*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 283 25 May 2008 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Vets' and women's teams both runners-up in Green Belt Relay * 33.34 10km by Peter Haarer * Ben Matthews runs 2.45 in Belfast Marathon * RPTT win for Bonnie Webster * Dorking 10 this Sunday SEE HERE ******** DORKING 10 miles The next fixture in both our own Grand Prix and the Surrey Road League is the Dorking 10 miles on Sunday 1st June. For late deciders, entries are still being accepted and they usually take entries on the day. DYSART DASH 10km Niall O'Connor writes: "Sunday 29th June sees our own Dysart Dash 10km take place. The course is flat, fast and furious and judging by the summer so far, it will be muddy and wet also - a reminder of the cross-country season! The two-lap race serves as part of the Surrey League and the Surrey county championship. Please enter if you can, and if you cannot, well, I'm looking for marshals. So if you're free to marshal for approx 90 minutes around the 9am start-time, drop me a line to niall_o_c@hotmail.com Entries for this one are limited to 700, of which some 300 have already been taken. So if you're planning to run, be sure to get your entry in soon to avoid disappointment. JUNIOR TRAINING Frances Ratchford writes: "The Summer is here so junior training is over until September. Thank you to all of you for turning up every week and good luck if you are competing in the Summer on the track. I will post the date for the start of winter training here and on the web". UKTT BECOMES PARKRUN Paul Sinton-Hewitt writes in the latest UKTT / parkrun newsletter: "A few weeks ago the entity known as UKTT quietly rebranded to parkrun. Parkrun refers to the collection of running events that we offer across the country and around the world. Where the name 'UK Time Trials' implied a highly competitive event, and could be confused with a particular type of cycle race, parkrun embodies the communal, competitive and inclusive aspects of what we are achieving. Softer to the ear, and with an obvious connection with the runs you all participate in, we hope that it will easily replace the former name. The tree symbol designed by Danny Norman will continue to adorn our logo and we hope it will eventually be recognisable by every runner in the country". 5K - YOUR WAY! Justin Webb writes: "I am helping organise a 5k event at the Tooting and Mitcham Hub on the 8th June. All of the proceeds for the event are going to developing sport projects to improve sport in the community. 5k - Your Way is sponsored by McDonalds Restaurant Mitcham and is taking place on Sunday 8th June at The Hub at Tooting and Mitcham Football Club at 10:30am; plus, a free 2k fun run will be taking place at Pouters Park - this really is a day for all of the family. Venue: The Hub at Tooting and Mitcham FC, Imperial Fields, Bishopsford Road, Morden, Surrey SM4 6BF. Time: 10.30am. Cost: £8 for affiliated club members. Contact Email: justin@southlondonpartnership.co.uk CHRIS BRASHER MEMORIAL PONDS RUN Our annual tribute to the late Chris Brasher will take place on Tuesday 1st July starting at 7pm. As usual we'll divide into various groups and set off into the Park with the intention of visiting all - or as many as we can - of the 20-odd ponds. It's a route originally devised by Chris. All are welcome. *************** 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 1st June Dorking 10 miles. Sunday 29th June Dysart Dash 10km at Ham. Tuesday 1st July Chris Brasher Memorial Ponds Run in Richmond Park. See above. Parkruns 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 *************** GREEN BELT RELAY Saturday 17th May - Sunday 18th May For the second year in succession we finished in the runner-up position in both the veterans' and the women's categories, trailing, as last year, the Millennium Group and Serpentine. In the case of the women we were no match this time for a very powerful Serpentine squad who set a new course record of 26 hrs 34 mins 33 secs. We ran over twenty minutes faster than last year but finished some eighty minutes behind