*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 324 11 February 2010 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Women's team 11th in the Southern, men's team 31st * Liz Kipling 28th and Peter Haarer 110th lead the teams * Liz Kipling 4th in the Surrey League, the women's team also 4th overall * Phil Killingley 21st in the Surrey League, the men's team 9th overall * Peter Haarer 4th and first veteran in Oxfordshire Championships * Estelle Damant runs 37.32 in Dewsbury 10km * parkrun placings for Duncan Mallison, Rachael Holmes and Michelle Davies * Come all ye - final mob match at home on February 20th SEE HERE ******** FINAL MOB MATCH Niall O'Connor writes: "The 90th mob match against Blackheath and Bromley Harriers (BHH) takes place on Saturday 20th February at 2:30pm in Richmond Park. With an overall record of 20 Ranelagh wins to the Heathen's 69 victories all able-bodied (or limping) Harriers are needed to run. At stake is the Pelling-Ratcliff trophy which BHH won fairly comfortably at the corresponding fixture last year in Hayes, Kent. They outnumbered us with approx 60 runners to our 33 confirming (yet again) that numbers do matter in mob matches. Ken has outlined the scoring system on the web but essentially every Ranelagh runner that finishes ahead of the third last BHH runner increases their (BHH's) final score (the team with the lowest score wins). It's reputed to be easier to run the 7.5m (12k) race than comprehend the scoring system! In January 1988 we had our record mob turnout of 106, also against Blackheath. On February 20th we are going to try to beat this record but all Harriers are needed in order to do so. Please make an effort to be one of 107 blue vests at the start. This is a great race for all standards on a renowned course and a fantastic chance to represent the club. The race is two laps, beginning from opposite King Henry's mound near Pembroke Lodge, starting at 14:30. Numbers can be collected from about an hour beforehand at the clubhouse or at the start. For those wanting to check out the course, or test the conditions, on the previous Saturday (13th February) Deborah and I will run a lap of the course at a slow pace. Please feel free to join us. We're meeting at 9:30am at Pembroke Lodge and all are welcome - the pace will be slow to ensure nobody gets left behind. The race doubles as our club championship with the winner receiving the sizeable Wynne Cup. All first-claim members are eligible for this impressive trophy which is usually hotly contested. Ralph Street is the defending champion but Peter Haarer is reputed to be keen to fill a (large) space on his mantelpiece. A further subplot within the race will be the sealed handicap. This follows the usual handicap rules except you won't know where you have finished until Mike waves his magic wand in the clubhouse afterwards. The Harry Sheer trophy for the first over-50 will also be keenly fought over with Howard Gleave and Martin Halvey in good form but with Chris Owens lurking to capitalize on any poor form. Post-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. While there is nothing formal organized Michele has reserved the upstairs room and food will be available. After our first away win away against Thames for 20 years it would be great to finish the mob match season in style with a record Ranelagh turnout. On February 20th run for your club in a classic race against a famous rival and afterwards let's celebrate the finish of another season of 'mobs'. As Ken says on our website 'All able-bodied members needed to repel the Heathens'." BAKER CUP SUPPER AND PRIZE PRESENTATION This will take place on Saturday 27th March at the Roebuck pub on Richmond Hill. Cup holders, please arrange to return your trophy to Alan Hedger well before that date so that he can arrange for the engraving of the new holder's name. Cup winners, please reserve the date and attend if you can. The price is £20 including meal and the kick-off is 7pm. DARREN WOOD Robin Drummond writes: "I noticed your piece in the e-news about Darren's amazing tally of runs in what started out as the BPTT and has now grown into the nationwide parkrun organisation. I would like to add my congratulations to Darren and if he is really going to go for the 500 then I suggest that he aims to knock just one second off his time every week. This should get him down to sub 15 minutes before he completes the task. Although I was surprised and flattered to be mentioned as an early helper of Darren I would like to point out that I only started his improvement. When I gave up coaching my place was very ably taken by Frances Ratchford who combined her individual coaching of Darren and others with her position within the club as head coach and president. She also holds responsible positions in the sport at regional and national level. How she finds the time to give so much to individual attention to Darren and others I do not know but she should be warmly thanked for her devotion to duty." GET PAID TO RUN! Phil Killingley writes: "Running company Full Potential are looking for three to four runners/bikers to escort runners doing marathon training in Richmond Park on Sunday 21st February and Sunday 4th April. The runs will start at 10am from the Hawker Centre, nearish Ham Gate, and last two to two and a half hours. £40 per person reward. Please contact me philipkillingley@yahoo.co.uk if you're interested." COACHING COURSES AT ST MARY'S Cindy Croucher writes: "We have the following coaching/athlete courses coming up here at St Mary's: 20th February - Nutrition - Carbohydrates: covers recovery snacks, carbo loading and meal planning. 