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 ****************************************************************************
 RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 195               16 November 2005
 Editor: Steve Rowland
 mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com
 ****************************************************************************
 HEADLINE NEWS
 *********************
 *  South of the Thames title for our women's team
 *  Individual gold for Marie Synnott-Wells
 *  Men's team 12th
 *  League races this Saturday, Thames mob match next week
 *  Don't forget to book for the Christmas party

 SEE HERE
 *************
 IMPORTANT RACES COMING UP!!
 It's been a fairly quiet couple of weeks, but now we have two very important
 events on consecutive Saturdays.

 Surrey League
 On November 19th come the second Surrey League fixtures. We made a great
 start to the season with a win for the women in defence of their Division
 One title and a victory also for the men in their bid to win Division Two
 and regain their place in the top flight. On Saturday we have to aim to
 consolidate those positions.

 Once again the men and women have to go their separate ways, with the
 women's races in Priory Park at Reigate and the men's in Richmond Park at
 the Kingston Gate end. Here's a map of the Reigate venue: As usual the senior
 women's race comes first at 12.30pm followed by the U17s and U20s at 1.15pm
 and the U13s and U15s at 1.45pm. Organisers' instructions regarding parking
 are as follows: "Parking is available in the public car parks at Bell
 Street, Bancroft Road (multi storey) and Upper West Street. Do not park on
 the grass of Priory Park". Skipper Anna suggests keeping the cars to a
 minimum by meeting at the clubhouse at 10.15am and travelling together from
 there. Everyone is welcome to run - the more the merrier.

 At the men's fixture it's the juniors (U17s, U15s and U13s) all racing
 together first at 2.30pm followed by the seniors at 3pm. I'll assume you can
 find Kingston Gate without a map - but bear in mind that the car park there
 is quite small and will fill up quickly. Captain Bicks suggests meeting at
 the clubhouse at 2pm to jog down to Kingston Gate as a warm-up. It's ten to
 score for the team but remember that we are running an unofficial "virtual B
 team" too (they finished 8th, ahead of two clubs in the first race) so we
 need at least 20 runners on the starting line.

 Thames Mob Match and Supper
 On November 26th we have the season's second mob match. We made a good start
 in these competitions too, with a win against Orion Harriers last month.
 More than anything else we won that race due to weight of numbers and this
 is always the key factor in mob matches, where all finishers count towards
 the final result. Against Thames it will be even more important as they will
 almost certainly be stronger than us at the front of the field. But we had
 64 runners against Orion and if we can match or better that we can win. Race
 hard or treat it as a training run as you choose, it's lots of RHs on the
 result sheet that's important.

 It's away from home this time, but only over on the other side of the A3 on
 Wimbledon Common,  There's a car park adjacent to the pavilion just a 
 couple of hundred metres up the A3 from Robin Hood Gate, or if that's full
 you can use Friars Avenue. Alternatively there will be cars leaving from our
 clubhouse at 1pm. The start is at 2.30pm and it's a one lap 7.5 miles around
 the Common. 

 A Thames mob match is never complete without a supper afterwards and this
 will take place at the Albert Arms on Kingston Hill at about 6pm. Anyone who
 has attended one of these will attest that it will be a very convivial
 evening. Thames are flexible about numbers but would welcome a rough idea of
 how many are likely to attend. So if you are planning to be there, please
 let Andy Bickerstaff know (contact details below).

 CHRISTMAS PARTY  Friday 9th December at the Turk's Head in St Margaret's
 Jo Turner writes:
 "The time has come to choose food for our Xmas bash. The cost is £25 and
 covers a 3 course meal as well as a DJ. The bar is to be open until 1am so
 we can have longer to dance and get merry! All orders need to go by email to
 Marina Quayle (mailto:marina_quayle@hotmail.com) or there are paper forms to
 be filled in at the clubhouse. Please make all cheques payable to 'Ranelagh
 Harriers' and we need payment by 1st December. Thanks for your support and
 cooperation in advance".