the Serpies. The vets race was a very different story, however. After over 24 hours of running we finished just 86 seconds behind Millennium in a time nearly two and a half hours faster than in 2007. The Millennium Group takes its members from a number of different clubs, which puts us at a distinct disadvantage before we have even started. What we didn't expect was that one of those clubs would be Ranelagh! Darryl McDonald somehow got nobbled to run for the opposition. We thought Darryl might turn out to be our secret weapon, as he was pretty sure to get hopelessly lost in the wilds of the Chilterns or the North Downs and, with any luck, add a couple of hours to Millennium's time. On Saturday he duly obliged: he missed the start of stage 4 at Little Marlow by a couple of minutes and in his haste to run through the field he followed a number of others off course. Unfortunately Martin Halvey also had navigational problems on this tricky stage and so the advantage we secured was restricted to about 11 minutes. But on Sunday Darryl made no mistake and on stage 18 at Box Hill he provided the Millennium with their only stage victory, taking them into an overall lead over Ranelagh which they were not thereafter to relinquish. But we're jumping ahead. The race started on a bright Saturday morning in front of Hampton Court Palace with Trevor Maguire and Kerrie O'Connor getting our main teams under way and Pete Warren starting for our third, mixed, team. 68 year-old Pete incidentally just missed one of the weekend's awards for the oldest competitor. Trevor ran strongly for 6th place, trailing his Millennium rival by almost exactly the same margin as that by which we were to be in arrears at the finish on Sunday afternoon. Kerrie was the second woman home but already Serpentine were five minutes ahead. Chris Owens finished 2nd in a very tight finish on stage 2, and this was to be our best men's result of the weekend. He took us into a lead over Millennium of more than four minutes. Anna Scally ran well for 9th but had to concede another four minutes to Serpentine. On stage 3 Millennium brought out their real secret weapon in Sonia O'Sullivan, but Tim Sizeland put in a great effort to concede only two minutes, while Emma Tomlinson brought the Serpentine juggernaut to a temporary halt. Then came the long and hilly stages 4 and 5. Martin's 11 minutes lead over Darryl took us about 14 minutes clear of Millennium overall, with Marie Synnott-Wells also going astray on the way to finishing about three minutes behind Darryl and the Serpie woman, who finished together. Iain Wilson ran strongly on stage 5 and conceded less than a minute, with Evelyn Joslin 22nd. Jonathan Robinson's 3rd place at St Albans on stage 6 took us into the biggest lead we were to hold over Millennium, some 20 minutes, while Sue Ashley reclaimed a minute or so from Serpies. Our vets then produced a string of 8th places on the next four stages - Burkhard Fehsenfeld, Clive Beauvais, Mike Peace and Chris Read - at the end of which our lead over Millennium stood at about 13 minutes. On stage 7 at Letty Green Kath Phillips became our first stage winner, finishing as the leading woman some four minutes clear of Serpies. Mandy Harris, Sandra Prosser, Carola Richter and Sonia Rowland finished the day for the women, at the end of which they stood in 15th place overall, well behind Serpentine who were 9th. Andy Bickerstaff ran the last leg of the day into Blackmore for the vets, finishing 5th on the stage and securing 5th overall a little over 13 minutes ahead of 6th placed Millennium. Meanwhile the third team had been plugging away. More than half of the team - Melissa Glackin, Michele Gibson, Michelle Beaumont, Lee Davies, Michael White and Chris Wilson - were GBR newcomers and seemed to be enjoying the experience. With the best result coming from Steve Rowland, who finished 6th on stage 6, the team finished the day in 19th place. About 20 team members stayed overnight in Essex, enjoying a meal and a beer or two at the Leather Bottle in Blackmore and grabbing a few hours sleep before the 8am start on