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Newsdesk 2014

***************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 428             27 June 2014
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com  
 ***************************************************

 HEADLINE NEWS
 *************
 *  CBE for Paul Sinton-Hewitt
 *  Thanks to Niall O'Connor and all helpers for a successful Richmond 10km
 *  New course record in the women's race by Tish Jones of Belgrave
 *  James Connor of Kent wins the men's race
 *  Ranelagh's women's team finishes 1st headed by Lauren Stewart
 *  David Benton leads our men's team to 2nd place.  
 *  Ranelagh wins parkrun mini-mob match v Stragglers
 *  Steve Whitehead and Lauren Stewart win men's and women's sections
 *  Megan De Silva, Marie Synnott-Wells, Sonia Rowland and Peter Fordham are
     prize winners at the Wimbledon Adventure 5 miles
 *  parkrun placings for Niall O'Connor, Becky Hall and Duncan Mallison
 *  Ponds Run next Tuesday (1st July)
 *  Club AGM on 8th July
 *  Subscriptions are overdue!

 ATTENTION PLEASE
 ****************
 PAUL SINTON-HEWITT CBE
 Our heartiest congratulations go to parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt who
 was most deservedly appointed a CBE in the birthday honours list. I can do
 no better than to quote from Tom Williams's tribute in the weekly parkrun
 newsletter:

 "On Saturday morning I awoke to the news that our founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt
 had been awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to
 Gassroots Sport Participation. An amazing achievement and great recognition
 for what Paul and the rest of the parkrun community have achieved over the
 last nearly ten years.

 I first met Paul in August 2007 at a time when I was becoming increasingly
 disillusioned with not only our sport but the world in general. Everywhere I
 looked people seemed to be on the take, no-one seemed to be doing things
 simply because they were a great thing to do, most of the time you got what
 you paid for but even that seemed to follow the law of (rapidly) diminishing
 returns and it was becoming increasingly difficult to believe in
 organisations and their principles. When parkrun popped into my life I was
 suddenly presented with a (soon to be) national movement where people's
 prime motivations were an altruistic desire to do something good in their
 community. No-one would make any profit and the core product was completely
 free.

 I'm sure that back in those early days - when despite only having a few
 hundred runners a week Paul felt there could be a parkrun everywhere in the
 World that someone wanted one - many people thought he was a sandwich short
 of a picnic. Some people still do. Here we are many years later however and
 the Queen herself will soon be affording him the title of Commander of the
 Order of the British Empire in recognition of his relentless pursuit of that
 very grand dream. There are of course many people along the way who have
 encouraged, guided and supported Paul's vision. To date we've seen 60,055
 different people volunteer for us in some way or another, but I'd like to
 take this opportunity to highlight the fact that out of all of us there's
 only one person without whom we simply wouldn't have our 283 (including
 junior events) amazing local communities. And that's Paul. You could take
 any other one person out of the journey and although the landscape might
 have ended up slightly different, we'd all still be here.

 Although at first that might sound like I'm stating the obvious I don't
 believe that many of the parkrun community are fully aware of the amazing
 sacrifices he has made so that we can all run for free and hang out with our
 mates (many of whom wouldn't even be mates without parkrun) every weekend.
 For a long time he funded it out of his own pocket, it was many many years
 until he finally gave up his day job to become an employee and back in 2008
 he gave up any opportunity he had to make a fortune, from what I believe is
 now the World's largest running series, by setting up parkrun Limited as a
 not for profit organisation and gifting the UK rights for parkrun to that
 organisation. Last year he stood down as MD and this year he stood down as a
 director, completing one of the most altruistic acts I know of and handing
 parkrun UK over to all of us. Forever. For free.

