Sent: 23 December 2010 00:34
Subject: V S Update - Xmas / new year dates, Parkrun 1234, Peco 12, VS awards, 2010 quiz

 

Christmas and New Year dates

 

Thursday 23 December – normal Thursday training from Scott Hall. 

 

John says “Just in case anyone thought there wouldn’t be Thursday runs over Christmas, here I am to put you all right.  We’ll be out this Thursday (23rd) and the week after (30th) as normal in the freezing cold weather 6.45 at Scott Hall (there is a thaw forecast – next June I think).  Wrap up warm .. and bright, especially bright, bright’s really important. If you’re not already really bright then write to Santa quick for new bright stuff. I’m writing for a new brain so I’ll be really bright – if I’m no brighter after Christmas I’ll assume he didn’t get my letter.”

 

Sunday 26 December – Chevin Chase – see you there! (1st VS Grand Prix race of 2011)

 

Tuesday 28 December – normal Tuesday training from Leos (hills at Church Lane, weather permitting)

 

Wed 29th December- Coley Canter at Shelf – James Franklin says in this week’s Abbey Runners email “8 miles off road across farmland and woods. Very good course and only 50p to enter. Its on Calder Valley Fell Runners site (http://www.cvfr.co.uk/Races/Other/Coley_Canter/coleycanterhome.htm).”

 

Thursday 30 December – normal Thursday training from Scott Hall. 

 

Friday 31 December – closing date for National XC (19 Feb at Alton Towers) – email Drew Taylor [email protected] if you want to run.

 

Friday 31 December – Auld Lang Syne race, but race full.

 

Sunday 2 January 2011 – club handicap 5 miles (2nd VS Grand Prix race of 2011) – meet by Eccup Res at 10:45, first runner off at 11:00.  Afterwards back at Leos for a drink, please bring a little food to share!

 

Tuesday 4 January – normal Tuesday training from Leos (5 by 6 mins at High Ashes) – NB pie’n’ peas postponed to 18 January’

 

Tuesday 4 January – closing date for Northern XC (29 Jan at Sunderland) – email Drew Taylor [email protected] if you want to run.

 

Thursday 6 January – Thursday training from Scott Hall, suitable for slightly slower runners (or faster runners still running slowly after too much seasonal food and drink)’

 

Sunday 16 January – third Peco race at Kirkstall’

 

Tuesday 18 January – pie and peas night and meeting to discuss events for 2011 Fell Championship – all welcome.

 

Membership reminder

 

Nearly 200 members have paid for the 2010-2011 Striders year, and there are just 49 members from last year who haven’t paid yet.

 

Those 49 have received reminders from Paul White, but if you’ve changed your email address, you may not have received it, so please check http://www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsmemreg.htm

 

If you are still to pay, please send a cheque for £20 to Paul at 17 Whinmoor Court, Redhall, Leeds, LS14 1NX.  Thanks!   

 

(Or if you decide not to rejoin, please email Paul [email protected] to save us sending further reminders.)

 

Leeds Parkrun 18/12/2010 ~ 1-2-3-4 for Striders!

 

Fantastic result for the Club!  I wonder whether this has been achieved by any other club at the Leeds parkrun or indeed at any parkrun?

 

  1 Roy Huggins     19:27  74.64% VM45-49  

  2 Joel Giddings   19:39  68.96% SM35-39  

  3 Ian Rosser      19:47  69.50% VM40-44  

  4 Ian Sanderson   20:14  67.46% VM40-44  

  8 James Tarran    21:02  66.88% VM40-44  

 43 Chris Sawyer    25:58  57.70% VM50-54  

 

Club vests – policy

 

I have had comments from a few new members who have been to parkruns and didn’t know till they saw the race results that there were so many Striders running.

 

It was agreed at the AGM http://www.valleystriders.org.uk/VS%20AGM%20Minutes%20Nov%2010.doc that Striders members should, in all races, wear their Striders vest or alternatively wear the vest of a charity for which they are being sponsored.  (It’s not in our constitution at present but is in the “welcome” email sent to new members).  And to “encourage” this, we should exclude race performances from our database for Performance Certificates if the club member is not wearing a Striders or charity vest. 

