Newsletter – July 2001

NEWSLETTER 
 JULY 2001 ISSUE 288

 EVENTS DIARY:

 
The throws were boosted by the seasonal debut of Tony. He was unlucky to finish second in the shot, with a throw of over 10m that could have won many events, and also threw over 41m in the javelin. Simon has had a very consistent season so far, especially in the hammer, where he again exceeded 32m for a brilliant win. Darren was suffering from an over-exuberant, knackering, but extremely impressive (for a ‘heavy’) rep session on Thursday (running, not throwing or downing pints which is his usual pre-match excuses). Even more impressive as he showed me a clean pair of heels on the eleventh rep. Despite his groans, he notched up three second and one first B string place, for a useful seventeen point haul. The throws actually proved to be our strongest element winning this part of the match (When the match is divided into total points scored in the throws, in the jumps, and on the track). Well done boys!
The middle distance lads (do me and Paul count as lads?) scored well, but not brilliantly. The one exception being the steeplechase which provided our only double win of the day. Paul came out of semi-retirement (he would like to retire from the steeplechase but we keep dragging him back!) for a hard-earned B string victory. Jamie ran his first steeplechase in years and first in Overton colours, to get his revenge over the Plymouth runner who had beaten him into second in the 5000m. What was pleasing to see was that he could see, the barriers that is. And that he fitted into the traditional Overton mould of being crap over the hurdles and worse over, or should that be through, the water jump. He displayed the compulsory two footed, three foot deep, bum wetting, back jarring, achilles stretching, arms akimbo, landings. Oh, and bloody quick between the hurdles!
Chris ran another 2.02sec, 800m for second, with a fantastic, but late, sprint finish. Consistent, but can’t you be inconsistent and do a 1.59sec once in a while, Chris? His 400s have been a bonus this year and he picked up another useful second in that. Keith showed that training for the Nottingham marathon isn’t all long, slow, mileage, with a second in the B string 800m and third in the A 1500m. I’m not training for a marathon, doing low mileage, and am slow. However poor 5000m and 1500m times were good enough for two B string firsts.
The non-competing athletes all performed brilliantly (yes Belinda, you count as an athlete now you’re running, though I’m not so sure about JT!) with their timing, measuring, lifting, carrying and supporting, etc. Especially noteworthy was Eric, for his choice of pub (good beer, nice garden, close to the match and road home) and, so I overheard in the beer fuelled, raucous, men only, after match celebrations, for him keeping his hands of Chris’ pet. ‘T’ or the puppy though?!
 
SOUTHERN LEAGUE AT HIGH WYCOMBE 23 JUNE 2001

 

1. Training sessions – Still to go into Newsletter – (Franny).
2. Andover-Newbury relays – Geoff & Paul still to confirm.
3. Publicity – Monthly articles are now in The Test & Whitchurch Parish Mag will try also the News & Views.
4. Mob Match – Is there a trophy for it ? (Gwyneth)
5. Hants. League changes

Men will have V50 trophy reducing V40 awards from 4 to 3
Teams for U/13, U/15, U/17, Boys will be reduced from 4 to 3 to help smaller clubs
Subs £40 as last year.
Home fixture 12^th January 2002 at Ashe Meadows
Treasurers Report.
Income- £616.10 Brading 10K- £25 written off due to
Expenditure – £211.16 Foot & Mouth cancelling trip.
Current -£512-50
Reserve -£1964.28
Try to raise similar trip to Braiding 10K next year – Gwyneth to put in diary.
Secretary’s. Report.
No check lists just reminder on. Risk Assessments.
 

6. UK Athletes sent out circular re: Health & Safety in general

 
AOB.
Police unhappy with racing on road but can’t stop us. However we have to ensure road closures /assessments/Police costs etc. are undertaken by the club.
Geoff spoken to BARR British Association of Road Racing about membership. Cost is £20 membership and will get some written advice costing £18.50 for information leaflets. Committee agreed with joining.
The I Lap Fun Run and 2 Laps Overton 5 will have a combined start at 3pm. Both starting together opposite the Greyhound
Meeting Closed 9.38
Next Meeting 13^th August
 
