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 ****************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 256                4 July 2007
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com  
 ****************************************************************************

 HEADLINE NEWS
 *********************
 *  Successful Dysart Dash
 *  County medals for Howard Gleave and our men's team
 *  Sam Perkins 8th in England Athletics U20 5000 metres Championship
 *  Marie Synnott-Wells wins Harry Hawkes 8
 *  Brasher Ponds Run
 *  AGM at the Clubhouse next Tuesday 10th July, following the Coad Cup
    Handicap

 SEE HERE
 *************
 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING  Tuesday 10th July at the Clubhouse
 You should already have received a separate e-mail with notice and agenda
 attachments. Let me know if these haven't arrived. The Coad Cup 5 miles
 handicap race in Richmond Park will take place the same evening starting at
 7.15pm, and the AGM will start at 8.15pm or as soon as everyone is back from
 the race. All members are welcome to attend both the race and the meeting.

 WEDDING DAY 7km  Friday 27th July in Bushy Park
 This Friday evening race has become very popular and usually sells out in
 advance. Nearly 300 entries have already been received, so if you're
 planning to run it would be well to get your entry in early.

 MASTERS TRACK LEAGUE
 Julie Drummond writes:
 "The third meeting of the season will be held on Monday 9th July in
 Battersea Park.  St Mary's Richmond are hosting this event and are looking
 for volunteer timekeepers and general assistance.  Please come along and
 compete or help if you can. The programme is:

 1830 Javelin M35 M50
 1900 High Jump M35 M50
 1900 100m M35 M40 M50 M60
 1920 2000m Walk M35 M40 M50
 1920 Triple Jump M35 M50
 1945 400m M35 M40 M50 M60
 2000 1500m M35 M40 M50
 2015 Discus M35 M50 M60
 2040 Medley Relay 200/200/400/800 

 1830 High Jump W35 W50
 1900 Javelin W35 W50 W60
 1910 100m W35 W40 W50 W60
 1920 2000m Walk W35 W40 W50
 1945 Discus W35 W50
 1950 400m  W35 W40 W50 W60
 2015 Triple Jump W35 W50
 2025 1500m W35 W40 W50
 2050 Medley Relay 200/200/400/800 

 The Millennium Arena is approx 10 minute walk from Battersea Park or
 Queenstown Road.
 For further information mailto:thedrummonds@blueyonder.co.uk 

 *********************
  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 ).     

 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. 

 Tuesday 24th July          Ham Riverside Trail Run. 7.30pm start at the
 Hawker Centre. 

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

 Sunday 12th August      Belgrave 5km at Wimbledon. 10am 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
                                     Details:

 RANELAGH ROAD GRAND PRIX
 After seven of the ten Grand Prix races there are exactly 100 names on the
 score sheet. It's tight at the top of the Open category with Trevor Maguire
 just a single point ahead of Peter Weir, 49 to 48. David Rowe and Paul Doyle
 are joint third with 35, one point ahead of Nathan Mills. Oddly it's Peter
 who has the edge over Trevor in the over 40 category, 26 to 24, with Paul
 Doyle again third on 18. The over 50s are led by an over 70, John Hanscomb.
 With 17 points he's one ahead of Martin Clark and one more ahead of Iain
 Wilson.

 Mandy Westlake holds a clear lead in the women's section, with 26 points to
 Karen Broadbent's 14. Marie Synnott-Wells and Kerry Anley are joint third
 with 12. Marie is joint second with Michele Gibson in the over 40 category
 on 12 points, but Tanya Allen is welll ahead with 19. Corinne Bishop and
 Anne Baker are joint leaders of the over 50s on 12 points, one ahead of Jane
 Wyatt.

 The next GP event is the Elmbridge 10km. Full details

 SURREY ROAD LEAGUE
 The fourth League event is the Elmbridge 10km. 

 WHAT'S HAPPENED...
 ***************************
 DYSART DASH 10km incl Surrey Championships  Sunday 24th June at Ham
 There had been talk of providing choc-ices to all finishers this year. If
 the idea was a complicated double-bluff to ensure that the usual hot weather
 for the race would not materialise, it certainly worked. The morning was
 wet, though quite humid, and the towpath mucky enough to make most finishers
 look as if they had been in a Parliament Hill cross-country race.

