*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 297 7 January 2009 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Jo Ronaldson, Ralph Street and Richard Gregory our leading finishers in the Surrey Championships * Two "winners" in the Henty Relay * Amelie Hunton 2nd in Cabbage Patch 4, brother Sam 2nd junior * Parkrun runner-up spots for Darryl McDonald, Alison Dicks and Rachael Holmes * Vets prizes for Clive Beauvais and Pete Warren * Men's and women's Surrey League this Saturday at Coulsdon SEE HERE ******** SURREY LEAGUE The third Surrey League fixtures for men and women take place this Saturday at Coulsdon. Marc Snaith writes: "The meeting is hosted by South London Harriers and the course is about a 10 minute walk from the clubhouse. Those of you making your way by train can get to Coulsdon South from Clapham Junction or East Croydon. The train station is in between the course and the clubhouse. Car parking is around the corner from the clubhouse in Lion Green Road". Because of the short afternoon start times are earlier than normal: for the women's event, seniors start at 12 noon, U15s & U17s at 12.45pm and U13s at 1.15pm. For the men's event, all junior age groups run at 2pm and seniors at 2.30pm. BLACKHEATH MOB MATCH Saturday 31st January at Hayes (Kent) Marc Snaith writes: "Having won our home mob matches we go into the final mob match with a 2-1 record. I keep getting told that a winning mob match season is a rarer sight than the former captain visiting the barbers so we have an excellent opportunity to make some club history. We had 34 runners out at Orion and 31 ran at Blackheath two years ago so if we can take similar numbers we'll give ourselves a chance of victory. Thames reminded us that it is all about numbers in mob matches as only Ralph mixed it with their fast guys in the top ten yet we still beat them by over 100 points! It will be my first time out at Blackheath and I am really looking forward to getting out on an old fashioned XC course complete with stiles. Just check out some of the photos on our website from 2005 and 2007 to get a taste of what is in store for us. And if you need even more incentive the race will be preceded by a battle of the chants competition as our very own 'hobble gobble' will go up against Blackheath's 'black black black black black' chant. This really is a sight worth seeing! Mike's Peace bus will be used again, spaces are limited to 16 so please let me know in advance if you would like a place. If you want to drive and have room for others then please meet at the clubhouse so that we can get as many people out to Hayes as possible. I'll confirm the meeting time later". SOUTH OF ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 24th January at Hillingdon Map of location and transport links here: IDENTIFY YOURSELF Karen Weir writes: "Given the sad news of the recent fatality in Richmond Park of an unidentifiable cyclist, I'd like to stress the importance to all our runners of making sure you always carry ID with you when out training, especially if running alone. There are different ways to do this, but one of the easiest options is a tag on your laces. www.clubtags.co.uk/index.asp can provide you with these for a small cost - last time I ordered they were £2.50 each. You can choose what information is put on the tag and they even have a copy of the Ranelagh logo, so if you specify this, they will put it on one side of the tag. Please do take some action on this, it is so important for your own safety". 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 10th January Surrey League Division 1 - women and men both at Coulsdon. Note earlier start times - 12 noon for the senior women, 2.30pm for the senior men. Sunday 11th January MABAC League 8 miles road in Windsor Great Park. 11am start at Blacknest gate. Register on the day. Details: Saturday 24th January South of England Cross-Country Championships at Hillingdon Saturday 31st January Pelling-Ratcliff Cup Mob Match v Blackheath & Bromley HAC at Hayes, Kent. 2.30pm start. 