Sunday. Millennium immediately launched a strong counter-attack. Tim Sizeland on stage 12 suffered a bit after his Saturday effort and conceded almost 11 minutes to a strong Millennium runner. Marie Synnott-Wells started the day well for the ladies with our second stage win. On 13 Mike Peace finished 9th but the Millennium runner, four minutes ahead, moved his team past us for the first time since the end of stage 1. Carola Richter finished 15th, a result repeated by Evelyn Joslin on stage 14. Ahead of Evelyn, Jonathan Robinson finished an excellent 3rd again and restored a lead of about 5 minutes over Millennium. But it was short lived: Chris Read was up against one of Millennium's top men and had to concede all that and more, while Sue Ashley finished with Clive Naish in 20th and 21st. Martin Halvey was entrusted with another tough stage, the half marathon to Tatsfield, and he looked strong throughout to finish 4th and take us back ahead of Millennium by about six minutes. Kath Phillips's annoyance at running off course early on carried her through to 14th. On stage 17 Mandy Harris was another to go astray and ran the latter half of the stage with Michelle Beaumont. Ahead of them Burkhard Fehsenfeld made the top ten but our lead over Millennium all but disappeared. Then came stage 18. Darryl McDonald defeated Andy Bickerstaff by over five minutes and carried Millennium into a lead in excess of four minutes. If our vets team's faces were falling there was a smile for Sandra Prosser who became our third stage winner in 12th place overall. Trouble continued on stage 19 as Sonia O'Sullivan finished 4th for Millennium but again we didn't lose as much as might have been expected as Iain Wilson finished 6th less than three minutes behind. Kerrie O'Connor was 15th. Clive Beauvais stopped the rot on the short stage 20 and reclaimed a minute, with Pete Warren and Sonia Rowland racing each other all the way in 18th and 19th. Clive's run turned out to be the second-best age-graded performance of the whole weekend (87.97%), missing the prize by just 0.04%. At Ripley, with two stages to go and facing a deficit of some six minutes, our prospects did not look too bright. But we had a strong tail in Chris Owens and Trevor Maguire so hope was not abandoned. Chris ran another good stage for 4th but Clare Pauzers for Millennium smashed the women's course record in finishing only a minute back. So on the final flat stage along the Thames from Walton to the Hawker Centre Trevor had to finish a full five minutes ahead of his Millennium rival. Trevor gave it everything he could to finish 4th but all too soon the Millennium vest appeared and crossed the finishing line just three and a half minutes behind, giving them a winning margin of 86 seconds. Overall Millennium and Ranelagh vets finished 4th and 5th, the outright victory going for the first time to London Frontrunners. The women finished with a flourish, Emma Tomlinson 13th on stage 21 and Anna Scally bringing the team home with our fourth stage win. Overall they finished in 15th place, six places behind Serpentine. Several members of our third team suffered on Sunday from the previous day's efforts but Louise Piears brought them home in a very respectable 20th place out of the 28 competing teams. Best result on the second day was Lee Davies's 16th on stage 18. And so at the prize presentation at the Hawker Centre the only Ranelagh member to partake of glory was Darryl McDonald. A team less refined than the noble Ranelagh might have been tempted to pitch him into the Thames at this point, but of course no such ungallant thoughts entered our minds. Thanks as ever go to the Stragglers for their great efforts in putting on such a complicated but well-organised and memorable event. In comparison the competing teams have an easy time of it, but even for them an undertaking like the Green Belt Relay cannot be tackled without a good deal of preparation and planning. Special thanks go to team co-ordinators Marie Synnott-Wells, Andy Bickerstaff and Phil Aiken, accommodation organiser Evelyn Joslin, mini-bus driver Sandra Prosser and