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Newsdesk 2004
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RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 140 20 MAY 2004
Web site: www.ranelagh-harriers.com
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HEADLINE NEWS
* Successful Richmond Half Marathon on new course - Paul Doyle wins by 2
mins, Marie Synnott-Wells finishes 2nd woman
* Subject to confirmation, Surrey HM Champs gold medals for Paul, Marie,
Mick Lane and the men's team
* Results and reports of Green Belt Relay
* 36.07 10km pb for Allison O'Neill
DYSART DASH 10km Sunday June 27th at Ham 10am start
Entries are already coming in steadily for our next promotion and there's
every chance the 500 limit will be reached - so if you don't want to be
disappointed, get your entry in now. Forms are available on our web site.
BRICKMAKERS' ARMS RELAY MARATHON Saturday July 10th at Windlesham 2pm
start
Mike Peace writes:
".. 10 runners per team, each running 2.6 miles in leafy Surrey, all
sponsored by a pub, only 20 minutes down the M3. Please Email
(mailto:head@frimley.surrey.sch.uk ) or text (07711513745) me if you would
like to take part. Ideally, men's team, women's team, Bev's team, any others
team. I would like to get a strong team together in both the male and female
races to threaten the records plus all others just to threaten ... to run,
so come and get involved, it's good fun, and short, with good beer afterwards.
There's a notice in the clubhouse with details".
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND...
Chris Owens writes:
"Well - at least one or two people have asked about another run in the
country, plus lunch. I'm suggesting an easier venue (for some), and an 11am
(ish) start on Sunday June 13th from West End near Esher.
Easy run of up to an hour, several groups if numbers require it, scenic
Esher Commons - like Richmond Park but with more trees (and the A3 going
through the middle, but there are foot bridges), followed by lunch in the
Prince of Wales - good food, nice beer and a large sunny garden.
For those not interested in running (far), Garson's Farm & Shop can be
recommended (at least until the pub opens) - a large market garden farm
with extensive shopping for fruit, veg and other products, much locally
grown, also incorporates a garden centre".
CHRIS BRASHER MEMORIAL 10km Sunday June 20th in Richmond Park
Enter at www.chrisbrashermemorialrun.co.uk £7 of the entry fee goes
towards the Petersham Trust to preserve Petersham Meadows behind our club
house. Don't forget too that we have been asked to man a water station for
the race.
RICHMOND HALF MARATHON Sunday May 16th Ranelagh Road Grand Prix race 4
including Surrey Champs and club Half Marathon Champs.
After our old course from Old Deer Park had become simply too dangerous
despite an early start, it was a difficult challenge for organisers Robin
and Julie Drummond to devise a satisfactory new route. But this course,
taking in long sections of towpath between Richmond and Hampton Court, was
generally very well received by the runners. There were one or two difficult
crossings and Robin will be looking at alternatives to these. The one-lap
course is also heavy on manpower for marshalling etc, but the general
opinion seems to be that it is certainly worth persevering with.
The advertised limit of 500 entries was well over-subscribed and in the end
we accepted over 700, with definitely no entries on the day. Fortunately
less than 500 actually lined up at the start in Meadlands Drive. The morning
was a warm one, even at 8.30am.
Paul Doyle was always in control at the head of the procession and was soon
away and clear. He says he slowed a little in the final miles but still had
over two minutes in hand over the runner-up at the finish. A very impressive
run from Paul, who continues to go from strength to strength. Nick Henderson
had been wavering about whether to run today after two hard efforts in the
Green Belt Relay last week, but in the end he was glad he did as he strode
through to finish in 3rd place - helped, it must be said, by the Guildford
athlete who had been holding 3rd going off course at Kingston. Then just a
few seconds behind Nick in 5th place came another fresh from Ranelagh's GBR
team, Mick Lane, who also won the vets over 40 award. Not surprisingly, with
three home in the top five, the team prize came Ranelagh's way too.
A minute behind Mick, in 8th place overall, came the first woman in an
excellent 78 minutes, though few were able to name her during the race. It
turned out to be Alison Outram, a former junior international recently
returned to the sport and now representing Thames Hare and Hounds. She had a
full ten minutes to spare over the second placer, who was similarly unknown
to most of us - but this we were pleased to discover afterwards was our own
new recruit Marie Synnott-Wells.
Trevor Maguire and Tim Woods followed, then Stephen Instone pulling Liz
Kipling home in 6th place in the women's race just inside 90 minutes. Our
two racing machines Mike Peace and Andy Hayward were next, then Chris Read
and at 93.37 Bill Harvey who won the over 60s prize. Further back Mariette
Engelbrecht crossed the line in 1.52 and this was good enough to secure the
second team award for Ranelagh's women. It was good to have 26 Ranelagh
finishers in the race despite the large numbers of helpers required.