10am - 1pm £40 21st March - Strength and Conditioning: covers warm ups, circuits, weights and how to include strength and conditioning into your training programme. 9.30am-4.30pm £85 27th March - Psychology: enhancing confidence, controlling anxiety, concentration and self awareness. 9.30am-4.30pm £85 30th March - Nutrition - Fluids: covers sports drinks and hydration before, during and after an event. 10am - 1pm £40 They are really good fun and would benefit all athletes and coaches!" BELATED CONGRATULATIONS... ...to Michelle Beaumont and Lee Davies who were married in October. 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 ) Saturday 20th February Pelling-Ratcliff Cup mob match v Blackheath & Bromley H & AC in Richmond Park. See above. Saturday 20th February Surrey Championships at Lloyd Park, rescheduled from 9th January Saturday 27th February National Championships at Leeds Saturday 6th March Inter-club 3.8 miles in Richmond Park. 3pm start. All welcome, register on the day. Sunday 7th March MABAC League 5 miles in Richmond Park 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 *************** SOUTH OF ENGLAND CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 31st January at Parliament Hill It was a bright but bitter day at Parliament Hill with the course in prime - that is to say, good and muddy - condition. Star performer was Liz Kipling who ran a great race to finish 28th. "I'm still a bit shocked by the result after so many years of bad races or worse, dropping out!" she said afterwards, "I'm still not keen on the mud, but maybe I'll have to change my view on Parliament Hill.......but not just yet!" Estelle Damant also put in one of her best championship runs for 51st and Marie Synnott-Wells followed not far behind in 71st. Sandra Prosser at 168th closed in the team which finished 11th. For the men, Peter Haarer was well clear of the rest, just missing the top hundred. Marc Snaith and Niall O'Connor followed a respectful distance behind and there was an excellent run from Chris Bundhun who took a good scalp (in more ways than one!) in Andy Bickerstaff. Chris Brook was the sixth and final scorer and the team placed 31st. SURREY LADIES LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 6th February at Wimbledon Common Buoyed with confidence after the previous week's great run at Parliament Hill, Liz Kipling set off hard but was surprised to find herself at the head of the field of some 300 runners as they sped down the first hill. "Where is everyone?" she wondered. International Julia Bleasdale representing Thames H&H soon established order, moving rapidly clear and building up a lead of over a minute at the finish. But Liz stuck to her task, staying within sight of the runners in 2nd and 3rd places and showing great strength in holding off a pursuing pack. Liz's 4th place is her best ever in a League race and confirms that at the age of 36 she is running into the form of her life. She was rewarded with the gold medal for the winner of the individual over 35 category. Marie Synnott-Wells is a little below par at the moment thanks largely to some high mileage for the marathon, but she put in another solid run to finish 19th. Not far behind Marie, Sarah Smith demonstrated that she is steadily returning to fitness, passing Sara Grosvenor on the second circuit and finishing strongly up the last hill. Sarah finished 33rd with Sara eight places and 22 seconds behind. In 67th place Bronwen Fisher made it into the League scoring team for the first time. The Ranelagh team finished in 5th place on the day and with Herne Hill finishing strongly they dropped one place to fourth overall in the final League table. SWEATSHOP SURREY LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 6th February at Newlands Corner, Guildford Avoiding the drop out of the top Division was almost a forlorn hope after a season beset by injuries and other absences, but our men's team did well to record their best result of the season in 6th place. However, it was sadly a case of too little too late and we were unable to climb away from the foot of the table. It's Division 2 next season! "Oh wow," said Phil Aiken as we drove into the Newlands Corner car park. Even on a hazy day the views all the way to the South Downs were spectacular. Not