NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2003 ISSUE 313

Visit us on our Web Sites at http://www.overton-harriers.freeserve.co.uk

And www.british-athletics.co.uk/clubs/club0077.htm
This Newsletter is typed under Word for Windows 95. Please let Franny have your reports on disk.
Or you can email them directly to me at geoff.cloke@iptest.com and geoff@staddles.fsnet.co.uk
EVENTS DIARY:

FOR FURTHER DETAILS SEE NOTICE BOARD OR SEE FRANNY.
FRANNYS’ BITS:
Defeat in the return mob match but those who managed to turn out on an awkward Tuesday evening put on a good performance. The match score was BMH 74, OVERTON 114 but when added to the home fixture the scores are OVERTON 249 BMH 415 so, victory to us I think.
Congratulations to Eric on his 60^th birthday, I have a list of all the V60 road bests ready though JT reckons most of them are out of reach……..We shall see.
Thanks to those who helped with the BBQ after the final summer handicap especially Geoff for the bright idea and Martin Churm for the culinary skill.
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s summer handicap series…..Ian Vosser wins the handicap league with Cath taking the time league. Full tables are in this edition.
The fixtures for the consistency have been finalised, if anyone has any comments please contact either Dave Vosser, Liz or myself. We hope to support the Hampshire road race league with more commitment this season, Dave will be chasing up team for fixtures not included in the consistency league/
Finally a late call for help for the Overton 5. All volunteers will be welcomed with open arms.
HARROW WAY HANDICAP 17^th JULY
This result was omitted from the last newsletter, this race over the reverse course and saw another victory for new man Dave Maughan. It was closer than the previous month with Dave Titcomb only being caught in the closing stages. Aarron took third and just failed to crack the 20 minute barrier.

MOB MATCH at CLIDDESDEN 5^th AUGUST
A very hot evening saw a small turnout for this event. The difficult timing and holiday commitments meant that Basingstoke were always going to dominate but the winning margin at the end was not as bad as we had expected. Basingstoke provided an excellent 4.2 km course round recently cut corn fields before a stiff climb up to Farleigh Wallop church, the long down hill that followed gave little scope for overtaking but luckily this was not a problem due to the small field being well strung out before hand.
Martin had a good run to finish a clear winner on the night to give us some glory, I surprised myself with my best run for some time in fourth with Eric next home in a respectable 7^th. Jill was closing on him and would have been a lot closer but she thought that the finish was farther up the track. There were good runs from Mick Woods and Mr. Dependable, JT, before Geoff closed the team after running round with young Louis and Ester who both did well in the very warm conditions.

27 Finished.
SALISBURY 5-4-3-2-1 CHALLENGE. 10^th AUGUST.
As the well-known song goes “Mad dogs and English men go out in the midday sun”. Well this was officially the hottest day ever in this country so what a perfect day for Jill and myself to participate in a 19-mile trek around the outskirts of Salisbury. We had planned to run the 24-mile option but decided it would be just too much given the conditions though there seemed a few takers for the newly added full marathon option.
The course leads out to Sarum Castle before a short spell through the city suburbs leads out to the long climb up to Clarendon Park. Another road stretch then takes you into Longford Park with its spectacular “fairy tale” castle on the banks of the river Avon. From here there is a long trek across footpaths to Coombe Bissett before the very long drag up to Salisbury racecourse. The long run in to the city was a little overgrown this year before the final sprint/shuffle through the city centre to the finish.
We took our time this year making sure we took in extra water at each of the stops as well as carrying our own. It was a very enjoyable run and I was surprised that we were only 11 minutes slower than last year. The only problem occurred when Jill turned an ankle with about 2 miles to run but she soon managed to get running again.
This is a great alternative to your Sunday morning run and there is a choice of distances ranging from 10km to the full marathon. After seeing some of the marathoners coming home after 8-9 hours I would not recommend that but the shorter distances are easily attainable to anyone.

MANY THANKS TO JT FOR THE NEXT 3 REPORTS.
STRAGGLERS 7km at BUSHY PARK. 25^th JULY.
Quite a large group made the journey up the M3 to the suburbs of London to the excellent surroundings of Bushy Park. No less than 10 runners too the opportunity to contest this popular event on a warm and still Friday evening, followed by a picnic on the grass by the cricket pitch.
Some excellent performances were shown up in the results with Ian taking 14^th place (2^nd Vet.) and Cath 3^rd Vet. in her age group. Next home was Steve McNair who was delighted with his effort, particularly as he took more than a minute out of Eric who has been on form of late. The remainder took full advantage of the new course with excellent surfaces on the road sections and smooth grass on the remainder of the one lap course.

554 Finished.
LAMBOURN CARNIVAL 5 miles 10^th AUGUST
On the day when national temperatures went through the roof and readings of 100.6 degrees were recorded, Eric and JT decided to give this new event, to them, a go. On the way to Oxfordshire (or is it Berkshire) the sky was fairly overcast and there was a bit of a breeze giving them hope that the sun would not appear, at least during he race. But by about 9 o’clock their hopes were dashed and out it came as bright as ever.
When we arrived at Lambourne sports centre there wee very few people around and even less people doing the registration. JT had entered previously and his receipt of a number and the rather poor plan of the route, but no instructions, did little to impress him and had formed the view that this was, indeed, an event falling into the “Mickey Mouse” class. Their arrival did little to allay his fears.
However by 9:30 for a 10:00 kick off a few more had turned up and with 10 minutes to spare there was quite a group milling around the start area. However the race did not start on time from someone who muttered “GO” and off we went on a route that took us through the town centre and then out on some important roads to more rural areas on an undulating terrain. The route also took in quite a long track section through woodland. There had obviously been quite a downpour during the night as there were quite large surface puddles on the roads which would dry up in the heat but adding high humidity to there problems.
Neither Eric nor JT could really get going in the conditions that were quite appalling and were out there wishing they were somewhere else. Eric was somewhat slower than on previous recent excursions at the distance. Luckily the last mile was mainly downhill so a good finish would have raised his spirits.

 
66 Finished.
HEADINGTON 5 miles 24^th AUGUST
Another hot and humid day for our small group vying for consistency points and the club championship. Magnificent publicity and holidays had ensured the numbers were unlikely to be very large but only 4 turning out on the day makes a mockery of participation in the competition but those who did run were rewarded with an excellent event over a flat course.
Cath had an excellent run in her first run for some time, grabbing second position in the ladies competition and, by far, the leading veteran. Eric (club men’s’ champion) admitted to struggling with the conditions but still managed a respectable time, slightly better than his previous outing at the distance at Lambourne.
Dave Titcomb was looking to get the better of Eric as his target for the day. He showed some promise up to about 3 miles when he was still with him, but seriously faded to find himself over a minute adrift. JT never quite got into the swing of things struggling to maintain a reasonable pace over the whole distance and was glad to be in sight of the finish when he “out sprinted” 4 runners over the last few yards.

308 Finished.
CONSISTENCY LEAGUE
Apologies for the delay in getting this out but below are the men’s’ and ladies tables after three events. We have now been able to finalise the remainder of the fixtures and these are also listed below. Another copy is printed on the notice board. Dave Titcomb is the early leader for the men with Eric and JT close behind. Meanwhile Cath has opened a sizeable lead in the ladies league.