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Newsdesk 2006
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 237 20 December 2006
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HEADLINE NEWS
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* Ranelagh wins the Stubbs Cup Mob Match
* Duncan Bell takes the Wynne Cup club championship
* Vets trophies go to Andy Bickerstaff, John Barnard and Clive Beauvais
* Women's course record by Wendy Jones
* Josh Keisler first home in Junior Points Prize Race 2
* Marie Synnott-Wells in winning Surrey team in the South of England
Inter-Counties
* ...and then wins Hog's Back race
* ...and then takes the bronze medal in the South of Thames
* Sam Perkins represents South of England in Brussels
* London Marathon ballot for club places
* Wimbledon Common Time Trial to be launched in January
SEE HERE
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HENTY RELAY Saturday 30th December in Richmond Park
This is our Christmas fun relay, open to all members, friends and family.
Anyone who can run a mile and a bit, in fact. It's for teams of three (which
are drawn on the day). Each team consists of one "fast" runner, one "medium"
and one "slow". The relay is over six 2km laps of Sidmouth Wood - the "fast"
runs three laps, the "medium" two and the "slow" one lap, in any order. The
race starts at 12 noon, but you MUST come to the clubhouse to register by
11.30am, in order to be allocated to a team.
SURREY CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 6th January at Lloyd Park,
Croydon
Race HQ is the Archbishop Tenison School, Selborne Road.
Timetable is: 11am Boys Under 13; 11.20am Girls Under 13; 11.40am Boys Under
15; 12 noon Girls Under 15; 12.25pm Men Under 17 and Men Under 20; 12.55pm
Women Under 17 and Women Under 20; 1.25pm Senior Women; 2.15pm Senior Men.
LONG RUNS
It's that time of year again for the miles to be clocked up in preparation
for the London Marathon or indeed for the road season in general. Starting
in the New Year, Clive Beauvais is planning to organise a series of long
Sunday runs in various pleasant bits of countryside.
The first will be on Sunday 7th January: there will be two basic options, 20
miles or 14 miles, though there will be the opportunity to take shorter
options too. 20 milers should meet at the Burford Bridge car park on the A24
at the foot of Box Hill in time for a 9.30am start.
14 milers should head instead for the Ranmore Common National Trust car
park, in time to meet up with those opting for the full Monty, who should
reach there by about 9.55am. The route will be out and back to Newlands Corner -
thus allowing anyone tailed off to turn back short of the destination for a shorter run.
MABAC LEAGUE
Alternatively on 7th January there is the first Mabac League race of 2007,
an 8 miles road race on the closed roads inside Windsor Great Park. It's a
hilly course, but the surroundings are very pleasant. All Ranelagh members
are eligible to take part - collect numbers at the start, which is at 11am.
WCTT
PSH bids for world domination! The Bushy Park Time Trial has been such a
resounding success that organiser Paul Sinton-Hewitt is to introduce a
second such event in the new year, the Wimbledon Common Time Trial. Here's
Paul:
"We've started to notice that the current Bushy Park course is getting a
little crowded, and we've seen that people are traveling from a long way
away to come to our event.... so after some thought and discussion we've
decided to expand - and we are excited to announce the launch of the
Wimbledon Common Time Trial, WCTT.
Starting on Saturday 6th January 2007, the Wimbledon Common Time Trial will
follow a similar format to the BPTT event and will take place every Saturday
morning at 9 am. The course starts at the Windmill on the North-East corner
of Wimbledon Common (SW19 5NR) and follows a flat, two-lap course covering 6
kilometres in total. More details and a map will follow shortly on the web
site".
That's the BPTT web site - http://www.bptt.net/.
LONDON MARATHON 2007 - NICK WRIGHT BLOG (LUCOZADE SPORT)
Nick Wright writes:
"For those who have managed to get a place through the ballot, you might
have noticed a Ranelagh runner, Nick Wright, in the 'Marathon News'
magazine, under the section 'Follow our Lucozade Sport (LS) Runners online'.
LS are tracking the progress of nine 'amateur athletes' of all various
fitness levels, experience and time goals. Nick's blog is at the following link:
http://www.nick-wright.blogspot.com/".