 STARTER
 1. spicy pumpkin soup
 2. scallops and smoked streaky bacon skewers
 3. blue swimmer crab and crayfish thermadore tartlet

 MAIN
 1. turkey parcel with fullers stuffing
 2. braised ham hocks
 3. roasted artichoke heart risotto
 4. roasted vegetable and cheese wellington

 PUD
 1. christmas pudding cheesecake
 2. selection of cheese and biscuits
 3. dessert trio (cheesecake, yule log, sorbet )
 4. crème brulee

 *********************
  WHAT'S COMING...
 ************************
 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 19th November    Surrey Ladies League at Priory Park, Reigate.
 Senior race at 12.30pm, followed by junior races.
                                         Men's Surrey League Division 2 in
 Richmond Park (Kingston Gate). Juniors at 2.30pm, seniors at 3pm.
                                         Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km.
 9am start.

 Saturday 26th November     Mob Match v Thames H&H on Wimbledon Common
 (Roehampton Vale). 7.5 miles starting at 2.30pm.
                                         Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km.
 9am start.
                                         Junior Points Prize Race 2 in
 Richmond Park (Sidmouth Wood).  2km starting at 2pm.  

 Saturday 3rd December      Dysart Cup women's team race in Richmond Park,
 including club women's championships: seniors for the
                                         Hugh Jones Salver, vets over 40 for
 Trish's Trophy. 4 miles starting at 2pm.
                                         Ellis Cup men's team race in
 Richmond Park. 5 miles starting at 2.30pm.
                                         Ranelagh Bushy Park Time Trial  5km.
 9am start

 WHAT'S HAPPENED...
 ****************************
 SOUTH OF THE THAMES 5 MILES CHAMPIONSHIP  Saturday 12th November at Lloyd
 Park, Croydon
 Anna McLaughlin reports:
 "Saturday saw the first of the two South of the Thames Championship races,
 this one being the 5 mile version over the challenging terrain of Lloyd
 Park. Being a mixed race meant that the start was a little busy and hairy
 (excuse the pun!) but his did not seem to deter Marie who from the start
 cantered off at a pace, closely followed (for the first few metres!) by
 myself, Yvonne Hill and Sandra Foot. Whilst the rest of us battled up the
 slopes and through the slippery mud Marie seem to skip over all the
 obstacles in the way to run a fantastic race, never letting go of the lead
 position to finish the clear ladies winner! In total this year there were 51
 ladies in the race (out of a total of 220 runners) and on a very close
 count, we won the team Gold! Well done to everyone that ran!" 

 We had a fairly small representation in the men's race, but led by Peter
 Weir they all finished in the top half of the field and recorded a
 creditable 12th place out of 32 teams closing in.

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 29th October
 82 runners this week, the best so far excluding the first anniversary race.
 Biggest PB of the day was a 2.11 improvement by John Herries, on the
 comeback trail from his latest op.
 1 E Dunleavy (Sligo) 16.10
 5 John Atkinson 18.25
 6 Marc Snaith 18.37
 9 Darren Wood 18.48
 13 John Herries 19.14
 14 Steve Rowland 19.15
 16 Stephen Instone 19.22
 20 Clare Gutch 19.51
 25 Chris Camacho 20.18
 31 Kerry McLoughlin 21.02
 35 Adam Wright 21.19
 36 Chris Read 21.20
 38 Yvonne Hill 21.26
 43 Tim Woolmer 21.51
 46 Martin Clark 22.12
 55 Jo Turner 23.17
 59 Chris Hunton 23.27
 60 Amelie Hunton 23.28
 61 Michael Brandon 23.35
 73 Wally Garrod 26.00
 79 John Hanscomb 27.09

