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Newsdesk 2003

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 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 105              3 JULY 2003
 Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com  
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 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING  Wednesday July 9th in the clubhouse starting at 7.45pm.

 All members are welcome and encouraged to attend. Do try to be there if you can. 

 There is a slight modification to one of the proposed rule changes
 previously circulated (and also on our web site), as follows: 
 Rule 1:7:1e) Social members and members who by reason of age, distance of
 residence from the Club or infirmity are unable to have access to Club's
 facilities, at the discretion of the Honorary Membership Secretary pay a
 reduced subscription - £10 per year. 

 DYSART DASH 10Km   Sunday June 29th at Ham
 UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
 Bev Ali took the helm last Sunday for annual voyage down the Thames of the
 good ship Dysart Dash. Most of the rest of the crew remained the same but we
 had a new course, or at least a slightly longer one. Our original course
 measurement certificate having expired, Hugh Jones came down to do a
 re-measurement and presented us with an additional 10 or 15 yards which we
 tacked onto the end. Bev kept up the tradition of ordering a very hot day
 for the event and her first mates Big Al and Computer Ken fulfilled their
 usual roles as efficiently as ever. Bev writes:
 "A big thank-you to all who helped make the Dysart Dash run as smoothly as
 it did on Sunday.  Especially Alan Hedger, Ken Powley, Steve and Sonia
 Rowland, Hugh Jones, Janet Turnes and Julie Naismith, and Carol Barnshaw who
 have all done it so many times before that I need not have even been there!
 All the marshalls, timekeepers and recorders, water bearers, helpers in the
 kitchen, finish line memento distributors, the list is potentially endless,
 and I haven't even started on those Ranelagh runners who also did their jobs
 so well, thank you all...... if I haven't personally thanked you, it is
 because Alan did his job so well recruiting you, I didn't know about it! If
 you didn't get a water bottle, let me know, and I'll get you one.
 Well done everybody, and see you next year?"
 On to the race itself. For the first time ever, we were obliged to apply our
 500 limit on entries, and even though we extended it to about 550 we still
 regrettably had to turn people away after about 9.30am. It's a shame but the
 towpath cannot really absorb any more.
 What we gained in quantity we perhaps lost in quality, at least at the very
 front. The winning time of 32.23 was the slowest ever, though the heat may
 have been a factor. A group of seven or eight, including Peter Haarer and
 Paul Doyle, were all still in contention at half way, but on the second
 circuit it was the Herne Hill vests of Lyndon McKevitt and Mike Boyle that
 broke clear. McKevitt was a comfortable winner in the end, 16 seconds clear
 of Boyle who was the leading veteran. 
 There was some late drama next as London Irish's Dennis Ojera missed the
 last corner and had to be called back, allowing Peter Haarer through into
 third place. Paul Doyle hung on for 7th and it was good to see Marcus Gohar
 returning to fitness in 14th place, a performance which earned him the third
 vets prize. Mick Lane and Grant Lemke finished in the top 30 and Paul
 Graham, Chris Owens and Stephen Instone in the top 50 with Giles Marshall
 and Adam Tapley just behind. Chris narrowly missed the top over 50s prize.
 The champagne team awards went to Herne Hill and they should also take the
 Surrey team gold medals. Peter, Paul and Marcus were second team overall,
 and with Mick replacing Peter in the Surrey reckoning they should be
 runners-up in that too. 
 The women's race was more clear-cut as Lucy Hasell of Bristol and Thames
 Hare & Hounds led all the way to finish more than two minutes clear of
 Ealing's veteran Fiona Kennedy. Our flying flowers Sarah Seal and Eileen
 Church both wilted a bit in the heat but Sarah finished strongly to duck
 under 40 minutes for 4th place and Eileen followed on in 8th. Joanne
 Ronaldson looked impressive in closing in our team which, like the men, had
 to settle for 2nd place, this time behind SLH. But one of the SLH squad is
 not Surrey qualified, so the team should move up to first place for the
 county championship. More importantly the top three individuals were all
 non-Surrey so Sarah will add a second county championship to the one she
 picked up in the Dorking 10.
 Behind the scoring team we packed five runners in a little over a minute
 between Jenni Kruse at 176th and Anna McLaughlin 206th. Kathy Mallett and
 Sonia Rowland were 2nd and 3rd in the over 45 class.
 In all there were 50+ Ranelagh runners in the race, a great turn-out when
 added to all those who were helping on the day.  
  

