NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 2003 ISSUE 307
EVENTS DIARY:
| MARCH 1st | OPEN CROSS COUNTRY RACES at TILFORD |
| 2nd | CAMBERLY Half-marathon |
| 8th | ENGLISH SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY Championship at BRIGHTON |
| 13th | VILLAGE HANDICAP |
| 16th | FLEET Half-marathon |
| 22nd | COMPTON DOWNS 20mile & 40mile multi-terrain |
| 23rd | EASTLEIGH 10km WORTHING 20 miles. |
| 30th | COMBE GIBBET RACE. |
| MAY 1ST | ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING |
| MAY 2ND | CLUB DINNER AT THE GOLF CLUB |
FRANNY’S BITS.
The clubs training weekend in Bude was a great success with almost every adult getting in one or more runs during the trip as well as several visits to local hostelries where the Doombar Bitter seemed a popular replacement for the Tinners. The weather remained fine for all the scheduled runs and the Jacuzzi seemed a popular spot, especially amongst the old gits, as did the snooker table. Many thanks to Nicky, Madeline, Keith and Dave for selecting such a great venue and for searching out the training routes. Thanks also to those who helped with the food preparation, which was as tasty, and filling as ever.
The Sunday lunch at the Falcon Hotel was one of the highlights of the trip and was enjoyed by everyone. Hopefully a fuller account will appear in the next newsletter once I have coerced someone to write it.
My apologies to everyone in not having prepared an up to date consistency table but this has mainly been due to no one letting me have any results. These I now have and hopefully an up to date table will be on the board by the time you read this. The next event was supposed to have been the Petersfield half-marathon but the entry details seem to have eluded me. With little time to get any entries organised it seems best to delete the race from the league which makes the Eastleigh 10km the final event.
If you travel to an event and pick up any entry forms please can you pick up a spare copy and pass it on to me. This helps to keep the fixture list up to date.
By now all of our aspirant London Marathon runners are in the midst of their training programmes and grinding out the long and lonely miles. Hopefully some of us will be trying to put in some long (15-20 miles) runs on Sunday mornings during early March starting at 9am from Bridge Street. Anyone who wishes to join in for part of a run (or all of it) is welcome.
FOXDOWN HANDICAP.
A cold evening for fast times with only three PB’s recorded on the night with race winner Craig taking pride of place with a big improvement of 2 min. 19secs. to win by a huge margin and actually clocked the 5th best time of the night. Young Alex continued his fine improvement this winter as he knocked another 27 seconds from his best to take second on the night ahead of the fast finishing Dave who clocked his fastest time since March 1999. Eric took a great fourth spot with his best time for several years ahead of Elaine whose 1-second improvement was the final PB of the night.
Fastest was Jamie ahead of non-scoring Keith, with Mark and Dave taking second and third respectively on the night. Jamie has now sewn up the time league with Mark in second though Dave or Keith could take second should Mark miss the last race. Alex just needs to finish the final race to take the handicap league though should he miss it there will be a right scrap between Karen, Ian Claire and myself for the title.
13th FEBRUARY.
