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Newsdesk 2007
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 267 22 November 2007
Editor: Steve Rowland
mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
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* Book now for the Christmas Party on December 7th
* Women 3rd in Surrey League but extend overall lead
* Men 4th in Surrey League
* Silver medals for the women's team in the South of the Thames
* Wendy Nicholls and Anna Scally run in Home Countries international
* Lauren Shelley clocks 2.44 in Tokyo Marathon
* Ranelagh provides top three men and top two women in RPTT
* All runners needed for the mob match v Thames Hare & Hounds this Saturday
SEE HERE
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CHRISTMAS PARTY
Marina Quayle writes:
"It's that time of the year again and Jo and I are selling tickets for this
year's Xmas party. It takes place at the Turk's Head in Winchester Road, St
Margarets on Friday December 7th at 7.30pm. There will be a three course
meal and a DJ and the price is £25 per ticket. Veggie option available, but
please let us know in advance. Everybody is welcome and the more the
merrier. You can get tickets from either Jo or me on Tuesday evenings, or
you can e-mail me at marina_quayle@hotmail.com and send a cheque payable to
Ranelagh Harriers to me at 76 Cross Deep, Twickenham TW1 4RB".
MOB MATCH v THAMES HARE AND HOUNDS Saturday 24th November
The season's second mob match promises to be a tough one, away to Thames
Hare and Hounds on their course on Wimbledon Common. The venue is the the
Thames HQ on Roehampton Vale, just up the road from the Robin Hood
roundabout. It's 7.5 miles and as always in mob matches we need as many
runners as we can get. The "apres race" with Thames always makes for a great
evening so all are invited to stay on for food and drink at the Albert Arms
on Kingston Hill (near Kingston Gate).
DYSART CUP and ELLIS CUP Saturday 1st December in Richmond Park
The Dysart Cup team race doubles up as our club women's championship for the
Hugh Jones Salver, so all our women members are encouraged to take part.
It's over a 4 miles course in the Park, starting at 1.45pm. The men's Ellis
Cup race over 5 miles follows on at 2.30pm, and again all are welcome to
run. For both events, just turn up and collect a number on the day.
BALLOT FOR CLUB PLACES IN THE 2008 LONDON MARATHON
Simon Burrell writes:
"I expect to receive confirmation of how many club places we have for next
year's FLM soon, so we are getting close to the time when we will be asking
people to put their names into a hat for the draw at the Christmas party.
Any fully paid up member whose entry has been rejected is eligible for our
ballot. I can be contacted on simon_burrell2000@yahoo.com or 07753 834231
and I will need your name, e-mail address and contact number".
SUNDAY RUN AND BRUNCH
Karen Broadbent writes:
"Anyone fancy a long Sunday run followed by Brunch? Thought you might.
Evelyn and I would like to invite you to join us on Sunday 2nd December for
a long run in the Park followed by a well deserved Brunch in the Pembroke
Lodge café! Meet us to run from the Clubhouse at 9am, we'll be going for
around an hour and a half - a slow steady run (we can split into different
groups depending on who comes), then we'll head back to the club for a quick
shower. Alternatively do your own thing and come and meet us for Brunch,
we'll be leaving the clubhouse to head up to Pembroke Lodge at 11am. If you
fancy it, just let either Evelyn or myself know or just turn up. If we get
enough interest, we'll make it a monthly occurrence, so if you're struggling
for motivation or just want a good excuse to eat a big breakfast come and
join us. Hope to see you on the 2nd".
