Newsletter – November 2002

NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER 2002 ISSUE 304
EVENTS DIARY:
DEC 1st VICTORY 5miles
8th CHRISTCHURCH 10km/TADLEY XMAS XC
14th SEAA VETERANS XC CHAMPS at BOURNEMOUTH
19th FOXDOWN HANDICAP & Party in the bar
22nd CYCLISTS’ RACE Followed by Xmas dinner
26th POOLE “Round the lakes” 10km
27th PORTSMOUTH JOGGERS “PUB TO PUB” 7 miles
Jan.4th COUNTY XC CHAMPIONSHIPS at DIBDEN INCLOSURE
11th CROSS COUNTRY FIXTURE at OVERTON
12th STUBBINGTON 10km
18th COUNTY SCHOOLS XC CHAMPIONSHIPS
25th SOUTHERN XC CHAMPIONSHIPS at EXETER
26th ROMSEY 5 mile
FRANNY’S BITS.
Three days before deadline and only one article for the newsletter, then like the buses three arrive at once. Sorry if this edition appears rushed but to be honest…it is.
Main talking point seems to be the clubs poor league placing in the men’s cross-country league. Injuries and unavailable runners have given us our worst start to the season in 20 years. However this can be turned around in the remaining matches but it is now important that we get as many runners out as possible for the remaining fixtures. Dave Vosser and Geoff have been chasing up people to compete and, a week before the Reading fixture, things look more promising. The ladies are doing us proud in this league with the Vets. Squad sitting on top of the table with their anticipated major challengers, Reading Road Runners, already out of contention.
The club XC championship is being held in conjunction with the Reading fixture so lets hope for a big turnout, don’t forget, this means DOUBLE consistency points.
John Hoare is organising the club Christmas dinner on December 22nd following the cyclist’s race. Please make sure you return your menu choice and deposit to him if you have not already done so.
Remember the last Thursday before Christmas Party up in the bar following the handicap on December 19th.
Finally, for those of you looking for an event to burn off all that turkey…….I have a few entry forms for a 7 mile event being held by Portsmouth Joggers on December 27th. Runners are split into pairs at random, preferably 1 male and 1 female, and results will be decided on combined finishing positions. For those who wish to continue the festive spirit it should be noted that PUBS feature quite significantly at this event. For further details see Franny.
Hardley ½ Marathon – Gang Warily Sunday 13th October from Dave Vosser
This was the day after the Farley Mount cross country, so I was stood on the start line in pouring rain wondering why I’d entered it. Still it would be good mileage for the forthcoming Salisbury ½.
This is a super course along the edge of the new forest. I managed to get in a group of ten runners at 3 mile and we ran together until nearly the ten-mile point. This really helped in the wet and windy conditions. A strong run in helped me pick up 17th place and just crept under 1hr 20.
Result
17th D.Vosser 1hr 19min 59 (4th Vet)
266 Ran
Fleet 10k Official Results Sunday 20th October from Dave Vosser
10th Ian Ford 34min57 3rd Vet
14th David Vosser 36min 25 6th Vet
58th Eric Tilbury 41min 17
211th John Thomas 49min18
436 Finished
Dublin Marathon Monday 28th October from Jamie Jones
As many of you probably knew since my little ‘mishap’ at the South of England Road Relays I was not able to run London in April and so targetted an autumn marathon. First choice was Koln as our friends in Euskirchen were happy to put me up for the weekend but after a bout of illness I decide to
do Dublin instead.
Paul Wheeler had prepared me extremely well for the race and although I had a few hiccups on the way I went into this race fitter than at any point before. Two weeks before had been my last long run and in the pouring rain with Paul on the bike we had done a 20mile run with no ill effects at all. A couple of 5mile efforts in the middle had found me struggling to slow down and stay at pace. I was supposed to be doing 5.30 miles but kept doing 5.15’s and 5.20’s. As Paul had said “the Marathon wouldn’t kill me but the pace could”. Sound advice!
A 3rd place in the Southend 10km which was also the South of England Championships (excellent race) meant that the last couple of weeks to Dublin were quite frustrating as I anticipated a sub 2.30 time. On race weekend the first mistake I made was too much walking around and sight seeing. Dublin is a wonderfully friendly city with lots to see and do and I think I maybe did too much. The 2nd mistake was a very basic one. I thought the race started at 9.30 when in fact it started at 9am. So rushing my warmup was not a good omen. When I ran to the start I was turned back and sent to the back of the huge crowd of nigh on 9000 runners. I was told by the marshalls that only ‘elite’ runners went to the front of the pack. Well you can imagine my response! Especially after pushing right through the entire field to get to the front and see that one of the ‘elite’ runners was a woman who to put it politely was probably on a diet. She was also wearing a personal stereo! I noticed that even in huge marathons such as Chicago and New York that there are plenty of plodders up at the front. Thank God London is better organised.
