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 ****************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 255                20 June 2007
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com  
 ****************************************************************************

 HEADLINE NEWS
 *********************
 *  Successful conclusion to beginners' course
 *  Wet evening for Trail Challenge
 *  8.47 3000m by Sam Perkins
 *  Triathlon wins by Bonnie Webster
 *  Dysart Dash 10km this Sunday
 *  Chris Brasher Ponds Run next Tuesday
 *  Wedding Day for our women's Captain

 SEE HERE
 *************
 DYSART DASH 10km  Sunday 24th June at Ham
 There is still time to enter for our 10km next Sunday. 

 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.

 AFFILIATION - What, where, why, how?
 Frances Ratchford writes:
 "Affiliation is something we should all be used to, we pay subs to counties,
 territories and to our governing body and in return we get information,
 support, competition, registration of coaches & officials.  BUT what usually
 happens is we all just sit back after we have paid our subs and let Ranelagh
 pay the affiliation fees for us.

 England Athletics like lots of other sporting governing bodies is doing it
 slightly differently.  It is asking individuals to affiliate but only
 competing individuals.  Every competitor will pay £3 this year and £5 next
 year.

 What will they get in return?
 Every competitor will get a unique number, which they can use for the rest
 of their competing life plus a membership card. Affiliation will also
 provide third party insurance for clubs and athletes. It means that you as
 an athlete will be insured for any race you take part in, whether it is
 cross-country or road. For the club it means that we are insured against any
 accident happening to you our members. 

 Why us?
 Most other sports already use this system, some sports ask individuals to
 send their details directly to the governing body but England Athletics are
 using the clubs to collect the money and note the details of athletes. It
 will mean that for the first time grass roots athletics has a true picture
 of who is in the sport and that will help planning for the future 

 For better or worse
 The money collected regionally will stay in the region and will be used to
 improve coaches' education and officials' education, or be used for squad
 days or development work. Only athletes pay so at last we can say thank you
 to coaches, officials and volunteers for all their hard work, and they don't
 pay. Long term it may mean that we could have individual chips for
 competitors rather than membership cards. You will only have to quote your
 number on entry forms as a check that YOU are affiliated.

 More junk mail?
 No, tick the box on the form and your details will only be accessible to you
 and England Athletics. You will have an individual password to access your
 information. Recognised competition organisers will only have access to
 names, club membership and ages of competitors.

 When?
 Athletic Services have sent out a pack to guide clubs with the affiliation
 process.  There is also an excel spreadsheet, which they will email on
 request. Annual affiliation is due on April 1st 2007 and annually after
 that. But Athletic Services are aware that this year there will be a lot of
 extra work for clubs so will accept data a few months late.  Ranelagh have
 already paid the basic £50 on behalf of the club, and the new affiliation
 fees will be met by the club for this year but will be paid by athletes next
 year as an add on to the subscription.

 Not sure if I am an competitor
 We all know that feeling when we have been injured or just not able to
 train.  You can delay paying until you are sure you are going to run in races.
 But unaffiliated fees will be in the region of £2-£3 from now, whereas by
 affiliating you only have to pay £5 for unlimited races

 And the good news?
 All the money from affiliation fees will come back to the region so England
 Athletics can help our club and our athletes. Clubs can contact anyone in
 the London region with ideas that may need grants to help them with
 administration or development of their club.  That in practical terms means
 money for computers, courses for officials or coaches or really imaginative
 schemes or innovations.

