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*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 292 15 October 2008 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Men's and women's teams both third in opening Surrey League fixtures * Sam Perkins and Jo Ronaldson lead our teams * Estelle Damant 19th in Great North Run * Wendy Nicholls 40th in World Half Marathon Championship * Ralph Street represents UK in the European Youth Orienteering Champs * Cabbage Patch 10 and Surrey Veterans Championships this weekend SEE HERE ******** CHRISTMAS PARTY Ranelagh's Christmas Party will take place on Saturday 13th December from 7pm in the Promenade Suite at the Dukes Meadow Golf Club, Dan Mason Drive, Chiswick. There will be a buffet dinner and we will have our own DJ. Tickets are £28 (payable to Ranelagh Harriers) and are available from Michele Gibson at 16 Copenhagen Gardens, London W4 5NN or at the clubhouse on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. E-mail Michele at micheleagibson@hotmail.com for more info. MOB MATCH v ORION HARRIERS Niall O'Connor writes: "Cross-country is always associated with winter so it's fitting that the first day of winter, Saturday November 1st, sees the first of our four annual mob matches. This is against Orion Harriers and continues a rivalry that began in 1913. After the Orion success in Richmond last year it's our turn to visit them in Chingford for a ramble over their Epping Forest course. In case you missed the note in the previous newsletter on what a 'mob match' is, here's a brief recap: consisting of about 80-100 runners and covering a distance of 7.5 miles (comparable to a lap of Richmond Park with the hills still included) these races are not as daunting as they sound. They are more like a 'good run in the countryside', or an extended version of the Saturday morning time trials. This is perfect for anyone that has run a 10k and wants to step up to either 10 miles or a half-marathon. There is no fee to enter and it's perfectly acceptable to use it as a training run if you don't feel like racing. Everyone on the start line contributes to the scoring so the more Harriers in attendance the better our chances are. However the participating number of Ranelagh runners in the matches has been declining over the last few years meaning that many Ranelagh runners haven't experienced these great races. They are definitely worth running in - some have been 'going' for 100 years! Andy Hayward has kindly provided an alternative description of the Orion course and the mob matches themselves - 'The Orion course is more diverse than ours, and very rewarding to run. And, as we all know, it is the taking part - not the time - that counts. These races really can be won from the middle of the pack, so the more the merrier. Also, cross country is a great way to get fitter quicker, so even if people just treat them as a Saturday afternoon training run with no competitive pressure, they will reap the benefits down the line, as well as being part of a big Ranelagh tradition'. The Orion course begins close to their clubhouse and loops through picturesque Epping Forest. It is a single lap, clearly defined by bio-degradable luminous markers, across multi-terrain (mainly woodland trail). The distance is 7.5 miles. Andy H's favourite moment from this race is - 'Cresting the final hill in Epping Forest and running downhill to the finish line with all the autumn colours around - exhilarating to say the least'. Mike's Peace-mobile (i.e. mini-bus) will depart from our clubhouse at around lunchtime - and it's free. If you want to travel with him drop either myself (niall_o_c@hotmail.com) or Marc (mdsnaith5@hotmail.com) a line. Alternatively, if you are planning to drive and willing to give some fellow Harriers a lift let us know. The Orion clubhouse is close to the Chingford train station. In the next newsletter we'll provide details of how to get there and the various times. We have the better overall record against Orion (approx 45 to 36). However we haven't won at their place for a long time - since 1984! Come along on November 1st and represent Ranelagh in a classic race on a scenic course". CAR PARKING Just a reminder - particularly for new members - that we must not at any time park in the pub car park. We