Subject: V S Update - Peco race 2, New year handicap, Grand Prix & Leeds Race Series 2012, Fell relay reports, and much more

Sent: 13 December 2011 00:18
Subject: V S Update - Peco race 2, New year handicap, Grand Prix & Leeds Race Series 2012, Fell relay reports, and much more

Peco League Race 2 at Middleton Park

Details from www.pecoxc.co.uk – please check the website later this week in case there are any changes!

Race Date: Sunday 18th December

Race Times & Distances:
Junior XC Challenge (8 – 10 year old boys & girls*): 10.00am, 1 mile approx.
Junior XC Challenge (11 – 16 year old boys & girls*): 10.20am, 2 miles approx.
Seniors (men * women 17 and over*): 11.00am, 5.5 miles approx.

* Age groups for all 5 races in the season are based on age on 27/11/11

Race Location: The race will take place entirely within the grounds of Middleton Park (located near John Charles Sports Stadium off the A653 Dewsbury Road.

Registration: The race HQ will be set up in the park clearing identified by the arrow on the map below. Registration will be from 9.15am – 9.45am for juniors, 10.00 – 10.45am for seniors. See map:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=430202&y=429465&z=120&sv=430202,429465&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=516&ax=430202&ay=429465&lm=0

Car Parking: The main car park is entered from the North side of the park off Town Street and Middleton Park Road, see map below in the following link.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=429913&y=428397&z=115&sv=429913,428397&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=516&ax=429913&ay=428397&lm=0
This car park is fairly small, so we have also arranged for parking to be made available beyond the locked gates on Middleton Grove, just beyond John Charles and the Equestrian Centre. We will have marshals on hand to assist. PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN EITHER OF THE TWO JOHN CHARLES CAR PARKS. There is a busy Swimming Gala on the same day as our run and car parking in those car parks is restricted to those attending the gala.
If necessary, there is street parking available on the Industrial estate.

The Course: See course maps below. The course is suitable studs or trail shoes (unless it is very muddy) BUT NOT SUITABLE FOR SPIKES! It is undulating, with several short ascents and descents. There are some tight turns, some narrow sections and the main hazard underfoot is tree roots.

After The Race: Changing and showering facilities are available to those needing them at the Parnaby Tavern where food will also be available as part of your entry fee!
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=431520&y=430584&z=0&sv=LS10+2AB&st=2&pc=LS10+2AB&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf

NB There is a road not shown on the map that reduces the route from Middleton Park to the Parnaby Tavern from 3 miles to 1 mile.
Coming down the hill from Middleton Park, passing JCCS, if you then turn RIGHT at the roundabout and then straight on at the next roundabout (not shown on the map) it goes over the railway line and becomes Old Run Road (shown on the map)

New Year Handicap – Monday 2 January

Everyone is welcome to run the Club Handicap on Monday 2 January. We’ll meet at the lodge by Eccup reservoir at 11a.m. The postcode is LS17 7RW – it is down a footpath from Alwoodley Lane. It’s a 5 mile run on the footpath and road round the reservoir almost to Eccup village and back. We will have some marshals on the route! The slowest runners set off first, the fastest last. We normally have 30 to 40 runners. Afterwards you are invited back to Leo’s – the bar will be open but bring food to share.

I’m thinking that we could have a junior 1 mile run while the 5 mile run is in progress. The juniors would start after the last runner has set off. This would be half a mile on the reservoir footpath, turn round and return. Please you let me know if you have juniors interested – we’ll put the run on if there are 6 or more. NB one parent would need to stay to watch the junior run if the other is running the 5 mile!

Baildon Boundary Way

Message from Baildon Runners:

As you may know, online entries for RUNNING places have closed for the 18th Baildon Boundary Way that takes place on Sunday 1 April 2012. All the online spaces were taken in 17 days.

However we are now accepting a limited number of entries by post. Entry forms in PDF format can be downloaded from our website.

You may wish to cascade this to your members who may have missed out on the online entries.

Trollers Trot

Message from Liam Dunne

The popular 'Trollers Trot' event takes place this year on Sat 10th March in Treshfield (nr Grassington).

