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Newsdesk 2005

 ****************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 173            16 MARCH 2005
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
 ****************************************************************************
 HEADLINE NEWS
 *  Great performances at the Reading Half Marathon
 *  Surrey Half Marathon championship silver medal and Inter-Counties gold
    for Paul Doyle
 *  Spendlove Cup win for Neil Walford
 *  Baker Cup Supper details 

 WHAT'S COMING...
 ************************
 The fixture list for the 2004/05 winter season, can be found on our web site.
 More details of the following from
 Andy Bickerstaff (07966 552302 / mailto: andy@norris-hobs.co.uk ) or 
 Phil Aiken (07739 035189 / mailto: phil.aiken@rnid.org.uk ) or 
 Anna McLaughlin (07971 606521 / mailto: anna.mclaughlin@itv.com ).

 Saturday March 19th              Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km. 9am
 start
                                             Junior Points Prize Race 4  2km
 in Richmond Park. 2.30pm start, all under 17s welcome.
                                             Trail Challenge races in Bushy
 Park. See below. 

 Sunday March 20th                Worthing 20 miles. Details:
 http://www.worthingharriers.co.uk/worthing20.htm.
                                             Adidas "Breakfast Runs" 8 or 16
 miles at Kingston. Details: http://humanrace.co.uk/breakfast/index.html. 

 Saturday March 26th               Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km. 9am
 start 

 Saturday April 2nd                  Baker Cup 3 miles road handicap. Start
 at 3pm near White Lodge in Richmond Park. All members welcome.
                                              Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial
 5km. 9am start 

 Sunday April 3rd                     Thames Towpath 10 miles at Chiswick 

 Saturday April 9th                   Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km.
 9am start
 
 Saturday April 16th                 Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km. 9am
 start

 Sunday April 17th                   London Marathon incl Winter Cup and
 Brasher Bowl club championship and women's championship. 

 Sunday 1st May                     Sutton 10km. Details at
 http://www.suttonrunners.org/.

 BAKER CUP SUPPER AND PRIZE PRESENTATION  Saturday 2nd April
 This will be at the Hawker Centre in Lower Ham Road on Saturday 2nd April.
 All members and guests are welcome, especially all the trophy winners!
 Marina Quayle writes:
 "The party will begin at 7 for 7.30 and will end at midnight. We will have a
 buffet and either a band or a DJ. Jo Turner and I will be selling tickets
 from tomorrow onwards at the club. These will be £15 per head which includes
 food and entertainment. There will be a paying bar available for drinks. The
 dress code is smart. Anybody who has suggestions for a band or DJ please
 contact Jo or me".
 If you can't get to the club, contact Marina
 (mailto:marina_quayle@hotmail.com) or Jo (mailto:joturner_45@hotmail.com). 

 TROPHIES FOR THE PRIZE PRESENTATION
 All trophy holders who have not yet returned them to our Trophies Steward
 Alan Hedger, please arrange to get them to him as soon as possible so that
 Alan can get them engraved in time for April 2nd. Contact Alan on 01372
 704626.

 JUNIOR POINTS PRIZE FINAL RACE
 The fourth and last race in the series will be on Saturday 19th March on the
 usual 2km course around Sidmouth Wood. All under 17s are welcome. Frances
 Ratchford adds: "After the race the trophies will be presented to the
 winners of the series at the clubhouse.  There will also be silver & bronze
 medals for 2nd & third places in each age group. Everyone who runs will get
 a prize and everyone who has run two races or more will get a medal. Carol
 has offered to make tea & cake for parents & children while we get the
 results together".

 2005 RANELAGH ROAD RUNNING GRAND PRIX
 The full list of events is now up on our web site and will begin as usual
 with the Thames Towpath 10 at Chiswick on Sunday April 3rd. Details are at
 http://www.west4harriers.org, but it seems that entries have already closed.
 This is becoming a more and more common occurrence, so the moral is: get
 your entries in early!
 The second event is the London Marathon, followed by the Sutton 10km on May
 1st.
 The five events that form the Surrey Road league are all included in our GP:
 these are the Sutton 10km (May 1st), the Dorking 10m (June 5th), Dysart Dash
 10km (June 26th), Elmbridge 10km (July 24th) and Surrey 5km (August 14th).

