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 ****************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 249                19 April 2007
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com  
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 HEADLINE NEWS
 *********************
 *  76 year-old Ed Whitlock runs 3.04.54 marathon in Rotterdam
 *  Tim Woods 5th in Thames Towpath 10
 *  A hot weekend in Paris
 *  London Marathon this Sunday
 *  Your views requested  

 SEE HERE
 *************
 LONDON MARATHON
 Good luck to all runners on Sunday! As I write, the weather forecast is
 "mostly sunny" with temperatures rising to 22 degrees by Sunday afternoon.
 So hopefully the conditions for running in the morning will be pleasant, but
 it may become warm in the closing stages. Nothing so extreme, however, as
 that faced by the competitors in the Paris and Rotterdam events last
 weekend - see below.

 The day will as usual end up at Janet Turnes's pub the Wych Elm in Elm Road,
 Kingston. All runners, spectators, supporters, television watchers welcome
 from 7pm onwards. Bring your medals!

 IMPORTANT - YOUR VIEWS PLEASE
 Hon Sec Simon Burrell writes:
 "Please give us your views on an important topic, for which we feel we need
 a better understanding of members' opinions before reaching a decision. This
 relates to the setting of future annual subscriptions.

 You can help by reading this document and expressing your views by e-mail to
 Simon Burrell (mailto:simon_burrell2000@yahoo.com).
 Please do this by the end of April.
 Your individual responses will be shared with a small team looking into this
 matter, with an anonymous summary of opinions presented to the full
 committee on 29th May. We will propose a future course of action, based on
 member feedback at the AGM in July.

 POST LONDON AND PARIS MARATHON PARTY
 Richard Xerri of Xerritherapy, in conjunction with realrunners.co.uk and
 goodrunguide.co.uk, is organising this at the Alexandra pub in Park Road,
 Kingston on Thursday 26th April at 7.30pm. Richard writes:
 "As some of us (in fact many of us) are not good enough for the official
 London Marathon post race party I thought it was time to run an unofficial
 one.... no suits or fancy dresses required, you can spill your food and not
 worry and it doesn't matter if you fall asleep in your pint or white wine
 spritzer. Vast range of fattening food allowed too!!

 Nice prizes to the quickest male and female club runners from both events
 and maybe the slowest...if they are not to embarrassed to step forward.
 Bring your race number for the infamous MARATHON RUNNERS DRAW and the even
 more infamous OLDEST RUNNING VEST COMPETITION. Photo evidence not required.

 This invitation is going out to the masses of the running community so come
 and see some of those non-social marathon lot from the past few months who
 pretend they have been training hard!!

 A run will take place beforehand  just up the road from the pub in Richmond
 Park / Kingston Gate car park at 6.00pm".

 MARATHON SPONSORSHIP
 If you still haven't found a home for all that sponsorship money in your
 wallet, here's one more appeal, from Rachel Fursman:
 "I'm running the London Marathon in aid of Parkinson's Disease. My grandad
 suffers from the condition so it's great to be helping such a worthwhile
 cause. Please give what you can, it's much appreciated.
 The link is: http://www.justgiving.com/RFursman

 RICHMOND HALF MARATHON  Sunday 13th May at 8.30am
 Entries for our Half Marathon are now approaching 600, including about 30
 from Ranelagh. It would be nice to see a few more, especially as the race
 doubles up as both our own club championship and the Surrey county
 championship.  

 *********************
  WHAT'S COMING...
 *********************
 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 22nd April         London Marathon. Ranelagh GP race.

 Sunday 6th May            Sutton 10km. Ranelagh GP and Surrey Road League race.   

 Sunday 13th May           Ranelagh Richmond Half Marathon. Ranelagh GP race.
 
 Sat 19th / Sun 20th May Green Belt Relay.

 Sunday 3rd June            Dorking 10 miles. Ranelagh GP race and Surrey 10m
 championship. A new course is being introduced this year.  

 Every Saturday              Bushy Park Time Trial: 9am start at the Diana
 Fountain car park.
                                      Wimbledon Common Time Trial: 9am start
 at the Windmill car park.
                                     Details:

 RANELAGH ROAD GRAND PRIX
 Full details


 WHAT'S HAPPENED...
 ***************************
 THAMES TOWPATH 10 miles  Sunday 15th April at Chiswick
 Tim Woods reports:
 "It was hot and a change of course meant that there was a climb up the steps
 onto Richmond Bridge at the half way point which knocked me back a bit. Too
 little on roads and too much on the uneven towpath with dogs, bikes and
 children enjoying the weather. Overall I went off too fast (not for the
 first time), and was on my own for the last few miles after someone left me.
 At least he wished me good luck and called me 'son'! Well organised and
 worth it, especially if you enjoy Fullers beer".

 Tim finished 5th overall but surprisingly was only the second over 50 home,
 the winner being 52 year-old Paul Gregory from Vale of Aylesbury. David Rowe
 hacked several minutes off his previous best to record 67.36 as the second
 Ranelagh man in, ahead of Niall O'Connor and Marc Snaith. Martin Clark was
 the first over 60 to finish and John Hanscomb was the first over 70. Carola
 Richter and Aine Hayes led the Ranelagh women. 

