Subject:                          V S Update - Dates, Help at Harewood, VS parkrun, John Marsham's Bob Graham, Borrowdale report, Scottish news

 

Sent: 10 August 2013 17:48

Some dates for you

 

Tue 13 Aug – Track sessions – beginners, improvers, juniors 6pm at Grammar School at Leeds (directions on website);  intermediates and experienced runners 7pm at Leeds Met track (directions on website)

Wed 14 Aug – York Millennium Bridge 5k - flat, fast course beside the river in York

Sat 24 Aug – Burnsall Fell Race [VSFC]

Sat 24 Aug – Burnsall 10  

Mon 26 Aug - Spofforth Gala Trail Race (10K)       http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?en=72209&sp=&v=7

Sun 1 Sep - Leeds Country Way                    

Sun 3 Sep – VS Junior Mile [VSJGP], VS Autumn Handicap [VSGP] and barbecue

Sat 7 Sep - Leeds Golden Mile (Carnegie Track)      http://www.evensplits.co.uk/

Sun 8 Sep - Wetherby 10K [VSGP] [LRS] and 2 mile junior race [VSJGP] [LJRS]   http://www.wetherbyrunnersac.co.uk

Sun 8 Sep - Yorkshireman full marathon [VSFC]

Sun 8 Sep - Yorkshireman half marathon 

Sat 14 Sep - Rombolds Romp [VSFC] [LRS] – there is a fell runners route and a trail runners route – choose which one on the day

Sat 21 Sep – Folk Reservoir Ramble - this year the event will consist only of the shorter 14 mile route - entry on the day only!   www.runalong.net

Sun 22 Sep - Kirkstall Trail 7 [LRS]   

Sun 29 Sep – Horsforth 10k [LRS]

Tue 1 Oct – Valley Striders AGM

Sun 6 Oct - Brussels Marathon  [VSGP]

Sun 6 Oct  Bramham Park 5k & 10k 

Sun 13 Oct - Withins Skyline [VSGP] [VSFC]

Tue 15 Oct – Harewood Recce Run

Sun 27 Oct – Harewood 2 mile [VSJGP] [LJRS], 5 mile and 10 mile [LRS] races – organised by Valley Striders

Sun 27 Oct – Bradford City various races, please come and help at Harewood instead!

 

[VSGP] = Valley Striders Grand Prix

[VSJGP] = Valley Striders Junior Grand Prix

[VSFC] = Valley Striders Fell Championship

[LRS] = Leeds Race Series  www.leedsathletics.net

[LJRS] = Leeds Junior Race Series

 

Marshalling opportunities – Harewood

 

Here’s an offer we hope you won’t refuse.  Sunday 27 October will be the 14th year of the Harewood races organised by Valley Striders.  We have raised over £35,000 for three charities over this period.  This year the nominated charities are Lineham Farm Children’s Centre and Yorkshire Air Ambulance and they will share all the profits.

 

There will be a 2 mile race for juniors combined with a 2 mile fun run for adults at 10:00.  This will be followed at 10:35 by a combined 10 mile and 5 mile race. The 10 mile is minimum age 17, the 5 mile is minimum age school years 11 and 12.

 

We need about 70 Striders to help with this race.  Please email [email protected] if you are available to help.

 

We encourage Valley Striders juniors to enter the 2 mile race and it scores Junior Grand Prix points.

 

But unless we have sufficient marshals, we can’t allow adults to run the 10 or 5 mile race.  If you are available to marshal but would like to run if there are sufficient marshals, please put “would like to run” when you email the “help” account.

 

Thanks

 

Leeds parkrun 305 supported by Valley Striders

 

Alex posted on Valley Striders AC facebook  “Thank you everyone! What a morning of ultimate joy that was! Thank you to everyone that came and helped out, we made a great team, go go Valley Striders!  (and 3 happy symbols!)”