The race incorporates the Ranelagh Half Marathon championships, and the JF
Williams Cup and the White Rose Bowl will go in due course to Paul Doyle and
Marie Synnott-Wells. It is also the Surrey Championship, and subject to
confirmation there will be gold medals for Paul, Marie, Mick and the men's
team and silvers for Nick and the women's team.
Paul adds:
"The new course was very good, clever routing! Very well marshalled, a bit
lonely with only John Herries on the bike for company, actually quite nice
to back track onto the race at Kingston. Good improvement on my previous
best. Solid 5.30 per mile until 10 miles, slowing slightly after that. Spare
a thought for the venerable Bill Harvey, 1st V60 home, who has the 14th
fastest all time Ranelagh Marathon time, run at roughly the same pace, as my
half! Well done to all who ran".
A final comment from Robin Drummond:
"Here's an example of the sort of comment about the Ranelagh Half Marathon
that has been on the web. Please pass on to all who helped. And add a huge
thank you from me as well, without all the unselfish help we get this race
just cannot happen.
'Great, flat course. Friendly marshalls and smooth organisation. Perfect
running weather. Nice t-shirt at the end AND a spot prize. Oh and I got a PB
as well (1:46:50, 5 mins faster than previous best). Not bad for a Sunday
morning jaunt! :-)'
Let's hope that it all happens again for the Dysart Dash. Any comments or
suggestions about the Half Marathon should be directed at me for next year's
race".
See our web site for some good shots of some of the leading Ranelagh
finishers.
RANELAGH ROAD GRAND PRIX
The Richmond Half was the fourth event out of 10. Next is the Dorking 10
miles on June 6th. There is a full scorechart and fixture list on our web
site, but leading scores to date are:
Open
Trevor Maguire 27, Paul Doyle 24, Mick Lane 22, Liz Kipling 21, Mike
Peace 18, Stephen Instone 17, John Hughes 12, Andy Hayward 12, Peter
Haarer 12, Ken Fotherby 11, Marius Acker 11, Nick Henderson 11
Men Over 40
Mick Lane 12, Stephen Instone 10, Andy Hayward 8, Ken Fotherby 6, Tim
Woods 5, Simon Lawrence 4
Men Over 50
Mike Peace 17, John Hughes 10, John Hanscomb 9, Alan Meaden 8, Simon
Rothwell 6, Bill Harvey 5, David Meaden 5, Alan Davidson 5
Women
Liz Kipling 17, Anna McLaughlin 10, Jo Ronaldson 6, Corinne Bishop 6,
Marie Synnott-Wells 6, Kathy Mallett 5, Jenni Kruse 4, Mariette
Engelbrecht 4
Women Over 40
Michele Gibson 6, Janet Turnes 6, Jackie Alderton 6, Lynne Barber 5,
Marina Quayle 5, Hazel Carr 4
Women Over 50
Corinne Bishop 11, Bev Ali 10, Kathy Mallett 6
OXFORD TOWN AND GOWN 10km Sunday May 16th
Allison O'Neill reports:
"At the Oxford Town & Gown 10km last Sunday, after precisely 19 years and 8
months, I finally broke my lifetime best for 10k! Finishing 2nd woman
behind Jo Kelsey, I ran 36:07, shaving 2 seconds off my PB of 36:09, set in
September 1984 at the Women's Own Laganside 10k in Belfast when I was just
18. So there's hope for all of us yet - even on the wrong side of 35!"
GREEN BELT RELAY Saturday May 8th and Sunday May 9th
Mike Rowland reports:
"After the noise and the crowds and the hype of the London Marathon, and all
the hours pounding the pavements in training for the thing, you need
something like the Green Belt Relay, if only to remind yourself what a
beautiful country we live in. Last weekend saw another highly successful
event that was truly a credit to Sean Davis and his team of helpers from the
Stragglers. OK, so it was wet, particularly on Saturday, and it was a bit
muddy (though not in the same league as Epping Forest). But it did not spoil
my enjoyment of this unique event. It even gives us slowies a chance to win
something because.... yes, once again, Bev's Bloodhounds won the coveted
toilet seat for last team to finish. But we were 20 minutes faster than last
year, Bev, even with all that mud so we must step up the negative training
next year!
Congrats to Ranelagh Greyhounds for finishing second behind the strong
Flanders team from Belgium. And this, despite the President and Neil Walford
going off course. Don't run so fast, mates. At my pace, you have plenty of
time to see all the sawdust markers and signs on the trees. An excellent
effort by the Ranelagh Lassies as well, second ladies team.