At last the gun went and I settled in behind the lead Kenyans. The first mile was 6 minutes which I thought was a bit strange until I went through 2 miles in 10.37. At that point I decided not to get hung up on times and just run comfortably at what I thought was 5.40 pace. At 5 miles I began to get worryingly cramped thighs. At this point I was in a small group which included the first English bloke Adrian Mussert who went on to finish in 2.22. I was still feeling like I was out jogging with Eric on a normal Sunday morning run except that it was windy and the roads were full of pot holes (and I thought the EU were paying for all Irish roads!). I decided to ease off and see if my legs felt better only to be caught by the lead woman at 8 miles. This was Lidia Vassilevskaia a Russian with a very nice bottom. I ran with her (mostly behind her actually) and her pacemakers until just before halfway in 1:13:46 whereupon my legs decided to tell me to turn into JT. No I didn’t cadge any free drinks off anyone but I did start to shuffle.
The second half took an agonising 1.24.53 and I got more and more despondent as people zoomed by me. My only consolation was catching one of the leading Kenyans (Bartholomew Gathondeka) who was in worse shape than me. Not actually being tired – just sore legs – meant I got to really appreciate the crowds and the scenery. There was a huge climb up into Phoenix Park which I think I think would have puked on or at least have been psyched out by if I was not shuffling. The last mile seemed to take for ever as I was really bored by then and I crossed the line in 2.38.36 which was 6 minutes slower than London 2001 and a good 10 minutes slower than I thought I would run. I was nearly caught by the lead British woman in the home straight as I was too busy looking at the scenery of South Dublin but
managed to shuffle quicker over the line than her.
Thank God for race commentators! It just goes to show that preparation; even on race day; is absolutely key to running a marathon. Many thanks to Paul for spending so much of his own time getting me ready and to all of you who I managed to con over the last 6 months to do those extra miles with me. On a positive note I have resigned from Southampton RC and am now a fully fledged ‘Harrier’. I am expecting to grow the obligatory webbed feet any time soon. I no longer expect to hear any shouts of ‘wrong vest’.
Cheers
Jamie Jones
HANTS XC LEAGUE – GOODWOOD – 01.11.02 from John Hoare
These were the worst conditions I can remember for many a year. Heavy rain and a thick mist across the course made for most unpleasant running for our group. But in spite of this there were many excellent performances to come out of the afternoon. None more so than from our Juniors. Our Boys team of Aaron Craig and Josh built on there superb result at Winchester to record another fine second place in the team competition behind the powerful Aldershot team and provided they can all turn out for the remaining three fixtures remain firm favourites to take the silver medals at the end of the season. This trio again received tremendous support from young Alex who battled courageously in the teeth of the conditions and has established himself as an important member of the team.
Still among the Juniors there was a most promising debut from young Natasha Millar in the Under 15 Girls race. She could hardly have picked a worse time to make her first appearance in club colours and finished a highly creditable 54th.
Good results also came in the Ladies race. Cath had her best race for ages showing a tremendous improvement on her result at Winchester as she stormed round to 4th place showing the benefits of her recent training programme. Equally impressive was Audra who stormed through the field to take 18th place and both were rewarded with inquiries as to their availability for Hampshire in the forthcoming Southern Inter Counties Championships. Liz put in a fine performance to complete the team that showed an improvement of two places to finish 8th in the Senior League and maintain their place at the top of the Vets League. Good runs too from Nicky, making her come back from injury and Elaine who put in a strong run in her first race in club colours. Watch out for an improvement for both these girls as the season progresses.
Not such good news for our Mens team however. Our much depleted squad was led home by Mark who worked extremely hard in the difficult conditions to take a fine 43rd place. There was then some excellent packing from Greg, Keith, Gavin and Dave to close the team but again we had to settle for ninth place with only Stubbington Green behind us of the Divison1 clubs. Currently we sit in the relegation zone and I hope over the remaining three fixtures we will see the return of many of our absentees and a climb up the table to safety. It must be a long long time since we failed to close a ‘B’ team but this was the case this afternoon. Well done to Eric(who completed our Vets team), Geoff and JT for carrying the clubs colours but where was everybody?