can use the grass area in front of the clubhouse, but the rest of the car park must be kept free for the pub's customers. Our relations with the pub's owners have been strained on this issue in the past and they do have the potential to make life difficult for us if we do not comply. WEDNESDAY NIGHT TRAINING Andy Hayward writes: "It's still going! There must be plenty of Tuesday nighters who also run on a Wednesday, or want to start - why not join us for a spin around the park? It is usually an easier, social run after the rigours of the structured session the night before, and much more fun than running on your own. We have groups of varying abilities, and no-one gets left behind. Wednesday was the original club night before Tuesdays took off - let's build them up again". SUNDAY MORNING TRAINING Chris Owens writes: "To allow people to do some of their own training from the clubhouse, it will be open from about 9.15am on Sunday Oct 19th. The door will be locked at 9:35am PROMPT. Valuables can be left in the safe which will also be locked. There is no organised session or leading, although we may start together, and break into a series of packs (or solo runners). The intention is to reopen about 10.30, and be clear of the building by 11am LATEST - probably earlier. This is a typical recipe for an easy Sunday run, the backbone of many a stamina programme. We hope to open on further weekends or for longer periods - requests to aachrisowens@yahoo.co.uk". SURREY VETERANS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 18th October in Richmond Park As usual we are hosting the county vets championships. There are two races: 6km for women at 2.30pm and 10km for men at 3pm. All over 35s (women) and over 40s (men) who live or were born in Surrey or SW London are eligible to compete. Medals are given in 5-year age groups for individuals and in 10-year age groups for teams. Entries will be accepted on the day at £5 but will be ineligible for team competitions FOUNDER'S CHALLENGE Peter Saw writes: "The Founders' Challenge takes place next Sunday (19th October) - highly suitable for ALL endurance athletes. It's a 26 mile ramble on footpaths and country roads visiting places in the Surrey Hills associated with the founding of the Long Distance Walkers' Association. The entry fee includes refreshments at all checkpoints and a light meal at the finish HQ (which last year included soup recommended by Clive Beauvais!). Further details and an entry form are available from WWW.LDWA.Org.uk". LONDON MARATHON CHARITY PLACES Sharon Dooley writes: "I got lucky this year and have chosen to run for British Lung Foundation but If anyone is looking for a Gold Bond place that's not too extortionate for London Marathon 09 they can e-mail the Garwood Foundation at bramleyhill@garwoodfoundation.org.uk (a charity based in Croydon that does work with Cerebral Palsy and related disabilities www.garwoodfoundation.org.uk/)". WHAT'S COMING ************* More details of the following from Marc Snaith (07717 213035 mailto ( mdsnaith5@hotmail.com ) or Marie Synnott-Wells (07956 431319 / mailto nandmwells@aol.com ) Saturday 18th October Surrey Veterans Championships in Richmond Park. See above. Sunday 19th October Cabbage Patch 10 miles Saturday 1st November Lee Cup Mob Match v Orion Harriers at Chingford (Epping Forest) Saturday 8th November Surrey League Division 1 (men at Wimbledon, women at Lightwater) Saturday 15th November South of the Thames 5 miles Championship (men and women) at Lloyd Park, Croydon 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 *************** SWEATSHOP SURREY LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 11th October at Richmond Park Marc Snaith reports: "It was an exciting start to the cross country season as our men's team thrived in the sunny conditions to begin the new season with a comfortable third place finish. It was great to see Sam Perkins back in Surrey League action for the first time in two years and he didn't disappoint by finishing seventh in a race won by GB international Phil Wicks. Two seconds behind Sam was Phil Killingley showing a welcome return to form as he prepares for next month's Florence Marathon. Another man in form at the right time is Darryl McDonald. Just one week before the Surrey Vets XC he