*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 369 23 January 2012 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Ranelagh men finish 3rd in the Surrey League and move up to 4th overall * Ranelagh women finish 17th and drop to 13th overall * Richard Gregory and Estelle Damant lead our teams * Ranelagh finish 2nd in the Bank of England inter-club but win the Hec Petersen Trophy * Chris Bundhun and Kate Woodhouse lead our team * Amelie Hunton finishes 3rd in Cabbage Patch 4 * parkrun placings for Duncan Mallison, Colin Brett, Mel Hunter, Karen Weir, Iain Wilson, Mark Herbert and Elin Mortensen * David Rowe completes the Challenge Wanaka Ironman * South of England Championships this Saturday * All needed for our home mob match against Orion Harriers on Saturday 4th February * Quiz Night on Saturday 4th February SEE HERE ******** SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING Tuesday 17th January Three proposals were put before the meeting, as follows: 1. To hold ownership of club land in trust for the benefit of Ranelagh members (currently owned by John Hanscomb and David Rowntree). 2. To apply to HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) for CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club) status. 3. To adopt a revised Club Constitution and Members' Rule Book (including changes related to the two resolutions above). All were approved unanimously and our application for CASC status has been submitted. A copy of the Constitution and Rule Book is now available on our website here:. SOUTH OF ENGLAND CHAMPIONSIPS The "Southern" takes place this Saturday January 28th at Stanmer Park, Brighton. The senior women's race starts at 2.05pm and the men's at 2.50pm. Only those pre-entered may run. Details:. MOB MATCH v ORION HARRIERS Saturday 4th February in Richmond Park Our next mob match is at home to Orion Harriers, who are very much mob match specialists. They are sure to come in large numbers so we will need as many bodies on the starting line as we can get. The more runners we have, the better our chance of victory. It's a 2.30pm start on our usual 7.7 miles mob match course. If you can get round please try to be there - register on the day. The race also includes our club veterans championships for the Hastings Cup (over 40s), the McDowell Salver (over 50s) and the Maslin Mug (over 60s). QUIZ NIGHT Saturday 4th February Our quiz night takes place at the clubhouse after the Orion mob match on Saturday 4th February. The plan is to start the quiz at about 6.30pm with a break for a fish and chip supper (or veggie alternative) at about 8pm. The cost will be a tenner per head to include the supper. Maximum four people per team - either make up your own team or link up with others on the day. Beer, wine and soft drinks will be available. Please contact Andy Hayward - andrewhayward@catalinare.com or at the clubhouse - to reserve a place. SURREY LEAGUE DIVISION 1 The season's final Surrey League races for both men and women take place on Saturday 11th February - the men on Wimbledon Common and the women at West End Common, Esher. More details of the exact venues nearer the time. Both races are important for different reasons - the men to attempt to move up to third place, the women to avoid the relegation zone. There will be celebrations (hopefully) afterwards at the Green Man on Putney Heath. RICHMOND HALF MARATHON Sunday 6th May On-line entries have officially closed but there will be some additional club places available. More details to follow. LOCAL DISCOUNTS Many members may not be aware of the discounts available at local sports shops and clinics through your Ranelagh membership. There is now a page on our website that lists what is available: membership%20benefits. FABEL DESIGN In addition to the above Sophie Chandler offers a 15% discount on her Fabel jewellery designs. Sophie writes: "I now have a promotional code that you just type in when going to the checkout. By adding the code RANELAGH you will automatically receive a 15% discount on all purchases www.fabeldesign.com. JOHN ATKINSON... ...writes from Vancouver: "I wanted to let you know about a podcast I've created (which launched in November), Inside the Runner's Mind. It's a series of interviews with exceptional runners -- out here in B.C., Canada initially, but with a view to expanding (the podcast chats) around the globe. I'd love to spread the word to all the Harriers and ultimately into the UK running community as a whole. And look out for Episode Six... where the host has the tables turned on himself... and Ranelagh gets a few good mentions! The first interview (in November archives) will also be of interest to some, as Kevin O'Connor is another Englishman who has emigrated to