NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2003 ISSUE 314

Visit us on our Web Site at www.overtonharriers.org.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 FRANNY.
 
FRANNYS’ BITS:
The Overton 5 was yet another great success and congratulations should be given to the sub committee who spend so much time and effort in staging the event. Thanks also to all those who helped out on the day either marshalling time keeping or simply supporting the runners. Your efforts are very much appreciated. The actual race saw the biggest field ever and a full report appears later.
Our thoughts now turn to the long winter months and of course, the cross-country season where it is hoped the senior men can bounce straight back up. The ladies squad can look forward to a competitive season where individual and team Honours could head towards our senior runners. The junior scene has not looked so bright since the days when Denny was still at school; Aaron, Josh, and Craig will hopefully be looking to build on last year’s great season with solid support from a useful crop of youngsters who have been around during the summer.
Long winter months…yes it’s my annual preach. Please take care during these dark nights and try to wear white or reflective kit when you train. Remember to give way to traffic, even if you are on for a PB in the handicap. You could always beat the time next time out but it could be difficult to do from a hospital bed.
The starting list for the first winter handicap will be on the board shortly. Please get your bribes to me ASAP. The first race will be over the 2 laps of Foxdown course on October 16^th. If I have missed you on the starting list please let me know ASAP, as I will not be there on the night.
Finally, if anyone has the full results for the Highclere 10k can they please let me see them so we can do a report for the newsletter, especially as there was such a large club turn out.
OVERTON 5 miles.
Over 150 entries on the day gave us a record breaking 387 finishers in the main race with a further 42 in the one lap event. The main race was won by Andy Morgan-Lee of Salford who had a clear margin over Havant’s Tim Watson. A close race for third saw Alton’s Toby Lambert just beating Nick Anderson of AF&D.
Our first man home was Dave Vosser who showed some promise for the coming winter with a useful gap over Martin Crawshaw. Andy seemed happy with his run as he clocked the same time as Josh who was mixing it with the leaders early on before paying for his youthful exuberance later on. Keith was next home with Eric putting in a great effort to win the V60 category at his first attempt. My run was better than the week before but seemed very flat while Dave showed he is getting quite a competitive edge with another solid run. John Hodge put in a rare outing on the roads and finished well up in the V60 age group.
International Lucy Elliot was almost a minute clear when winning the ladies race ahead of Winchester’s Michaela McCallum. Amanda Proctor ran well for third and the club colours were led home once again by Cath in 7^th spot (3^rd W40) and third club runner overall. Audra broke the 35-minute mark to take second home for the club with Jill, who was just back from holiday, third. Liz was next home and I believe was another to make the prize list ahead of Dorothy who has increased her training recently. Cathryn put in a very fine performance before a close race between Moira and Elaine saw Moira narrowly take the Honours. Only a minute back Karen ran well to close the club interest.

 
387 Finished.
STANSTEAD SLOG 21^st SEPTEMBER. from Franny
I only got details of this event at late notice via Mark though I doubt if it would have been very popular with most club members due to the very slight undulations on both courses. OK ….the course was as hilly as they come despite its close proximity to the coast. Stanstead House is situated between Rowlands Castle and Emsworth and, is not far from one of our old and much missed cross-country courses at Staunton Park. The park made for a picturesque start and finish area with both the 8mile and half marathon multi-terrain courses receiving a catorgary A fell run rating.
How hilly was it…..The answer to that is when did Mark last have a good run to make the top 20 of a half marathon but only clock a time of 1:36? At the finish he said the only race that came near it was the Wroxhall Round on the Isle of Wight, and that was a fell run championship event that we ran last year. Jill made a good start but as the race progressed she developed first a sore throat and then earache. Despite this she was mixing it with the leading ladies but not feeling at all well she did the sensible and dropped out around the 9 mile mark. It took the race organisers a long time to pick her up and return her to the finish area and this is a problem that the organisers of off road events such as this have to give thought too.
My racing in previous weeks had been poor though the training had been going well. Therefore I took the wusses option and did the 8 mile race. Basingstoke decided to make it a club championship event but after the routes separated after 2 ¾ miles I was on my own. I still find it hard to believe that a course planner can fit so many long climbs into an 8-mile run. As it turned out I had a good run and finished strongly. Outside 8-minute miling but who cares…. It was that hard. Any takers for next year?
8 Miles R.FRANCIS 64 mins 26 sec
13.1Miles M.SIMCOX 1hr 36min 41sec
CLUB WEB SITE.
The club has a new web site address which is www.overtonharriers.org.uk Many thanks to Ian Vosser for the work he has done in updating the site and if anyone has any photos or items of interest then have a word with him and see if they can be included in the site.