 Of course, none of that could have been achieved without a laser-guided
 focus on his mission and a ruthless approach for things to be done his way.
 Paul and I haven't always seen the World the same way and those of you who
 know him well will laugh when I say he is more than capable of arguing black
 is white, even when it very clearly isn't. But he lives parkrun every second
 of every day and his drive to do the right thing is stronger than in anyone
 I know. Time and time again he's chosen the path of most resistance rather
 than compromise the (his) parkrun ethos that we all hold so dear.

 So, on behalf of myself and the parkrun UK family I'd just like to
 congratulate and thank the one and only PSH CBE for his wonderful gift that
 is parkrun."

 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING  Tuesday 8th July at 8.30pm in the clubhouse. 
 You should have received an e-mail with the agenda, reports, accounts and so
 on. If you have not, please reply to  this e-news. Carol is organising one
 of her sumptuous teas after training, so please stay on for the meeting if
 at all possible. It'll start at 8.30pm and shouldn't go on for too long.

 TUESDAYS IN JULY
 There's something different coming up on each of the first three Tuesdays in
 July:
 1st July - our annual tribute to the late Chris Brasher - the Brasher Ponds
 run where the object is to visit all (or as many as you fancy) of the 21-ish
 Ponds in Richmond Park.
 8th July - normal training night, but followed by the club's AGM starting at
 8.30pm in the clubhouse. See above.
 15th July - Coad Cup summer 5 miles handicap. All welcome for a 7.15pm start
 but if possible please arrive early to ensure you get a handicap mark 

 RIVER THAMES HALF MARATHON  Sunday 5th October
 Roy Reeder of the Stragglers is organising this new event starting in
 Walton-on-Thames and supporting the Princess Alice Hospice as the race
 charity. The race will also be supporting another local good cause, PC
 Andrew Duncan Memorial Fund. Roy is offering Ranelagh Harriers a £5 discount
 off the entry price until 30th June, to claim enter the code 'STEVE5' at the
 Sport Systems store. Nearer the time, he'll be looking for helpers on the
 day. The race website is here:.

 ANDY'S WIMBLEDON ADVENTURE RACES
 The third and final of Andy Bickerstaff's summer evening races on Wimbledon
 Common takes place on Wednesday 9th July It's 7.8 miles this time, starting
 from the Windmill at 7pm, Details are here:.
 There will be entries on the night. 

 STRAGGLERS JUNIOR HANDICAP SERIES
 The next in the summer series of 2km handicap races for juniors takes place
 on Thursday 26th June at the Hawker Centre. All under 18s are welcome.
 Registration begins at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. For the very young there is a
 500 metres race. The remaining events in the series are on 17th July and
 28th August.

