*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 571 24th June 2020 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: sandsrowland@btinternet.com *************************************************** FROM THE PRESIDENT Hi Ranelaghites, Good to see lots of you taking up our virtual races. Many thanks for Suzy and James for organising. Looks like many of you will be setting some good pbs when racing comes back around. Currently, we are still doing no organised training, but you can meet in groups of up to 6 people to run provided your location allows for the required social distancing, between yourselves and everyone else. I would remind you that our club relies heavily on volunteers and that a return to training will probably be slower than the government rules allow because of our small clubhouse and large training groups. I can't see training groups of 20 plus being feasible for a long time. If you are not involved in helping out the club at all then have a think about something you might like to do: informal leading for a small group, wiping down an area of the clubhouse on a regular basis or organising who is where and when at a track night are all examples of roles that are likely to be needed in the not too distant future. Don't forget the virtual AGM on 7th July (see below), papers and instructions will be sent in due course. Becky Curtis-Hall KEEP IN TOUCH 1. Join the Strava group 2. Log your run and give it a catchy title. 3. Give our segments a shot! 4. Check back here every week for highlights 5. Note that Activity and Profile Privacy settings will need to be set to Everyone if you want the rundown team to be able to see your individual runs Follow us elsewhere on social: Twitter: @ranelaghharrier FB: Insta: @ranelaghharriers ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Ranelagh Harriers AGM will be held virtually via Zoom starting at 19:30 on Tuesday, 7 July 2020. The Zoom Meeting ID is 932 0871 8504 and the password is ranelagh. Members who are not currently Zoom users who wish to attend the virtual AGM can sign up by going to https://zoom.us and completing the sign up procedure. Women's Captain Becky Northmore writes: "The team is changing a bit for 2020/21. I am very pleased to be handing my captaincy over to Suzy Whatmough. In addition to me demoting myself to vice-captain, Phil Aiken is stepping down as Women's Team Manager. The amount of work Phil has put into our team is astounding. Thank you, Phil, for your many many years of dedicated cheering, stats, results, entries... the list goes on. You will be missed. We are also welcoming Carol Aikin to the team to help us fill the void left by Phil in our Ranelagh lives." A note from Suzy - 'A huge thank you to Becky for all her hard work as Women's Captain over the last two years. Her enthusiasm, encouragement and dedication has continued to bring together the Ranelagh women in running, competing and friendship, so we're delighted that she's staying on as Vice Captain. I'm excited to swap places with her and take on the role of Women's Captain, with big shoes to fill!' VIRTUAL SUMMER RACE SERIES Our virtual summer race series consists of five events of varying distances at fortnightly intervals during the summer. The first was the Virtual Flying Five 5km, followed by the Virtual Baker Cup 3 miles handicap. Details and results can be found below. The remaining three are: 3 - 5 July Virtual Turbo 10 10k 17 - 19 July Virtual Coad Cup 5 miles Handicap (must be entered a week in advance for the handicap) 31 July - 2 August Virtual Mercurial Mile Details and entries for these are here:. VIRTUAL FLYING FIVE 5th to 7th June 5km Organisers Suzy Whatmough and James Ritchie report: We had 78 runners taking part in this 5k, which kicked off Ranelagh's Virtual Summer Series. Despite having to race solo and some of us getting a lot of headwind, there were some fantastic results. Although it's not the same as racing together, being able to choose the location and time of day definitely helps. Hopefully those of you achieving personal best times can do it again as soon as racing and parkruns are back! A big virtual round of applause for our podium finishers: Men Nick Impey 16:25 ?? Pat Wright 16:30 ?? James Riley 16:36 Women Clare Fowler 19:36 ?? Natalie Haarer 19:42 ?? Suzy Whatmough 19:47 And our age group winners: Juniors - Jaden Russell 24:04 M35 - Nick Impey 16:25 L35 - Holly McGuigan 20:23 