Newsletter – August 2002

NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2002 ISSUE 301
EVENTS DIARY:
SEPT 3rd POOLE Ladies only 10km
7th OVERTON 5 miles
8th HIGHCLERE 10km BUPA GREAT SOUTH RUN 10 miles
15th ALICE HOLT 10km (CONSISTENCY) LITTLEDOWN 5 mile
22nd NEW FOREST half & full MARATHONS
28th MENS SOUTHERN ROAD RELAYS
29th LADIES & JUMIOR SOUTHERN ROAD RELAYS
OCT. 6th GREAT NORTH RUN ALTON DOWNLAND 5km & 10km
12th HANTS. XC Lge. at FARLEY MOUNT
13th CLARENDON WAY MARATHON & HALF HARDLEY half-mar
20th OLD SARUM 8km XC ABINGDON MARATHON
27th FORDINGBRIDGE 10mile TOTTON 10km
FRANNY’S BITS.
The Overton 5 is almost upon us, keep an eye on the notice board for further details about this weekends events.
Congratulations to Belinda and Mike for winning their sections of the summer handicap leagues. The winter league starts on October 17th over the Foxdown course. The starting list should be on the board by now and I look forward to your many complaints throughout the winter.
No reports handed in to me this month though I believe Geoff has a couple. If you have raced but not submitted a report can you please let me have the bare details (venue, distance, time) so that I can keep the standard scheme up to date.
I hope to have an up to date list of standards achieved on the board during the next month, this can then help those who try to achieve a set target throughout the year.
An up to date list of consistency events should also be on the board shortly and we hope to have a fixtures list available as soon as certain race dates have been clarified.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE – BASINGSTOKE – 03-08-2002 from John Hoare
Our home fixture provided us with the best result of the year and was by far the closest contest of the season. We were nip and tuck with Isle of Wight all afternoon and there was some justice in sharing the honours with them. Equally close was the fight for third place which again ended in a tie between Windsor and Newton Abbott. London Irish brought a very depleted squad and were a long way in arrears. Unfortunately our first equal place was not rewarded with any significant rise in the table and we again finished mid table in twelfth place.
On the track we were the top points scorers with a number of impressive results. Two double wins went to Mike and Keith Vallis in the 5000m while Keith was involved in another double in the Steeplechase with the hard working Darren. Dave Bush also had a rewarding afternoon with a ‘B’ string win in the 400m Hurdles and second place in the 400m. Chris was narrowly beaten in the ‘A’ string 800m but a fine run from Keith Clark secured us nine points in this event, while another nine points out of ten came in the 1500m courtesy of Mike and Keith. Good backing from Jeremy, Danny and Richard kept the points ticking over and we went into the 4x400m relay needing to beat Isle of Wight by one place to finish joint first. Well done to our squad who did just that.
Isle of Wight dominated the Jumping events but a string of seconds kept us in contention. These came from some splendid efforts from Danny and Jeremy in the Long and Triple Jumps and from Jeremy and Ivan in the High Jump. Darren and Paul also chipped in with very useful points in the Pole Vault.
It was a similar story in the Throws with Isle of Wight scoring heavily but there were again some super results from our trio of Simon, Ivan and Darren. Simon and Ivan picked up nine out of ten in the Hammer and then Darren teamed up with Simon to take two seconds in the Javelin. Ivan took a good ‘A’ string result in the Shot and Simon finished the afternoon with a similar result in the Discus.
Congratulations to everyone who took part throughout the season and to all our volunteers who acted as officials, especially on this afternoon when the event ran like clockwork. Many thanks to you all.
Southern League Final Positions
Position
TEAM
Event
Points
League
Points
1
Southampton
819.5
27
2
South London Harriers
720
27
3
Abingdon
798
26
4
Isle of Wight
732.5
25.5
5
Basingstoke
734
24
6
Haslemere Border
741
23
7
Hastings
726
22
8
Salisbury
690.5
22
9
Newton Abbott
695.5
21.5
10
Chiltern
676.5
21
11
Fleet & Crookham
670
21
12
OVERTON
707
20.5
13
Milton Keynes
674
18
14
Thames Valley Harriers
638.5
17
15
White Horse Harriers
603.5
17
16
Team Solent
614
14
17
Winchester
487
14
18
City of Plymouth
593
13
19
Worthing
511.5
13
20
Wimborne
416
13
21
Windsor S.E. & Middlesex
548.5
12.5
22
Ealing Southall & Middlesex
556.5
12
23
Serpentine
425
11
24
Wycombe Phoenix
280.5
8
25
London Irish
187
6
MILLAND VALLEY 21km TRAIL RACE. AUGUST 4TH FROM FRANNY
After suffering a slight injury and then picking up a bit of a virus I decided that this anticipated low key stroll over an “undulating woodland and quiet country lanes” course would be an easier option than my planned attempt at a fast half-marathon, it would also be a gentle introduction to trail running for Jill.
