*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 289 3 September 2008 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Thomas Cup and annual club photo this Saturday * Peter Haarer 3rd overall and 1st Vet in Torquay 10km * Good Time Trial results * Andy Hayward 5th in Fallsburgh Marathon * Karen Weir makes it to Paris SEE HERE ******** OPENING RUN and THOMAS CUP HANDICAP The Opening Run of our 128th winter season takes place on Saturday 6th September and all members are encouraged to attend. The race is a 3.8 miles handicap in the Park starting at 3pm and it is preceded by the annual club photo in the Park opposite the clubhouse. All welcome, just turn up and register for the race on the day. SURREY ROAD RELAYS The county road relay championships take place on Saturday 13th September at Wimbledon Park starting at 12 noon. There are senior, over 40 and over 50 categories for men and senior and over 35 categories for women, all over the same lap of just under 3 miles. Entries have to be sent in by early September so if you are interested in taking part please contact Marc or Marie as soon as possible (contact details in What's Coming below). Non-Surrey qualified members are welcome to run in B teams. RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL Simon Burrell writes: "I wanted to say a few words about the RPTT (Richmond Park Time Trial), a free 5k event run every Saturday morning at 9:00 from Richmond Gate of the park. The run is free, friendly and well organised and you don't need to enter in advance - just turn up and run. The only requirement is to register once on the web site so they can attach your race times to your finishing results. On October 11th the RPTT will celebrate its first anniversary. This is amazing as it only seems a short while since Paul Sinton-Hewitt approached club members with the idea of starting a local weekly 5k event, based on the already successful event at Bushy Park. RPTT is now one of 11 weekly 5k runs around the UK and beyond. If you haven't yet tried the RPTT, I would encourage you to give it a go. It is friendly, good fun and encourages runners of all speeds. The organisation is exceptional, and your times will be recorded on the web site so you can track your progress over multiple runs, to see how your training is progressing. A number of our members are regular volunteers at the event including Karen Weir (Race Director), Heather Martingell (Volunteer Coordinator), Chris Read, Lorna Smith and Juliette Chan, all of whom have worked hard to make the event a great success. Ranelagh Harriers supports the RPTT, partly because it is an excellent facility for our members but also because it helps the club support local runners and can help attract new members to the club. Because of this I would encourage anyone participating to turn up in club colours. Going forwards, on the first Saturday of each month the RPTT will start having pacers, aiming to help runners achieve a 5k at 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 minutes. It would be great if Ranelagh could provide people to help pace these monthly events, so if you can run a steady 5k at any of these times then Karen and the team would be pleased to hear from you. They hope to have a pool of pacers at each speed, so it won't necessarily be every month. SURREY CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUES The men's and women's Leagues both kick off on Saturday 11th October - the men in Richmond Park (3pm start) and the women at Nork Park, Banstead (12.15pm start). All are welcome to run (just turn up and register on the day), but anyone with half a chance of making the scoring team should try to make it if at all possible. The men's race is 10 to score, the women's is 5 to score. DID YOU KNOW... ...that Ranelagh Harriers was formed in 1881 by members of the Ranelagh Cricket Club? ...that its first home was at the Green Man on Putney Heath? ...that Ranelagh had two world record holders in the 19th century? ...that the club moved to the Dysart Arms in 1935? ...that Ranelagh was closely involved with the birth of the London Marathon? ...that its membership included the UK's top male and female marathon runners in the 1980s? You can learn more about the above and plenty more besides in our updated club history "The First 125 Years of Ranelagh Harriers". This was published last year but there are plenty of copies left and plenty of members who have not yet acquired one! You can buy a copy from Karen Weir on Tuesday nights at £12 or by post for £14 incl p&p from Ranelagh History, 2 Sapte Close, Cranleigh, Surrey GU6 7HA. Cheques payable to Ranelagh