Vancouver -- and so the first part of the interview focuses on his time back in Blighty (growing up) and development as a runner (he ran with Cornwall AC for a few years and is a buddy of Dave Buzza's). He ran a sub-70 half-marathon last year and a 31:14 10k (on the track) at the age of 44! Heres the link: bcjohnny.podbean.com. My best wishes to the Ranelagh gang." ED WHITLOCK... ...sends a link to the latest edition of "Distance Running" magazine, published by the Association of International Marathons and edited by Hugh Jones. Ed writes: "It has an article about me on page 39, the reason I am alerting you is that it has a strong Ranelagh flavour. There is the odd error, the time for my marathon at age 72 is incorrect and the Ranelagh race date was 1949 not 1948. I am still off running because of my rib, probably being over cautious so that I don't hinder healing. Link:." RUN WITH KAREN Balmoral Winter Training Weekend, October 2012 Karen Weir writes: "I am really excited to offer my first residential training weekend later in the year, based at the stunning Balmoral Castle and Estate in the Scottish Highlands. The training weekend is all inclusive (two nights, three days - flights excluded) and I guarantee it will not only improve your running but inspire you. There will be guided runs every day through the beautiful Balmoral Estate and we'll be staying in the comfortable staff accommodation right next to the castle. The weekend will also include strength and conditioning sessions, technique workshops, core training and even a visit to the local whisky distillery. We have our own cook and all food is included, and trust me it is hearty, healthy and truly delicious. The weekend is suitable for all runners, of all paces and standards. For the runs you'll be split into groups according to ability - equally if you don't fancy running every day we can provide you with maps and you can take yourself off for a bracing hike instead. There are no single supplements so if your family doesn't share your love of running this is a great opportunity to indulge your passion for a couple of days - you'll be well looked after. If you'd like to find out more please check out the link to my web page or drop me an email. Places are strictly limited and so I am asking for a £100 deposit per person to secure your place. I really hope that some of you will join me for this brilliant weekend: here:." SWLAN NEWS Kate Brook writes: "South West London Athletics Network would like to invite you to attend the following UKA endorsed endurance coaching course free of charge! Leadership in Running Fitness Course On Saturday 24th March 2012 at St Mary's University College, Twickenham TW1 4SX. To book email kate.brook@swlan.org.uk with your name and club." CYCLING SAFETY Some members might be interested in a scheme being launched by the Richmond-upon-Thames council to promote safer cycling. They are offering one-to-one cycle training sessions for the nominal fee of £5.00 to anybody who works, studies or lives in the borough. Lessons are designed to take place from a location of your choice within the borough e.g. from your home, local landmark, place of work, place of study. Sessions can be booked between Monday and Saturday each week. There are three levels of training available from complete beginner to advanced: Level 1 - for those who cannot ride a bike or who are still so wobbly that they cannot venture on to the road. This training is always held off-road at a suitable location e.g. local park or empty car park. Level 2 - training is aimed at cyclists who would like to gain the confidence to ride with traffic starting on quieter roads and routes. Level 3 - for cyclists who already have experience of riding on a variety of roads and who wish to gain more confidence in tackling busier situations, for example, cycling to and from work every day. Level 3 rides aim to encompass situations perceived by many as being difficult for cyclists, such as busy roundabouts, turning right off main roads etc - whilst at the same time helping the trainee to choose a regular route which avoids busy situations where this is possible. For more information and to book your session online go to Details:. WHAT'S COMING ************* More details of the following from Marc Snaith (07717 213035 / e-mail Marc ranelagh.men@gmail.com or Marie Synnott-Wells (07983 430264 (After 5pm Weekdays) / e-mail Marie and Heather ranelagh.women@gmail.com Saturday 28th January South of England Cross-Country Championships at Brighton. Pre-entries only. Saturday 4th February Harold Lee Cup mob match v Orion Harriers incl club vets championships. 7.7 miles in Richmond Park starting at 2.30pm. Register on the day. Sunday 5th February MABAC League 5 miles at Farley Heath. 