DYSART DASH 10km
Bev Ali writes:
"After nominally organising the Dysart Dash for the past five years, it is
time to give someone else the pleasure and challenge of taking the helm.the
race takes place on the last Sunday in June, but I will not be in London for
a large part of June next year, and hopefully for the next few years, so
although I can do a lot of the preparatory work for this year, I cannot see
the project through to the end. If you have any ambitions or thoughts that
you may be interested, please talk to me or to Carol Barnshaw (for ideas on
organising by committee). I feel that we need to have a titular head for the
Dysart Dash before Christmas at the latest, so that we can know to go ahead
with any necessary expenditure. A lot of support has always been given by
many people much more experienced than I am, so no previous experience is
required (I had none), just a willingness to give it a go and take the
flak!" Contact Bev at bev.ali@blueyonder.co.uk
ANGUS ON THE ATLANTIC
Angus Cater's yacht Harrac is now somewhere in mid-Atlantic en route from
the Cape Verde Islands to Grenada. See e-news #263 for a full description of
the planned expedition. Tim Woolmer is one of the crew for this leg, and
after a midnight scare when the lights of a large ship seemed to be bearing
down on them, Tim added the following to the Captain's Log:
Sudden light in the night just abeam us,
My God, I hope they have seen us!
It will be a close shave
Or a watery grave.
Thank God, it turned out to be Venus!
For the rest of Angus's Atlantic log and latest position, go to
yachtplot.com/ and log in as harrac, password harrac.
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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
Marie Synnott-Wells (07956 431319 / mailto: nandmwells@aol.com ).
Saturday 24th November Mob match v Thames Hare & Hounds. 7.5 miles on
Wimbledon Common (Kingston Vale). 2.30pm start.
Saturday 1st December Dysart Cup women's race including club women's
championship for the Hugh Jones Salver. 6km in Richmond Park, 1.45pm start.
Ellis Cup men's race. 5 miles in
Richmond Park, 2.30pm start.
Saturday 8th December Stubbs Cup mob match v South London Harriers at
Coulsdon, 2.30pm 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
Richmond Park Time Trial: 9am start
near Richmond gate.
More details at www.parkrun.com
WHAT'S HAPPENED...
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SURREY LADIES LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 10th November at Cranford Park
"It may not have being the result that we wished for" wrote skipper Marie
Synnott-Wells. Maybe so, in as much as we finished only third today after
winning the opening fixture. But overall we more than doubled our lead from
14 points to 32, and we can look forward to the final two League races in
the New Year with every chance of regaining the title we won in 2004/05 and
2005/06.
The venue was unfamiliar to most, nestling unattractively between Heathrow
Airport and the M4 and dead flat into the bargain. The senior course was two
laps of the perimeter of the Park, with only a bit of woodland and the
infamous stream crossing to liven things up. The stream in truth was little
more than a muddy ditch - much more of a problem was the narrow plank bridge
which immediately preceded it and which caused a substantial tail-back of
runners queuing to cross it, especially on the first lap.
Belgrave Harriers, the title holders, had been our nearest rivals in the
first League race only 14 points behind us. A few minutes before the start
the Belgrave captain approached Marie and said "We might as well give you
the trophy now, we only have four runners today". "We'll see..." thought
Marie.
The fast start caught out the Ranelagh pack and those who were destined to
make up the scoring five all found themselves with work to do. Anna Scally
was soon making progress, with Estelle Damant not far behind, then Clare
King and Marie - the latter running a little below par this time owing to a
combination of an ankle injury and a cold. Kerrie O'Connor anchored the A
team, showing up very well only twelve days after running the Dublin
Marathon.
Anna worked her way through to 6th at the finish, with Estelle occupying
10th for the second race in succession. Clare 19th, Marie 22nd and Kerrie
27th completed the team which finished in third place, 12 points behind
Thames and 5 points behind Herne Hill. But Thames had performed poorly in
the first race and will not be able to get into contention for the title.
Belgrave indeed turned out to be one runner short of a full team, and after
finishing right down in 15th place today they have also fallen out of the
running. The upshot is that Ranelagh will carry a 32 points lead into the
third League race at Reigate in January, with Herne Hill our only serious
challengers.
Rebecca Clayden led the B team for most of the race, as she had in the first
fixture, but was overhauled in the closing stages by Emma Tomlinson. Rebecca
was the second Under 20 to finish. Sandra Prosser, Sonia Rowland and Leigh
Pedersen completed the team which finished in 16th place, the third B team
on the day. They are also 16th overall, second B team behind Herne Hill.
Evelyn Joslin, Louise Piears, Vicci Randle and Sharon Rowe made up the C
team which finished 24th, the leading C team, and overall they are 28th,
second C team to Wimbledon Windmilers.
