Sent: 26 October 2008 00:48
Subject: V S Update - Race reports etc
I promised you a V S update with a few race reports,
stories and other items, here it is to read at your leisure.
But first, a BIG REMINDER that closing date for
the Snake Lane 10 mile (and 3rd Abbey-Valley Challenge) is that your
entries must be in by 1 November, that’s next Saturday. I’ve just had an
email from the race organiser that he is keeping places open for us but I
expect it to be full after that date. I know it’s a long way off (February
22) but it’s only £7, so even if you’re not fit for 10 miles now, send off your
entry and treat it as an investment!
Harewood Trail
You will be pleased to know that the man with the
heart attack is off the critical list. He is still in hospital, but now
on an open ward.
So now I can tell you a couple of lighter stories
about the day.
I went up to Harewood the day before the race.
Andrew & Carolyn Cutts and Paul, Pam, Josephine & Dominic Hunter were
labelling beer in the Village Hall and I went to set up the main start. I
did this and then looked round the rest of the field to check there were no
unexpected problems. But there was one! The portaloos had been
delivered the day before. I thought they were going to be set up in the
far corner of the field but instead I found them right on the start line of the
junior race! What to do? The next morning, Mick Tinker and Dave
Middlemas were there early to set up the junior start and the finish. Andrew
was there too. I mentioned about the toilets, “could they me moved?”, I
said. “But maybe not, because maybe they’d been levelled when they’d been
delivered”. (We had an insurance policy at £600 cost per unit if damaged
but I guessed that if we moved them we’d invalidate the policy). Off they
went and 20 minutes later they were back with satisfied expressions. “We
managed to move them back 3 feet” they said. “There will be room for the
customers to queue and the runners to run by. No problem with the first 5
but we had a real struggle to shift the sixth. All three of us pushing
from front and back but it wouldn’t shift. Then a guy got out of it and
said ‘What’s going on?’” (I hope he wasn’t our man who later had
the heart attack!)
I’d got some race number left from last year and we
wanted exactly the same design, so I just ordered numbers to cover what we’d
used last year, We had a few more runners so the entry team started using
last year’s numbers. Then, as they were handing them out, Rob and Dave
spotted that they’d just issued 888 twice. The race was off in a few
minutes, they quickly switched to a different range and then assessed the
damage. Eric said that I’d better complain to the printers but I admitted
that I’d used last year’s numbers and probably left some in from 2006 too.
Twelve numbers had been duplicated – 879 to 890. What to do? Rob
and Dave went to the finish of the race and watched for the 24 runners with
numbers 879 to 890 coming in … and asked each of them for their name.
They had them in their finishing sequence so when Sam, Mary, Eric and Peter
were putting the labels on the sheets and got a number 879 to 890 they just
referred to Rob and Dave’s lists to see which of the duplicates had come in
first. I have made a note for next year not to use leftover old numbers.
Or alternatively we could not bother with numbers at all and just ask everyone
what their name is when they come in – there’s an idea!
Rab Mountain Marathon – report from Group J (under 40) WINNER Anthony
Fryer
A glorious weekend was promised for the 2nd Rab mountain
marathon and the weather really didn’t disappoint. A cold blustery Friday at
camp turned into a glorious Saturday. A sharp breeze soon dropped and we were
left with a cool sunny day and great visibility across the range of hills North
of Skiddaw and Blencathra.
The start was slightly different this year with the first
task to mark up the map controls with the relevant points (controls were
pre-marked) and decide your route. My tactics were as always, look at a general
route either clockwise or anti-clockwise then plan 3 checkpoints ahead.
Off I went. I think I set off a bit fast (be interested to
see the splits results later) and I suffered for a couple of checkpoints up and
over Carrock Fell and down a horrible descent of brambles, sharp rock and
ferns. A real battle to get down to the bottom. This I think contributed to my
biggest (and probably only) real mistake of the weekend. Due to feeling it a
bit so early on. Not catching up with people I just should be flying past I
went conservative. I all of a sudden didn’t trust my fitness and endurance and
thought I would crash and burn so I started to run conservative.