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 ************** SURREY CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 3rd January at Lloyd Park, Croydon The usual Lloyd Park course was used but with the start and finish shifted to half way round what used to be the first short loop, adjacent to the tram station. This shouldn't have made much difference, but the sharp climb just before the finish provided a nasty sting in the tail. With the big freeze still firmly in place the ground was frozen solid in the shadier parts of the course, but where the sun had had time to do its work the surface was tacky and slippery. First Ranelagh Harrier in action, albeit in the colours of his school Tiffins, was Ralph Street in the Under 20s event. Ralph ran a strong race to finish 5th less than a minute behind the winner, and should have done enough to make the Surrey team for the Inter-Counties later in the season. Joining him there should be Jo Ronaldson, who was a fine 7th in a high-quality senior women's race. Estelle Damant was up with Jo in the early stages and paid the price later, drifting back to run with Marie Synnott-Wells for the middle part of the race before Marie broke clear to finish 16th with Estelle 19th. Sandra Prosser closed in the team which just missed the medals in 4th place. Sam Perkins had high hopes of a top ten place in the senior men's race, but injuries have seriously curtailed his training over the past few months and this was to tell in the later stages. After a cautious start Sam settled into 6th place on the first circuit, looking quite comfortable at the head of a sizeable group of pursuers. On lap two he found them all going past and on the third lap his lack of fitness left him working hard to maintain a place in the top twenty. Richard Gregory, meanwhile, had been making steady progress and on the final circuit had Sam firmly in his sights. With half a mile to go Richard actually caught Sam, but this galvanised Sam into action and he entered the final 200 metres a few strides clear. Richard was not to be denied, however, and a frantic sprint finish took him across the line inches ahead. Howard Gleave, Marc Snaith and Phil Aiken completed the Ranelagh contingent. HENTY RELAY Saturday 27th December in Richmond Park Team Hunton were the runaway winners of this year's Henty, but they were a self-selected team so were ineligible for the trophy. The rest of the teams were formulated on the day with the target of getting them as balanced as possible, one "fast", one "medium" and one "slow" in each team. Of course, the borderlines of these categories are somewhat blurred and even within them there are substantial disparities in ability. But overall the organisers did a good job with two teams clear but only a couple of minutes separating the rest. The first, slightly shorter, lap was led in by Peter Weir in a time of 7.13, well ahead of Andy Bickerstaff. Estelle Damant and Sam Hunton were the only others inside eight minutes. Sam handed over to his dad Chris who moved into the lead on the second circuit, but only a few metres clear of Karen Weir and Michael White. These three teams - who were to be the top three at the finish - were already well clear of the rest, who were now led by Peter Harding from Andy Woodhouse's team. Lap three saw Peter Weir regain the lead with a 7.54 effort, taking him over 20 seconds clear of Sam Hunton. Estelle Damant moved back into third place. Chris Hunton's 9.03 on lap four gained his team an unassailable lead. Roopa Dhanjal held onto second place for Peter Weir's