 

About 15 marshals and 36 Striders and friends who ran (hope I haven’t missed anyone)

     2  Gwilym THOMAS         17:27  SM35-39  77.08%  M    1  PB stays 00:16:44   89      

     6  Rav PANESAR           18:42  SM30-34  69.52%  M    5  PB stays 00:18:41   40      

     7  Roy HUGGINS           18:43  VM50-54  78.81%  M    6  PB stays 00:17:49  184      

     8  Jonathan POWNALL      18:50  SM20-24  68.50%  M    7  First Timer!         3      

    11  Dan MURRAY            19:00  SM35-39  69.82%  M   10  PB stays 00:18:17   17      

    31  John SHANKS           20:08  SM25-29  64.16%  M   26  PB stays 00:18:06   31  PACER

    44  Graham JONES          21:10  VM45-49  68.58%  M   38  PB stays 00:19:41   49      

    56  Alex IRVINE           21:52  JM14     67.99%  M   50  First Timer!        32      

    57  Gary David MANN       21:53  SM30-34  59.63%  M   51  PB stays 00:18:45   46      

    81  Stephen DIAMOND       22:47  JM15-19  60.13%  M   72  First Timer!         1      

    96  Isobel FALE           23:33  JW15-19  63.06%  F   15  PB stays 00:23:06   20      

   126  Paul SANDERSON        24:41  VM45-49  57.87%  M  109  First Timer!         2  PACER

   127  Elliott Simon HUDSON  24:41  JM14     57.46%  M  110  New PB!              2      

   134  Tom CURRAN                                                                    PACER

   140  Stephanie GLEDHILL    25:21  VW35-39  58.97%  F   21  PB stays 00:25:21    5      

   145  Tally Nicole DIAMOND  25:30  JW14     71.05%  F   23  New PB!              3      

   156  Joseph IRVINE         25:46  JM14     59.38%  M  127  First Timer!         9      

   161  Eleanor FORD          25:52  JW14     61.73%  F   31  First Timer!        14      

   164  Graham FORD           25:56  VM50-54  57.78%  M  133  First Timer!        32      

   176  Steve WILKINS                                                                 PACER

   181  Natalie ROSS          26:31  VW40-44  58.89%  F   35  New PB!             25      

   187  Ken KAISER            26:45  VM60-64  61.56%  M  150  PB stays 00:24:51   11      

   215  Sorin CAZAN           28:17  SM35-39  47.20%  M  161  First Timer!         1      

   221  Louise JENNINGS       28:39  VW40-44  53.69%  F   56  New PB!              6      

   226  Rebecca BIBBY         28:45  SW30-34  51.48%  F   59  First Timer!         8      

   233  Danni GREAVES         29:11  SW25-29  50.71%  F   62  First Timer!         1      

   243  Anne JONES            29:42  VW45-49  55.11%  F   66  PB stays 00:28:42   24      

   252  Wendy ATTON           29:52  VW35-39  50.67%  F   73  First Timer!         1      

   255  Ben REDSHAW           30:02  JM14     56.66%  M  181  First Timer!         1      

   264  Sue CARR                                                                      PACER

   292  Sally Ann HUDSON      32:37  VW45-49  50.18%  F   99  New PB!              3      

   316  Sarah ORD             34:02  SW30-34  43.78%  F  112  New PB!              3      

   317  Jordan DIAMOND        34:15  JM14     41.41%  M  205  New PB!              3      

   325  Lucy IRVINE           35:11  VW35-39  43.01%  F  118  First Timer!         2      

   337  Katy IRVINE           41:32  JW14     49.16%  F  127  First Timer!         2      

   338  Richard IRVINE        41:33  VM40-44  32.85%  M  211  First Timer!        37      

 

The race was won by Sue Partridge in 16:49 click on the link for Sue’s career  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Partridge_(runner)

Results


Round Hill fell race, 4 August 2013 from Sarah Smith

1st male     Richard Pattinson  56:09
1st female   Emma Barclay   1:08:21

43rd  Ross Bibby     1:10:14
58      Robert Marsh   1:14:26
107    Sarah Smith       1:33:38
116    Becky Bibby       1:45:10

122  finished

 

Jen Willingham was listed as a Valley Strider (M) but is in fact a Saltaire Strider (F), she must have poor handwriting!

 

VS Fell Championship points updated on the V S website “for club members” page

 

Saltaire Shaker

 

3 Franco Pardini  59:11

73 Alex Watson-Usher  1:17:46

108 John Hussey  1:25:52

110 Sarah Howell 1:26:03

 

Also

30  Laura Dransfield  1:08:23

 

Bob Graham Round: John Marsham, Saturday 13 July 2013

 

I was really keen to give this a go this year, but a sprained ankle in the Ilkley Moor race in February had led to Plantar Fasciitis and I’d missed both the Three Peaks and Jura. Not ideal preparation. But by early June it had got to the point where a big day in the fells didn’t seem to make my foot any worse and I recced legs three and four with Ann. The walk the next day to reclaim the car wasn’t too bad, and that convinced me it was worth a go.

