*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 281 7 May 2008 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Paul Doyle 4th in the Sutton 10km * Good track performances from Sam Perkins in the USA * WCTT win for Darryl McDonald * Boston Marathon reports * Ranelagh Richmond Half Marathon this Sunday SEE HERE ******** RANELAGH RICHMOND HALF-MARATHON - Sunday 11th May 2008 at 8.30am Entries closed last week at about 1150, amongst them some 50 from Ranelagh; and at least as many members have volunteered to help with marshalling the race. The pub car park is of course strictly off-limits for race parking. Simon Burrell is acting as car park steward before the race - simply to direct elsewhere anyone attempting to park at the pub - but he could do with one or two helpers. If anyone can make it to the clubhouse early on Sunday morning please contact Simon (simon_burrell2000@yahoo.com). The race starts in front of the clubhouse at 8.30am. Good luck to all runners! DORKING 10 miles Following this week's Half Marathon, the next fixture in both our own Grand Prix and the Surrey Road League is the Dorking 10 miles on Sunday 1st June. GREEN BELT RELAY The GBR is being held this year on the weekend of 17th and 18th May. We have entered three teams of eleven runners - one men's, one women's and one mixed - and at the time of writing all places have been taken. However, there is always the chance of late drop-outs so if anyone else fancies taking part it's still worth contacting Andy or Marie - contact details in What's Coming below. For lots of info about the race, see the website www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk VETERANS' TRACK AND FIELD Bev Ali writes: "The Veterans' Track and Field season commences on Monday 12th May. The events are scheduled to start at 6:30pm, so arrival earlier for warm-up is recommended. For a nominal £10 joining fee (unless you are already a second claim St Mary's member) - and provided you are of a certain age...i.e. over 35 years (both men and women) you may compete in these track meets. All competitors have a good shot at earning points for St Mary's - experience is not a prerequisite - the meet is very friendly and your competition is always happy to give you some tips and guidance - sometimes for no other reason than their own safety, in the case of the javelin! I personally have won for St Mary's in more than one event, jumps and throws, usually because I am the only one competing in my age group, but it is a really good giggle... The running events are a bit more serious, but we are a running club, so that shouldn't be a problem for us. All veterans are welcome and encouraged to have a go. I will have some St Mary's vests at the track for us to share. All meets are on Monday nights - match one of the Veterans Track League is being held on the 12th May (Monday) at Battersea Track, starting at 6:30pm and should be all finished by 9pm The order of the Women's events for the first meet is: High Jump, Discus and 100 metres, 2km walk, Shot Put and 400 metres, Long Jump and 1500 metres, and finishing with the 4x400 relay. And the order of the men's events is: Discus, High Jump and 100 metres, 2km walk, Long Jump and 400 metres, 1500 metres, Shot Put and finish with 4x400 relay. The remaining Monday 6:30 pm fixtures for your diaries are: 9th June at St Mary's in Twickenham 23rd June at Battersea 14th July at Battersea And the final, time TBA: Sunday, 7th September at Battersea. Contact me, Bev at bev.ali@blueyonder.co.uk for women competitors, or John Curtin [jcbuying@btinternet.com] through St Mary's for the men for further information". TOP UK COACH COMES TO RANELAGH - FREE SEMINAR Phil Killingley writes: "Nick Anderson - GB Endurance and Cross Country Coach at UK Athletics - is coming to the Ranelagh clubhouse on Wednesday 14th May, 7.30pm-9pm, to talk to us about Endurance Running. The seminar is suitable for runners of all speeds looking to run distances between 5km and marathon. Nick may also bring a celebrity runner, but this is still to be confirmed. His style is interactive, so bring questions! Nick will mention Full Potential, his business offering online/telephone coaching, warm weather training camps, and UK training weekends (http://www.fullpotential.co.uk/). The seminar will be free of charge. Spaces are limited - book yours now - email philipkillingley@hotmail.com". SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW DUE Chris Owens writes: "The new rates are: Senior subscription £40 Under 20 or