| POS. | RUNNER | FIN.TIME | H’CAP | ACT.TIME | TIME POS |
| 1 | C.WILLIAMS | 30.24 | 9.27 | 20.57 | 4 |
| 2 | A.BRIGHT | 32.16 | 6.01 | 26.15 | 14 |
| 3 | D.VOSSER | 32.32 | 11.37 | 20.55 | 3 |
| 4 | E.TILBURY | 32.35 | 8.13 | 24.22 | 12 |
| 5 | E.SMITH | 32.42 | 3.48 | 28.54 | 18 |
| 6 | R.FRANCIS | 32.51 | 9.24 | 23.27 | 10 |
| 7 | M.VOSSER | 32.52 | 4.09 | 28.43 | 17 |
| 8 | M.SIMCOX | 32.54 | 12.14 | 20.40 | 2 |
| – | K.VALLIS | 33.05 | 12.37 | 20.28 | — |
| 9 | A.HARTLEY | 33.08 | 10.56 | 22.16 | 5 |
| 10 | E.SANDALL-BALL | 33.09 | 6.06 | 27.03 | 15 |
| 11 | G.DUNCAN | 33.13 | 10.09 | 23.04 | 7 |
| 12 | D.MILLS | 33.17 | 10.09 | 22.38 | 8 |
| 13 | J.THOMAS | 33.23 | 4.01 | 29.22 | 19 |
| 14 | D.BRIGHT | 33.25 | 9.52 | 23.33 | 11 |
| 15 | J.JONES | 33.27 | 13.55 | 19.32 | 1 |
| 16 | C.WHEELER | 33.39 | 10.34 | 23.05 | 9 |
| 17 | A.PAUL | 34.52 | 6.50 | 28.02 | 16 |
| 18 | T.TYLER | 35.14 | 10.34 | 24.40 | 13 |
| 19 | M.BLISS | 35.37 | 13.01 | 22.36 | 6 |
MEON VALLEY PLOD. 16th FEBRUARY.
Many thanks to John Hoare for letting it slip to Jill that there were some entry forms available for this event. I had done it several years before and knew what a killer event it was but agreed to run it with Jill as a steady long run as part of our London build up. A very cold morning in Clanfield, south of Petersfield and wearing two shirts, tracksters, hat, gloves and running jacket I lined up alongside Jill as the sleet started to fall and the starter set us on our way for 19.5 miles of mostly off road hill climbing.
The narrow tracks early on meant that not much overtaking was possible but after several miles we were into steady 7:30 mile pace until the first of the six major climbs. Walk mode for everyone and the field now began to sort itself out. The long downhill that followed saw Jill pull away and it took me a mile or so to get back to her. She was running well and seemed to be enjoying the run whereas I was feeling cold having never felt warm since the start. The next five or so miles saw us passing runners when disaster almost struck Jill as she took a crashing fall on a particularly slippery section of the course.
She picked herself up and despite a sore hip climbed the next downland ridge and proceeded to push the pace. At this point I knew I was in serious trouble with the cold and was battling to stay with her. We then hit the worse section of the course, which surprisingly was not uphill. This section followed the course of a stream to the base of Butser Hill and was knee deep in mud for about a mile. Knowing I was holding Jill back we decided to split at this point and I managed to stay in close contact until nearing the summit of Butser. The long climb to the top was another long walk for everyone but Jill managed to get back into her running at the top and proceeded to storm her way through the field. I was also storming my way through the field except that I was storming in the wrong direction, finishing was all I was bothered about (well that and how many jelly babies I could eat).
Jill was flying over the final four or five miles and passed two other women in the last few miles before crossing the line in an amazing time considering how slow the opening couple of miles had been. She finished 4th lady though I feel this could have been improved if she had left me earlier, sadly as the race is similar to our own Gibbet race only the top three got prizes.
17 minutes and 38 seconds later I crossed the line looking and feeling not too well. Jill on the other hand was still buzzing after her great run and felt that this was one of her best ever races.
| 86th | J.HILLS | 3hrs. 11mins. 12secs. | 4th lady |
| 108th | R.FRANCIS | 3hrs. 28mins. 50secs |
250+ runners.
CURRENT HANDICAP LEAGUE
| RUNNER | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | MAR | TOTAL |
| A.BRIGHT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| K.BURTON | 3 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 25 | |
| R.FRANCIS | 9 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 6 | 27 | |
| I.VOSSER | 8 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 30 | |
| C.BOYLE | 5 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 31 | |
| M.SIMCOX | 16 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 36 | |
| A.HARTLEY | 10 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 9 | 37 | |
| E.SANDALL-BALL | 11 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 40 | |
| E.TILBURY | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 43 | |
| D.VOSSER | 21 | 20 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 45 | |
| E.SMITH | 20 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 49 | |
| D.WICKE | 12 | 10 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 52 | |
| G.DUNCAN | 17 | 18 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 58 | |
| M.WOODS | 24 | 17 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 66 | |
| A.PAUL | 0 | 23 | 15 | 11 | 17 | 66 | |
| J.JONES | 19 | 19 | 18 | 20 | 15 | 71 | |
| J.THOMAS | 26 | 26 | 17 | 21 | 13 | 77 |
CURRENT TIME LEAGUE.