 

The build up of logistics and persuading friends to help out just makes the whole thing even more intimidating. What if I failed to even make a decent attempt? Even a small team meant six people were coming along to help. It looked like clear and calm weather wasn’t going to give me any excuses either, except the heat.

 

Dom got the short-straw of leg one in the dark and even on this we were dripping with sweat. I’d recced it in the dark though and the familiarity really helped and I started to settle down on the second of the big three descents.

 

Leg two is the most runnable leg on the round and was, as I had anticipated, the most pleasant (at least for me as I wasn’t carrying over 3 litres of water). There was a beautiful dawn with some low cloud over the valleys south of Grasmere, welcome daylight, but not yet too hot, and also quiet.

 

The start of leg three felt like the start of the round proper. Legs one and two are a great day out in themselves, but this time I knew they were “only a warm up”. Ann, Bethan, Kim and Justin were all there to meet me, which provided a real moral boost and, unlike midnight, eight o’clock is also a sensible time to start the day. My conversation had dried up at the end of leg two, but luckily Justin and Kim could chat to each other while I tried not to think about leg four and just concentrate on navigating, drinking and eating. The Langdale Pikes were hot, humid and rather windless and it was great to reach Bowfell, the ‘real mountains’ and some more wind. Ann and Bethan just won the race to Broad Stand (they had driven to Wasdale and then gone straight up Scafell) and we only had to wait seconds for their rope from above. I’d taken the wrong scree gully on the descent to Wasdale on the recce, but this time got it right and Mark met me on the track up from the car park. Salty rice pudding had never tasted so good. After the first big ascent of leg four we started to lose time, but not enough to worry about. I found out later from Steve that about 100 starters of the Wasdale race had been timed out or retired in the heat.

 

Leg four is the last big leg and Honister meant “one more hill” up Dale Head (I’d also told myself this at the bottom of Gable) and the realisation that I’d been going for twenty hours. “One more hill” to Robinson and looking back, as the sun started to set, the odd cloud lay around some of the peaks on leg four, but their summits were still clear and in the sun. You get a good view of Keswick from just past Robinson, but it still felt a long way to go. I was worried I’d lose time on the road, I hadn’t done any real road running for months. The start of the road dragged, but I eventually gained some momentum and a final sprint finish brought a mix of relief, disbelief and celebration, and some congratulations from a few passers-by who clearly knew what was going on.

 

Overall, I was lucky with the weather (except the heat). No blisters and more importantly my Plantar Fascia hurt less than it had on the day before! I made time on the ups and lost some of that at the ends of legs four and five. The small team worked brilliantly. If you do it with support, as most people do, it’s definitely a team event. You never have to run fast, but you do have to just keep going. It’s a great “Tour of the Lakes” and there is a real satisfaction as you look out at the route laid out ahead and behind you as you reach the final summit. I think the best tips I got were walking poles, changing socks, cold pizza and salty rice pudding!

 

Thanks again to Ann, Bethan, Dom, Kim, Justin and Mark for helping on the day and to many others for many days out in the hills before that. Most of all to Ann for tolerating and even enjoying all the BG discussions, deliberations

 

Correction - these are John’s times for his Bob Graham round

John%20Marsham%20Bob%20Graham%202013.xls

 

 

 

 

Borrowdale Fell Race Report - Saturday 3 August 2013 – from Steve Dixon

 

It was the 40th anniversary of this race and 331 runners lined up at the start.   Amongst the 331 were 6 Striders The race involves a 17 mile horseshoe type route starting from the village of Rosthwaite packing in 6500 foot of climbing in the run out and back to Scafell Pike.

 

After early morning rain the sun was shining and we were sent on our way at 11am!

 

The race starts with 2 miles of level running along roads and tracks to bring you to the base of Bessyboot our first climb of the day. It starts steep and forces most to slow into walking mode. Then it gets steeper and steeper! From this top, the first checkpoint it is necessary to navigate below the tops of Glaramara and Allen Crags to reach the 2nd checkpoint at Esk Hause.  Visibility was good so it was possible to follow the trail of runners in front.  Even in cloud it is possible to follow well-worn runners’ trod but it can’t be relied upon as it is intermittent.  A fair bit of height is gained here but is hardly noticeable as all your concentration is focused on not slipping or tripping.