Student or unwaged £10 Family subscription £70 Second Claim £20 Retired and over 60 £20 Non-running member £10 This is the first increase for seven years, includes registration with England Athletics, and represents excellent value for money. Please make cheques payable to Ranelagh Harriers, and send to Membership Secretary, Ranelagh Harriers, 135a Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7AA. Please consider paying by standing order - there is a form on the website which you can fill in and send to your bank. This saves us and you lots of hassle". Standing Order Form *************** WHAT'S COMING... *************** More details of the following from Andy Bickerstaff ( 07772 111491 / mailto: andy.bickerstaff@goodrunguide.co.uk ) or Marie Synnott-Wells (07956 431319 / mailto: nandmwells@aol.com ). Sunday 11th May Richmond Half Marathon. See above. Sat 17th / Sun 18th May Green Belt Relay. See above. Sunday 1st June Dorking 10 miles. Sunday 29th June Dysart Dash 10km at Ham. Time Trials, every Saturday at 9am Bushy Park Diana Fountain car park Richmond Park Pembroke Lodge car park Wimbledon Common Windmill car park Banstead Woods Car park off B2219 Park Lane, Chipstead More details and registration at www.parkrun.com WHAT'S HAPPENED *************** SUTTON 10km Sunday 4th May Sutton may be a flattish course, but it's very urban with the majority of the lap being run on the pavements of busy roads. Consequently there is plenty of street furniture to dodge, side roads to cross and so on: not perhaps as fast a course as might be expected. Add to this higher temperatures than we have encountered so far this year and the result was a fairly slow time for many and a surprising number of drop-outs - always a temptation on a multi-lap course! Belgrave's former Ethiopian Kassa Tadesse soon cleared off and had almost a minute in hand at the finish. Paul Doyle made a steady start but had moved into contention for the minor places by the end of the first of the three circuits. In the end he was shunted back into fourth place overall but was the leading over 40 - an excellent start to his campaign to retain the Surrey Road League vets' title. Trevor Maguire was the next Ranelagh, half a minute ahead of Jonathan Robinson who placed second amongst the over 50s. Another 40 seconds back Chris Brook strode in, but there was a long gap then before the two Steves, Grout and Rowland. Behind them was our leading woman, Kath Phillips, and behind her Martin Clark moved into second place in our over 70s ranking list with a time of 45.55. This was the third race in our 2008 Road Grand Prix series. Leaders in the various categories are: Chris Brook (Open), Trevor Maguire (M40), Martin Clark (M50), Kath Phillips (Women), Heather Martingell (W40) and Janet Turnes (W50). There are already 64 names altogether on the scoreboard Details: and the next race in the series is of course Sunday's Richmond Half Marathon. There are some race photos on our website and others at David Rowe's: rowephoto.co.uk/photos/ MABAC LEAGUE 5 miles Sunday 20th April at Winterfold 1 D Cairnie (Runnymede) 32.12 18 Steve Rowland 39.24 40 Alan Davidson 42.31 51 Sonia Rowland 44.22 BOSTON MARATHON Monday 21st April Running the Boston Marathon is evidently a memorable experience, as three out of the four Ranelagh Harriers who ran it this year have provided accounts! Pride of place goes to Evelyn Joslin, who ran a big personal best: "The story began just a few hours and more than just a few glasses of wine after we had finished the Paris Marathon last year with a group of us from Ranelagh enjoying the delights of a Paris bar. Andy Hayward had just completed his 55th marathon. Someone asked him which marathon that he had run was the best. Without hesitation, he responded 'Not the best in terms of being fast, but best in terms of being a runners' race, it has to be Boston'. A little the worse for the wine, I immediately declared 'Today I've qualified for Boston - I'm going to run Boston next year!' A little over twelve months after the Paris conversation, three of this original group (Andy, Michele and I) plus John Atkinson lined-up at the start on a cool Boston morning. Although there was not the same Ranelagh contingent of runners or supporters as in London the previous week, Ranelagh was with me in spirit throughout. The fastest 13,999 qualifiers started at 10am, while the rest of us started at 10.30. Just missing the first wave turned out to be great for me, as I was in the front pen for the second start. As I crossed