 

The majority of Striders do wear club vests in most races but only a minority wear them for parkruns (some saying that this is because they are not real races).  If you run a parkrun and want your performance included you will need to email [email protected] to claim your performance and say that you were wearing a club vest.  This will take effect from 1 January 2011.

 

Comments welcome!

 

Peco XC 19/12/2010 ~ 1-2 for Striders

 

A great result on a very frosty Middleton Park, where the ladies finished first and the men second.  And after two events both ladies and men are placed second in their divisions.

 

NB the ladies are in the “second” division so are placed well for promotion (I think 3 teams will go up).  In Sunday’s race, had the ladies been in the top division, they would have been third, so are very competitive with the leading teams.

 

Individual results

 

Men

  5 Dan Fisher

  9 Gwil Thomas

 16 Joel Giddings

 38 Ian Sanderson

 42 Tony Mills

 64 Paul Hunter

 71 John Wallace

 89 Malcolm Coles

 90 Bob Jackson

 93 Joe Hanney

 96 Tony Haygarth

125 Bob Wilkes

 

Women

 20 Sue Sunderland

 22 Amanda Seims

 28 Chloe Hudson

 35 Sharon Tansley

 38 Sarah Smith

 

Report in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus (written by Jack Verity of St Bedes)

 

The weather tried its best to play havoc with the running fixtures again this weekend but all the main events went ahead.

 

The second race in the PECO cross-country League featured Bradford-Airedale, Eccleshill Road Runners and Saltaire Striders (formerly St Bede’s AC).  A total of 242 hardy souls braved the 4.8-mile course over rock-hard, snow-covered ground in Middleton Park, Leeds in a race hosted by Rothwell Harriers.

 

Tim Midgley (running second-claim for Horsforth Harriers) made light of the conditions to win, with Matt John, from Abbey Runners, second.

 

Abbey packed their eight counters in the top 30 to win the event comfortably. Valley and Rothwell follow in the team competition, with Horsforth dropping to fourth.  Ilkley Harriers, in the Premier Division, were severely depleted and only managed four men counters and two ladies and now find themselves adrift at the bottom of the league with three races to go.

 

Will Kerr (Saltaire) finished sixth to lead his team to a second consecutive victory in the men’s first division.  Bradford-Airedale, in their first season, finished an impressive second to also kindle visions of promotion.

 

Club chairman Chris Hainsworth said: “We are taking it one step at a time but yesterday was encouraging. This year’s aim was just to get a team out and let everyone know we are still in existence. I think that promotion might be a bit ambitious this year but could well be within our grasp next year.”

 

Saltaire captain Kerr said: “The men managed to put out an incredible 16 runners. This is what being a running club is all about for me. Mass participation makes the club stand out and at the same time brings the members closer together.”

 

Cheapest and dearest marathons in the UK?

 

If you didn’t get into London and are looking for a marathon near to home in the spring, look at

 

Saturday 21 May – White Peak marathon – measured 26.2 miles - entries open 1 January, £17, limit 200, usually full by February, this is on cinder and tarmac tracks, road shoes advised.  http://www.matlockac.org.uk/wpm.html

 

or

 

Sunday 22 May – Windermere marathon – this was the most expensive marathon in the UK as apart from the £30 entry fee, all entrants had to guarantee to raise £200 for charity or to pay £200 themselves.  The organisers have bowed to pressure and relented on the £200, so look at http://www.brathaywindermeremarathon.org.uk/   NB fee goes up to £33 from 1 January.

 

I’ve run both of these so email me if any questions!

 

Xmas Presentation Night

 

In alphabetical order

 

Also Ran Trophy

 

Awarded to Paul Holloway for a massive improvement in 10k PB and half marathon PB, for running 7 Grand Prix races (would have been 8 had not Thirsk been cancelled) and running parkruns at 7 different locations.

 

Grand Prix

 

Champions – Gwil Thomas & Liz Wood

Vets – M40 Steve Webb, M50 Eric Green, W35 Liz Wood

Groups – B Dan Murray, C Alistair Smyth, D Chloe Hudson, E Sara Dyer

 

Fell Championship

 

Winners – Steve Webb & Holly Williams

 

London Marathon places

 

First priority is given to Striders who (a) have been members for longer than a year and (b) have applied in the London Marathon ballot and (c) have received a rejection letter.  There were 4 Striders in this category and since we had 4 places, no draw was necessary, the beneficiaries being John Batchelor, Lewis Balfour, Paul Gill and Steve Dixon. 