managed to hold off the challenge by new member Richard Gregory, the pair finishing in 22nd and 23rd places respectively. Richard made his Surrey League debut and will be joining Phil in Florence where he looks on course to race to a comfortable PB. Peter Haarer and Jonathon Stacey ran well in a strong field to finish in the top 50. Ed Barker used his customary pace judgement to ease his way through the field on the second lap leaving a few of the more enthusiastic starters behind in his wake. The other scorers were Stephen Whitehead, Howard Gleave and Mick Lane, who passed Justin Webb on the run-in. What made the result even more satisfying was the performance of two of our main rivals for third place. Belgrave Harriers were decimated by their attempt to win the team title at the UKA 10K championships the following day whilst Hercules Wimbledon failed to equal last year's end of season form. The second meeting is in just under four weeks time at Wimbledon Common and a similar performance will put us in prime position to claim our first top three finish since 1985". Phil Aiken adds a view from the back: "Rather too near the back actually. So much so that there wasn't an awful lot to see other than the other tail-enders gradually disappearing into the distance, including Martin Clark, condemning me yet again to being the last Ranelagh runner home. There has been one occasion I wasn't our last man. I think...suffice to say, this was not one of my better days, best summed up by discovering, on removing my tights, that I didn't have my shorts on underneath. Or in my bag". George Inman finished 13th in the Under 17 event. Amongst the starters today was Australian Jim Langford, visiting from Perth. A former Australian cross-country champion, Jim ran with us for a year or so back in the late 1970s, and in the season 1976-77 he strung together an outstanding series of results, including three Surrey League wins (he was on international duty for the fourth), South of the Thames and mob match victories and culminating in 4th place in the Southern Championships. His winning time in the Richmond Park League race was 15 seconds faster than that of today's winner Phil Wicks - and his winning margin of 68 seconds even greater than Wicks's. Today, unfortunately, Jim was suffering from the after-effects of a dog bite he had sustained in Turkey and decided to give it best after one lap. SURREY LADIES LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 11th October at Nork Park, Banstead Ranelagh are the Division One title holders but it was always going to be a tough ask to retain the trophy this season. After the first fixture, with South London Harriers out in force, the task looks even tougher. Nork Park is a new venue for the League and consisted of a couple of short laps around playing fields and a couple of long laps down to the bottom of the Park (which is on the side of a hill) followed by a long drag back up again. It was good to welcome back Jo Ronaldson in her first League race for the best part of two years, plus senior race debutantes Daniela Mingham, Victoria Elbourne, Kate Brook and (in Ranelagh colours at least) Kirsty Bangham. As Thames's former Irish Olympian Sonia O'Sullivan set the early pace, Jo showed that she meant business by taking up a position just behind the leading pack. She held her place around the first big lap but, still a little race-rusty, lost a couple of places on the second circuit to finish 8th. Marie Synnott-Wells and Sara Grosvenor ran together on the first big lap but Sara paid the price on the second while Marie moved steadily through to finish only ten seconds behind Jo. Sara was our third finisher in 32nd place, with Kath Phillips chasing half a minute back. The position of fifth and last scorer changed several times during the race, first Victoria Elbourne and then Daniela Mingham before Carola Richter's strength carried her through. Our team points total was 145, level with Herne Hill, but we were placed third on the relative positions of the last scorer. South London were out of sight on 68 and four more clubs were within 30 points of us, so we'll need to work hard to maintain or improve our position. Stephanie Espinosa, a member of the British junior ski team, was our only representative in the junior