*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 285 23 June 2008 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Dysart Dash this Sunday * Last Friday 5km win for Phil Killingley * Marie Synnott-Wells 1st and Darryl McDonald 2nd in WCTT * Andy Hayward 4th in Ridge Runner Marathon * Jonathon Stacey 8th in Epsom 10km * Iain Wilson 14th and second over 50 in South Downs Marathon SEE HERE ******** DYSART DASH 10km Our second road promotion, the Dysart Dash 10km, takes place this Sunday, June 29th, starting at 9am. The start is in Meadlands Drive, a short jog from the club house, and the finish is at the end of Riverside Drive - the same finish as for our half marathon. Over 500 entries have already been received, including nearly 60 from Ranelagh, but there is still time for late entries. Alternatively if you can help out on Sunday at the water stations Niall O'Connor would like to hear from you - niall_o_c@hotmail.com or 07795973198. 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. CHANGE OF E-MAIL ADDRESS A final reminder that my steverowland@beeb.net e-mail address will no longer work after 30th June. If you currently use this address to contact me, please switch to sandsrowland@btinternet.com. If you use steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com you can continue to do so, there is no need to switch. *************** 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 29th June Dysart Dash 10km at Ham. Tuesday 1st July Chris Brasher Memorial Ponds Run in Richmond Park. See above. Tuesday 15th July Coad Cup 5 miles handicap in Richmond Park followed by club AGM in the clubhouse. Sunday 20th July Elmbridge 10km at Walton. Parkruns every Saturday at 9am Bushy Park Diana Fountain car park Richmond Park Richmond Gate 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 *************** MARATHON WINDOWS TOUR OF EPSOM Monday 9th June - Friday 13th June Phil Aiken was our only competitor to take part in all five races in this event sponsored by Clive Beauvais's Marathon Windows company. "It's a cracking event, great camaraderie," writes Phil. Monday - Race 1 at Horton Country Park 3.2 miles cross-country 1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 16.38 39 Alan Davidson 22.08 59 Phil Aiken 23.42 Tuesday - Race 2 at Nonsuch Park 4.4 miles road 1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 22.47 32 Clive Beauvais 28.33 61 Phil Aiken 32.18 Wednesday - Race 3 at Hogsmill Open Space 3.5 miles cross-country 1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 18.46 42 Phil Aiken 26.04 Thursday - Race 4 at Epsom Downs 3.2 miles multi-terrain time trial 1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 16.30 54 Phil Aiken 23.40 Friday - Race 5 at Equus Equestrian Centre 4 miles cross-country handicap 1 A Hawkins (Epsom & E) 19.47 41 Phil Aiken 27.03 Overall 1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 1.34.38 43 Phil Aiken 2.12.47 BRIDGES 2.3 miles handicap Wednesday 11th June 1 L Norman (unatt) 19.06 (actual time 16.06) 12 Alan Davidson 20.39 (15.44) 31 John Hanscomb 23.00 (22.32) BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 14th June 1 J Goulis (Strag) 15.47 28 Darren Wood 19.17 46 Kerrie O'Connor 20.00 71 Chris Hunton 20.54 72 Duncan Mallison 20.57 96 Ian Grange 21.35 120 Karen Weir 22.13 177 Phil Aiken 23.43 184 Adam Wright 23.51 201 Alan Davidson 24.26 222 Gill Wilson 25.05 223 Roger Wilson 25.06 304 John Hanscomb 27.48 358 Deirdre Inman 31.18 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 14th June 1 J Flood (unatt) 18.28 9 Stephen Instone 19.47 12 Chris Read 20.34 31 Evelyn Joslin 22.55 39 Anna Mallett 23.39 47 Vicci Randle 24.59 79 Elizabeth Everett 29.13 84 Christine Goodsell 29.52 95 Penny Merrett 32.09 101 Ann Murray 37.32 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 14th June Marie Synnott-Wells recorded her fifth WCTT victory, but Darryl McDonald was unable to add to his tally despite registering a course PB. 1 T De Canto (unatt) 16.16 2 Darryl McDonald 16.41 14 Marie Synnott-Wells 19.20 NCBS EPSOM 10km Sunday 15th June A good sub-35 minutes effort from Jonathon Stacey. 1 B Whitby (HHH) 32.08 8 Jonathon Stacey 34.49 94 Clive Naish 45.27 249 Alan Meaden 58.36 253 John Hanscomb 58.58 SOUTH DOWNS MARATHON Sunday 15th June This was held over a western section of the South Downs Way, starting near Slindon and finishing at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Iain Wilson was the second over 50 to finish. 1 S Mills (Brighton) 2.54.21 14 Iain Wilson 3.29.20 SEAFORD 10km Sunday 15th June Alan Davidson reports: "The race had a superb scenic section mid-race above and in Cuckmere Valley involving squeezing through many gates, crossing a stile and going up an unrunnable hill! My time was 50.09". WARGRAVE 10km Sunday 15th June 1 K O'Doherty (Reading) 34.41 (chip time 34.40) 444 David Rowntree 62.33 (61.59) LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km Friday 20th June in Hyde Park Not the last Friday this month, for some reason...Phil Killingley in Winchester colours scored a clear victory. 