 RANELAGH ROAD GRAND PRIX
 Details of the events that make up our summer Road Grand Prix and the
 current scoreboard are on our website here:. The next events are the Elmbridge
 10km  Details: and the Wedding Day 7km Details:.  
Both races are popular so you're advised to get your entries in early. GP leaders after six events: (Open) Nick Twomey 47, Paul Doyle 39, Ted Mockett 37, Ian Kenton and Trevor Maguire 25, Phil Killingley 24, Peter Faull 23, Stewart Anderson 21, Paul Rider 20 Rick Jenner 19, David Lawley 17; (Men Over 40) Paul Doyle 21, Bruce McLaren 18, Stewart Anderson 15, Trevor Maguire 13; (Men Over 50) Paul Rider 28, Stephen Logue 21, Bill Neely 14, Colin Brett 11; (Women) Lauren Stewart 18, Marie Synnott-Wells and Megan De Silva 15, Heather Martingell 9, Ellen Clague 8, Amelie Hunton and Sally Dell 6; (Women Over 40) Marie Synnott-Wells 18, Ellen Clague and Heather Martingell 14, Sally Dell and Cindy Croucher 9; (Women Over 50) Sally Bamford 14, Deirdre Inman 8, Michele Gibson 7. ED WHITLOCK News from two members in Canada: John Atkinson, who produces a regular podcast, recently interviewed the amazing 83 year-old Ed Whitlock in Ed's home in Miltom, Ontario: bcjohnny.podbean.com/. SUBSCRIPTIONS... ...were due on April 1st. Our rates are unchanged at £40 for seniors, £20 for second-claim members and those who are retired and over 60, £10 for under 20s and students and non-running members. There is also a £70 family membership. Post your cheque to Membership Secretary, Ranelagh Harriers, 135a Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7AA or leave it in an envelope at the clubhouse. A Standing Order form is available from our website here: . For Bank Transfers, our account is at HSBC, sort code 40-23-29, account number 81109847; please add a message, for example SubscriptionJSmith. For any queries, e-mail the Membership Secretary aachrisowens@yahoo.co.uk . Follow Ranelagh on Facebook. WHAT'S COMING ************* More details of the following from the men's Captains ( e-mail Phil, Duncan or Trevor ranelagh.men@gmail.com or the women's Captains ( e-mail Estelle, Becky or Phil ranelagh.women@gmail.com ) Tuesday 1st July Chris Brasher Memorial Ponds run in Richmond Park. 7pm start. Tuesday 8th July AGM in the clubhouse starting at 8.30pm. Tuesday 15th July Coad Cup 5 miles summer handicap in Richmond Park. Sunday 20th July Elmbridge 10km. 9am start. Details:. Friday 25th July Wedding Day 7km in Bushy Park. 7.30pm start. Details:. 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 Crane Park Near the Hospital Bridge Roundabout on the A316 in Twickenham Other venues, more details and registration at www.parkrun.com 2km junior parkruns for under 14s take place on the first Sunday of each month from Bushy Park's Teddington Gate (11am start) and from Savill Garden car park, Windsor Great Park (9.30am start), and also every Sunday at 9.30am in Wimbledon Park. WHAT'S HAPPENED *************** RICHMOND 10km Sunday 22nd June Entries just topped 600, of whom no fewer than 93 listed Ranelagh as their club: a fantastic total. They didn't all run of course, but of the 487 finishers we could claim 72. It was uncomfortably hot even at the 9am start and the mercury rose inexorably during the morning. This seemed to affect the front runners least, and the pace was as scorching as the temperature. A large leading group, including David Benton, was gradually whittled down until it came down to a straight fight between James Connor of Kent and recent Dorking 10 winner Andy Maud of Clapham. Although Maud is 30 years old he has been running seriously for only a little over a year, and has made huge progress in such a short