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Newsdesk 2003
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 114 1 OCTOBER 2003
Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com
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WONDERFUL WHITLOCK!
72-year-old Ed Whitlock finally achieved his objective last Sunday of being
the first over 70 ever to crack the 3 hours barrier for the marathon. He
recorded 2.59.10 in finishing 26th overall in the Toronto Waterfront
Marathon. Ed writes: "You can get some details and some truly horrendous
photos of me finishing at Toronto Waterfront Marathon
I was completely spent at the finish and my looks were not enhanced by a
face-first fall 5 days before while walking to the store!"
Many congratulations Ed, you put the rest of us to shame.
To celebrate his achievement, Ed would like to buy a round for everyone who
cares to come along to the Rose of York after the Page Cup race this
Saturday. Ed won't be there in person of course, so I'll be the man with the
wallet.
PAGE CUP 5 miles handicap Saturday October 4th in Richmond Park
The season's second cross-country handicap takes place this Saturday,
starting at 3pm. All members will be very welcome.
SOUTHERN ROAD RELAYS Saturday September 27th (men) and Sunday September
28th (women) at Rushmoor Arena
We decided to go for vets teams only in the men's event, giving Marcus Gohar
the opportunity to mix it with the best of the M40 age group on the opening
stage. Marcus judged it well, sitting off the hectic early pace before
working his way through to a clear 2nd at the finish in a new personal best
time for the course. His 19.44 was the sixth fastest of the whole race. Mick
Lane applied himself to the difficult task of building on such a great start
and ran well to hang on to 5th place. On stage 3 Andy Bickerstaff briefly
moved the team back up to 4th but the wolf pack was in hot pursuit and he
was swallowed up by half a dozen of them on the second circuit. Kevin
Jacques, still on his way back from injury, took the final stage and brought
us home in a creditable 13th place.
Our Over 50s were never so prominent in their race, but Mike Peace ran a
good time on the opening stage and the team came home 28th. Injuries
prevented our over 60s team - silver medallists last year - from making it
to the starting line this time.
The women's teams on Sunday were also slightly depleted by some late
withdrawals but still had high hopes of a good finishing position. In her
favourite position as lead-off runner Sarah Seal followed Marcus's tactic of
staying back in the pack in the early stages and then came through very
strongly for 12th place in 13.52, our first sub-14 minute clocking on this
circuit. Though both losing a handful of places, Alice Beverly and Captain
Clare ran with great determination to stay in contention, leaving Liz
Kipling a string of targets to aim for on the final stage. Passing runners
right up to the home straight, Liz came across the line in 15th place and
the team's time of 58.53 was our best ever on this course by over a minute.
Their haste to finish was soon explained by the appearance not only of
Sarah's famous rock cakes but also of Alice's chocolate brownies!
WINDSOR HALF MARATHON Sunday September 28th
Bev Ali writes:
"I think this is notable because I think it is the first time I have run in
a non-Ranelagh race and not been the last Ranelagh finisher! Yahoo!
They say that the route is easier than the last two years, but I don't think
it was any different, though it was easier than the old route that went out
of the park". Best performance came from Joanne Ronaldson, 11th in the
women's race.
(Chip times in brackets)
1 S Kasimili (Kenya) 1.02.43 (1.02.42)
114 Grant Lemke 1.28.59 (1.28.47)
220 Joanne Ronaldson 1.32.48 (1.32.42)
623 Derek Mason 1.41.59 (1.41.38)
1294 Evelyn Joslin 1.50.31 (1.46.03)
2038 David Rowntree 1.59.00 (1.57.10)
2076 Thérèse Panetta 1.59.17 (1.57.04)
2308 James Barber 2.01.55 (1.59.07)
3598 Hazel Carr 2.22.18 (2.15.25)
3599 Lynne Barber 2.22.18 (2.15.26)
3843 Bev Ali 2.30.46 (2.23.46)
3844 Simone Bretherton 2.30.49 (2.26.21)
HOVE PROMENADE 5 Miles Sunday September 21st
Paul Graham finished 13th in 28.56.