1 Phil Killingley 16.05 67 Alan Davidson 20.54 162 John Hanscomb 28.14 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 21st June 1 M Trees (Belg) 16.40 36 Darren Wood 19.41 52 David Ready 20.21 94 Chris Hunton 21.35 96 Amelie Hunton 21.37 196 Gill Wilson 25.01 247 John Hanscomb 27.40 275 Wally Garrod 29.45 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 21st June 1 T O'Neill (Belgrave) 18.24 11 Stephen Instone 20.13 26 Wiebke Kortum 22.57 29 Martin Clark 23.15 62 Penny Merrett 31.46 BANSTEAD WOODS TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 21st June 1 M Morgan (SoC) 16.51 62 Phil Aiken 22.47 77 Jo Turner 23.59 WIMBLEDON COMON TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 21st June 1 D Coetzee (HW) 17.39 32 Heather Martingell 23.19 RIDGE RUNNER MARATHON Saturday 7th June at North Bend State Park, Cairo, West Virginia Andy Hayward reports on his latest exotic marathon: "Exactly a week after getting home from my previous (two week) business trip to the US, I found myself back at Heathrow for the next one. As this one would be an eight day trip with a free weekend in the middle, I looked for another marathon to do to liven it up. This would be my third US marathon in 20 days (see previous two e-news for reports on Cleveland OH and Burlington VT marathons). Normally runners are spoilt for choice for marathons in the US with several on every weekend, but this weekend was different. I was going to be in the Midwest via Chicago, and the only two options I had were going a long way west to Colorado, or a long way east to West Virginia. Travel was easiest to justify to WV, although the marathon was in the middle of nowhere, and started at 7'o'clock on the Saturday morning. This required two internal flights and then a two hour drive to get to North Bend State Park, near the small town of Cairo WV, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. As it turned out, just getting there was a marathon in itself. Due to severe weather in the Midwest, Chicago O'Hare airport was closed for much of the Friday. Having left my hotel at 6am for my first internal flight to Chicago, and getting to Chicago on time, I then spent eight hours sitting in O'Hare (including two on the plane on the runway) before finally starting the second internal flight. Landing at Charleston WV was interesting - I was looking down at the ground a long way below, when the runway suddenly appeared beneath the wheels - we were obviously landing a long way up a hill. This should have been a clue to what was in store for me - there seem to be no flat bits of this part of WV - not even enough to build an airport without levelling the top of a mountain! Arriving so late meant no restaurants were open, so my pre-race fuelling meal consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich from a gas station. As I approached the last few miles of the 107 mile drive from Charleston to Cairo, I saw a sign for 'Nutter Farm Road'. Again, this should have been another warning sign, but I was oblivious to these little hints. I then turned on to a hilly, twisty, turny gravel road for the last few miles - truly a rural location. I was starting to worry about the course. The fact that this would be the 30th running of the race and the course record was only 2:50 was a bit of a worry. The weather forecast was a little ominous too, with 90'F+ (32'C) and high humidity forecast for the next day. The evidence was building that this was going to be a tough one. Having left my hotel at 6am that morning I got to the park lodge at 11pm - too late for the pasta party or to pick up my number, but was told I should pick it up at 5am the next morning, two hours before the race start, so I set the alarm early. The start was a quarter of a mile from the lodge down a steep hill. I walked down there with a chap from Berlin who is now living in WV via St Albans, Herts. He told me this one is rated in the top 10 toughest US marathons. He said there were about 60 runners - it used to be much bigger (several hundred) as it was the only marathon in WV, and the '50 Staters' - those attempting to run a marathon in all 50 US States - had no choice but to do this one. However, three or four years ago, a marathon was established in Huntington WV which is apparently flat and a lot of people now choose to do that one (in retrospect, I can now clearly see the attraction in that!). The temperature and humidity were already rising as the gun went off, and we immediately ran up the steep hill we had just walked down, past the lodge, and out of the park onto the rural roads. A short downhill, then another steep uphill. A tough start, but I took it fairly easy. Still, I found myself 2nd after the first mile. Then on a long downhill I was overtaken by several runners, and settled early into 7th place. The first 13 miles were very rural and very scenic, with plenty of wildlife around. The hills were relentless - long uphills were followed by long downhills, and not much flat between them. The road was very winding too, and the runners had to constantly cross over to run the tangent, but thankfully being so rural there was not much traffic. This also meant that here was absolutely no one on the course supporting the runners except the water station staff (one or two per station, every two miles) and one of the organisers who drove round the course. The views from the