*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 299 28 January 2009 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Darryl McDonald and Sandra Prosser lead Ranelagh teams in Southern mud bath * Ralph Street 24th in Junior race * Parkrun 2nd places for Ben Matthews and Alison Dicks, 3rd for Amelie Hunton * Sam Perkins 13th in Birmingham League * Everyone needed for Blackheath mob match on Saturday SEE HERE ******** 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. The bus will depart at 12 noon - please arrive in good time. The start is at 2.30pm, but the start is a good ten minutes jog from the clubhouse. If you are late, there is some parking near the start so go straight there. SURREY LEAGUE FINAL FIXTURES Saturday 7th February We are divided again for the final Surrey League races. The women have to re-visit Lloyd Park in Croydon, where the seniors are in action at 12.15pm, followed by the junior races. The men have less far to travel. Stragglers have devised a new course using Ham Fields and the Thames towpath, with the Hawker Centre as the race HQ. Juniors are at 2.30pm, seniors at 3pm. BAKER CUP SUPPER and ANNUAL PRIZE PRESENTATION This will be taking place at the Roebuck on Richmond Hill on Saturday 4th April. More details later but reserve the date now! RICHMOND HALF MARATHON Sunday May 10th Heather Martingell writes: "Please help. We need plenty of on-course marshals. Marshals will be required for about 90 minutes placed somewhere convenient for you, and you will be rewarded with tea, coffee and various edible goodies back in the clubhouse afterwards. There will also be some drinks on the Tuesday afterwards in the clubhouse for marshals only, as well as energy bars for during the race (to tease the runners with). If you are available to marshal please let me know. Volunteers are needed for the following duties: Mile markers (putting signs out on the course) (2) Car parking (2) General marshals on course (20) Water stations *Petrol Station (near York House) (5) *Kingston Bridge / return (water point used twice) (5) *Hampton Court (5) *Finish (5) Catering (2) Luggage (2) Funnel stuffing (2) Handing out bananas & chocolate bars (2) Handing out Medals (2) Lead bike (2) Tail bike (2) Clubhouse/information point (2) Admin - name swops on numbers (2)" If you can help please contact Heather at heathermartingell@hotmail.com. HELP A LONDON PARK www.london.gov.uk/parksvote/ "Ten London parks are about to benefit from a major makeover and one of them could be a park near you. The Mayor of London is giving ten grants of up to £400,000 to London's most needy parks to make them cleaner, safer, greener, and nicer places to visit. Londoners are now invited to vote for which parks win an award". Bev Ali writes: "I would like to remind everyone that the deadline for voting for your favourite park (I am hoping that it is Crane Park...) is the 31st January. If you go to the link above, you can go through all the instructions and see what the choices are. Everyone in each household is entitled to a vote, and it looks like visitors to your house are also entitled...so please exercise your democratic right and vote for Crane Park...(or other park as you wish...)". PARKING IN THE PARK The Royal Parks Agency is proposing to introduce parking charges in Richmond Park, to the tune of £2 per hour. Full story: PHYSIO SERVICES Heather Martingell writes: "Dan Oliver - a physio who you may know from the sport/treatment room at the back of Sweatshop Teddington - has started a new business. Print off this e-mail and take it with you to get a 15% discount!". www.fieldoffitness.com. Dan's email: danieloliver@fieldoffitness.com WIEBKE KORTUM All best wishes for a rapid recovery go to Wiebke who sadly broke her ankle when she slipped on ice while running last Saturday. 