In the Under 17s race Victoria Elbourne broke into the top ten for the first
time with an excellent 9th place.
SWEATSHOP SURREY LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 10th November on Wimbledon
Common
Captain Bicks reports:
"So here it was again the 2nd Surrey League. This has been my big target for
the season and my fond hope was that we could get in amongst the big three
clubs in Surrey namely Belgrave, Thames and Herne Hill. Sadly the team had a
slight wobble just the week before and we lost a couple of good runners, and
although it was still a strong team we finished 4th on the day and remain
4th overall in the League, a country mile clear of 5th but also 100 points
plus behind 3rd. I was slightly disappointed which just goes to show how
expectations have increased with this excellent group of athletes. Special
mention must go to Chris with a superb run leading the team from the front
and into the top 10, David and Peter coming from France and Oxford to
compete brilliantly and Phil also near the front getting over his marathon
exploits. Then Darryl had another good run with Paul just getting the better
of an ever improving Ed, and Justin not far adrift.
Before the race it was noted the 9th and 10th spots in the team were up for
grabs. Steve, Niall, Marc, Sean and yours truly all thought they were in
with a chance. Niall went off like a hare and ran a great three quarters of
a race with Steve more circumspect. Those two duly bagged the scoring spots
but not before Sean and then Marc had given them a scare. I watched
bemusedly as Marc and Sean appeared to do 3 by 800m reps during the race
alternately whizzing past me in one direction or the other. Still none of us
counted so it mattered little in the end. There's always the next race guys.
A big thank you to all the supporters around the course for their invaluable
encouragement. Roll on Reigate on the 12th Jan where Ranelagh cement their
rightful place among the elite!"
George Inman was 14th in the combined Under 15 and Under 17 race.
SOUTH OF THE THAMES SHORT CHAMPIONSHIP 5 miles Saturday 17th November in
Richmond Park
The South of the Thames Short Championship is the new name for the old
"Junior" championship, from which all the barring clauses have been removed.
We hosted the event on our two lap League course, which is actually 5.65
miles.
Our men's team was a scratch one which was never going to contend for
honours. Marc Snaith took the opportunity to lead the team in 37th place,
while behind him Andy Bickerstaff and Sean Paynter enjoyed another battle
with age once again getting the better of youth. Nathan Mills in his first
race back from injury completed the scoring four.
The women's team was hardly at full strength either, but this is not an
event generally well supported on the women's side. Clare King ran strongly
in 5th place throughout, then came Jenny Lloyd-Jones, Yvonne Hill and Sandra
Prosser, all in the top fifteen. Together, to their own surprise, they
secured the silver medals.
DAVID ROWE'S PHOTOS
David was on photographic duty at both the Surrey Ladies League and the
South of the Thames. His excellent work can be seen rowephoto.co.uk/photos/
HOME COUNTRIES MASTERS INTERNATIONAL Saturday 17th November at Stormont,
Belfast
Anna Scally reports on her latest appearance in a Welsh vest:
"Having picked up a cold at the beginning of the week, I had a disappointing
race for me and I know that I could have done better, but judging by the
quality of the field how much higher up the results I would have been I have
no idea (i.e. probably not that far!). The course in Stormont Estate was
really good, consisting of 3 approx 2km laps (I think it was slightly longer
than 6km but that's xc!) with the amazing background of the Government
Building...definitely one I wouldn't mind doing again. But despite feeling
that I can do better, I have come back with a new found respect for the
standard of racing in the Masters / Vets field, plus the hope that I could
still be competing internationally in 35 years time!!
As you can see Wendy Nicholls won the women's race outright beating Kate
Ramsey for apparently the first time. Also making an appearance was Duncan
Bell in the open race, coming in a storming 5th place... although it is
interesting to compare his time with the International race for his age
group (won in 27.52)...and we would say that he wasn't a bad runner!"
Women's International
1 Wendy Nicholls 22.54
22 Anna Scally 25.16
Men's Open
1 K Purdy (Annadale) 29.55
5 Duncan Bell 31.12
BROOKS BRIGHTON 10km Sunday 18th November
To quote 'Athletics Weekly': "The real winner was the weather as near gale
force winds lashed the south coast". On the initial loop, even the leaders
were apparently reduced to near-6 minute miling pace. Not surpisingly there
were few fast times, though Sharon Rowe managed to set a PB.
