Sunday 5 October – intermediates group - Harewood 8 Recce run

 

There are several races on this weekend, including a marathon and a half at Lisbon, a marathon and a metric marathon (26.2k?!) at Chester and, nearer home, the Bramham Park 10k and 5k in the morning and the Horsforth 10k in the afternoon.

 

Or you can join Holly’s intermediates group for an 8 mile run following the route of the Harewood 8.  Meet Harewood Village Hall at 10a.m.  And by the time you get round the route, the café in the Village Hall will be open for toasted sandwiches and home-made cakes.

 

Harewood Marshals (Sunday 19 October)

 

A few more marshals still required – please email help@valleystriders.org.uk if you are available.  A list of marshals is on the website www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsmarshals.htm .  If you have volunteered, thank you, and you will be contacted by your section leader before the end of next week.

 

Tuesday 7 October – Training – 7pm start

 

The “later” training sessions return to the normal 7pm start time next week.

 

I was asked “why”.  It’s a good question, and we used to start at 6:45pm from Leos, but we changed to 7pm when we began the beginners sessions 3 years ago, so that the coaches on the beginners sessions could then go on to do one of the main sessions.  I’d like to keep it this way and instead invite some of our intermediates and experienced runners to come and support the junior sessions – and they’d still be able to run their normal session.

 

However I am asking the 7pm leaders to set off promptly at 7pm.  We know that some Striders prefer to go to the session start point, and we don’t want to have them hanging around because the group from Leos set off 10 or 15 mins late.  It would be good to get into this routine for when the cold and wet weather comes (which, from the weather forecast, seems to be this Tuesday)

 

Tuesday 7 October – Food

 

Two sittings for lasagne – please book by 10pm Sunday

·         early sessions followed by lasagne at 7:15pm book at earlyfood@valleystriders.org.uk before 10pm Sunday choosing meat or veggie lasagne (£3.50) and whether you want apple pie (£1.50).

·         later sessions followed by pie and peas at 8:30pm book at food@valleystriders.org.uk  before 10pm Sunday choosing meat or veggie lasagne (£3.50) and whether you want apple pie (£1.50).

 

Special note to parents.  Please make your children aware what has been booked for them – whether it is a half or full portion and whether or not you have booked apple pie for them.  This week, several children ate apple that had not been booked, as a result, our 3 coaches – Richard, John and myself – all went without apple pie. 

 

Tuesday 7 October – Parents of Juniors Meeting

 

All parents of junior Striders are invited to come to a general discussion on Valley Striders Juniors and in particular how we manage the junior sessions over winter when we are “compressed” onto half of the floodlit rugby pitch.  This discussion will take place at 7:15pm for no more than half an hour while food is served and eaten.

 

West Yorkshire Cross Country – entries for 1^st race closed

 

List of entries at www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsteams.htm.  Race 2 is on 2 November.  If you wish to be entered for the series starting from race 2, you’ll need to email teams@valleystriders.org.uk by 19 October.

 

Membership Renewals

 

I’m pleased to be able to say that the majority have now paid as at 30 September.  When I say “majority”, it is slightly less than the “No” vote in Scotland, there are still over 200 to pay.

 

To check your status, go to www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsmemreg.htm .  This says “due” if you’re due.  It shows the rates and also methods of payment.

 

Please email tom@valleystriders.org.uk if any queries.

 

Note that because we don’t have online access to our bank account and the transfer of bank account payment info to our membership database is a manual process, the memreg page can be several days out of date.  At the time of writing, the memreg page includes internet payments to lunchtime on Wednesday 1 October.

 

Annual General Meeting – 2 committee members required

 

The changes to the constitution see http://valleystriders.org.uk/new-constitution-oct-2008-with-proposed-changes-sep-2014.doc were agreed at the AGM.

 

All the existing committee members were re-elected with the exception of Kathy who asked to step down.  All the co-opted members were also re-elected.  In addition, Mike Furby was elected to the committee to represent triathlon. 

 

I believe that all aspects of the Club are well-represented on the committee with two exceptions – beginners/improvers group members and parents of juniors.  It would be good to have one of each on the committee – we normally meet just 4 times a year.

 

See http://valleystriders.org.uk/vscommittee.htm for list of committee members and other officers.

 

More information from the AGM coming soon!

 

Great Yorkshire Stair Climb – Saturday 22 November - from Xavier Archbold

 

I’m a VSCC member and I'm helping some mates with a charity event that they organise and I'm hoping you can help me.