top of the ridges were nice, if you had the strength to look around and appreciate them. Miles 13-18 were on the shoulder of a mountain road which did have traffic on (but still no support). We went through a small town at mile 14, and a bank had a thermometer showing 87'F (30'C) at 9am! The two worst hills were at miles 15-17, and miles 24-25. Approaching mile 17, I was about to admit defeat and walk for a while when I realised I was finally nearing the top of the two mile uphill grind, so I kept going, but now felt totally done in by the hills and heat/humidity. Despite this, I had managed to reel in a few of the runners ahead of me, and was about to go into 3rd place at mile 18 when I was overtaken myself, so I stayed in 4th place. Miles 18-24 were finally flat, along an old railroad track (including long, dark, but at least cool tunnels) which has been converted to a hiking/biking/equestrian trail, but by now the damage had been done, and it was just a horrendous slog through the last eight miles. The final cruel joke played on the poor unsuspecting runners after six flat miles was a mile long uphill from mile 24-25 back to the park entrance, followed by a mile long crashing downhill drop to the finish line inside the park. There was a little support here, right at the finish, from the organisers, and a few campers who were supporting their relatives in the race. I was mainly delighted to finish, so that I could stop, but I was really delighted to finish 4th overall, and win my age group. It was a slow time (3:37:37) but in view of the course and conditions, a victory indeed. There was no ceremony here - you basically picked up the award as you finished. The winning time was 3:08:36, which the organiser said was a very good time on that course in those conditions, and the second place finisher only broke 3:30 by 23 seconds. If I had avoided being overtaken and held on to 3rd place (I finished 1:37 behind 3rd in the end) I would have won a trophy the size of a big table lamp. As it was, the age group trophy was about 4" high, but much better than nothing, and Michele is relieved that we don't have to buy a new sideboard. Anyone who doubts how tough this was should look at the comments about this course on www.Marathonguide.com I think it is safe to say that this was one of the most scenic and interesting, but toughest marathons of the 49 full marathons I have now done (not including the 15 ultramarathons, but tougher than most of those too). After a bath I had recovered enough to go out and hike eight miles of the trails in the park before heading off to dinner at the lodge, where unfortunately they didn't serve alchohol, so I couldn't even celebrate winning the award!" 1 K Brown (USA) 3:08.36 4 Andy Hayward 3:37.37 SOUTH DOWNS WAY RELAY Saturday 7th June Beachy Head to Winchester Report in e-news #284. 1 Stubbington Green 10:40.44 2 Chichester 10:52.59 3 Ranelagh A 11:06.56 (Howard Gleave, Martin Halvey, Marie Synnott-Wells, Chris Owens, Phil Killingley, Niall O'Connor) 18 Ranelagh Vets 12:30.48 (Jonathan Robinson, John Molloy, Neil Walford, Mike Hynd, Andy Bickerstaff, Chris Read) BALA MIDDLE DISTANCE TRIATHLON Sunday 8th June David Rowe reports: "In and around Snowdonia National Park in North Wales I took part in the Bala Middle Distance Triathlon - which consisted of a 2km open water (lake) swim, an 82km bike ride and a 20km run. The weather was blue skies and no wind - ideal once you were laden with sun cream! After a good swim (just over 30 minutes) I was onto the bike for an extremely hilly ride on this out-and-back course. A mile in I managed to hit something (no idea what) on the bike which resulted in a twisted chain and a slightly buckled back wheel (although I didn't find out the true extent of it and the fact that the wheel was pressing against the brake pad until after the race) I pushed on for the 50+ mile ride. I was so glad to finish the ride (after over 3 hours on the saddle) and after trying to enjoy litres of Lucozade sport and energy gels throughout! Thankfully triathlons always end in my favourite discipline - the run - although the run route at Bala is a tough course, with only about one mile of the thirteen being on flat ground. Everything else is twisting up and down country lanes - and with the lunchtime sun beating down it was pretty tough going. Thankfully my 'nutrition strategy' ensured I had enough energy in me to run steady and consistently - albeit well off of my half marathon pace, but I was able to constantly overtake other runners from start to finish (with many of them being people who raced past me on the bike leg). By the end of the race I was shattered but delighted. My overall time was 5 hours 23 minutes (and 28 seconds) and I finished 157th out of 370. Next year (yes, I'm thinking about next year already) I hope to go much faster and have better fortune on the bike! If anyone is interested a (much) more detailed report together with photos can be found at our blog:". 1 M Stenning (Swindon) 4:03.59 (swim 26.18, bike 2:19.20, run 1:18.21) 157 David Rowe 5:23.28 (37.17, 3:05.13, 1:40.58) FINALLY... "Run like hell and get the agony over with". Clarence DeMar, winner of seven Boston Marathons between 1911 and 1930.