CLODAGH'S BLOG
For those interested in keeping up with Clodagh Fahy's experiences as a VSO
worker in Malawi, her blog has now moved to:
www.myspace.com\clodagh_in_malawi.
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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 ).
Saturday 30th December Henty Relay in Richmond Park. 12 noon start. See
above.
Saturday 6th January Surrey Cross-Country Championships at Lloyd Park,
Croydon. See above.
Sunday 7th January Clive's Long Run from Box Hill. See above.
MABAC League 8 miles at Windsor. See
above.
Saturday 13th January Surrey League Div 1. Men's and women's events are
both on Wimbledon Common, but on opposite sides - the men on Belgrave's
course on the Wimbledon village side, the women on the Thames course at
Roehampton Vale.
Every Saturday Bushy Park Time Trial. 9am start at the Diana
Fountain car park. See http://www.bptt.net/ for details. There will be BPTTs
on Christmas Day and New Year's Day too.
WHAT'S HAPPENED...
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CHRISTMAS PARTY and LONDON MARATHON BALLOT Friday 15th December at the
Turk's Head
The notorious Mexican bandit El Wally was on guard at the door of the Turk's
Head, checking would-be party-goers for suspicious moustaches. Once inside,
sombreros and ponchos abounded; no Clint Eastwood, but plenty of good, bad
and especially ugly - the latter aided and abetted by the liberal
application of painted whiskers by Jo Turner.
The grub was good and the band, Los Mojados del Tamasis, convincingly
Latino. Dancing was circumspect, until after a tequila or two the gathering
erupted into action with a cross between the conga and a Mexican Gay
Gordons, if you'll pardon the expression.
The only club business of the evening was the draw for the four available
club places for the London Marathon. The names drawn from the sombrero were
Rachel Fursman, Neil Myland, Stephen Logue and Dawn Bates. Only Dawn was
actually present, but the grin she wore for the rest of the evening was big
enough for all four.
STUBBS CUP MOB MATCH v SOUTH LONDON HARRIERS Saturday 9th December in
Richmond Park
The SLH mob match invariably attracts a relatively small field, often
because it is taking place on the Saturday before Christmas. This year it
was considerably earlier, but the Xmas Shopping effect was already in
evidence: a handful over 40 starters from Ranelagh faced only 26 from SLH.
In the past SLH have occasionally travelled with such a small mob and still
done pretty well in the team result, because their mob consisted mainly of
faster runners. That was not really the case this time, and although they
provided six of the first twelve finishers there was little doubt about the
final outcome. Scoring 23 a side we regained the Stubbs Cup by a margin of
nearly 200 points.
For the home runners, there was more than just the team result at stake. The
Wynne Cup club cross-country championship was on offer, as well as the three
men's veterans trophies. At the front, Mark Middleton set out his stall
early on and ran into a fifty yards lead inside the first half mile. Duncan
Bell cannily bided his time and by half way round the first lap he had
caught and passed Mark. Thereafter he stretched away unchallenged to a
victory by over 50 seconds and will add his name for the first time to the
illustrious list of champions. Mark held on well for second place but next
there was a big surprise for many people, runners and officials alike. This
was Wendy Jones, whose third place might well be the highest position ever
achieved by a woman in a mob match. It should be noted straight away that
this is not the same Wendy Jones - wife of Geoff - who ran for us a few
years ago. This Wendy is a first-claim member of Cirencester AC, where she
is being advised by David Wright. Although already into the veteran category
she won her first international vests this year. Today she was always
prominent and gradually worked her way up to third, and her finishing time -
46.20 - smashed the course record previously held by...Wendy Jones!
There was a fierce contest for the Hastings Cup club vets championship, with
Howard Gleave hanging on to Andy Bickerstaff for grim death. Second time
round Andy gained a few yards and then managed to put a couple of SLH men
between himself and Howard. Andy went on to finish 6th overall, 24 seconds
ahead of Howard, and the Hastings will be his - another first-time victory.
In the over 50 and over 60 categories there were very comfortable triumphs
for John Barnard, who will receive the McDowell Cup, and Clive Beauvais,
whose reward is the Maslin Mug. And these trophies too are going to homes
they have not seen before.
Anna McLaughlin was the second woman to finish, with newcomer Abi Weeds
making an impressive debut in 4th place. The sealed handicap was won by
Yvonne Hill, and only seven seconds covered the first three.
