Home
Newsdesk 2007

 ****************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 254                7 June 2007
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com  
 ****************************************************************************

 HEADLINE NEWS
 *********************
 *  Nathan Mills and Mandy Westlake the leading Ranelagh finishers in the
    Dorking 10
 *  Darryl McDonald wins Regents Park 10km
 *  Ranelagh 9th in South Downs Way Relay
 *  Mick Lane 6th in Yateley 10km
 *  Training leaders' course this Saturday at the clubhouse

 SEE HERE
 *************
 DYSART DASH 10km  Sunday 24th June at Ham
 This is the second of our road race promotions, and doubles up as the county
 10km championship. Plenty of Ranelagh have already entered but there's room
 for plenty more! 

 As usual we will need helpers in various capacities on the day - marshals,
 recorders at the finish, water station attendants and so on. The start time
 is 9am. If you can spare an hour or two to help, please volunteer to Bev Ali.

 TRAIL CHALLENGE  Tuesday 19th June in Richmond Park
 We are hosting this event for SLOW - the South London Orienteers and
 Wayfarers. It is designed to be a gentle introduction to orienteering, and
 in fact is best described as a cross between orienteering and a
 cross-country race. You are given a map and you have to visit a series of
 controls, but all the competitors start together, so for the inexperienced
 there is plenty of scope for following others! There is a choice between a
 10km (starting at 7.30pm) and a 6km (starting at 7.40pm). Our event will be
 entirely within the confines of the Park. Entry is £4 in advance or £6 on
 the day. Full details are on the SLOW web site: 
 www.sloweb.org.uk/trail/Index.htm

 JUNIOR TRAINING
 Frances Ratchford writes:
 "Saturday morning training has been suspended for the summer but will start
 again on Saturday 1st September at 10.30am in the clubhouse. All juniors
 (and adults who want to do hill training) welcome".

 TRAINING LEADERS' COURSE
 Our senior coach Frances Ratchford is keen to involve more club members
 (especially men) in coaching and particularly in gaining the basic Level 1
 qualification. To this end she is organising a series of Saturday morning
 "leaders" courses. Frances writes:
 "On Saturday June 9th there will be a training leaders' course in the
 clubhouse from 9am - 11 am.  It will be the first of a series of leaders'
 courses looking at warm ups, stretching and general coaching. It is free but
 there is a limit on numbers of only ten people so apply direct to me by
 e-mail (mailto:grapevineproductions@compuserve.com). I am going to ask if
 this course and the follow up courses can be counted as a Level 1 coaching
 qualification for cross-country and road running".

 CHRIS BRASHER PONDS RUN  Tuesday 26th June in Richmond Park
 Our annual commemoration of the late Chris Brasher takes the form of a run
 visiting every one of the ponds in Richmond Park (or as many as you can!).
 See parts of the Park you never knew existed! All are welcome, start time is
 7pm.  

 MASTERS TRACK LEAGUE
 Julie Drummond writes:
 "Calling all Vets ... not just the women..there was a hiccup with the first
 of this year's Vets Track League meetings at the Millennium Arena in
 Battersea Park and we didn't compete.  However, following discussions it has
 been agreed that we can borrow St Mary's vests to compete in and only have
 to pay £10 each towards track fees.  Any members of St Mary's of course do
 not have to pay extra! 

 The next meeting is 11 June and I believe the events for this match are:
 1830 Hammer M35 M50
 1900 Triple Jump M35 M50
 1910 200m M35 M40 M50
 1935 800m M35 M40 M50 M60
 1945 Long Jump M35 M50
 2000 3000m M35 M40 M50 M60
 2015 Javelin M35 M50 M60
 2040 4x100m relay men 

 1830 Triple Jump W35 M50
 1900 Hammer W35 W50
 1900 200m W35 W40 W50 W60
 1920 800m W35 W40 W50 W60
 1945 Javelin W35 W50
 2015 Long Jump W35 W50 W60
 2020 3000m W35 W40 W50
 2050 4x100m relay women 

 Please come along - it's a lot of fun and hopefully the weather will be
 good. The Millennium Arena is approx 10 minute walk from Battersea Park or
 Queenstown Road. For further information email me on: thedrummonds@blueyonder.co.uk 