RESULTS
U/15 BOYS
5th A Harris 14m 27s 13th J Bliss 15m 06s
9th C Williams 14m 52s 49th A Bright 18m 22s 2nd Team 51 finished
U/15 GIRLS
54th N Millar 15m 44s 56 finished
SENIOR LADIES
4th C Wheeler 18m 23s 58th N Clark 22m30s
18th A Dennison 19m 51s 81st E Smith 23m 49s
50th E Sandall-Ball 21m 51s 8th Team 118 finished
SENIOR MEN
43rd M Simcox 140th D Bright
110th G England 161st E Tilbury
111th K Clark 233rd G Cloke
121st G Duncan 235th J Thomas 9th Team
VILLAGE HANDICAP. 14th NOVEMBER.
Despite the rain that fell there was a good turnout for the second monthly handicap. Personal bests outnumbered personal worsts 6 to 5, so the conditions obviously suited some better than others.
First home for the second time this winter was young Alex with a monster pb improvement of 4mins. 10secs. It will be interesting to see how he holds out in the next race now that the cruel handicapper wields his axe. Run of the night though came probably by runner up Aaron. He already had a quite respectable PB but absolutely butchered it by 2mins 16 seconds to clock the third fastest time on the night to put most of the club seniors to shame. This puts him 44th on the all time list, a climb of 54 places. Third place went to another junior with Josh clocking an impressive debut time despite easing off (who taught him these handicap fiddling tactics Mike) towards the end. Other PBS came from Claire 20seconds, Andy 18seconds and Dave Titcomb 8 seconds.
Fastest on the night was Jamie with Mark second. Five of the last six clocked personal worst times for various reasons, the exception being Catherine who joined Josh, Ian, Helen, and Elaine in making their course debuts.
POS.
RUNNER
FIN.TIME
HANDICAP
ACTUAL TIME
TIME POS.
A.BRIGHT
30.17
1.57
28.20
15
A.HARRIS
32.11
10.13
21.58
2
J.BLISS
33.44
10.27
23.17
6
R.FRANCIS
33.59
9.06
24.53
9
C.BOYLE
34.07
3 sec.
33.32
25
A.HARTLEY
34.09
11.04
23.05
5
D.TITCOMB
34.19
7.50
26.29
12
M.SIMCOX
34.32
12.40
21.52
1
K.CLARK
34.39
11.55
22.44
4
D.WICKE
34.46
4.41
30.05
20
K.BURTON
34.48
3.44
31.04
23
A.DENNISON
34.51
9.21
25.30
10
E.TILBURY
34.59
9.03
25.56
11
I.VOSSER
35.04
7.27
27.37
13
D.BRIGHT
35.08
11.03
24.05
8
H.KERR
35.12
4.41
30.31
22
M.WOODS
35.13
6.39
28.34
16
G.DUNCAN
35.17
11.14
24.03
7
J.JONES
35.19
15.06
20.13
D.VOSSER
35.28
13.25
22.03
3
E.SMITH
35.30
5.05
30.25
21
E.SANDALL-BALL
35.34
7.15
28.19
14
K.VALLIS
35.36
13.20
22.16
A.PAUL
35.51
7.07
28.44
17
C.TAYLOR
37.19
5.05
32.14
24
G.CLOKE
38.34
9.11
29.23
19
J.THOMAS
39.02
5.14
33.48
26
M.BRIGHT
39.11
9.55
29.16
18
FULL LEAGUE TABLES WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER THE NEXT RACE.
CONSISTENCY LEAGUE.
The double points available at the Hayling 10 have made some telling changes to the league tables. Mark was starting to run away with the men’s’ event but Eric’s 36-point haul at Hayling has bought him back into contention. The ever-running JT holds a clear third spot with Dave Titcomb leading the chasing pack. The ladies event looks to be a two horse race with Audra scoring excellent points at Goodwood and Hayling to leapfrog Karen into the lead and Cath has a small lead on Jill for third place.
It should be noted that the layout of the league was changed this year to encourage more people, especially the ladies, to take part. The plan is working with 38 runners having completed at least one event including an impressive total of 15 women. Lets hope this trend continues. Full tables are on the notice board.
MENS
WOMEN
RUNNER
POINTS
RUNNER
POINTS
M.SIMCOX
194
A.DENNISON
177
E.TILBURY
188
K.BURTON
161
J.THOMAS
152
C.WHEELER
80
D.TITCOMB
103
J.HILLS
76
M.BLISS
100
B.LADE
60
Committee Meeting 11/11/02
Present: G.Cloke, M. Dennison, P. Wheeler, C. Wheeler, R. Francis, G. Mclaughlin.
Matters Arising,
Clothing order has been received.
Brading 10k. Frannie to put notice into newsletter about a possible club trip.
Permit for entry forms for Coombe Gibbet, Geoff to organise.
Andover & Newbury relays, feed back from Newbury very good.
