*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 284 12 June 2008 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Vets category wins for Paul Doyle and Iain Wilson at the Dorking 10 * Men's team 3rd in South Downs Way Relay - but disqualified! * Mick Lane wins Kingfield Canter * RPTT win for Kath Phillips * Justin Webb wins Pro-Active 5km SEE HERE ******** CHANGE OF E-MAIL ADDRESS My steverowland@beeb.net e-mail address will no longer work after 30th June. If you currently use this address to contact me, please switch to sandsrowland@btinernet.com. If you use steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com you can continue to do so, there is no need to switch. DYSART DASH 10km Niall O'Connor writes: "With three weeks to go I'm still short a few marshals, in particular helpers for the water station at the end - even though we can use every volunteer we get! There's free tea/coffee/chocolate for all marshals in the clubhouse afterwards - and a grandstand view of the finish if you're helping at the water station at the end. If you're available on Sunday 29th for approx 90 minutes, please contact me on niall_o_c@hotmail.com or 07795973198. Thanks". Entries for the race are limited to 700, of which some 400 have already been taken. So if you're planning to run, be sure to get your entry in soon to avoid disappointment: CHRIS BRASHER MEMORIAL PONDS RUN Our annual tribute to the late Chris Brasher will take place on Tuesday 1st July starting at 7pm. As usual we'll divide into various groups and set off into the Park with the intention of visiting all - or as many as we can - of the 20-odd ponds. It's a route originally devised by Chris. All are welcome. BIG SUR MARATHON Andy Bickerstaff writes: "We haven't had a Ranelagh Trip for some time so we decided it was time to go somewhere interesting and have a run. Andy Hayward suggested the Big Sur Marathon on the Californian Coast which takes place 26th April next year. A very scenic but also very hilly marathon along the coast...with other shorter races available. See the website www.bsim.org/ for more details. An initial investigation has shown direct flights and accommodation for one week to come out at about £900 per person plus race entry and spending money but if you want to stay longer as some of us are I'm sure that can be accommodated. We need to get an idea of numbers early so if at all interested get back asap to Joanne Hope at kevandjo@mac.com who is kindly coordinating and liaising with the travel agent to get us the best deal". ASICS LONDON 10km Amy Hatton, regional fundraising manager for the charity BDF Newlife, writes: "I am currently organising places in the Asics London 10K run on 6th July for my charity, Newlife. As your club is based in Richmond, I am e-mailing to invite you to make your members aware that Newlife still has charity places available for this running event. Newlife provides specialist equipment and support services for children with birth defects and their families. 100% of the funds we raise from this event will be spent directly on these activities. If any of your members would be interested in reserving a place to run for Newlife in this year's 10K, please contact me at hattonrl@tiscali.co.uk PHYSICAL FIX WORKSHOPS Director Paul Hobrough has developed a workshop series structured specifically for Runners, looking at the following topics: * Structuring your training programme - Don't just go for a run, train smart!! (leave with your own programme written) * Avoiding Injury - what stretches to do and when, a practical solution to injury prevention * Sports drinks, supplements, and what to eat and when... "Scales are for FISH, we don't weigh anyone or anything" * Interval Training - what does this really mean? * Free SPEED - how to develop technique to run faster * Core stability - what does this really mean? Function is the key to fitness!! * Developing your sports psychology - control only what is yours to control * The Marathon.... How to prepare, before, during and after... * The taper weeks, how little and for how long? * Setting new goals - what's next on the running calendar for me? Paul Hobrough is an ex-international athlete, Sports Scientist, Company Director and sports injury specialist. Check the www.physicalfix.co.uk/ website for more details and client feedback. The workshops are on the second Monday of each month, starting on June 9th at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington. Course costs: £35 for the whole ten sessions (payable in advance), £4 pre-booked single ticket, £5 pay on the night.To book call 08450 452105. DAVID ROWE'S PHOTOS... ...of many of our club races are of outstanding quality (see rowephoto.co.uk/photos/) but David received the ultimate accolade a couple of weeks ago when the sport's bible 'Athletics Weekly' used no fewer than eight of his shots to accompany their report of the BUPA London 10km. CONGRATULATIONS... ...to Sophie and Chris Spink on the arrival of Dora Florence on May17th and - belatedly - to Mick Lane and Nicky on the arrival of Thomas Michael in April. *************** WHAT'S