all those who helped in other capacities. For full results, photos and reports see the race website: www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk/ Overall 1 London Frontrunners 21:55.20 2 Serpentine 22:36.17 3 Clapham Chasers 23:27.24 (1st mixed team) 4 Millennium Group 24:39.42 (1st vets team) 5 Ranelagh Vets 24:41.08 (2nd vets team) 9 Serpentine Ladies 26:34.33 (1st women's team) 15 Ranelagh Ladies 27:56.49 (2nd women's team) 20 Ranelagh Mixed 30:09.14 (7th mixed team) Stage 1 Hampton Court - Staines 12.8m 1 H Wilson (London FR) 1:14:27 6 Trevor Maguire 1:20:24 19 Kerrie O'Connor 1:32:24 23 Pete Warren 1:42:24 Stage 2 Staines - Boveney 10m 1 H Torry (Serpentine) 59:10 2 Chris Owens 1:04:14 9 Anna Scally 1:08:25 22 Melissa Glackin 1:23:20 Stage 3 Boveney - Little Marlow 11.5m 1 G Buscke (Clapham) 1:08:18 8 Tim Sizeland 1:13:44 11 Emma Tomlinson 1:20:01 20 Michele Gibson 1:29:50 Stage 4 Little Marlow - Great Kingshill 12.2m 1 C Beecham (London FR) 1:17:55 8 Martin Halvey 1:38:13 13 Darryl McDonald (Mill)1:49:44 18 Marie Synnott-Wells 1:52:35 26 Louise Piears 2:10:06 Stage 5 Great Kingshill - Chipperfield 13.8m 1 A Reeves (Serp) 1:21:01 7 Iain Wilson 1:29:07 22 Evelyn Joslin 1:46:56 23 Michelle Beaumont 1:51:11 Stage 6 Chipperfield - St Albans 8.4m 1 G Edmonds (Serp) 53:31 3 Jonathan Robinson 54:14 6 Steve Rowland 59:27 13 Sue Ashley 1:05:08 Stage 7 St Albans - Letty Green 12.2m 1 S Whelan (London FR) 1:06:19 8 Burkhard Fehsenfeld 1:18:49 13 Kath Phillips 1:24:22 16 Lee Davies 1:28:02 Stage 8 Letty Green - Dobbs Weir 10.6m 1 J Cunningham (Serp) 59:35 8 Clive Beauvais 1:10:13 13 Mandy Harris 1:18:00 20 Michael White 1:24:58 Stage 9 Dobbs Weir - High Beach 10.5m 1 M Clayton (Beckenham) 59:05 8 Mike Peace 1:11:35 16 Clive Naish 1:18:05 19 Sandra Prosser 1:23:54 Stage 10 High Beach - Toot Hill 9.75m 1 C Morton (London FR) 56:34 8 Chris Read 1:07:29 16 Carola Richter 1:16:41 19 Chris Wilson 1:16:59 Stage 11 Toot Hill - Blackmore 7.6m 1 R Phillips (Serp) 44:06 5 Andy Bickerstaff 52:49 16 Sonia Rowland 1:00:03 17 Phil Aiken 1:00:05 Stage 12 Blackmore - Thorndon Park 10.9m 1 H Wilson (London FR) 1:02:28 10 Marie Synnott-Wells 1:14:19 20 Tim Sizeland 1:19:10 23 Steve Rowland 1:27:30 Stage 13 Thorndon Park - Thames Chase 6.9m 1 J Heslop (Clapham) 42:20 9 Mike Peace 48:57 15 Carola Richter 51:28 24 Michele Gibson 59:02 Stage 14 Thames Chase - Davy Down 8m 1 M Burt (Clapham) 48:52 3 Jonathan Robinson 51:05 15 Evelyn Joslin 1:01:14 19 Phil Aiken 1:04:43 Stage 15 QEII Bridge - Lullingstone Park 9.2m 1 A Mercer (Serpentine) 54:29 11 Chris Read 1:08:44 20 Sue Ashley 1:17:27 21 Clive Naish 1:17:28 Stage 16 Lullingstone Park - Tatsfield 13.3m 1 S Whelan (London FR) 1:18:59 4 Martin Halvey 1:29:13 14 Kath Phillips 1:49:21 26 Michael White 2:08:23 Stage 17 Tatsfield - Merstham 10.5m 1 A Reeves (Serpentine) 59:22 10 Burkhard Fehsenfeld 1:12:44 25 Mandy Harris 1:31:16 26 Michelle Beaumont 1:31:19 Stage 18 Merstham - Box Hill 8.9m 1 Darryl McDonald (Mill) 51:33 6 Andy Bickerstaff 56:44 12 Sandra Prosser 1:03:29 16 Lee Davies 1:06:29 Stage 19 Box Hill - West Hanger 10.5m 1 C Beecham (London FR) 1:01:31 6 Iain Wilson 1:10:01 15 Kerrie O'Connor 1:19:05 21 Chris Wilson 1:26:33 Stage 20 West Hanger - Ripley 5.7m 1 J Cartwright (Clapham) 32:15 7 Clive Beauvais 34:42 18 Pete Warren 39:57 19 Sonia Rowland 40:04 Stage 21 Ripley - Walton Bridge 8.4m 1 M Forrest (London FR) 47:59 4 Chris Owens 53:11 13 Emma Tomlinson 1:01:12 20 Melissa Glackin 1:09:41 Stage 22 Walton Bridge - Ham 9.25m 1 C Martin (London FR) 50:05 4 Trevor Maguire 55:36 9 Anna Scally 59:25 23 Louise Piears 1:13:42 CAPE WRATH CHALLENGE Sunday 11th May to Saturday 17th May Alan Davidson reports from Durness, "the most north westerly inhabited locality of mainland Great Britain" : "Three brutal physio sessions in ten days helped to heal a calf tear and get me to the Cape Wrath Challenge with a hope of at least running five of the shorter races in six days. Durness base boasted one small shop but the scenery was superb - mountains, hills, lochs, heather moors, high cliffs and lovely white sandy bays. Last year