V S Update - 23 December

- Training on Tuesday 27 December
- Junior 1 mile race and Club Handicap 5 mile race and food on Monday 2 January
- Entries for Northerns and Nationals
- Results from West Yorkshire XC (Men 2nd overall), Peco XC, The Stoop and MK.

Training on Tuesday 27 December

- Juniors 10am from Roundhay Park near Lakeside Cafe.  All welcome including juniors on waiting list.
- Beginners/Improvers 10am from Roundhay Park near Lakeside Cafe.  All welcome including prospective members.
- Intermediates and advanced - may also be from Roundhay.  See the post by Steph Gledhill on Facebook for the intermediates and advanced training. You can vote on the post what you'd like to do, a session in the morning or the normal hills session in the evening. If you are not on Facebook and want more info please email [email protected] .  Will be updated on home page of website when known.

Junior 1 mile race and Club Handicap 5 mile race on Monday 2 January

Meeting point is the lodge at the bottom of Goodrick Lane LS17 7RW.  Note that Goodrick Lane is a private road, please park on Alwoodley Lane or one of the side roads nearby.

Junior 1 mile meet 10am, there will be two races, school years 1 to 5 and school years 6 to 11.  Parents may run with their children in the first race.  In the second race, depending on numbers of children, we may allow parents to race "against" their children!

Club handicap 5 miles meet 10:30am to find your start time.  If you've no race performances recorded in the results database, you will be asked for your fastest recent 5k or 10k time and the "marksman" will give you a start time.  Slowest runners will start first, fastest runners last.  The Handicap Cup will be awarded to the first runner across the line who has a performance in the database.

We need a few marshals for the 5 mile race, if you can help please email Sue Sunderland [email protected]

Afterwards, food at Far Moss, see the mail from Steph sent earlier today.  Note that orders for food must be emailed to Steph by Christmas Day 10pm.

Cross Country Entries (NB impending deadlines)

- Race 3 of the Peco XC series is at West Park on Sunday 22 January.  See www.pecoxc.co.uk/pages/race3.html   If you didn't register prior to race 1 or 2, cut off for race 3 is 10pm Sunday 8 January.
- The Yorkshire XC Championships are at Lightwater Valley on Saturday 7 January - entries have closed, we have 25 Striders running
- The Northern XC Championships are at Knowsley Park on Saturday 28 January http://www.northernathletics.org.uk/events/northern-athletics-cross-country-championships/ ,
- The English National XC Championships are at Wollaton Park near Nottingham  on Saturday 25 February http://www.englishcrosscountry.co.uk/
- Further details in the blue box on the front page of the website www.valleystriders.org.uk. 
- All "requests" via the [email protected] email address by Tuesday 11 January for Northerns and Nationals.  Entry fees will be paid by V S, but note that if you DON'T run you WILL need to reimburse us (£7 per race)
- Lists of teams at www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsteams.htm

RESULTS

West Yorkshire Cross Country - Race 4 at Keighley

Pos

Time

Name

Girls Under 11

18

0:06:54

TAYLOR, Hannah

64 finished

Boys Under 11

9

0:06:12

JONES, Alfie

11

0:06:13

JONES, Leon

46

0:07:02

WALKER, Toby

64 finished, team 4th on day

Girls Under 13

32

0:13:50

IDLE, Imogen

38

0:14:09

ROBOTTOM, Sofia

63 finished

Boys Under 13

32

0:13:11

WALKER, Jamie

45 finished

Girls Under 15

9

0:15:48

TURNER, Sophie

24

0:17:08

LUBICEKI, Sophia

42 finished

Senior Ladies

24

0:22:54

JONES, Myra

42

0:24:44

CAZAN, Louise

46

0:25:00

WOOD, Liz

79

0:30:31

FOTHERBY, Pascale

87 finished, team 8th on day

Senior Men

16

0:27:40

BURNS, Alisdair

26

0:28:07

HOBBS, John

32

0:28:33

HALLAM, Matthew

37

0:28:53

FISHER, Dan

42

0:29:13

FOTHERBY, Paul

50

0:29:29

HIBBERD, Daryl

68

0:30:56

WATSON, Jerry

70

0:31:15

THOMAS, Gwil

83

0:31:56

ROBINS, Dan

86

0:32:08

TARRAN, James

163 finished, team 3rd on day

Tally was a DNF, she had been involved in a car accident just a few days previously, decided to run to ensure we had a full U13G team but was unable to continue after the first lap