For those of you who are not familiar with the event, there is 25 mile Run/walk route and also a 12 mile route (walk only) set in the picturesque Yorkshire Dales.

It's the perfect warm-up for your Spring marathon or three peaks race!

Refreshments are provided on the course and a light meal will be served at the finish.

Proceeds from the event will be supporting the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association.

For more info and entry please click on link https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?elid=Y&event_id=590

VS Grand Prix 2012

We now have a list of races for the 2012 Grand Prix – will try and obtain exact dates a.s.a.p.

Cross Country

· Peco race three – 15 January

· Peco race five – 11 March

· WYXC race one - October

· WYXC race two or three – November

· Peco Race one - November

Fell/Trail

· Chevin Chase – 26 Dec 2011

· Baildon Boundary Way – 1 April

· Apperley Bridge Canter - May

· Round Hill – August

· Rombolds Romp – 15 September

Handicaps

· Winter Handicap – Monday 2 January 11:00

· Spring Handicap

· Summer Handicap

· Autumn Handicap

Long

· Trollers Trot – 10 March

· London – 22 April

· Wharfedale Half - June

· Burley Bridge - July

· Autumn Marathon

· Any Other

Medium Road

· York B Monkey – 22 January

· Leeds half – 13 May

· Otley 10 - June

· Eccup 10 – 15 July

· Bishop Wilton half - July

Short Road

· Rothwell 10k – 2 May

· Hyde Park John Lunn 5k - July

· Pudsey 10k - July

· Wetherby 10k – 9 September

· Horsforth 10k – 30 September

· Abbey Dash - November

You’ll notice a few more local races than usual and this is because I’m pleased to announce that the running clubs in Leeds have got together to organise a Leeds Race Series for 2012 – approximately 16 races, for which you need to run 8 to “qualify”, strangely similar to our own Grand Prix!! Click www.leedsathletics.net for details. This means that for many races you’ll be able to earn V S Grand Prix points and Leeds Race Series points in the same race.

Christmas Presentation Night

There will be a full report in the next V S Update but I won’t maintain the suspense any longer – here are the names of the 4 lucky Striders who have London Marathon places for 2012

Gary Mann, Greg Skerrett, Rachael Nevins, Richard Adcock (reserve Joe Hanney)

Commiserations to the other 4.

WYXC Race 4 and Series Result

Women:

56 Sue Sunderland 24:56

69 Sharon Tansley 26:24

Men:

24 Simon Midwood 35:04

31 Gwil Thomas 35:42

65 Jerry Watson 37:49

67 Paul Kaiser 37:55

150 Nick Barnes 45:13

185 Dave Jones 56:32

Team position 10^th

Final positions:

Men’s team 9th

Jerry Watson 3^rd M50

Sharon Tansley, Paul Kaiser, Gwil Thomas, Tosh Akhtar and Dave Jones all ran 3 races but finished outside the top 3 in their age categories

Fell Relay championship – Race reports

This was in October. Just to remind you of the results:

Valley Striders A

Matt Allen 44.53 (102)

Eirik Stangnes & John Bottomley 1.33.53 (93)

Steve Webb & Simon Vallance 1.14.19 (28)

John Marsham 49.51 (66)

Overall 4.22.56 (64)

Valley Striders Vets

Malcolm Coles 50.25 (150)

Martin Oddy & Mark Woodhead 1.39.00 (118)

Rob Bumstead & Mick Loftus 1.21.42 (72)

Geoff Webster 1.08.15 (173)

Overall 4.59.22 (124)

Leg 1 race report from Matt Allen

The day began with us all arriving in Kettlewell to the beautiful sight of Yorkshire Dales in glorious sunshine. After picking up my race number, slapping on some last minute tiger balm it was time to get my fell kit checked and head down to the start line in centre of Kettlewell.

Leg 1 was a solo leg, it had the same buzz and atmosphere that you often find at start of a fell race. I got off to a good start and found my rhythm passing quite a few runners as we whizzed out of town on the road to a path heading up Moor end fell. Setting off down the undulating path I was feeling good, as Sylvia & other supporters enthusiastically cheered us on and with the sound of bagpipes emanating ahead. After a mile or two it became more of a struggle to keep pace and i was annoyingly losing places as we began the scramble up the hill. Up the hill it was hands on knees, grabbing at the grassy tussocks whilst shaking off the odd female runner who was grabbing for my legs!