 If you have any questions or concerns please e-mail me direct at
 mailto:grapevineproductions@compuserve.com


 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. Details and a map:

 NONSUCH PARK 4 x 2.2 miles Relay  Thursday 5th July at Mansion House
 Gardens, Nonsuch Park, Epsom
 To quote the race web site: "Held in the wonderful Nonsuch Park these
 popular relays attracted a record entry of 60 teams in 2006. The event has
 categories for men, women, V40 & V50 men and V40 women. The relay starts at
 7pm. The course is mainly on tarmac but there is a stretch of grassland
 midway round each lap. The only climb on the lap is on the grassland
 followed by a slight descent on tarmac towards the Mansion House". Anyone
 interested in making up a team please contact Phil Aiken (07739 035189 or
 mailto:phil.aiken@rnid.org.uk)

 CONGRATULATIONS...
 ...to Anna McLaughlin and John Scally who are to be wed this Saturday.

 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 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.

 Thursday 28th June        Stragglers Junior Handicap at the Hawker Centre.
 8pm 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.

 Sunday 15th July           Elmbridge 10km at Walton. 9.30am start. 

 Friday 27th July             Wedding Day 7km in Bushy Park. 7.30pm start.
 

 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.
                                     Banstead Woods Time Trial: 9am start off
 B2219 Park Lane, Chipstead
                                     More details at www.parkrun.com

 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...
 ***************************
 TRAIL CHALLENGE  Tuesday 19th June in Ham and Richmond Park
 South London Orienteers seem to have upset the weather gods...it was pouring
 with rain for much of the evening, just as it had for the Street
 Orienteering event we hosted on their behalf in February. The Trail
 Challenge events are a cross between Orienteering and  cross-country races,
 with an Orienteering-type map but all competitors starting together. This
 one was originally intended to be entirely within Richmond Park, but the
 Park authorities withdrew their permission at the last minute citing
 concerns over nesting birds. So instead the routes took in the Ham House,
 Ham Fields and Ham Common areas before entering the Park at Ham Gate for the
 final couple of controls. It was still mostly familiar ground for the
 Ranelagh members who decided to give it a go, though Ham Fields - that area
 circled by the Dysart Dash course - was a novelty for some.

 I'm not clear whether the stated distances are supposed to represent "as the
 crow flies" or "as the Orienteer orienteers". At any rate the winner, who
 was wearing a GPS device, reckoned that he had covered 6.6 miles. Others
 might have gone further...

 45 took part in the 10km event and Niall O'Connor was the first Ranelagh man
 home in 14th place. A few seconds behind came Phil Aiken, who won one of the
 vets prizes. 23rd and first woman overall was Sonia Rowland. In the 6km
 Steve Rowland finished 4th and 3rd 'super-vet' in a field of 29.

 Full results, including individual splits, will soon appear on the SLOW web
 site www.sloweb.org.uk/trail/Index.htm

 10km
 1 N Barrable (SYO) 40.01
 14 Niall O'Connor 53.39
 16 Phil Aiken 53.52
 23 Sonia Rowland 61.36
 29 Simon Burrell 70.00
 30 Martin Clark 70.14
 38 Laurel Jones 72.50
 41 Ian Grange 74.18 

 6km
 1 G Newton (Tadworth) 31.03
 4 Steve Rowland 34.33
 17 Gabrielle McNamara 40.45
 24 Zoe Williams 65.16 

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 9th June
 David Rowe took another few seconds off his PB, but he was the only improver
 this week from the Ranelagh contingent. 

 1 M Pierson (Holmfirth) 15.46
 10 Peter Weir 17.45
 21 David Rowe 18.34
 31 Chris Brook 19.01
 44 Darren Wood 19.36
 63 Chris Camacho 20.32
 66 Jenny Lloyd-Jones 20.34
 116 Phil Aiken 21.50
 141 Andrew Woodhouse 22.27
 147 Paul Bisping 22.35
 161 Luke Wilson 22.47
 257 Roger Wilson 26.09
 269 Gill Wilson 26.51
 273 Wally Garrod 27.00
 276 John Hanscomb 27.03
 338 Sharon Rowe 29.34 

 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 9th June
 Sarah Smith made her WCTT debut and was the second woman home.  