11am start. Register on the day. Details:. Saturday 11th February Surrey League Division 1 - women (12 noon) at West End Common, Esher, men (3pm) on Wimbledon Common. Register on the day. Saturday 18th February Stubbs Cup mob match v South London Harriers. 7.7 miles at Coulsdon. 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 Kingston The Hawker Centre Old Deer Park Pools in the Park on the A316 Other venues, more details and registration at < a href="http://www.parkrun.com">www.parkrun.com The 2km junior parkrun for under 15s takes place at 11am on the first Sunday of each month from Bushy Park's Teddington Gate. WHAT'S HAPPENED *************** 2XU SURREY LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 14th January at Coulsdon Captain Marc managed to get a strong team out today for the season's third League race. There was no Ralph Street who was back at University in Sheffield, but instead we were pleased to welcome back Sam Perkins for his first competitive run for some eighteen months. Richard Gregory and Phil Killingley were in the line-up and Peter Haarer returned for his first League race of the season after injury. The venue was South London Harriers' Farthing Downs. The temperature was low, though the afternoon sun contained enough warmth to leave a slightly slippery surface on parts of the course. On other parts like Happy Valley - where the sun had not penetrated - it was icy. Herne Hill's Chris Busaileh always looked like the winner, though he was hard pressed by Hercules Wimbledon's 20 year-old Alex Robinson. It's worth noting that Busaileh finished one place behind Ralph Street in the county championships last week. Our first man today, about a minute and a quarter behind the winner, was Richard Gregory in 14th place and he had Phil Killingley chasing hard just five seconds and two places behind him. Then 16 seconds back in 22nd came Sam Perkins, an excellent run for someone so race-rusty. Our reliable veterans Peter Haarer and Darryl McDonald ran well to give us five in the top forty. There was a minute or so gap then before Carl Selya-Hammer in 59th while right behind him was Marc Snaith putting in his best-ever League race. Chris Bundhun was 71st some half a minute behind Marc, then Trevor Maguire just managed to push Nathan Mills back into the "Anchor Man" position. We therefore had ten men home in the top 75, a great effort - though it's salutary to note that Herne Hill, who are dominating the League this year, had three men in the top thirty who didn't even make their scoring ten! As expected, Herne Hill and Thames filled the top two places but the Ranelagh team were delighted to hear themselves announced in third place. There wasn't a lot in it - our 415 points gave us just a 28 points advantage over South London and 30 over Hercules Wimbledon - but it was enough to bring us up to fourth place overall with one race to come. That race on February 11th will be on Belgrave's course on Wimbledon Common. It's Belgrave who will be our target in that race. We beat them today by 132 points and a repeat of that would take us up to third overall, which would be our best for many years. However, on their home common they are likely to be out in strength so it won't be an easy task. And at the same time we need to fight a rearguard action too. South London, Stragglers and Hercules Wimbledon are all within a hundred points of us, and relegation zone tenants Clapham Chasers are only 153 behind - a not insurmountable gap if we should hiccup. At the very bottom of the table Dorking have already booked their Division 2 place next season. We substantially stretched our lead in our unofficial B team contest against Stragglers. Our numbers were down compared to the thirty-odd who turned out in the first two League races, and it looked like we would fall one short of a B team quorum of ten. Fortunately Peter Fordham arrived just as the field was set on its way and he set off a minute or two in arrears to give us our twentieth man. Mark Herbert was first back for the B team in 90th place ahead of a trio of venerable over 50s, Simon Hedger, Andy Bickerstaff and Chris Owens. We needn't have worried, however, as it turned out that Stragglers themselves started only sixteen runners, which heavily penalised them. According to our calculations the result today was Ranelagh 1352, Stragglers 1813, giving us the overall lead by 3768 to 4567. SURREY LADIES LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 14th January at Coulsdon Injuries and illnesses beset our women's team - even Estelle Damant, who flew the flag for us at the sharp end, was out of sorts suffering from an inner ear problem affecting her balance. She had to virtually jog the wooded part of the