 GREEN BELT RELAY
 This is to be held this year on Saturday and Sunday May 21st and 22nd. For
 those of you new to the event you can get all the information at
 www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk. In brief, it's a relay taking a very scenic route
 around the outskirts of London, comprising 20 stages with an average length
 of about 10 miles. Teams comprise ten runners and each runner has to run one
 stage on Saturday and another on Sunday. We usually put in at least three
 teams and there's room for all standards - indeed there's a trophy for the
 last team to finish which is currently the jealously guarded property of Bev
 Ali's Ranelagh Bloodhounds! We'll have a women's team, a men's team and
 possibly another mixed team, so we need up to 40 runners in all. If you're
 interested please contact me or Anna McLaughlin (details above) or Bev Ali
 (mailto:bev.ali@blueyonder.co.uk) as soon as possible. 

 SAM'S RUN
 Many people will remember Sam Haughian, one of Britain's most promising
 young runners who was tragically killed in a road accident in South Africa
 last year. Sam was a second-claim member of Ranelagh for a while as a
 teenager. Some of his friends have got together to organise a one-off
 memorial run to celebrate and remember a super young man and highly talented
 athlete. It's a 10km run and will take place on Sunday 24th April at 10.30am
 in Bushy Park. All proceeds will go into a trust fund that has been set up
 in Sam's name to assist young runners of potential. More details at
 http://www.sweatshop.co.uk/samsrun/index.htm.

 WHAT'S HAPPENED...
 ****************************
 READING HALF MARATHON  Sunday 6th March
 As every year apparently, the competitors were lined up on the startline in
 windy, freezing conditions when the organisers announced a delay, which
 turned out to be over 20 minutes. It does seem to be a fast course, as there
 are only two major hills with the big one coming after just a mile.

 I don't know how many of our ten runners set personal bests, but there were
 certainly a good few smiling faces afterwards. Pride of place goes to Sarah
 Seal and Anna McLaughlin who both hacked minutes off their previous fastest
 times to finish 6th and 20th respectively in a high quality women's race.
 Sarah reportedly ran a 10 miles pb of 60.01 en route and her 6 miles between
 4 and 10 miles were covered in 35.40, which equates closely to her 10km pb!
 The end result was a sub-80 minute clocking which takes her to 5th on
 Ranelagh's all-time list. Anna must have treated her 10 miles personal best
 with equal disdain on the way to a brilliant 84.34 and 8th place on the
 Ranelagh all-time list.

 Chris Read, Tim Woolmer, Evelyn Joslin, Julia Langensiepen and Jacus
 Engelbrecht all beat the 100 minute barrier on chip times, though the
 official results leave all but Chris and Tim just outside.

 Chip time differentials always make interesting reading: Sarah and Anna
 obviously meant business, both of them getting across the line just a
 handful of seconds after the gun, but Karen and George seem to have been in
 much less of a hurry...

 1 J Kimtai (Kenya) 1.01.51  (chip time 1.01.50)
 26 C Mutwa (Ken - 1st W) 1.13.09  (1.13.07)
 99 Sarah Seal 1.19.37  (1.19.33)
 221 Anna McLaughlin 1.24.34  (1.24.27)
 612 Chris Read 1.31.47  (1.30.52)
 1037 Tim Woolmer 1.36.51  (1.35.52)
 1482 Evelyn Joslin 1.40.29  (1.39.18)
 1579 Julia Langensiepen 1.41.08  (1.39.59)
 1621 Jacus Engelbrecht 1.41.30  (1.37.28)
 2342 Simon Tyler 1.46.34  (1.45.23)
 2800 Karen Vinicombe 1.49.24  (1.44.11)
 7213 George Coates 2.18.51  (2.08.56)

 HASTINGS HALF MARATHON  Sunday 13th March
 Paul Doyle ran a pb of 70.46 to move into 21st place in the Ranelagh ranking
 list. More importantly he won the Surrey county silver medal (just 12
 seconds behind Thames's Andy Weir) and also picked up a team gold in the
 Inter Counties championship. "I blew up after 11 miles and limped in losing
 two places," was Paul's own verdict, "13.1miles is too long for me!"