 GRAND PRIX
 This was also the sixth event in the club road Grand Prix series. Paul Doyle
 extended his lead in the Open category to a well-nigh unassailable 19 points
 over Stephen Instone. Stephen himself still leads the Over 40s but both
 Simon Lawrence and Mick Lane are still within striking distance. Mike Peace
 enjoys a good lead in the Over 50s and leading woman Eileen Church extended
 her advantage over Evelyn Joslin. Leading scores:
 Open:  Paul Doyle 57,  Stephen Instone 38,  Mike Peace 36,  Mick Lane 30,
 Simon Lawrence 27,  Peter Haarer 24,  Darryl McDonald 24,  Eileen Church 22,
 Grant Lemke 18,  Paul Graham 16, Gareth Davies 13
 Over 40:  Stephen Instone 25,  Simon Lawrence 20,  Mick Lane 17,  Bob
 Beatson 7,  Marcus Gohar 6,  David Powell 6,  Ken Fotherby 6
 Over 50:  Mike Peace 29,  John Hanscomb 15,  David Meaden 15,  Tom Reay 10,
 Alan Meaden 8,  Chris Owens 6,  John Hughes 6 
 Women:  Eileen Church 22,  Evelyn Joslin 14,  Sarah Seal 12,  Thérèse
 Panetta 7,  Marlene Pautard 6,  Teresa Segovia 6, Bridget Cuthbert 6.
 83 members have so far finished at least one of the GP races. Full
 scoresheets and details of the remaining fixtures can be found on our
 website.

 SURREY ROAD LEAGUE
 And for good measure it was also the third (of five) races in the county
 road league. We're the holders of both the men's and women's league titles
 and the men are currently again sitting pretty (well.....) at the top of the
 table. The women are in third place. Individually we have the leader in the
 Open (Paul Doyle), Over 40 (Mick Lane) and Over 50 (Mike Peace) categories.
 Sarah Seal is well placed in the women's section but has only run two of the
 three events. The remaining races are the Elmbridge 10km and the Surrey 5km
 and the best four scores from the five events count.   

 CHRIS BRASHER MEMORIAL PONDS RUN   Tuesday 24th June
 There was a great turnout for this, with over 100 runners setting off on a
 fine evening to explore the ponds of Richmond Park. Brian Chard had
 organised some commemorative t-shirts (demand exceeded supply on the night
 but I believe some more have been made up) and the throng divided into four
 groups: Andy Bickerstaff and Ken Powley conducting "fast" and "slow" groups
 respectively around all 20; John Hanscomb leading a shorter run to visit 12;
 and the current beginners course taking in two!
 It was a welcome opportunity to visit parts of the Park most of us seldom if
 ever see. Navigation was not perfect (except Ken's of course) but we all
 made it back in due course to enjoy some food and drink at the clubhouse
 where we were joined by Chris's son Hugh Brasher. An exercise worth
 repeating.  

 OTHER RESULTS
 Tesco 10km   Sunday June 15th at Ealing
 Pete Warren was first over 60 in 42.09. 

 Datchet 10km  Saturday 21st June
 1 R Browne (London H) 33.22
 104 Pete Warren 42.04
 377 John Hanscomb 50.54 

 Epsom 10km  Sunday 22nd June
 1 P Rogers (Crawley) 31.27
 64 Steve Rowland 42.36
 106 Anna McLaughlin 45.06
 196 Wally Garrod 49.48
 219 John Hanscomb 50.47
 299 Alan Meaden 56.45
 343 David Meaden 61.12 

 Serpentine 5km  Friday 27th June in Hyde Park
 1 A Thomas (TH&H) 16.20
 57 Pete Warren 20.06
 142 Brian Chard 24.24
 160 John Hanscomb 25.36

 There's no stopping the over 60s! The names Warren and Hanscomb appear above
 with almost monotonous regularity. John even managed to find a race in
 Reading on Saturday 28th to make it three races in three days.  