 With the race underway sharp at 9am, it soon became clear that it would be
 following the same pattern as the previous Surrey championship races this
 season - SLH's Jason Simpson at the head of proceedings and everyone else
 chasing. Simpson has taken maximum advantage of turning 40 to dominate both
 the open and vets categories, with double county golds in both the Half
 Marathon and the 10 miles championships already round his neck, not to
 mention team medals too. Nobody really gave him much of a race today, with
 the Stragglers' Jimmy Goulis his nearest challenger over 50 seconds in
 arrears. Peter Haarer was in the mix for third place in the early stages but
 wound up 6th, pursued by Paul Doyle 8th. Next Ranelagh man was an unfamiliar
 face to many, Jonathon Stacey, who made an impressive debut for the club in
 11th place. These three combined to take second place in a very close open
 team competition in which only three points covered the first four clubs.
 Oxford-based Peter is ineligible for the Surrey championship so it was
 Nathan Mills who joined Paul and Jonathon for the county team event in which
 they took the bronze medals.

 There was another medal for Paul Doyle as he took third place in the over
 40s section, while Howard Gleave repeated his Half Marathon success by
 striking gold in the over 50s. Chris Owens was 3rd over 50 and Iain Wilson
 5th.

 It was a low-key event for our women this year, the highest placed being
 Kerry Anley at 12th and Mandy Westlake 24th. Together with Karen Broadbent
 they finished 6th in the team race. The individual winner was veteran Ceri
 Diss of Herne Hill, and the up-and-coming Clapham Chasers won the team race.

 We had 42 finishers in all, from a field of exactly 400. Congratulations go
 to Bev Ali and her extensive band of helpers for another successful event.

 ENGLAND ATHLETICS UNDER 20 TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS  Saturday 23rd June at
 Bedford
 Sam Perkins finished in a fine 8th place in the 5000 metres, only half a
 minute behind the winner.

 1 L Carey (Nuneaton) 14.54.93
 8 Sam Perkins 15.25.05

 CHRIS BRASHER PONDS RUN  Tuesday 26th June in Richmond Park
 As usual there was a good turnout for our annual commemoration of our
 clubmate and London Marathon founder Chris Brasher, and it was good to see
 Chris's son Hugh in attendance. At least five different packs set off at
 speeds ranging from furious to sedate. And as usual the standard of
 navigation varied as much as the speed. Some fast boys went round in
 double-quick time and Ken Powley efficiently shepherded his group round all
 20 ponds, but others made it by a more circuitous route, wishing no doubt to
 explore even more obscure parts of the Park than was strictly necessary.
 Even the graduates from the most recent beginners' course clocked up double
 figures. The recent rains ensured that all the ponds were indeed ponds:
 indeed, some large puddles came close to successfully passing themselves off
 as extra ponds. There were however reliable reports of a real additional
 pond being dug not far from Richmond Gate. 

 HARRY HAWKES 8 miles  Sunday 1st July
 Thames Hare and Hounds traditionally use this race as their club road
 championships, presumably because they can race it out at the front without
 any other runners getting in the way! This time they had seven of the first
 eight home, but Jonathon Stacey put in another impressive run to finish
 third in the non-Thames race - i.e tenth. Peter Weir was a couple of minutes
 back in 16th place, and he and Trevor Maguire (20th) were 4th and 6th over
 40s to finish. Niall O'Connor completed the scoring four for the men's team
 which placed 3rd. Iain Wilson and Pete Warren both registered second places
 in their age groups, over 50 and over 60 respectively.

 The women's race was a very close run thing, with Marie Synnott-Wells taking
 the honours by just eleven seconds from London Heathside's Angela Evans.
 This was Marie's second win in this event, having previously been victorious
 in 2005. Mandy Westlake, Evelyn Joslin and Karen Broadbent completed the
 second-placed team.

 For a comment on the conditions on another glorious summer's day, I'll steal
 a quote from Sharon Rowe on the rowerunning blog: "It was a bit rainy and a
 bit windy (especially along the towpath, for the mile 4 and 5 splits) but
 overall not bad conditions, also a bit muddy running through some random
 wood which appeared at about 7.5 miles!!"