 PARIS MARATHON  Sunday 15th April
 "April in Paris" goes the old song, "Chestnuts in blossom, Holiday tables
 under the trees". Sitting at a holiday table under a tree with long drinks
 in their hands is probably what most sensible Parisians were doing on
 Sunday, as sunshine and high temperatures ushered in an early summer. 30,000
 marathoners tackled the conditions as best they could. Chris Read reports:

 "With temperatures forecast to reach 27C a team of nine Ranelagh runners
 lined up at the start of the Paris Marathon.  The first half went well for
 me with the early start ensuring relatively cool conditions. Crowd support
 was good with shouts of "Allez" and "Bravo" to encourage us.  As I went into
 the second half, however, things got tougher.  By 30 km the temperature felt
 as if it had reached the promised 27C and I was tired and overheating. The
 band at 35 km optimistically sang "Everything's gonna be all right" and so
 it proved as I crossed the line more or less on target in a time of 3.26.11.

 Andy Hayward was the fastest Ranelagh finisher in 3.25.41. Evelyn, Karen,
 Michele and I all did pbs.  The rest of the team did relatively slow times
 as they struggled in the heat.  From what I personally saw the race was well
 organised. I understand, however, that it was tougher further back with not
 enough water and medical facilities struggling to cope with the number of
 people collapsing."

 1 M Shami (Qatar) 2.07.19  (chip time 2.07.18)
 3184 Andy Hayward 3.26.12  (3.25.41)
 3522 Chris Read 3.28.39  (3.26.11)
 5628 Evelyn Joslin 3.40.25  (3.37.16)
 8022 Karen Broadbent 3.52.33  (3.49.24)
 8993 Greg Walters 3.57.54  (3.57.14)
 10458 Ian Grange 4.03.20  (3.57.48)
 14360 Michele Gibson 4.21.09  (4.14.07)
 17154 Tom Reay 4.34.20  (4.23.54)
 21215 Steve Roberts 4.56.16  (4.42.18)

 ROTTERDAM MARATHON  Sunday 15th April
 Conditions were just as torrid in Rotterdam, where the organisers took the
 unprecedented step of stopping the race in the interests of safety after
 three and a half hours. Even so, over 50 runners were hospitalised. The
 superhuman Ed Whitlock took it all in his steady stride and ran another
 incredible race to set a new world record for over 75s of 3.04.54. We could
 all learn lessons from his 5km splits, which were 21.26, 21.13, 21.35,
 22.01, 22.14, 22.20, 22.05 and 22.00. 

 David Wright was in Rotterdam with Wendy Jones, who was ostensibly chasing
 the World Championships qualifying time of 2.35 but in light of the
 conditions settled for a steady 2.45. David met up with Ed on the eve of the
 race: "He felt that he wasn't in the greatest shape and he said that
 Toronto's winter had come late this year so the change in temperature for
 him was massive. I didn't see him after the marathon because we had to race
 to the airport but I understand that he ran 3.04 for a new World V75 record,
 an absolutely magnificent run in the conditions. I saw him at 30km, in his
 Ranelagh vest of course, and gave him a cheer. On Saturday he told me that
 he's determined to run a Ranelagh mob match so as to achieve the record of
 the biggest gap between mob matches - his one run for Ranelagh being a mob
 against Finchley Harriers about 60 years ago!"

 Ed adds, with massive understatement: "I had an OK run, but was looking for
 a little better. Cramping problems over the last 2k but otherwise OK. Most
 other people seemed more affected by the conditions than me".

 1 J Chelanga (Kenya) 2.08.21  (chip time 2.08.19)
 56 Wendy Jones (Ciren) 2.45.54  (2.45.50)
 183 Ed Whitlock 3.04.54  (3.04.51)

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 14th April
 A bumper 349 runners in the sunshine this week, the Ranelagh contingent led
 by junior Jamie Taylor-Caldwell.

 1 R Stannard (Belgrave) 15.34
 18 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 18.15
 42 Darren Wood 19.15
 50 David Rowe 19.38
 86 Chris Camacho 20.58
 97 Tony Appleby 21.13
 127 Adam Wright 21.57
 201 Luke Wilson 24.52
 202 Alan Craig 24.53
 206 Zuzana Lhotanova 25.09
 245 John Hanscomb 26.54
 277 Gill Wilson 28.00
 322 Sharon Rowe 31.12 

 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 14th April
 1 T Moonen (Ealing S&M) 17.07
 8 Andy Bickerstaff 18.19

 DUNSFOLD 10km  Sunday 15th April
 Not the best day for a course completely devoid of shade!

 1 D Taylor (Blackheath) 32.34  (chip time 32.33)
 58 Jonny Peacock 42.20  (42.18)

 ASTHMA UK 10km  Saturday 7th April at Battersea Park
 1 R Lee 32.24
 13 Ed Barker 35.38 

 NEWPORT TO RYDE 7 miles  Saturday 7th April
 Another over 60 win for Clive Beauvais.

 1 P Cameron (W Wight) 38.14
 16 Clive Beauvais 47.15

 FINALLY...
 London Marathoners will be relieved to hear that the "Dancing Priest"
 Cornelius Horan has been given an ASBO to keep him away from the race on
 Sunday. Horan, if you don't remember him, is the defrocked priest who
 disrupted the 2003 British F1 Grand Prix and then rugby tackled the leader
 of the 2004 Olympic Marathon...