that the runners would have had much time to enjoy them once the action was under way. If there were any "Oh wows" during the race they were more than likely invoked by the sight of the particularly tough hill out of the woods that had to be tackled twice during the five miles. We had a fairly strong team out, though without Chris Illman who unfortunately sustained an knee injury running in the snow, one which is likely to keep him out of the London Marathon. However, we welcomed back from the injury list Nathan Mills and Mick Lane. Neither was at peak fitness but Nathan in particular ran a great race on just a few weeks training. Our team was led by Phil Killingley, who was out to avenge his defeat by David Benton in the last League race. This he did in fine style, finishing 21st half a minute clear of David in 34th. Peter Haarer was in his third hard race in as many weeks and ran a steady first lap before pouring it on round the second circuit. He finished 49th. Ed Barker was our fourth man throughout and finished 77th but there was strong competition for the remaining places in the scoring ten. Less than a minute eventually covered Darryl McDonald, Nathan Mills, Trevor Maguire, Niall O'Connor, Howard Gleave and Andy Bickerstaff. Those who had tackled nine miles of Parliament Hill mud the previous week certainly felt the effort still in their legs this week, not least Captain Marc. "A course not to be enjoyed the week after the Southerns," he said afterwards. "It was a very good team effort. As always a few showed up who weren't in the best shape but still did their bit for the team. Next year will be good fun. A few new courses and a revisit to some old ones should make a refreshing change. It would be a huge surprise if we didn't bounce straight back up to Division 1." Although they were beaten by Herne Hill on the day, Thames Hare and Hounds won the League title, emulating their women's team earlier in the day. LUTON MARATHON Sunday 6th December 1 N Renault (L Eaton) 2:26.14 108 Jerym Brunton 3:24.07 TADLEY XMAS CROSS-COUNTRY Sunday 6th December 1 M King (unatt) 32.16 83 Chris Hunton 44.53 84 Amelie Hunton 44.53 VETS AC CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 16th January 5.8 miles on Wimbledon Common Alan Howard was the top over 70. 1 P Glynn (Herc Wimb) 33.02 70 Alan Howard 48.28 OXFORDSHIRE CHAMPIONSHIPS Sunday 24th January at Middleton Cheney Peter Haarer reports: "The field was rather thin due to the change of date, but I finished 4th overall and at last have a county title of sorts - first V40." Peter modestly omits to mention that he was in fact the first V40 by a margin of more than three minutes! 1 D Bellinger (Ox C) 35.33 4 Peter Haarer 36.28 FRED HUGHES 10 miles Sunday 24th January at St Albans 1 A Cracknell (Dac & T) 56.29 38 Duncan Mallison 64.28 LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km Friday 29th January in Hyde Park 1 B Harding (Black & B) 16.04 48 Simon Hedger 19.55 104 Alan Davidson 22.15 BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 30th January 1 A Jackson (Sitting) 16.29 22 Darren Wood 18.50 119 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 22.04 127 Peter Fordham 22.19 136 Ian Grange 22.31 259 Phil Aiken 24.49 277 Jose Scheuer 25.19 286 Julie Naismith 25.26 332 Jo Sinton-Hewitt 26.32 411 Wally Garrod 28.38 423 Brian Coles 29.07 450 Peter Lowman 29.58 482 Val Lowman 31.46 485 John Hanscomb 31.52 RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 30th January 1 D Afshar (West 4) 17.34 12 Bill Neely 19.42 22 Ben Shore 20.32 36 Chris Read 21.51 40 Steven Mountain 22.02 41 Andrew Brown 22.07 55 Karl Garvey 23.06 96 Philippa Shaw 25.29 103 Donna Mason 25.49 115 Rob Kitchen 26.24 136 Janet Turnes 28.15 148 Alison Dicks 29.21 149 Wiebke Kortum 29.21 150 Michael White 29.22 151 Jar O'Brien 29.24 164 Annemarie Goodridge 30.50 174 Pat Hewlett 32.12 175 Lorna Smith 32.26 179 Tanya Allen 32.53 BEDFONT LAKES parkrun 5km Saturday 30th January 1 M Shepherd (Kennet) 19.04 6 Roger Wilson 21.12 PERCH 10km Sunday 31st January at Epsom Downs 1 E O'Gorman (Chilt) 34.21 509 Penny Merrett 61.15 541 Lynne Barber 63.29 573 David Meaden 65.05 581 Alan Meaden 66.06 592 Christine Goodsell 66.50 606 Deirdre Inman 69.18 611 Cindy Croucher 70.15 619 Tanya Allen 71.30 RICHMOND MINI LONDON MARATHON TRIAL Sunday 31st January in Richmond Park Luke Wilson made the borough team in the Boys 15-17 race, but Anna Mallett and Alexander Fordham just missed out. Boys 15-17 1 R Franks 14.56 7 Luke Wilson 16.06 15 Alexander Fordham 18.20 Girls 15-17 1 G Miles 18.14 10 Anna Mallett 20.29 KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap Wednesday 3rd February at Woking 1 R Thevenet-Smith (Wok)25.03 (actual time 22.18) 2 Sonia Rowland 25.10 (20.55) 10 Louise Piears 26.54 (20.09) 15 Alan Davidson 27.13 (19.58) RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 6th February Rachael Holmes was the leading woman. 