M40 - James Riley 16:36 L40 - Clare Fowler 19:36 M45 - Kris Davidson 17:37 L45 - Marianne Malam 21:37 M50 - Jonathan Moore 18:02 L50 - Wiebke Kortum 22:27 M55 - Marcus Atkins 19:41 L55 - Carol Aikin 25:01 M65 - Angus Cater 28:03 M75 - Dave Kew 27:07 VIRTUAL BAKER CUP 3 miles HANDICAP 19 - 21 June 3 miles Suzy and James again: We had 66 runners taking part in the Virtual Baker Cup, including 54 running on the actual course in Richmond Park (almost twice the number of runners racing last year's Baker Cup). It wlas lovely to see that some of you had gone to the course in socially distanced groups, seeing friendly faces, motivating one another and pointing out the hotly debated turning point by the trees. We also had people running as far afield as the New Forest (Phil Roberts), Bristol (Angus Cater), Brighton (John Pratt) and Spain (Alberto Esguevillas). Knowing how tricky the Baker Course is with the elevation and 4 x 180 degree turns, we tried to make it as fair as possible by applying suitable time penalties where people couldn't quite get a course that was sufficiently Baker Cup-like. For example one runner, who shall remain nameless, ran on Barnes Elms running track! Paul Doyle won the virtual Baker Cup by over a minute (with Felix von Schubert not having run sufficient races for the club to take his place on the podium). In second and third, following a very close virtual sprint finish were Vaughan Ramsay and Suzy Whatmough. A nod to the handicapper here, as the next two minutes saw all but a handful of runners come in (virtually) together. Hcap Hcap Actual Speed Pos. Time Allow Time Order 1 Paul Doyle 14.11 4.50 19.01 20 Felix Von Schubert (G) 14.38 8.20 22.58 50 2 Vaughan Ramsay 15.18 4.30 19.48 29 3 Suzy Whatmough 15.19 3.20 18.39 18 4 Ellie Lawley 15.27 13.10 28.37 65 5 Jarryd Hillhouse 15.34 3.50 19.24 23 6 Jonathan Moore 15.36 1.30 17.06 8 6 Lloyd Camp 15.36 6.20 21.56 44 8 Richard Willoughby 15.43 4.10 19.53 30 9 Mark Herbert 15.49 2.10 17.59 16 10 Andy Starr 15.51 1.30 17.21 11 11 Dave Kew 15.52 10.20 26.12 61 12 Ed Perry 15.56 0.50 16.46 4 13 Amrut Sharma 16.00 6.40 22.40 47 Gary Armstrong (G) 16.01 0.20 16.21 2 14 Wiebke Kortum 16.02 5.50 21.52 43 15 David Lawley 16.04 0.40 16.44 3 16 Simon Taylor 16.05 6.40 22.45 48 17 Stephen Aikin 16.05 5.20 21.25 40 18 Michael Morris 16.05 3.30 19.35 26 19 Pat Wright 16.12 0.00 16.12 1 Alison Targett (G) 16.13 11.00 27.13 62 20 Kris Davidson 16.13 1.10 17.23 12 20 Sarah Palmer 16.13 3.20 19.33 25 22 Alberto Esguevillas 16.14 5.00 21.14 39 22 John Scally 16.14 12.10 28.24 64 24 Rebecca Bissell 16.18 6.40 22.58 50 24 Carol Aikin 16.18 8.20 24.38 55 26 Martin Harris 16.24 4.40 21.04 37 Phil Collins (G) 16.25 0.40 17.05 7 27 James Whistler 16.31 0.20 16.51 5 27 Alex Ring 16.31 2.30 19.01 20 27 Ann Kearey 16.31 7.00 23.31 52 30 James Russell 16.33 3.00 19.33 24 30 Ted Mockett 16.33 0.20 16.53 6 32 Natalie Haarer 16.34 3.10 19.44 28 33 Angus Cater 16.36 11.10 27.46 63 34 Marianne Malam 16.37 5.00 21.37 41 Mike Thomas (G) 16.37 3.40 20.17 34 35 Hadi Khatamizadeh 16.40 4.20 21.00 36 36 Fiona Pugh 16.41 8.30 25.11 57 37 Sally Bamford 16.43 8.40 25.23 58 38 Nicholas Twomey 16.47 0.30 17.17 10 39 Phil Roberts 16.49 6.00 22.49 48 40 Kevin Knowles 16.50 5.30 22.20 45 41 John Pratt 16.52 15.50 32.42 66 42 Richard Kimber 16.56 1.00 17.56 15 42 Sergio Stillacci 16.56 2.10 19.06 22 44 James Riley 16.58 0.10 17.08 9 45 Kevin Kearey 16.59 8.30 25.29 60 46 Bruce McLaren 17.00 2.40 19.40 27 47 Ian Keith 17.02 6.50 23.52 54 48 Rick Jenner 17.02 1.10 18.12 17 49 Michael Everard 17.03 2.50 19.53 31 50 Paul Murphy 17.07 2.50 19.57 32 51 Neil Rae 17.10 1.50 19.00 19 52 Jonathan Smith 17.15 0.20 17.35 13 53 Rebecca Northmore 17.15 4.30 21.45 42 54 Clare Fowler 17.16 3.00 20.16 33 55 David Ready 17.20 0.20 17.40 14 Jaden Russell (G) 17.24 6.10 23.34 52 56 Ben Shore 17.29 3.30 20.59 35 57 Adrienne Baddeley 17.40 4.50 22.30 46 58 Marcus Atkins 18.00 3.10 21.10 38 Rachel Singleton (G) 21.34 3.30 25.04 56 59 Stewart Anderson 21.46 3.40 25.26 59 Podium finishers Handicap Paul Doyle 14:11 Vaughan Ramsay 15:18 Suzy Whatmough 15:19 Men Pat Wright 16:12 Gary Armstrong 16:21 Dave Lawley 16:44 Women Suzy Whatmough 18:39 Sarah Palmer 19:33 Natalie Haarer 19:44 And our age group winners: Juniors - Jaden Russell 23:34 M35 - Pat Wright 16:12 L35 - Adrienne Baddeley 22:30 M40 - Gary Armstrong 16:21 L40 - Clare Fowler 20:16 M45 - Kris Davidson 17:23 L45 - Marianne Malam 21:37 M50 - Jonathan Moore 17:06 L50 - Wiebke Kortum 21:52 M55 - Marcus Atkins 21:10 L55 - Carol Aikin 24:38 M65 - Angus Cater 27:46 M75 - Dave Kew 26:12 It's been great to have so many people getting involved and coming together as a club again for these races, even if it is virtually. Don't forget to enter the last three - all races in the series count towards the leader board here:. Following Nick Impey's withdrawal from the Virtual Baker, Pat Wright looks in a commanding position in the Open competition. In the Women's competition, it's much more open with Suzy Whatmough holding a narrow lead over Clare Fowler and Natalie Haarer. For the veterans, Wiebke Kortum and Jonathan Moore have solid leads for the over 50s, whilst the over 40s are again more uncertain with Clare Fowler and Marianne Malam vying for the top spot for the women, and a three way tie for the men between Gary Armstrong, James Riley and Ted Mockett. It's all too close to call - who will come out strongest on the flat in the next race? BRITISH MASTERS VIRTUAL 5k RELAYS 14-20 June For those of us aged 35+ this was a chance to try a fast 5k as part of virtual teams. We had 24 men and women on the scoreboard. Provisional Team Results: - 15th team in the W35-44 category (Megan De Silva, Holly McGuigan, Clare Fowler and Adrienne Baddeley). - 26th team in the W45-54 category (Kathy Henry, Wiebke Kortum and Marianne Malam), plus B team Ann Kearey, Fiona Pugh and Clare Day. - 27th team in the M45-54 category (Kris Davidson, Jonathan Moore, Neil Rae and Bruce McLaren) - 28th team in the W55-64 category (Carol Aikin, Sally Bamford and Karen Herbert). Special mentions for Sally and Karima who both got PB's, and for Wiebke who got her fastest time in the last 2 years and a special shout out to Ann who ran her 5k TWICE after finding out her first go was run a day too early, before the race dates had started! A huge well done Ann for getting back out there later in the week and running your 5k all over again - and knocking a second off your time too! Individual times: 347 Kris Davidson 17.21, 441 Jonathan Moore 17.39, 830 Neil Rae 18.41, 915 Bruce McLaren 18.52, 1027 Paul Doyle 19.10, 1064 Michael Everard 19.15, 1094 Megan de Silva 19.21, 1454 Holly McGuigan 20.26, 1463 Stewart Anderson 20.27, 1505 Clare Fowler 20.33, 1690 Kathy Henry 21.07, 1773 Adrienne Baddeley 21.20, 1826 Fanny Vein 21.30, 1885 Wiebke Kortum 21.40, 1936 Stephen Aikin 21.49, 2107 Marianne Malam 22.02, 2432 Ann Kearey 23.35, 2667 Carol Aikin 24.42, 2754 Fiona Pugh 25.09, 2768 Sally Bamford 25.16, 2804 Clare Day 25.34, 2887 Karen Harbert 26.11 VIRTUAL COMRADES MARATHON The sensational six: all set out at 5.30am to complete the virtual Comrades, all clocking in the region of nine and a half hours for the 56 miles. COAD CUP In case anyone was not sure whether our summer 5 miles handicap for the Coad Cup - scheduled for July 14th - would go ahead, we can confirm that it has been cancelled. However, its virtual equivalent - with no cup at stake - will be run on the weekend of July 17th-19th as part of our summer virtual series. P24 VIRTUAL 24 HOURS Karen Weir writes: Hello from the Peak District! Thought I'd send a report from the P24 virtual event Peter and I did over the weekend. The premise of the event was to run (a minimum of) 1 mile every hour, on the hour for 24 hours, from 8am on Saturday morning. So the last lap was 7am Sunday morning. Inspired at being up to see sunset/sunrise over the solstice weekend I thought this sounded like an intriguing event. As a running coach it was also a bit of an experiment to see how sleep deprivation impacts your running. Although I had been training for Comrades this year, once the lockdown hit I had carried on running but nothing longer than the Green Belt Relay legs I completed last month. So I figured one mile every hour for 24 hours was a low risk way to complete a marathon (I'd actually planned to do 1.1 miles every hour to reach marathon distance). It started well, there was a pre-event Facebook Live briefing at 7.45 and we were off at 8am. The first few miles passed easily, with breakfast after the first mile, a cuppa after the second mile, a few household chores after the 3rd mile, finishing at our local cafe after mile 4 for a bacon sarnie etc. It soon became clear that the initial challenge was going to be finding something to do in the 50 mins you weren't running, not