I chose to miss out on a 40 score despite being shown by
Richard from Dark and White at the overnight camp what he saw as optimum route
would have meant hardly any height gain and good paths to run on. But carried
on regardless with my exact loop. Some fast running along tracks round Skiddaw
House, overtaking mountain bikers as they struggle up the hills, and moving out
the way as they zoom past on the downhills. The second half of day one was
unremarkable in most aspects as nav was spot on, route choice was perfect,
everything just clicked. This meant I cleared all the nearby controls to base
camp with over 40 minutes to spare on day 1. Despite being told I was current
1st at overnight camp I thought I had blown the chance of a good place as I was
also one of the 1st at overnight camp.
There were some awesome performances out there at the end of
day 1. Vets 40+ was the most competitive with a massive 430 on day 1 from Ali
Hubbard and 407 from Pete Nelson. The male under 40 was competitive in a
different way with a 3 way tie for 1st on points at 380. Once all the other
competitors came in I had dropped to 9th in the order with 320 yet with that 40
I didn’t get I missed out on 4th. Tom Brunt from Holmfirth leading the Elite
group with 530 and Shane Ohly and last years winner, Jonathan Aylward tied in
second with 510.
The overnight camp was a great find! A little narrow field
in a gully, surrounded by old oak trees. Managing to eat and chill outside
before bed and the rain briefly arrived. the midges were out but didn’t seem to
be biting as much.
Sunday started with a bit of hill fog over some of the
higher peaks and meant when I started and got to the top of the first hill
there was a great cloud inversion over many of the fell. There was a time limit
on some of the high scoring checkpoints on Skiddaw so I made my way towards
there via Little Calva and dropping down to the
I knew by then that I had cracked the back of the course and
I should start heading back. On the way back I scooped up a further 85 points
on the run in and as I knew I was finishing really tried to push hard to get
the final 15, although I did have my eye on another 15 pointer but was just too
pushed for time after a final ascent.
On day two I managed 1st in the Under 40’s category with
305. Next was Jon Cox and Chris Naylor with 270 points. Toby Cushion and the
team of Nick Hart and Charles Johnstone were back in 3rd with 240. A total of
65 points behind myself but with a bit of controversy as there was no early
notification on the closing times for the checkpoints on Skiddaw. I have to
agree it may have been nice to know the cut off points but it was also nice to
see that people starting earlier had an advantage over those who wait till the
end in the hope to pick up peoples trods and lines that have developed.
There was a lot of change on the final results at the end of
day two. Firstly I won top in category! No-one was as surprised as me after
being 9th at overnight. I even looked at the results day 1, saw I was current
top but then went home, just not thinking that there was a possibility of top
3, never mind 1st! My first ever moment of glory and I went off home and missed
it. GUTTED!!!
I was secretly hoping for a podium place but not mentioned
it to anyone as I knew it was a tough order against some very good competition
and fast runners. Not bad for a bloke who has been running for about 18 months
in total. I managed to sneak first place by 5 points mainly due to a storming
day 2 which had me with second most points overall and 65 points ahead of one
of the overnight leader and eventual second place of Toby Cushion.
In the Elite Tom Brunt continued how he left off at
overnight camp and came in with 400 points, 30 points more than 2nd placed team
of Simon Patton and Dave Troman. Last year’s winner, Jonathan Aylward was 3rd
after 340 on day 2.
The Over 40s category was again filled with great runs from
Ali Hubbard and Richard Snowden who finished 1st and 2nd respectively. Pete
Nelson, who had an excellent day one slid down to 5th overall.
Full
results for day one Full
results for day two Overall
Results
Overall an absolutely great event (again!) Nice friendly
atmosphere, which is what I expect from Dark and White Events. Superb
organisation and a great location that I will be back to explore, but maybe
this time on a mountain bike. Long may the Rab continue as a laid back, low key
but competitive event. Long will I continue to have this race as a goal for the
season!
Elite next year or continue in the same class to defend my
title?
Read
more of Anthony’s adventures in his blog at http://middlepack.co.uk/
Maybe he’ll now have to change the name of his blog to raceleader.co.uk!
Well Bob, it was a hard race. Both the Queen (Andy May) and
I paid a heavy price for exertions at the Toronto Marathon and Half Marathon.
The Queen managed a creditable and regal 2:53, and I managed 1:43, which is
acceptable for a sack race. Following the race we enjoyed the social aspect
running provides, especially in a foreign country and drank the elite runners
from both
Some interesting points about running in
At the Expo I was seduced by 'The Stick' - a toothbrush for
muscles. It claims to keep muscles relaxed. Use on skin or through light
clothing. The Stick is waterproof and designed to bend without fear of
breaking. Use before, during and after periods of activity. For pin-point
rollout slide hands onto spindles. The amount of pressure is always determined
by the recipient. Golly gosh I had to have one, not certain if it was for
running or some other activity that involved exertion.