time. Connor, although only a few months older than Maud, is vastly more experienced and it was he who finally got the upper hand today. Connor crossed the line in 31.14, a hundred metres or so clear. Joe Morwood of Aldershot was an isolated third. The diminutive Tish Jones of Belgrave dominated the women's race, winning by a minute and a half in a new course record of 34.31, Clapham Chasers Hayley Munn and Fiona Love filled the minor places. We were happy to have David Benton running in Ranelagh colours today rather than those of Brighton. David hung on well on a tough second lap to finish in 7th place and took the prize as the leading over 40. Our next two men in were also veterans - evergreen Peter Haarer 21st and Steve Whitehead 26th. They combined with David to take second place in the open team competition to Hercules Wimbledon - although as only Steve of that trio is Surrey qualified Ranelagh was out of the medals in the county team race. Paul Doyle was not far behind Steve, and then came good runs in the low 36s from Ian Kenton, Ted Mockett and Nick Twomey. Trevor Maguire was our last man in before our leading woman Lauren Stewart, 4th in the women's race in 37.38. Next came Megan De Silva, close to her PB with 40.28 in 11th place, and our team was completed in 20th place by Elin Berstad Mortensen on a most welcome visit from Norway. Less than ten seconds behind Elin was Marie Synnott-Wells, finishing runner-up in the over 45 category. But the real revelation just a few metres behind Marie was new member Marilyn Horne, who won the over 55 class by a clear two minutes. Marilyn's 42.01 ranks her 10th nationally in the W55 class for 2014. Jo Ronaldson, Gemma Cory and Michelle Davies were home inside 45 minutes, with Sally Dell and Wiebke Kortum just outside. Congratulations to all those who represented the club in the race today, and many thanks to all those who helped in any capacity, particularly Race Director Niall O'Connor. Niall is standing down from the post although he is happy to continue as a member of a small organising team. If this is something you feel you could help with, please get in touch. Back at the clubhouse after the race about forty members savoured the sunshine with one of Andy and Michele's excellent barbecues. parkrun MINI MOB MATCH v STRAGGLERS Saturday 14th June at the Crane Park parkrun Crane Park must have wondered what hit it when 210 runners rolled up for this week's parkrun, a new record for the venue and about double the recent weekly average. The reason of course was that it was hosting our annual mini mob match with the Stragglers, and over half the field was in the Ranelagh blue or the Stragglers yellow. We comfortable outnumbered Strags with 75 starters against their 49, and it was 46 a side to count. Happy to relate, we had the quality as well as the quantity. Returning from injury Steve Whitehead just prevailed at the head of the field with Nick Twomey, Ted Mockett, Mark Herbert and Trevor Maguire following close behind and all ahead of the leading opposition. Indeed we provided thirteen of the first fifteen home including leading woman Lauren Stewart in 10th place. Marie Synnott-Wells and Marilyn Horne were the second and third women to finish. We maintained our advantage right down the field. Our 46th and last counter was Fiona Pugh in 76th place, but those behind Fiona played their part by pushing back the remaining Strags counters. Their last counter was down in 119th place. The final score was 1716 to Ranelagh and 2838 to Stragglers. EDINBURGH MARATHON Sunday 25th May Organisers were peculiarly reluctant to part with results, but we eventually learned the in the third of his four marathons in four weeks, Ian Grange finished 3729th in 4:05.41. ICKENHAM 5 miles Sunday 8th June
