Sent: 20 April 2007 00:07
Subject: FW: VS Update - Meanwood update, Reminders, Results, 2 Oceans
marathon
Meanwood Trail Race
Great news,
I have received approval from Leo’s Management Committee that we can go
ahead with the Yorks Vets race on 22 May and the 2008 Meanwood Valley Trail
Race, both using the back field for start and finish.
I have
bottles of beer for all marshals, please come up on Tuesday to claim. I
have 9 left at the moment but
Just to say
it was
Striders
first and second claim included
Junior
1 mile
6
Gavin
10
Josephine M-Hunter 7:34 (3rd G9-10) (Wetherby R)
Junior
2 mile
26
Oliver Watson 14:14 (
Senior
race
55
127
Jim Towers 57:44 (
327
Lyn
Airedale
Triple Trail
Andrew
finished 16th out of over 50 runners who completed all three races –
Baildon, Guiseley and Meanwood, 26 miles in 14 days. Andrew is one of
only two runners who have completed all 6 series.
Reminders
-
- Next
pie and peas will be Tuesday 1 May, please set me know by Sunday 29 April, whether
meat or veg pie and whether peas or beans.
- Still
need a few marshals for the Pulse Race in
- Still
need lots of marshals for the
In
temperatures of 30 degrees, only two thirds of the field finished. The
remainder, after 3 and a half hours, were advised either to drop out or walk to
the finish.
1203
Patrick Barrett 3:47:48
1699
Michael Grant 3:59:46
Gin Pit 5 (Tyldesley,
Lou
Gilchrist finished 16th of the 62 women running in 40:23. This
represented an age graded performance of 97.7%, this is Lou’s fourth
Valley Striders grade 10 so just one more to be the second Strider to receive a
certificate.
Correction
PBs and ABs
Three more
Striders have submitted theirs including chief inputter Erica Hiorns, so send
some more to me to keep her busy.
Paul Hunter
found an interesting web site www.fetcheveryone.com
has articles, polls, and a database into which you can input your own race
performances. Make sure you have at least 30 mins to spare before you log
on!
Two Oceans Experience
(from Annemi van Zyl)
The Two
Oceans Marathon was held on 7 April 2007, a 56 km run around the beautiful
The race
numbers gets restricted to 10 000 runners in each of the events. Runners who
have entered the Ultra race are allowed to downgrade in the last few days
before the race if they do not feel ‘up to’ the full distance. This
means that the half marathon had nearly 11 000 entries this year, with around 7
000 entries in the ultra. With an estimate of around 10% of the field not
showing up on the day, around 9 700 completed the half marathon and 6 700 the ultra
marathon.
The half
marathon is one of the tougher ones around, with a nasty long hill between
kilometer 11 and 16, with a climb from 87m to 179m over the 5 km.
The Ultra
also has a very deceiving start (flattish up to km 28) with a 6km climb from kilometer
28, taking you from 34m to 180m. (this takes you over the absolutely
spectacular
Some
interesting stats: On race day they use 26460 liter of Coke, 83968 liter of
water, 22500 liter Powerade, 300kg of potatoes, 3000 frozen ice cream suckers,
30 tons ice! 2475 volunteers on the refreshment stations (temperatures went up
to 34 degrees Celsius this year) 90 toilets along the way!
On the
Friday (day before the race) there are 5 fun runs – a 56m nappy dash, a
300m toddlers trot a 2,5km, a 5km and a 8 km run.
For
Sevenday Adventist there is an exact race, all starting at 6am. A total of 50
runners take part in this – I can just imagine that it gets very far and
lonely as there is very little support on the Friday.
We also
have an International Friendship Run – 5km jog for all runners visiting
To live in
a country like South Africa with a large ‘high’ income group, a
very medium size ‘middle class’ and a very large ‘very low
income group’ and a 35% unemployment is a daily challenge and makes life
very interesting - if I start telling you all the stories of people
uplifting themselves from poverty in various ways, I will keep Bob’s
email going for a looong time.
In the club
I run for here, we have at least 10 runners that live off their race monies
– they are top runners, so normally the club can pay for their shoes, but
their families survives on about 20 pounds a week
With that
in mind, it means that a race like 2 Oceans with an entry fee of R120 (about 10
pounds) for South Africans is unaffordable, as they need to travel over 1000km
to get here, pay for accommodation etc etc.
One of the
sponsors pays for 100 runners each year to travel to
For those
not lucky enough to get into the sponsored village, there is a facility on the
finishing field where runners can sleep and shower – they arrive in
hundreds at registration with their blankets and gas primus stoves!
Having
worked with the pre – registration process this year, we try to get Xhosa
and Zulu speakers to help in the office to make the process of entry-queries
easier. We had to ask a runner living in Kwazulu Natal to pay us more money for
his entry, then to fax it to us. He told us very nicely that he will walk to
his nearest town in the morning (this will take him an hour), there he will pay
the money and if the fax machine at the post office works he will send the
proof of payment! That is determination! He will still have to travel around
1200km to get to the start of the race!
Despite
having 11 official languages in
We had a
great race this year – windy in the morning, later you where happy for
the wind, as it cooled you down, when temperature where creeping into the
30’s. Fortunately I was ‘in’ by then, having done 5.40 min
(bronze medal). Next time I will have to train and try to go for sub 5hr
– this gives you a mixed silver/bronze medal! Obviously means much more
painful legs as well! The race was won in 3hr 08 this year – 5min slower
than the record. The ladies race is dominated by
Annemi
joined Striders in October 2001, she returned to
Heart Monitor For
I am
planning on selling a Polar S625X heart rate monitor (incl. foot pod) +
infra-red USB connection + Cycling speed and distance sensor. I am considering
selling it on EBAY but I would rather sell it to someone I know. You can
check out the spec on the following link :-
www.polar.fi/polar/channels/uk/segments/running/S625X.html
The unit is
approximately a year and a half old and the only blemish is a slight scratch on
the watch display. It has only been used for a couple of months then stored
away. Contains all manuals inc speed sensor instructions.
If anyone
is interested please call me on 07782360577 or send me an e-mail. [email protected]
Another Satisfied Customer
Hi there Bob.
Email or
text me your race number, you may get a mention on the radio!