Harriers. Copies will also be on sale at the Opening Run. RIVER RELAY Windsor to Ham Heather Martingell writes: "The River Relay - organised by Stragglers - is on Sunday 14th September. It's relatively local - 6 legs starting in Windsor Great Park and finishing at the Hawker Centre in Ham, mostly on the Thames tow path. Stage lengths vary from under 4 miles to nearly 8. Please let me know if you are interested: heathermartingell@hotmail.co.uk. Further details can be found on the Stragglers website. CABBAGE PATCH 10 This popular 10 miler takes place this year on Sunday 19th October on the usual course from Twickenham. There are already over 1400 entries, so if you want to run don't delay in getting your entry in. TRAIL CHALLENGE HALF MARATHON / 12km Sunday 21st September Those who enjoyed the Trail Challenge held from the clubhouse a few weeks ago (and even those who didn't enjoy it!) might be interested in South London Orienteers' next similar event, which is taking place from the Hawker Centre in Ham on Sunday 21st September. For those unfamiliar with the Trail Challenge races, they are a hybrid of cross-country and Orienteering. All competitors start together but have to follow the map provided and visit a number of check points. The main event is a half marathon but there are also 12km and 6km events, plus a short course for children. The routes take in Ham Riverside and Richmond Park. Start times are 10.30am for the Half Marathon, 10.45 for the children's race, 11am for the 12km and 11.15am for the 6km. ST MARY'S RICHMOND MASTERS AND OPEN TRACK MEETING Bev Ali writes: "Sunday the 14th September is the St. Mary's Richmond Athletic Club 22nd MASTERS & OPEN MEETING, including male pre-masters 35-39 age group, starting at 10:30 am. All events open to all athletes over 11 years of age, except throws events which are for Masters and pre-Masters only. Medals awarded to winners (where there are three or more athletes in age group). Entry fee is £3 per event in advance or £3.50 on the day. A registration form and more information are available on the St Mary's website. I believe that there will be a barbecue and cash bar available afterwards as well. I will be there in the morning for the throwing events, and for any vet women wishing to compete for St Mary's and borrow vests. I expect that there will also be men's vests available for loan as usual". WIMBLEDON 10 MILES The Geoff Moulden Wimbledon 10 - to give it its full title - takes place on Sunday October 5th at 10am from Wimbledon Park. There is an impressive prize list this year, including £100 for the winning men's and women's teams (3 to score). 1908 OLYMPICS MARATHON Following on from Andy Hayward's and Hugh Jones's accounts of their commemorative runs, Ed Whitlock writes from Canada: "It's interesting that Hugh Jones mentioned Tom Longboat in his description of his commemorative run of the 1908 Olympic marathon. Tom is a lot more famous in Canada I am sure than in England. For those that may not know, he won the Boston marathon the previous year and was a favourite to win in London, but dropped out as Hugh recounted. On his return to Canada he was invited to run in a race near the Ontario/Quebec border from Alexandria to Williamstown. They have just had a re-enactment of that race which I attended as the person to unveil a commemorative plaque. Late in 1908 Longboat turned professional in order to run an indoor marathon on a 176 yard track in Madison Square Gardens, New York in February 1909. It was a one on one duel with Alf Shrubb who soon ran away from Longboat establishing a lead of nine laps at its maximum. Around 20 miles Shrubb began to die and Longboat passed him at 23 miles whereupon Shrubb quit. 11,000 spectators were on hand and it was stated that the only persons not smoking were the two contestants. Betting of course was part of the scene. This race was the fore-runner of a long distance professional running boom in the North Eastern part of North America, involving Shrubb, Longboat and the two famous names from the 1908 Olympic marathon Pietri and Hayes. The interest waned towards the start of the first world war and was never revived afterwards. Shrubb the English multi-world record holder later lived just outside Toronto where they have a race to honour his exploits. I met his daughter there this year". ABINGDON MARATHON PLACE AVAILABLE Marc Snaith writes: "Simon Lawrence has a place at the Abingdon Marathon up for grabs as he is recovering from foot surgery so will miss out. The race is on 19th October. If anyone is interested they can just contact me and I'll pass on their details to Simon". See below for Marc's