COMING... *************** More details of the following from Andy Bickerstaff ( 07772 111491 / mailto: andy.bickerstaff@goodrunguide.co.uk ) or Marie Synnott-Wells (07956 431319 / mailto: nandmwells@aol.com ). Sunday 29th June Dysart Dash 10km at Ham. Tuesday 1st July Chris Brasher Memorial Ponds Run in Richmond Park. Details: Tuesday 15th July Coad Cup 5 miles handicap in Richmond Park followed by club AGM in the clubhouse. Sunday 20th July Elmbridge 10km at Walton. Parkruns every Saturday at 9am Bushy Park Diana Fountain car park Richmond Park Richmond Gate Wimbledon Common Windmill car park Banstead Woods Car park off B2219 Park Lane, Chipstead More details and registration at www.parkrun.com WHAT'S HAPPENED ************** DORKING 10 miles Sunday 1st June It may not have been as out-and-out hot as it often is for the Dorking 10, but the day was certainly humid and didn't make for easy running. Paul Doyle did what he came to do, taking it steady in the early stages and finishing with a strong run over the final couple of miles. Seventh place overall gave him the over 40s first prize, the Surrey county vets gold medal and maximum points in the Surrey Road League over 40s category. Paul comprehensively defeated his main rival for the League title, David Freeman of Tadworth, who had given him a surprise at the Richmond Half Marathon. It was a day for the vets as our next two finishers were over 50s Iain Wilson and Jonathan Robinson. They were the top two over 50s overall on the day although neither is eligible for the county championship. In the League reckoning, Jonathan's three consecutive second places puts him in the top position amongst the over 50s. David Rowe was the next Ranelagh man home, putting in a good performance despite having cycled 20 miles to the race! Chris Brook and Chris Read followed on inside 70 minutes, while just outside 70 there was a great sprint finish between Kath Phillips and Steve Grout. Kath crossed the line ahead, finishing overall eighth in the women's race. Kath also stands on top of the League table for the senior women, though with the likelihood of being pushed down the order by runners who have not competed in all three of the league races so far held. The same applies to Heather Martingell, who is on top of the Over 35s table after her 79 minutes run today; and likewise to Janet Turnes, who currently sits in second place in the Over 45s category. In the team competitions our men and women both occupy third place. This race was also the fifth event in our own Road Running Grand Prix. Trevor Maguire's absence today cost him the lead in the open and men's over 40 categories, and Paul Doyle now heads both. Chris Brook and Steve Grout fill the runners-up positions and Trevor now appears in third place in both. Jonathan Robinson and Iain Wilson are tied at the top of the over 50s table. In the women's sections Kath Phillips, Heather Martingell and Janet Turnes hold clear leads in the senior, over 40 and over 50 categories respectively. For the full scoreboard see here: Nigel Rothwell's photos: here: SOUTH DOWNS WAY RELAY Saturday 7th June Beachy Head to Winchester Niall O'Connor reports: "Last Saturday a pair of early-waking Ranelagh teams ventured towards Beachy Head for the 100-mile South Downs Way relay. Older people don't need as much sleep so Andy's Vets were nominated a start time of 7:30 while the 'A' team (a.k.a. 'The Celts + Howard') followed on from a luxurious 9am start time. The race takes around 11+ hours to complete - I won't recount the whole lot here! Briefly, the relay involves eighteen stages, six runners per team and a baton. 2008 saw the 26th staging of this event, and it has developed a tradition of being a competitive, tough, hilly race. Another tradition of the event is that something will go wrong for Ranelagh (of a shooting yourself in the foot variety) and this year it was the delivery of a runner to the third changeover point, when they should have been dropped about five miles further east along the route. This meant Martin had to run two consecutive legs. I wish I could blame somebody else for this happening......... Partial-disqualification aside (we were allowed continue to gain a finishing time, but disqualified from gaining medals) the 'A' team had some excellent runs. Howard had us in the lead by the end of leg one, while Martin maintained us in 3rd by the end of his inadvertently consecutive legs. Phil (a qualifying Celt under the ancestral rule) dragged us back to 2nd place overall behind eventual winners Stubbington Green, which we held until around leg 8, however Chichester moved strongly back to 2nd place relegating us to 3rd. Some solid attentive running from Chris and Marie ensured that there weren't any navigational mishaps when actually running and at 8pm we crossed the line as the third fastest team. This was an excellent placing, matching our best of 2005 - pity about the medals - sorry guys! Meanwhile the Vets, while having a bit of fun at our trials and tribulations, were anxious about protecting the 90 minute start they had over us. A few tough hills for Jonathan and John coupled with Neil's ashen pallor (a nice contrast with the sun-reddened Mike) saw the gap close. Solid running from Chris and Andy finished them in 18th place of 47 teams, crossing the line seven minutes ahead of the 'A' team (but 83 minutes behind if the handicap is excluded). This is a great race that is well organised on a scenic, tough course. Better get training - just 363 training days left to 2009's edition!" 