TUESDAY NIGHT SESSIONS
Look on our web site for full details of the sessions, which all start at
7pm from the clubhouse.
7 Oct 1 x 10min effort, 3 x 4min efforts
14 Oct 3 x 3 x Ham Gate hill
21 Oct 2 x 7min efforts, 2 x 5min efforts
28 Oct 3 x 3 x Holly Lodge Hill
Wednesday night (6.30pm) training continues from the clubhouse too, plus
Sunday morning runs at 10am.
VETERANS (or MASTERS if you prefer)
Margaret Auerback writes:
"Entries for the Surrey Vets cross country champs being held in Richmond
Park on 11th October have now closed but if you meant to enter and forgot
you can still enter on the day. Women run at 2.30 over 6km. and the men run
at 3.00 over 10km. Entries on the day are £4.
Also coming up are the BMAF National XC relays at Glastonbury on Saturday,
25th October. We did very well in this event last year. If you are
interested please let me know as soon as possible. Men should contact Andy
B. Please note that this event no longer clashes with the Hastings club vets
champs.
The South of England Masters champs are on Sunday 16th November at Margate
and are taking place within the Reebok Cross Challenge. A chance to see how
you measure up against the top names! As the seniors and masters are running
together anybody who fancies it could come and run although obviously in the
right age group.
Again, contact me (mailto:margaret.auerback@virgin.net or Andy Bickerstaff
(mailto:andy@norris-hobs.co.uk ) so we can see if we are likely to get teams
although you can of course run as individuals".
FOUNDERS' CHALLENGE Sunday October 19th 26 miles "go as you please" from
Peaslake in Surrey
Peter Saw writes:
"You may be interested to know that my colleagues from the London Group of
the LDWA and I walked the route on Saturday, checked the route description
and were very impressed by the views from the hill tops. All in all we found
it a very attractive walk and look forward to welcoming anyone who, having
recovered from the Surrey League races the previous day (which everyone will
want to run in!), fancies a ramble (or something faster) in the Surrey
Hills. Going round in a group means only one needs to worry about the route
description. Full details were included in an earlier edition of e-news, or
see www.ldwa.org.uk
NEXT...
A full fixture list for the 2003/04 winter season is available on our web
site.
More details of the following from Andy Bickerstaff (07966 552302 /
mailto:andy@norris-hobs.co.uk ) or Paul Graham (mailto:paulgraham28@hotmail.com)
or Clare Nicholson (07710 348030 / mailto:clarenicholson@hotmail.com ).
Saturday October 4th Page Cup 5 miles handicap in Richmond Park at
3pm
Saturday October 11th Surrey Veterans Cross-Country championships
in Richmond Park. Women 6km at 2.30pm, men 10km at 3pm.
Sunday October 12th Kingston Running Festival - marathon, 16
miles or 8 miles events. See www.humanrace.co.uk
Saturday October 18th Surrey Cross-Country League Div 1 in Richmond
Park (Kingston Gate). Women from 12.30pm, men from 2.30pm.
Sunday October 19th Cabbage Patch 10 miles road race at
Twickenham. Likely to be popular so get your entries in early to avoid
disappointment. See www.cabbagepatch10.com
Also today, the Founders' Challenge 26 miles at Peaslake. See above.
Saturday October 25th Lee Cup mob match v Orion Harriers 7.5
miles in Richmond Park. All members encouraged to run please!
FINALLY
Ed Whitlock's run was not the only marathon record on Sunday. There was of
course the small matter of Kenyan Paul Tergat's world record of 2.04.55 in
Berlin, followed in 4th place in the same race by Mexican Andres Espinosa
who ran 2.08.46 for a new M40 record. But the list doesn't end there.
Finishing behind Ed in Toronto was Brit Fauja Singh who ran 5.40.01 for a
new world best for the over 90s....
Steve Rowland
e-mail: srowland@calor.co.uk
Tel: 01926 318734
Fax: 0870 4006901