| RUNNER | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | MAR | TOTAL |
| J.JONES | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| M.SIMCOX | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| D.VOSSER | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | |
| K.CLARK | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 19 | |
| G.DUNCAN | 8 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 29 | |
| R.FRANCIS | 11 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 34 | |
| E.TILBURY | 14 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 41 | |
| M.WOODS | 17 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 47 | |
| A.BRIGHT | 18 | 16 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 47 | |
| I.VOSSER | 16 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 50 | |
| E.SANDALL-BALL | 18 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 52 | |
| A.PAUL | 0 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 58 | |
| E.SMITH | 24 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 58 | |
| D.WICKE | 22 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 81 | |
| K.BURTON | 25 | 24 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 84 | |
| J.THOMAS | 26 | 27 | 17 | 22 | 19 | 84 | |
| C.BOYLE | 29 | 26 | 20 | 23 | 0 | 98 |
HAMPSHIRE XC LEAGUE – BOURNEMOUTH – 01.02.2003 from John Hoare
It seems a long time since we had a Junior team in contention for honours but our Boys squad put this straight with another fabulous set of results that earned them the silver team medals behind Aldershot. Aaron, Craig and Josh sealed the runners up spot, all finishing in the top ten. The third place earned by the on form Aaron was also good enough to give him second place overall for the season, beaten only by an Aldershot lad who went on to finish ninth in the Inter-Counties. Craig picked up a very creditable 7th to cap an impressive season and Josh completed the team in 9th spot, and he still has another season in this age group. Watch out for his performances next year. We also had two very good runs from Scott and Alex, the latter not having missed a race for the whole season. Well done to all you lads.
And another one for the future! Young Sean put in a really gutsy performance as our sole runner in the Under 13 Boys race. He too is in the bottom year of his age group and it should be really interesting to see how he progresses next season.
More honours went to the Ladies Vets team who comfortably won their league following this second place at Bournemouth. The team of Cath, Audra and Liz have always been to the fore in this competition and delivered again with another fine set of results. Cath also finished in the individual honours with third Vets medal for the season, while Audra was not far behind in 5th and Liz in 9th. Outside the team places Nicky continued her come back with another steady performance and less than a minute behind Liz. There was another close battle behind between the ever improving pair of Elaine and Karen, Elaine just getting the honours. These two have both had tremendous seasons and done a lot to improve the overall strength of the Ladies team. It was also good to see Helen back from duty for her first outing of the season as she completed the squad not too far behind Karen.
Our Senior Men’s team certainly experienced some ups and downs. Ian worked really hard to gain his best result of the season as he led the team home. Dave had another tremendous run as his result confirmed him as 4th Vet overall for the season. He must have rued an indifferent start to the season as he easily beat the second and third athletes at this race. Another good run from Martin earned us second Vets place on the day and third overall in the league. Keith had a fine run as 4th counter and it was good to see Mike back for his first race of the season following his long absence with injury. But unfortunately the Senior team could only mange 9th on the day, a result which has left us relegated to Division 2. A great shame after finishing third for the previous two seasons. However, given a bit more luck with injuries and availabilities, I’m sure we will bounce straight back up next season and again challenge for the Vets title.
