*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 294 14 November 2008 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Orion Harriers win Lee Cup mob match * Ranelagh slip to sixth in men's Surrey League and fourth in women's * Jonathon Stacey wins Welcombe Wobbler with Daniela Mingham 3rd in the women's race * Richmond Parkrun win for Rachael Holmes * Book now for Christmas Party and Thames mob match supper SEE HERE ******** CHRISTMAS PARTY Ranelagh's Christmas Party will take place on Saturday 13th December from 7pm in the Promenade Suite at the Dukes Meadow Golf Club, Dan Mason Drive, Chiswick. There will be a buffet dinner and we will have our own DJ. Tickets are £28 (payable to Ranelagh Harriers) and are available from Michele Gibson at 16 Copenhagen Gardens, London W4 5NN or at the clubhouse on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. E-mail Michele at micheleagibson@hotmail.com for more info. We have to finalise numbers by the end of November, so please book asap. You will have seen details of the appeal for Sri Lankan runner Neel De Alwis that was recently launched by David Rowntree which we hope you will support. At the Christmas Party we will also be running a raffle in support of David's appeal fund and have obtained a year's membership at the of the Golf Club which we will be putting up for auction. MOB MATCH v THAMES HARE & HOUNDS Saturday 29th November in Richmond Park Niall O'Connor writes: "Thanks to everyone who turned out for the Mob match versus Orion. It was great club effort to have 38 on the start line for an away fixture on a miserable day. The last couple of fixtures in Chingford saw us turn out 27 and 22 respectively so it was good to have many more people represent the club. Due to the rain the race turned out to be a bit more arduous than anticipated - hopefully everyone appreciated how scenic it could have been! Unfortunately Marc's reign as Captain has begun with a continuation of our run of defeats in Chingford since our last success there in 1984, however on Saturday November 29th we have a chance get our season back on level pegging with the visit of Thames Hare and Hounds to Richmond Park. Full details will be included in the next newsletter but, as a taster, it will be two laps of our course (7.5m) beginning close to King Henry's mound. The good news is that our course is one of the driest around so will be solid underfoot. The bad news is that we haven't defeated our Wimbledon neighbours in a mob match since 2002 which means that all Harriers will be required to repel our saltired rivals. With home support, and the supper afterwards, it will be great opportunity for anyone tempted to experience a mob match, or who has enjoyed the Richmond Parkrun and wants to step up to a longer distance. Come along on Saturday 29th November and represent Ranelagh in a classic race on our scenic course!" THAMES HARE & HOUNDS MOB MATCH SUPPER Following our home mob match with Thames Hare & Hounds on Saturday 29th November there will as usual be an informal supper with our guests in the clubhouse. These are usually very entertaining events, so please come along. The food will be fish and chips (or veggie burger and chips), and start time will be about 6.30pm. Price to be confirmed but probably £6 - £8. Fullers beer will be available free for as long as it lasts!!! Please let Niall O'Connor or Marc Snaith know if you are coming and remember to specify if you want the veggie option. FREE SPORTS MASSAGE Cindy Croucher writes: "The St Mary's University short course unit sports massage students need bodies to practice on on Wednesday mornings 9.30-10.30am from 5th November to 17th December. If you would like to come, please just turn up. It will be on a first-come-first-served basis. Please note however that they are sports massage students - not physios! You will need to arrive at the sports hall reception area of St Mary's University College in Twickenham and wait outside room R37 (this is the block next to the field, by the track). I suggest you wear shorts (or bring them to wear) and