route will be the normal two laps making up 7½ miles. Start time is 2.30pm.
All competitors and officials will receive a special commemorative shot
glass. For those who might not have taken part in a mob match before, the
idea is that each club fields as many runners as possible and all might
count towards the final result. So even if you do no other cross-country
races this winter, please try to get to this one!
There will be a supper in the evening in the clubhouse, starting at 6.30pm,
price about £6. Book your place with Jo Turner (mailto:joturner_45@hotmail.com)
or Marina Quayle (mailto:marina_quayle@hotmail.com).
SURREY LEAGUE
The second League fixtures are on Saturday 11th November. We made good
starts a couple of weeks ago in both the men's and the women's competitions.
The men, newly promoted back to Division 1, finished 3rd - their best result
in the top division since 1998. The women are the reigning Division 1
champions and finished a close-up 2nd to Belgrave in the first race.
So, there is everything to run for: the men to retain a high position, the
women to overtake the Belles. Don't forget there are B, C and so on teams in
the women's competition, and we are running an unofficial B team contest
against Stragglers in the men's. Everyone will count.
The men's event is at Coulsdon. HQ is the South London Harriers clubhouse. The
start is a 5 minutes jog away on Farthing Downs. Start times are 2.30pm (all
juniors) and 3pm (seniors).
The women's event is at Lightwater Country Park. Start times are 12.15pm
(seniors), 1.15pm (under 17s and under 15s) and 1.45pm (under 13s).
ERIC NEWBY
The well-known travel writer Eric Newby, who died last Friday aged 86, was a
Ranelagh Harrier back in the 1940s and 50s. "A great character in the
dressing room - I remember his presence well," writes Bill Bird. In his
account of his wartime activities, "Love and War in the Apennines", Newby
recounts organising races in his prisoner of war camp.
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WHAT'S COMING...
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More details of the following from
Andy Bickerstaff ( 07772 111491 / mailto: andy@norris-hobs.co.uk ) or
Mark Middleton ( 07725 119649 / mailto: markjmiddleton@yahoo.co.uk ) or
Phil Aiken (07739 035189 / mailto: phil.aiken@rnid.org.uk ) or
Anna McLaughlin (07971 606521 / mailto: anna.mclaughlin@talk21.com ).
Sunday 29th October 125th Anniversary Run from the Green Man at 4pm.
See above.
Saturday 4th November Mass Mob Match in Richmond Park at 2.30pm. All
members please try to come! See above.
Sunday 5th November MABAC League 5 miles at Puttenham Common. 11am
start. See http://www.mabac.org.uk/.
Saturday 11th November Surrey League Div 1 - men at Coulsdon, women at
Lightwater Country Park. See above.
Every Saturday Bushy Park Time Trial. 9am start at the Diana
Fountain car park. See http://www.bptt.net/ for details.
WHAT'S HAPPENED...
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LEE CUP MOB MATCH v ORION HARRIERS Saturday 21st October at Epping Forest
A rainy fortnight prepared the Forest for our visit, and a couple of
torrential downpours in the last hour before the start added the finishing
touches. We enjoyed sunshine for the race itself, but the course was mucky,
even by Orion's standards.
Nowadays, the first half of the one-lap course isn't too bad underfoot, with
long stetches of surfaced runnable paths. But reality returns in the second
half, with road sections interspersed with mud of various depths, colours
and consistencies. Our mob comprised 26 brave souls, and the home side
outnumbered us by more than 2 to 1. So the team result, and the destination
of the Harold Lee Cup, was pretty much a foregone conclusion.
There was individual glory to be won, however, and Dinger Bell rose to the
challenge. No visitor ever wins a race at Orion without the odd detour from
the prescribed path, and Duncan was no exception. He writes: "It was a
decent multi-terrain course with a few breathers while I waited for the
Orion runner behind to catch up and hopefully point me in the right
direction - which a couple of times was not that easy for him as the
eco-friendly biodegradable paper markers on the course had already
biodegraded to nothing. But a win's a win and as informed by club captain
Noddy Holder - sorry 'The Bicks' - I have now joined an illustrious list of
former Ranelagh (hobble gobble) winners".
Mark Middleton finished 10th, and Trevor Maguire and Andy Bickerstaff were
our only other runners to finish ahead of Orion's 18 year-old starlet
Danielle Sale. The field was swelled by teams from Dulwich Runners and
Springfield Striders plus a few individuals.
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 21st October
"The conditions couldn't have been better for running but may have been a
bit soggy for PB's," wrote Paul Sinton-Hewitt on the BPTT web site. Maybe
so, but that didn't prevent out first four finishers from improving on their
previous marks. Pride of place again to Kerrie O'Connor, whose 90 seconds PB
was fairly modest by her recent standards! She was the third woman to finish
in 19.25. But Jamie Taylor-Caldwell, just past his 15th birthday, was hardly
less impressive with a sub-18 minutes run, 57 seconds faster than his
previous best. Hugh Brasher and Niall O'Connor - with his fourth PB in the
last five weeks - also broke new ground, as did Emma Hughes.
1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 16.38
6 Hugh Brasher 17.38
10 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 17.58
14 Niall O'Connor 18.08
32 Kerrie O'Connor 19.25
76 Alan Davidson 21.13
83 Phil Aiken 21.37
113 Carola Richter 22.39
141 Paul Bisping 23.36
142 Evelyn Joslin 23.45
158 Zuzana Lhotanova 24.42
160 Roger Wilson 24.52
184 John Hanscomb 26.37
209 Emma Hughes 28.35
ABINGDON MARATHON Sunday 22nd October
First across the line in the men's race was disqualified for wearing someone
else's number, but there was no problem for Marie Synnott-Wells who ducked
inside three hours for a comfortable win. "It was very well organised and
very friendly," she told the local newspaper, "It was a fast course but I
enjoyed it and I would definitely come back". Marie jumps up to 6th in
Ranelagh's all-time ranking list. Mick Lane was the second veteran home in
6th place.
1 T Hunter (Handy Cross) 2.37.05
6 Mick Lane 2.44.12
49 Marie Synnott-Wells 2.58.50
STROUD HALF MARATHON Sunday 22nd October
1 S Kasimili (Kenya) 64.51
107 Ed Barker 86.42 (chip time 86.31)
393 Chris Brook 99.48 (chip time 99.36)
CHICAGO MARATHON Sunday 22nd October
Iain Wilson ran a well-judged race (10kms of 42.14, 42.34, 42.06 and 43.03)
but was unfortunate to miss 3 hours by 2 seconds (though on chip times he
was half a minute inside). His time ranks 11th in Ranelagh's over 50
marathon rankings.
1 R Cheruiyot (Kenya) 2.07.35
947 Iain Wilson 3.00.02 (chip time 2.59.31)
REGENTS PARK 10km Sunday 1st October
Here's a result that eluded me before. Fari and Jenny were 1st and 3rd in
the women's race.
1 A Lindsey (Highgate) 35.02
27 Fari Shams 39.39
59 Jenny Lloyd-Jones 41.44
FINALLY...
German student Nadine Sonnabend recently won 10,000 euros by winning an 80
metres sprint in a time of 12 seconds dead. Nothing special? Well, all the
competitors had to wear stilettos...