Subject: V S Update - track training on Tuesday; Meanwood marshals
information; Membership; MDS; Yorkshire Trail Races; Heptonstall report
Sent: 04 April 2014 00:58
Tuesday 8 April - Training
The 6pm
sessions for juniors and adult beginners & improvers will be at Grammar
School at Leeds.
click http://www.valleystriders.org.uk/GSAL-map.doc
for map showing where to park and how to get to the track from the car
park.
NB
Parents please look out for another email coming soon about this session.
The 7pm
sessions for intermediates and experienced runners will be at Leeds Met Track.
click http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=426680&y=436960&z=110&zoom=2
for map for getting to
Carnegie Athletics Track.
click http://www.valleystriders.org.uk/Carnegie%20parking.JPG for map for
parking. Meet just inside the Indoor Sports Centre.
These
details are also on the V S website www.valleystriders.org.uk
MVT Recce
Run
Note that
there will also be a recce of the Meanwood Trail Race route on Tuesday 8 April,
starting at 6:30pm prompt from Leos. This run will be suitable for the
experienced runners group and all but the slowest of the intermediates.
Wear trail shoes as it is quite wet and quite muddy in parts. Please
email Dan [email protected] if
you’re intending to do the recce.
Saturday 12 April –
Meanwood Valley Trail
I’m
wishing I hadn’t put “we now have enough marshals for MVT” in the last email as
already 2 have dropped out.
If you’ve
already volunteered, it’s a long time since we asked for names so can everyone
check www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsmarshals.htm and
please email [email protected] to
confirm (or otherwise). If you have a preferred location or are restricted for
time please note in your email. Also if we do have spare marshals, some
Striders will be able to run, please put “WLTR” (would like to run) in your
email.
If you
haven’t already volunteered, and are available on 12th, then email [email protected]
What’s it
all about? The race details are at www.valleystriders.org.uk/trail.htm.
In summary,
·
The Meanwood Valley Trail is a footpath from Woodhouse Moor to
Golden Acre Park. Our race uses some parts of this footpath
·
The first race was 1996, so this the 19th year.
The route was designed by club secretary Geoff Webster.
·
The adult race starts at 10:30 from the field behind Leos club,
does a big loop of the woods round Leos, then takes footpaths down towards the
Ring Road, through the tunnel, a big lap of Meanwood Park and then the outward
route in reverse, a total of just over 7 miles.
·
We’re expecting about 300 runners this year.
·
In 2004 we introduced a junior race
·
The junior race starts at 10:00 from the field behind Leos club
and does a loop of the woods round Leos,
·
School year 3-6 do 1 lap (approx. 1 mile), school year 7-12 do 2
laps
·
We’re expecting just over 100 juniors
·
Since 2001 all of our profits have gone to Lineham Farm Children’s
Centre, a total of about £12,000 so far.
You’ll be
allocated a marshalling point number and your meeting point - what do we want
from you?
·
Before the day, take a look at the maps at www.valleystriders.org.uk/trail.htm to get
an idea where you’ll be
·
Bring your mobile and a pair of scissors or knife to remove signs
after the race.
·
Wear warm clothes and appropriate shoes (the route is quite muddy
in places).
·
Course set-up starts at 08:00 – volunteers required!
·
Marshals for the junior race are needed to meet at Leos at 09:30,
most will also marshal the senior race (finish by 12:15)
·
Marshals for the senior race are in 4 groups and meet as follows
o
Round Leos meet Leos 09:45 prompt (finish by 12:15)
o
Down to 7 Arches meet Leos 09:45 prompt (finish by 12:00)
o
7 Arches to Ring Road meet junction Parkside Lane / Ring Road
10:00 prompt (finish by 11:45)
o
Ring Road / Meanwood Park meet junction Parkside Lane / Ring Road
10:00 prompt (finish by 11:30)
·
You’ll be given a yellow bib, the phone number of your team
leader, and the phone number of the chief marshal. NB for a real
emergency, just ring 999!
·
You’ll be taken to your position and told where the runners are
coming from and which way to send them. NB Some parts of the route are
out-and-back so you’ll see the runners twice
·
There will be a sweep runner from V S after the slowest runner,
after they have gone through you can take down any tape or signs, give your bib
back to your team leader and go home (or go for a run).
·
Please note that assembly times are British Summer Time not Valley
Striders Time.
Valley
Striders juniors are encouraged to run. If parents are available to
marshal they will be given positions on the junior route.
There
will be a full set of marshalling positions and instructions emailed early next
week, please check your emails regularly!
Tuesday 15 April
I’m
hoping this will be a curry night after training, please check on the website
after the weekend.
Sunday 31 August
I’ve
noticed that entries are now open for the Wetherby 10k. This is on the
same date as the Leeds Country Way Relay, and having won all the 3 major
trophies last year, this year’s V.S. objective is to have a record 6 teams i.e.
72 runners. So please hold off entering Wetherby and we’ll give you more
details about LCW soon!
Membership
Please
note that the U K Athletics year started on 1 April. Valley Striders members
who have not paid their subscriptions since 1 September 2013 are not being
registered with England Athletics, so anyone in this category is not
entitled to claim the £2 off race fees in future unless they pay their
membership to us.
To check
your status, please go to www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsmemreg.htm .
If you need to pay, it will say “Due” and your England Athletics number will be
blank. Please email [email protected] for
details of the fees and how to pay. (if you have paid in the last 10
days, ignore this).