contact details. THE WYCH ELM Janet Turnes's pub, The Wych Elm in Elm Road Kingston, has won so many awards for its garden that Janet has lost count. The pub has now been selected to participate in the National Garden Scheme's "Gardens Open for Charity" programme in 2009. The scheme raises money for charity by opening up gardens to the public for a small fee which is then donated to charity. Janet plans to hold one open day per week next summer offering tea and home-made cakes to visitors. RANELAGH AT THE OLYMPICS Former Ranelagh members Heather Fell and Sharon Laws both performed outstandingly as part of Team GB in Beijing. Heather, who trained regularly with us prior to moving down to Bath, won a magnificent silver medal in the Modern Pentathlon, maintaining UK's great record in that sport. Sharon only took up road cycling seriously when she moved to Australia a couple of years ago and has made amazing progress in a very short time. She finished "only" 35th in the road race but our gold medal winner Nicole Cooke was quick to pay tribute to the contribution made to her victory by her team-mates Sharon and Emma Pooley (who incidentally is also a former runner). WHAT'S COMING ************* More details of the following from Marc Snaith (07717 213035 mailto ( mdsnaith5@hotmail.com ) or Marie Synnott-Wells (07956 431319 / mailto nandmwells@aol.com ) Saturday 6th September Opening Run Thomas Cup 3.8m handicap in Richmond Park. 3pm start preceded by club photo.. Saturday 13th September Surrey Road Relays at Wimbledon Park. 12 noon start. Sunday 14th September River Relay (see above) Sunday 14th September MABAC League 5 miles at Peaslake (near Shere). 11am start. Sunday 21st September Trail Challenge Half Marathon / 12km / 6km from the Hawker Centre. See above. Saturday 27th September South of England Road Relays (men) at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot Sunday 28th September South of England Road Relays (women) at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot Saturday 4th October Page Cup 5 miles handicap in Richmond Park. 3pm start. Sunday 5th October Wimbledon 10 miles road race. See above. 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 *************** CAPTAIN'S CHALLENGE LEG 2 Thursday 21st August at St Mary's Marc Snaith writes: "Some of you will be aware that Andy Bickerstaff, Nathan Mills and I are embroiled in a three race challenge to make the summer a little bit more interesting. Each race is over 5k and we each get to chose a surface. The first race took place at a Bushy Park Time Trial a few weeks ago and was comfortably won by Nathan. Had I been wearing my glasses I would have realised he was 100m ahead of me and not still trailing in my dust. The location of the next race was chosen by me and not surprisingly it was on the track at St Mary's. It wasn't one of my best moments. Nathan was well away, Andy was on my back for nine laps and then I pushed the pace and thought I had dropped him - but I made the mistake of slowing down and allowing him to catch up and he beat me by 12 seconds! In my defence, it was the first time in two weeks that I had run without limping and I was 90 second faster than at Belgrave, but also about 90 seconds slower than what I would have run 6 weeks ago! Three others kept us company and Jonathon Stacey narrowly won from Pat Wright". 1 Jonathon Stacey 16.49 2 Pat Wright 16.51 3 Nathan Mills 17.29 4 Danny Norman 17.55 5 Andy Bickerstaff 18.04 6 Marc Snaith 18.16 ENDURO CHALLENGE London to Paris Karen Weir reports: "It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but also an amazing experience. We started at midday on Friday 22nd August at Marble Arch and each of the six members of my team from UBS had two run stages to get us to Dover. My first was 10.5 km and my last was 15 km - I had the final leg into Dover and we finished there at about 11.15pm. After a briefing with all the other teams we got straight onto the boats and headed out to the start of the swim. Boats stopped about 50m from the beach and the first swimmer had to jump in and swim to the shore. The swim leg started on the beach at 2.30am. We changed swimmers every hour and this is strictly monitored and there are specific rules for how one person gets in and the other gets out. I was swimmer five, so fortunately the sun had just about come up for my first swim, but so had the wind and it was really quite choppy. Most of us ended up feeling really seasick, which got worse when you went below deck. Getting in the Channel to swim was actually a bit of a respite, but after swimming it was really hard to get warm. I was shaking so much I couldn't