 1 C Strzdala (Unatt) 16.50
 9 Andy Bickerstaff 17.59
 23 Sarah Smith 19.30
 24 Stephen Instone 19.38
 30 Pete Warren 21.26
 38 Martin Clark 23.04
 44 Kathy Mallett 24.11 

 EPSOM 10km  Sunday 10th June
 John Hanscomb won the over 70 category. 

 1 T Elsey (Herne Hill) 33.10
 52 Phil Aiken 43.44
 209 John Hanscomb 56.54

 NORTH DOWNS RUN 30km  Sunday 10th June
 Iain Wilson reports:
 "I found the NDR 30 when I went looking for something a bit different for my
 Sunday long run. And what a find. If you can get yourself to Gravesend for
 the 10:30 start, then you are rewarded with the most scenic of circular
 routes, almost entirely on trails through the Kent fields and woods. At this
 time of year the wild flowers are in full bloom, with some fields almost
 blood-red with poppies, others drifted white with daisies. 

 The day was sunny and warm. The organisation was top class, the route
 well-marked, almost impossible to miss, ample water stations (with jelly
 babies); the marshals friendly and helpful. However, it is 'undulating'.
 Indeed, even the organisers call it 'challenging'. And as I'd only done one
 18 miler so far in my current build-up, I decided to start easy and see how
 it went. So I stuck mid-pack of the 400 or so runners on the loop round the
 playing field before heading out on the downs. I reckon I held about 50th
 after 10k, picked off a handful to be 45th after 20k and was lucky enough to
 be able to hold my pace from there on in as others wilted in the heat and
 hills. I picked up 20 places in the last 10k. What a great (and rare)
 feeling that is.

 Home-made cakes galore at the finish to aid recovery and a free swim in the
 leisure centre for those who wanted it. I can see why it gets its high
 satisfaction rating on the Runnersworld website. Recommended. Mind you, I
 like trail running".

 1 J Rendell (Tonbridge) 1.55.44
 25 Iain Wilson 2.27.30

 SOUTH DOWNS MARATHON  Sunday 17th June
 Iain Wilson again:
 "Inspired by my discovery of the North Downs Run last week, I went looking
 for another trail run for this weekend - and found what I thought was
 (almost) the ideal candidate..a run along the South Downs Way! 

 I've always wanted to run here, having already completed the North Downs Way
 (albeit, in 'instalments' over several weekends) and half of the Downs Link.
 The only small problem was that this was the full 26.2 miles, and it seems
 contrary to the accepted wisdom to do a marathon as part of your marathon
 build-up. Still, I rationalised it as a 10k warm-up to be followed by my
 'planned' 20 miler. Gullible, or what? 

 Nice surprise to meet Phil Aiken and his relay team-mates at the start. Phil
 was dressed in his other guise as a Pirate, and was about to set off in
 rather swashbuckling style to run the first two (of the required four) relay
 legs. He didn't elaborate on whether his crew had suffered a mutiny, or man
 overboard. Perhaps it was just the recent Home Counties shortage of pirates.
 Anyway, I saw him again at the stage 2/3 changeover and we exchanged 'Yo Ho
 Ho's'. He seemed to have enjoyed his run. 

 As indeed I did mine. The whole route is completely different in character
 to the North Downs, being more open scenery-wise and the South version of
 the Downs is the more 'muscular'. The run broadly consists of four sections,
 each with its own long drag up to the Downs ridge - with its associated
 spectacular views - and a descent to the intersecting valley, plus numerous
 subsidiary hills. My uphill tactic in this terrain is to reduce speed to
 whatever is required to maintain any approximation of a running gait, short
 of walking. This worked sufficiently well to see me to the finish in 3:38
 just as my legs were beginning to wobble. The winner, Stuart Mills of
 Brighton and Hove AC, finished in 2:51, a seriously impressive 22 minutes
 ahead of second place. 

 Another well organised event, with good camaraderie. I still like trail
 running".