the marathon and relay couldn't get onto the Cape because the violent wind stopped the ferry crossing the estuary. This year although it was windy in the far north of Scotland the sun shone every day! At Loch Eriboll (which housed Russia convoys in the war) I chose the 10k (not the half marathon option!) with an extremely hilly last two miles - 45.37 (5th out of 37); then came the Sangomore 5.5 mile hill run, heather and burns - 41.31 (20th out of 65); the Round About Durness 8.4miles (hills and lochs) came next - 70.57 (22nd out of 67); the Balnakeil beach run 3 miles was a mix of wet sand and sand dunes - some wore fancy dress, I just wanted to beat the grim reaper! - 21.54 (5th out of 90); finally the marathon relay - I was the baby of our team of four(!) and ran leg three, Cape Wrath lighthouse to Inshore loch 6.8 miles (very rough track with the occasional 10 yards tarmac strip) - 57.38. A great place to race". RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 17th May Bonnie Webster won the women's section with Anna Mallett in 3rd place, and Alyn Morgan finished overall 3rd. 1 N Stoddart (SMR) 17.23 3 Alyn Morgan 18.14 9 Stephen Instone 19.58 16 Bonnie Webster 21.29 27 Anna Mallett 22.34 58 Marina Quayle 31.58 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 17th May 1 P Adams (St Albans) 15.31 36 Darren Wood 19.48 46 Duncan Mallison 20.11 66 David Ready 20.43 95 Ian Grange 21.39 96 Paul Bisping 21.39 101 Chris Hunton 21.43 104 Amelie Hunton 21.45 118 Roger Wilson 22.17 137 Layla Smith 22.41 243 Gill Wilson 26.05 260 Fiona Jones 26.37 269 John Hanscomb 27.01 OXFORD TOWN AND GOWN 10km Sunday 18th May Peter Haarer was the leading veteran in 8th place, just behind Chris Illman representing Cirencester. Peter's 33.34 takes him into 6th place in the club's over 40 rankings. 1 O Edwards (Shaft) 31.52 8 Peter Haarer 33.34 BOGNOR PROM 10km Sunday 18th May at Bognor Regis This was Danny Norman's first race after the London Marathon. Behind him David Rowe took a few more seconds off his PB. 1 P Rodgers (Crawley) 31.32 (chip time 31.32) 12 Danny Norman 35.28 (35.27) 54 David Rowe 39.21 (39.17) 435 Kirsty Bangham 50.17 (49.47) 864 Sharon Rowe 59.05 (58.05) STAINES 10km Sunday 18th May 1 J Mitchell (Woking) 35.26 22 Duncan Mallison 39.48 313 John Hanscomb 56.04 334 Alan Meaden 57.01 CLEVELAND MARATHON Sunday 18th May Andy Hayward reports: "I had to make a decision. Three weeks after Boston was the Ranelagh Richmond Half Marathon, one week before the Cleveland Marathon, which I entered as it conveniently fell during a business trip to the USA. I could either take the half easy and push for a reasonable marathon time (i.e. an improvement on the 3:17 in Boston) or push hard in the half and take Cleveland easy as a long training run. I looked at my watch at the first mile marker in Richmond and it showed 6:39! Yikes! I was feeling good - decision made - push on for a course and M50 PB and hopefully my first sub 1:30 half marathon for a few years. I did manage to achieve this, just, with 1:29:49, but it was tough, I really had to push hard for it, and my quads were feeling it for the rest of the week. I flew to Washington DC on Thursday and went for a run in Rock Creek Park to stretch the legs. They still felt tired. Saturday afternoon I flew to Cleveland Ohio - formerly famous for nothing except the river catching fire in 1979 and forcing the US to adopt pollution clean-up laws. They decided it should be famous for more than that, so it is now the home of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, which is a major sponsor of the race. Sunday dawned cold and rainy. My hotel was near the start/finish line, so there was no point in using the baggage drop. Consequently I stood for over 30 minutes in my Ranelagh vest, in the increasingly heavy rain and cooling temperatures before the delayed 7:10am start. Once we got going, despite the rain, things started looking a little better. I was still feeling a little tired from both the Ranelagh Half, and the travelling, and I decided that a long training run was all I could plan on. If I could keep it under 