TADLEY 10K ROAD RACE – 15-7-01 BY J.T.
A small group decided that we needed some road race action and all entered on the day for this local event.
The weather was quite warm but the route took in many leafy country roads around Baughurst and took way the brightest of the sunlight,
As usual Mike lead us all home with an excellent run in second place behind the winner Tim Hyde from Windsor S.&E. These two opened up a huge gap to the next runners, one of which was a fast improving Keith Clark in 5^th place, just over a minute behind.
Paul Wheeler completed the team in 11^th place in 36-51; not a bad result for a chap who claims to be
semi-retired. I have heard that Sunday morning training includes a game of tennis and other nights badminton! These three would have been the first three of the competition existing but in this race the first team of three had to include at least one lady.
Eric was not at all pleased with his 42-10 timing, some 2 minutes slower than recent 10K’s, but then a debilitating holiday had taken place in between.
JT’s run was fairly satisfying particularly because of the conditions and the course which steadily dropped over the first half and climbed back again in the second.
RESULTS
2 M. Bliss 33-41 (1^st Vet)
5 K. Clark 35-19
11 P. Wheeler 36-51 (4^th Vet)
55 E. Tilbury 42-10
107 J. Thomas 46-19
264 Finished.

 

 This month’s winner has hauled himself back from injury to play a major part in our in our quest for promotion in the Southern Track League. He competes to the best of his ability in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, and high jump. Congratulations to
 
Bionic of the Month
Tim Stagg proving himself once again a great club asset.
 
 
  JULY 21^st.
The penultimate fixture of the season saw the club finishing in third place behind Reading and Havant who now hold the top two spots in the league. This was always going to be a very hard fixture and the team can be congratulated on a fine performance. The throws have scored us a lot of points this season but ran into some good opponents in this match with a 3^rd and 4^th in the javelin from Alan and Terry being the pick of the results. Simon’s distances were on a par with his other meetings and his three 4^th places deserved better. A double first came in the Pole Vault courtesy of Alan and Ryan and was surprisingly matched in the High jump where Jeremy and Tim were both victorious with relativley low heights.
Jeremy also scored points in the sprints, long jump, triple jump, relay and even tried his hand in the hammer.Tim scored consistently on the track with good performances in the hurdles, here he was well supported by Alan and Keith Vallis who once again doubled up for 3^rd place in the steeplechase. Our only wins on the track came in the 5000m from Jamie and Mike who also ran the 1500m. Keith Clark scored valuble points in the middle-distance events whilst Chris took a useful second in the 800 to add to good runs in the 200,400 and relay. Finally , as well as competing in the throws, Terry showed what a useful all-rounder he is by recording a second in the long jump and a third in the triple jump.

 
SOUTHERN TRACK Lge. Match 5 at GUILDFORD.

 
FULL LEAGUE TABLES ARE ON THE NOTICE BOARD.
 
  
COMMITTEE MEETING 9/7/01
Present:-
Franny, Geoff, Mark, Paul, Cath.Apolgies:
 
Matters Arising:-

 Gwyneth
 SUMMER HANDICAP.
A very good turnout of 25 runners for the third race of the series saw the handicapper having a good night with only 2 minutes covering the first 22 finishers. Winner on the night was handicap expert Liz who had a fifteen-second margin over pre-race favourite Scott. He consolidated his victory in the away mob match by catching Steve in the closing stages. Fastest on the night was Jamie with Mike next ahead of Mark Simcox who was in turn a minute clear of Keith Clark. Six runners recorded PB’s, the best being Derek McCarthy’s 41 second improvement. Others came from Aaron, Mark, Gwyneth, myself and…fanfare of trumpets and roll of drums….Geoff Cloke.
The handicap tables show Blissy leading the time league though he has missed a race; not much covers the next four with Mark, Keith, Paul and Ian Ford all in contention. Scott has a narrow lead over Liz in the handicap table but neither can afford to miss the last race. Should they do so it will let in the chasing pack of Aaron, Mark, Dave Bright, PC Mills and Audra.
 
The final race is on 16^th August.
12^th JULY.
 
SOUTHERN LEAGUE AT HIGH WYCOMBE 23 JUNE 2001 from Mike
With a number of key people missing, we always thought we could struggle in this fixture. As the match progressed to its final stages, it was quite possible that we could have finished anywhere between a brilliant first or disappointing last. It was that close. Unfortunately, there were practically no tannoy announcements of results or team positions, so the drama of the day went largely unnoticed, unless you went to see the written out results, which were not displayed until some time after the events had finished. As it turned out, we finished a fighting equal third with just sixteen points separating first from last.
Adam, making his season debut, picked up useful points in the jumps and sprints. Having finished his exams, hopefully he can actually do some training before future events. He was backed up by the old stagers, Alan and Tim, getting through numerous events as usual. For the second match running, we had the misfortune to have a no height in the
pole vault. This time it wasn’t Alan but young Ryan. Like father like son. Hopefully like father he will progress in the future to a 3.95m or dare I say 4.00+.
 