JUNIOR POINTS PRIZE RACE 2 Saturday 9th December in Richmond Park
A few of the regulars were on duty for their counties at Parliament Hill,
but we still had over 40 lining up for the second of the four points prize
races. Josh Keisler led from the gun, but Sam Hunton was closing fast, and
at the finish there was just one second in it. Joss Moran was not far behind
and neither were Matthew Wilson, George Inman and the leading girl,
Stephanie Espinosa.
Emily Johnston won a close contest in the Under 13 girls category, just a
few metres ahead of Amelie Hunton and Katie Bryant. Victoria Elbourne and
Steven Downie had walk-overs in the Under 17 categories.
All of today's winners now stand on top of the points table or their age
groups, with the exception of Sam in the Under 15 boys: he did not run the
first race and the lead is held jointly by Matthew and George. Full points
tables can be found in the Junior section of our web site.
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 9th December
1 J Goulis (Stragglers) 15.49
22 Andrew Forth 18.39
29 Darren Wood 19.27
35 Phil Aiken 19.52
46 David Rowe 20.22
132 Roger Wilson 24.40
152 Dawn Bates 25.58
157 Gill Wilson 26.18
195 John Hanscomb 30.12
203 Sharon Rowe 32.01
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 16th December
259 finishers this week, including a good contingent from the St Mary's
junior squad. New member Alyn Morgan led the Ranelagh contingent in 5th
place and Kerrie O'Connor (hacking 30 seconds off her PB) and Clare King
were 4th and 6th women home.
1 R Simms (PACE) 17.02
5 Alyn Morgan 17.42
16 Andrew Forth 18.30
20 Taylor Nunn 18.43
21 Kerrie O'Connor 18.55
25 Clare King 19.02
36 Josh Keisler 19.36
37 David Rowe 19.40
38 Darren Wood 19.44
42 Stephen Instone 19.52
51 Joss Moran 20.24
65 Bonnie Webster 20.47
68 Nadia Fidler 20.56
78 Edward Smith 21.21
90 Rachel Pryce 21.43
92 Georgia Miansarow 21.50
106 Toby Piachaud 22.26
109 Lucy Edmunds 22.31
113 Beccy Culverwell 22.43
118 Luke Wilson 22.49
119 Alina Mingham 22.53
157 Alan Craig 24.45
167 Roger Wilson 25.08
199 John Hanscomb 26.49
236 Wally Garrod 30.08
SOUTH OF ENGLAND INTER-COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday 9th December at
Parliament Hill
Marie Synnott-Wells was the sixth finisher for the winning Surrey team.
Senior Women
1 H Dean (Oxfordshire) 21.31
26 Marie Synnott-Wells 24.03
Under 15 Boys
1 M Mason (Kent) 15.09
33 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 16.30
Under 15 Girls
1 C Freeman (Kent) 16.34
39 Georgia Miansarow 19.12
Under 13 Girls
1 R Haynes (Surrey) 10.48
49 Eve Edmunds 12.39
HOG'S BACK 8 miles Sunday 10th December at Guildford
Never-knowingly-underraced Marie Synnott-Wells had to wait to be confirmed
as the winner of the women's section while the confusion caused by a man
running in a woman's number was sorted out. John Hanscomb left his number in
his car so had to run unofficially, crossing the line in about 72.30.
1 J Baker (Chichester) 41.26
60 Marie Synnott-Wells 51.35
667 Alan Meaden 76.17
679 David Meaden 77.30
SOUTH OF THE THAMES 7½ MILES CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday 16th December at
Brockwell Park
We didn't contest the South of the Thames as a club this year, but as Marie
Synnott-Wells is building up a nice collection of SoT medals she couldn't
resist the temptation to add another to the pile.
Women
1 C Wellington (Belgrave) 48.10
3 Marie Synnott-Wells 51.19
IRIS LOTTO CROSS CUP Sunday 17th December at Brussels
Sam Perkins, representing the South of England, finished 26th in the junior
men's 6km race.