sensible underwear as although there are curtains, there are quite a few people in the room! They are all qualified masseurs and are seeking to gain their sports massage qualification". MARATHON RECORD When 40 year-old Russian Ludmila Petrova finished in second place to Paula Radcliffe in the New York Marathon on November 2nd, she set a new W40 world record of 2:25.43. This brought to an end the 21 year tenure of the record by Ranelagh's Priscilla Welch, who ran 2:26.51 in London in 1987. MARGARET IN NEPAL Latest news from Margaret Nilsen Fehn: "Hi All. Have returned to base in Kathmandu. I took a trip up to Darjeeling and Kalimpong, another hill station. Up into Sikkim and the capital Gangtok. Not a typical city in India as the main street was clean and traffic free! Went by jeep across west Sikkim and then south. Amazing scenery back to Darjeeling. The slippery red clay made parts of the journey scary. The tyres don't grip! Plan to go Pokara, a restful place with a lake and clear mountain views. I need a rest". 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 15th November South of the Thames 5 miles Championship (men and women) at Lloyd Park, Croydon Saturday 29th November Mob Match v Thames Hare and Hounds in Richmond Park Saturday 6th December Dysart Cup women's race incl Hugh Jones Salver club women's championship. 4 miles in Richmond Park starting at 1.45pm Ellis Cup men's race. 5 miles in Richmond Park starting at 2.30pm 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 *************** HAROLD LEE CUP MOB MATCH v ORION HARRIERS Saturday 1st November at Chingford Niall's silvery tongue persuaded 38 intrepid Harriers to brave the delights not only of the M25 but also of Epping Forest on a day when the strong temptation must have been to stay at home. It was raining heavily and an arctic wind blew across the plain where the Orion start and finish are situated. "Woodland trails" had been Niall's description of the course for the novices. Well, there certainly were woodland trails and many of them were firm enough going, and there were road sections...but in between was mud, of the choicest Chingford vintage. Two or three weeks earlier the conditions might have been quite benign, but the heavy rain before and on the day dispelled any hopes of the course being an easy option. All credit to those who got round the course, especially those for whom this was their first mob match: our next one at home in Richmond Park will be a piece of cake in comparison! Our numbers made a decent race of it, but we were no match for our opponents on the day and they retained the Harold Lee Cup with some ease. We had few of our top men in attendance to trouble the Orion fast pack, which as usual was bolstered by a number of second-claimers including snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan who finished a creditable 12th. Mob Match King David Wright in 8th place was our first man home - there can't have been many mob matches where our first finisher was an over 50! This was David's 132nd Mob Match. Fellow centurions Steve Rowland and Mike Peace were also in attendance, though they chose to enjoy the course for somewhat longer than David. The spotlight now goes onto Clive Naish - this was his 99th, the last 97 of them consecutive. Niall O'Connor, Trevor Maguire, Marc Snaith and Chris Brook were the only other Ranelagh runners to make the top twenty and our leading woman was Sandra Prosser in 51st place. This will have been our final visit to Orion's historic clubhouse at the Royal Forest Hotel. They are being turfed out by the Corporation of the City of London, who have offered them a new home at the nearby Jubilee Lodge. However, the club faces a considerable fund raising effort to turn the new premises into a usable clubhouse. For a view from the back read Sharon Rowe's account of the race on David and Sharon's blog Some photos by Orion's photographer: here: SWEATSHOP SURREY LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 8th November on Wimbledon Common After such an outstanding start to our men's League