On reaching the stone walled lined summit at 500m i pushed on and raced along the muddy track and then charged down the hill passing as many runners as I could. On reaching the bottom, i tried to pick up the pace along the path & road back into Kettlewell only to be surprised that the finish involved an unexpected detour up a hill before the run down to the baton changeover.

I had a disappointing race but I really enjoyed the day cheering on my Valley Strider team mates whilst eating cake and getting a suntan! Overall it was a great day out, well organised and friendly atmosphere. Bring on next year!

Leg 2 from John Bottomley & Eirik Stangnes

(JB) After eventually finding the start, (but we couldn't find the mandatory kit check point....) Eirik and myself waited. We then slogged up a track in the sun, then ran an exciting downhill, in the sun. Then another long, long uphill, (still in the sun) up nearly to the top of Buckden Pike. After a week of heavy rain, the knee deep bogs on the top were brimfull and these provided amusement, especially when you passed a fellow runner who, without warning, suddenly stopped, apparently rooted to the spot....

(ES) (rooted to the spot - Well, I had a nightmare of a run and I felt like I was rooted to the spot from mile one to the finish so John was running rings around throughout the race)

(JB) Then the downhill return section - wow, that was fast and littered with bemused walkers, dogs, sheep etc.

(ES) (John actually stopped to cuddle a dog on the return downhill section but as I was practically still 'rooted to the spot' so he soon caught up with me before sprinting past everyone up the last hill)

(JB) And then a sting: a steep uphill over roots/rocks before the celebratory downhill to the finish, still in the sun.

(ES) (While I was totally shattered and just relieved that the most painful 93 min of my life was over, John was still full of energy so he went for a 'celebratory' 2-3 hour run after the finish)

(JB) PS. Sorry for the repeated reference to the sun, but being a fell runner, I was quite surprised at its continual presence, so I thought I would acknowledge this.

Leg 3 Report from Mick Loftus

After a lounging around, watching runners come and go in lovely Kettlewell in beautiful weather, we were anxious to get going. Rob Bumstead and I set off up the narrow river valley towards Great Whernside.

Steve and Simon had set off some time a head of us and we we're unlikely to catch them. We were all on the approximately 7 mile navigation leg of the FRA Relay Race. The course included quite a long section before we actually started the navigation section. Once onto the open fell side we picked up the first control quickly and pressed on to the next. The running was relatively easy for this sort of thing. The third control seems to be a little off position but there was no delay for us. In perfect visibility we could see other runners returning from the control.

We then doubled back to a control in a small stream valley. We felt like we were holding our postion well and passed a few teams. The next couple of controls had us heading across and up almost to the summit of Great Whernside. We found the controls easily, using a bearing to get the correct line across the flank of the hill.

From the summit ridge the view was fabulous and we could see virtually the whole way back down. The descent was an exhilarating blast, first over rough ground to a control on the edge of the open moor. Then down over super fast smooth grassy paths. We hammered down the hill as fast as possible and on down the lane towards the finish. Unfortuately, there was a little sting in the tail, the course kicked up for a steep litttle climb before dropping back into the event finish area. After the steep flat out descent the change to climbing again left my head spinning and my legs jelly-like. A short final down-hill brought us to the hand-over; our job done.

We felt that we had made no mistakes with the navigation but comparing our times with Steve and Simon we found that they had out paced us to every control. They just ran quicker - well done Steve and Simon!

Leg 4 report from John Marsham

Leg 4 was simple. Up Great Whernside and back down. I like races like this. Firstly, they feel similar to the original fell races with wealthy landowners betting on shepherds racing up and down the local hill at the village fete. Secondly, they make pacing easier - you aim to arrive at the top exhausted and then fly back down under gravity. A real contrast with races like the Tour of Pendle, where you have to keep something in reserve for the next hill.