course, fell two or three times and yet still managed to finish 8th in Division 1. After a slow start Kate Woodhouse moved through to lead the rest of the team in 80th place, with Sonia Rowland, Bronwen Fisher and Sandra Prosser closing in the scoring five not far behind. Helen Nance, Heather Martingell and Tamsin Burland completed the Ranelagh strength in another huge field of 331 finishers in the two divisions. Consideration is being given to splitting the two divisions in some way next season, although which one we will be competing in remains to be seen. We are currently tottering on the brink of a relegation spot with one race to go. That will be at Esher on February 11th. BANK OF ENGLAND INTER-CLUB 5 miles Saturday 21st January at Roehampton Times are hard at the Bank! The days are long gone when an afternoon race in the Park would just be the prelude to a sumptuous tea, subsidised beer and a free run of the Bank's swimming pool, sauna, skittle alley and snooker room. This year we even had to pay a pound a head for our tea! (Don't worry, the club paid it for you). Still, old habits die hard and the race still attracted a good crowd of 37 Ranelagh Harriers in a total field of 112 from seven clubs. The Bank used their short course of 4.8 or 4.9 miles depending on whose measurements you believe. The start and finish is just inside the Park at Roehampton Gate and we set off in the direction of Kingston with the strong breeze at our backs. After a few preliminary ups and downs we then found ourselves ascending Queen's Ride into the teeth of a gale which brought some runners to a virtual standstill. Then mercifully it was back down towards the Pen Ponds, another climb or two and back to the finish on the same path we had set out on so hopefully some time before. The Bank's Alan Barnes - who had finished 7th in the Surrey League the previous week in his more usual Herne Hill colours - won pretty much as he pleased today. Many of our faster men took the opportunity for a break from racing and we fielded only two of our League team of ten led by Chris Bundhun in 9th place. Mark Herbert, Trevor Maguire and John Shaw followed in fairly close order, with Ted Mockett also in the top twenty. Peter Weir and Chris Brook completed our scorers in the main seven-a-side competition in which we finished second to the servicemen from Milocarians. In a 15-a-side competition - with Mike Peace as our last counter - we defeated Hercules Wimbledon, and in the 6-a-side race with Ealing we retained the Hec Petersen Trophy. Kate Woodhouse was the second woman home with Lara Werrett, Wiebke Kortum, Karen Weir and Amelie Hunton filling all the positions from 4th to 7th and Sonia Rowland and Marion Rayner 9th and 10th. CABBAGE PATCH 4 miles Monday 26th December in Twickenham Amelie Hunton finished third in the women's section. 1 D McNeely (Serp) 22.28 6 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 25.18 30 Chris Hunton 28.30 31 Amelie Hunton 28.31 39 Heather Martingell 31.00 43 Helen Nance 31.41 45 Kirsty Bangham 31.54 49 Roger Wilson 32.18 52 Gill Wilson 32.57 RAVENS QUARTERLY 5km Thursday 12th January at Wapping 1 J Fairs (Ravens) 16.49 29 Chris Read 21.20 36 Andy Hayward 22.07 39 Alan Davidson 22.27 CHALLENGE WANAKA IRONMAN TRIATHLON Saturday 21st January Congratulations to David Rowe who finished 30th overall in the Wanaka Ironman in New Zealand in 10 hours 40 mins 15 secs, 20 minutes inside his target. More details to follow. NONSUCH parkrun 5km Saturday 31st December / Sunday 1st January There was a bit of confusion over the Nonsuch results for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. This was the correct result for the 31st: 1 P Wilby (unatt) 18.20 23 Steve Grout 22.02 And this was the result for the 1st: 1 D Norman (Strag) 17.36 48 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 23.52 75 Jo Sinton-Hewitt 26.14 76 Peter Fordham 26.15 85 Nicholas Fordham 26.46 Thanks to staggered start times for the different events, Paul, Jo and Peter managed a New Year's Day parkrun triple of Bushy Park, Nonsuch Park and Riddlesdown! BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 A Jackson (Sitting) 16.10 101 Adam Wright 20.59 109 Tomas Sterner 21.07 135 Ian Grange 21.31 203 Geoffrey Fisher 22.35 296 Jose Scheuer 23.35 435 Neil Surtees 23.50 619 Wally Garrod 27.54 761 Vicci Randle 31.31 807 John Hanscomb 32.50 RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January Karen Weir was second woman home. 1 D Afshar (West 4) 17.14 3 Peter Weir 18.35 28 Phil Jackson 20.35 40 Bill Neely 21.14 42 Karen Weir 21.21 54 Stewart Anderson 21.58 58 Daniel Chiechi 22.14 63 Andrew Brown 22.26 81 Amrut Sharma 23.16 92 Karl Garvey 24.16 124 Louise Davies 25.16 128 Rob Kitchen 25.25 157 Philippa Kitchen 26.14 173 Lorna Smith 27.04 186 Sue Camp 27.58 204 Val Lowman 29.15 211 Martin Clark 29.42 238 Bronwen Northmore 31.36 241 Peter Lowman 31.48 277 Pat Hewlett 45.40 281 Bev Ali 47.34 OLD DEER parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January First place for Duncan Mallison and second for Mel Hunter. 