*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 321 21 December 2009 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! * Men's team still propping up Surrey League Division 1 * Women's team move up to 3rd in Surrey League Division 1 * Serpentine win both the Dysart and the Ellis Cup * Marie Synnott-Wells wins club's women's senior and veterans championships * Women's handicap win for Wiebke Kortum * parkrun wins for Phil Killingley and Duncan Mallison * Marie Synnott-Wells first over 40 in Hog's Back 8 miles * Bill Neely second over 50 in Perivale 5 miles * All welcome for Henty Relay on January 2nd * Plan for mob match record SEE HERE ******** CHRISTMAS DAY The Bushy and Banstead parkruns are holding extra runs on Christmas morning at 9am and the traditional Christmas Morning Paarlauf at Wimbledon Common starts at 11am. The latter, from Lauriston Cottage on South Side, dates back over 50 years: it's a two-person 30 minutes relay on a road circuit on the edge of the common. Just turn up and register by 10.30am on the day. Free hot punch and mince pies afterwards! HENTY RELAY Saturday 2nd January in Richmond Park This is our Christmas fun relay, open to all members, friends and family. Anyone who can run a mile and a bit, in fact. It's for teams of three (which are drawn on the day). Each team consists of one "fast" runner, one "medium" and one "slow". The relay is over six 2km laps of Sidmouth Wood - the "fast" runs three laps, the "medium" two and the "slow" one lap, in any order. The race starts at 12 noon, but you MUST come to the clubhouse to register by 11.30am, in order to be allocated to a team. SURREY LEAGUE A special mention for all the officials and course markers at the League race we hosted on December 12th. It was a perishing day and the League start and finish - just around the first corner of Sidmouth Wood - has to be one of the most exposed parts of the Park. It's a long programme for the women's and men's League, stretching from 12 noon to well after three, during which time they uncomplainingly remained at their posts. Well done everyone! HASH HARRIERS RUN FROM THE WYCH ELM Janet Turnes writes: "I wonder if anyone is interested in having a run with the HASH HARRIERS. It is a different kind of run, but is fun. The run will take start outside The Wych Elm (Elm Road, Kingston) at 12 o'clock lunch-time on Sunday 3rd January 2010. I cannot tell you the route as with HASH HARRIERS you follow the markings, which someone has already set up. If people are interested, could they let me know, as refreshments will be provided e.g. sandwiches, chips etc. What a start to the New Year." E-mail Janet janetturnes@hotmail.com ALETSCH HALF MARATHON 24th - 28th June 2009 at Bettmeralp, Switzerland Peter Fordham writes: "Many of you will know me as member of Ranelagh. For the last two years, I have taken a small party to run in The Aletsch Half Marathon in the Swiss Alps. Several of you have previously expressed interest, but have come up with the perfect excuse that it clashed with the Dysart Dash. Well, 2010 is different: the Dysart falls on the 20th June and the Aletsch Half is on the 27th June. So, the 'Dysart' represents the perfect warm up for the 'Aletsch' or the Aletsch is the perfect warm down for the Dysart. The race represents the perfect introduction to mountain trail running and takes place in truly incredible scenery. All the race is run within the only UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in the Alps and part of the run overlooks the longest and most spectacular glacier in Europe . The trip includes the opportunity for hiking, sightseeing and many other activities in the traffic free village of Bettmeralp where we stay. The race organisation is excellent and for anyone with a level of fitness between half marathon and marathon (or less, in the case of one or two on the trip last year!) is capable of completing it and experiencing something really different. The 2010 race is on the 27th June and the trip runs from the 24th - 28th June The trip price of £599 covers: Scheduled flights from Heathrow to Switzerland and return booked through The Swiss Travel Centre Rail/Cog Railway and Cable Car transfer to the village 4 nights with a single room and half board (superb food) at the 3 star Hotel Alpfrieden Race Entry For anyone on a tighter budget, it is possible to arrange a lower price through shared room/shared facilities in the same hotel, or a different meal