The phrases “low key” and “gentle” were blown away in the first two miles as most of it were spent running uphill, included running through a river and ended in a climb up a flight of around 50 steps to the top of a heavily wooded ridge. It was obvious at this stage that the course was going to be something special and so it proved to be with a heavily rutted descent being followed by mile upon mile of continual long climbs, short climbs and uphills that tested the legs and lungs to the limit.
I made a steady start in the very warm and humid conditions but found myself struggling until around halfway when I had a tip off from a Burnham Jogger that ” she’s not far behind”. This forced me into picking up the pace and I managed to run the second half much better, helped by picking off a lot of runners who were struggling with the course and very hot weather. The steep “ski jump” descent from the final hill did little to help my very tired legs but I ended up feeling quite pleased with my run at the finish.
Jill had a great run and the tip off I had received at halfway had been more than accurate. She had made a very positive start and despite the shock of climbing those steps was only a few yards behind me at the 9km drink station. She found the course very testing but only started to tire as the course made it’s way up the last and longest uphill section of the course through head high bracken and heavily wooded paths. However she rallied over the last couple of miles and picked up several places over the final road stage with a storming finish. With little experience of this type of off-road running this was certainly a fine performance considering the niggling injuries that have curtailed her training recently. She just missed out on the prizes as she finished 6th lady and 5th in her age group
The course is as tough as any that I have run in almost 28 years of racing but is also one of the most spectacular with some great views from the hill tops. It is well marked out and marshalled, the only down side being the limited changing and toilet facilities and the absence of any food at the finish, though sitting on the grass with a pint of Guinness was a pleasant way to await the prize giving.
50th R.FRANCIS 1hr 46min 01sec
72nd J.HILLS 1hr 51min 11sec
NUTLEY BOTTOM HANDICAP. 8th AUGUST.
The smallest field of the series made life easier for the timekeepers with the field being more spread out than usual. First home was Alex who continued his improvement this summer with the biggest PB of the night as he sliced 2m 25sec from his previous best. Second was Nicky whose 46 second PB shows signs of better form while Josh took 35 seconds off his debut time to take third. The other PB’s on the night came from Aaron (8 sec) and Blissy senior (4 sec).
With Cathy Philo missing the last race it was left wide open for Belinda to take the handicap title (despite numerous moans that the handicapper was being rather unkind to her at the start). Aaron took advantage of several absentees to move up to second with Ian Vosser holding third ahead of Gavin. Jamie’s absence gifted the title to Mike on countback with Keith also being aided by absentees to take third.
Congratulations to the winners and thanks once again to John for doing the timekeeping and also those of you who have helped with the recording during the summer.
POS
RUNNER
TIME
H’CAP
ACT. TIME
TIME POS.
1
A.BRIGHT
28.41
3.55
24.46
15
2
N.CLARK
30.20
8.19
22.01
11
3
J.BLISS
30.31
9.33
20.58
9
4
K.CLARK
31.54
13.06
17.48
2
5
A.HARRIS
30.58
12.34
18.24
3
6
M.BLISS
31.01
14.17
16.44
1
7
R.FRANCIS
31.11
11.41
19.30
5
8
D.TITCOMB
31.18
9.52
21.26
10
9
G.DUNCAN
31.21
11.28
19.53
6
10
B.LADE
31.22
5.23
25.59
16
11
D.WICKE
31.38
8.18
23.20
14
12
D.McCARTHY
31.41
11.12
20.29
8
13
D.BRIGHT
31.47
11.49
19.58
7
14
A.HARTLEY
31.59
12.45
19.14
4
15
E.SANDALL-BALL
32.15
9.01
23.14
13
16
K.BURTON
32.32
6.29
26.03
17
17
E.TILBURY
32.52
10.36
22.16
12
FINAL HANDICAP LEAGUE PLACINGS
RUNNER
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
BEST 3 RACE TOTAL
B.LADE
28
3
1
10
14
A.HARRIS
4
10
21
5
19
I.VOSSER
2
11
8
0
21
G.DUNCAN
26
4
10
9
23
A.BRIGHT
21
1
0
1
23
F.KENNEY
10
9
5
0
24
M.BLISS
13
6
22
6
25
R.FRANCIS
5
13
0
7
25
D.WICKE
3
24
19
11
33
C.PHILO
30
2
3
0
35
D.TITCOMB
13
0
14
8
35
A.HARTLEY
7
16
25
14
37
K.BURTON
0
22
2
16
40
D.BRIGHT
24
0
7
13
44
K.CLARK
25
0
16
4
45
M.WEST
6
23
18
0
47
E.WICKE
16
7
24
0
47
J.JONES
15
17
17
0
49
D.VOSSER
22
12
20
0
54