team and Andy Bickerstaff regained third place ahead of Michael Brandon of Estelle Damant's team. Sam and Amelie extended the Huntons' lead in fine style on the final two circuits to almost three and a half minutes, while Karen and Peter Weir - with another 7.54 lap - cemented their team's victory in the race for the Kiwi trophy. Andy Bickerstaff finished an isolated third while in a very close finish Estelle Damant moved up from 7th to 4th on the final circuit. Peter Weir was the fastest "fast", both on the short first lap and on his full-length second and third laps. Top of the chart on the "medium" and "slow" laps were Chris and Amelie Hunton, but discounting them the honours went to Alison Dicks and Jar O'Brien. BUSHY PARKRUN 5km Thursday 25th December Nearly 350 runners, including some 20 from Ranelagh, chose to begin their Christmas Days in Bushy Park. 1 N Aitken (Clapham) 17.00 20 Peter Weir 18.18 30 Sean Paynter 18.47 38 Darren Wood 19.11 57 David Rowe 20.16 83 Chris Hunton 21.15 85 Simon Burrell 21.18 100 Amelie Hunton 21.44 110 Alan Davidson 22.11 133 Karen Weir 23.21 170 Chris Wright 24.26 175 Kirsty Bangham 24.33 194 Ivan Boggis 25.15 203 Alastair Sinclair 25.31 259 Joanne Turner 28.20 292 Sharon Rowe 29.41 303 Wally Garrod 29.58 328 Luke Wilson 33.55 329 Holly Wilson 33.56 330 Gill Wilson 33.56 344 Heather Martingell 39.46 LAURISTON CHRISTMAS 30 mins PAARLAUF Thursday 25th December on Wimbledon Common 1 R Ward (HBT) & E Saywell (HW) 5m 1755y 11 F Wood (HW) & Steve Rowland 4m 1721y BOXING DAY CABBAGE PATCH 4 miles Friday 26th December at Twickenham A comfortable win for Danny Norman and there were excellent performances by 16 year-old Sam Hunton in 9th place - second junior - and 13 year-old Amelie Hunton who was second woman overall. 1 D Norman (Strag) 21.50 9 Sam Hunton 24.50 15 David Rowe 25.27 29 Amelie Hunton 27.03 30 Chris Hunton 27.03 44 Kirsty Bangham 30.07 45 Paul Martingell 30.11 56 Heather Martingell 33.29 RICHMOND PARKRUN 5km Saturday 27th December Alison Dicks was 2nd woman home. 1 M Elliott (unatt) 18.25 5 Jerym Brunton 19.08 18 Alison Dicks 22.21 24 Tony Appleby 23.32 44 Christine Goodsell 30.41 46 Penny Merrett 31.18 49 Lorna Smith 38.28 BUSHY PARKRUN 5km Saturday 27th December 1 J Trapmore (Shaft B) 15.55 21 Darren Wood 19.05 41 David Rowe 20.17 99 Phil Aiken 23.01 144 Joanne Turner 24.50 153 Roger Wilson 25.19 164 Kirsty Bangham 25.53 187 Gill Wilson 27.01 WIMBLEDON COMMON PARKRUN 5km Saturday 27th December Runner-up spot for Darryl McDonald. 1 M Alvarez (unatt) 16.13 2 Darryl McDonald 17.07 CARDIFF PARKRUN 5km Saturday 27th December 1 E Takata (Cardiff) 16.27 24 Chris Wright 23.17 LAURISTON 7.5 miles Saturday 27th December on Wimbledon Common 1 A Weir (Thames H&H) 39.03 10 Stephen Instone 49.56 CASTLEWELLAN CHRISTMAS CRACKER 10 miles Sunday 28th December Roger Brankin reports from Northern Ireland: "A race with a difference! Teams of two, with the slower time only counting and different ages groups formed by combined ages, over a very hilly course which is changed every year. After being persuaded to enter over a pint during the wind down from the Saturday cycle ride, we drove down to Castlewellan, located on the north side of the Mourne Mountains. I was paired with Karen in the 'Mixed' category and with the slower of the two times counting it is necessary to run as a team. The day was bitterly cold with 95 teams setting off. The first two miles were a long haul up to the highest point of 350ft after which it was a meandering 'up and down' route through forest with some magnificent views of the Mournes and countryside. At about the eighth mile the route became a nice downhill track with the brain going into 'comfort mode', until we were brought back to reality in the form of a little man standing at the side directing us sharp left up a steep earth hillside to another track. This meandered onwards and upwards to another 300ft hill before plunging downwards to the finish. We finished runners-up in the mixed 90-99 category. Certainly the hardest race I have ever done with a nice variation in format". 