 1 F Mogaka (Kenya) 1.04.10
 12 Paul Doyle 1.10.46
 1288 Tom Reay 1.50.40
 1632 Carolyn Turnhout 1.55.41
 2900 Pat Hewlett 2.21.05

 FINCHLEY 20 MILES incl Spendlove Cup club 20 championship  Sunday 13th March
 Neil Walford reports:
 "I would like to thank my coach Frances Ratchford, my dog Jimbo Jones, my
 Publican....

 It was a cool day, ideal for running four times round an undulating course
 and dodging cars pulling out from un-marshalled junctions. Pre-race
 motivation was provided by the fact that the clubhouse had a) unlimited
 Carlsberg Special Brew on draft, and b) a limited number (12) of scones with
 mountains of jam and cream on that they refused to reserve for us, but said
 would be available after the race on a first come first served basis.

 On-course support and updates on progress were provided by Captain
 Bicksie-Boo and a new relatively slimline Kev Jacques. I had the explicit
 goal of pot-hunting my first Ranelagh trophy for c12 years - having been
 informed that none of the faster boys were doing it. I persuaded my training
 partner from Brighton, Shaun to run and we set off to run first 10 miles
 together in 64-65. We did this comfortably and accelerated to cover next 10
 in just over 61, overtaking people every mile. Shaun struggled in the last
 mile and I got about a 20 second lead but waited for him in finishing
 straight so could finish together - WHAT A SUCKER! I subsequently found out
 the results credited him as finishing ahead of me. Worse still, when went
 into bar I found that someone in the first 12 finishers had eaten more than
 one scone and so none were left. There is a moral in here somewhere..."

 Neil was 2nd over 40 to finish and of course will take home the Spendlove
 Cup. Marie Synnott-Wells was 10th woman home despite still being well
 under-par following illness. She also reports taking four minutes to tie up
 her shoelaces when they came undone at one point, because her hands were so
 cold! There were PBs all the way for Evelyn and Karen.

 1 T Berg (Mornington) 1.51.20
 13 Neil Walford 2.06.15
 62 Marie Synnott-Wells 2.24.32
 205 Evelyn Joslin 2.52.18
 206 Karen Broadbent 2.52.18

 ASHBY 20 Miles  Sunday 13th March
 1 G Raven (Sale) 1.44.17
 262 Simon Burrell 2.44.23

 BRAMLEY 20 Miles  Sunday 20th February
 Results were in e-news 171 but Derek Mason adds a few words about the race:
 "It was the coldest weather that I have ever had to run in, and I'm afraid
 it showed, as I went through 10 miles in 77 minutes, so hoped to finish in
 under 2:40, but I froze, almost literally from 12 miles and struggled to
 keep going, regretting with every step that I had not put on full-length
 leggings. Being from South Africa, we are not used to this cold for races,
 but hopefully I won't have the opposite problem with the heat during my
 tenth Two Oceans Marathon at the end of March. Unfortunately my training has
 not gone well, but hopefully there will be enough in the tank to see me
 through in under six hours, for my tenth medal and permanent number".

 LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km  Friday 25th February in Hyde Park
 Pete Warren, now an over 65, was the first over 60 home.
 1 J Shane (Basildon) 15.26
 61 Pete Warren 20.19
 70 Alan Davidson 20.54
 126 Mike Rowland 24.02
 148 John Hanscomb 27.14

 KINGFIELD CANTER  2.85 miles handicap  Wednesday 2nd March at Woking
 1 S Cutmore (Unatt) 23.50  (actual time 23.50)
 4 Sonia Rowland 25.42  (21.27)
 20 Alan Davidson 27.10  (18.40)

 GREENWICH MERIDIAN 10km  Sunday 6th March
 1 S Neill (RAF) 32.31
 366 Alan Meaden 57.52
 368 David Meaden 58.02

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 12th March
 The usual suspects...after this the 24th BPTT, Darren Wood, Gill Wilson and
 Stephen Instone head the participation table with 18, 16 and 15 appearances
 respectively.
 1 J Hotchkiss (Signa S) 16.33
 8 Stephen Instone 19.58
 11 Darren Wood 20.20
 20 Adam Wright 22.38
 22 Roger Wilson 23.11
 25 Wally Garrod 24.43
 26 Alan Craig 27.00
 27 John Hanscomb 27.28
 30 Luke Wilson 29.17
 31 Gill Wilson 29.18