falling into the trap of re-fuelling after every single mile and avoiding the masses of (not social distancing) tourists that are now turning up every weekend in the Peaks. So we changed our mile route plan to get away from as many people as possible. By the time we got to the 4pm run, visitors had started to disappear and the village was starting to quieten down again. Looking back, Peter and I both agreed that the time around the 5pm and 6pm miles was actually the hardest. You'd been going for 10 hours or so and although the physical exertion was definitely fine, from a mental perspective the thought that there were still 14 hours to go, with some in the dark and some in the rain, it seemed like it was going to go on forever. Getting nutrition right was a challenge, with the luxury of running from home each time you could eat normal food but you had to balance not eating too much, with being able to digest what you were eating and remembering that you were only running one mile every hour. So my plan was to eat a small amount of real food after every 3rd mile. About 8pm we put the oven on, went out for our 1.1 miles and then came home and stuck pizza in the oven which then pretty much lasted through the night. Although we were definitely getting 'sleepy' tired (after all we're normally in bed by 10pm these days) the evening hours seemed to pass more quickly. Probably the psychological effect of being past the half way point. We'd planned not to sleep at all in between runs, I think the shock of falling into a deep sleep and then having to wake up again would have been the worse option. So instead we had all the lights on and re-runs of ER on the TV. We'd pause the episode, go out for a run then come back and start watching again. We only needed head torches from 11pm to 3am, by 4am it was light enough to not need them. Unfortunately the rain started exactly at 2am so we dug the dryrobes out and after each run from then on just came in the house, put them on and got back into ER. There didn't see any point changing after every run, you'd only get wet again and it wasn't cold. The daylight returning was a welcome boost to the psychology, and from 4am it seemed like we were on the home straight. Time seemed to pass more quickly and although we were wet it didn't bother me. The forecast had implied that by 6am the rain would have passed so I did take the opportunity to dry off and put fresh kit on after the 5am run, I was even going to put on dry trainers, but actually the rain got worse and our 6am run was probably the wettest, but it was the penultimate one, so I didn't care. Finally 7am arrived - the victory lap! And it was done. Like any of the endurance challenges we've all done, there was just quiet satisfaction at the end. A challenge completed. The mile paces held up, we just about got the nutrition right and we'd survived 24 hours with no sleep and in all 27 miles were covered. After a protein shake and a shower it was time for bed, though with our natural circadian rhythms we were never going to sleep long now it was daylight. So woke up about 11am. Had breakfast, did loads of washing, pottered about and went for a walk. Although legs felt pretty good, no real sign of running a marathon distance. Had a couple of celebratory drinks around 5pm, and pies for tea at 6pm. Had that real 'jet lag' feel, so just after 8pm we gave up trying to watch a movie and headed to bed. I slept very well last night and happy to report no aches or pains today. Guess what, if you fancy it - the organisers are putting it on again in October; (https://www.phoenixrunning.co.uk/events/virtual-p24-twist), although there is nothing to stop you giving it a try anytime. As endurance events go, its tougher than I expected, mainly from a mental/psychological perspective. I'd give it an 8/10 whereas I'd give running a marathon in one go a score of around 6/10. Definitely a challenge and definitely something to 'endure' but an event achievable by most runners. By the way, if anyone does want to come and run in the Peak District and seeing as we are probably staycationing for the foreseeable future we have a holiday cottage to rent and Peter and I are happy to guide you on some stunning runs (if we can keep up with you!) or else just recommend some routes. http://www.tollcottagehope.co.uk LONDON MARATHON There is still a possibility that the 40th edition of the Virgin Money London Marathon