 1 S Mills (Brighton & H) 2.51.07
 24 Iain Wilson 3.38.00

 ST ALBANS HALF MARATHON  Sunday 10th June
 Karen O'Hara was the only Ranelagh representative but Lizzie Clifford -
 representing Garden City Runners - finished 3rd woman in 88.33.

 1 B Le Caloch (unatt) 76.03  (chip time 76.01)
 602 Karen O'Hara 114.53  (113.24)

 BEGINNERS' COURSE 2.6 miles   Tuesday 12th June
 Robin Drummond reports:
 "A well attended beginners' course came to its climax with the usual two lap
 race around Sidmouth Wood. On a hot and humid evening the field started
 sensibly and at the end of the first lap were closely bunched. The second
 lap saw a dramatic change in positions and with well over half the field
 recording negative splits, Charlotte the early leader was overtaken and Anna
 came to the front to win by almost 30 seconds from Hannah and Lisa. Anna was
 1min 44 faster on her second lap to record an overall time of 29.28". 

 1 Anna Finney 29.28  (1st lap 15.36, 2nd lap 13.52)
 2 Hannah Bradshaw 29.57  (15.33, 14.24)
 3 Lisa Greggains 30.30  (15.33, 14.57)
 4 Christine Nunn 30.42  (15.38, 15.04)
 5 Charlotte McIntyre 31.11  (15.19, 15.52)
 6 Stacey Barber 31.30  (16.11, 15.19)
 7 Suzanne Flude 31.37  (15.50, 15.47)
 9 Rose Constantine 31.39  (16.03, 15.36)
 10 Rupinder Sohal 31.49  (15.52, 15.57)
 11 Lucy Haspineal 32.14  (15.49, 16.25)
 12 Elaine Coffey 32.49  (15.54, 16.55)
 13 Helen Williams 33.52  (16.13, 17.39)
 One lap
 Gillian Higgins 16.47
 Becky Mountier 17.02
 Hayley Savage 17.02 

 WHITE ROCK 10km  Sunday 3rd June
 John Atkinson reports from Canada:
 "I contested the White Rock 10k (in south-west British Columbia) last Sunday
 and managed to grind my way to a time of 38:20, for 19th place in a field of
 208. It was a hot morning -- though not quite 'London Marathon hot' -- and,
 with the course sheltered by clusters of towering trees in places, the heat
 didn't play too big a part. We wound our way along a hilly course tracking
 the Pacific coastline -- close to the US border -- with the last K virtually
 all downhill (NICE). Remarkably, and slightly embarassingly, my time was
 good enough to take first place in the 30-34 age group -- all the good
 runners having apparently chosen the first week of June to go on holiday.
 The shock of hearing my name announced caused me to spray half-eaten banana
 over a cluster of fatigued runners sprawled out on the lawn in front of me.
 I marched jauntily up to the podium as if I'd won the Olympics -- but really
 it felt more like Commonwealth Games gold. I'm coming into some fitness now,
 though, having upped my mileage and quality of nutrition, so hopefully some
 PBs may be lurking just around the corner. The race was won by Graeme Wilson
 of Vancouver in 32:27 -- and he was 1:33 clear of the rest!" 

 ST MARY'S RELAYS  Wednesday 6th June at Twickenham
 Sam Perkins finished 11th in a high-quality 3000 metres
 1 J Hutchins (Bels) 8.25.60
 11 Sam Perkins 8.47.04

 LENSBURY BRIDGES 2.3 miles Handicap  Wednesday 13th June
 Alan Davidson reports:
 "I managed to run the Lensbury Bridges handicap whilst at the same time
 doing the handicap timing! As it happened I was there early enough to do a
 solo 'blast' round the course finishing just in time to set the first runner
 off on handicap! The age groups shown in the original result also suggested
 that I had lost 5 years during this timewarp situation (without the help of
 a tardis)". 