Some Juniors Results from Geoff

Josh Bliss ran an open 3Km track race at Southampton September 14th coming second in a time of 9mins 39secs, 23 seconds behind the winner.
On the same day Aaron completed the Southern Region Triathlon Series at Thruxton coming second in the 15/16 year age group and taking the overall title in the four match series.

 
 
 
 
 
Aldbourne 10K, 14^th Sept by Greg England
 
As the only representative from Overton at the race, I thought I had better scribe a few notes. On the drive over to Aldbourne there were a couple of tell tale signs that said “turn back, you know you’d rather be in the pub!”: The temperature, along with the hills were rising rapidly. The final clue came from the knowing smile of the local wag when asking if I had run the course before – I had paid my £7 by then so too late (tight!?) to pull out.
The race started with a 1K lap of the picturesque village of Aldbourne, and then continued out & up (& up!) into the surrounding rural lanes, the next 4K being entirely up hill. This was followed by another 3K of undulating roads and then finally by the 2K dash down to the finish.
The race was pretty well organized and marshaled considering the size of the event. Not one to do if you’re looking for a P.B., as the course is like one of those strange optical elusions that starts and finishes on the same spot, yet is entirely up hill.
The winning time was 35’16”. However, I’ll not dwell on the time that I eventually dragged myself across the line. (still carrying too much wine & cheese induced baggage from my holidays!)
Results:
11^th Greg England 41’00” (6^th vet)
85 finished
Tidworth Fast Twitch Triathlon 27/07/03 from Gwyneth
400m 16 Miles 4.5 Miles.
This was a new venue for me, although I knew part of the course it turned out far hillier than I remembered. The weather leading up to this morning had been very wet and extremely windy.
The swim was very civilised as I was allocated a lane on my own, much better than sharing with three extra large male brutes.. The time was pretty much as we expected, as this is my weak element.
Transition was quite a run from the pool, once again I was given a favourable spot which made for a quick getaway. Marshall’s had explained the bike route had a lot of surface water which made it a bit scary in parts. It was also still very windy and cold going out but I made up a lot of time on the return journey.
The start of the run was very flat and fast until the first mile marker, then you climbed until three miles out. Much steeper then station hill at Overton. I managed to pass quite a few slower runners by then. A sprint back to the finish ,I then realised the extra strength and speed work I have been doing with my coach started to pay off. Finishing six minutes ahead of my predicted time was very rewarding.,
Swim 11.33 Bike 58.22 Run 39.17 Total 1.49.22 1^st o/50

Hart Sprint Duathlon 25/08/03 from Gwyneth

 
6km 20km 5km.
This was unknown territory for me, having never done a Duathlon before. Although I have taken part over this course before it was for a triathlon.
It was very strange taking part in a mass start for this kind of race, every one went tearing away in a very manic state.
The run was mainly off road, this was quite rough and very hard under foot, there was a couple of styles to negotiate. The pace however was fast, I came back into transition in first place within my age group. Picking my bike of the rack I promptly fell over it, trying too hard I suppose. I exited from transition in a rather undignified manner.
The bike route was quite hilly but with some very fast sections where you could make up your time. About four miles into this I was over taken by my rival B****. Eyeballs out now, I actually broke the speed limit coming into Hartley Witney, Good job no speed camera about, only part time cops.
Going into the second run I was in second position, I had lost sight of the main opposition so decided to knuckle down and go for a faster time. I finished in second place but well pleased having knocked seventeen minutes of my coaches set time. I was now looking forward to my next event which was at Newbury six days away.
1^st run 27.45 Bike 49.57 2^nd run 25.42 Total 1.43.24 2^nd o/50
On reflection although I finished as 1^st in my age group at Newbury doing two multi discipline events six days apart was not such a good idea. Far too much lactic in these legs.

