Sent: 17 November 2008 23:44
Subject: V S Update - Xmas do, XC results, OMM report
Valley Striders
Christmas Bash 2008
After 12
months of training and racing you owe yourselves one night off - so why not
come along to The social event of the year, the Valley Striders
Christmas Bash 2008. For those of you who have not already logged this
event into your diaries, here are the details:
Event: Valley Striders Christmas Bash
Venue: Old Leos Club
Date: Friday, 19 December 2008
Time: 7.30pm
Cost: £9.50 per person
If
previous years are to go by - this will be “one hell of a party” - there will
be food, alcohol, a fantastic raffle, awards & presentations plus a few
short speeches.
For your
additional entertainment and pleasure I have taken the trouble to invite a few
well-known celebrities to our humble Bash. For the gentleman I have invited
Kylie Minogue, Cheryl Cole, Jordan & Angelina Jolie; and for the ladies
there will be Justin Timberlake, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt and
Jonathan Brownbill.
How can
you ignore such a fantastic evening - to confirm your booking please email me
at [email protected] and send
your monies (cheques made payable to Valley Striders) to the
following address: Paul Furness, 15 Talbot Fold, Roundhay, Leeds LS8 1LU.
Alternatively,
I will be at the club for Tuesday’s AGM (18 November) so you can give me your
cash/cheques on that evening. Places are limited to the first 500 applicants so
don’t miss out - book your place NOW!!!
Full results at www.completerunner.co.uk
Women
16 Laura
Clark
0:23:50
95
18 Jane
Halloran
0:23:57
94
38 Hayley Nancolas
0:25:08
91
63 Chloe
65 Sue
70
89 Madeleine Watson
0:31:02
83
91
Men
26 Panos Aristotelous
0:36:41
100
47 Steve
Webb
0:38:08
99
74 Jim
Clay
0:39:59
98
81 Kevin
Mcmullan 0:40:25
97
95 Drew
Taylor
0:40:57
96
100 Jerry Watson
0:41:08
94
122 Dan
Murray
0:42:38
93
126 Paul
Hunter
0:42:53
92
144 Joel
Giddings
0:44:11
90
155 Nick
Barnes
0:45:05
89
159 Bob Jackson
0:45:39
88
160 Mark
Hunter
0:45:43
87
189 Geoff
Webster
0:53:30
83
190 Bob
Wilkes
0:53:59
82
Grand Prix points calculated on average pace.
Very dry conditions meant that 7 of us kept our spikes /
trail shoes dry enough to turn out the next day at …
Peco Cross Country Race 1 at Ilkley
Full
results will appear at www.abbeyrunners.co.uk
Provisional
results – men 4th , women 3rd
Men
12 Gwilym Thomas
22 Rob Bumstead
29 Dan Fisher
40 Steve Morley
47 Ian Sanderson
52 Ian Rosser
54 Paul Hunter
69 Joel Giddings
77 Gary Mann
82 Bob Jackson
84 Alan Hutchinson
92 Tony Haygarth
107 Malcolm Coles
115 Richard Adcock
124 Paul Sanderson
149 Geoff Webster
Teams
1
Abbey
2
Ilkley
3
Horsforth
4 VALLEY STRIDERS
5 Kirkstall
6 Woodkirk
7
Rothwell
Women
3 Laura Clark
4 Catherine Farrow
20 Sue
23
58
Teams
1
Ilkley
2
Horsforth
3
VALLEY STRIDERS
4
Kirstall
5
Dragons
6
?
7
?
8
Abbey
Very wet and muddy conditions meant that these runners will
have to work hard to get their spikes / trail shoes clean in time for the next
XC 14 December at
Grand prix tables now updated on website but there is a bug
in the “penalty points” calculation that I’ll fix as soon as I can
OMM 08 - Wind, Rain and Headlines - from Mick Loftus
Mick Wrench and I arrived in good time for another go at the
OMM Elite course. As we got out of the car in Borrowdale in the dark, we
were hit by a freezing squall. After registration we retreated to the car
and reassessed our kit. We were aware of the exceptionally bad weather
forecast, torrential rain and wind gusting to 100+mph, but the cold reality of
the event morning made us repack again. Out went our thin fleeces and
wind proofs, in and on went
At the start it had actually stopped raining and we ran in
reasonable conditions to the first control. The courses had been
radically reduced in size but still involved the usual proportion of ascent and
navigation in poor visibility. After the first control the weather
started to deteriorate again. We were now quite high up near Eskdale
Pike. We had made the unspoken decision just to get round safely, this meant
staying calm to make tricky navigation decisions whilst being buffeted by
roaring winds. We made good steady progress through the early
controls. At one point we turned from relative shelter to face the full
force of the storm. We hurriedly put on full water proofs, hats and
gloves and did everything up tight. Now after 2 -3 hours in the battle
really began. The rain had now reached the promised 'torrential'
stage. All the paths became streams. The streams and rivers were
getting higher.