get changed for ages and just sat on the deck with a towel round me, trying to keep warm and not be sick! Everyone was the same though - not just me. In all the Channel took us 14 hours to cross, and two other teams pulled out and failed to finish as they found the conditions so hard. As soon as the boats pulled into Calais, it was straight onto the bikes. The first cyclist set off about 7.30pm local time on Saturday. We managed to get completely lost so the first leg took far longer than it should have. I had bike leg five and started about 2.30am. The minibus drove behind me to light up the road, which was necessary as it was completely dark. I had some pretty good hills, but as the minibus was following I really felt I couldn't slow down and had to give it everything. It took me 1 hr 47 mins. The first two thirds I really enjoyed - open roads, no traffic, good road surfaces, feeling good on the hills - but by the last third I was starting to get really cold, it started raining and I was exhausted. But I was absolutely elated when I finished, an amazing feeling. After me there was one more leg which finished just as the sun came up about 20km outside the centre of Paris. Our total time was around 43 hours. The final leg was a non-competitive zone where some of the team cycled into Paris to the Arc de Triomphe for the symbolic finish. After a few hours sleep on Sunday we then went on to the fourth discipline which UBS proved they were the best at! Overall we came fourth, shame we got lost on the bike leg as after the swim we were in third. The team was really happy with that, we never expected to win - that was always going to be Morgan Stanley or Credit Suisse and in the end it was Morgan Stanley. However I have to say, now I've done it once I do not feel I need to do it again, but also I really don't see why anyone would want to swim the Channel! Although I have now been part of an officially recognised Channel crossing - and I get a certificate and a plot of my swim legs! We were raising money for the Bridge Academy in Hackney and we are still accepting donations at www.justgiving.com/ubsenduro2008 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 23rd August A PB for Jonathon Stacey in 4th place. 1 G Smith (unatt) 16.21 4 Jonathon Stacey 16.41 13 Ed Barker 17.11 30 Nick Wright 18.16 35 David Rowe 18.30 51 Duncan Mallison 19.05 65 Darren Wood 19.52 81 Adam Wright 20.36 103 David Ready 20.56 148 Ian Grange 21.59 250 Jim Forrest 24.26 347 John Hanscomb 27.57 362 Sharon Rowe 28.29 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 23rd August Third place for Vaughan Ramsay and second place in the women's section for Sarah Lintern. 1 J Flood (unatt) 17.50 3 Vaughan Ramsay 18.47 8 Trevor Maguire 19.21 16 Stephen Instone 20.12 23 Sarah Lintern 21.27 50 Martin Clark 24.15 57 Andrew Prosser 25.23 65 Simon Burrell 25.38 70 Paul Martingell 26.02 90 Pat Hewlett 32.31 BANSTEAD WOODS TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 23rd August 1 R Ward (Belgrave) 16.26 156 Tanya Allen 29.28 WIMBLEDON COMMON TIME TRIAL Saturday 23rd August 1 E Raymond (unatt) 17.28 18 Chris Read 19.47 55 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 22.20 HYDE PARK (LEEDS) TIME TRIAL Saturday 23rd August 1 P Carey (Bingley) 17.18 47 Chris Wright 23.54 TORBAY ROYAL REGATTA 10km Sunday 24th August at Torquay Peter Haarer reports: "I was wondering how my training over the summer was going, and for one reason or another was attracted to the 10k at Torquay. This covers an 'out and back' course, is all road, and undulates to a surprising degree for a coastal location (not a good place to try for a p.b.). However, it was very well organized, was fun, and has a comprehensive prize list (bottles for the first three home, vouchers for the top three, and vouchers for the winners of each five-year age category for men and women). Those with a history of late arrival may also like the late start (7.00pm)". Peter was the first veteran and improved his best time since turning 40 by 6 seconds. 1 T Merson (SWRR) 32.54 3 Peter Haarer 33.28 LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km Friday 29th August in Hyde Park 1 O Edwards (Shaft B) 15.46 98 Michael Bull 21.16 106 Alan Davidson 21.35 RICHMOND PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 30th August And second place this week for Jenny Lloyd-Jones. 1 A Assmundson (SMR) 17.24 9 Sean Paynter 18.29 10 Vaughan Ramsay 18.38 18 Trevor Maguire 19.25 20 Stephen Instone 19.38 22 Chris Read 20.05 24 Jenny Lloyd-Jones 20.29 30 Andy Woodhouse 21.31 33 Chris Wilson 21.41 46 Tony Appleby 23.57 50 Paul Bisping 24.21 51 Anna Mallett 24.33 57 Simon Burrell 25.05 95 Pat Hewlett 32.48 103 Karen Weir 35.35 BUSHY PARK TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 30th August Good performances from juniors Edward Smith, George Inman, David Ready and Luke Wilson. 