 

Through this event participants can run to the top of Bridgewater Place, something that you can't do normally do.  What's great is that every penny goes to charity as it is entirely staffed by volunteers, with all running costs being covered by sponsors.

 

For the Valley Striders we could set up teams so that we can have our own in house club competition.  If we can get other running clubs involved then they can do the same and we can have some inter club rivalry!!

 

Entry and further information at www.racebest.com

 

Bob says “could this be a VSAC vs VSCC challenge?”

 

RESULTS AND REPORTS

 

Junior parkruns 28 September

 

At the first Templenewsam Junior parkrun, Tally Diamond was 1^st girl and 5^th overall.  An hour earlier at Roundhay, Alvie and Laurie O’Brien crossed the line together in first place.  Unfortunately the results system does not support dead heats nor even a friendly pact to share a win, which is a little surprising as it is a “run” not a “race”.

 

Kirkstall 7 (-ish)

 

    5  Rav Panesar        0:40:14 

   24  Myra Jones         0:43:51  1st W              

   29  Hannah Corne       0:44:45  2nd W              

   47  Andy Pagdin        0:47:45  

   89  Steph Gledhill     0:51:22  

   90  Louise Cazan       0:51:32  

  115  Bob Jackson        0:53:29  

  116  Liz Reddington     0:53:30  2nd F45, no prize  

  120  Chloe Hudson       0:53:40 

  135  Ruth Warren        0:54:46  2nd F55, no prize  

  220  Maureen Coffey     1:04:02  1st F65, nice trophy             

  246  Deborah Fraites    1:08:41 

  268  Meryll Cripps      1:15:51 

 

Myra, Hannah and Steph would have won the ladies team prize had it been scored on lowest points or fastest total time, but the rules at Kirkstall were that the first team to get 3 runners across the line was the winner, and Chapel Allerton’s 3^rd lady was just in front of Steph.

 

Robin Hood half marathon from Paul White

 

Yesterday I ran my 50th Half Marathon at Nottingham and finished in a time of 1:36:41 which is nearly three minutes quicker than last year (1:39:28).  I was 3rd M65 and finished 600th out of 7,246 with my best ever age-graded result of 81.01%.  All in all I had a very comfortable run and kept a pretty even pace and felt good.

Ian Sanderson did the Marathon in 3:33:51 and finished 240th out of 1,495.

 

Bob says “Paul had his 67^th birthday earlier in September – I attribute his fitness to having to keep up with his 5 grandchildren!”

 

Cologne 226 Triathlon – from Richard Adcock

Cologne 226 (Ironman distance) Triathlon

On Thursday I ummed and arrghed whether to enter the full or the half as I haven't done anything like the training I should for an event like this...well I don't do things by half, so the full it is....

I set myself a target of 1:15 for the swim, 5:30 for the bike, 4:30 for the run - in hindsight these may have been a little optimistic

Up for breakfast at 5am and out for the transfer bus we eventually arrived about 20 minutes before the start so everything was a bit rushed (only time for one trip to the loo!), check bike is still there, get changed, get in the water..

The swim was a 3.8km straight out and back and a steady pace went by in 1:18 (when you stand next to a 2km lake it looks a reeeeally long way!)

T1 0:03:37

The 180km bike was a 15km ride into the city from the lake and then 3 big laps; flat but a bit breezy in the country and the first half flew by but by 90km I realised I was getting tired so eased off a little (5:56:38)

T2 0:03:48 (including a number two stop Mike Furby!)

The 42.2km run was 3 laps, out and back up one side of the river, cross over on the railway bridge and a long out and back up the other side before climbing up the 60 step spiral staircase to get on the bridge to cross back over the river (this was not fun first time and less so the third time up!).  The run started great but when I ran at the pace I wanted my knee hurt so I had to ease off and just keep a steady pace to get to the end (4:54:24)

Finish time 12:13:06.73 - I can’t complain considering the lack of training

Results http://koeln2014.racepedia.de/ergebnisse/37

My advice for anyone wanting to do an IM distance tri would be do a bit of training for it, oh and don't do it on a bike you bought a couple of days earlier and only used once! :)

Stats:
Swim: 01:18:27
T1: 01:22:04
Bike km17: 01:52:01, km44: 02:44:11, km69: 03:33:48, km96: 04:28:16, km121: 05:23:16, km148: 06:19:54, km180: 07:14:54
T2: 07:18:42
Run km2: 07:28:57, km9: 08:08:18, km16: 08:55:05, km23: 09:41:55, km30: 10:35:33, km37: 11:30:26
Finish: 12:13:06

 

Rab Mountain Marathon (MM) 2014 – from Mick Loftus

 

This year’s Rab MM was in the south eastern Lakes.  The Rab MM is an orienteering 'score event' spread over two days with all the usual mountain marathon elements of self-navigation, self-sufficiency (carrying camping gear and food), off-road and often off-path. 