West Yorkshire Cross Country - Series results

- Under 11 Boys - Alfie Jones 9th, Leon Jones 12th, Toby Walker 49th (63 boys ran 3 or more races)
- Under 13 Girls - Imogen Idle 33rd, Sofia Robottom 35th (60 girls ran 3 or more races)
- Under 13 Boys - Jamie Walker 33rd (47 boys ran 3 or more races)
- Under 15 Girls - Sophie Turner 8th (39 girls ran 3 or more races)
- Senior Ladies - Team 5th overall, Myra Jones 6th FSen, Louise Cazan 8th F35, Pascale Fotherby 13th F35, Liz Wood 8th F40
- Senior Men - Team 2nd overall, just one point behind Wakefield. Matt Hallam 7th MSen, Daz Hibberd 10th MSen, Ali Burns 1st M35, Dan Fisher 3rd M35, Paul Fotherby 3rd M40, Gwil Thomas 7th M40, James Tarran 3rd M45, Jerry Watson 1st M55.

Peco XC Race 2 at Middleton Park

Junior School years 4 to 6

Pos

 

 

 

Sch Yr

Cat

Time

Cat Pos

5

Jamie

Walker

M

6

B4-6

06:17

5

8

Alfie

Jones

M

6

B4-6

06:27

7

9

Josephine

Pawley

F

6

G4-6

06:29

2

11

Leon

Jones

M

5

B4-6

06:34

9

23

Michael

Fotherby

M

2

B4-6

07:08

15

25

Gus

Cawcutt

M

4

B4-6

07:11

17

29

Toby

Walker

M

4

B4-6

07:15

21

41

Daniel

Fotherby

M

4

B4-6

08:00

29

43

Alec

Twigg

M

6

B4-6

08:09

30

45

Emily

Hilton

F

6

G4-6

08:15

15

58 finished

Junior School years 7 to 12

15

Alvie

O'Brien

M

7

B7-9

13:12

11

17

Sophie

Turner

F

10

G10-12

13:16

3

21

Tally

Diamond

F

7

G7-9

13:41

2

28

Imogen

Idle

F

7

G7-9

14:25

6

31

Jack

Woodeson

M

7

B7-9

14:39

18

44

Laurie

O'Brien

M

9

B7-9

16:15

26

51 finished

Senior Men

Pos

Surname

First Name

Category

Time

Pos in Cat

2

Burns

Alisdair

MSEN

27:21

2

6

Hobbs

John

MSEN

27:54

6

14

Hallam

Matthew

MSEN

28:24

11

17

Fisher

Dan

MSEN

28:50

14

18

Venning

Tom

M40

28:51

4

21

Pownall

Jon

MSEN

29:20

17

34

Fotherby

Paul

M40

30:09

10

36

Thomas

Gwil

M40

30:32

11

44

Mann

Gary

MSEN

31:04

29

58

Hall

Benjamin

MSEN

31:35

37

67

Robins

Dan

MSEN

31:49

44

69

Bell

Andrew

M40

31:50

14

75

Tarran

James

M50

32:06

5

88

Kaiser

Paul

MSEN

32:29

55

91

Mills

Tony

M45

32:34

8

95

Jones

Graham

M50

32:48

6

107

Linley

Andrew

M45

33:19

11

116

Smith

Paul

M45

33:38

13

129

Batchelor

John

M45

34:02

16

138

Hall

Michael

MSEN

34:17

77

155

Irvine

Richard

M40

34:54

30

160

King

Howard

M40

35:01

31

173

Towler

Jake

MSEN

35:36

94

175

Pawley

Graham

M45

35:49

21

190

Pagdin

Andy

M55

36:25

13

206

Dixon

Steve

M60

36:54

2

221

Hussey

John

M65

37:32

3

238

Fox

Ken

M55

38:30

18

253

Powell

Mike

MSEN

39:16

116

292

Sawyer

Chris

M55

40:44

28

305

Wallace

John

M50

41:11

44

318

Coles

Malcolm

M75

41:44

1

321

O'Brien

Eamon

M45

41:54

44

328

Irvine

Alex

MSEN

42:12

135

346

Sutcliffe

Martin

MSEN

44:02

141

349

Harris

Stuart

MSEN

44:10

143

388

Clough

Rich

M45

54:46

52

393 men finished

Senior Ladies

20

Graham

Sarah

FSEN

35:39

12

28

Robins

Fiona

F40

36:27

2

36

Capper

Claire

FSEN

37:02

20

38

Button

Holly

FSEN

37:11

21

50

Wood

Liz

F40

37:52

8

58

Barker

Carmel

F55

38:26

1

68

Hudson

Chloe

F35

39:04

16

143

Hartley

Nicola

FSEN

43:42

55

156

Pagdin

Sarah

F50