campaign, when we finished third in the opening race, it was disappointing to end the day down in sixth. But the outlook is not as gloomy as it might seem. We had a lengthy list of absentees owing to injury and other good reasons - indeed only five of our top eleven finishers from the first race made it to the start line this time - and in the circumstances the team's sixth place on the day was as good as we could have hoped. Much better performances from Belgrave and Hercules Wimbledon - who were celebrating their 75th anniversary - meant that we slipped back to sixth overall but we are still well within touch of the three teams above us. Only 74 points cover positions three to six, so a good result in the next race could easily get us back in contention for a top three placing. The top two teams, Thames and Herne Hill, have already left the rest well behind and look set for another race to the wire for the title. A steady rain set in for the race, making an already wet common very soggy in parts. Ranelagh supporters' hearts fluttered briefly when a blue vest was seen to take the lead at the start and rapidly build up a commanding lead. Sadly for us this turned out to be Belgrave's new Aussie signing Russell Dessaix-Chin. Couldn't someone at Bels have found him a club vest? Richard Gregory led the real Ranelagh contingent from the off, holding on to a top twenty place for most of the first lap before slipping just a little to 25th. Darryl McDonald had finished a stride ahead of Richard in the first race but couldn't match him this time. Darryl came in a little over half a minute behind, our only other finisher in the top fifty. There was a good run from Steve Whitehead in 65th place - exactly the same position as in the first race, but in a higher quality field. Next came the Ranelagh mid-field bus - Ed Barker, Howard Gleave and Niall O'Connor crossing the line within three seconds, followed a few seconds later by a returning-from-injury Paul Doyle. Alyn Morgan had been up there with them on the first lap but lost a little ground on the second circuit. Trevor Maguire and Andy Bickerstaff closed in the scoring team. George Inman finished 21st in the Under 17 race. SURREY LADIES LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Saturday 8th November at Lightwater Country Park The story for the women's team was in some ways similar to that of the men. We slipped back in the team reckoning but remain close up behind the teams in front. We finished fourth on the day and dropped from joint second to fourth overall, but a mere eight points separate Belgrave in second place from Ranelagh in fourth. Leaders South London Harriers finished only second today but the hefty advantage they carried forward from the opening race gives them a commanding lead. With the rain holding off until the men's race later, conditions were good on the largely flat circuit alongside the M3 (not as bad as it sounds!). Much of the course consisted of stony tracks, which must have come as a nasty surprise to one barefoot runner - she stopped at half way to don a pair of shoes! There were over 300 starters in the combined Division One and Two race. Jo Ronaldson and Estelle Damant were never far apart, Estelle leading early on and Jo taking over in the second half despite taking a muddy purler at one point. Overall they finished 8th and 9th, but an excellent 4th and 5th in Division One. Marie Synnott-Wells was never far behind and finished 15th. Carola Richter and Daniela Mingham renewed their rivalry and both improved substantially on their results from the first race. They closed in the scoring team of five in 46th and 47th places. Sandra Prosser, Liz Kipling, Kathy Mallett, Sonia Rowland and Louise Piears formed the 'B' team which finished 18th - 3rd 'B' team - and Kirsty Bangham and Sharon Rowe were an incomplete 'C' team. WELCOMBE WOBBLER 10km Sunday 19th October in Stratford-upon-Avon Jonathon Stacey was the overall winner of this off-road hilly race by some two minutes and Daniela Mingham took third in the women's race. 1 Jonathon Stacey 34.52 20 