Dave Bright looked at one stage as though he was going to make the scoring team with a splendid run, only dropping back over the last lap, while Dave Titcomb had his best result of the campaign and is certainly looking a lot stronger now. John Hodge and JT both put in sterling performances further down the field to complete our contingent.
| RESULTS | ||||||||
| U/13 BOYS | ||||||||
| 41st | S Williams | 11m 34s | 52 finished | |||||
| U/15 BOYS | ||||||||
| 3rd | A Harris | 14m 14s | 33rd | S Graham | 16m 35s | |||
| 7th | C Williams | 14m 36s | 42nd | A Bright | 19m 31s | |||
| 9th | J Bliss | 14m 42s | 43 finished | |||||
| SENIOR LADIES | ||||||||
| 8th | C Wheeler | 16m 58s | 87th | E Smith | 22m 16s | |||
| 40th | A Dennison | 19m 02s | 97th | K Burton | 22m 49s | |||
| 49th | E Sandall-Ball | 19m 35s | 104th | H McMahon | 23m 35s | |||
| 66th | N Clark | 20m 21s | 111 finished | |||||
| SENIOR MEN | ||||||||
| 27th | I Ford | 30m 29s | 150th | B Bright | 36m 44s | |||
| 42nd | D Vosser | 31m 11s | 169th | D Titcomb | 38m 13s | |||
| 69th | M Crawshaw | 33m 08s | 198th | J Hodge | 41m 10s | |||
| 81st | K Clark | 33m 29s | 207th | J Thomas | 48m 02s | |||
| 120th | M Bliss | 35m 28s | 209 finished | |||||
| FINAL LEAGUE TABLES | ||||||||
| SENIOR MEN | VET MEN | |||||||
| 1 | Aldershot | 5 | 1 | Bournemouth | 14 | |||
| 2 | Basingstoke | 14 | 2 | Portsmouth | 18 | |||
| 3 | Reading | 20 | 3 | Overton | 18 | |||
| 4 | New Forest | 27 | 4 | Reading RR | 19 | |||
| 5 | Southampton RC | 28 | 5 | Southampton RC | 27 | |||
| 6 | Portsmouth | 29 | 6 | Hardley | 31 | |||
| 7 | Reading RR | 31 | 7 | Aldershot | 31 | |||
| 8 | Bournemouth | 33 | 8 | Fleet | 32 | |||
| 9 | Overton | 38 | 9 | Basingstoke | 40 | |||
| 10 | Stubbington Grn | 50 | 10 | Stubbington Grn | 45 | |||
| SENIOR LADIES | VET LADIES | |||||||
| 1 | Aldershot | 9 | 1 | Overton | 8 | |||
| 2 | Basingstoke | 20 | 2 | Victory | 20 | |||
| 3 | Reading | 22 | 3 | Hardley | 32 | |||
| 4 | Team Solent | 29 | 4 | Hamworthy | 38 | |||
| 4 | Havant | 30 | ||||||
| 6= | Overton | 38 | U/15 BOYS (leading teams) | |||||
| 6= | Portsmouth | 38 | 1 | Aldershot | 5 | |||
| 8 | Farnham | 58 | 2 | Overton | 11 | |||
| 9= | Victory | 63 | 3 | Basingstoke | 20 | |||
| 9= | Hardley | 63 | 4 | Portsmouth | 22 | |||
| 11 | Hamworthy | 75 | 5 | Team Solent | 22 | |||
| 6 | Isle of Wight | 28 | ||||||
| 7 | Reading | 39 | ||||||
| 8 | Camberley | 42 | ||||||
THE SECOND INSTALLMENT FROM THE ‘INTERNATIONAL’ HARRIER from Mike McMahon
It just does not seem possible that nearly two months has elapsed since I flew out to Freetown way back in early January. The pace of work in this UN Mission Headquarters is really unrelenting, but I would rather be busy than bored! Nevertheless, the 14-16 hour days for the past week are beginning to take their toll on all of the seven British officers who work in the principle appointments. We desperately want to return to just 12 hour days!
The news from West Africa has been dominated by the civil war in neighbouring Liberia and the political crisis in the Ivory Coast. Having spoken with one of our number who has recently returned from his R&R break in the UK, not much of the regional news gets reported back home. The border between eastern Sierra Leone and western Liberia has seen extensive fighting between the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and a rebel group called the LURD. The latter have suffered some quite heavy defeats and are trapped up against the border; AFL on one side and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) sealing their side. With food and other supplies running out, the LURD are mounting cross border raids into villages and stealing anything they can; very disruptive and unsettling for the local population.