1 J Flood (Strag) 17.16 8 Peter Weir 18.58 13 Bill Neely 19.22 27 Rachael Holmes 20.38 52 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 22.14 55 Andrew Brown 22.29 89 Karl Garvey 23.51 104 Tony Appleby 24.37 112 Philippa Shaw 25.04 149 Simon Burrell 27.32 150 Sally Bamford 27.43 161 Janet Turnes 28.13 164 Rob Kitchen 28.20 BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 6th February 1 J Hutchins (Bas & MH) 15.37 35 Darren Wood 19.29 48 Grant Hibbert 19.55 101 Chris Camacho 21.33 140 Peter Fordham 22.17 256 Phil Aiken 24.09 334 Jose Scheuer 25.32 355 Julie Naismith 26.06 358 Ivan Boggis 26.12 399 Wally Garrod 27.12 506 Val Lowman 30.08 510 Peter Lowman 30.18 527 John Hanscomb 31.05 BEDFONT LAKES parkrun 5km Saturday 6th February It's getting to be a habit - another Bedfont win for Duncan Mallison. Michelle Davies missed making it a double by just a few seconds. 1 Duncan Mallison 19.33 7 Michelle Davies 22.54 12 Michael White 23.47 13 Alison Dicks 23.49 14 Chris Wilson 23.49 15 Jar O'Brien 23.49 16 Wiebke Kortum 23.50 32 Paul Martingell 27.05 COVENTRY parkrun 5km Saturday 6th February Roger Wilson ticks off another new parkrun. 1 H Speed (Coventry) 15.24 52 Roger Wilson 25.25 DEWSBURY 10km Sunday 7th February There was a great run from Estelle Damant who knocked a minute off her personal best, though such was the quality of the race that this was good enough only for 7th place among the women. 1 M Buckingham (Holm) 29.56 (chip time 29.55) 84 Estelle Damant 37.32 (37.29) MABAC LEAGUE 8 miles road Sunday 7th February in Windsor Great Park 1 M Donnery (Epsom O) 42.47 25 John Ricketts 54.55 58 Roger Wilson 59.46 132 James Barber 75.32 133 Lynne Barber 75.33 135 Ed Josey 75.43 146 Annemarie Goodridge 79.12 151 Jade Barington 93.45 152 Bev Walsh 93.45 153 Pat Hewlett 95.49 154 Bev Ali 95.50 WATFORD HALF MARATHON Sunday 7th February Carola Richter reports: "After my stress fracture in October last year had pretty much ruined my XC season I had set myself a new goal to be fit for at least one of the Ladies XC races in January. My physio however had other things in mind and suggested not to run more than three times a week building up to one hour by the end of January and leaving any race plans for February. Pahh, that wasn't something I wanted to hear as I thought I could go straight into running again. As I had signed up for the Paris marathon I needed to build up the mileage and the speed. Well, after two Tuesday night club sessions I knew what he meant and that recovery and building up strength and speed takes time. Patience was the word. Although I did my gym workout and the so much hated pool session (thank you Anna for the belt) I felt I had to go out and run in Bushy Park on Sundays for a bit longer than physio suggested. However, all paid off last weekend at the Watford Half Marathon. I may not ready for a short, sharp & hilly XC race at Parliament Hill (sorry girls to let you down) but I proved to myself with enough gym work you can be a strong as before injury over a longer distance. I had planned to treat this race as a training run, ignore faster runners, forget about the Garmin and just see how fit I was. What can I say... I was amazed how fast my splits were at the end (7:25-8:00/mile). I crossed the finish line in 1:41.37 which was two minutes faster than the Burnham Beeches Half last year. Running through the finish line I felt a sense of achievement coming back from injury and it has shown me that rest sometimes can work wonders. I can highly recommend the Watford Half Marathon. It's a low key race with around 2000 entries, very well organised in respect of parking, marshals, race HQ, goody bags, etc. The course itself is undulating and has a few sharp hills but the scenery is beautiful with lovely country roads. Having police road closure for a low key race like Watford is pretty amazing and must have cost the race organiser a bit of money. And when you least expect a Ranelagh member you bump into the three Fulham musketeers Michael, Michelle and Co." 1 N Renault (L Eaton) 1:06.58 (chip time 1:06.58) 127 Duncan Mallison 1:27.46 (1:27.38) 525 Lee Davies 1:40.50 (1:39.27) 581 Carola Richter 1:42.00 (1:41.47) 619 Steven Mountain 1:42.55 (1:42.29) 640 Michelle Davies 1:43.15 (1:41.52) 1668 Lorna Smith 2:12.56 (2:11.43) BOOKHAM 10km Sunday 7th February 1 G Buntting (Serp) 42.56 349 John Hanscomb 84.21 BRIDGES 2.3 miles handicap Wednesday 10th February at Westminster 1 M Brice (unatt) 20.34 (actual time 19.34) 15 Alan Davidson 21.15 (16.30) 26 John Hanscomb 21.36 (23.36) 27 Simon Hedger 22.32 (15.17) FINALLY... John Ricketts found this in The Guardian: "Neuroscientists at Cambridge University have shown that running stimulates the brain to grow fresh grey matter and it has a big impact on mental ability. A few days of running led to the growth of hundreds of thousands of new brain cells that improved the ability to recall memories without confusing them, a skill that is crucial for learning and other cognitive tasks,"