3:30, I would be very happy. The course took us past the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the first time in the first two miles, and then round the Cleveland Browns stadium. There were a couple of climbs in the first four miles, but nothing too serious. Then it was out in a loop, before coming back past my hotel at halfway, where the half marathon (and most of the runners) peeled off. Another loop was quite scenic along a park road which reminded me of both the Twin Cities and Tampa Marathons (see previous e-news reports). At mile 16, the sun actually came out and warmed things up a bit. Finally, we had a long trek from 19 to 24, back along the lakefront (Lake Erie) into a headwind (very much like Tampa, except that was ocean) past the Hall of Fame again, and again past my hotel (at mile 24!) where we joined up again with the (very slow) half marathoners who were still on the course, before a final push to the finish. I managed to maintain an even pace, and got in at 3:25:48. I was very happy with that, in the circumstances. The support on the course generally was not very good, but the last couple of miles was excellent. At the finish there were rock and roll bands playing at the '26.3 party' with a free beer. Then it was back to the hotel for a shower and out for a quick spin round the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (had to be done!) before flying back to Washington DC and preparing for a further ten days of business. Also resting ahead of the Burlington Vermont Marathon next weekend, before flying home. I just had a run round the reservoir in Central Park, New York, and the legs felt totally dead - I think a sub 4:00 will be the goal this week!" 1 R Feyissa (USA) 2.33.34 (chip time 2.33.34) 221 Andy Hayward 3.25.57 (3.25.48) BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 24th May 1 M Trees (Belgrave) 16.07 27 Duncan Mallison 18.58 35 Darren Wood 19.19 55 Kerrie O'Connor 20.03 78 David Ready 20.47 142 Michelle Beaumont 22.21 174 Phil Aiken 23.05 185 Roger Wilson 23.13 246 Michael White 24.53 298 Gill Wilson 26.56 311 John Hanscomb 27.32 334 Wally Garrod 28.36 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 24th May 1 N Rothwell (Strag) 18.19 13 Stephen Instone 20.13 24 Sandra Prosser 22.20 28 Paul Bisping 22.56 68 Penny Merrett 31.37 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 24th May 1 M Halman (Wilmslow) 16.06 95 George Coates 28.55 BANSTEAD WOODS TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 24th May 1 M Bristow (Brighton) 16.25 58 Martin Clark 23.00 EDINBURGH MARATHON Sunday 25th May John Molloy was on seven-minute miling schedule for the first half but faded a little in the later stages. Lorna Smith, Tanya Allen and Anne Baker were all delighted with their performances. 1 P McNamara 2.25.05 612 John Molloy 3.21.49 3568 Lorna Smith 4.14.08 4473 Tanya Allen 4.30.09 5379 Anne Baker 4.53.01 HAMMERSMITH RIVERSIDE 3.3 miles handicap Tuesday 27th May Actual times: 1 D Cox (Woodford Gn) 18.13 Alan Davidson 22.41 Alan Howard 23.51 HAMMERSMITH RIVERSIDE 3.3 miles handicap Tuesday 29th April Actual times: 1 D Cox (Woodford Gn) 17.53 Alan Howard 24.09 BELFAST CITY MARATHON Monday 5th May Ben Matthews put in a great performance to finish in 2.45 in 20th place. 1 J Mutai (Kenya) 2.16.31 20 Ben Matthews 2.45.58 BRIDGES 2.3 miles handicap Wednesday 14th May at Westminster 1 A Yousuf (West 4) 18.40 (actual time 15.40) 20 John Hanscomb 20.50 (20.32) FINALLY... "Racing a 5k in a skirt? Chased by guys? That would be yes... and yes! As with anything SkirtSports does, we're putting a spin on a running classic by mixing fitness, flirting and fun in an innovative new race series". So runs the tag line on the www.skirtchaser5k.com/ website. They are organising a series of 5k events around the USA: "The women will start first, in a 'Catch Me' wave, and the men will start three minutes later, in the 'SkirtChaser' wave. First athlete to cross the finish line, male or female, will win $500!" Skirts are provided for the women as part of the entry pack. Apparently the score so far is guys 2, girls 1...