Newsletter February 2002

 
NEWSLETTER 
FEBRUARY 2002 ISSUE 295
 
EVENTS DIARY: 
 

PLEASE CHECK NOTICE BOARD OR RUNNING MAGAZINES FOR FURTHER INFO.
FRANNYS BITS.
Congratulations to Aaron Harris on being selected to run for Hampshire Schools in the English Schools Cross Country Championships at Chelmsford on March 9th. Aaron targeted this race last September, and has trained and raced regularly during the intervening months to achieve the required standard.
Despite not being able to turn out a full strength squad for the last Hants. League race we finished the season with a fine set of results. Congratulations to Cath for winning the Vets. Title and taking second overall. Also well done to Ian for taking second in the men’s Vets. Sadly the men’s Vets. team was unable to retain their title though the ladies did well to finish runners up.
The London marathon is now the focus of attention for a lot of the clubs runners with Myself, Jill, Dave Bright, Mark Simcox, Nick, Martin Churm, Karen Burton, Adam Gold, Mike Bowering and Jamie all running. Also running is Nick’s wife Laura who recently finished her first race, the Bramley 20, in a time of 3 hours 15 minutes. Unfortunately the club entries were returned from this race as the race was full well before it’s closing date.
This means that the final two consistency events are the Petersfield half-marathon and the Eastleigh 10km. Dave Henery is assured of victory in the men’s league but with double points available at Eastleigh it is still possible for someone to snatch the title from Cath.
The club has recently received a fine trophy from Barker Son & Isherwood. As it is quite an impressive trophy the committee are looking for suggestions (ASAP) as to what we should present this trophy for. Remember that the category should cover both sexes and include all age groups. If you have any suggestions contact a committee member ASAP.
COMPLAINTS
Sadly there have been several complaints of late with regard to runners taking risks with the traffic around the Village. Whilst I realise that not all the runners are members of the Harriers, some of the complaints have taken place on a Thursday night with the main one being a “group running all across the road” at Station Road. Please can I ask that members take care around the Village and to try not to upset other road users.
As the main club in our area we must take road safety very seriously. Consider the damaging publicity that we would get if one of our members were to be involved in an accident caused by them ignoring basic road safety, in addition to the personal misery that an accident would cause.
HANTS. X-COUNTRY Lge. At BOURNEMOUTH.
The cross-country season finished with a mixed bag of results but overall we can look back on quite a successful season. One of the big plusses has been the appearance of quite a few juniors in club colours and Geoff should be congratulated on his efforts this winter. With none of our Newbury friends being able to compete Aaron continued his impressive form with his highest league position of the year and showed he could challenge for league Honours next year. Scott had, probably, his best run of the season after some good training of late and also has another year in his age group. In the under 13’s Alex has made a promising start against lads who have a lot more experience and he could be one to watch as he gets older. In the team competitions the U13 team finished 7^th of 13 teams whilst the U15’s finished 6^th. Good results that could well be improved next year.
There has also been a bigger club turnout in the ladies events this season and everyone has competed well. Cath had already taken the Vets. Title and the overall 2^nd place in the league so had difficulty in putting 100% into her run which must have been cheering news for all those runners she beat whilst finishing third on the day. With Audra and Jill both missing it was up to Liz to put in a good run for second counter and with hopes of team medals available it was Dorothy who anchored the A team home in 9^th place. More importantly her super run also meant that the vets. team finished second on the day to take second in the league behind a very strong Reading Road Runners squad. Our only other lady to run was Moira who has been one of the most improved runners in the club this winter; another fine run rounded off a great season for her.
2^nd FEBRUARY.

 
 

The men’s team has been having a rough season with injuries and has not turned out a full strength team in any match. This time Chris was still out injured and Mike Bowering was, I believe, recovering from a minor knee operation. But the spirit in the club is strong and a good turnout on the day saw the A team finish a superb third behind the all conquering Aldershot and Basingstoke. This was good enough for the team to finish third in the league to match last years’ performance which is a great result considering all the aforementioned problems. The vets. won on the day but sadly this was not enough to stop Portsmouth from taking the league title by a point. This was quite sad, as we had held this trophy for several seasons. The B team league saw us match last year’s third place, which shows our strength in depth.
Returning from injury, Mike led home the team with a steady run. Ian was close behind and his solid effort gave him the runners up spot in the Veteran’s league. Mark was a little off his best but has had a good season, Dave found the shorter distance to his liking to get revenge over Martin and level the scores at 3-3. Rumours of a tiebreak over the Gibbet course are spreading fast.
Gavin had a great run and was less than a minute behind but was chased all the way by the greatly improved Dave Henery who was pipped on the line by a previous London marathon winner. Dave Bright had no one from the club to push him but he seemed pleased with his run. Eric had another low key run but still had over a minutes advantage on myself. I hate this boring course and started at the back with every intention of staying there. Sadly I sped up and actually enjoyed parts of it despite being lapped by the first two home. JT closed the club interest and in the pub afterwards there were rumours of a Vets. 60 league title though this is still unconfirmed as I type this report.

