Sent: 15 April 2011 00:15
Subject: V S Update - Baildon results and prizewinners, Marathon
reports, Max's International Squad
Coming up
Sunday April 17th – good luck to all
the Striders at
Tuesday April 19th – third Bunny Run
from
Thursday April 21st – curry night at
Sheesh Mahal, Chapel Allerton.
Sunday April 24th – Guiseley Gallop
– can anyone hand out Meanwood Valley Trail entry forms please?
Sunday May 8th – Leeds Half Marathon
– entries now closed, and sorry, I can’t help to get entries for
anyone who has missed the deadline (I’ve just tried!). However, for
those of you who are in, when you get your race packs you should get a sheet
for unattached runners advertising all the running clubs in
Saturday May 28th – Meanwood Valley
Trail Race – we need 65 marshals, we have 25 already – thank
you! www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsmarshals.htm
. Please email me if you can help.
Beginners Group
We still have vacancies. If you have friends,
relations or work colleagues training for the Run for All 10k and looking for
some support, send them along to our sessions, Tuesday 6pm to 7pm (arrive
5:45pm the first night). For details see www.valleystriders.org.uk/ril.htm
or email [email protected]
Roundhay parkrun
First run on Saturday April 23rd see http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Roundhay-parkrun/127584317310477
. This doesn’t seem to be on www.parkrun.com
yet, but keep following this, particularly if you haven’t got a Facebook
account.
I note that they are still asking for marshals.
Please help if you can but I would much prefer it if you help at the races
organised / supported by Valley Striders where the profits go to charity
(Meanwood, Harewood 10, Leeds Half, Harewood Cancer Research) or we receive
some of the profits (Peco XC, Yorkshire Vets).
Striders results
Andy was 2nd overall, Holly was 2nd
lady and Holly,
2 Andy
May
1:21:44 100
19 Dan
Murray
1:34:02 99
27
32 Mark
Woodhead
1:38:10 97
38 Roy
Huggins
1:38:34 96
41
42
48 Tom
Button
1:40:50 93
50 Greg
Skerrett
1:41:08 92
78
103 Richard Adcock
1:48:37 90
104
108 Bob
Jackson
1:49:13 88
125 Sarah
Wood
1:51:25 87
143 Mick
Tinker
1:53:33 86
145 Mike
Midgley
1:54:15 85
153 Steve
160 Keith Brewster
1:56:08 83
165 Nick Wallhead
1:57:07 82
177 Leroy
Sutton
1:58:21 81
194
203 Chloe
236 Sarah
Smith
2:06:07 78
Sara Dyer(walking)
3:25:53 77
Report from Simon Forde in
Tim Midgley of Bingley Harriers just missed beating
Tom Adams' course record in the
Glorious dry, sunny conditions provided the perfect
backdrop for Sunday's half-marathon, comprising 355 runners and 50 walkers.
A leading group of Midgley, Colin Walker (Pudsey &
Bramley) and Quentin Lewis - eventually fourth, from organising club Baildon
Runners - broke away over the first three miles of trails, road and woodland
from
The long, strength-sapping canal section soon changed
things as Midgley stamped his authority on the race, while Andy May (Valley
Striders) and Nigel Armitage (Pudsey Pacers) moved up into second and third
respectively.
The front three held their positions on the tough
climb to Baildon Moor and down to the finish at Baildon Rugby Club, with
Midgley missing last year's record by 35 seconds as he clocked 1hr 19min 42sec.
Jon Holah's fifth place was good for the over-50s
prize and, when added to Mick Hill's seventh and Colin Walker's ninth, secured
the team prize for Pudsey & Bramley.
Other men's age-category prizes went to Nick
Charlesworth (over-40s) of Wharfedale Harriers in sixth place and Richard
Borysiewicz (over-60s) of Valley Hill Runners in
Tamara Hird was first lady in 1:37:35, two minutes clear
of
Unattached runner Liz Noakes won the ladies over-45s
category in 1:46, while Aileen Baldwin (Stainland) and Lyn Eden (Ilkley) picked
up prizes in the F55 and F65 age groups.
Thought I'd write a little report on our French adventures
for the newsletter, so here goes....
Myself and
Unfortunately we didn't plan for bright sunshine and temperatures reaching 28c,
not exactly ideal running conditions!!
I started exactly as I wanted, comfortably maintaining a 2:43 pace and picking
off runners as the miles ticked by. We were sensible enough to wear caps which
we continually soaked with water, as well as taking on plenty of fluids at each
stop. However, despite my respect for the conditions, I hit the wall at mile 21
and lost 9 minutes in the last 5 miles to stagger home in 2:52.35.
