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Newsdesk 2002
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 75 25 SEPTEMBER 2002
Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com
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SURREY ROAD RELAYS at Wimbledon Park 14th September
Sarah Seal not only managed to get an excellent crowd of runners to turn
out, she also got three of them to write reports! First Sarah herself:
"An amazing total of 16 girls (who have now found fame on the website...)
turned out for the Surrey Road Relays in Wimbledon, allowing Ranelagh to
field a whopping 4 teams in the race. This was the first time several of
the girls had taken part in such an event and everyone certainly enjoyed
themselves. Our prize at the end of the day, a silver medal to which much
of the credit must be given to Liz for her speedy anchor leg for the A
team where she cooly cruised past Belgrave into second place. Liz recorded
the fastest time ever for a Ranelagh lady on this course and now claims
8th overall fastest time out of all senior women in the SRR records.
Millions of thanks to all those who ran and supported, to Julian for
providing the tea (didn't quite manage to get all 16 girls back to his
flat) and especially the bun buyers, they were scrummy!!"
Alice Beverly writes:
"Usually when I run in a big race, I'm quite intimidated by the sheer
numbers of other club runners... i.e. Belgave, SLH, Guilford & Godalming.
However last Saturday it was the blue Ranelagh vest that dominated, rather
than the usual maroon & yellow! Despite a gut-busting stitch in the last
mile I managed (just about) to enjoy the race and improve on my time from
last year... though that's hardly surprising as last year I had come
straight from a friend's eighteenth birthday party with rather too much
tequila and about four hours sleep!"
Sam Grant writes:
"It was my first time running with Ranelagh against other clubs so it was
all a very new experience. Had great fun - running was shorter distance
but somehow also harder work than I had anticipated... and there was loads
of support for Ranelagh all round the course - not sure who from (included
person in a van and all sorts of strangers out for their afternoon runs)
but was all extremely welcome!"
Sophie Timms writes:
"Feeling ropey with a cold, it was touch and go as to whether I was going
to make it but I'm really glad I made the effort. Despite a fairly average
time, it was a good test of how much speedwork is needed before the
beginning of the cross-country season. It was also a good exercise in team
building and we all had a good laugh - particularly at the photographer's
expense (don't give up your day job, Julian!)".
The women's vets team narrowly missed medals as Margaret, closing rapidly
on the Reigate runner ahead, just ran out of road.
The men's vets team had more luck, however, and settled into an isolated
bronze medal position after Marcus had run a storming first stage to set
fastest time of the day and fourth fastest ever by a vet. Stephen Instone
slipped back to fourth on stage 2 but Andy Bickerstaff pulled back into a
comfortable third place which was consolidated by Kevin Jacques.
Sad to relate we had no men's senior team on parade!
Women
1 South London 73.18
2 Ranelagh 74.08
Alice Beverly 19:25
Sarah Seal 18:20
Bridget Cuthbert 19:01
Liz Kipling 17:22
3 Belgrave 74.24
5 Ranelagh B 77.11
Anair Beverly 19:34
Estelle Damant 20:18
Jenni Kruse 18:50
Kristina Semple 18:29
8 Ranelagh C 83.52
Anna McLaughlin 20:17
Sophie Timms 21:42
Sam Grant 22:12
Clare Nicholson 19:41
Veteran Women
1 Epsom & Ewell 76.41
4 Ranelagh 81.44
Jacqui Reid 22:41
Sue Healey 19:38
Eliete Nascimento 20:06
Margaret Auerback 19:19
Veteran Men
1 Herne Hill 61.21
2 South London 63.05
3 Ranelagh 64.52
Marcus Gohar 15:03
Stephen Instone 17:34
Andy Bickerstaff 16:04
Kevin Jacques 16:11
NIKE 10km in Richmond Park 22nd September
Generations of Ranelagh Harriers have run laps of the Park's road circuit,
but certainly none so fast as Kenyan Paul Kosgei who covered 10kms of the
circuit (from near Sheen cross-roads to the Roehampton golf course) in
28.23; and none so fast, I strongly suspect, as Paula Radcliffe who flew
round in a European road best of 30.38.
20,000 entries were accepted but no parking facilities were provided
(where could they?). Special buses were laid on from local stations but
I'm told there were huge queues for these, with the result that the start
was delayed by 30 minutes for the "blue" group (sub-45 mins) and even
longer for the three subsequent waves of starters.
As later waves became intermingled the congestion on the Park's narrow
roads increased, making serious running difficult. But of course it was a
"fun run" and not a race so perhaps it didn't matter. Congestion continued
after the finish and I'm told there were long waits to retrieve kit. But
at least the weather was benign.
There were enough RH in the Park to man a small mob match, but relatively
few in the race (sorry, run) itself. Paul Doyle and Marcus Gohar were
prominent and others spotted by your correspondent included Steve Barber,
Bridget Cuthbert, Janet Turnes, Julie Naismith, Hilary Saw and Mike
Rowland. Doubtless there were others. Paul Doyle reports:
"A beautiful sunny morning greeted the 20,000 runners who descended on
Richmond Park. A small group of 10 or more elite athletes was assembled to
provide the quality running. In amongst the 'fun' runners I spotted Marcus
and Seb Coe. I managed a good starting position, a couple of feet behind
Paula Radcliffe. The start went well, with the elites going off fast.
Between 1km and 2km many of the less experienced runners were suffering
from the fast start. After that the race settled down. It felt like a home
run with so many Ranelagh Harriers encouraging me along the way. I set my
sights on chasing a group containing Sonia O Sullivan, who was treating
the run as a training session. If I had been on top form & injury free I
might have had the pleasure of running alongside her. Most runners ran
the first 5km faster than the final half. Indeed Paula Radcliffe was on
World Best pace at half way. The wind was strong in the final couple of
kilometres. The finish at Roehampton Gate was visible from several hundred
metres and that gave a final spur. World half marathon champion Paul
Kosgei won in 28:23 and Paula Radcliffe finished 10th overall in a
European Best of 30:38."