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 31st January Pelling-Ratcliff Cup Mob Match v Blackheath & Bromley HAC at Hayes, Kent. 2.30pm start. Sunday 1st February Richmond Mini Marathon Trial in Richmond Park from 9.30am. Saturday 7th February Surrey League final races - men at Ham, 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 *************** SOUTH OF ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 24th January at Hillingdon Marc Snaith reports: "When the 'old boys' of the club claim that 'in my day it was never this muddy' you know you are in for a tough afternoon. The course was relatively flat. Just a couple of hills, neither of them too steep or too long. The rest of the course was flat. It had the potential to be a very fast course but unfortunately almost every inch of the course was covered in thick, sticky mud or under a couple of inches of water! Ralph Street was our only junior competitor and ran a brilliant race to finish just outside the top 20. I had him at 37th at halfway and 34th with about a quarter of the course remaining but he showed great strength in the final 600m overtaking eight runners and he still has two more years left at this age group. Only five men survived the niggles and bugs going around to make it to the start line and only four finished as Andy Bickerstaff wisely decided to call it a day at the end of the first lap, shortly after he was overtaken by Mike Peace. Darryl was our first man home and seemed to enjoy it. He was still smiling when I saw him at the finish - although that was nearly ten minutes later. Mike Peace thrived in the conditions and wasn't that far behind me and Phil Aiken was just happy that he managed to lap someone". Phil provides some choice quotes from other club websites: Belgrave Harriers: "It was a mud bath! Eight earlier races had churned up the going until it had the consistency of porridge and then around 800 senior men took to the course to contest the 15km event". Hillingdon AC: "Muddy Hell!" Woodford Green AC: "Some great news to raise spirits during the credit crunch - the UK is a world leader in mud production. And most of it was dumped on Hillingdon House Farm in Uxbridge yesterday. This was 'old skool' cross country - one for the connoisseurs, the cloth-cap brigade. Light years away from the typical, firm, modern international championship course. It was a day when anyone who got around without stopping deserved a pat on the back". Kirsty Bangham adds her view of the women's race, in which our team was led by Sandra Prosser: "Sarah picked me up and we sped off to Hillingdon, well I say sped off, actually we got stuck in a load of traffic in Hounslow. Still arrived in good time though. The club captain was not available to race today and asked me to be vice captain for her for the day...luckily Alan Hedger was there ahead of me getting everything organised. My only role was to let everyone beat me and dish out the flapjacks! The mud was quite awesome but of a different quality to Parliament Hill mud. Wetter and sloppier. I am beginning to think wellies might be a good thing to wear to these races! No toilet queues at all, only portaloos but they had paper and soap! Stripped off, attached chip and number and headed to the start. The start was in a slick of mud, followed shortly by a big sloppy wet bog. I laughed a lot at the girly squealing from several people at the trauma of having to run through this! It's cross-country! Your feet will get wet! Deal with it! The course went round and round a field, then up a hill, then down it, then up it again but by a special route that made it bigger the second time, then down it again. All of the Ranelagh team waited for me at the finish and cheered me in which was lovely, lots of great support around the course too. Back to our heap of muddy clothes, put them all on and ate the flapjacks. Hoorah. We watched the first lap of the men's race but couldn't face standing around in the cold for the whole nine miles. Sorry boys. We ate a lot of chocolate on the way home!" BUSHY PARKRUN 5km Saturday 17th January 1 M Trees (Belgrave) 17.18 24 David Rowe 19.22 31 Duncan Mallison 19.48 41 Darren Wood 20.09 88 David Ready 22.02 89 Chris Camacho 22.07 135 Phil Aiken 23.05 141 Tony Appleby 23.12 189 Kirsty Bangham 24.20 203 Louise Reeder 24.34 231 Ivan Boggis 25.22 247 Roger Wilson 25.51 276 Gill Wilson 26.47 279 Wally Garrod 26.58 334 John Hanscomb 29.04 RICHMOND PARKRUN 5km Saturday 17th January Second place and a new PB for Alison Dicks. 