 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 23rd June
 Not too many Ranelagh this week, with the Dysart Dash following on Sunday.
 Junior Joss Moran set a big PB.

 1 J Lock (Loughborough) 16.10
 15 Joss Moran 18.12
 30 Darren Wood 19.30
 55 Phil Aiken 20.59
 83 Paul Bisping 21.51
 99 Evelyn Joslin 22.17
 165 Alan Craig 24.14
 201 Gill Wilson 25.49
 202 Roger Wilson 25.50
 219 John Hanscomb 26.36

 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 23rd June
 A podium (i.e. molehill) place for Darryl.

 1 Kevin Quinn (Real Runners) 16.22
 3 Darryl McDonald 17.09

 RON WHEELER 5km  Wednesday 27th June at Wapping
 The old monthly event has been replaced by a quarterly 5km.

 1 M Bridgeland 16.51
 13 Colin Frew 20.42
 14 Andy Hayward 20.50
 16 Alan Davidson 21.39

 LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km  Friday 29th June in Hyde Park
 1 T Kingsnorth (Bristol) 16.09
 86 Alan Davidson 20.47
 136 Mike Rowland 25.41
 146 John Hanscomb 27.05

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 30th June
 The originally published results included some startlingly fast times, and a
 dope test was about to be called for John Hanscomb. Sadly the revised
 version was much more prosaic, and the day's only PB was set by Anna-Maria
 Plaza. However, John still had cause to celebrate as he was presented with a
 100 Club jacket for his 100th appearance in a BPTT. Darren Wood - the only
 other member of the club - made the presentation. 

 1 D Norman (Stragglers) 17.10
 17 David Rowe 18.51
 30 Edward Smith 19.25
 34 Darren Wood 19.34
 51 Phil Aiken 20.26
 59 Chris Camacho 20.57
 130 Anna-Maria Plaza 23.17
 141 Roger Wilson 23.34
 190 Gill Wilson 25.38
 217 John Hanscomb 26.45
 270 Sharon Rowe 30.21

 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 30th June
 1 M Cummings (HHH) 17.15
 10 Stephen Instone 19.49
 27 Martin Clark 22.32

 KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap  Wednesday 4th July
 Sonia Rowland improved her course PB by two seconds in her 32nd Canter (Alan
 Davidson is on number 206!) but still fell seven seconds short of the over
 50s' record.

 1 P Grimshaw (Unatt) 24.38  (actual time 18.38)
 15 Louise Piears 26.36  (21.36)
 22 Alan Davidson 26.53  (19.08)
 25 Sonia Rowland 26.58  (19.43)
 27 Steve Rowland 27.06  (19.36) 

 SELF TRANSCENDENCE 10km  Saturday 16th June in Battersea Park
 1 A Farquharson (Kent) 34.39
 42 Pete Warren 45.39

 TRAIL CHALLENGE 10km  Tuesday 19th June in Ham and Richmond Park
 I omitted to mention Matthias Mahr in the results printed in the last
 edition. Matthias finished 10th in 52.19. The SLOW website now has full
 results including individual split times for each control. There's also a
 wonderful toy called Route Gadget. Using the race map you can optionally
 enter the actual route you took, and / or select up to ten of those who have
 already entered their routes (eleven have so far done so for the 10km event)
 and then run an animation of the race unfolding on the map. Follow the links:

 For those who want to try another Trail Challenge event, the next one is on
 Tuesday 24th July from the Hawker Centre. It will be using the same map as
 the June event, but with an entirely different course.

 FINALLY...
 "As regards an amateur's training the main points are: Rise at about seven,
 have a cold bath and grooming with rough towel before breakfast, and eat
 plain nourishing food, avoiding soups, pastries, and anything indigestible.
 Tea drinking is very bad for some. Cocoa I find better than tea in my own
 case. Smoking is fatal to the wind, and the man in training must learn to
 pass the public-house without dropping in for a throat gargle. Hot, stuffy
 rooms should be avoided, and fresh air taken at every opportunity. Be
 careful not to run too soon either before or after meals. Three spins of
 about five miles each per week will keep most men in condition, though
 others require to run almost every day to show their very best".
 From the chapter 'Hints on Cross-Country Running' by Sid Thomas (Ranelagh
 Harriers) in 'Athletics' by H. Hewitt Griffin, published 1891.