Within Freetown tensions ebb and flow with the tide! Suffice it to say, there are sufficient numbers of some sections of the population who would be pleased to return to the rampant corruption and violence that virtually destroyed this country in May 2000. We are constantly reviewing our contingency plans to secure and reinforce the key points in and around the Freetown peninsula to assist the local police and army in their difficult task. The increase in the price of oil on the world markets has resulted in petrol shortages and a 25% increase in prices at the pumps. Not at all popular in a country that is already in a very poor economic state. However, the increase has been more effective that Ken Livingstone’s attempts to reduce congestion in London!
For the first six days of March we are hosting a major UN Peacekeeping Conference. Nearly 80 delegates from all the main African countries, as well as some representatives from Europe and Asia will be descending on us. As the conference is dealing exclusively with logistic support matters, no prizes for who has been burning the midnight oil and some for the past few days! It will be all over by 6th March and then the planning team will no doubt sup a few cold beers on the beach to celebrate a job well done. I have also had the opportunity to travel to more remote parts of the country and visit the various troops deployed in the towns and villages. I have sent some photographs to Helen and I am sure that she will be able to e-mail you copies if you wish.
Running going well as is the sun tan as I do not hear any more shouts of ‘white boy’ from the locals! Must close now as the eyelids are beginning to weaken and tomorrow is the first day of the Conference; AARGH!
Schools Inter Counties Cross Country 15 February from Geoff
Aaron Harris, and current Hampshire Junior Boy’s Champion, Josh Bliss, were selected to run for Hampshire Schools, in an Inter Counties Cross Country Match at Gang Warily near Fawley.
Josh Bliss was first in action over a two lap 4K5m course, but was hampered with a slow start and quickly lost ground on the leading group, finding himself in about 20th place after the first kilometer. Undeterred, Josh set about clawing back their lead and literally scythed down the opposition as he desperately tried to get to the front. By the 3Km point he was in second place, rapidly gaining on the leader when fate intervened and sent the boys the wrong way, truncating the last lap by almost a kilometer. Josh had to settle for second place, by four seconds, in a race he knows he could have won, but can still look forward to what will be his biggest test so far. The English Schools Championships at Brighton in March.
Aaron Harris, competing in the Intermediate Boys category over a two lap 5K5m course was never in the race. He was suffering from the after effects of a heavy cold, and only elected to run, to try and improve his chances of qualifying for the English Schools Championships. He finished 43rd and ninth counter for Hampshire.
Committee Meeting 10/02/03
Present G. Cloke, M. Dennison, P. Wheeler, C. Wheeler, G. Mclaughlin.
Matters Arising.
- Changing rooms are alright at the moment.
- AGM Discussion to follow.
Treasures Report
Income £2000.50
Expenditure £3009.43
Current £134.48
Reserve £1682.20
Still awaiting £899.50 for the training week-end.
Secretaries Report
- Questionnaire completed by Gwyneth with regards to clubs in the South of England.
- South of England Athletics AGM to be held on London no one available to attend.
AOB
- Gwyneth to put notice on board for AGM.
- No rise in subs this year, but if the ORC charges go up the an increase will take place next year.
- Date for the AGM May 1st.
- Dinner date will be May 2nd. Hope to ask J. Hoare to organise this event.
- Need to choose club person of the year before the presentation evening.
- Family membership discussed £80 maximum
- Cheque for £75 for block membership of Social club Geoff to pass on.
- Geoff has bought BBQ cost of £69..
- Summer calendar needs sorting decided to defer until Frannie is present at a meeting.
- Coombe Gibbet discussion all in order . Perhaps need prizes this year maybe M&S vouchers.
- Geoff to speak to J.Hoare about letter to other clubs about advertising the Coombe Gibbet race a bit more.
- Refreshments needed. Will ask parents for help Liz to collect cakes.
- ORC memberships renewals to be done.
- ORC AGM date for this is March 3rd.
- Potential new member from Andover Gwyneth to co-ordinate.
Meeting closed at 9.30p.m.
Date of next meeting 10/03/03