 FURTHER AFIELD
 **********************
 ALDERNEY HALF MARATHON and 10Km Saturday 10th September
 Angus Cater writes:
 "I am planning to sail my 44 ft boat Harrac to Alderney on the Friday and
 sail back on the Sunday. It is 60 nautical miles from the Needles so we will
 probably congregate in Lymington on the Thursday night for an early start on
 the Friday, aiming to get in late Friday afternoon. I have three competent
 crew/runners but have 4 spare berths at the moment if anyone from Ranelagh
 is interested in combining a week-end's sailing with a really nice half or
 10km - Alderney, if you haven't been there, is a fabulous small island." You
 can contact Angus on mailto:angus.cater@tecres.net. 

 TORONTO WATERFRONT MARATHON  Sunday 25th September
 This is the race in which Ed Whitlock has set his marvellous world Over 70
 records. The organiser Alan Brookes has been in the UK recently staying with
 Hugh Jones, and has written to Ed: "Could we invite Ranelagh to have a club
 trip to the Waterfront Marathon this year to run on 'Ed Whitlock's home turf
 and world-record course'? It's only £89 each way on canadian-affair.com and
 flyzoom.com, and people can stay at the SkyDome Hotel adjacent to the start
 / finish for $170/night".

 TRAINING RUN WITH A DIFFERENCE
 Mike Elliot writes:
 "The first event of the Trail Challenge Spring Series takes place this
 Saturday 19th March in Bushy Park. Trail Challenges are VERY simple
 orienteering runs for all ages and abilities. It's a mass start with a map
 so you can (try to) follow the leader. Can you keep up with the best
 South-East Orienteers? If you are not doing anything else on Saturday give
 it a go. There are 10km, 6km and mini races.

 Event centre and parking at Hampton Wick Cricket Club. Start times: Juniors
 at 2.45pm, 10km at 3.10pm, 6km at 3.20pm. Please enter in advance - details
 and an entry form at www.sloweb.org.uk.

 Race 2 is on Sunday 3rd April at Box Hill, race 3 is on Sunday 1st May at
 Peaslake, nr Dorking - in conjunction with the Orienteering World Cup Long
 Classic Final, giving you a chance to see the World's top orienteers in
 action for the first time ever in the South-East of England".

 STAG NIGHT - NO RUNNING REQUIRED
 Julian Smith would like to offer an open invitation to all male members of
 Ranelagh to attend his Stag Do (Round 2) at the Fox & Grapes on Camp Road on
 Saturday 9th April 2005, from 6pm onwards.

 TRAINING
 ************
 Tough Tuesdays continue as normal, with speed work for various groups and
 Wally's beginners' club, at 7pm from the clubhouse. Full details are on our
 web site, the next few sessions are shown below.

 Robin Drummond's  "Improvers Sessions" continue on Thursday nights at 7pm
 from the clubhouse, concentrating on speed and technique.

 As an alternative on Thursday nights, Margaret Auerback and Frances
 Ratchford are holding Strength and Conditioning coaching sessions at 7.30pm
 in the free-weights room at the gym at St Mary's College, Waldegrave Road.
 Coaching at the gym on other days is negotiable. For more information
 contact Frances at mailto:grapevineproductions@compuserve.com.

 Also Wednesdays at 6.30pm and Sundays at 10am at the clubhouse for a steady
 run in the Park.

 Tuesday sessions. Each also includes a steady run warm up and warm down.
 Mar 22nd  3 x 4 x Ham Cross hill plus 5 x 1 min efforts
 Mar 29th  12 x 2 mins efforts
 Apr 5th  3 x 5 mins efforts, 3 x 3 mins (except for marathoners!)

 FINALLY
 Those who are worrying about the approaching London Marathon might spare a
 thought for Simon Tyler. He missed out on a club place in the London, but
 he's running four marathons during the four weeks around it...the Bungay
 Black Dog on April 3rd, the Paris on the 10th, the Shakespeare at Stratford
 on the 24th and the Three Forts at Worthing on May 1st. Watch this space...