J.HILLS
9
21
26
0
56
M.VOSSER
1
26
29
0
56
G.CLOKE
27
15
15
0
57
E.SANDALL-BALL
19
0
27
15
61
E.TILBURY
19
25
30
17
61
J.THOMAS
23
18
28
0
69
FINALTIME LEAGUE PLACINGS
RUNNER
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
BEST 3 RACE TOTAL
M.BLISS
2
1
2
1
4
J.JONES
1
2
1
0
4
K.CLARK
6
0
3
2
11
D.VOSSER
5
5
3
0
13
A.HARRIS
8
6
5
3
14
A.HARTLEY
7
7
6
4
17
R.FRANCIS
10
8
0
5
23
G.DUNCAN
13
10
8
6
24
D.BRIGHT
12
0
7
7
26
J.HILL
15
12
12
0
39
E.TILBURY
14
14
15
12
40
D.TITCOMB
17
0
13
10
40
E.WICKE
18
13
17
0
48
G.CLOKE
20
15
16
0
51
D.WICKE
21
18
21
14
53
E.SANDALL-BALL
19
0
22
13
54
I.VOSSER
22
16
19
0
57
F.KENNEY
23
17
18
0
58
A.BRIGHT
27
22
0
15
64
K.BURTON
0
24
26
17
67
M.WEST
24
20
24
0
68
J.THOMAS
25
19
27
0
73
M.VOSSER
26
23
28
0
77
B.LADE
28
25
29
16
79
C.PHILO
30
26
30
0
86
Committee Meeting 18/08/02
Present G. Cloke, M. Dennison, P. Wheeler, C. Wheeler, R. Francis, G. Mclaughlin.
Matters Arising
Club Pentathlon. Idea from Richard for a BBQ next year perhaps this will inspire seniors to take part. Will review next year.
Consistency League. Geoff to re-print fixtures list, Franny to prepare.
Southern League. Went well and a small profit was made.
Treasurers Report.
Income £354.50
Expenditure £66.28
Current £1310.72
Reserve £2178.28
Secretaries Report
Permit to hold races has been sent to the club.
New members G. England. E. Smith , both have been elected.
AOB
1) Relay entry forms have arrived. Vets 0/40 x 4 Ladies 29th Sept.
6 Seniors, 4 Vets Men 28th Sept
Paul to put notice on board. Entries close 13th Sept.
Overton 5. All kinds of help is requested.. Suggestion to take guests to Highclere Castle to run 10k in the grounds followed by a picnic on the Sunday.
Southern Vets X.C Relays in Bournemouth in mid December.
Date of next meeting 9/09/02
Meeting closed at 9.30 p.m.
CLARENDON 5-4-3-2-1 Challenge. AUGUST 11TH FROM FRANNY
Jill wanted to get in a long run before her holiday and this low key event fitted the bill nicely. I had finished well up in the 1999 race over 30km (19miles) and the target was to beat that time (3hr 22min) without getting lost. The self navigation was helped this year by much improved course marking and despite Jill’s worries about not being able to read a map the only navigational error was of course made by me as I led us slightly off course on the outskirts of Salisbury. Despite treating the race as a long Sunday morning training run and the 8 checkpoints around the course we beat out target by 10 minutes and finished full of running. Jill felt that this was possibly the most enjoyable event she has taken part in and it’s low key organisation makes it an ideal event for someone looking for either a long steady run on a very interesting course or as part of a build up to an autumn marathon.
J.HILLS
3hrs 12min 20sec
R.FRANCIS
Midhurst 10K August 11th from Geoff
Mike Bliss competed in this race over an undulating two lap course, in warm sunny conditions. Mike was in the lead group of eight up to the 2Km mark, and then dropped off the pace due to the effects of a hard training week. However he persisted and hauled back some of the group to finish fourth in 32m 47s just 30 seconds behind the race winner.
Wessex Junior Track League Final August 18th Oxford
Aaron Harris, competed in Team Kennet colours in sunny and very warm conditions. There were sixteen competing teams split into two groups dependant upon their final league positions, but this did not always grade the athletes according to ability, where more competition would have produced some faster times.
In his main event, the 800metres, Aaron was up against tough opposition from a Basingstoke rival who has already beaten him twice this season.He tracked Aaron through the first 400metres, covered in around 66secs,but from there Aaron continued to run at an even pace, putting distance between them, which his rival was unable to reduce despite a last minute effort. This was an impressive run by Aaron, clocking 2mins 14secs, just outside his personal best, and the fastest time of the day by almost 2secs.
He followed this up by winning his race in the 400metres, with a personal best time of 61.2secs, and even managed to gain additional team points, by recording 3.72metres in the long jump. In the 400metres relay, a by this time tired Aaron, ran the first leg in 62.4secs handing over in second place, but the rest of the team were in an even worse state, and could only manage to limp home in last place.