races, finishing 7th in the Under 17s.. GREAT NORTH RUN HALF MARATHON Sunday 5th October at Newcastle In contrast to the masses that followed, Estelle Damant ran with the select group of a couple of dozen from the elite women's start and after passing 10km in a rapid 39.11 she held on to improve her PB by a few seconds in finishing 19th. Elite Women 1 G Wami (Ethiopia) 1:08.51 19 Estelle Damant 1:23.50 Overall 1 T Kebede (Ethiopia) 59.45 14382 Lorraine Clifton 2:02.32 17358 Fiona Jones 2:07.26 19236 David Harper 2:10.36 22536 Louise Reeder 2:16.38 25621 Oliver Sutherland 2:22.49 28471 Cindy Croucher 2:29.44 BUSHY PARK PARKRUN 5km Saturday 11th October 1 C Walmsley (Strag) 17.36 24 Darren Wood 19.18 58 David Ready 20.34 209 Johanna Scheuer 24.25 295 Wally Garrod 26.54 378 Deirdre Inman 30.40 380 John Hanscomb 30.45 400 Daniel Hobbs 31.51 RICHMOND PARK PARKRUN 5km Saturday 11th October This was the first anniversary of the Richmond Parkrun, and Ranelagh had donated trophies to be presented to the winners of the points competition over the year. Stephen Instone won the men's competition by the proverbial street. Stephen writes: "This was the second cup I've won in my undistinguished 35-year running career, but by far the bigger and more beautiful, and it was quite a job jogging two miles home with it. But the Richmond Park Run has given me a new lease of life with its convenient (for me) start time, small field, friendly runners, super-efficient volunteers, and I was lucky that the award was given for quantity of races run rather than quality. For the record, apart from steady running I do 20 x 200m with 30 secs recovery at Barn Elms track and 5 x c. 4 mins with 2 mins recovery in Richmond Park between Robin Hood and Roehampton Gates on alternate Wednesdays, and look what it's done to me: over the year I have improved by no less than 35 seconds, so, if I maintain this rate of improvement, by the time I'm 77...". 1 J Flood (unatt) 17.18 3 Nick Wright 18.23 6 Peter Weir 19.13 9 Stephen Instone 19.36 11 Chris Read 19.59 33 Kathy Mallett 22.02 34 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 22.03 35 Gareth Davies 22.04 44 Michael White 23.21 49 Paul Martingell 23.46 50 Karen Weir 23.52 52 Joanne Turner 23.55 77 Lynne Barber 26.33 84 Julie Naismith 27.29 86 Francene Leaversuch 28.34 89 Lorna Smith 28.46 91 Christine Goodsell 29.07 92 Penny Merrett 29.08 98 Pat Hewlett 31.11 WIMBLEDON COMMON PARKRUN 5km Saturday 11th October 1 J Fairs (Serpentine) 17.28 81 Catherine Carthy 28.01 WORLD HALF-MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIPS Sunday 12th October in Rio de Janeiro Second-claim member Wendy Nicholls was the leading UK finisher in 40th place. 1 L Kiplagat (Neth) 68.37 40 Wendy Nicholls 78.52 CHICAGO MARATHON Sunday 12th October New member Sarah Lintern passed half way in 1:42 en route to a 3:37 clocking. 1 E Cheruiyot (Kenya) 2:06.25 2961 Sarah Lintern 3:37.58 KINGSTON RUNNING FESTIVAL Sunday 12th October Unfortunately the official results do not list clubs, so the results shown below are almost certainly incomplete. 16 miles 1 G Breen (Reading) 1:28.49 87 Ian Grange 1:55.16 109 Stephen Logue 1:57.51 526 Sharon Dooley 2:37.01 8 miles 1 J Trapmore (Shaft B) 42.22 79 Rachael Holmes 58.21 598 Nicola Wallington 76.37 621 John Hanscomb 77.58 CHICHESTER PRIORY 10km Sunday 12th October Men 1 R Dessaix-Chin (Bel) 29.38 108 Andrew Forth 37.43 Women 1 C Hoyte (Arena 80) 33.27 34 Kerrie O'Connor 41.00 72 Karen Weir 46.46 EUROPEAN YOUTH ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS This comes from the SLOW website: "Ralph Street represented Great Britain at the European Youth Champs last weekend in Switzerland. The first race was the Long Distance where he came 28th out of 106 in a time of 61:49. He was in the middle of the three best Brits who were within 40 seconds of each other. The winner took 53:28. Then came the relays where Ralph anchored to the team to a podium position of 6th place out of 27 teams, less than a minute ahead of three other teams. Finally was the sprint race, where Ralph came a very impressive 7th place in 12:40, just off the podium. It was very close at the top with the winner Kristian Jones of GB taking the gold in 12:05". FINALLY... "Life is short... running makes it seem longer". Baron Hansen.