 

I drove over to the Lakes in beautiful sunshine but as I approached Kendal the sun disappeared.  It didn't reappear until I returned to sunny Yorkshire on Sunday afternoon. Once formalities were sorted I rechecked my kit, headed for the start, 'dibbed' (my electronic control device) at the start line and set off into the mist.  We had been given a map with checkpoints marked on it with points allocated to each control based upon their height and relative inaccessibility.  Competitors (solo or in pairs) decide which controls to visit  to maximise their points within the time limit, which was 7 hours for the Long Score Course I had entered.   

 

The first few hours passed smoothly but as distance and ascent added up I began to make small errors.  The weather had deteriorated to light drizzle driven on by a sharp cold wind, visibility was very poor as I got higher.  After about 4 hours at a high point, a lapse in concentration left me descending on the correct bearing but I carried on too far when I should have turned.  I soon realised but you cover a lot of ground going down, I then had to dejectedly re-climb back up to the high point.  I reassessed my route and realised I was a long way from the finish point and I was tired. The thick mist was frustrating and it forced a slow cautious pace, with constant compass checking and step counting. 

 

I decided to cut my planned route shorter and aim for the finish, picking up a few controls on the way.  This still involved two big climbs and three steep descents.  The time passed quickly now and before I knew it, I had one hour left to climb and descend a high ridge to get back in time. If you are over the time limit you are penalised points.  I pushed hard but was struggling to lift my pace.  I was hoping for a runnable descent over the ridge but it turned out to be a break-neck slope, like a 'black' ski run.  I tumbled, slid and careered down, crossed a stream and then bombed along a track to the finish. I dibbed at the finish line in 7:07 and had 7 points deducted, which wasn't too bad.  A sliding scale of penalties takes off a lot of points if you are severely late. 

 

I got the tent up, changed into dry clothes, got out of the wind and started cooking.  The evening passed quickly and I was tucked up in my sleeping bag early, soon after dark.  I slept perfectly until the 05:30 alarm I had set.  The wind had dropped and as dawn broke, it looked like the cloud had lifted.

 

I packed up my rucksack and was off again just after 7:00.  I was determined to run a conservative route, leaving lots of time towards the end of the day within striking distance of the finish.  The day two controls were spread widely across lower terrain and I planned a route with only one big climb.  I ticked off controls steadily and was pleased to get back in the vicinity of the finish with an hour and a half to go with a choice of controls to pick off. In the end I trotted into the finish with 20 minutes spare. 

 

Overnight I was in 29th position but I came 17th on day two.  My final position was 20th place out of 107 finishers, 15th solo.

 

A few stats:

Day One:

Rucksack at start: 4.46kg

7 hours 7 minutes,  35 km (21 miles), 2300m (7500ft) ascent 

Approximately: Road: 0%, Good path: 30%, Indistinct path/trod: 20%, Off path/open country: 50%

Day Two:

5 hours 40 minutes, 30 km (18 miles), 1350 m (4400 ft) ascent

Approximately: Road: <5%, Good path: 20%, Indistinct path/trod: 30%, Off path/open country: >45%

Rucksack at finish 3.87Kg (including rubbish carried out)

 

Furniture for sale – from John Umpleby

 

John & Pat have sold their bungalow in Brid (yes the one where he dislocated his hip when in the loft and needed the Air Ambulance to rescue him) and have some furniture for sale

 

He says “It is almost like new and we will accept any reasonable offer and can deliver to your house”

·         www.valleystriders.org.uk/photos/ju1.jpg 1 brown leather 2 seater settee

·         www.valleystriders.org.uk/photos/ju2.jpg two matching reclining chairs

·         www.valleystriders.org.uk/photos/ju3.jpg 1 Dining room table which extends in the centre and 6 matching chairs in a light oak

·         www.valleystriders.org.uk/photos/ju4.jpg 1 matching two door tall cabinet, with glass shelves

 

Email john.pat1always@tpiz.co.uk if interested!

 

Finally apologies if I’ve missed any results or reports that anyone has sent, if so, please re-send and I’ll include in the next edition.