Sent: 17 November 2009 00:01
Subject: V S Update - key events (some races nearly full), race results,
OMM report
Key Events
NB note some races full, nearly full or closing fast – check details
below
Sat 21 Nov - West Yorks XC at Wakefield – there will be a lot of Striders
running the Abbey Dash the next day so if you’re entered for WYXC and available
please do your best to turn up on Saturday. NB this is a Grand Prix race,
so there’s an added incentive to run!
Sun 22 Nov – good luck to all the Abbey Dashers – NB
expect some good sprint finishes up the Headrow, especially between Striders,
as it is a Grand Prix Race!
Sun 29 Nov – Thirsk 10 – if you’ve still not entered,
time to get in a sneaky email to the race organiser (as mentioned in my V S
Mini Update number 1 at the weekend).
Tue 1 Dec – pie and peas at Leos, please book to [email protected] stating
whether you want meat pie or veg bake, mushy peas or baked beans, apple pie
with ice cream. Note the email address has changed from last time.
Sat 5 Dec – 2nd Peco XC at Hunger Hills (Horsforth),
look for details in a few days time at www.abbeyrunners.co.uk
Sun 6 Dec – Final WYXC at Nunroyd Park
Guiseley.
Sun 13 Dec – Calderdale Way Relay – reserves needed
urgently as we have already had one team member drop out – contact Anthony
Fryer [email protected]
Fri 18 Dec – Striders Xmas meal & presentation
night, £9.50 per person, further details to follow shortly, please book to [email protected]
Sun 20 Dec – The Stoop Fell Race from Haworth www.woodentops.org.uk
Fri 25 Dec – Xmas Day and a day off running unless you
are testing out the new shoes / thermal / hat / socks / heart rate monitor that
Santa brought.
Sat 26 Dec – Chevin Chase – this race is NEARLY FULL –
only 100 places left as at today - you will need to enter in the next day or
two or risk missing your favourite festive run (2010 Grand Prix).
Sun 27 Dec – VS Winter Handicap from Leos (2010 Grand
Prix).
Thu 31 Dec – Auld Lang Syne Fell Race from Haworth – RACE FULL.
Sun 3 Jan – Harrogate Ringway Relay – 5 legs * approx
4 miles, details to follow.
Sun 28 March – Baildon Boundary Way – race
three-quarters full – suggest you get your entry posted in the next week (2010
Grand Prix).
Grand Prix 2010 - a full list
of events can be found at http://valleystriders.org.uk/vsgp10cx.htm
VS AGM and Membership
Minutes of
the AGM are http://valleystriders.org.uk/VS%20AGM%20Minutes%2020%20Oct%2009.doc
A very big thank you to Sylvia for being the secretary’s secretary
and writing these minutes, also for recording all the minutes of the committee
meetings throughout the year.
Paul White has been cajoling you to pay your
membership fees and already over half of the 2008/09 members have renewed their
membership. The status as at 15/11/2009 is that 128 Striders have paid for the current
year, 99 are due to pay and 16 are a year overdue but haven't officially
resigned. To check your status, click on http://valleystriders.org.uk/vsmemreg.htm
Also many of you have recently sent emergency contact
details and I will be giving copies to our training leaders, hoping that they will
never need to be used. We have details for 82 of you (use the same link
as above to check whether we have these details).
Results
1st West Yorkshire Cross Country at Halifax – Sunday 11
October
Somehow I managed to omit reporting these results in a V.S. Update. These results show GP Points:
Women
27 Samantha Harris 0:19:37 89
42 Hayley Nancolas 0:20:16 87
68 Sue Sunderland 0:21:31 83
76 Carole Schofield 0:22:07 82
78 Sharon Tansley 0:22:11 81
Men
32 Panos Aristotelous 0:33:06 100
48 Gwil Thomas 0:34:04 99
54 Dan Fisher 0:34:33 98
70 Jim Clay 0:35:10 97
79 Alex Nancolas 0:35:49 96
87 Jeremy Ladyman 0:36:05 94
111 Rob Hamilton 0:37:11 93
121 Joel Giddings 0:37:47 92
123 Nick Barnes 0:37:58 91
135 Lewis Balfour 0:38:40 90
152 Tahir Akhtar 0:39:42 88
162 Mark Hunter 0:40:47 86
164 Malcolm Coles 0:41:07 84
193 Bob Wilkes 0:50:39 80
2nd WYXC at Bodington hall
Were published in http://valleystriders.org.uk/up091102.htm
1st PECO XC at Golden Acre
Under 11 Girls
8 Aileen Loftus
Men
3 Gwil Thomas
13 Steve Webb
38 Joel Giddings
41 Lewis Balfour
42 Roy Huggins
50 Rob Anderson
53 Drew Taylor
62 David Bass
86 Malcolm Coles 1st M65
89 Leroy Sutton
100 Tony Haygarth
101 Paul White
129 Bob Wilkes 2nd M65
134 Dinesh Kaulgud
160 finishers
Men’s team 5th with 302 pts behind Abbey (136), Ilkley
(256), Horsforth (264), Rothwell (291); men’s vets team also 5th
Women
14 Sam Harris
25 Sue Sunderland
30 Sharon Tansley
62 Sara Duer
92 Hazel Adams
113 finished
Ladies team 3rd in division 2 with 131 points behind
Ackworth (95), Chapel A (126); ladies vets team 8th
Thanks to Sara Goward, Max Jones, Joyce Lambert, Peter
Lambert and Gary Sutherland for marshalling.