So many thanks are needed. To Clive and Mick and all the people who helped
transport people to and from their stage and who did that job so
efficiently. To all the team captains, especially mine, Bev Ali, for all the
stresses and worries they must have gone through to get everything
organised. To Tom Reay for keeping me company from Bourne End station to the
start of Stage 4 and helping to take my mind off what lay ahead. To the lady
from Thrift Green Trotters who ran with me almost throughout Stage 16 on
Sunday and whom I insisted on calling Sandra even though she kept telling me
her name was Suzanne. She even apologised near the end for making me run so
slowly! If only she knew! It's little friendships like that which add to the
enjoyment.
But, most of all, a HUGE, HUGE thank you to Sean Davis and his marvellous
team from Stragglers. It's a monumental piece of organisation. The man is a
credit to our sport".
The Greyhounds indeed did remarkably well to finish overall runners-up.
Individually only Mick Lane actually finished in the top two on his stages -
a win on day 1 (his 5th GBR stage victory) and a narrow defeat by a Belgian
on day 2. But on nine more stages we were 3rd or 4th and it was this
consistency that pulled us through. Neil and Mike were amongst those with
second day 3rd places, more than making up for their excursions on the first
day. It was good to see Nick Henderson back in action with two solid runs,
and also Giles Marshall, who has rarely been sighted since last year's Green
Belt!
We didn't actually move into 2nd place until stage 12 and thereafter inched
away. At the finish at Ham we had just 10 minutes to spare over West 4, 23
minutes over the Serpies and 50 minutes over the leading vets team, the
no-prizes-for-spelling "Millenium Group".
The Lassies blitzed away at the start of the women's competition, with wins
on the opening two stages from Sarah Seal and Liz Kipling. But the very
strong Serpentine team was biding its time and steadily clawed its way back
and on to retain the trophy they won last year. But all credit to the whole
Lassies team for a great second place and especially Liz and Sarah who both
made it a double with day 2 wins. Special mentions for Mariette Engelbrecht
who stepped into the team at the last moment, Jenni Kruse who managed a top
ten finish on day 2 and Anna McLaughlin who played a Captain's innings by
covering more miles than anyone else over the weekend - 27.1, no less! It
was also nice to see Lizzie Clifford again.
The Mongrels unfortunately started a man short after late drop-outs from
other teams necessitated some sudden promotions. Then SLH guest Francis
Upcott, after an impressive 8th place on day 1, had to withdraw injured on
day 2 so we had no starter on three stages altogether. At the time of
writing the Mongrels have been excluded from the overall result, but the
normal procedure in the past has been to award the stage "cut-off" time for
missing runners; and this was in fact done for two or three other teams this
year. So we hope the Mongrels will be re-instated and I calculate our
position should be 18th. Best results for the team came from Simon Lawrence,
6th on stage 9, Francis Upcott 8th on stage 7 and Milos Dusek who scored a
brace of 9ths.
Bev Ali adds:
"My thanks to all the Bloodhounds and their handlers for the effort to make
it work again this year. And a big thank-you to all the drivers on the M25
on Sunday for allowing me to drive from Twickenham to Lullingstone in less
than one hour without exceeding 80 mph.....and I didn't have Simon's car!
Despite the herculean efforts of Wyn and Simon, and in spite of the
treacherous footing - ankle deep slimy mud - our cumulative time has not
varied a great deal over the three years. HOWEVER, we ARE closing in on the
winners! The gap has narrowed by almost an hour! Before you know it we will
be finishing in the same shift as the top ten teams. The Stragglers did
their usual fantastic job of organising, marking and timing the races....
Just picture it - 20 half marathons in two days! The Hamworthy Running Group
deserve an award for refusal to abandon their post in the face of extreme
slowness of the last 'runner', the Millenium group for courage and reckless
bravery for the protection of runners crossing the A4, and Olsgboscorunners
for making us all smile with their fancy dress - plus they have raise over
£2000 for charity. I think that next year, as well as continuing to whittle
down the lead, we should try for the only trophy we haven't won yet - the
Charity Shield. (We all KNOW who is the friendliest and most supportive -
WE don't need a trophy to prove THAT). One other point - if you REALLY enjoy
the GBR, there is a forum for letting the uninitiated know about it, and
that is the Runners World Website. On the 'Events' page, on the left hand
side there is a link to 'Rate 2004 Races' where you can rate the Green Belt
Relay on quite a few categories. See y'all next year".
A NICE RESTFUL FAMILY HOLIDAY USA National Triathlon Training Centre,
Clermont (Nr. Orlando), Florida
Paul Doyle writes:
"Just after Easter, we went on a family holiday to my wife's aunt and uncle
in Clermont, just outside Orlando. Thinking the only likely holiday training
would chasing my daughter around Disneyworld, I hadn't realised we were
staying a stone's throw from the USA National Triathlon Training Centre
(http://www.usat-ntc.com/ ). I met some really friendly people.