1 S Sharp (Belgrave) 31.10 (chip time 31.09)
193 David Rowe 39.51 (39.32)
215 Kerrie O'Connor 40.15 (40.04)
317 Chris Read 41.41 (41.08)
545 Phil Aiken 44.38 (43.18)
605 Clive Naish 45.19 (45.00)
931 Jo Turner 48.58 (47.30)
1204 Evelyn Joslin 51.43 (48.50)
1362 Julie Naismith 53.20 (52.59)
1430 Janet Turnes 54.01 (53.40)
1687 Sharon Rowe 57.16 (54.45)
EPSOM 10 miles Sunday 18th November
1 P Sanger (Epsom & E) 56.44
204 Alan Meaden 98.21
219 David Meaden 105.22
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 10th November
1 J Goulis (Stragglers) 16.13
14 Darren Wood 18.15
16 Hugh Brasher 18.21
38 Duncan Mallison 19.54
42 Nick Wright 20.08
50 Finn Hughes 20.36
173 Ivan Boggis 24.35
231 Janet Turnes 26.36
243 John Hanscomb 26.56
292 Daniel Hobbs 29.03
338 Steve McClune 33.40
RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 10th November
54 finishers this week, and a one-two-three for Ranelagh in the men's race
plus a one-two in the women's.
1 Peter Weir 17.40
2 Howard Gleave 18.28
3 John Ricketts 18.56
5 Vaughan Ramsay 19.35
14 Chris Wilson 21.59
19 Martin Clark 22.47
20 Andy Woodhouse 22.48
23 Jo Turner 23.15
24 Karen Broadbent 23.29
36 Louise Dunn 26.04
47 Stacey Barber 30.32
49 Emma Hughes 31.17
50 Rose Constantine 32.51
BANSTEAD WOODS TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 10th November
1 T Grose (Victoria Pk) 17.52
4 Simon Hedger 18.59
44 Brian Chard 25.48
WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 10th November
1 I Higgins (TH&H) 17.21
8 Steve Grout 20.26
LEATHERHEAD FIRE STATION 10km Sunday 11th November
1 T Kingsnorth (TH&H) 33.48
59 Jonny Rowan 41.45
434 John Hanscomb 57.23
504 David Meaden 61.38
BRIDGES 2.3 miles handicap Wednesday 14th November at Westminster
1 S Sharman (Unatt) 15.02 (actual time 15.02)
11 Simon Hedger 20.24 (13.50)
15 John Hanscomb 20.43 (20.04)
23 Alan Davidson 20.56 (15.54)
BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 17th November
1 J Kelly (Herc Wimb) 16.40
12 Darren Wood 18.10
29 David Rowe 19.11
48 Simon Collingridge 19.56
64 Chris Camacho 20.36
208 Alison Salmon 24.46
315 Daniel Hobbs 28.27
318 Sharon Rowe 28.37
346 Steve McClune 30.57
RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 17th November
1 C Strzadala (Unatt) 17.04
6 Michael Doust 20.06
9 Stephen Instone 20.15
22 Andy Woodhouse 22.57
25 Paul Bisping 23.19
34 Lorna Smith 26.13
45 Penny Merrett 30.48
46 Pat Hewlett 33.43
WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 17th November
1 I Higgins (TH&H) 17.10
53 Catherine Carthy 28.10
BANSTEAD WOODS TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 17th November
1 K Archer (Reigate P) 18.12
60 Brian Chard 26.07
BRIGHTON & HOVE TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 17th November
This was the third running of the latest event in the UKTT family. Only 14
took part, and Jo Turner was 3rd amongst the women.