Committee Meeting 15/09/03

 
Present G. Cloke, N. Clark, J. Jones, M. Dennison, P. Wheeler, C. Wheeler, G. Mclaughlin.
Matters Arising,
1) Sponsorship, Decision from partners still awaiting.
2) Overton 5 Evening went well. Went to Old House at Home, which went well thanks to Nicky.
3) Thanks to J.Hoare, P.Wheeler, G.Cloke, J.Thomas G.Mclaughlin for work done for the race.

Treasurers Report

Income £200.
Expenditure £121.85
Current £842.73
Reserve £2193.81.
45 Paid up club members. Included

AOB

1) Signs. Paul needs money for new signs to be used for future races, e.g. car-park /start /finish and tape.
2) Combe Gibbet. To organise date, possibly last Sunday in march. J. Hoare submit form to police informing them. Also John keen to increase entry fee, and send out numbers and info before the race. Discussed raising fee to £7 with £5 going towards the coach fare.
3) Overton 5 Mop up meeting . Need to agree on cut off time for next years entry on the day.Geoff mentioned that a few people worked extremely hard under pressure and felt they deserved a mention. Paul suggested a personal letter to these from the race committee.
4) Race raised almost two and a half thousand pounds.
5) Training week-end already have 45 names.
6) Winter handicap will only be Foxdown this year for safety reasons.
Meeting closed at 9.25p.m.
Date of next meeting 6/10/03

Southern Road Relays Aldershot 27/28 September from Geoff

Martin Crawshaw ran the first leg for our V40s squad in this very competitive category finishing in 30th position, and handing over to Steve McNair, a last minute substitute. Steve could not maintain the momentum and completed his leg in 48th position. Greg England grabbed back a massive 21 places handing over to Dave Titcomb who brought the team home in 44th place.
Geoff Cloke ran the first leg for our V60s squad, completing it 9th place, and handing over to Eric Tilbury who ran the fastest second leg of the day in this category. John Hodge and JT completed the team in 9th place.
Our U17 Boys team was made up from three Team Kennet boys who regularly turn out for us in the Hampshire League and Craig Williams. Craig ran a superb first leg finishing in 15th position , and was followed by Mark Vardy, Robert Ridley, and Richard Knapes, who brought the team home in 23rd place.
In the Vets Ladies race Cath Wheeler ran the fastest leg of the day in this category handing over to Jill Hills who ran the 12th fastest leg. Cathryn Taylor completed the third leg handing over to Liz Sandal Ball who finished the race in fourth place just 13seconds outside of a medal spot.

Results

 
OVERTON HARRIERS NEW WEB SITE
www.overtonharriers.org.uk
The new website is now fully operational, please take a look and pass on any comments or suggestions you may have to our web administrator ianvosser@overtonharriers.org.uk. We are planning to add the consistency league results and a separate section for our club results.
Newsletters by e-mail. If you would like to receive your newsletter by e-mail on the day of publication please drop a note to ianvosser@overtonharriers.org.uk with ‘Newsletter’ in the subject box.
I would also like to say a big thank you to Geoff Cloke who has maintained the current website for the last 5 or 6 years, it really has made a big difference to the club with a number new members finding us through that route.
David Vosser
Important: Fixture List Date Change
Please make a note of the following dates, in particular the Hayling Island 10, which has been confirmed as Sunday 30^th November. Unfortunately this is another double weekend in November – but a quick 10miler is loads of fun – so please try and fit these events in to your diaries.
Also Chichester 10k has been confirmed as Sunday 8^th Feb.
Hampshire Road Race League Fixtures 2003/2004
6 September – Overton 5
19 October – Hardley Half Marathon
2 November – Lordshill 10 mile
30 November – Hayling Island 10 mile
11 January – Stubbington Green 10 km
8 February – Chichester 10 km
29 February – Bramley 20 mile
14 March – Petersfield Half Marathon
4 April (Provisional) – Totton 10 km
20 June – Brading 10 km
Hampshire Cross Country League 2003/2004
Saturday 11 October Farley Mount, nr Winchester
Saturday 1 November Goodwood, nr Chichester
Saturday 29 November Prospect Park, Reading
Saturday 10 January Ashe Meadows – Home Fixture
Saturday 7 February Wimborne Hamworthy Harriers