1 M Mashford (AFD) 21.01
26 Sam Perkins 23.04
BEDFORD HALF MARATHON Sunday 10th December
David Rowe reports:
"A cold, crisp Sunday morning welcomed the entrants of the Bedford Harriers
Half Marathon in the quiet village of Wootton, Bedfordshire. In 2005 the
Buncefield Oil Depot explosions caused delays for people getting to the
race, and this year there was an accident that caused the M1 motorway to be
closed.
Fortunately two Ranelaghs made it to the start on time and took on this
undulating course. With most of the support on this quiet course provided by
the marshalls, just over 1,300 runners made it to the finish line".
1 N Leighton (Bristol & W) 1:09:38
227 David Rowe 1:33:37
494 Neil Myland 1:43:21
RON WHEELER 2.6 miles Wednesday 29th November at Wapping
1 P Young (Raven) 14.00
5 Chris Read 15.16
CRYSTAL PALACE CANTER 5km Tuesday 5th December
Yvonne Hill was the second woman home in 21.00.
KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap Wednesday 6th December
1 A Jackson (Vets AC) 25.28 (actual time 24.13)
16 Sonia Rowland 27.04 (actual time 20.04)
SANTA RUN Saturday 9th December in Battersea Park
Cindy Croucher reports:
"Saturday 9th December was the first London Santa Run in aid of Disability
Snowsport. As it was the first time this event had run we didn't really know
what to expect but were presented with a one-size-fits-all full Santa
costume on arrival - hat, beard, coat, trousers and not very effective belt.
The race was 6k, two loops in Battersea Park. It was a chilly start but we
all soon overheated in our oversized felt costumes and our faces were as red
as our hats. First of our group home was Lynne Barber in 23rd position in
her age-group in 36.09; second Christine Goodsell in 39.21; me in 42.16; Bev
Ali, 20th in her age-group in 43.14 and Ann Murray in 43.15. Bev's
daughters also ran with us - Jessica in 38.39, Gillian in 38.46 and best
friend Katy in 38.46. George and Annie Coates were also there and we have
photos to prove it. As we all struggled with keeping our trousers up and
overheating, we cast a jealous eye at the two men who ran in nothing but a
thong! Yes a thong. They jiggled their way around having their pert little
bottoms pinched along the way. Apparently they were walking like John Wayne
at the end - due to chaffing. Ho ho ho - a highly recommended race as long
as you are not too worried about your time!"
1 T Kingsnorth 19.52 (chip time 19.52)
551 Lynne Barber 37.25 (36.09)
739 Jessica Ali 39.56 (38.39)
742 Gillian Ali 40.03 (38.46)
778 Christine Goodsell 40.38 (39.21)
898 Cindy Croucher 43.33 (42.16)
920 Bev Ali 44.32 (43.14)
RONHILL CLASSIC 10km Sunday 17th December at Horton Country Park
1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 32.59
104 Pete Warren 43.39
224 Alan Meaden 55.55
228 John Hanscomb 56.18
230 David Meaden 57.36
GRIM CHALLENGE 8 miles Sunday 3rd December at Aldershot
In the last edition we missed out mention of new member Abi Weeds, who was
actually second woman home behind Anna in 61.11.
CYPRUS CHALLENGE
Alan Davidson reports:
"An adductor strain prevented me racing for three weeks before going to
Cyprus, and I missed the Aphrodite Half Marathon for the third year in a
row, but I tackled the later KEO Cyprus Challenge: Day 1, 4½ miles hilly
off-road (6th, 34.06); day 2, 5½ miles road / promenade (7th, 41.11) giving
me 1st O/55 and quads feeling like boards, but the cool sea helping to ease
the pain. The Army Benevolent Fund Kolossi 10k on another hot and windy day
was a new race mainly on stony tracks in a dust storm! I was 2nd O/50 in
43.59, too far from the sea so the groaning quads were plastered in freeze
gel to calm them down! General feeling amongst our group of UK runners was
that the 10k they raced for the first time would benefit from being the last
time. I managed to survive 11 days of 24/25deg C temperatures".
FINALLY...
Sports goods companies don't miss a trick! The winner of the women's 200
metres in the recent Asian Games was a young woman from Bahrain. She ran in
full Islamic sporting kit - tights, long sleeved vest and a hijab
(headscarf). The hijab, one couldn't help noticing, was adorned with a Nike
swoosh....