 

From Esk Hause, where we met Matt Allen on Jelly baby duty, it was up into the clouds over the steep rocky terrain that brings you to Scafell Pike, the highest point in England and checkpoint 3.  No time to take in the view, (even if there’d been one!) it was a plummeting scree run down a ravine to join the corridor route.  Been a so called ‘softie’ I stopped at this point to remove much of Scafell from my shoes. I have no idea how other runners manage to carry on with so much grit in their shoes.  I had not time to ask Ann as she whizzed past me.  She soon became a distant figure heading down to Styhead whilst I tried to get back into my stride.  You see very little of the corridor route as there are many short cuts along grassy trods allowing one to pick up speed.  The reward for reaching Styhead is more jelly babies, courtesy of Matt. 

 

The other reward is the ‘delightful’ ascent of Great Gable to reach checkpoint 4 cloaked in clouds.  The route descends out of the clouds and down into Windy Gap. Then it’s northwards over Green Gable, Brandreth and Grey Knotts.  If you find a good line here there is some of the easiest running of the day descending the grassy hillside to reach Honister and checkpoint 5.  This is where many fail to beat the cut off time of 4 hours 30 minutes and face the walk or jog back along the road to Rosthwaite. 

 

For those inside the cut off the mighty climb up to Dale Head (checkpoint 6) has to be endured before the final descent to the finish.  For tired legs the steep direct descent of Dale Head to the tarn is torture if you don’t find a good line missing most of the rocks and keeping to the grass.  Luckily my line was good this year.  All that remains to be done then is not make a fool of yourself by slipping on the River Derwent stepping stones where many faster runners are already soaking their legs and where there is usually a photographer waiting catch any drama!  Thankfully I was able to skip from one wet stone to the other without mishap!

 

Congratulations to all the striders. Every one of us back within the Honister cut off.  And two of us in the prizes!  Run of the day was Ann’s, coming home as 12th Lady. I was pleased with my time having got round well under the 5 hours that was my aim and also becoming 4th MV60.  An indication of the ‘down to earth’ nature of this sport was my prize – a pair of underpants!

 

Eirik claimed a notable scalp in that of Gavin Bland, a place behind him, by going sub 4 hrs!

 

And many thanks to Matt for his fantastic support around the course.

 

Results

1st   Ricky Lightfoot     Ellenborough AC  M    2.51.24

1st Lady  Nicky Spinks    Dark Peak FR     F45  3.53.13

 

94   Eirik Stangnes       Valley Striders  M40  3.57.34

134  John Marsham         Valley Striders  M    4.11.48

188  Ann-Kristin Koehler  Valley Striders  F    4.33.07

198  Ross Bibby           Valley Striders  M    4.36.20

209  Stephen Dixon        Valley Striders  M60  4.41.06

311  Alistair Smyth       Valley Striders  M55  5.44.00

 

319 finished

 

The record for this race is held by Billy Bland in an amazing time of 2.34.38 in 1981

 

And Nicky Spinks holds the women’s record for Bob Graham round – 18hr 12min

 

Scottish news from George Black

 

Hello Bob, Just a quick update on my races/training.

 

After my period of base training which consisted of 525 miles in 6 weeks with a max of 108, I started 4 weeks of racing with a greatly reduced mileage and  plenty of rest.

 

3 July  Brig Bash 5 miles:-         My time 35:07. O/70 Course record.  Weather ideal, warmish with light wind. Winning time 24:55.

 

6 July  St Andrews Park Run:-  My Time 21:45  Weather  warm/muggy. O/70 Course record.  Winning time 18:16

 

13 July St Andrews Park Run:-  My time 22:21   Very warm Winning time 18:01

 

THEN !!!I had not been on my bike for about 8 weeks but got talked into going out for a cycle with some friends. I decided to adjust my Speedplay pedals by increasing the float on my left pedal. I have a hip problem following some earlier falls and thought this might help. Unfortunately it caused me a severe knee problem which I am currently trying to manage. I have had to cut back on my mileage and reduce my speed work. I have entered the Moray Marathon on 1st September which is 5 weeks before the Chester Marathon which is my main target. I will probably do a couple of low key races and see how my knee reacts. With the World Duathlon Champs my main and indeed only target for next year I will rest as long as necessary to recover after my marathons.

 

Hope to see some Striders at Chester who might help the auld guy roon. Best regards to all Geo

 

And finally

 

If you’re looking for a personalised car registration, RUN 1 is currently available from Registration Transfers for a mere £55000.

 

You may need to save up to buy this, so if you want to get your shoes at a discount, there is an offer on the Sports Shoes website www.sportsshoes.com  until midnight Sunday night, 10% off and Free delivery, quote FC3710P at check out.