1 G Poulsom (unatt) 18.31 5 Stephen Instone 20.04 20 Alison Dicks 21.32 40 Michelle Beaumont 22.55 49 Michael White 24.21 50 Wiebke Kortum 24.25 51 Andrew Prosser 25.09 78 Sharon Dooley 29.16 88 Pat Hewlett 31.27 90 Annemarie Goodridge 32.26 93 Bev Ali 35.20 CARDIFF PARKRUN 5km Saturday 17th January 1 S Jones (Belgrave) 15.46 48 Joanne Turner 23.56 49 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 23.58 STUBBINGTON GREEN 10km Sunday 18th January 1 A Greenleaf (Winch) 32.17 74 Marc Snaith 38.31 720 John Hills 66.04 BIRMINGHAM LEAGUE Saturday 17th January at Coventry Sam Perkins was third scorer for Birmingham University: "I was really pleased with that run because it was a pretty strong field and training was so interrupted before Christmas. Like the Surrey League the week before I started steadily and moved through the field. Definitely feel as if I am getting fitter week by week". 1 P Nicholls (Tipton) 27.53 13 Sam Perkins 29.32 BUSHY PARKRUN 5km Saturday 24th January Amelie Hunton was third woman, missing her PB by just one second. 1 T Haughian (WSEH) 16.51 13 Iain Wilson 18.18 38 Darren Wood 19.40 41 Duncan Mallison 19.43 81 David Ready 21.01 83 Amelie Hunton 21.04 92 Chris Camacho 21.28 107 Adam Wright 21.54 124 Chris Wilson 22.12 135 Alan Davidson 22.21 215 Paul Martingell 24.16 238 Ivan Boggis 24.39 289 Roger Wilson 25.45 316 Gill Wilson 26.27 317 Chris Wright 26.30 337 Wally Garrod 26.59 387 John Hanscomb 28.27 390 Daniel Hobbs 28.39 RICHMOND PARKRUN 5km Saturday 24th January An impressive second place for Ben Matthews. 1 J Varney (T Turbo) 17.00 2 Ben Matthews 17.20 13 Stephen Instone 19.58 63 Paul Bisping 23.54 104 Sharon Dooley 28.58 BANSTEAD WOODS PARKRUN 5km Saturday 24th January 1 R Ward (Belgrave) 16.33 134 Tanya Allen 31.13 PERCH X 6.25 miles multi-terrain Sunday 25th January at Epsom Downs 1 V Van Woerkom (Eps O) 37.31 289 Roger Wilson 54.43 436 Lorna Smith 62.41 443 Anne Baker 63.06 450 Lynne Barber 63.30 487 John Hanscomb 66.05 495 Alan Meaden 66.46 508 Christine Goodsell 68.18 510 Penny Merrett 68.21 521 Tanya Allen 69.49 526 Deborah Blakemore 70.22 531 David Meaden 70.49 548 Francene Leaversuch 72.23 549 Annemarie Goodridge 73.25 555 Cindy Croucher 73.38 FINALLY... Between 1885 and 1894 "The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News" included a series of portraits of running clubs, usually featuring a short history of the club and a description of one of its courses, supported by some pen-and-ink illustrations. Athletics historian Warren Roe and Kevin Kelly of Herne Hill Harriers have compiled 56 of these portraits in a fascinating booklet entitled "A Selection of Victorian Athletic Clubs". Most of the clubs featured were in the London area: this was a boom time for cross-country running and clubs were springing up all over the suburbs. The series began appropriately with the oldest club of all, Thames Hare and Hounds. Ranelagh featured in 1886 and other clubs with whom we are still familiar - South London Harriers, Blackheath Harriers, Thames Valley Harriers, Highgate Harriers etc - were also covered. However, it's interesting to note how many clubs no longer exist - either long-since defunct or amalgamated with other clubs. Here are just a few from our neck of the woods: Argus Harriers (Clapham Common), Hampton Court Hare and Hounds, Isleworth Harriers, Kingston Harriers, Malden Harriers, Middlesex Beagles (Hounslow), North Surrey Harriers (Clapham), North Wimbledon Harriers, Reindeer Harriers (Wandsworth Common) and St Luke's Harriers (Lower Richmond Road).