the line in the first few hundred runners, it felt more like the BPTT than a big city marathon. As I went through 5K in 23:18, I celebrated how much I have progressed with Ranelagh, but I could also hear Chris Owens in my head telling me not to be tempted to go out too fast - oops! I tried to slow but reaching 6 miles in 45:45 horrified me, with no signs of slowing. I could still hear Chris's words of warning, so I tried to consolidate and get back on track... All the men I had spoken to (Tim Sizeland, Clive Naish, Chris and Andy) had raved about the girls of Wellesley College @ 13 miles. I had written this off as a 'man thing', but sure enough, at 12 miles, I began to hear the screams. This detracted from the worry about my fast start and before I knew it, I was at mile 16 - the start of the famous 'Newton Hills'. On every hill, I could hear Anna, telling me to drive with the arms (as she frequently does in hill training). Gradually, hill by hill, I knocked out the miles and before I knew it, I was at mile 22. At this point, I felt confident that I could improve my PB, but I still expected something in the 3:30s. I just continued running... It was only as I reached the mark of one mile to go that I realised I could finish under 3:30 - I just had to cover the final mile in less than 9 minutes. I knew everyone at Ranelagh would be able to see how close I had come, so the pressure on! I was tired, but ran on. As I approached the finish line, I remembered the advice from Runners' World - run under the clock, don't look down, don't obscure your race number by stopping your watch, celebrate. I did all the above and was just relieved to cross the line. I didn't realise the importance of this at the time, but it became apparent as I looked through the coverage in the Boston Herald over breakfast the following morning. As I turned the pages, I saw a picture and thought to myself that there's a girl wearing a Ranelagh vest like mine...the caption read 'HAVING A GOOD TIME: Evelyn Joslin shows her excitement as she crosses the finish line in front of Emily Johnson'. It was my picture, with the clock showing 3:28 above me. This will be a marathon experience that is hard to top!!!" Here's Andy Hayward: "They know how to do things in Boston - the organisation of the 112th Boston Marathon was as smooth as silk, but they HAD had 111 previous years to fine tune it. The B.A.A. transports all runners from the finish area in Copley Square in downtown Boston to the start in Hopkinton, 26 miles west. During the journey, which takes the best part of an hour normally, it begins to strike you exactly how far you have to run back! The forecast was overcast, and that was true until exactly 9:55am, 5 minutes before the start. Suddenly, as they were singing the national anthem, the skies cleared - and I had left my hat and sunscreen in my kitbag on the bus! The course is a tough one to judge. There are a lot of downhills in the first half of the race, including a couple of fairly steep ones, and the temptation is to push on through these. Just around the half way point is the famous Wellesley College. This is a girls' college, and the young ladies line the street for a long stretch shouting encouragement, offering kisses, hugs and even phone numbers (!). They literally scream at you, and you can hear them a long way before you get there - really quite an experience, especially for the guys, but they are really encouraging to the ladies too. There follows about three miles of flat before the plunge down to the lowest point of the course at Newton Falls. However, if one does give in to the temptation to push on downhill, this tends to impact the quads, and when the rolling uphills arrive just around the corner at miles 16-21, there is nothing left in them. Having had the benefit of running the course once before, in 1998, I had a game plan, which did work. It was to push moderately all the way, through to the top of the hills at Boston College and the mile 21 mark, and then if I was feeling OK, to push on hard on the rolling generally downhill from there. That is exactly what happened - I had enough left in the legs and in the tank, and the encouragement from there was fantastic. I felt strong cresting the last 'Heartbreak' hill and the last five miles were my fastest. I was hoping to get under 3:15 after a 3:19 in Florence in November, and a LOT of hard work since then, but in view of the course and conditions (it was pretty warm out there, and I got burnt to a crisp) was reasonably happy with