No results seem to have been published beyond the first handful of men and
women, but Paul reports having finished in 34.14.
OTHER RESULTS
Kerrie O'Connor is now working in Telford but, to quote Robin Drummond,
"...still finds ways to punish herself. Not content with doing a half
ironman triathlon, she chose the Snowdon race which crosses Llanberis pass
both on the bike ride and the run!"
932 Kerrie O'Connor swim 43.47
transition 9.27
bike 3.36.33
transition 5.44
run (half mar) 2.03.12
total 6:38:44
Anne Fallows, now living in Wales, finished 16th in 39.35 in the Cardiff
10km or September 8th.
Mick Lane finished 11th in 55.18 in the British Police 10 miles
championship in Edinburgh on September 11th.
ROOM TO LET
Liz Kipling writes:
"Large room available in friendly shared house. Located in Isleworth, 10
mins walk from St Margarets mainline station and within easy reach of
Richmond and Hounslow. Professional, non smoker preferred. £265 + bills
pcm. Available beginning October. If interested please e-mail
lizkipling@hotmail.com or phone 07762
374965".
TRAINING NIGHTS - IMPORTANT!
Bob Beatson writes:
"On two occasions in recent months, a Wednesday night newcomer has found
themselves on their own in Richmond Park. The second and more serious
occasion (18/9) prompted this note. Having been left behind by the pack,
the lady concerned found herself on her own at Robin Hood gate, in fading
light, with no money, and no phone. Understandably, she decided to leave
the park, and to try to get a taxi back to the club. This took some time,
but she did eventually make it back to the clubhouse (at about 8:30pm I
think) to pick up her keys from the changing room (and to pick up her car
I presume). It was lucky that Bert and I were still there to let her in.
She was worried about how she was going to pay for the taxi, so Bert lent
her £10. (With hindsight, I think that money should come from the club.
Surely that's the least we can do in the circumstances?) We really must
make sure that this sort of thing doesn't happen again, particularly with
the evenings drawing in. Not only was she left on her own, but it seems
that no one even realised that she hadn't returned to the club. I don't
know how it happened, as I was late that night, and the pack was out of
sight by the time I got into the park. It may be that discussions about
the new parking ban in the Dysart car park distracted people from looking
after the newcomer, but that's no excuse. I don't think there's any point
in trying to pin blame on any individuals. The only way I can see to avoid
this happening again is for everyone to take responsibility for looking
after newcomers. That means keeping an eye open for new faces at the
clubhouse, welcoming them, explaining the routine, and trying to fix them
up with suitable people to run with. If everyone accepts their share of
this responsibility, this sort of problem should be avoidable. There is a
temptation for those doing shorter or slower runs to go out separately
from the main pack. This can make it more difficult to find people for
newcomers to run with, so perhaps we should try at least to start
together? That might reduce the chances of newcomers feeling out of their
depth, or indeed getting left behind".
DEVELOPING ATHLETICS
The following comes from David Reader, London Athletics Development
Co-ordinator:
"Seb Coe has agreed to address the forthcoming conference, 'Developing
Athletics'. The conference which will be held on Thursday 10th October at
the Thames Valley Athletics Centre, Eton, will focus on three aspects:
Active Sports & Athletics, Athletics Development Tools and Athletics &
Social Inclusion.
The day has been organised by the AAAs development team and is aimed at
sport development officers, teachers, physical education advisors and
anyone else who is interested in the development of athletics.
Places still remain for those interested. For an application form email me
back (mailto:dreader@aaae-london.fsnet.co.uk) with a postal address.
(Closing date 26th September).
NEXT...
More details of the following from Andy Bickerstaff (07966 552302 /
mailto:norris.hobs@ndirect.co.uk) or Sarah Seal (020 8995 2380 /
mailto:sarahs@walker.co.uk).
Saturday September 28th Southern Road Relays at Aldershot (men)
Sunday September 29th Southern Road Relays at Aldershot (women)
Saturday October 5th Page Cup 5 miles handicap in Richmond Park, 3pm
start.
Saturday October 12th Surrey Cross Country League Division One: men
at Brockwell Park, women at Epsom Downs. Note the change of venue for the
women's fixture - not Richmond Park as shown in the Fixture Card.
Saturday October 19th Surrey Veterans Cross-Country Championships at
Richmond Park. 2.30pm start.
Sunday October 20th Cabbage Patch 10 miles road race at Twickenham,
incorporating our Callis Cup 10 miles road championship. 10 am start.
Entries £9 (payable to The Cabbage Patch Run) to 29 Stourton Avenue,
Hanworth, Middlesex TW13 6LA. Entry forms can be downloaded from
www.stragglers.org. Entry on the day £12.
FINALLY
Anyone who has been running for a few years will be accustomed to the odd
insult or catcall while they are out pounding the streets: "Hup two three
four", "Get them knees up" and other such highly original hilarities. But
now that runners on the roads are a common sight I thought that these
witticisms were fading out. It seems I was wrong. Has anyone else noticed
that if you hit the streets in running shorts the local wags are beginning
to pass jocular comments about the length of your shorts? It seems that to
be socially acceptable your shorts must be billowing around your knees
tennis-style. Or perhaps it's just my legs...
Steve Rowland
Telephone: 01926 318734
Fax: 0870 4006901
e-mail: srowland@calorgas.co.uk