can take place on October 4 despite cancellation of the Great North Run and other major road races. In an open letter to entrants on June 19, Event Director Hugh Brasher stated that his team had been looking at the logistics "and coming up with innovative ways to socially distance the event." He added: "We still don't know whether we will be able to run together, walk together and be together on that journey of 26.2 miles on October 4. While some may think that what we are trying to do is impossible, we will not give up hope." He will make a further announcement on July 28. MIKE PEACE Clive Beauvais writes: In these lockdown times, I have spent a few happy hours browsing the wealth of information on the Ranelagh web site. I have noticed that Ken has got the "Best of Age Groups" lists up to date, including the excellent runs by John Shaw which he achieved just before lockdown. However, unless I am missing something (quite likely) he has failed to note that Mike Peace ran 65.37 in the Blackheath Mob Match, which, by the huge margin of over 7 minutes was the best ever by a Ranelagh V70 since the course was slightly altered in, I believe, 2014. I appreciate that Martin Clark ran a faster time on the "old, pre 2013 " course, but as a ranking list for 2014 onwards is published, Mike should be at the head of it. It is also significant (but only to me of course) in that Mike destroyed my last remaining running ambition, which was to be the first Ranelagh runner to feature in the rankings in all four veteran age groups. I reckon that this demonstrates Mike's enormous loyalty to the club, and that this should surely be worth a mention in your next Newsletter. JOHN KIRK OBITUARY We are sad to report the death last week of John Kirk, one of a handful of young runners who spearheaded Ranelagh's revival in the 1950s. Within a very short time of his first donning a Ranelagh vest as a junior John was first finisher for the club in 3rd place in the mob match against Finchley Harriers in October 1954 and he was then 2nd in the first team match against Thames Hare & Hounds at Roehampton a little later. By the end of that season he had gained the club championship, producing in the process times over our club courses not seen since before the war. In January 1955 John was first home in the mob match against Blackheath at Hayes (capturing the F B Thompson medal) and went on to finish 43rd in the Southern Junior and 25th in the National Junior. He finished the season by running through the Baker Cup field from scratch to gain a well-merited win. In March 1956 he won club honours for 33rd in the Southern. John maintained this remarkable form by beating Chataway and Brasher by over two minutes in the mob match against Thames H&H. His name appears on the Wynne Cup club championship trophy in three successive years from 1955 to 1957, giving way only to the start of Bill Bird's sequence of seven in a row. John's job with BOAC took him abroad frequently but he was a regular competitor in club events for many years, chalking up 71 mob match appearances. In recent years, although no longer a member, he maintained a keen interest in the club's progress. We offer our condolences to his wife Pat and children Sue and Peter, who was himself a member for a few years and won the Thomas Cup and Baker Cup during the 1970s. SPORTING FEET Our friends at sporting feet (http://www.sporting-feet.com) continue to support runners in these challenging times. Please support this local business and friend of the club when you're thinking about any running / footwear purchases. Their Richmond and Putney shops are physically closed but you can order online or over the phone. You can pick up in store or they will deliver within two days free of charge. If you quote the code WEB10 and you will get 10% off whatever you purchase. THAMES SIDE BREWERY Andy Hayward writes from his Brewery and Tap Room on the Thames close to Staines Bridge: We're open for off-sales 4-7 pm Thursday-Saturday, please try to pre-order if you require bag-in-box beer, see website for details:. CABBAGE PATCH 10 miles Sunday 18th October at Twickenham. 1500 runners have put their names on the waiting list though it's looking increasingly unlikely that the event will take place. Check the website for further announcements. https://www.cabbagepatch10.com/ TO STOP RECEIVING the Ranelagh Harriers e-news, please reply with the word UNSUBSCRIBE