1 R Ward (Belgrave) 16.14
7 Jo Turner 22.41
TOKYO WOMEN'S MARATHON Sunday 18th November
Lauren Shelley reports:
"On Sunday I ran the Tokyo Women's International Marathon, hoping to get the
A qualifying time of 2:32 for the Beijing Olympics 2008. Some of you may
remember that I ran this race in 2005. It was where I ran my personal best
of 2:33:42 to qualify for the Australian team for the Commonwealth Games, so
I had fond memories of the event and the course. Alas this time it wasn't to
be ... I had a great lead-up training-wise and was feeling fresh leading up
to the race. But marathons are funny things - no matter how well prepared
you are, there always seems to be a chance that things won't just fall into
place.
Race day was a little warmer than last time, up to 22 degrees maximum (we
started at 12:10pm) but the heat didn't seem to affect me at all. I started
spot on target time - 17:50 for the first 5km and felt good. The course is
out and back, and we had a slight headwind for much of the way out, from
about 8km on. It wasn't enough to slow me down much initially (though I was
on my own from 5km on - 10km 18:06 / 36:06), but having run into it for 13km
by the turn-around I was starting to feel a bit more tired than I should at
half way. The times had continued to slow, and I turned at 1:17:44...my
goal of 2:32 was already appearing out of reach. Still, I was looking
forward to turning and seeing how much of a boost I'd get from the tailwind,
and seeing if I could negative split.
It was certainly easier on the return journey. Having said that, the damage
had been done. Despite it feeling easier on the legs, I'd lost my leg speed
and my 20 - 25km split was no faster than the previous 5km. From there
things continued to go downhill. I caught and passed a couple of other
international runners, and got caught by three Japanese runners in the final
10-12km. My 5km splits got worse and worse as I continued to run slower,
with my final 5km in only 22:50!!! (about my normal easy run pace).
I finished in 13th place, in a disappointing 2:44:41 -my second half being
significantly slower than the first (1:17:44, 1:26:57). I can't say I
finished feeling awful - I've definitely felt worse in and after a
marathon - but I didn't feel I could have gone any faster in the second
half. I'm still not sure quite what went wrong - as I said, training had
gone well and I felt 2:30 - 2:34 was a realistic goal. Obviously the wind
influenced the race, but I felt I had held back a bit heading into it, aware
of the need to be conservative. On the positive side, my legs recovered very
quickly afterwards.
Where to from here? I'm not quite sure yet - I'm disappointed, but I don't
feel this run is indicative of where I was at in training for some reason. I
could have gone out slower and maybe run a more even race and finished in
under 2:40, but either way it still isn't the 2:32 that I need, so I'm glad
I gave it a shot by going out on target. I feel the training I've done
leading into this still has given me a great base - perhaps still lacking a
bit of ease of speed. So, back to the drawing board, or training track, and
time to move on to the next one...".
1 M Noguchi (Japan) 2.21.37
13 Lauren Shelley 2.44.41
ALAN ON THE ALGARVE
Alan Davidson reports:
"I travelled to Monte Gordo / Vila Real with the Track & Field Tours /
Runners World group and enjoyed sunshine (75/77F) for four races in five
days. Monte Gordo has a superb sandy beach and Vila Real, only a small town,
has magnificent sporting facilities including a large stadium with track,
indoor sprints/throwing area, two gyms, synthetic football pitches, tennis
courts, pine forest trails etc. It was a tough, varied series of races and
as Martin Rouse was amongst our eleven M60s I stood no chance of winning! I
was pleased to complete the series and finish 3rd M60: 8km cross-country on
pine forest trails (38.03); 1 mile track (6.11); 6.5km beach race - next to
crashing Atlantic waves but on fairly firm sand (28.56) and 10 mile Guadiana
(open) road race into Spain (Ayamonte) with an unwelcome steep hill at 7
miles (74.56)".
FINALLY...
Stuart Perry sends this cutting from the November 2nd Daily Telegraph:
"A beer after playing a game of football, a long run or a strenuous round of
golf can be as good for you as a glass of water, a Spanish scientist said
yesterday. Prof Manuel Garzon, of Granada University, said beer can help a
dehydrated person retain liquid better than water. He also claimed the
bubbles in beer help to quench the thirst and the carbohydrate content can
replace lost calories. Prof Garzon asked a group of students to do strenuous
exercise, and then drink either beer or water".