1 P Tulba (Basing & MH) 15.42 19 David Rowe 18.21 24 Nick Wright 18.30 35 Duncan Mallison 19.09 43 Edward Smith 19.29 55 George Inman 19.55 70 Darren Wood 20.20 72 David Ready 20.26 75 Luke Wilson 20.28 76 Simon Collingridge 20.29 98 Ian Grange 21.07 217 Roger Wilson 23.48 299 Paul Martingell 26.10 372 Wally Garrod 28.48 380 Fiona Jones 29.11 421 Sharon Rowe 31.21 426 Heather Martingell 31.23 BANSTEAD WOODS TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 30th August 1 J Simpson (SLH) 16.08 134 Tanya Allen 30.01 ALBERT PARK (MIDDLESBROUGH) TIME TRIAL 5km Saturday 30th August 1 A Dixon (Chester-l-S) 17.03 31 Chris Wright 23.53 CHESTERFIELD SPIRE 10m Sunday 31st August 1 A Jones (Salford) 51.05 251 Phil Aiken 84.48 MABAC 10km PAIRS RELAY Sunday 31st August at Leatherhead 1 M Donnery/R Turner (EO) 32.15 33 Lynne Barber/James Barber 46.02 36 Stacey Barber/Oliver Bheemul 47.40 KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap Wednesday 3rd September at Woking 1 S Prentice (unatt) 23.36 (actual time 18.06) 27 Steve Rowland 27.12 (18.27) 33 Sonia Rowland 27.51 (21.36) 35 Jim Forrest 28.24 (22.24) YATELEY 10km Wednesday 6th August 1 M Trees (Belgrave) 33.56 (chip time 33.56) 503 Vicci Randle 53.13 (52.40) FALLSBURGH MARATHON Saturday 16th August at Grand Rapids, Michigan Andy Hayward reports: "The location of my latest marathon was Fallsburgh (near Grand Rapids) Michigan. A slower time than hoped for, but a very tough course in a State Park in the middle of nowhere. My last three marathons have probably been my toughest, but it seems to suit me as I have placed 4th, 3rd, and 5th in them. Over half of the run was on trails through woodlands, some on a gravel track, some on loose sand, some on mud, and about 10 miles on road, and all of the above were very hilly. It started on a road by a car park in the Park, and ran down to a historic and quaint covered bridge. Then after crossing the river, of course there was immediately a sharp uphill, and this set the pattern of the course - relentless ups and downs all the way. After about five miles the paved road became a gravel/dirt road, but the hills remained the same. At eight miles, we went back down to the river and across a second historic covered bridge, with scenic views of the river. Then more tough uphills. I was 13th at that point, but started moving nicely through the field from there. The second half was mostly a different loop, much tougher than the first half, and mainly wooded hilly trails (think Orion or Thames Hare & Hounds mob match courses, but longer and much hillier). It was tough to keep driving myself on through the grinding hills in the heat, but I was told at mile 22 that I was in 7th position, and I could see two ahead in the distance, so the incentive to keep pushing over the last four miles for a top five spot was there. The last three miles of the course were the same as the last three of the first half, so I knew what was coming, but managed to keep going, and overtook the two in the 24th mile. Then it was a case of hanging on to 5th place, and it was a relief to cross the river the final time at mile 26, and look back to see I had a comfortable margin. The last .2 was flat except for the final 100 yards up to the finish line which I gratefully sprinted across. The temperature at the start was 19'C and at the finish was around 30'C. I came 5th overall out of 78, and second over forty (they didn't have a separate category for over 50 but if they had, I would have won that). Time was 3:41:26 (through halfway in 1:45) and the winning time was only 3:25, which gives an indication of the severity of the course. Almost as soon as I had crossed the line, I was presented with a massive trophy of a lion, adorned with a plaque stating "King Of The Course - 2nd Master". I was a bit pushed for time, so thankfully, I didn't have to wait around for a formal presentation. I drove back half an hour to the hotel, had a quick shower, repacked to get the massive trophy in my bag, then drove three and a half hours to Chicago, getting there just in time to jump on the Virgin Atlantic flight to London. DVT almost guaranteed!" 1 G Fisher (USA) 3:25.35 5 Andy Hayward 3:41.26 HAMMERSMITH 3.3 miles handicap Tuesday 29th July 1 T Harran (Herne Hill) 19.38 7 Alan Howard 23.48 (age graded winner at 82.02%) FINALLY... "Jogging is for people who aren't intelligent enough to watch television". Victoria Wood