arrangement. If there is anyone interested, I would appreciate them contacting me as soon as possible either by e-mail or telephone. It would be great to have a few of you on board." Peter Fordham, Alpine Peak Tours, alpinepeaktours@yahoo.com , Mobile: 07799 072307. CLIVE BEAUVAIS Our President Clive Beauvais is now out and about, feeling much better but still not fully recovered from his mystery illness. FINAL MOB MATCH Niall O'Connor writes: "Our final mob match of the season is on February 20th against Blackheath and Bromley Harriers in Richmond Park. While we haven't beaten BBH at their home in Hayes, Kent since 16th Jan 1971 (even Clive and David W didn't run in that one) we have tended to hold our own at home. A couple of years ago at Richmond Park we led the charge to the finish with a 1-2-3 (Peter H, Phil K & Wendy) on our way to a win. However, if BBH manage to call on their team that finished 2nd in the men's National XC Relays in October we will face a real battle for the Pelling-Ratcliff Cup. In light of this we need as many blue vests as possible on the start line so please put the date in your diaries. After our first away win away against Thames for 20 years it would be great to finish the mob match season in style. Our record attendance for any mob is 106 Ranelagh runners - let's try to beat this number. After the race there will be the usual tea and cakes in the clubhouse and then we will retire to The Roebuck on Richmond Hill for further refreshments. There is nothing formal organized just a 'pint in the pub'. On February 20th turn out for your club in a classic race against a famous rival and afterwards let's celebrate the finish of another season of 'mobs'. More details will follow closer to the date." CONGRATULATIONS ...to Clare King on the recent arrival of a daughter, Isla Rebecca. WHAT'S COMING ************* More details of the following from Marc Snaith (07717 213035 mailto ( mdsnaith5@hotmail.com ) or Marie Synnott-Wells (07983 430264 (After 5pm Weekdays) / mailto nandmwells@aol.com ) Sunday 27th December MABAC Windsor Winter Wander at Englefield Green. Details:. Saturday 2nd January Henty Relay in Richmond Park. All members and friends welcome. 12 noon start. See above for details Saturday 9th January Surrey Championships at Lloyd Park, Croydon Sunday 10th January MABAC League 8 miles in Windsor Great Park. 11am start. Details:. Saturday 23rd January v Bank of England etc in Richmond Park (Roehampton Gate). 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 Bedfont Lakes Bedfont Lakes Country Park, Ashford, Middlesex Other venues, more details and registration at www.parkrun.com WHAT'S HAPPENED *************** DYSART CUP 4 miles Saturday 5th December in Richmond Park This race incorporated our club women's championship for the Hugh Jones Salver and the women's veterans championship for Trish's Trophy. Marie Synnott-Wells was the holder of both and she had little trouble in defending her titles. Marie couldn't match the speed of Serpentine's Australian Natalie Kolodziej who had over a minute in hand at the finish, but Marie was clear in second place. Rachael Holmes was the second Ranelagh finisher, followed by Kathy Mallett, Wiebke Kortum and Sandra Prosser. Wiebke won the sealed handicap, a few seconds ahead of Heather Martingell and Kirsty Bangham. Serpentine provided three of the top five finishers and with their last two scorers 11th and 12th they easily won the Dysart Cup with Ranelagh in second place. ELLIS CUP 5.5 miles Saturday 5th December in Richmond Park As in the Dysart Cup Serpentine were out in great strength, providing seven of the top nine finishers. With all ten scorers in the top seventeen they comfortably retained the trophy. Marc Snaith was the first Ranelagh finisher, 200 metres or so ahead of Niall O'Connor and John Shaw. Simon Mew in 55th place closed in the team which finished in 4th place. Eight clubs were represented in the field of just over a hundred. SWEATSHOP SURREY LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 12th December in Richmond Park With David Benton a late addition to the team, Captain Marc was optimistic that we might claw back some of our points deficit and give ourselves a good launch point from which to fight to stay in Division 1 at the final League race in February. Some hope! We've surely acquired a gipsy's curse somewhere along the line. This time it manifested itself in the form of a motorway snarl-up which left Chris