my 3:17. Michele felt the same with her 4:09 - it would have been nice for her to get under the four hour mark, but there was a lot of people for her to get past on a narrow course. The crowds were unbelievable. Having stood at the 25.5 mile mark in London the weekend before and experienced the good support for the runners, mainly clapping, occasionally more when someone dressed up came through, I found there was no comparison to the enthusiasm of Boston. The last few miles of Boston involved running through a heady wall of sound - people were literally screaming and the decibels were extremely high. It is hard to describe, and really has to be experienced. Not that I've run every event in the world (although I have run a few) but the combination of the course, the history of the event, the organisation, and the incredible enthusiasm of the big crowd, for me make Boston the best marathon in the world". Finally Canada-based John Atkinson: "I'd done the training (18 weeks of hard graft), negotiated a 13-hour trip to Massachusetts & avoided picking up a late illness at the expo; I was ready (or as I thought I'd ever be) to follow in the hallowed footsteps of so many running legends & tackle the 112th Boston Marathon. I was up at 4am (after 4-5 hours sleep) on race morning, out the door of my Boston B&B at 5 & on the bus to the start in Hopkinton by 6. 25,000 anxious runners congregated at the Athletes' Village, two gigantic tents erected in the fields of a local high school to house a mass of nervous energy. For some the wait was over three hours long, but the time soon passed; the option of a pre-race massage, final fuelling & umpteen trips to the portaloo taking care of that. Before we knew it, we were walking to the start, throwing kit bags onto the buses & filing into our corrals. A gaggle of pre-start festivities later -- including the warbling of the US national anthem by a Yankee crooner I'd never heard of -- and we were off. I took it pretty easy for the early downhill miles, mindful of the many stories I'd heard of runners paying later for galloping out of the blocks. Though I started from Corral 3 (fairly near the front), it took a while for the mass of runners swarming down the narrow road from Hopkinton to thin out. So I was forced to negotiate the first couple of miles at a modest pace -- ensuring I didn't go out too fast. I slipped slightly behind my planned 2:55 pace during the first half of the race, my legs feeling inexplicably lethargic, but I was confident I could push on in Part II & still crack the magic 3 hours. After high-fiving a dozen Wellesley College girls at the 12-mile mark, I cruised through half-way in 1:29:18 and felt good as I negotiated the next four miles on schedule. As I got into the Newton Hills, I still felt fine and was convinced I was going to break 3; this was my day. Heartbreak Hill came and I crested it without a flicker of cramp. I shouted 'Come on!' to the spectators and thought I was home and dry; after all, the five miles left were all downhill. Boy, did I have a lot to learn. Within about half-a-mile the accumulation of earlier downhills and the heat (now up into the 60s) started to take a combined toll. I felt a mini-tornado-like twinge of cramp in my right calf during miles 21-22 & then my groin and quad began to spasm. My pace, inevitably, had slowed during miles 21-23, but I picked it up again for 24 (running 6:41) and thought I could still break 3 -- by the skin of my teeth; I seemed to be holding the cramp at bay. However, during mile 25 my right quad deteriorated and then locked up completely as I passed the Mile 25 marker at Kenmore Square, with the famous CITGO sign looming large. I stopped at the side of the road to try to release it, but to no avail; and as the seconds ticked away, my sub-3-hour dream evaporated. I had no choice but to run the last 1.2 miles with the quad muscle locked in spasm; agonising in every sense of the word. I eventually staggered to the final corner and saw the finish line in the distance. My stopwatch read: 2:59:10; unfortunately I still had 385 yards to go...arrrgggh!!! With all the will in the world my 9-min/mile shuffle wasn't going to get me home in 49 seconds... I was absolutely gutted; I'd given everything and still come up short. But my finishing time of 3:01:41 was still a PB by just over three minutes and easily earned me the right to return in 2009. Having qualified 3,509th, I also gained over 2,000 places, finishing 1,377th of just under 22,000, and that's still pretty