1 Stubbington Green 2 Chichester 3 Ranelagh A (Howard Gleave, Martin Halvey, Marie Synnott-Wells, Chris Owens, Phil Killingley, Niall O'Connor) 18 Ranelagh Vets (Jonathan Robinson, John Molloy, Neil Walford, Mike Hynd, Andy Bickerstaff, Chris Read) Fuller results to follow. DORNEY DASH 10km Saturday 7th June at Dorney Lake Cindy Croucher reports: "The forecast for Saturday morning was rain, how wrong could that be - it was a scorcher at Dorney Lake (venue for the Olympic rowing in 2012) for the 25th Dorney Dash 10k. I cannot say how fantastically well organised this event was! There was ample parking, plenty of loos, it was really well marshalled and the goody bag was amazingly good. It was a flat two loop course around the beautiful lake. The first lap was just hot, round the lake, over the bridge, round the pavilion and back out for the second loop. At this point a cool breeze picked up (headwind) which rapidly vanished as I turned back for the last stretch. I think I may have been hallucinating at this point and it was so hot that I nearly jumped in the lake! There were 880 brave finishers who managed not to melt in the heat wave and many sat on the pontoon and dangled their feet in the cool water afterwards. I would like to say a massive well done to George Inman (who is only 15) for his first ever 10k, finishing in 42:37. It took us all a while to start (we were near the back) so George's time was even faster than that. Mum Deirdre even found time for a loo stop on the way so she can knock off a couple of minutes too!!! The goody bag (the only reason I was there) consisted of a medal, backpack, sports towel, sports drink, foot cream, Mars bar and sweets! There were three water stops en route and bottles of water at the end. I would highly recommend this race for next year for super speedy runners and beginners alike - however I'll request a bit of cloud cover and a cool breeze for next year and take my bikini just in case!" 1 J Abderrahim (TVH) 31.55 140 George Inman 42.37 580 Lorraine Clifton 55.22 596 Lynne Barber 56.02 809 Penny Merrett 65.12 833 Cindy Croucher 67.56 861 Deirdre Inman 72.07 VERMONT CITY MARATHON Sunday 25th May Andy Hayward reports: "As mentioned in the last report, I had planned two marathons for the two weekends following the Ranelagh Richmond Half Marathon: the Cleveland Marathon was the weekend after our half, in Cleveland Ohio (see the last e-news for a report) and the Vermont City Marathon was the next weekend, in Burlington Vermont. Due to the busy nature of the business trip, I did not get to run between the two marathons, except on the Friday afternoon, when I took a slow six mile spin in Central Park, New York City. I had felt an achilles twinge for a day or two after the Cleveland Marathon which I had run in old shoes. I bought some new shoes at the expo, so I wanted to test the achilles, and also try the new shoes. I usually wouldn't run a marathon in brand new shoes, but if I could run it at all, then I would have no choice but to wear the new shoes. Thankfully, achilles and shoes both passed the six mile Central Park test. Despite not running for five days, my legs unsurprisingly did feel very tired though. Conditions were almost exactly the same as Boston a month earlier - sunny and warm, getting up to 80F later on, but thankfully I was getting used to this by now! There is not much of Burlington that is flat, but they do a good job of avoiding most of the worst hills by starting on a hill at Battery Park (from where the British Navy was repelled in 1812) and sending the runners on a series of out and backs. The worst hills are at miles 1, 8 and 15, the last (and worst) of which is climbing back up Battery Park and past the start. Then there are six flat miles followed by a sharp downhill at mile 21. The last 5 miles of the course are slightly rolling, but with a net downhill, along a bike path on the edge of Lake Champlain, to the finish at Waterfront Park, right below the Battery Park start. The support wasn't massive but it was enthusiastic, and the configuration of the course allowed the spectators to see the runners many times. In view of the exertions of the prior two weekends (and confirmed on the jog around Central Park on the Friday) I felt my legs would be very tired. I secretly hoped to sneak under 3:30, but felt this would probably be beyond me this time, and was expecting around 3:35 - 3:40. I decided to start easy, see how I felt, and put no time pressure on. It would be what it would be! I started off just going fairly easy, 7:45 - 7:50 pace for the first ten miles. I realised that if I could keep going at that pace, I would be on for sub 