Christmas lunch in hand.
Treasures Report.
Income £261
Expenditure £1180.27
Current £791.25
Reserve £2180.14
Secretaries Report
South of England fees are due in January £80.
Proxy vote wanted for President U.K. Athletics. Gwyneth to write back with club vote for Lyn Davies.
London Marathon club places. Rejection places given to Gwyneth then put into a draw.
AOB
Training week-end Nicky to organise. Club funds to be used as a buffer until costs repaid.
Ken Hogan. No flowers requested therefore a donation to ORC. Club to donate £100
Club win on ORC £50 , decided to include this into the above donation.
Club Championships Hayling 10 & X.C at Reading.
Changing rooms very muddy and Frannie reports cigarette ends in ladies showers.Paul to mention this at next ORC meeting, possible more no smoking notices.?
Overton X.C Discussion over parking & course.Need to buy light weight posts and rolls of tape.
Christmas party December 19th. Need to check bar staff available.. Food by Liz spending £100.
Hampshire XC Champs club to pay for entry fee for all members to run.
Meeting closed 9.15 p.m. Date of next meeting 9/12/02
Many thanks to Mark Simcox for the following report.
GOSPORT Half-marathon. NOVEMBER 17TH.
In perfect conditions this fast two-lap race proved to be an excellent race with a field of about 600 runners. Starting along the front at Stokes Bay, the course takes in a small 2-mile loop and then proceeds onto 2 larger laps.
In what we thought was Elaine’s first half-marathon she ran just out-side 8 minute mileing pace to record a solid run and will surely improve with a winters training. Jill was not happy with her run but only just missed out on the prize list whilst Franny ran well despite cramping up just before 10 miles.
A very fit Dave caught me at nine miles, his more even paced running giving him the upper hand. I stayed with him which lead to my first ever sub 80 minute half, about bloody time too!!! My summer race performances have been crap but my first five-mile split here was the same as my Overton 5 time. Hopefully this will lead to greater things next year. This half-marathon is one of the flattest in the area and I’d like to see a good club turnout next year.
11th D.VOSSER 1hr 17min 56sec
12th M.SIMCOX 1hr 18min 00sec
R.FRANCIS 1hr 27min 43sec
J.HILLS 1hr 33min
E.SMITH 1hr 48min
Congratulations to Dave Vosser whose fine performance above was good enough to take home the first place Vets. Trophy
Full results will follow later.
HAYLING 10 MILES. 24th NOVEMBER.
Just a short report for this event as I can only relay changing room banter having not actually having been there on the day.
The course was shortened due to a tidal wave of monstrous proportions flooding the course. Hurricane force winds slowed runners every step of the race and the course took a detour over a range of, until then, unknown mountains which seemed to have appeared on the morning of the race and then disappeared just as quickly.
Whatever, a fine looking run for that fine looking Dave Vosser makes him the club ten-mile champion. Greg put in another good race while Eric was not far behind him and must have been pleased with his run. Dave continues to improve with every race while JT did well over the modified course. Audra becomes ladies champion with Karen picking up valuable consistency points to complete the squad. The reported distance of the course varies depending on who you talk too though 9.3 miles appears to be the best guess. Further info from JT in next month’s newsletter.
11th
D.VOSSER
53m 42sec
99th
G.ENGLAND
60m 09sec
125th
E.TILBURY
61m 30sec
159th
A.DENNISON
63m 08sec
253rd
D.TITCOMB
67m 33sec
448th
J.THOMAS
76m 20sec
509th
K.BURTON
79m 31sec
Some Juniors Results from Geoff
Aaron Harris and Josh Bliss, represented Hampshire Schools 13/14 year age group, in their annual Cross Country Fixture against a French team representing Bolbec Schools near Le Havre, on Sunday 24 November.
The race was run over a flat and fast 4Km parkland course in good weather. The English Team of six occupied the first ten places and easily beat their French rivals with Aaron finishing 4th and Josh 10th, in a field of 80 runners.
Salisbury ½ Marathon Sunday 3rd November from Dave Vosser
This race started its life back in 1977 as the ‘Salisbury Plain 15.5mile road race’ starting and finishing in Amesbury. J.T beat me by a good 3 minutes that year, I was 17 he wasn’t. The race ceased to exist after 21 years but was replaced by the Salisbury ½, which broadly uses the same course.
A small field of 150plus set off, happy to let me lead for the first 5 miles, I dropped to 3rd after a very stiff climb but managed to recover 2nd place on the way back. Unfortunately I missed a turning near the finish that cost me a sub 80min time – still always next year.
Result
2nd D.Vosser 1hr 20min 12