Other Results
We’re keeping Paul Hunter busy with our races.
The Performance data is updated to 5 November at http://valleystriders.org.uk/vsperfs.htm
but with Abbey and Thirsk coming up, a few more Striders may be earling
Performance Certificates before the year is out. In fact you could start
now and earn a performance certificate before 2010 – try Abbey Dash 10k, Thirsk
10 mile, a couple of Parkrun 5ks and the Xmas Handicap 5 mile.
Talking about Parkrun, last Saturday Paul Holloway
went to the first South Manchester Parkrun and managed to beat the 25 minute
mark by a clear 39 seconds – well done! It is only 18 months ago that
Paul broke the 30 minute mark.
Race Report OMM 2009 from Mick Loftus
Another October and another OMM, this time in the Elan Valley
in mid Wales.
You are probably aware of the format of the OMM by now; two day event, teams of
two, self navigation, carry all your own kit, located in various upland spots
around the UK.
There are various classes. This year Mick Wrench and I, Simon Vallance
and his non-Strider partner Neil attempted the elite course and Simon Redshaw
went for the C class in his first go at the OMM (his partner was a Kippax
Harrier).
We approached this year's event with quiet confidence that
we would get round ok. We have had plenty of practice with the kit and
logistics so we felt that we knew what we were doing. However, we knew
that there are many things which can go wrong.
After a long drive, an early start and a bus ride, we
finally got to the start. The weather was damp and misty but not actually
raining at first. We set off steadily and completed the first few
controls without incident. Then we made a reasonable, but with hindsight,
a poor route choice. We ended up in un-penetrable tussock grass over deep
bog. Our progress was painfully slow and we lost at least 30 minutes to
comparable teams. The weather had also deteriorated, the wind increased
and the rain came down. Still we 'kept it together'
and pressed on. We realised that due to the
un-runnable terrain, large detours were actually the quickest routes if there
was some kind of path. This lead us to make decision later in the day to
descend to a track, run further, then climb up, rather than take a direct route
as many teams did. This gained us time back, although the fastest teams
took the direct route and still beat us.
We finished the first day in daylight for the first time
and were really pleased with our performance. We later discovered that
Simon had beaten us by a couple of minutes; amazingly close after 7+ hours of
running.
The over-night camp was showery and windy but everything
went to plan for us.
After putting on our wet, cold, muddy and smelly running
gear (possibly the hardest challenge of the OMM!) we set off on day 2.
This contained some very hard sections of tussock and
bog. At one point there were a number of teams in our class spread across
a wide valley all walking and struggling through metre high tussocks.
This went on for a couple of miles, which feels a very long way, with seemingly
no escape. Eventually it did come to an end but I suspect the biggest and
strongest competitors had gained on us.
The ground conditions meant that runners tended to follow
each other more than normal, not because they were lost but because any slight
path through the tussocks made by runners was preferable to making your own
way.
The latter part of day 2 was going fine but tiredness and
conditions were starting to take their toll. We made one navigation error
but it didn't cost us much time, if any. Then we made another, a lapse in
concentration, then a hasty over compensation compounded the error. This
resulted in losing 15+ minutes on an 'easy' control. However, we pressed
on, knowing that we were definitely going to finish and in a good state.
We dashed down to the finish to complete the OMM Elite
class, elated and relieved. We had been running for about 14 hours in
total.
The results revealed our 29th position. Simon and
Neil had a brilliant performance to finish in 21st place. There were 56
starters and 48 finishers.
In the past we had aimed just to complete an OMM Elite
event. Then we wanted to complete it comfortably and perhaps
competitively. Having achieved this, should we just leave it to avoid
disappointment or will we be back next October?
Message from George Black
Hi Bob, Just a quick note to let you know I am still around.
It has been a difficult last 18 months with injuries and family illness. I
started jogging 8 weeks ago as I will be 70 in a few weeks and
thought I would try to try a few races. I managed 108 miles during
these 8 weeks and entered a local 5k. road race. My time was 23.33 but
as I am 2 stone over my racing weight I was not too
disappointed. Hope your own training is going well and that you have a
successful X/C season. Regards Geo