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 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 581      23rd January 2021
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: sandsrowland@btinternet.com  
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 LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT    

 Dear Ranelagh friends

 I hope you are all keeping well and safe. I know most of us were pleased to see the
 back of 2020 which will hardly go down as a vintage year in the annals of history. 
 I'm sure we all know someone who has been affected by Covid, either through catching
 it, being furloughed, losing a job or being unable to work due to lockdown, perhaps
 dealing with the home-schooling of children (or, for some of our junior members, being
 taught by your parents!). 

 Despite Wham!'s Last Christmas finally making it to the number 1 spot in the UK singles 
 chart some 36 years after its original release, 2021 hasn't started particularly well 
 either and we're unlikely to see any significant improvement or changes to the current 
 arrangements for quite some time but there are some promising signs. 

 The vaccine roll-out seems to be going well and I hope that a number of you have had
 yours  already. The days are now getting noticeably longer. We had a number of new
 members join in 2020 and, judging by the results in the virtual races, many of you
 have been able to stay in great shape despite the lack of races or Tuesday training
 sessions.    

 Facebook reminded me that I did my very first Ranelagh training session exactly 11 years 
 ago today as I write. I reported that "I was truly exhausted, clearly a long way 
 to go and likely to be rather stiff for the next few days". I'm very pleased I 
 stuck with it and am part of this wonderful club.  I feel very lucky to have joined
 such a great community and, even with the Covid restrictions, have been able to stay
 in contact with many of you. 
 During these times I'd like to remind you that you have friends at the club, and if
 you need  support or  someone to chat to please don't hesitate to get in touch with
 me or anyone else  within the club who will likely offer a friendly ear. Let's make
 sure we look after each other.

 Best wishes and stay safe
 Ted Mockett ranelaghpresident@gmail.com

 NATIONAL VIRTUAL ROAD RELAY
 The Qualifying Round for this national virtual competition ended last week. 128 
 teams entered and the target for us was to finish in the top 50 and thus qualify for
 the National Round in February. The good news is that we finished 28th, nicely 
 our target.  

 The National Round will take place between Wednesday 10 February and Monday 15 February. 
 Runners from the clubs who have qualified will need to sign-up to the National Round 
 competition on OpenTrack 
 National Round and 
 Open Track. As with the previous  round, the distance 
 will be a virtual 5 miles and clubs eligible for the National Round are allowed to
 have an  uncapped number of their runners enter the competition (with the fastest
 four men and four women scoring).

 25 Ranelagh took part in the Qualifying Round, 15 men and 10 women. Times were
 commendably fast and the standard was high. At the sharp end 23 men recorded times
 below 25 minutes and 19 women finished inside 30 minutes. Nick Impey and Suzy Whatmough
 were our fastest and our scoring team of eight comprised Nick, James Riley, Eirin McDaid,
 James Whistler, Suzy, Sarah Palmer, Emma Harris and Natalie Haarer.  Good luck to all
 who compete in the next round.  All are welcome.

 1    M Dickinson (Clap)  23.57
 79   Nick Impey  (Ran)   26.34            
 160  James Riley         27.24
 163  Eirin McDaid        27.25
 159  R Johnson (High)    27.36  (1st woman)
 199  James Whistler      27.48
 205  David Ready         27.50
 245  Ted Mockett         28.08
 286  Mark Herbert        28.30
 290  Gareth Williams     28.31
 309  David Lawley        28.38
 319  Marc Leyshon        28.42
 357  Andy Starr          28.56
 358  Rich Kimber         28.57 
 722  Suzy Whatmough      31.11
 889  Sarah Palmer        32.11
 995  Emma Harris         33.02
 1107 Natalie Haarer      33.44
 1162 Kathy Henry         34.02
 1162 Neil Rae            34.02
 1338 Cecily Day          35.10
 1376 Bill Neely          35.27
 1484 Rebecca Bissell     36.17
 1501 Wiebke Kortum       36.24
 1638 Gordon Whitson      37.35
 2016 Carol Aikin         42.06
 2354 Narissa Vox         49.33           

 Windsor Slough Eton
 and Hounslow AC were the winning team with an aggregate time for their 
 first four men and women of 3:41.47.
 Ranelagh team Nick, James, Eirin, James, Suzy, Sarah, Emma and Natalie finished 28th
 on 3:59.09. 