The track is free to use. The track organiser and coach, Don DeNoon, allowed me
to join in some of the coaching sessions. He is the run coach to world women's
tri champion, Sheila Taormina, with whom I did a little training. Olympic 100m
medallist Dennis Mitchell was coaching the sprinters. The endurance training
sessions start at 7.30am Tues & Thurs at the track, free of charge. A good
start to the day before it gets too hot. Made some new friends! I thought
racing and training were slowed considerably by the 80F+ temperatures:
Run for the Trees 5km Saturday April 24th
1 Paul Doyle 16.07 (had to leave the prize in Florida, for
obvious reasons!).
IOA 5km Friday May 7th
2 Paul Doyle 15.57 (nice corporate race, finish in the Citrus
Bowl football stadium)".
On his return from the USA, Paul ran a personal best for 4th in the Surrey
county 5km track championships the day before the Richmond Half Marathon!
1 P Wicks (WSEH) 14:55.12
4 Paul Doyle 15:25.75
FOSTER REPORT ON UK ATHLETICS
Colin Gostelow writes:
"Looking at the report on the above in Athletics Weekly I realised that the
"Michael Johns" who was working with Sir Andrew Foster was the Mike Johns I
used to run (and drink) with at the Dysart in the 60's. I had seen the name
a number of times over the last few months, but had failed to make the
connection! Has any-one else picked up the pivotal role one of our
ex-members has had?"
Colin himself has recently completed his year as President of the South of
England AA, a distinction which I believe has so far gone unreported in
these pages.
LIFE 40, WALFORD NIL
Neil Walford writes:
"As the big 4 zero seems determined to nail me despite my best denials, I
propose to spend the first day of my dotage pretty much like the previous
14,610 days i.e. eating and drinking. Therefore will be having a BBQ on
Saturday 19th June, starting 2-ish and continuing until food/drink/light
runs out and the hard core debunk to Brighton town
centre. Our address is 8 Brangwyn Drive Brighton, BN1 8XD (01273 551142).
There is a train service from Croydon c 40 mins (originally from either
Victoria or London Bridge) and we are a straightforward 15 minute walk from
Preston Park station, alternatively there is plenty of on-road parking.
Despite my protestations, Amanda is insistent that the cardboard
veggieburgers are reinforced by animal flesh (so no need to get a Macdonalds
on the way), however please feel free to bring a bottle. Grateful if you can
let me know if you can make it".
TUESDAY NIGHT TRAINING
7pm from the clubhouse:
25th May 6 squares + 6 triangles (nr Pen Ponds car park)
1st June 6 x Queen's Ride loop + 3 x 20sec strides
8th June 4 x Spankers Hill, 2 x Queens Ride
15th June 1500m time trial + 4 x 3mins
TWO LIZARDS LOOKING FOR A GOOD HOME
No, really. Deborah Young writes:
"Would anybody like to own a couple of lizards - uromastyx?
A friend of mine, Sheila, is taking on the care of a teenage boy - the son
of a close friend who died earlier this year. He has two adult lizards and
unfortunately she can't take them in as well. She has nobody who can look
after them when she goes away and they need daily feeding (on salads and
vegetables). So she and the boy are trying to find a good home for them.
They come with a glass cabinet which is 5 feet long, and is heated and lit
on a timer. If you're interested please let me know (020 8948 3887) so I can
put you in touch with Sheila".
NEXT...
The 2003/04 fixture list, together with details of the 2004 Ranelagh Road
Grand Prix, can be found on our web site.
More details of the following from Andy Bickerstaff (07966 552302 /
mailto:andy@norris-hobs.co.uk ) or Anna McLaughlin (07971 606521 /
mailto:anna.mclaughlin@itv.com ).
Sunday May 23rd Coombe Hill 5 miles
Thursday May 27th Summer Junior Handicap Series 2km race 2.
7pm at the Hawker Centre, Kingston. All under 17s welcome.
Sunday June 6th Dorking 10 miles. Ranelagh Road GP race 5
and Surrey 10 miles Championship. Start 10.45am. Forms available from
www.dmvac.org.uk
Sunday June 20th Chris Brasher Memorial 10km in Richmond Park.
See www.chrisbrashermemorialrun.co.uk for details.
Thursday June 24th Summer Junior Handicap Series 2km race 3.
7pm at the Hawker Centre, Kingston. All under 17s welcome.
Sunday June 27th Dysart Dash 10km. Ranelagh Road GP race 6
and Surrey 10km Championship. Start 10am in Meadlands Drive, 5 mins from
our clubhouse. Forms available from our web site.
FINALLY
Aussie Mike Hubbert thought he was just over in the UK for a quiet month's
holiday - until he found himself drafted in to the Green Belt Relay team to
make up the numbers in Bev's Bloodhounds. There's no hiding place...
Steve Rowland
e-mail: srowland@calor.co.uk
Tel: 01926 318734
Fax: 0870 4006901