The organisers had played two sneaky tricks though. The route up was less steep than the descent, which meant the ascent was largely runnable, rather than a nice steep walk. This always makes it a lot more painful. Then, they'd put a tiny wee up, across and down in after the main decent, which at this point in the race felt a lot bigger than it was. To be fair though, all the legs had this at the end, and it made for good spectator sport. In fact, the leg as a whole was a good finale, with perfectly inclined grass leading down towards the sun-drenched finishing field. The terrain and angle were a real pleasure to run on, though it would have been different if you were in a head-to-head for the winning position. As it was, I think I just about held the place I'd be given by a great effort from the leg-3 team.

A really fun day all in all. Great friendly atmosphere, met a few old friends from Edinburgh climbing days, met a few new Striders, ate lots of cakes, the sun shone and Kettlewell provided a fantastic setting, with great running terrain on all sides. Looking forward to Church Stretton next year.

V S internet forum and John Bottomley fell email

Many of you will know that there is a Valley Striders internet Forum. Initially many of the posts were an exchange of advice for injury problems but more recently the majority has been to arrange transport for races and the majority of those for fell races.

Over 50 Striders are now on the Forum. If you want to join, then see www.valleystriders.org.uk for details. However some of you are unable to access our Forum due to internet restrictions at work and John Bottomley has kindly volunteered (in fact he’s been doing this for several months now) to send fell race information by email (too). If you want to join John’s fell email distribution list, email him at [email protected]

Leeds Country Way mugs

Joel Giddings has emailed “I still have over 20 commemorative mugs for people who ran in any of our five Leeds Country Way teams. If you ran in the LCW and still have not received your mug then please get in touch to arrange collection. If you let me know I will bring them along to any Tuesday night training session. I can also bring them to the Xmas Meal on December 9th. If you ran but don't want your commemorative mug then please let me know.” [email protected]

Free Scan of fat, muscle and bone density

Amanda Seims has emailed

I'm going to attempt my first run in 2 month today and by the effort it took to bike 2 miles today I'm not looking forward to it! My legs have gotten used to walking very very slowly for the past 5 weeks and I've also picked up some cold kind of virus thing.

Please can you pass on the following info to the club members. It is basically a free scan which will give them a highly accurate measurement of fat, muscle and bone density.

INVITATION

Dr Karen Hind (CRI) and Mr Brian Oldroyd and Dr Laura Rhodes (University of Leeds) are recruiting colleagues and students for a staff-led DXA study, with the hope to start ASAP.

Men and women of all ages are invited to take part, and participation will involve a set of Dual energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans on the DXA machine in the Carnegie Research Institute and on the machine based in Leeds General Infirmary (Brotherton Wing). There are no other tests involved.

Everyone who takes part will receive a copy of their results and an explanation of their meaning. The scans will provide important information on your bone mineral density and risk for osteoporosis, as well as your body composition. Each appointment will take around 20 minutes.

Please contact Karen [email protected] or Brian [email protected] if you would like to take part, or would like further information.

Thank You

Dr Karen Hind, PhD
Senior Research Fellow and RadiationProtection Supervisor
Carnegie Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University
Headingley Campus, Leeds, LS6 3EX

PS here’s the link for Amanda’s recent expedition http://www.himalayan.org.uk/research

From Carole Schofield

Hi Bob

Could you please pass this survey on to anyone who would be willing to complete it for my daughter's English at University.

Thanks

Carole

http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=ONINLI_67dbb172

Up & Running Headingley 20% off on 14 December 4pm-8pm

To All Local Running Clubs,

Firstly I would like to introduce myself, My name is James and I am the new Manager at the Up and Running in Headingley/West Park.

As we all know Christmas is on the way, Up and Running always tries its best to look after the local clubs so we are going to be having a late night opening on Wednesday 14th December, the shop will stay open until 8pm. From 4pm if you present your England Athletics Membership Card you will get a huge 20% discount off everything instore.

As well as this 20% discount we have been running a 3 for 2 promotion on a huge selection of clothing and accessories which will continue up to Christmas Eve. The link below will launch an interactive catalogue showing what products are in the offer.

http://asp-gb.secure-zone.net/v2/index.jsp?id=1356/1735/4117&lng=en

I would really appreciate it if you could pass this email on or let your member know about the offers instore.

Regards,

James Wright

Up & Running,

261 Otley Road, West Park, Leeds LS16 5LQ

0113 2788866