 RANELAGH FESTIVE CHALLENGE
 Report cribbed from Facebook:
 Back in November we set a lockdown challenge to run Richmond parkrun a lot. That
 seemed quite popular. What could we do for a Ranelagh Festive Challenge ?
 More parkruns , fancy dress , selfies , a weird arcane scoring system that gave more
 beer to the 5th placed competitor than anyone else - could it work? Yes it could!
 You guys have been at this in .
 Vying for top spot from the off were the young speedster  Pete Smith, and (hardly 
 tortoise-like ?) veteran Richard Willoughby. Richard put in an early statement of intent, 
 running five different parkruns in a day, and began to stretch ahead. Could Pete keep up? 
 Time would tell.
 A chasing pack of Marianne Malam, Rebecca Bissell and Ann Kearey soon formed, and kept 
 Richard honest. There was no slacking to be had from him as he fought to defend his lead, 
 with a dazzling array of costumes and endless dedication to the cause. Soon only Marianne 
 could get anywhere near him for selfies and volume of runs.
 Some late ultra-running from James Ritchie (10 parkruns, though cheating by cycling
 between) and Gareth Wiliams and Bruce McLaren (6 parkruns, honestly done) was in
 vain - Richard's lead was too great, and he continued to run multiple parkruns to the end.
 And so, with a phenomenal sixty parkruns in four weeks and 1441 points, we give you,
 your valiant champion, and winner of entry into next year’s Ranelagh
 10km, and a limited edition  T-shirt - Richard Willoughby! Richard, you can take a
 break from parkrun for a couple of days  now!
 Deserving no less plaudits, in second place, with forty parkruns and 786 points is the
 always impeccably selfied Marianne Malam.
 Courtesy of his cycling ultra, the final spot on the podium goes to James Ritchie with
 25 parkruns and 622 points.
 In the penultimate prize spot is Claire Warner. Quietly amassing runs, she climbed the 
 ladder, to seal fourth on the final day. 
 And what of the venerable fifth spot? Turns out Pete had been playing the long game
 all along,  and gets to go home with all the beer . Nicely done!
 Claire Warner and Alex Ring win a bonus prize of alcoholic beverages for their fantastic 
 New Year photo (see below).
 Thank you to everyone who took part. In all with 47 runners we managed 421 parkruns in
 four  weeks.
 With some brilliant costumes and selfies, we've loved seeing you all take part and having 
 so much fun.
 All the results are here:,
And all the pictures are here:
Plus check out the fab collages Kathy Henry has been posting on Ranelaghs Instagram - here:
 Have a great 2021! x

 LONDON YOUTH GAMES
 Richmond Borough won the LYG Virtual Cross-Country team title and in the Under 13 
 Girls, congratulations go to Ranelaghs Siena Lepine who was fastest on the 2km course
 with a time of 6.54. 

 LONDON MARATHON 
 From the London Marathon website:
 On Sunday 3 October 2021, 50,000 runners will have the chance to be a part of the
 biggest marathon ever staged anywhere in the world. The virtual Virgin Money London
 Marathon will return this year, giving participants the opportunity to take on the
 worlds greatest marathon on the course of their choice from 00:00:00 to 23:59:59,
 wherever they are on the   planet. Runners in the virtual event will join a record
 50,000 participants who will run the traditional Virgin Money London Marathon from
 Blackheath to The Mall. 

 The virtual Virgin Money London Marathon was held for the first time in 2020, when
 more than 37,000 runners, from all corners of the world, completed the race.
 The final finishing total of 37,966 means it has been awarded an official Guinness
 World Record title for the 'Most users to run a remote marathon in 24 hours'. 

 How to enter
 Everyone who entered the ballot for the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon will find 
 out on Monday 8 February if they have been successful or not. Unsuccessful applicants
 will have an exclusive window from Tuesday 9 February to Tuesday 16 February to enter 
 the virtual event.
 General entries will open on Tuesday 16 February, on a first-come, first-served basis.

 SPORTING FEET
 We have created a discount code for Ranelagh. Its Harriers10. This will entitle 
 all of your members to a 10% discount with us online. We have already reduced the
 prices of most of our key running shoes online anyway, due to Covid. So in many cases,
 your members will actually get double discount. Heres a link to the special offers
 section of our website, and most of our key running shoes are in here:
 Dominic Stead at Sporting Feet
 3, Lacy Road, Putney, SW15 1NH  020 8780 0558
 9, King Street, Richmond, TW9 1ND  020 8948 6059
 CARROT
 This comes from Nick Wright:
 Introducing my new 5km running ‘game’ mobile app -  carrot.run...

 I would like to invite all Ranelagh members to become some of the first consumers to 
 download and play it in its beta form. And Its free! Essentially I have created a
 handicap method game, mixed it with social competition (private leagues) within a weekly
 5km format. Runners follow their friends (like Strava), upload their best time the week
 (before Sat 18:00),  create their own private leagues (like WhatsApp groups) which are
 gamified within a points system (like a fantasy football league)...

 Runners can now compete anywhere, but together, on a level playing field, thanks to the 
 Carrot Target Time method. Anyone can win. The app (on Apple and Android) is in final
 testing stage and is hopefully available for download next week. Have a look at the
 website / holding page. 
 www.carrot.run

 PhDs
 Georgia Dunn writes: I am a PhD researcher from Anglia Ruskin University. My research is 
 focused on those who require the use of spectacles, and how these spectacles could impact 
 their running gait. I was wondering if you had any members that would fit the inclusion 
 criteria and would be willing to fill out my online survey? The participation would be 
 greatly appreciated for furthering my PhD research as it would further my understanding 
 of running experiences with and without spectacles. Here is the link for the survey:. 
 Thank you in advance and happy new year!

 Alex Ehlert writes: I am a PhD candidate studying the effects of various factors on 
 gastrointestinal issues during running. One of my dissertation studies is evaluating
 how factors such as nutrition intake, psychological factors, and gastrointestinal
 symptoms interact with each other. Specifically, I am asking runners to track some
 info about their runs for one week and complete a 10-15 minute electronic survey.
 As I am sure you can imagine, completing a dissertation in 2020 has been a challenge
 and I am looking for help! Id be happy to answer any questions you have or provide
 additional information about the study. If you'd be prepared to take part please
 contact me on aehle003@odu.edu. Thanks.

 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 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

 FINALLY
 How helpful are the Nike Vaporfly shoes in lowering marathon times by their wearers? 
 A new study from Cornell University suggests that the benefit to elite athletes is 
 between 1.5 and 2.9% (2.1 to 4.1 minutes) for men and between 0.8 and 2.4% (1.2 to 4.0  minutes)  for women.

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