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 5th November
 Another jump in numbers, with nearly one hundred finishing this week. Darren
 Wood celebrated his return to the top of the weekly points table by hacking
 23 seconds off his previous fastest time to finish in 5th place hot on John
 Atkinson's heels. But Darren was only one of several who set PBs by similar
 margins, including Jamie Taylor-Caldwell, Clare Gutch, Kerry McLoughlin,
 Yvonne Hill, Simon Burrell and Kerrie O'Connor. Clare won one of the special
 T-shirts for the biggest PB of the day.
 1 D Cummins (W Water) 16.48
 4 John Atkinson 18.12
 5 Darren Wood 18.13
 7 Marc Snaith 18.41
 9 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 18.56
 13 Clare Gutch 19.23
 16 Chris Read 19.44
 23 Chris Camacho 20.12
 24 Kerry McLoughlin 20.38
 27 Alan Davidson 20.50
 32 Yvonne Hill 21.08
 33 Simon Burrell 21.09
 37 Chris Wright 21.21
 39 Roger Wilson 21.24
 47 Lloyd Bridger 22.26
 49 Chris Hunton 22.32
 50 Sam Hunton 22.32
 51 Alfie Purdue 22.41
 55 Alan Craig 23.12
 62 Kerrie O'Connor 23.41
 64 Luke Wilson 24.25
 73 Gill Wilson 25.00
 79 Wally Garrod 25.41
 84 Max Bridger 26.32
 85 John Hanscomb 26.35
 86 Holly Clemens 26.45
 91 Bea Purdue 28.48 

 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km  Saturday 12th November
 Another fine morning and another big turnout, though again falling just
 short of three figures. Sam Perkins led the Ranelagh contingent but John
 Herries's continued return to fitness won him one of the coveted "I've got a
 big PB" T-shirts.
 1 E Dunleavy (Sligo) 16.03
 4 Sam Perkins 17.03
 8 Mark Middleton 17.28
 14 Nick Wright 18.36
 15 John Herries 18.41
 17 Darren Wood 18.51
 20 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 18.55
 32 Chris Read 19.54
 38 Andy Morris 20.30
 47 Joss Moran 21.01
 59 Amelie Hunton 21.44
 60 Chris Hunton 21.45
 62 Roger Wilson 21.51
 64 Chris Wright 21.56
 67 Adam Wright 22.26
 73 Jo Turner 23.31
 74 Evelyn Joslin 23.44
 81 Gill Wilson 24.52
 85 Becky Withycombe 25.25
 86 Wally Garrod 25.30
 94 John Hanscomb 26.57

 HAMMERSMITH 5km Handicap  Tuesday 25th October
 Alan Howard was the fastest over 65 with 23.23.

 LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km   Friday 28th October at Hyde Park
 Mike Rowland writes:
 "You now have little chance of entering on the day. A few months ago, the
 Serpies began accepting entries by post. Now it's by far the most popular
 form of entry. On Friday just gone, there were only four places available
 for non-postal entries. Luckily, I arrived 40 minutes (!!!) before the start
 and grabbed one of the places. John Hanscomb arrived 15 minutes later and
 was too late. He ran anyway ....it's a public park after all..... but he
 didn't get a number". John adds: "I ran round in 27.15, ten seconds ahead of
 Dave Case of Ealing who has now now been fitted with a heart pacemaker. He
 also was unable to get a number".

 1 S Farah (Newham&EB) 16.02
 95 Alan Davidson 20.19
 101 John Pratt 21.38
 150 Mike Rowland 24.17

 SRI CHINMOY 10km  Saturday 29th October at Battersea Park
 1 E Barnett (Unatt) 32.09
 101 Jacqui Reid 52.00

 SERPENTINE JEKYLL AND HYDE DUATHLON  Sunday 30th October at Hyde Park
 Roger Wilson reports:
 "114 starters for a good event on a very warm day on closed roads in Hyde
 Park. We ran three laps of the Serpentine in all. The bike leg was eight
 laps with slight inclines, breeze and 180 degree turns at each end of South
 Carriage Drive, making it quite hard".

 7.6k run / 20.8k bike / 4.2k run
 1 P Coulson (Tri London) 72.24  (25:04 / 33:19 / 14:01)
 51 Roger Wilson 91.08  (33.24 / 38.03 / 19.45)

 SURREY CLASSIC 10km  Sunday 30th October at Oxshott
 1 B Broe (Epsom & E) 35.09
 212 Alan Meaden 55.59
 226 Geoff Bell 57.59
 238 David Meaden 60.02
 255 Bev Ali 66.09

 KINGFIELD CANTER  2.85 miles handicap  Wednesday 2nd November at Woking
 1 S McAree (Unatt) 24.20  (actual time 24.20)
 21 Alan Davidson 27.16  (actual time 18.31)
 26 Steve Rowland 27.28  (actual time 17.43)
 32 Sonia Rowland 28.35  (actual time 22.20)