3:30, but I knew I was likely to start feeling the recent runs by the later stages, so was not thinking too far ahead. I got to ten miles and realised that although it was early, I was feeling quite good. I passed the half in 1:43:45, which would mean a 3:27:30 marathon IF I could maintain that pace for another 13.1 miles (a big if!). However, as I was feeling good, I decided to up the pace just a little. Then came the worst hill at mile 15, which didn't feel bad at all. The fact that it felt OK when everyone had been telling me it was tough, gave me new confidence. I pushed slightly harder again. I got to the sharp downhill at mile 21, where the course finally stops heading away, and heads straight for the final 5 miles to the finish. I realised I was feeling very strong now, far stronger than I had any right to be! I started pushing hard. The last 2.5 miles were covered in under 7 minute per mile pace average, with the last mile under 6:30, which is better than 10 mile race pace average for me, and pretty close to 1k rep pace! I felt really good. The time on my watch was 3:23:27, which was over two minutes faster than Cleveland a week earlier, and meant that I had run the second half in 1:39:42 i.e. more than a four minute negative split. The MC/announcer, whom I had met at the hotel bar the night before with Runner's World's Bart Yasso - they had both been doing the same job at Cleveland too - interviewed me on stage after I had finished, so that I could send greetings from Ranelagh Harriers to Burlington Vermont! The legs felt fine the next day, Monday, which was a bank holiday (Memorial Day) in the USA too, so I celebrated a good run by hiking/scrambling up Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont at 4400' before finishing work and flying home on the Tuesday night. However, yet another business trip beckons, so....the next marathon is on Saturday 7th June (thirteen days after Burlington) in Cairo, West Virginia. Watch this space". 1 M Pelletier (USA) 2.20.44 (chip time 2.20.43) 241 Andy Hayward 3.23.35 (3.23.28) LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km Friday 30th May in Hyde Park 1 D Dickinson (Haver) 15.47 4 Phil Killingley 16.10 94 Alan Davidson 21.12 164 Mike Rowland 26.06 183 John Hanscomb 27.50 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 31st May 1 P Gordon (unatt) 17.43 9 Burkhard Fehsenfeld 19.09 11 Vaughan Ramsay 19.21 16 Stephen Instone 20.18 35 Karen Weir 23.22 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 31st May 1 P Forester (unatt) 16.41 26 David Rowe 19.06 29 Duncan Mallison 19.25 45 Darren Wood 19.59 72 David Ready 20.48 161 Alan Davidson 23.03 175 Roger Wilson 23.29 187 Phil Aiken 23.47 277 Zuzana Lhotanova 26.41 344 Daniel Hobbs 29.45 368 John Hanscomb 31.49 BANSTEAD WOODS TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 31st May 1 K Quinn (Real R) 17.01 54 Jo Turner 23.31 POOLE 10km Sunday 1st June 1 W Chinhanhu(Poole) 29.59 184 Alan Davidson 43.36 KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap Wednesday 4th June at Woking Mick Lane celebrated his 48th birthday by winning the 20th anniversary running of this event at his first attempt. Mick and Andy Bickerstaff were the joint scratch men and ran right through the field, Mick to first place and Andy to third. 1 Mick Lane 25.22 (actual time 15.52) 3 Andy Bickerstaff 26.08 (16.38) 9 Steve Rowland 26.30 (18.15) 11 Sonia Rowland 26.32 (20.17) 13 Louise Piears 26.33 (21.33) 19 Alan Davidson 26.41 (19.11) YATELEY 10km Wednesday 4th June Phil Killingley - in Winchester colours - won by some 10 seconds. 1 Phil Killingley (Win) 33.21 156 Kerrie O'Connor 43.16 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 7th June Kath Phillips set a course PB and was the first woman home, with Sandra Prosser and Wiebke Kortum second and third. 1 A Vandenberg (unatt) 18.05 8 Burkhard Fehsenfeld 19.21 13 Stephen Instone 19.57 28 Kath Phillips 21.30 32 Sandra Prosser 22.30 34 Wiebke Kortum 22.41 35 Martin Clark 22.46 46 Kathy Mallett 24.43 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 7th June 1 T Doran (OWLS) 16.10 26 Darren Wood 19.38 59 David Ready 20.21 71 Chris Camacho 20.41 118 Paul Bisping 22.04 133 Phil Aiken 22.20 255 Gill Wilson 25.21 256 Roger Wilson 25.24 320 John Hanscomb 27.38 384 Daniel Hobbs 30.23 BRITISH ATHLETICS LEAGUE PREMIERSHIP Sunday 8th June at Birmingham 20 year-old Sam Perkins, running for Enfield and Haringey, finished 3rd in the 5000 metres B race in 15:16.17. PRO-ACTIVE 5km Sunday 8th June at Morden Justin Webb, one of the organisers, won by over two minutes! 1 Justin Webb 16.48 ST ALBANS HALF MARATHON Sunday 8th June 1 J Parslow (unatt) 1.12.48 (chip time 1.12.47) 377 Michelle Beaumont 1.45.48 (1.43.34) 471 Lee Davies 1.48.58 (1.46.44) ELTHAM PARK 5 miles Sunday 8th June 1 A Pickett (Dartford) 27.18 52 Alan Davidson 35.46 AAIR 10km Sunday 8th June at Winchester 1 D Knapman (Winch) 32.47 234 Phil Aiken 47.44 FINALLY... "Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before'. It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative". US distance runner Steve Prefontaine.