Illman and Peter Haarer fuming in their cars when they should have been lining up at the start. Their absence alone cost us anything up to 120 points and has all but scuppered our chances of avoiding the drop to Division 2. It's not a forlorn hope, but we'll need our luck to change and some injuries to clear up quickly if we are to retrieve the situation. It wasn't for want of effort. David Benton, Phil Killingley, Ed Barker and Darryl McDonald all rallied to the Captain's call and turned out when less than fully fit following injury. David in particular ran well to lead our team in 27th place, 150 metres or so ahead of Phil. Captain Marc did his bit with one of his best ever League runs, just ahead of Howard Gleave who was once again one of the leading over 50s. Ed and Darryl followed, then Peter Weir, Niall O'Connor, Trevor Maguire and Andy Bickerstaff to complete the team. We actually closed in before four other clubs, but the bulk of our team was just too far down the field. So it's all hands on deck for February 6th at Guildford! It was good to see Luke Wilson representing the club in the Under 17 race, where he finished in a promising 11th place. SURREY LADIES LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 12th December in Richmond Park We hope the men's team's jinx isn't catching, but the women's team's top runner this season, Jo Ronaldson, is now on the sidelines with a broken toe. There were other unavoidable absences too, but the team did just enough to secure third place on the day and somewhat surprisingly move up one place to third overall. Liz Kipling was a little below her great form in the last League race - she obviously prefers the wind and driving rain that prevailed at Dorking - but she was still the first Ranelagh finisher, though only a couple of strides ahead of Marie Synnott-Wells. Our third runner home was Sarah Smith, demonstrating that she is returning to form, and chasing her all the way was Kerrie O'Connor. There was a bit of a gap then before Sandra Prosser closed in the A team, just holding off Sarah Doe in the finishing straight. Kathy Mallett and Bronwen Fisher were close behind, then Anna Scally with baby Connor looking on. Wiebke Kortum completed the B team who were placed 16th and 3rd B team. For the first time this season we fielded a complete C team, headed by Daniela Mingham. They were the leading C team in 21st place. We even had three-fifths of a D team. With one race to go, Thames and South London are tied at the top of the table. Ranelagh are third but probably too far behind to catch up. The priority will be to stay ahead of Herne Hill who are only 33 points behind in fourth place. RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 5th December 1 N Aitken (Clapham) 17.43 5 Jerym Brunton 18.48 10 Bill Neely 19.22 26 Ross Peebles 20.40 35 Kate Comisso 21.32 44 Bronwen Fisher 22.28 45 Andrew Brown 22.29 97 Sally Bamford 27.53 101 Donna Mason 28.19 119 Pat Hewlett 31.00 BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 5th December 1 M Bristow (Brighton) 16.38 10 Luke Wilson 18.09 15 Nick Wright 18.32 26 Darren Wood 19.24 61 Grant Hibbert 20.37 93 Roger Wilson 21.46 194 Peter Fordham 24.00 197 Geoffrey Fisher 24.02 236 Jose Scheuer 24.39 353 Wally Garrod 28.12 374 Peter Lowman 28.49 396 John Hanscomb 29.41 407 Val Lowman 30.11 BEDFONT LAKES parkrun 5km Saturday 5th December 1 R Brookling (unatt) 17.47 7 Steve Rowland 21.44 16 Paul Martingell 23.34 17 Michael White 23.39 34 Simon Burrell 30.03 GORLESTON CLIFFS parkrun 5km Saturday 5th December 1 J Lee (Norwich) 18.07 6 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 21.10 13 Chris Wright 22.27 18 Joanne Sinton-Hewitt 23.17 PERIVALE 5 miles Sunday 6th December Bill Neely was 2nd over 50. 1 M Solomon (London H) 25.11 40 Bill Neely 32.08 BRIDGES 2.3 miles Handicap Wednesday 9th December at Westminster 1 T Everitt (Eton M) 20.39 (actual time 19.24) 15 Alan Davidson 21.19 (16.19) 20 John Hanscomb 21.37 (23.07) RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 12th December 1 D Agustus (Scarb) 15.54 10 Bill Neely 19.25 38 Chris Read 21.17 40 Andrew Brown 21.22 61 Ian Grange 23.13 92 Philippa Shaw 25.28 102 Rob Kitchen 26.38 103 Donna Mason 26.50 105 Alison Dicks 27.03 107 Sally Bamford 27.12 110 Jar O'Brien 27.32 124 Simon Burrell 29.53 129 Lorna Smith 30.13 131 Annemarie Goodridge 31.06 BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 12th December 1 B Goater (St Mary's) 16.18 23 Darren Wood 18.43 42 Grant Hibbert 19.35 80 Chris Camacho 21.17 83 Roger Wilson 21.23 124 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 22.10 169 Chris Wright 23.17 190 Peter Fordham 23.39 305 Ivan Boggis 25.55 307 Danny Hobbs 25.59 348 Wally Garrod 27.00 389 Peter Lowman 28.27 399 Val Lowman 29.06 418 John Hanscomb 30.03 BEDFONT LAKES parkrun 5km Saturday 12th December Second place again for Duncan Mallison. 