*************************************************** RANELAGH HARRIERS E-NEWS # 323 27 January 2010 Editor: Steve Rowland mailto: steverowland@ranelagh-harriers.com *************************************************** HEADLINE NEWS ************* * Ranelagh wins Bank of England inter-club * Marc Snaith and Marie Synnott-Wells both finish in second place * Darren Wood completes his 250th parkrun * parkrun places for Marie Synnott-Wells, Michelle Beaumont, Duncan Mallison, Luke Wilson and Darren Wood * South of England Championships this Saturday * Final Surrey League races on February 6th * Final mob match at home on February 20th - desperately seeking a record turnout! SEE HERE ******** FINAL MOB MATCH Niall O'Connor writes: "Hear ye, hear ye - our fourth and final mob match of the season is approaching! The Heathens (more formally known as Blackheath and Bromley Harriers) visit us in Richmond Park on Saturday February 20th for a 2:30pm start. This season we have lost two and won one of our mob matches so this is a chance to bring the score level. Over the last decade we have generally averaged one mob win a season, however a win against Blackheath would bring us to a respectable four wins in the last eight mobs. It won't happen easily so please make an effort to turn out and represent Ranelagh in one of the events that we compete in as a club and where virtually every runner contributes towards the final score. Blackheath (BHH) are one of the oldest clubs in the country and over the years have had quite a bit of success, not least in early December when Mike Skinner helped Britain to a silver medal in the European cross-country championships in Dublin. However on the day of our triumph against Thames they were labouring to an away loss in a mob match against Orion at Chingford, so they are not invincible. Our record against them on their home course in Hayes, Kent brings furrows to brows (i.e. we haven't won there since 1971), but our home record is more respectable with us recently winning in 2008. Previously I mentioned that even Clive Naish and Dave Wright didn't run in that last away win in 1971 - however I neglected to mention that Dave's former teacher and ex-club captain, Jim Forrest did. Also present that day were (the less youthful than you thought) Steve Rowland, John Hanscomb, Alan Hedger and Bill Bird. Most were also at the start line for our record mob turnout of 106 in January 1988. On February 20th we are going to try to beat this record but all Harriers are needed in order to do so. Please make an effort to be one of 107 blue vests at the start. The race is two laps, beginning from opposite King Henry's mound near Pembroke Lodge, starting at 14:30. Numbers can be collected from about an hour beforehand at the clubhouse or at the start. For those wanting to check out the course, or test the conditions, on the previous Saturday (13th February) Deborah and I will run a lap of the course at a slow pace. Please feel free to join us. We're meeting at 9:30am at Pembroke Lodge and all are welcome - the pace will be slow to ensure nobody gets left behind. The race doubles as our club championship with the winner receiving the sizeable Wynne Cup. All first-claim members are eligible for this impressive trophy which is usually hotly contested. Ralph won by a 'street' last year but this time Peter will be 'haring' after him. A further subplot within the race will be the sealed handicap. This follows the usual handicap rules except you won't know where you have finished until Mike waves his magic wand in the clubhouse afterwards. Post-race there will be the usual tea and cakes in the clubhouse and then we will retire to The Roebuck on Richmond Hill for further refreshments. While there is nothing formal organized Michele has reserved the upstairs room and food will be available. After our first away win away against Thames for 20 years it would be great to finish the mob match season in style with a record Ranelagh turnout. On February 20th run for your club in a classic race against a famous rival and afterwards let's celebrate the finish of another season of 'mobs'." SURREY LEAGUE This season's final Surrey League fixtures take place on Saturday 6th February. After a season beset with injuries, illnesses and other absences the men's team's hopes of retaining a place in Division 1 could not be rated higher than slim. Nevertheless, we must do the best we can to end the season on as high a note a possible. Captain Marc will be looking for all potential members of the scoring team to be present. It'll be worth making the effort for the venue alone - Newlands Corner, the beauty spot near Guildford from where there are sweeping views stretching all the way to the South Downs. Under 17s' race is at 