Our route now took us half the way up Great Gable (you may
have seen footage of this). Many runners from various routes were now
concentrated on the long slog up hill into the wind and rain. We noticed
that the wind was making small rivulets of water run up hill!
This was the last significant climb of the shortened
route. The wind strength on the way to the next control was quite
extraordinary. We were running down hill now but gusts would stop us in
mid stride and just hold us still, or else we had to crouch side-ways to the
wind to keep on our feet. However, we weren't too exhausted and actually it was
rather fun, we knew we would get to the finish in good time.
After the last control the course dropped down into a river
valley down towards Buttermere. This should have been a 15 minute blast
to the finish, instead it quickly turned into a genuinely risky ordeal.
The problem was the rivers and streams. They were now
swollen into raging torrents of white water. The finish was on the
right-hand bank of the river at the valley bottom. We were high up on the
left bank.
The options were to cross the river where we were, to go
back uphill and contour around the valley crossing tributaries until reaching
the right bank or descend on the left bank to a bridge at the valley bottom.
We watched some other runners try option one, they failed and were almost swept
away. We had already crossed numerous big streams braced together for
support but this looked way beyond us. I don't think option two really
occurred to us so we set off down the left bank. It was a steep and wet
descent. We crossed several large tributaries to the main river, each one
was a serious challenge. Then we met our match, a slightly more
significant stream was now 3 - 4 metres of powerful white water.
We were with a couple of other teams at this point.
One of the others found a point where there was a large rock on our side of the
river and jumped. We could not see where he landed from where we
stood. We rushed down to see him grinning from the other side. One
after another we jumped. We all landed just in the far edge of the water.
We all did it without hesitation, sometimes it is better not
to think too much about things!
Still barely believing what we had just done we continued
down towards the bridge. As we got closer we saw that all that remained
visible of the bridge were two handrails sticking out of the swirling water and
even more daunting was the fact that there were 4 or 5 metres of swollen river
either side of where the bridge presumably stood. There was no way to get
to the handrails even if you could hold on to them.
We noticed other runners further downstream where the river
filled the entire valley bottom. They were grouping together with linked
arms and were going across slowly. We joined up with another team and did
the same. The river at this point was approximately 100m across. We
saw some of the other teams make it across although in a certain amount of
disarray. A mountain rescue landrover pulled up on the far bank but we
thought that the coast guard might have been more use. We waded across
carefully. We couldn't see where the original stream bed and hence the deepest
section was. We did find it, Mick, who was at the end of our line fell into a
deep hole. We clung on and he dragged himself onto the submerged bank and
we pressed on to the far side.
Much relieved we ran into the finish a few hundred metres
away. Then we were told that the event was cancelled. We were a bit
stunned, relieved and disappointed. We were told to shelter in a barn for
a while and then make our way back over
In the barn there were hundreds of steaming runners.
Some were in a bad state on arrival. We met a women who had been swept
away she thought for 200m. She said that she had thought that she was going to
die. She was shivering violently from cold and shock. Her partner
looked after her and I saw her in good spirits later. After some food and
a rest we set off up the road to
The climb to the pass although on a road with hundreds of
other people was probably the hardest part of the day. The wind was
extreme. I saw two people blown over. The river next to the road
was a scary hazard and at points it was over the road. Rocks the size of
tennis balls were being washed down the road. The rain stung your face
like needles. After a desperate staggering climb we reached the pass and
the slate mine shop and cafe. There we were told that we could not go
down into Borrowdale, it was flooded and cut off.
After a short deliberation we set off back down to the
finish. This was much easier but there was confusion everywhere.
There were loads of people still going up, we told some that we had been sent
back but they refused to believe it. Back down at the barn we found
ourselves a good spot and made camp.
It gradually became clear that we would have to spend the
night in the barn. Now this barn was not some cosy wooden affair with
lots of dry straw. It was a modern steel and concrete shelter, only
partially closed off at each end. The floor was mud covered
concrete. There were eventually around 700 runners staying the
night. We were packed so closely together it was hard to get out to go to
the toilet in the still raging tempest outside. As I heard someone nearby say,
"This is not the highlight of my life so far".
The night was uncomfortable but reasonably dry and
safe. In the morning we climbed Honnister again and jogged back to the
start. There was hot food and drink, and lots of muddy grinning runners.
We saw Anthony Fryer and exchanged stories. His was very similar to ours
except they had chosen the second option when faced with the raging
river. They had spent the night in the barn a few metres from us but we
had not seen each other.
Luckily Mick's car was not under water and we were able to
make a good getaway. However, whilst clearing the boot Mick had to sponge
out the 2 litres of water that had appeared overnight!
Post Script: The media coverage was inexplicable, screaming
headlines of 1000 runners missing etc. Much of it was inaccurate and
caused a lot of needless anxiety to family and friends. There was much
foolish comment. I was very glad to see that the organisers held firm and
simply said you've all got it wrong. Talk of the huge cost of the rescue
was nonsense. Many Mountain Rescue Personnel were actually
competitors. We were largely oblivious to the coverage until we reached
home. At least it made us minor celebrities at work.