1 M Hallissey (unatt) 17.45 2 Duncan Mallison 19.29 22 Chris Wilson 24.31 25 Michael White 24.43 WIMBLEDON COMMON parkrun 5km Saturday 12th December 1 E O'Connell (Serp) 17.09 54 Pete Warren 23.13 72 Melissa Glackin 25.16 HOG'S BACK 8 miles Sunday 13th December at Guildford This was the 50th running of this race, though the course and distance has changed many times over the years. Marie Synnott-Wells finished 8th in the women's race and was first over 40. 1 S Collins (Haringey) 40.26 65 Marie Synnott-Wells 52.11 280 Bronwen Fisher 61.49 480 Sharon Dooley 67.35 650 Edward Josey 74.08 776 Alan Meaden 82.43 788 David Meaden 84.32 815 John Hanscomb 90.22 BEDFORD HALF MARATHON Sunday 13th December 1 P Martelletti(VP&TH) 1:07.53 (chip time 1:07.53) 1172 Tamsin Burland 2:02.50 (2:02.50) 1381 Deborah Blakemore 2:16.16 (2:14.49) 1382 Heather Martingell 2:16.17 (2:14.50) ANDY READING 10km Sunday 13th December 1 J Blackledge (Belg) 32.31 (chip time 32.31) 185 Evelyn Joslin 46.38 (46.22) 294 Ian Bingham 52.52 (52.36) LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km Friday 18th December in Hyde Park 1 P Martelletti (VP&TH) 15.32 61 Alan Davidson 22.18 108 John Hanscomb 30.09 SOUTH of the THAMES 7.5 miles CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday 19th December on Wimbledon Common The heavy snow that fell on Thursday night had mostly cleared, but the temperature had barely climbed above freezing. This must have come as a shock to Jim Langford, who had arrived two days earlier from the heat of a West Australian summer. Jim is a former Australian Cross Country champion, and made quite an impact when he spent a year here in the 1970s. Amongst his victories was the 1976 South of the Thames 5 miles championship (or "Junior" championship as it was then known). He came close to winning another South of the Thames medal today, beaten to the over 60s title by less than 20 seconds. Captain Marc renewed his rivalry with Vice-Captain Niall and again came out on top, leading home the rather scratch team which finished in 12th place. RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 19th December Phil Killingley secured his third Richmond parkrun victory (out of three!), albeit some way outside his fastest. 1 Phil Killingley 17.42 7 Peter Weir 18.18 9 Jerym Brunton 18.44 16 Bill Neely 19.34 34 Lee Coole 21.41 39 Andrew Brown 22.02 41 Rachael Holmes 22.15 44 Jar O'Brien 22.35 47 Karen Weir 23.00 55 Karl Garvey 23.28 68 Philippa Shaw 25.36 78 Rob Kitchen 27.01 84 Louise Reeder 27.52 96 Lorna Smith 29.25 106 Stacey Barber 33.09 107 Pat Hewlett 33.18 118 Wiebke Kortum 40.46 119 Alison Dicks 40.47 BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 19th December 1 S Renfer (Elmbridge) 17.18 19 Darren Wood 18.46 77 Chris Camacho 21.38 143 Peter Fordham 23.37 187 Wally Garrod 25.24 235 Gill Wilson 27.09 236 Roger Wilson 27.10 295 Annemarie Goodridge 30.22 301 John Hanscomb 30.31 BEDFONT LAKES parkrun 5km Saturday 19th December Duncan Mallison was half a minute slower than last week but stepped up one place to his first Bedfont victory (after four second places!).. 1 Duncan Mallison 19.58 19 Joanne Sinton-Hewitt 28.46 31 Michael White 35.46 FINALLY... Jeff Bull draws our attention to this: "'Running to the Limits' was transmitted on Channel 4 after midnight last Tuesday: It's available on 4oD (C4's equivalent of iPlayer ); with only one short advert in it. It's available until mid-January. It's about a documentary film-maker, fed up with being a 16st slob, and being aware of how few British men runners are now capable of sub-2hr 20min marathons, who sets himself the goal of achieving that time with the aid of many advisors/experts along the way. Seems far-fetched, but worth watching. There are contributions from Bruce Tulloh, Ron Hill, Richard Nerurkar and Haile Gebrselassie among others. He visits Kenya and Ethiopia, which leads to him helping a young, talented but poor Ethiopian to come to UK. The film contains two brief sightings of the TH&H saltire and, I think, one of a bit of Richmond Park."