satisfying on reflection. The experience was immense; terrifying at times and thrilling at others. Supping a pint of Guinness with Andy and Michele at the post-race party was the first time I'd really been able to relax! But, as life experiences go, running Boston is hard to beat. And I'm already planning to do it all again next year." 1 R Cheruiyot (Kenya) 2.07.46 1377 John Atkinson 3.01.41 3782 Andy Hayward 3.17.38 6338 Evelyn Joslin 3.28.49 16215 Michele Gibson 4.09.49 SAM PERKINS... ...has also been in the States, touring with a Birmingham University squad. The result has been two big PBs: first, 8.43.63 for 3000 metres in finishing 4th at the Brown Invitational meeting at Providence, Rhode Island; and then 15.01.78 finishing 28th(!) in the 5000 metres at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km Friday 25th April at Hyde Park 1 T Beedell (Chiltern) 16.02 26 Neil Walford 18.53 28 Andy Bickerstaff 19.02 76 Alan Davidson 21.17 164 John Hanscomb 27.25 179 Mike Rowland 29.35 (race walking) BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 26th April 1 K White (Herc Wimb) 16.17 24 Sean Paynter 18.27 31 Darren Wood 19.08 32 Nick Wright 19.09 34 David Rowe 19.13 38 Duncan Mallison 19.29 54 George Inman 20.13 78 Chris Hunton 20.41 103 Chris Camacho 21.21 112 Ian Grange 21.34 132 Roger Wilson 22.04 133 Paul Bisping 22.05 155 Layla Smith 22.28 182 David Ready 23.10 211 Ivan Boggis 24.14 254 Gill Wilson 25.25 324 John Hanscomb 27.51 336 Sharon Rowe 28.17 368 Daniel Hobbs 29.30 423 Deirdre Inman 34.07 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 26th April 1 T Grose (Vitoria Pk) 17.04 9 Burkhard Fehsenfeld 19.18 17 Stephen Instone 20.41 24 Andy Woodhouse 21.47 42 Simon Burrell 23.14 54 Holly Clemens 26.31 55 Lorna Smith 26.54 67 Alice Clemens 29.10 76 Deborah Blakemore 31.42 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 26th April 1 M Halman (Wilmslow) 16.14 21 Marie Synnott-Wells 19.27 SHEFFIELD HALF MARATHON Sunday 27th April 1 K Zihara (Birch) 1.05.12 1098 John Pratt 1.42.22 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 3rd May 1 J Hutchins (Basing) 15.09 19 Nick Wright 18.28 24 Darren Wood 19.03 86 Ian Grange 21.21 121 David Ready 22.11 134 Layla Smith 22.23 161 Chris Wright 23.07 178 Jim Forrest 23.34 260 Gill Wilson 25.58 261 Roger Wilson 25.58 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 3rd May 1 D White (TPC Tri) 17.58 16 Stephen Instone 20.23 31 Sandra Prosser 22.15 52 Lorna Smith 26.49 59 George Coates 29.00 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 3rd May Darryl McDonald was a little outside his fastest on the WCTT course but recorded his first victory. 1 Darryl McDonald 17.17 KESWICK HALF MARATHON Sunday 4th May Chris Read reports: "A temperature of 15C with sunshine interspersed by showers provided good conditions for the four Ranelagh Harriers who tackled the Keswick Half Marathon. The seemingly indestructible John Hanscomb was undeterred by having recently completed the London Marathon. For me the race began well. I went up the hills in the first few miles at a good pace. At about half way there was a superb view of Derwentwater sparkling in the sunshine. The last few miles along the lakeshore were hard work as I steadily lost ground to other runners. One of the people who came past me was the winning lady, Louise Cooper of Belgrave Harriers. I finally finished in 1.32.55, 15 seconds slower than last year. At least I am consistent. The other Ranelagh runners came in at varying speeds, but all having enjoyed the run". 1 E Simpson (Dallam) 1.11.23 61 Chris Read 1.32.55 206 Bob Beatson 1.46.41 409 John Hanscomb 2.11.29 459 David Rowntree 2.23.26 KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap Wednesday 7th May at Woking Next month's Kingfield Canter will be the 20th anniversary of the event. The same man, Jim Miller, has been the organiser for all of that time and has been present, rain or shine, every single month. Before that, he organised a similar event at Hammersmith for ten years. The Canter is free, you just turn up at Woking Park on the day and register. The handicap is simply based on each runner's last performance. It's an event I can recommend to anyone who is able to make it to Woking at lunchtime on the first Wednesday of each month. 1 K Trinder (Woking) 23.08 (actual time 18.53) 9 Andy Bickerstaff 26.59 (16.59) 17 Steve Rowland 27.34 (18.49) 18 Sonia Rowland 27.36 (20.51) 21 Louise Piears 27.42 (21.57) FINALLY... Here is Flora's "The day after the Marathon". Know the feeling?