V S Update - 15 January 2016

Training and food on 19 January; VSGP and VSFC calendar; Peco race 4; Results from Yorks XC and Templenewsam; Report from The Stoop

Training on Tuesday 19 January

Juniors - The session on the rugby pitches is again cancelled. However, since the beginning of December we've been running sessions on the local footpaths for our "competitive" juniors. For the last 2 weeks we’ve had 2 groups and on 19 January we're going to have 3 groups, so we're able to widen the entry qualifications - we welcome any V S junior who, in 2015, ran a West Yorks XC race or Peco XC race or Meanwood Trail or Harewood Trail, or who has run 15 or more parkruns. Note that a condition is that a parent or responsible adult runs at the session or is available to help with session.

Beginners/improvers - We have temporarily merged this group with the junior group and the feedback from all (including those who weren't parents of juniors) was very positive. However if any improvers prefer not to run with the juniors, they could run with the intermediates group at 7pm.

Intermediates - 7pm from Leos. We had 8 in this group last week.

Experienced runners - 7pm from Leos

Food on Tuesday 19 January

Early sessions followed by lasagne at 7:15pm - book at [email protected]

Later sessions followed by lasagne at 8:30pm - book at [email protected]

Book before 10pm Sunday 17 January, choosing meat or veggie lasagne (pay £3.50 on the night)

V S Grand Prix and V S Fell Championships

Alan Hutchinson & Bob Jackson (for the GP) and Ross Bibby & Simon Vallance (for the FC) have been at work and there is a new calendar page on the website with a list of events for 2016. See www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsdates.htm

Peco Race 4 (info from Mark Hetherington)

The ‘final’ results and tables for Race 3 are all now available on the League web site.

Race 4 will be at Golden Acre Park on Sunday 24^th January. Details and course maps are available on the web site, but please note the following:

1) Parking is REALLY limited at this venue, so please, please emphasise the importance of car sharing to your members. In particular, dangerous or illegal parking on Arthington Road is likely to have negative consequences for the individuals concerned (the police will probably have a nose around and will gleefully ticket the worst offenders) and for future events at Golden Acre, including the Golden Acre Relay in July (as the Council may withhold permission if there have been major traffic issues at the XC).

2) The course has been modified in order to meet the approval of the head gardener (who is, quite reasonably, concerned about the damage that might be done to already waterlogged ground). The ‘new’ course is a 2 lapper (so not suitable for a staggered start) and will not accommodate 700+ runners at the same time. Therefore, there will be separate races for the Senior Ladies and Senior Men (starting at 10.40am and 11.30am respectively). Please ensure that your ladies, in particular, are aware of the earlier than normal start time!

The deadline for registering runners is, as usual, 7 days before race date

Bob says please email [email protected] before 6pm Sunday 17^th if you wich to run race 4 4 and haven't previously registered. Cost is £3 in advance to register and then £3 per race on the day

RESULTS

Yorkshire Cross Country Championships

Girls U13
12 Tally Diamond 10:25
24 Keira Jones 10:46
note that both Tally and Keira will be in this age category for 2017 and 2018

Boys U13
6 Joe Sherman (Skyrac)

Men U17
14 Alex Pagdin (Skyrac)

Women
29 Myra Jones 37:56
38 Hannah Corne 38:27
57 Liz Wood 41:07
61 Sue Sunderland 41:46
68 Rachel Mackie 42:37
90 Pascale Fotherby 46:34
138 finished
Team 8^th

Men
49 Matt Hallam 41:49
59 Paul Fotherby 42:24
67 John Hobbs 42:42
71 Daryl Hibberd 43:05
93 Andy May 44:35
96 Jerry Watson 44:51
133 James Tarran 46:59
162 Gary Mann 48:16
182 Kevin McMullan 49:57
235 Andy Pagdin 55:53
269 finished
Team 7^th
But finished behind two B teams
So official result will show 5^th

Templenewsam 10

25 Striders were amongst the 650 runners in the first ever Templenewsam 10. There was a nice bright blue T-shirt in the goody bag, but a sachet of soap powder would have also been welcome.