 SURREY CLASSIC 10km  Sunday 6th November at Oxshott
 1 T Doran (Elmbridge) 34.28
 107 Sara Nakielny 43.55
 266 Alan Meaden 54.49
 286 Geoff Bell 57.12
 301 David Meaden 59.24
 322 Bev Ali 64.56

 MARLOW HALF MARATHON  Sunday 6th November
 1 O Jones (Southampton) 1.13.00
 567 Annie Coates 1.57.20
 825 George Coates 2.18.16

 BRIDGES 2.3 miles Handicap  Wednesday 9th November at Westminster
 John Hanscomb was the fastest over 70 in 20.15.

 EPSOM 10 MILES  Sunday 13th November
 Bev Ali reports:
 "It was a case of famous last words! 'Look at that Pat, 8:50 and we are
 almost there, lots of time to get lost.' We circled the centre of Epsom for
 more than 30 minutes. Traffic was a bit thick - not helped by the apparent
 and unexplained closure of the M25 - and so was our driver. The race started
 promptly at 9:30. We found the start at about 9:42. We are obviously not
 accustomed to leading the pack, but it has been some time since we were dead
 last - but what a great choice of venue for it. We were cheered and guided
 by some of the most congenial marshals ever, and the timekeeper was still
 waiting for us at the end. The scenery was classic Surrey autumn colours and
 the weather was perfect.

 We finished after the race HQ had packed up and the prize giving was
 finished but I believe John Hanscomb won a second place medal for the Vets
 AC championships. Pat and I may or may not reveal our 'watch' time to the
 honourable handicapper.".

 1 W Clark (Epsom & E) 55.49
 178 Alan Meaden 92.13
 185 John Hanscomb 94.17
 215 David Meaden 100.59
 217 Lynne Barber 103.52
 218 Hazel Carr 103.52
 232 Bev Ali 120.25
 233 Pat Hewlett 120.27

 PHOENIX 7.3km  Sunday 13th November at Preston Park, Brighton
 Steve Rowland missed the M55 prize by half a yard (*%@#!!). Neil Walford in
 Brighton colours was half a minute behind Steve, but came armed with the
 excellent excuse of having finished a long run over the South Downs with
 Steve Bird half an hour earlier! 

 1 B Ande (Hastings) 22.28
 47 Steve Rowland 27.57
 58 Neil Walford 28.27

 NEWS FROM OZ
 Ian Dent writes:
 "Back on 24th September I competed in the World Duathlon Championships at
 Newcastle (that's the warm one north of Sydney) where I came 23rd in the
 45-49 age group. I was representing NZ and took the honours of first Kiwi
 home in my age group, defeating the reigning NZ champion (my brother!). The
 10km/40km/5km course included a very hilly & tough bike ride so after being
 in 10th place at the end of the run (36:27) I conceded some places but was
 still very happy with my overall performance.

 Through this winter just ended I competed for Sandringham AC in the
 cross-country season - my first competitive winter season since I was at
 Ranleagh. On at least a couple of occasions I found myself racing head to
 head with Paul Beauvais just as we used to do around Richmond Park.

 Regards to everyone".

 FARI SHAMS...
 ...is holding an exhibition of her art at the Arndean Gallery in Cork
 Street, London W1, from November 28th to December 3rd in association with
 the Iran Heritage Foundation. The exhibition is entitled "Linescapes of
 Thought - Secret Vision" and you can get more information here:
 www.iranheritage.org/farishamsexhibition.

 GMAP
 Ann Murray directs us to http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/.
 "No excuses for not running whilst away from home now," says Ann.

 FINALLY...
 Ed Whitlock's next target:
 "Luciano Acquarone (ITA) ran the fastest ever marathon by a man age 75 or
 older. He ran 3:10:57 at the Italia Memorial Enzo Ferrari (Carpi ITA)
 Marathon on October 16th. This is a slightly downhill (2.4 m/km),
 point-to-point course and as such cannot qualify for full record status. The
 mark is more than seven minutes faster than the world age group record of
 3:18:10".