 TURKISH VILLA AVAILABLE
 Tom Reay writes:
 "I have use of a four storey villa in southern Turkey. It's air conditioned
 and sleeps eight. There are two double en-suite bedrooms, a twin bedroom
 with en-suite facilities and a further bedroom with twin beds. It's situated
 at Kalkan on the south Turkish coast, not far from the Greek island of
 Rhodes. It's historically associated with the ancient land of Lycia. There
 is a small harbour with a marina, a good beach and plenty of bars and
 restaurants. There are regular direct flights from Gatwick and the journey
 time from the airport to the villa by road is approx 50 minutes. If anyone
 is interested in making up a group holiday, could you let me know at the
 club or my e-mail address is reayta@aol.com 

 LONGFORD MARATHON / HALF MARATHON
 Catherine Carthy writes:
 "Why not end your running season this summer by taking part in the
 'friendliest Marathon in Europe'? It's held in Longford, Ireland on 26th
 August, the bank holiday weekend, and includes a half-marathon and
 wheelchair race. Now in its fifth year it attracts a lot of runners from the
 UK and as the course is flat you could end up with a PB and have a fun
 weekend in Ireland at the same time. In 2004 a small team from Ranelagh took
 part, Michele Gibson, Tom Reay and myself and we can fill you in on more
 details. The web site is www.longfordmarathon.com and you can
 register on line. The price goes up after 1 August. I am from Longford (10
 miles outside the town) and can help with any queries re accommodation and
 information on the local area. I will be running this year and would love to
 welcome you to my home town and also make sure you have an enjoyable
 weekend. Catherine Carthy 07801 289455, catherine@aquiladevelopment.co.uk

 GREAT NORTH RUN HALF MARATHON
 The Crisis charity still has places for the Great North Run this year (30th
 September). They require £300 in sponsorship to be raised by anyone who
 wants a place. 

 SUBSCRIPTIONS...
 ...for 2007/08 are now due. Rates are unchanged this year and will cover the
 new £3 affiliation fee required by UKA:

 Juniors £6, Seniors £30, Over 60 AND retired £5, Family £60, non-running,
 second claim or "country" members £10.

 Cheques should be payable to Ranelagh Harriers. See Chris Owens at training
 nights or send your cheque to the clubhouse in an envelope marked
 "Membership Secretary". Address is Ranelagh Harriers, 135A Petersham Road,
 Richmond, Surrey TW10 7AA.

 *********************
  WHAT'S COMING...
 *********************
 More details of the following from
 Andy Bickerstaff ( 07772 111491 / mailto: andy@norris-hobs.co.uk )  or 
 Anna McLaughlin (07971 606521 / mailto: anna.mclaughlin@talk21.com ).     

 Sunday 10th June          MABAC League 5 miles at Holmwood Common (near
 Dorking). 11am start.  

 Tuesday 19th June         Trail Challenge 10km or 6km in Richmond Park. See
 above.

 Sunday 24th June          Dysart Dash 10km at Ham. Ranelagh GP race and
 Surrey 10km championship. See above.

 Tuesday 26th June         Chris Brasher Ponds Run in Richmond Park. 7pm
 start.

 Sunday 1st July             Harry Hawkes 8 miles at Thames Ditton. 10am
 start.  

 Tuesday 10th July          Coad Cup 5 miles handicap in Richmond Park. All
 members welcome, 7.15pm start, followed by...

 Tuesday 10th July          Annual General Meeting in the clubhouse, 8.15pm
 start or as soon as everyone is back from the race.

 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.

 RANELAGH ROAD GRAND PRIX
 The next GP event is the Dysart Dash 10km.  Full details.

 SURREY ROAD LEAGUE
 The third League event is the Dysart Dash 10km. 

 WHAT'S HAPPENED...
 ***************************
 DORKING 10 miles including Surrey 10 miles championship Sunday 3rd June
 On the advice of the BARR (British Association of Road Races) the organisers
 introduced a new course this year, comprising one short lap and one long.
 The new version was reportedly no less hilly than the original and a typical
 warm day made it as hard a race as Dorking usually provides. This is David
 Rowe's view of the course (taken from David and Sharon's running blog
 rowerunning.co.uk):

 "The start of the race in Brockham village was extremely picturesque and
 this wasn't limited to just the start. Around just about every corner was a
 cracking view - real picture postcard potential all the way round. OK, the
 weather certainly helped but I really enjoyed running this course. There
 were a few hills to be tackled, but nothing too taxing if you ran steady and
 paced yourself - especially important in the heat. The roads were really
 quiet, although I did have to slow down a bit at one point when following a
 car going up a hill. Apart from that one incident cars were not a problem in
 the slightest".

 SLH's Jason Simpson - who won our Half Marathon - picked up another brace of
 county championships (overall and vets) with a comfortable victory. Nathan
 Mills was the leading Ranelagh finisher in 19th place but missed the one
 hour barrier. Peter Weir and Trevor Maguire finished in the top fifty and
 David Rowe and Tim Sizeland were our last two inside seventy minutes.
 Amongst the women, Mandy Westlake was the leading RH in 13th place, ahead of
 Carola Richter and Karen Broadbent. 