1 D McNeilly & E McCrickard (Newcastle) 64.10 47 Roger Brankin & Karen Devlin (Dub R) 85.35 BUSHY PARKRUN 5km Thursday 1st January Danny Norman was first past the post for Stragglers. 1 Danny Norman (Strag) 17.02 8 Jerym Brunton 18.03 20 Darren Wood 19.14 21 David Rowe 19.23 57 Marc Snaith 21.29 64 Chris Wilson 21.43 71 Sarah Lintern 21.53 77 Kate Brook 22.20 80 Phil Aiken 22.27 113 Roger Wilson 24.16 118 Kirsty Bangham 24.28 120 Ivan Boggis 24.34 146 Gill Wilson 26.38 154 Janet Turnes 27.25 161 Katherine Hall 28.10 165 Joanne Turner 28.53 188 John Hanscomb 31.03 NEW YEAR'S DAY 10km Thursday 1st January in Hyde Park Clive Beauvais and Pete Warren were the leading over 60 and over 65 respectively. 1 S Farah (Newham & EB) 31.59 40 Clive Beauvais 39.31 105 Pete Warren 44.10 113 Alan Davidson 44.35 153 Michael White 47.06 184 Paul Martingell 48.40 BOX HILL KNACKER CRACKER 10km Thursday 1st January 1 D Treadaway (N&EB) 43.43 80 Simon Burrell 62.53 BUSHY PARKRUN 5km Saturday 3rd January In perhaps the highest-quality Bushy Park run yet, Olympic finalist Andy Baddeley ran the second-fastest ever time of 14.23 and fellow international Katrina Wootton set a new women's course record of 16.20. First Ranelagh finisher in a new PB of 17.46 was junior Nick Harrison. 1 A Baddeley (Harrow) 14.23 18 Nick Harrison 17.46 25 Chris Owens 18.16 58 Darren Wood 20.11 63 David Rowe 20.15 65 Luke Wilson 20.17 89 Ian Grange 21.15 95 Chris Wilson 21.25 113 David Ready 21.55 156 Adam Wright 23.01 196 Kirsty Bangham 23.51 243 Roger Wilson 25.25 324 John Hanscomb 27.33 395 Holly Wilson 32.29 396 Gill Wilson 32.30 RICHMOND PARKRUN 5km Saturday 3rd January Rachael Holmes was second woman to finish. 1 N Stoddart (SMR) 17.32 6 Jerym Brunton 18.11 15 Stephen Instone 19.43 23 Rachael Holmes 20.25 39 Michael Cawley 21.41 40 Alison Dicks 21.43 51 Anna Mallett 23.45 57 Wiebke Kortum 24.38 79 Pat Hewlett 31.01 80 Annemarie Goodridge 31.16 BASINGSTOKE PARKRUN 5km Saturday 3rd January 1 J Broom (Egdon Heath) 17.08 21 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 23.46 GLASGOW PARKRUN 5km Saturday 3rd January 1 C Morgan (unatt) 17.08 5 Peter Weir 18.05 23 Karen Weir 23.09 TADWORTH 10 miles Sunday 4th January 1 H Ahmed (Herc Wimb) 55.43 74 Alex Kew 69.35 105 Steve Grout 73.02 276 Michelle Beaumont 81.59 306 Lee Davies 83.26 438 Roger Wilson 91.27 565 John Hanscomb 103.34 574 Sharon Dooley 105.14 KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap Wednesday 7th January at Woking 1 R Thevenet-Smith (Wo) 24.54 (actual 19.39) 3 Steve Rowland 26.01 (19.01) 19 Sonia Rowland 27.01 (21.01) 26 Alan Davidson 27.09 (19.39) RUN BARBADOS FESTIVAL Wally Garrod's report of the 10km was included in the previous e-news. For an account of David and Sharon Rowe's experiences in the Half Marathon take a look at their blog: CALVIA MARATHON and HALF MARATHON Sunday 14th December in Majorca Clive Beauvais won the Half Marathon M60 category in a time that puts him in at 3rd in Ranelagh's age group rankings. Sue Ashley won the W55 class in the Marathon. Half Marathon 1 L Martinez (Spain) 1:14.45 (chip time 1:14.43) 50 Clive Beauvais 1:29.18 (1:29.14) Marathon 1 M Miereczko (Germany) 2:24.44 (2:24.43) 62 Sue Ashley 3:52.55 (3:52.50) HAMMERSMITH RIVERSIDE 3.3 miles Tuesday 28th October 1 H Arnold (TH&H) 19.45 10 Alan Howard 23.51 35 Alan Davidson 34.41 HAMMERSMITH RIVERSIDE 3.3 miles Tuesday 25th November 1 R Evans (unatt) 20.55 10 Alan Howard 24.16 FINALLY... Sorry you missed this one? 'The Guardian' reports on the annual Maldon Mud Race