2.30pm, seniors at 3pm. The women's team are currently in third place, some way behind the joint leaders Thames H&H and South London H. Their realistic aim will be to remain third holding off challengers Herne Hill H who are only some 30 points behind. The women are in action on Wimbledon Common with the senior race starting at 12 noon. Details are on our web site: here:. Details of the men's venue will also be there when confirmed. MABAC LEAGUE The eight miles MABAC road race in Windsor Great Park scheduled for 10th January was cancelled because of the snow. It is now to be held on Sunday 7th February starting near Blacknest Gate at 11am. It's free (though there is a charge for parking in the Park) and all Ranelagh members are eligible to take part - just turn up and register on the day. Our own MABAC 5 miles race takes place on Sunday 7th March at 11am starting near the Isabella Plantation car park. Again, all members are welcome. Details of both events are on the MABAC web site, as are entry details for the popular pre-London Marathon events the Cranleigh 15 and 21 miles races on Sunday 28th March: www.mabac.org.uk/. BAKER CUP SUPPER AND PRIZE PRESENTATION This will take place on Saturday 27th March at the Roebuck pub on Richmond Hill. Cup holders, please arrange to return your trophy to Alan Hedger well before that date so that he can arrange for the engraving of the new holder's name. Cup winners, please reserve the date and attend if you can. The price is £20 including meal and the kick-off is 7pm. SPRING MARATHONS The London Marathon has traditionally featured as one of the races in our Road Running Grand Prix but with it becoming more and more difficult to secure an entry it has become rather unfair to include it on its own. Therefore it is proposed that this year, ANY spring marathon will count. The GP scoring will be based on times recorded - chip times, as these are now the only ones supplied by the London Marathon. I am aware that there are club members planning to run in the Paris, Brighton, Washington and Edinburgh events - please let me know if there are any others and please also ensure you notify me of your results. It's not always possible to search results by club, especially in the races abroad. PARKING #1 Just a quick reminder to all members old and new that we must not park in the Dysart pub car park at any time. PARKING #2 Proposals to introduce car parking charges in Bushy and Richmond Parks have been given the go-ahead. In Richmond Park the charge is likely to be £1 per hour up to a maximum of £3. There remains widespread opposition to the plan, and many local organizations are vociferous in their opposition. A combined rally to protest against the charges is to be held on Saturday 30th January at Pembroke Lodge starting at 10.30am. CLUB KIT Lorna Smith writes: "All kit items are now back in stock including long sleeve shirts in fluorescent yellow or blue. These are available in round-neck unisex or V-neck ladies' versions at £21. There are also running vests with the traditional Ranelagh Harriers dog logo for £15, short sleeved T shirts in blue for £18 and warm blue fleeces for £27. If you would like to purchase any items, Deborah Blakemore or Lorna Smith are usually available before or after training on Tuesdays. Alternatively e-mail Lorna lornasmith@probablerisk.com or we will be selling kit in the clubhouse before the mob match on 20th February." EDINBURGH MARATHON PLACE AVAILABLE Wiebke Kortum writes: "I've got a place for the Edinburgh Marathon on May 23rd 2010. Unfortunately my son's graduation ball is now scheduled for the evening before, so that I cannot participate. The Marathon organisation team assured me that I could swap the place with someone else, if I find someone. So is anyone interested in taking my number? The original cost was £44, but I would give it away for £30. The official entry is now closed." Contact Wiebke at wiebke.kortum@web.de RUNNING TO THE LIMITS The Channel 4 documentary "Running to the Limits" is being repeated this Sunday (31st January) at 7.45am. 16 stone smoker Alex Velo investigates why in 1985 over 100 British runners could do the marathon in under 2 hours 20 minutes and in 2005 less than 10 could achieve it. During the investigation Velo gets into training and clocks a sub-3 hour marathon. DARREN WOOD - parkrun KING parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt writes: "'Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm'. Running 250 parkruns in five years could be defined as enthusiasm. Some say it's dedication. I know there are those who consider it madness. But what does it take to make someone achieve this feat and what does this mean for parkrun and parkrunners alike? Let me introduce you to Darren Wood - if indeed an introduction is required. Darren ran the second ever parkrun in October 2004 in just under 25 minutes. I remember Darren in those days as he struggled to find his running legs as a novice runner. I recall some good days and some days when the wheels just fell off. He engaged the services of a good parkrun friend - Robin Drummond - who helped him understand about his body and how it reacts to training. In the past five years Darren has fallen in love with parkrun, running it more than anyone else. He was the first person to achieve 100 parkruns and now he is the only person to achieve 250 parkruns. It's no surprise that he won the points prize at Bushy in 2006. Darren's running has blossomed through his association with parkrun. Look at his record and you will see that for the past number of years he has seldom run over 20 minutes and more often than not he runs in the 19 minutes bracket. Darren's fastest parkrun at 17:58 was run at Bushy Park at the anniversary in 2007. Darren also volunteers at parkrun. He prioritises his running but finds a way to help too. Over the last few years Darren has been the kit custodian for Bushy Park getting to the event early and staying late which is even more impressive considering he lives 50 miles away. Darren's attitude is an example of so many of you and his achievement is worthy of the quote in the heading by Ralph Waldo Emerson. So there is a new parkrun club. The 250 Club. I'm hoping that this will be the pinnacle of parkrun clubs but I've been warned that Darren is now going for the 500 mark. We were delighted to have all our sponsors at Bushy Park last Saturday to celebrate Darren's achievement and the introduction of the new club. While the weather was very unkind to us, we introduced Natasha Grainger from The London Marathon, Shona Hughes from Lucozade Sport, Hugh Brasher from the Sweatshop and Simon Charlesworth from Nike. Darren was presented with a number of gifts including the brand new 250 Club tee shirt, a pair of running shoes of his choice, the Nike+ Sports Band and a voucher for Lucozade Sport products. To crown the occasion, Ray Coward presented Darren with a certificate of his achievement signed by me." WE NEED YOUR BODY! Cindy Croucher writes: "We are offering FREE sports massages on Saturday 6th February at 10am and 10.45am. Massages are carried out by sports massage students under the supervision of their tutor, however all the students are qualified holistic masseurs (the nice relaxing kind). If you are 18 or over and would like to come along, please book a 45 minute slot by calling 020 8240 4321. We also have a series of 1-day courses for coaches and athletes approaching as follows: * Nutrition for Coaches - Nutritional Recovery 20/2/10 (half day) * Coaching Children and Teenagers 28/2/10 * First Aid for Sport 7/3/10 * Nutrition for Coaches - Hydration 20/3/10 (half day) * Strength and Conditioning for Coaches - 21/3/10 * Sports Psychology 27/3/10 All cost £85 per day (£40 for half day), details on the smuc website. CONGRATULATIONS ...to Mandy Harris, who was married at Pembroke Lodge on December 18th and is now Mandy Pole. LONDON MARATHON Barny at the Dysart Arms writes: "My sister and I are running the London Marathon this year for The Shooting Star Children's Hospice in Hampton. They have a certain number of charity places which they have filled, but wanted to try and find any other runners who have places already but no charity. I wondered if there might be some runners at Ranelagh who have the professional running places who would like to assign themselves to this excellent charity and try and raise some money? If anyone is interested they can contact Karen on 020 8481 8192 or at karen.peffer@shootingstar.org.uk." WHAT'S COMING ************* More details of the following from Marc Snaith (07717 213035 mailto ( mdsnaith5@hotmail.com ) or Marie Synnott-Wells (07983 430264 (After 5pm Weekdays) / mailto nandmwells@aol.com ) Saturday 30th January South of England Championships at Parliament Hill Saturday 6th February Final Surrey League races: men at Newlands Corner, Guildford, women at Wimbledon Common Sunday 7th February MABAC League 8 miles road in Windsor Great Park. See above. Saturday 20th February Pelling-Ratcliff Cup mob match v Blackheath & Bromley H & AC in Richmond Park. See above. Saturday 20th February Surrey Championships at Lloyd Park, rescheduled from 9th January 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 Bedfont Lakes Bedfont Lakes Country Park, Ashford, Middlesex Other venues, more details and registration at www.parkrun.com WHAT'S HAPPENED *************** BANK OF ENGLAND INTER-CLUB Saturday 23rd January 4.9 miles in Richmond Park As usual the Bank of England race proved a popular event. I don't