14 David Penman MSEN 9 1:07:59 1:07:56
18 Mark Metcalfe M40 7 1:09:10 1:09:07
26 Mick Loftus M40 10 1:10:18 1:10:16
31 Dan Murray MSEN 17 1:11:22 1:11:16
50 Tom Button M40 17 1:13:41 1:13:34
67 Mike Furby M40 23 1:15:35 1:15:31
68 Sean Fitzgerald MSEN 39 1:15:40 1:15:36
86 Paul Smith M40 28 1:18:04 1:18:00
97 Joe Hanney M40 34 1:18:57 1:18:46
120 Graham Pawley M40 42 1:21:03 1:20:52
134 Sarah Wood FSEN 6 1:22:14 1:22:05
149 Sue Sunderland F55 1 1:23:18 1:22:58
162 Holly Button FSEN 8 1:23:55 1:23:47
172 Alistair Smyth M50 15 1:24:26 1:24:19
205 John Hussey M60 4 1:26:42 1:25:59
211 Greg Skerrett MSEN 93 1:27:05 1:26:57
224 Chloe Hudson F35 16 1:27:51 1:27:32
227 Michael Robins M50 22 1:27:58 1:27:24
243 Jeremy Richardson M50 25 1:28:35 1:27:49
246 Patrick Barrett M50 27 1:28:51 1:28:44
261 Michael Tinker M60 6 1:29:39 1:29:09
326 Bob Jackson M60 9 1:33:59 1:33:16
362 Louise Jennings F35 32 1:36:26 1:36:05
449 Alex Watson-Usher FSEN 39 1:41:36 1:41:24
489 Sarah Howell F35 58 1:45:11 1:44:59
651 finished

The Stoop (from Sean Fitzgerald)

So I've been toying with the idea of fell running for ages now and I finally took the plunge (quite literally) on a chilly December Sunday on the 'Stoop' which starts on the top of Penistone Hill in Haworth and is a 5 mile loop around the moors. A great race for a beginner like me and I travelled down with Ross Bibby and Sarah Smith who are the mountain goats of this club. I was in good hands, or hooves I guess.

£4 to enter and you get a santa hat and curly-wurly and a coffee to go with your number. Excellent value for money.

The race started in the Quarry and it made for one of the more interesting starts to any of the races I can remember. After scrabbling out of the quarry we head across the moor over rough shrub land towards our first ascent. But this ascent kept on going and going and going. Every time you thought you were near the top a new rise appeared over the horizon in-front of you. At this point I was thinking to myself 'I really don't like fell running and I won't be doing this again'. Get me off this nightmare. 

Then came the payoff; I finally reached the top and began my decent down the 'stoop' 

The stoop can only be described as a pathless mass of peat and shrubbery that you have to navigate your way down by simply following the person in front and planting your feet where theirs go.  Its very technical running but it was bloody fun. the earlier thoughts of ending my burgeoning fell running career had disappeared and were now replaced with childlike 'wheeeeeeeeeeeees' all the way down.

As my confidence grew I went rogue and decided to follow my own path down the stoop as so to claw back more time from my feeble ascent (I had to walk a little near the top I must admit). Soon enough I found out this wasn't a good idea as my entire left leading leg disappeared into the bog, throwing me forward face first towards the peat but not before I was able to rescue myself with a judo roll to get back on my feet. I rated my judo roll as somewhere between Steve Gerrard to Bruce Lee, yet I'm sure to the runners behind me I must have just looked like a drunken Irishman with two left clown shoes (which is exactly how I would describe my running style funnily enough).

I made it off the stoop and then onto one final ascent to the finish in 48.35. Ross came in 39.27 and Sarah in 56.48. 

All in all it was a super fun day out and I can't highly recommend it enough for anyone who has maybe been, well just a bit scared to do a fell race like I was (southern jessie I know). I've never had such a blast in a race and I'm planning my next fell race already.