Daniela Mingham 46.32 ABINGDON MARATHON Sunday 19th October 1 S Neill (Pudsey & B) 2:32.25 (chip time 2:32.25) 269 Chris Wilson 3:35.25 (3:35.14) AMSTERDAM MARATHON Sunday 19th October 1 P Kirui (Kenya) 2:07.52 (chip time 2:07.50) 64 Danny Norman 2:42.37 (2:42.32) 2668 Heather Martingell 3:55.59 (3:51.05) LONDON BUSINESS HOUSES CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday 25th October at Kingsbury Mick Lane was third scorer for the winning Met Police team. 1 M Boucher (London U) 26.20 5 Mick Lane 28.49 DUBLIN MARATHON Monday 27th October 1 A Naumov (Ukraine) 2:11.06 (chip time 2:11.06) 2124 Ian Grange 3:42.56 (3:40.51) 6397 Sharon Dooley 4:42.33 (4:39.57) LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH 5km Friday 31st October in Hyde Park 1 J Shane (Basildon) 15.41 97 Michael Bull 20.47 200 Alan Davidson 27.00 208 John Hanscomb 28.30 BUSHY PARKRUN 5km Saturday 1st November 1 J Trapmore (Shaft B) 15.59 39 Darren Wood 19.43 90 David Ready 21.16 174 Sarah Lintern 23.31 212 Roger Wilson 24.11 317 Gill Wilson 26.38 379 John Hanscomb 28.34 420 Daniel Hobbs 30.56 RICHMOND PARKRUN 5km Saturday 1st November 1 S Bush (unatt) 17.14 13 Stephen Instone 20.11 16 Richard Goddard-Jones 20.32 45 Paul Bisping 23.27 60 Chris Wilson 24.52 90 Cindy Croucher 31.00 94 Penny Merrett 37.16 96 Beverley Ali 38.22 MARLOW HALF MARATHON Sunday 2nd November 1 E O'Gorman (Chiltern) 1:14.42 (chip time 1:14.42) 188 Kath Phillips 1:39.52 (1:39.14) 279 Lee Davies 1:44.38 (1:43.59) 304 Michelle Beaumont 1:45.49 (1:45.11) 470 Michael White 1:54.15 (1:53.35) MABAC LEAGUE 5 miles Sunday 2nd November at Puttenham Common 1 J Harris (Pyrford) 30.51 105 Lynne Barber 50.45 KINGFIELD CANTER 2.85 miles handicap Wednesday 5th November at Woking 1 R Johnson (Petrofac) 25.35 (actual time 16.05) 6 Alan Davidson 26.00 (19.30) 15 Louise Piears 26.27 (21.12) 21 Sonia Rowland 26.38 (20.53) 22 Steve Rowland 26.42 (18.57) BUSHY PARKRUN 5km Saturday 8th November 1 M Anderson (Farnham) 17.48 28 Darren Wood 20.09 65 David Ready 21.37 160 Roger Wilson 24.08 171 Jose Scheuer 24.33 213 Gill Wilson 25.55 293 Sarah Lintern 28.03 314 John Hanscomb 29.32 RICHMOND PARKRUN 5km Saturday 8th November Rachael Holmes was the leading woman. 1 J Flood (unatt) 17.51 6 Stephen Instone 20.01 15 Michael Cawley 21.36 16 Rachael Holmes 21.57 30 Martin Clark 23.00 32 Wiebke Kortum 23.25 68 Pat Hewlett 30.12 70 Beverley Ali 37.04 BRIGHTON AND HOVE PARKRUN 5km Saturday 8th November 1 C Thomson (B&H) 15.49 43 Paul Sinton-Hewitt 21.19 84 Chris Wright 23.43 LEATHERHEAD FIRE STATION 10km Sunday 9th November 1 H Raidi (Belgrave) 34.38 (chip time 34.33) 159 Michelle Beaumont 45.58 (45.39) 263 Michael White 49.53 (49.34) 471 Alan Meaden 60.06 (59.52) 488 John Hanscomb 61.17 (61.09) 501 David Meaden 63.14 (62.58) BRIDGES 2.3 miles handicap Wednesday 12th November at Westminster 1 A Robinson (unatt) 20.27 (actual time 18.57) 7 Simon Hedger 20.46 (14.31) 24 Alan Davidson 21.19 (16.19) 34 John Hanscomb 21.45 (22.15) FINALLY... Dave Taylor contributes: Two Ranelagh veterans, Mike & Fred, were reminiscing about their running when they began to wonder if there's any club running in heaven. Both agreed that whoever got there first would check out the situation and find some way of getting back to the other to let them know. Sadly, soon after Fred passed away, and a few days later Mike is awakened from a deep sleep by a blinding flash of light and a voice calling him: "Mike...Mike". "Who is it?" asks Mike sitting up suddenly. "It's me, Fred". "You can't be Fred. Fred just died". "I'm telling you it is me and I'm speaking from heaven with some really good news and a little bit of bad news." "Tell me the good news first" says Mike. "Well," says Fred, "There is running in heaven and all of our old pals who have died before us are up here too. Better than that, we're all young again and every event is run in beautiful spring weather when it never rains or snows. Best of all we never get tired or injured". "Brilliant," says Mike, "Now what's the bad news?". "You're in next Saturday's cross country team....".