1 R Gordon (Shaft B) 24.50 18 S Amend (Belgrave0 30.00 (1st woman) 35 Mick Lane 32.31 TOUR OF EPSOM and EWELL Monday 9th June to Friday 13th June Phil Aiken reports: "Every year I say I'm going to be healthy, fit and well-trained for this week of racing. And every year I turn up less healthy, less fit and less trained than the year before. This year was no exception, though Thursday was my best run of the week. Until I bettered that on Friday. Here's to next year's Tour, then!" Race 1 Monday 3.3m at Horton Country Park 1 O Collis (Coll) 18.45 102 Phil Aiken 28.42 Race 2 Tuesday 3.7m in Nonsuch Park 1 L Greatorex (Sutton) 20.52 107 Phil Aiken 34.37 Race 3 Wednesday 3.7m at Hogsmill Open Space 1 O Collis (Coll) 20.08 95 Phil Aiken 31.33 Race 4 Thursday 2.63m time trial in Nonsuch Park 1 L Greatorex (Sutton) 14.39 96 Phil Aiken 23.25 Race 5 Friday 3.25m handicap at Nescot 1 R Bryant (Coll) 19.12 76 Phil Aiken 28.29 Overall 1 R Bryant (Coll) 96.03 70 Phil Aiken 146.46 WIMBLEDON ADVENTURE 5 miles TRAIL RACE Wednesday 11th June on Wimbledon Common The second of Andy Bix's summer Wimbledon Common races saw a slightly larger field tackling a new course which took in the Tibbett's Corner "Alps". There was a stronger line-up at the head of the field, which pushed Mark Herbert out of the medals, but otherwise it was a case of déjà-vu for Ranelagh. Megan De Silva won the women's race again with Marie Synnott-Wells again in third place and taking the W45 medal. Sonia Rowland won the W55 class and in the absence from the race (though he was marshalling) of Gordon Whitson who had won the M60 class in the first race, the medal stayed with Ranelagh in the shape of Peter Fordham. The last race of the series is a near-8 miler on Wednesday 9th July. 1 K Millar (Highgate) 28.36 9 Mark Herbert 31.42 17 Megan De Silva 34.33 (1st woman) 24 Marie Synnott-Wells 35.57 (3rd woman) 32 Bruce McLaren 37.58 36 Steve Aikin 38.36 44 Lloyd Camp 40.28 45 Sonia Rowland 40.30 53 Peter Fordham 41.36 68 Carol Aikin 44.52 80 Steve Rowland 48.45 POLICE SPORT UK TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS Wednesday 11th June at Uxbridge Mick Lane finished 5th (2nd over 50) in the Over 35s 5000m in 19:08.34. STRAGGLERS JUNIOR HANDICAP Thursday 12th June at the Hawker Centre Results haven't appeared yet, but Colin Brett writes: "We had a fantastic turn out. 18 Ranelagh Juniors toed the line making up a third of the field with some fantastic debut performances. I'm pretty sure we would have scored well enough to maintain our lead in the League going into race 4." Further details when we get them. LONDON ENDURO 12 hours Saturday 14th / Sunday 15th June on Wimbledon Common 1 F Rigodanza (unatt) 116.4km 6 F Telfer (Brunton) 97.0km 24 Krasse Gueorguiev 67.9km POLESDEN LACEY 10km Sunday 15th June 1 R Sherwood (unatt) 37.08 23 H Thompson (unatt) 44.07 (1st woman) 268 Alan Meaden 66.04 357 David Meaden 73.37 SELF-TRANSCENDENCE 2 miles Monday 16th June in Battersea Park 1 F Slemeck (Herc Wimb) 9.51 28 C Elms (Dul R) 11.10 (1st woman) 80 Phil Jackson 13.44 99 Alan Davidson 14.39 MIDSUMMER MONRO HALF MARATHON Sunday 21st June at Box Hill The race tag line "The Hardest Half" - not to mention the winning time of 1:52 - probably tells you all you need to know! Simon Burrell, just turned 50, ran well to finish 2nd in his new age group. 1 M Leyshon (unatt) 1:52.06 16 L Buchanan (CP Tri) 2:19.05 (1st woman) 35 Simon Burrell 2:27.30 SELF-TRANSCENDENCE 5km Monday 23rd June in Battersea Park 1 R Weston (Serp) 15.27 24 C Ansell (HHH) 17.56 (1st woman) 92 Alan Davidson 23.25 SAVILL GARDENS JUNIOR parkrun 2km Sunday 1st June In addition to the results listed in the last e-news, Mick Lane's son Thomas made his parkrun debut, finishing 83rd in 14.50. OSTERLEY parkrun 5km Saturday 14th June Niall O'Connor finished in second place. 