The Marathon des Sables
Richard
emailed this afternoon Hi Bob, It
is 30 minutes until I leave, I have re-packed my bag numerous times thinking I
have forgotten something, so anything missing now will have to be begged or
borrowed. I have attached my kit list www.valleystriders.org.uk/Richard_MDS_kit.xls if anyone is
interested in the details, and if I can get into the queue for the computer I
will send Ellen email updates to forward on to you.
Richard’s
final week of training included the Woodhouse Moor parkrun – not easy as he was
wearing his 10Kg backpack and pushing a double buggy!
The race starts this
Sunday and the website is http://www.marathondessables.com/en/2013-edition/mds-timing/mds-timing-n-10.html (Richard is
number 479)
I think those of us
doing Harewood 10k or Baildon Boundary Way half marathon or Manchester Marathon
may be having an easier time than Richard on Sunday.
Country Trail Races – from Jason
Praill
Thanks
for plugging my Hot Cross Run in the last email, I have been busy and organised
4 more races for this summer. It's really just dates for the diary at the
moment, but could you let my fellow Striders know please? I'm hoping to capture
the imagination of any runners who enjoy a trail run but also like a little
friendly competition.
Yorkshire Evening Trail Series.
A new trail running series will appear in
the countryside around Leeds this summer. Country Trail Races are promoting 4
separate events with the usual self guiding format and pub voucher. The races
will all be approx 6 miles long and held on Wednesday evenings. You can start
when you are ready after 6.30pm, just be back before dark! If you run any of
these races, then points will be awarded based on your finishing time and your
best three scores will count towards your series total. Someone will be crowned
Yorkshire Evening Trail Champion!
28th May - The Gascoigne Arms,
Barwick-In-Elmet
18th June - The Fox & Hounds, Bramhope
16th July - The Fox Inn, Thorner
13th Aug - The Windmill Inn, Linton
Make a note of the dates, there's also an opportunity to get some practice in with
The Hot Cross Run on Good Friday from The
Star & Garter Inn, Kirkby Overblow.
Further details on www.countrytrailraces.co.uk
2014 Heptonstall Fell Race Report –
from Mick Loftus
The Heptonstall Fell
Race (15m, 3170 ft) has something for everyone (as long as your tastes only
extend to different versions of off-road running). It covers high
moorland, with steep climbs and descents into sheltered wooded valleys.
It also starts with a blessing from the local vicar. This year
including some sensible advice about a well thought out
hydration strategy, 'the water that I will give him, shall become in him a
fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.' (John 4:14).
The 2014 run was
muddy in many places but the changes in gradient and surroundings kept things
interesting, as did the complete disarray and chaos that occurred within the
first mile. Apparently some marker flags had been mischievously moved
resulting in the front runners going wrong. At this point some 200 plus runners
were in full charge through a steeply wooded valley. The leaders turned
rightwards in a climbing zig-zag but then someone realised the error, everyone
turned and started climbing through the steep woody undergrowth to a style
invisible at the top of the slope. Instead of the usual profile of such a
race, with a long snake of runners moving along a track, there were 200 runners
all taking roughly individual but parallel routes straight up and over
everything.
At the end of this
pandemonium I found myself in about 20th place, which is great in theory but in
practice just meant that I was passed every few minutes for the next half hour
by faster disgruntled runners. Once things has settled down we were up
onto the boggy moors, aiming for a distant trig point. This section was
dishearteningly muddy but before too long we plunged down off the moor in a
steep descent. The subsequent climbs and high sections were more runnable
and the weather had stayed fine with hazy views across the open landscape.
We crossed familiar
paths from other events in the area and then passed through Walshaw. Here
there was an unusual large sign saying, 'Please do not vault this gate!'.
At this point we had run a tough 10 miles, and although I can't speak for everyone,
I suspect that very few runners had considered the 'vault' option until it was
prohibited.
From here there was
an excitingly steep drop down on a slippy path into the Hardcastle Crags
woodland. After bombing through the woods we climbed steeply out and
looped back toward Walshaw. Then we had a slow climb back over towards
Nook and Crimsworth Dean followed by a fun fast gradual descent through fields
and woods towards the finish.
Heptonstall is
rightly famous for many things; a ruined church, picturesque houses
and Sylvia Plath's grave but all these arguably stem from its key
feature; it is so inaccessibly high above the valley below, that the 20th
(never mind the 21st) century has barely touched it. We now grappled with
this key feature by way of an achingly steep climb through woods and up steps,
eventually topping out in fields to make the last few 100 metres still upwards
to the finish.
The vicar was still
about offering salvation in the form of flapjacks.
1
Adam Osborne Leeds
C m 01:54:10
22 John
Marsham Valley S
m 02:20:01
28 Jo
Buckley Calder V
l 02:21:32
46 Mick Loftus Valley S
V40 02:25:57
56 Simon Vallance Valley S V40 02:28:12
58 Clive Bandy Valley S
m 02:29:11
64 Ross Bibby Valley
S m 02:31:33
70 Andreas Mayer Valley S
m 02:33:09
108 Mark
Woodhead Valley S
V50 02:46:55
118 Ian
Sanderson Valley S V40 02:49:20
126 Justin
Vogler Valley S
V40 02:50:33
174 Alun
Davies Valley S
V50 03:25:04
206 ran