 Surrey Masters Track Championships   Saturday 21st June at Kingsmeadow
 Star turn was Belgrave's Clifford Taylor who won nine events in the M70
 category - in fact everything except the 5000m and the 3000m walk. In truth
 he was unopposed in most of them and few events in any age category had more
 than a handful of competitors. Margaret Auerback couldn't match Taylor but
 came away not only with two golds in the W55 class but also two championship
 best performances. Stephen Instone was just outsprinted for a silver in the
 M45 5000m but Alan Davidson struck gold in the M55 1500 metres.
 W55
 800m 1 Margaret Auerback 2.43.70
 1500m 1 Margaret Auerback 5.27.21
 M45
 5000m 3 Stephen Instone 18.22.57
 M55
 1500m 1 Alan Davidson 5.25.52
 5000m 5 Alan Davidson 20.07.08 

 SOUTH DOWNS WAY RELAY
 Don't forget our second Brasher commemoration event, which will be held on
 Saturday August 16th or optionally Sunday 17th for those who can't make the
 Saturday. It's for teams of three (or more) along the South Downs Way from
 Buriton to Beachy Head. It's a great day out in some lovely countryside.
 Contact me or Andy Bickerstaff or Sarah Seal if you're interested in taking
 part.  

 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 ). See our web site for details and scores in
 the Ranelagh Road Grand Prix. 

 Sunday July 6th Harry Hawkes 8 miles at Thames Ditton. Race 7 in the
 Ranelagh Grand Prix series 2003. Entry form can be downloaded from
 http://members.aol.com/tdcc1234/hh8.htm 


 Wednesday July 9th Annual General Meeting in the clubhouse.  7.45pm start. 

 Saturday July 12th Brickmakers Arms Marathon Relay (10 x 2.5 miles) at
 Windlesham. 2pm start. A low key fun event based around an excellent country
 pub!  

 Wednesday July 16th   Coad Cup 5 miles handicap in Richmond Park. 6.45pm
 start.

 Sunday July 20th Elmbridge 10km at Walton. Start 10.30am. Race 8 in
 the Ranelagh Grand Prix series 2003. Entry form can be downloaded from
 www.elmbridgeroadrunners.co.uk 

 Friday July 25th Wedding Day 7km in Bushy Park, Teddington.
 7.30pm start. Those entered last year should have received an entry form in
 the post; otherwise they can be downloaded from www.stragglers.org
 Note there will be no entries on the day.  

 FINALLY
 Julian Smith sends the following on the World Masters Championships, where
 Margaret Auerback is a competitor:
 "This week's 15th World Masters Athletics Championships in Puerto Rico will
 have dozens of dramatic dashes, but none as momentous as the slowest. For
 the first time in WAVA/WMA meet history, two centenarians will line up
 beside each other in the same race. Waldo McBurney of Kansas and Everett
 Hosack of Ohio will face each other on Saturday, July 5, in the men's 100
 metres. With luck, they'll tangle again on July 8 in the 200-metre dash
 final. McBurney is the kid. He's just 100 (DOB 10-3-1902). Hosack is the
 true veteran, age 101 (DOB 2-28-1902). This will be the second WMA world
 meet in which the M100 age group (100-104) is contested. Before 2001, the
 oldest age group was 95-and-over. At the 2001 Brisbane WMAC, the first
 documented 100-year-old competed in the world championships: Leslie 'Les'
 Amey of Australia, who won the 100 in 71.05 seconds and set an inaugural
 M100 world record in the 1500 (19:59.54)". 

 Steve Rowland
 e-mail: srowland@calor.co.uk
 Tel: 01926 318734
 Fax: 0870 4006901