Derek is a relatively new member to the club and has a wide sporting background. He has a list of running pb’s ranging from a 15:30 for 5km, 32 minutes 10km, 55 mins 10 miles, 72 mins for the half-marathon and a marathon pb of 2hrs 42 min. He has also competed in numerous triathlons with a 2hr 19 min pb for the Olympic distance and 12hrs 30 min. for the Iron Man distance. For those of you wishing to start any trouble in the changing room he is a 3^rd degree black belt in Ju Jitsu and a qualified coach. He is a BUPA registered fitness manager and has worked as a personal fitness trainer. He is also a RIEKIE master, which is a Japanese healing therapy involving massage.
If you have any injury problems Derek can be contacted at the club or see his advert on the club notice board.
 
OVERTON 5 ROAD RACE.
Nicky is now handing out raffle tickets for the above event. These are an important part of the fund raising required to put on this race weekend. If you have managed to slip through Nickey’s net and feel you can sell a few books please contact her at the club. It would be great if all club members could sell their full allocation of tickets.
 
HAMPSHIRE Cross-Country Lge.
The venues for the coming cross country fixtures have been announced:



208 Finished.
 
DEREK McCARTHY.

PLEASE CHECK NOTICE BOARD OR RUNNING MAGAZINES FOR FURTHER INFO.
Equal third at High Wycombe was followed up with a fine second place at Perivale as the track & field team continued to build on their fine start to the season. Third place in the penultimate fixture at Guildford leaves the team in 10^th place in the league. With only three points separating the teams in 3^rd and 12^th positions, it is the most competitive league for many years so, a good turnout for the final fixture at Abingdon on August 4^th is vital. Also can we have a big crowd of supporters there to cheer the lads on.
I have been asked to point out that as well as the main Monday, Thursday and Sunday sessions there are several other groups who train during the week. At Down Grange on a Tuesday evening, Geoff organises a track session for the junior section. In recent weeks some seniors have joined in and all are welcome. Please contact Geoff for further information.
Also on a Tuesday evening there is a small group doing reps. at Testbourne school during the summer and hill work at the Ardglen industrial estate during the winter. Regular squad members are Nick Dalton, JT, and Eric who will supply further information.
Finally depending on club fixtures there is an occasional session organised at Down Grange on a Saturday morning…see Paul Wheeler for more details. If there are any other groups or individuals who do a regular session that they wish to share with other club members please let me know.
 
BOURTON-ON-THE-WATER 15 mile Road-Race.
Mark and myself last ran this event ten years ago and had been determined to tackle the notorious hill again, Unfortunately the race always seemed to clash with our shift pattern or a southern track fixture. This year, however, we had a clear weekend to take up the challenge and set out with Nicky, on a hot afternoon, to arrive in plenty of time for a bit of pre-race sightseeing and to select a suitable pub for the post race inquest. The six p.m. start meant that, with not a cloud in the sky, it was still very hot and Mark made a good start and made light work of the first climb of the hill. By 7 miles he was running well in a top twenty position when nature took it’s toll and he had to dive into the trees for a “Blissy”. He lost a number of places and on the second lap tried to make up as many as he could and was in quite a bad state when he crossed the finishing line in a time that was a PB by over 7 minutes.
Apart from the mob matches this was my first race since London and despite not having too many miles under the belt felt confident of breaking two hours. However, some erratic shifts at work mixed with eight pints the night before the race left me feeling slightly under the weather !!! I struggled slightly in the first few miles but after the first big climb I really got going, even climbing the hill faster on the second lap (twelve and a half miles at around 8minute miling). I ran the last five miles at a good pace and finished strongly to record a PB by 63 seconds.
After the race it was obvious that Mark had given it everything and Nicky and myself were quite concerned, especially after his lips turned blue….. He must have been rough because he even let me drive his car back. Happily a good nights sleep put him right.
This race is advertised as the “classic” and the course, including the two ascents of the hill certainly fit this description. Bourton on the Water is a beautiful place with lots of little shops and places to eat and drink. (Archers’ Golden at 1.20 a pint)
There is plenty for the family to do while dad is working up a sweat and it’s only an 80 minute drive so I would recommend that every distance runner should try it at least once…How about next year?
30^th JUNE.