44:43

25

162

Ball

Liz

F60

44:53

5

182

Fotherby

Pascale

F35

45:50

41

236

Fontana

Jane

F45

50:21

30

263

Jones

Anne

F50

53:26

43

286

Hussey

Jean

F60

57:38

10

299 ladies finished

Team positions - Men 1st, Ladies 6th , Mens vets 1st , Ladies vets 2nd  

Race Report from "the Stoop" by John Marsham

All downhill from here - my first race as a V40: The Stoop, 18 Dec 2016 (8km, 250m)

I approached the Stoop this year with some trepidation - it is not a long or hard race (category 'B' short) but my achilles had stopped me running in November 2015 (as my 40th birthday approached - a coincidence?) and I'd had 6 months off. Even since then haven't been doing much as tendons in my left foot still aren't quite right, and I've yet to develop a training schedule that fits well around a 1-year-old baby. Would my runs to work and 40-min run be enough? Just how unfit can you get in a year? A Woodentops race seemed a good venue for my first and last race of the year though - you can't fail to have fun at these races, where the only compulsory kit is a Santa hat (included in the £4 entry) and everyone piles into the pub for bread, soup, beer and chocolate afterwards.

In the end I was pleasantly surprised, my legs ached the next day, and I would have suffered if the race had been any longer, but I was expecting to be slower. It's not like I even have to pretend to try and keep up with Ross now I'm an old man anyway. The course was its usual boggy self, with plenty of supporters to encourage you in towards the end. Valley Striders put in a good team performance, both in the run and in attending the chocolate prize throwing ceremony in the pub afterwards, where Ross once again walked away with beer & chocolates (they didn't throw the beer), Simon collected some biscuits on behalf of Mick Loftus (I am not sure there are any left Mick) and Clive put the disappointment of nobodies interest in his Palma marathon performance behind him by winning a place in the Auld Lang Syne fell race in the raffle (which he can't do anyway). Still not sure if it's sporting for the team captain to snatch a long-range Malteser from under my feet as I left the pub though?

1. Tom Adams, Ilkley, 30.14
24. Ross Bibby, Valley Striders, 37.24
28. Nichola Jackson, Preston, 37.48 (first female)
36. Mick Loftus, Valley Striders, 38.59
58. John Marsham, Valley Striders, 40.59
69. Simon Vallance, Valley Striders, 41.24
73. Ronan Loftus, Valley Striders, 41.43
82. Clive Bandy, Valley Striders, 42.07
225. Aileen Loftus, Valley Striders, 53.46
(306 finishers)

Milton Keynes Half Marathon - from Chris Sawyer

I ran the Milton Keynes Half Marathon as my twelfth and final half marathon of 2016 on Sunday 11 December.

I finished in 410th place with a chip time of 1:45:09.  The race was memorable for a 20 metre section where following heavy rain the previous day a stream had burst its banks resulting in all runners having to run through flood water about 18 inches deep as we ran through an underpass. The race was almost entirely off road along the Grand Union Canal towpath and the cycle ways/footpaths that run throughout Milton Keynes. Looking at the results the winners (Johnny Hay) time of 1:06:03 was very impressive and he won by more than 5 minutes.