know whether the attraction is the opportunity to see some different parts of the Park, or the free tea and cheap beer afterwards, but we had nearly thirty Ranelagh lining up amongst a field of just over one hundred. The Bank reverted to their old course of just under five miles - starting and finishing with a long and rather muddy stretch of horse ride from Roehampton Gate and featuring several quite gratuitous ascents and descents in the woods. Herne Hill's Alan Barnes - representing the Bank - was clearly a class apart and steamed away from the field to build up a massive lead of almost three minutes at the finish. His Herne Hill / Bank colleague Karen Ellison made a good stab at securing a 1-2 for them but had to give best to Marc Snaith who in the end filled a comfortable second place. Niall O'Connor and Andy Bickerstaff were not far behind but they were our only other finishers in the top ten. Chris Bundhun in 13th place was our next home, a few strides ahead of Marie Synnott-Wells who was the second woman to finish behind Ellison. Christian Vaughan and Burkhard Fehsenfeld made the top twenty with Chris Brook close behind and our scoring team of ten was closed in by Mike Peace and Chris Hunton in 37th and 38th places. Sandra Prosser was fourth woman to finish, with Wiebke Kortum fifth and Therese Holmstrup sixth. Compiling the results turned into more of a marathon than a five miler but we eventually learned that we had won the team race by 36 points with the Bank in second place. BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 16th January This was Darren Wood's 250th parkrun. Congratulations! 1 F Staunton (Clapham) 17.00 11 Nick Wright 18.13 20 Darren Wood 19.06 27 Chris Bundhun 19.26 35 Luke Wilson 19.50 41 Grant Hibbert 20.05 50 Chris Brook 20.28 113 Chris Camacho 22.01 148 Alison Dicks 22.39 274 Jo Sinton-Hewitt 25.13 305 Kirsty Bangham 26.00 321 Paul Martingell 26.23 343 Heather Martingell 26.56 354 Nicholas Fordham 27.18 355 Peter Fordham 27.21 436 Wally Garrod 29.33 444 Val Lowman 29.53 451 Peter Lowman 30.09 492 John Hanscomb 32.55 RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 16th January 1 J Brown (T Turbo) 17.00 28 Duncan Mallison 19.15 73 Andrew Brown 22.02 76 Roger Wilson 22.07 77 Sandra Prosser 22.09 108 Tony Appleby 23.09 128 Jar O'Brien 23.44 135 Alison Dicks 23.50 174 Chris Read 25.28 191 Philippa Shaw 26.19 193 Michael White 26.25 221 Julie Deller 28.19 222 Rob Kitchen 28.21 224 Janet Turnes 28.27 241 Jo Knight 29.55 251 Annemarie Goodridge 31.08 274 Wiebke Kortum 36.44 WIMBLEDON COMMON parkrun 5km Saturday 16th January In very muddy conditions Marie Synnott-Wells was the leading woman. 1 E O'Connell (Serp) 17.47 18 Marie Synnott-Wells 20.17 RICHMOND parkrun 5km Saturday 23rd January 1 S Barber (Sutton) 18.00 57 Steven Mountain 22.58 58 Alan Davidson 23.00 68 Alison Dicks 23.54 69 Jar O'Brien 23.56 70 Karl Garvey 23.57 106 Rob Kitchen 26.45 118 Sally Bamford 27.22 127 Janet Turnes 28.25 133 Marina Quayle 29.08 156 Pat Hewlett 32.10 BUSHY parkrun 5km Saturday 23rd January Phil Aiken joined the parkrun "100 club". 1 A Robinson (Herc Wim) 16.12 118 Ian Grange 22.08 169 Peter Fordham 23.29 279 Phil Aiken 25.06 305 Jose Scheuer 25.35 323 Alison Salmon 26.01 337 Ivan Boggis 26.26 426 Peter Lowman 28.46 434 Wally Garrod 29.07 477 John Hanscomb 31.19 BLACK PARK parkrun 5km Saturday 23rd January Darren Wood finished third on a club outing to Slough. 1 W Burkitt (unatt) 18.00 3 Darren Wood 18.51 36 Jo Sinton-Hewitt 23.43 42 Chris Wright 24.10 43 David Rowe 24.26 48 Kirsty Bangham 24.57 49 Heather Martingell 25.01 98 Sharon Rowe 32.38 BEDFONT LAKES parkrun 5km Saturday 23rd January Duncan Mallison secured his third Bedfont victory with a new personal best. Behind him Luke Wilson was runner-up and Michelle Beaumont was first woman. 1 Duncan Mallison 19.01 2 Luke Wilson 19.39 4 Lee Davies 21.17 11 Roger Wilson 22.54 12 Michelle Beaumont 22.59 13 Michael White 23.42 34 Gill Wilson 29.06 HORNDEAN PUB TO PUB 7.2 miles Monday 28th December Alan Davidson reports: "It proved a difficult trip for me. That day had a Sunday bus service meaning the buses to Horndean from Petersfield and Havant didn't run so my only chance was to get to Portsmouth for the first bus of the day from there to Horndean. That I managed but two miles from Horndean at Cowplain the bus crashed so I had 32 minutes with heavy rucksack to run two miles to Horndean, get changed and get to the start. I made it either well warmed-up or worn out! It is a very hilly but scenic course." 1 T Payn (AFD) 38.41 77 Alan Davidson 56.58 FINALLY... Christian Vaughan sends this: "Over 30 competitors in the Xiamen International Marathon in China have been disqualified after officials caught them cheating." Full story:.