 1 M Bybak (Unatt) 16.40  (actual time 16.40)
 4 Alan Davidson 19.23  (16.01)
 19 John Hanscomb 21.09  (20.01) 

 MARATHON WINDOWS TOUR OF EPSOM  Monday 11th - Friday 15th June
 "I'll try anything" Phil Aiken was one of 99 runners who completed all five
 races in this Clive Beauvais-sponsored event. 

 Day 1  3.3m at Horton Country Park
 1 V Van Woerkom (EO) 18.01
 31 Phil Aiken 21.59
 Day 2  4.4m at Nonsuch Park
 1 J Hart (EO) 24.13
 36 Phil Aiken 29.38
 Day 3  3m at Hogsmill
 1 V Van Woerkom (EO) 16.56
 27 Phil Aiken 20.14
 Day 4  3.25m time trial at Epsom Downs
 1 V Van Woerkom (EO) 17.48
 28 Phil Aiken 21.24
 Day 5  4m at Horton Country Park
 1 V Van Woerkom (EO) 21.19
 27 Phil Aiken 25.28 

 Overall
 1 V Van Woerkom (EO) 1.38.37
 22 Phil Aiken 1.58.43 

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 16th June
 1 C Kosgei (Kenya) 14.51
 19 Josh Keisler 18.50
 34 Darren Wood 19.50
 46 Chris Camacho 20.42
 57 Chris Hunton 21.09
 68 George Inman 21.47
 108 Karen Broadbent 23.06
 142 Roger Wilson 24.23
 170 Alan Craig 25.37
 200 John Hanscomb 26.51
 265 Holly Wilson 29.56
 267 Gill Wilson 29.58
 292 Deirdre Inman 34.10

 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 16th June
 1 J Helmer (Herc Wimb) 16.56
 14 Stephen Instone 20.06

 BANSTEAD WOODS TIME TRIAL  Saturday 16th June
 The inaugural event in the latest addition to the UKTT family attracted a
 field of 65 runners.

 1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 16.58
 31 Jo Turner 23.59
 62 Brian Chard 32.55

 NEW FOREST OLYMPIC TRIATHLON  Sunday 13th May
 Bonnie Webster won the women's section by three minutes.
 Men
 1 C Dixon  1.53.19  (16.44 / 57.37 / 38.59)
 12 Alyn Morgan 2.02.55  (19.46 / 62.56 / 40.14)
 Women
 1 Bonnie Webster 2.08.54  (19.23 / 65.25 / 44.07)

 BLENHEIM SPRINT TRIATHLON  Sunday 2nd June
 Another win for Bonnie Webster, and Alyn Morgan won his age group in the
 men's race.
 Men
 1 P Holdaway 67.44  (12.19 / 34.00 / 21.28)
 6 Alyn Morgan 71.25  (12.14 / 36.55 / 22.17)
 Women
 1 Bonnie Webster 76.37  (12.32 / 38.44 / 25.23)

 FINALLY...
 "For girls, especially, running is a good form of exercise, requiring as it
 does, not only the use of the muscles of the legs, but also the use of the
 body and arms for strengthening purposes. In running, as in all things, the
 teacher has an object in view for the pupil. Grace in form should be the
 objective point, instead of strenuous endeavour and its enervating effect;
 and, to further the good results to be obtained by training, it is much more
 natural and womanly that grace of form be aimed at rather than speed and
 records. In striving for records the thought and manner must necessarily
 become manly; and grace, that natural condition for which woman stands, be
 lost in an effort not naturally a woman's. The effect of the training on
 women who try for records is to make them sluggish, and this will be most
 noticed when the work is overdone. Drawn features and a white complexion
 will also be noticed, besides a muscular manner and appearance. Thus the
 point of view which aims at an increased general health and strength must
 necessarily become lost".
 From the chapter 'Running' by Herbert H. Holton in 'Athletics and Out-Door
 Sports for Women', edited by Lucille E. Hill, published 1903.