While feeling the benefit of The Stick a slim runner from
Looking to the future, the Queen and I are keen to visit
another Commonwealth country and to this end, the Mighty Reggae Marathon and
Half Marathon,
Jonathan '
Thornton-le-Clay 10k (from
Chloe and I ventured over to the other side of
Once the gun was fired and the dancers had dived for cover,
the course turned out to be a good one with fine views over the surrounding
hills and farmsteads. I didn't do myself any favours by completing the first
kilometre in 3 mins 30 secs (far too fast for me) despite it being uphill and
into the wind. From then it was about holding on for as long as I could.
Happily I improved my best 10k time by over 40 secs. One of the
Panos’s Training
Schedule (from Panos)
I don’t know if you want to put my current regime into the
next newsletter, some people may find it interesting, as I wanted to share my
experience as I want everyone to get quicker. I run the risk of entering geek
status, but why fight it, and I’ve told most people who are interested anyway,
who have given some good advice on how to improve it.
I run to the gym (LA Fitness in town) from Horsforth (Abbey Inn) along the
Leeds-Liverpool canal. This is about 5-6 miles. I then swim (front crawl)
around 1000m, which cools me down and when I go into the gym after I feel
that I'm starting again (that’s the beauty of swimming I suppose). I like
swimming so much now I’ve bought a swimming hat and it looks like a black
condom on my head but these are the sacrifices we must make. So I then row
5000m which takes around 22min. After this I work on the core i.e. sit ups and
free weights, not too much, prob takes about 20 min. During these 4 stages I'll
keep the energy levels up with a chocolate, fruit (Peaches are the
sexiest of the fruit kingdom) and water (I don't bother with energy drinks).
After weights run home the same way.
In total this takes around 3hrs. I’ve been doing this 3-4 times a week,
with the speed session on Tues and a race or 12-15 miles on a Sunday. Rest days
Mon and Sat. So I’m doing around 60 miles a week combined with the non impact
stuff for improving the endurance and breathing. I don’t time the running
stages as I’m listening to radio 1 and bopping whilst I run, but I'm running
harder on the way back. I try to avoid roads and stick to the canal cause l get
running rage when things get in the way like drunks and automobiles.
I’ve been lucky for the past few months cause I haven’t been time restricted,
but most people wont have the time with obligations, and once I’ve found work
again I’ll have to change the regime. But I’m sure some people who are injury
prone like me will find it useful to break up their training with non impact
stuff. I hope to cut the non impact stuff down, and run more and harder, and
try fit cycling in there, maybe on the rest day.
Paul Gill is running the New York Marathon
Paul is running for the ‘Help the Hospice’
charity. Paul says “I lost a close school friend in recent years who died
after a prolonged terminal illness. He and his family were supported with such
care and love throughout his final years by the Hospices. I hope to raise
much needed funding to show my appreciation.”
Paul was organising a raffle in association with his
fundraising but I missed the fact that the raffle was being drawn on his 50th
birthday, which was yesterday (sorry, and happy birthday, Paul). However
his fundraising website www.justgiving.com/pgnyc
is still open for donations and I’ve already seen a few Striders on there, so
I’m sure he’d be pleased if a few more of you joined them.
Paul is paying his own travel and race entry, so every
penny raised goes to the Hospices. Email Paul [email protected] if you want any
more information.
NB Paul White and Tim Wilkinson make up the Striders
trio at
Special Group Rate for Valley Striders at David Lloyd Gym – from Richard
Adcock
I had a
chat with the membership team at the David Lloyd Gym about a Valley
Striders Corporate membership scheme and if we can get 50 people (including
those already members of the gym) we can benefit from :
They
offered to come along to a club night to explain all details and answer any
questions we may have
A bit of
smallprint,
Current
prices
I think
I've mentioned most points, but if anybody has any questions please do not
hesitate to ask me
Richard
Adcock [ [email protected] ]
Also
please email Richard if you are already a member of David Lloyd (and if so
whether you have single or couple membership), so he knows how near to 50 we
are.
And finally
If you’re not going to compete in the London Olympics,
you could always be a volunteer. Bill Murphy sent this link
http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/volunteering/the-