1 T Irving (Ealing E) 19.00 2 Niall O'Connor 20.01 4 Dorota Rakowicz 20.45 (1st woman) BOGNOR REGIS parkrun 5km Saturday 14th June 1 C Meagher (Chich) 19.13 5 David Rowe 20.09 8 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 20.24 11 B Sutton (unatt) 21.19 (1st woman) 46 Jo Sinton-Hewitt 25.45 47 Ally Salisbury 25.47 BUSHY PARK parkrun 5km Saturday 14th June 1 K White (Herc Wimb)) 16.18 3 T Jones (Belgrave) 16.48 (1st woman) 162 Karen Weir 22.27 438 Teresa Segovia 26.27 625 Matthew Beal 29.18 681 Jackie Dunkley 30.12 793 Oliver Beal 33.01 883 Wally Garrod 38.13 899 John Hanscomb 41.30 RICHMOND PARK parkrun 5km Saturday 14th June 1 A O'Brien (WSEH) 17.16 36 K Owen (unatt) 21.25 (1st woman) 51 Christopher Parsons 22.26 61 Karl Garvey 22.58 114 Colin Rogal 25.15 124 Michael Sikora 25.40 247 Michelle Martinez 31.43 281 Pat Hewlett 37.55 OTHER parkruns (Saturday 14th June)... Malahide: 151 Leeanne Bryce 25.52 Eastleigh: 116 Penny Merrett 32.10 Reading: 270 Louise Atkinson 31.00 Kingston: 7 Iain Wilson 19.37, 62 Annemarie Goodridge 30.38 Preston Park: 58 John Pratt 23.32 RICHMOND PARK parkrun 5km Saturday 21st June 1 N Hughes (unatt) 17.37 20 L Broughton (Rich CC) 20.41 (1st woman) 28 Steve Aikin 21.38 87 Colin Rogal 24.20 110 Simon Taylor 25.33 122 Michael Sikora 25.52 144 Andrew Brown 26.50 153 Ulises Alonso 27.20 158 Eugenio Carmo 27.32 181 Tony Clark 28.10 221 Martin Clark 29.56 252 Katie Walton 32.24 306 Bev Ali 44.55 305 Pat Hewlett 44.55 CRANE PARK parkrun 5km Saturday 21st June Duncan Mallison finished in third place. 1 Unknown 18.52 3 Duncan Mallison 19.08 14 Tom Kearey 22.20 25 J Wilson (Traf Sch) 23.29 (1st woman) 31 Lewis Emery 24.37 50 Emily Kearey 27.21 52 Rachel Allen 27.31 62 Mary Hickson 28.19 69 Josie Kearey 28.56 71 Ann Kearey 29.06 80 Christine David 31.03 81 Lynne Barber 31.08 85 Tracey Small 31.57 96 Su Clark 35.43 OLD DEER PARK parkrun 5km Saturday 21st June 1 P Graham (Strag) 19.49 11 S Hutton (unatt) 21.53 (1st woman) 14 Phil Roberts 22.22 19 Colin Brett 22.51 27 Stewart Anderson 25.12 32 Mel Davison 26.08 37 Wyn Williams 27.13 47 Tor Heron-Brett 29.34 50 Lorna Smith 29.57 78 Clare Hulacki 35.36 BUSHY PARK parkrun 5km Saturday 21st June 1 M Trees (Belgrave) 16.05 10 J Hill (SMUC) 17.40 (1st woman) 25 Nick Wright 18.55 111 Simon Rothwell 21.30 154 Adam Wright 22.13 189 Ian Grange 22.41 433 Teresa Segovia 26.01 644 Sue Camp 28.54 675 Kirsty Bangham 29.21 681 Jackie Dunkley 29.24 691 David Meaden 29.31 904 Wally Garrod 38.08 OSTERLEY parkrun 5km Saturday 21st June Niall O'Connor was third this week. 1 R Foster (Datchet) 18.33 3 Niall O'Connor 19.23 23 O Batchelor (unatt) 24.32 (1st woman) PECKHAM RYE parkrun 5km Saturday 21st June Becky Hall took second place. 1 M Lewis (unatt) 17.19 25 S Cooper (Dul R) 20.46 (1st woman) 28 Becky Hall 21.13 46 Rob Curtis 22.32 OTHER parkruns (Saturday 21st June)... Wimbledon Common: 152 Alberto Esguevillas 25.32 Southsea: 49 Alan Davidson 23.39 Bedford: 33 Phil Jackson 22.25 Kingston: 23 Chris Camacho 21.22, 65 Fiona Pugh 26.34 Brighton & Hove: 128 John Pratt 23.19 Black Park: 41 Michelle Davies 21.49, 42 Lee Davies 21.50 Ally Pally: 16 Andres Arana 22.39 Northala Fields: 69 Peter Fordham 24.41 Pomphrey Hill: 26 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 24.33, 30 Jo Sinton-Hewitt 24.53 Bognor Regis: 7 David Rowe 21.32 FINALLY... 94 year-old Canadian athlete Olga Kotelko:. There's hope for us all! (Thanks to Pete Mulholland for this).