1 Duncan Mallison 19.00 23 Mel Hunter 25.12 39 Christine Goodsell 31.39 40 Deborah Blakemore 32.46 CANNON HILL parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 S Pictor (Birm U Tri) 16.40 14 Sean Paynter 18.28 BEDFONT LAKES parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 Unknown 17.49 16 Chris Read 21.41 72 Sharon Dooley 27.59 91 Cindy Croucher 30.57 KINGSTON parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 P Bowden (Strag) 18.47 8 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 19.52 12 Chris Camacho 20.48 19 Chris P Wright 22.31 44 Mary Hickson 25.46 FRIMLEY LODGE parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 M Symes (unatt) 17.33 277 Danny Hobbs 37.35 GUNNERSBURY parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 J Pabon (Ealing E) 18.26 45 Kirsty Bangham 24.25 HAMPSTEAD HEATH parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 M Anderson (Garden C) 18.42 85 Jo Knight 35.45 NONSUCH parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 C Coles (Wimb W) 17.58 16 Steve Grout 21.09 YORK parkrun 5km Saturday 14th January 1 Unknown 16.42 77 Rob Curtis 22.55 RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January Elin Mortensen was third in the women's section. 1 J Petersson (Strag) 17.37 5 Duncan Mallison 18.53 11 Peter Weir 19.51 34 Tomas Sterner 22.02 51 Elin Mortensen 22.44 57 Amrut Sharma 23.01 59 Andrew Brown 23.04 82 Karl Garvey 24.02 98 Ally Salisbury 25.04 115 Rachael Holmes 25.40 134 Tony Clark 26.37 144 Lorraine Clifton 27.03 146 Linda Honey 27.10 183 Stacey Barber 29.14 189 Martin Clark 29.32 200 Wally Garrod 30.16 204 Peter Lowman 30.35 224 Christine Goodsell 31.51 226 Bronwen Northmore 31.53 249 Penny Merrett 34.11 263 Bev Ali 35.58 264 Pat Hewlett 35.59 BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January 1 A Lawrence (Morpeth) 16.31 13 Nick Wright 18.20 15 James Whistler 18.39 51 Ross Peebles 20.01 173 David Bell 22.35 101 Adam Wright 20.59 212 Ian Grange 23.00 376 Neil Surtees 25.06 401 Kirsty Bangham 25.25 502 Phil Aiken 26.50 685 Vicci Randle 30.09 820 John Hanscomb 32.54 KINGSTON parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January Second place for Iain Wilson. 1 P Bowden (Strag) 18.13 2 Iain Wilson 18.32 30 Alan Davidson 23.14 60 Hannah Turnes 28.07 RIDDLESDOWN parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January 1 K Klidzia (SoC) 18.52 14 Chris P Wright 22.53 48 Mary Hickson 29. GUNNERSBURY parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January Mark Herbert finished second. 1 R Berry (West 4) 17.27 2 Mark Herbert 18.03 76 Mike White 26.10 OLD DEER parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January This week it was Colin Brett's turn to win. 1 Colin Brett 19.29 36 Deborah Blakemore 32.25 BEDFONT LAKES parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January 1 C Smart (WSEH) 17.18 9 Chris Spink 20.54 85 Cindy Croucher 32.18 86 Deirdre Inman 32.26 BANSTEAD WOODS parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January 1 D Freeman (Tadworth) 18.17 54 Tom Reay 24.55 St ALBANS parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January 1 J McMurray (St A) 15.52 35 Rob Curtis 22.43 ABERDEEN parkrun 5km Saturday 21st January 1 B Phillips (Lasswade) 16.02 22 Peter Fordham 22.37 FINALLY... The 800 metres for women was re-introduced to the Olympic programme in the 1960 Games in Rome after a gap of 32 years, during which time the longest event for women had been 200 metres. Here's a letter to the Editor of World Sports magazine in November 1960 from a Mr Alan Dell of Hull: "I recently saw the final of the women's 800m in the Olympic Games - an event I understand was reinstated for the first time since 1928 only after many protests because of its 'killing' effect. It has been claimed that even for men this race is one of the most exhausting of all, but after having seen the women's heats I was undecided for the times by most runners were quite slow. However, the final left me in no doubt. A first lap of about 60.3sec left all the women in an exhausted state. The two Australians and the Russian who were in the lead as they entered the home straight finished slowing down and one of the Australians was so exhausted she ran off the track. All were clearly making an agonising effort. I say that both the 800m and 880yd for women should be banned in top-class athletics before the exhaustion they clearly entail produces a serious accident."