 REGENT'S PARK 10km  Saturday 2nd June
 Darryl McDonald, in his first 10km for about four years, was probably quite
 surprised to find a time of 35.09 good enough to carry him across the line
 half a minute clear of the field.

 SOUTH DOWNS WAY RELAY  Saturday 2nd June 100 miles Eastbourne to Winchester
 Niall O'Connor reports:
 "Last Saturday five intrepid Harriers ventured to Eastbourne for the 25th
 South Downs Relay. The route follows the South Downs national trail for 100
 miles, finishing near Winchester. There were six members per team but Chris
 Owens showed some Scottish solidarity with the touring English rugby team by
 going down with a stomach bug on the eve of the race and our substitute,
 Marc, well..chose to watch some football match at Wembley instead. After
 some frantic phone calls an hour before the race began, the ingenuity of
 Neil Walford showed through and he rustled up one of his second-claim
 Brighton clubmates to complete our team. 

 The race has a 14 hour limit with staggered start times, which meant that we
 began with last year's runners up, Steyning, as well as Hailsham Harriers
 and Midhurst Milers. Steyning promptly disappeared into the distant hills
 and we tussled with Hailsham and, in particular, Midhurst for the duration
 of the race. We were probably a stronger team but they, as locals, had a
 better knowledge of the route and terrain.

 The format of the event is that each of the six runners runs three
 non-consecutive legs each, carrying a baton that is passed to the runner of
 the next leg. Legs varied from 4 to 8 miles and each stage begins when your
 team-mate arrives with the baton. 50 teams took part and, due to the
 handicapped start times, you were constantly catching up with teams that
 began earlier than yours.

 Logistics were important with the constant collecting of runners, driving to
 the beginning of the next stage, and going again. A second O.S. map, in
 particular one that covered the western legs into Winchester, would have
 been very useful!

 One of the conditions of entry was that you recce'd your legs prior to the
 race, so a highlight of the day was Howard Gleave's fourth stage run, which
 began before our substitute had arrived, so he ran a stage he hadn't seen or
 studied previously, bringing us back to around 5th place at that time.
 Another highlight was Cap'n Bicks's multistage battle with a young lady from
 Midhurst. Andy was as rugged and doughty as usual across the undulating
 hills but she eventually demonstrated female power, catching him for pace on
 the finish line. John Molloy fended off hayfever to run a strong tenth and a
 solid fifteenth stage while Neil fended off jetlag from his work trip (i.e.
 holiday) in S.Africa, to keep us in the mix each time.

 On a hot day we ran consistently on the exposed downs, finishing in 9th
 place that, with a little better navigation and knowledge of the route,
 could easily have been 5th of the 50 teams".

 1 Brighton & Hove 10.46.28
 2 Steyning 10.57.48
 3 Stubbington Green 10.59.27
 9 Ranelagh 12.04.52

 Individual stage times are not yet available. 

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 2nd June
 1 R Baugh (Australia) 15.16
 14 Vaughan Ramsey 18.09
 24 John Herries 18.41
 31 David Rowe 18.51
 46 Simon Collingridge 19.39
 56 Sam Hunton 19.57
 62 Darren Wood 20.06
 96 Phil Aiken 21.17
 146 Paul Bisping 22.26
 201 Amelie Hunton 23.56
 257 Gill Wilson 26.02
 285 John Hanscomb 27.02
 353 Sharon Rowe 30.56 

 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 2nd June
 1 R Dzikowski (West 4) 17.15
 19 Stephen Instone 19.48

 KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap  Wednesday 6th June
 1 P Godber (Unatt) 25.37  (actual time 20.37)
 7 Alan Davidson 26.10  (actual time 19.10)

 YATELEY 10km  Wednesday 6th June
 Mick Lane showed a good turn of speed in this, the first of a series of
 three summer evening 10ks organised by Sandhurst Joggers on the first
 Wednesday of each month. Mick was 6th overall, the second over 40 to finish. 

 1 G Robinson (Sand J) 33.04  (chip time 33.02)
 6 Mick Lane 34.42  (34.41)
 248 Evelyn Joslin 45.20  (44.52)

 FINALLY...
 Nineteenth-century Norwegian Ernest Memsen is reputed to have run the 1550
 miles between Paris and Moscow in 14 days, 5 hours and 50 minutes, swimming
 thirteen rivers en route...