 
TRAINING WEEKEND IN CORNWALL 8th thru 11th February from Franny

 
 
Once again Steve McNair organised another fully booked excursion to Towan, Nr. Padstow, for a full weekend of good food, quality training and copious amounts of Tinners. After packing his car to accommodate my gear Dave Henery then had to repack to fit in Jill’s mobile larder and ghetto blaster. After picking up Moira we drove to Liz’s where once again the ever-smiling Dave had to repack the car with even more kit. The trip to Honiton was marked by the first “cuffing” of the weekend when Liz seriously over reacted to a perfectly acceptable comment about Volvo drivers by yours truly. Several carloads met up for an enjoyable lunch at the Red Cow where Jamie promptly started on his annual wind up campaign. Arriving at Towan the first thing that was noticeable was the slightly breezy conditions. The second thing was that the younger Clarkes had started their occupation of the swimming pool.
The first run of the trip followed the now traditional route up to the cliff tops and round the headland. It was a tad hairy in places and a few cut short at the lighthouse, the bracing “sea breeze” as a local called it in the pub that night certainly cleared the cobwebs from the brain. Martin did the honours that night by being the first to belly up to the bar whilst the landlord started rubbing his hands in glee.
The Saturday Reps up to the lighthouse were probably the slowest on record due to the wind. Moira and Liz showed a liking for fast downhill running as we Repped back with a gale in our backs. The annual excursion to Padstow seemed to go well for everyone though Dave Henery and myself appeared to have been the only ones fortunate to visit the Golden Lion where the beer was of exceptional quality.
The wind was even stronger by the time of the Saturday afternoon run and I believe that everyone bottled out at some stage with the lead group returning by road rather than chance the return trip along the cliffs. Some of us didn’t even get that far!!! Dave’s curry night was another success despite having to fire several of his assistants during the day. After helping / hindering him for over an hour I now have a greater appreciation for all the effort he puts in and I sure everyone thanks him for putting on such a great spread.
The long Sunday morning run was again the out and back effort from Padstow. Going out to Wadebridge was enjoyable but, into the wind, the return trip was slightly harder. With London approaching Jill and myself took the opportunity to put in our first long runs and were joined by Dave who was getting in the miles to seal his consistency title at Bramley. JT impressed with a 2 hour run whilst Martin did well to clock some good miles despite being under the weather.
A good lunch at the Farmers’ Arms helped to replenish the energy levels and a variety of activities filled the afternoon though some of us found ourselves taking an overlong walk to the beach and back after foolishly believing a sign that said it was only a quarter of a mile away. At least Jamie and Belinda had the sense to go by car. A super evening in the pub was had by all the party animals with JT in particular strutting his stuff to the amazement of the locals.
A noisy session of community singing on the way home followed by some very competitive pool and table footie rounded of an excellent day. The final run on the Monday morning saw the weather at it’s worst and the wind at it’s strongest. On safety grounds this called for the course to be modified from previous years though Jill, Voss and myself couldn’t resist one last run along Constantine beach in a howling gale, such runs are never forgotten and rounded off a fantastic weekend.
Sadly, injuries meant that there were some smaller groups out for some of the runs this year and it was particularly tough for poor old Jamie who was itching to clock some miles but was prevented by a bad knee. Thanks to those people who helped with the food and once again, many thanks to Steve for organising a great weekend.
Sadly the newsletter is a bit on the thin side this month but several promised articles have failed to materialise. The newsletter must get rather monotonous if I do all of the reports etc. so any contributions would be most welcome. Write them out and I can copy them or if you have access to a computer put it on disc or E mail Geoff at the address on the front page.
FRANNY
Committee Meeting 18/2/02
Present: G. Cloke, M. Dennison, P. Wheeler, C. Wheeler, R. Francis, G. Mclaughlin.
Matters Arising.

1. Consistency. Richard has this in hand.
2. New trophy. Barker son &Isherwood donated trophy, still need to decide what to present this for.
3. Starter hooter, two have been purchased.
4. Overton 5, no meeting at the present.

Treasurer’s Report.
Income £278
Expenditure £1130
Current £40.95 dr.
Reserve £3672.92
Secretary’s Report
Basingstoke lighting for Down Grange. Expecting donation of £25. This was agreed at meeting.
A.O.B.

1. Presentation dinner Friday 26^th April. Venue- Cathy to persue.
2. AGM. Date for this Thursday 25^th April.
3. AGM- Need to advertise for new Treasurer
4. Combe Gibbet- Permit received. Trophies have been made, Gwyneth to supply engraved plates to stick on. Need to ask for help supplying teas and cakes.
5. Possible donation to school for car-parking during the Combe Gibbet race.
6. Team Kennet runners keen to run for the Harriers during the track season.
7. Members unhappy about reports in newspaper about XC events. Any offers to send in future reports, should speak to committee members.

Meeting closed at 9.30p.m.
Date of next meeting 11/3/02
Inter-Counties Junior Boys Cross Country event at Banstead, Surrey on Saturday 16 February from Geoff
13 year old Aaron Harris, represented Hampshire Schools in this event, in which eight counties took part, each fielding a team of 16, ensuring a high level of competition.
The course was a flat and fast 4Km, run over the now familiar School Playing Field, clearly not designed to test the boys in the manner associated with traditional English cross country running.
Aaron ran strongly to improve on his previous outing for Hampshire, by finishing 33rd overall, and 7th counter for Hampshire Schools.
FOXDOWN HANDICAP.
The smallest handicap field for some time was caused by some members being injured whilst others were concentrating on marathon training. However this did not detract from a competitive race which saw the first three home all recording PB’s. Dave Titcomb led the way with 49 second improvement and just held off Aaron who took an impressive 44 seconds from his best. A 7 second PB from Dave Bright in third led to some interesting position changes in the overall leagues. Aaron leads the handicap league by two points with Dave Bright holding a 3 point advantage over Moira. Dave Titcomb is only another 2 points back and it would appear that the medals are between these four with one race to go.
Blissy was fastest on the night ahead of Mark who consolidated his position at the top of the league. With Keith Clark missing the run, Cath’s third place on the night moved her into a clear second place behind Mark. The battle for overall bronze goes down to the wire with only two points covering Andy, Gavin and Dave Bright. Aaron’s fourth fastest on the night also gives him a faint chance of a time league medal.
21^st FEBRUARY.

 

BIONIC OF THE MONTH
An unusually quiet February, making it impossible to select an outright winner. Watch this space next month.