 

The following rules were used to prioritise the reserves

(1) Member longer than a year, with rejection letter, previously had club place – Erica Hiorns

(2) Member longer than a year, no rejection letter – Ruth Warren

(3) Member joined this year, no rejection letter – Sarah Smith

 

Reserves will get a place should one or more of the four drop out before 11 February.

 

If you want to run London in Olympic year, then remember to enter the London Marathon online entry ballot which will take place a week or so after the 2011 marathon.  NB in 2010 the ballot was fully subscribed within a few hours!!

 

Marathon Trophy

 

Winner – Dan Fisher for 2:42 at Amsterdam

 

Max Jones Trophy

 

This is a new trophy awarded to the best age-graded road race performance – winner Lou Gilchrist for 43:49 at the Sale 5 in May.  Not bad for age 77!

 

This is 95.1% on the age-graded scale, which is just inside a Valley Striders grade 10 performance. 

 

Lou had very slightly higher AG percentages at two parkruns, but we decided to award this for the officially measured and timed event.

 

We have set a condition that a club member can only win this once, so 199 of you are in with a chance for next year!

 

Valley Striders Christmas Quiz

 

Get yourself a drink and a mince pie and have a go at these questions.

 

     1.    Where was the National Cross Country held? - Roundhay / South Leeds/ Templenewsam

    2.    How many Striders ran in the National Cross Country? - 27 / 32 / 37

    3.    For which one of these did Max Jones not have a calculation about race time? - shoe weight / runner’s weight / runner’s height

    4.    Max Jones came from Birmingham – which famous Midlands club did he run for? - Aston Villa / Birchfield / Blackheath

    5.    Which race was the Abbey Valley Challenge 2010? - Leeds half / Rothwell 10k / Wakefield 10k

    6.    How many Striders ran in the Leeds Half Marathon? - 35 / 45 / 55

    7.    Who was first finisher in a Striders vest in the Leeds Half? - Dan Fisher / Tracey Morris / Gwil Thomas

    8.    How many Striders ran in the Three Peaks Race? - 5 / 8 / 11

    9.    Who was first Strider in the Three Peaks? - Mick Loftus / Amanda Seims / Simon Vallance

 10.    How many Striders ran in the Leeds Country Way Relay? - 48 / 50 / 60

  11.    What was the winning margin for the ladies’ team in the Leeds Country Way? - 34 minutes / 54 minutes / 74 mins

 12.    What position were the men’s team? - 2nd / 3rd / 4th

 13.    What did Keith recommend that you should not carry? (and was subsequently a spot prize at the Harewood Trail Race!) - Bottle belt / Camelbak / Hand grip water bottle

 14.    Where were the Yorkshire 6- and 4-stage relays held in 2010? - Don Valley Stadium / Leeds Met Carnegie / South Leeds Stadium

 15.    Which was the best placed Striders team in the Yorks Vets Road Relays? - M40 / M50 / W55

 16.    How many Striders ran in the Amsterdam Marathon? - 19 / 24 / 29

 17.    How many first claim Striders ran in the Abbey Dash?  - 38 / 48 / 58

 18.    Who was first finisher in a Striders vest in the Abbey Dash? - Rob De’Giovanni / Dan Fisher / Gwil Thomas

 19.    How many Striders ran 8 or more Grand Prix races in 2010? - 27 / 37 / 47

20.    Which was the first year of the Grand Prix? - 1982 / 1989 / 1995

 21.    Striders fastest marathon time this year was set by? - Karen Barlow / Dan Fisher / Gwil Thomas

22.    How many races did you need to run to qualify for prizes in the Fell Championship - 4 / 5 / 6

23.    How many new members have joined Striders in 2010? - 50 / 60 / 70

24.    How many Striders individuals (including Sharon) have won a Leeds Parkrun this year - 5 / 6 / 7

 

Answers in the new year.  NB the winning team at the VS do scored 20 out of 24, and this was without the help of a phone with internet connection (I had to confiscate one of these!)

 

And finally

 

This is probably the last V S Update of this year, so thank you to everyone for making 2010 a very successful year for the Striders. 

 

My new year wish is continued success in 2011 for the Striders and that you also achieve your personal running targets in 2011.

 

Bob