Dave had a similar experience, starting to miss his splits from halfway and
suffering in the heat in the last 6 miles, finishing in 3:16.32. He wasn't even
aware that we had run past the
I'd definitely recommend
Despite both finishing up a little disappointed, it was a great experience and
we had plenty to be proud of considering the heat and our inexperience. Bring
on
Brighton
Having
arrived at base camp in
Despite being chided by Bob and Mr Murray for wimping out of the Wakefield 10k
the week before, I felt that my preparation and training had gone well so was
confident come race morning, but with the sun already burning bright at 8am and
temperatures expected to rise to 22C by 12 noon there was an obvious concern
about dehydration and staying cool. The start was well organised apart from
familiar toilet chaos, and I was soon settled into a comfortable pace. The day
before at the seminar Hugh Jones, the course measurer, had said that the first
10 miles were where all the hills were so just get through them as easy as
possible and save yourself for the easy flat last 16 miles (ha!). Not being one
to argue with a former
The hills did indeed come and go in the first few miles and the sun got hotter
and hotter, but I was managing to keep an even pace and with water stations
every 3 miles I was staying cool by pouring most of it over my head. The course
was fine with plenty of enthusiastic crowds and plenty of out and backs, so
there was good support from the other runners. A coastal breeze between 10
miles and halfway provided some respite from the heat. I passed the 13.1m mark
in about 1:27:28 so was well on course and was encouraged by regular sightings
of Sharon and my Mum and Dad, who were doing a great job of zipping round the
course. I was feeling good and just trying to maintain a consistent pace to 20m
when I knew the hard work would really begin. Not only was this the point where
things traditionally get ugly but it is also by far the worst bit of the course
- a long barren stretch out to a power station with sparse crowds and only
industrial buildings for company. The organisers had helpfully put up a sign
calling it 'the road to hell' and the local art college students had built a
wall asking if you had hit it yet. Cheers guys! The conditions were really
starting to have an impact at this point and people were really starting to
suffer, which is never nice to see, and it must have been a long way to the
finish for some. The turn for home came at 23 miles when we got back onto the
seafront and the crowds started to build again. At this point I was running on
my own as a lot of people had fallen by the wayside, so I just had to
concentrate and dig in to maintain my pace. The 25 mile mark was a welcome
sight and with 12.5 minutes in hand to complete the last 1.2m I knew sub-3 was
well within my grasp. I've been told since that I looked like I was 'in the
zone' but it certainly didn't feel like it! I crossed the line in 2:55:28 chip
time and what I later learned was 27th place overall. My brother followed me in
a very respectable 3:50 and promptly announced his immediate and permanent
retirement from running. Apparently he got through the last 2 miles by telling
himself they were the last 2 miles he would ever have to run! We shall see.
The day was nicely rounded off with beer and fish and chips on the seafront.
They were tough conditions but I was pleased with my time and position. My
Mum's Kaiser family PB of 2:55:06 is still intact for now but is firmly in my
sights for the Striders autumn outing to
Ed Whitlock
(reprinted
from Parkrun news)
If you
don't know who Ed Whitlock is and you're looking for a bit of inspiration, I
urge you to look him up on the web. He was at it again at the weekend breaking
the over 80s Marathon World Record with a time of 3:25:40. He beat the previous
record (set in 1998) by over 15 minutes. Intriguingly, when that figure is
adjusted through age grading, it is the equivalent of a disappointing 2:08:15.
I use the word ‘disappointing’ advisedly, because he ran 2:54:48
when aged 73, which when adjusted through age grading is the equivalent of
2:03:57 – two seconds faster than Haile Gebrselassie’s current
absolute world record.
Bob says,
Ed is a rival to our own Lou Gilchrist in the age-graded tables. Lou has
a number of world W70 and W75 records. Max used to mention Ed quite often
which leads me on to …
Max’s
International Squad
I’ve
been catching up with Max’s International Squad.
Two of his
three Australians have been globetrotting, but Diana Dubelaar has emailed to
say she has now returned from
I’ve
had a longer email from
YES. I am
fit and still running!!!
Damian and
I are back in
I had a
great time training and racing in the States last year and finished off with a
nice break over Christmas and the start of the year.
I am now
back training hard and have my eyes set on trying to qualify for London 2012.
I think of
Max often and miss his motivating emails!!!
We have
just started the cross country season over here so am looking forward to a
solid winter training and racing and then I will hit the track for the summer
before racing another marathon. I am training with Anthony DeCastella's group
in
I will
definitely keep you up to date with our progress here down under. I am sure I
will see Kirsten (Jackson, the third Aussie) out and about at the cross
country races.
Hope all
is well with you and thank-you for including us in your VS updates!