V S Update - 15 July 2016

- Training (and food)
- VS BBQ
- Ben Smith 401 Challenge in Leeds
- VS junior mile and handicap results,
- Win for Ali Burns at Beamsley
- Alpine training and racing reports from Clive Bandy

Training (and food)

Tuesday 19 July

- Juniors, parents, beginners, improvers and slower intermediates will be at Leos at 6pm.
- This session is not available to new juniors nor those on the waiting list
- Experienced runners and faster intermediates will be 5 by 6 minutes by Eccup Reservoir, meet Leos at 7pm
- Early sessions followed by pie and peas at 7:15pm - book at [email protected]
- Later sessions followed by pie and peas at 8:30pm - book at [email protected]
- Book before 10pm Sunday 19 June
- Choosing meat pie or veggie bake (£3.50), also choose mushy peas or baked beans.

Tuesday 26 July

- Juniors, parents, beginners, improvers and slower intermediates will be at Grammar School at Leeds at 6pm.
- This session is not available to new juniors nor those on the waiting list
- Experienced runners and faster intermediates will be hills by Eccup Reservoir, meet Leos at 7pm

Valley Striders Club Barbecue - Saturday 6 August from 6:30pm

Following successful Summer barbecues which have been held for the last two years, we have decided to repeat the event again this year. The evening will include games, music, food and drinks. All Valley Striders members are welcome to attend, along with partners and kids.

£10.50 adults and £6.50 kids - includes main course and dessert.

Please also email [email protected] to confirm your booking. When emailing, please let us know if you require a vegetarian option. We will need your booking and money to be paid in advance to secure your place. Online banking should be paid to sort code 53-70-00, a/c number 72143851 (note that this is NOT the normal VS account), reference to include your name and the word “BBQ".

Note that the last date for orders is 31 July.

Leeds Country Way

We now have 67 runners for the Leeds Country Way Relay on Sunday 4 September so have entered 5 teams and have 7 reserves. In previous years we have "lost" as many as 10 runners over the summer so more reserves would be welcomed- please email [email protected]

Ben Smith 401 challenge

Ben Smith started on his 401 days of consecutive marathons on 1^st September last year, and on 30 and 31 January he ran marathons 152 and 153 in Leeds when on both days he ran 2 laps of the Leeds Half.

On 4 and 5 August he's back in Leeds for two more marathons 339 and 340 with much more interesting routes. 4 August is based on the Lord Darcy on the A61 Harrogate Road, doing 14 miles in the morning and 12 in the afternoon. 5 August is from Horsforth and at its furthest points goes round Eccup Reservoir.

Here are detailed maps of the two "halves" of 339 from Andy Wicks

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155222718964852&set=pcb.1723542941242825&type=3&theater

For more information about the 401 Challenge, http://www.the401challenge.co.uk/

RACE RESULTS

Junior 1 mile school years 1 to 5

Pos	Name	Time		Sch Yr
1	Leon Jones	06:05	M	4
2	Alfie Jones	06:15	M	5
3	Jamie Walker	06:30	M	5
4	Sam Chambers	06:52	M	4
5	Isaac Koi	07:04	M	5
6	Max Mauborgne	07:09	M	5
7	Stefan Robottom	07:12	M	4
8	Rowan Haighton	07:19	M	5
9	Peggy Seal	07:33	F	5
10	Ella Hollis	07:42	F	5
11	Gus Cawcutt	07:47	M	3
12	Toby Walker	07:48	M	3
13	Maisy Bullock	08:02	F	4
14	Marcus Johnstone	08:05	M	3
15	Max Worrall	08:06	M	2
16	Lucie Cliff	08:32	F	5
17	Jimmy Lockwood	08:38	M	4
18	Alec Twigg	08:41	M	5
19	Daniel Keen-Bone	08:56	M	6
20	Ben Williams-Dustan	08:58	M	5
21	Marco Teoli	08:59	M	3
22	Freya Mauborgne	09:07	F	2
23	Isabelle Wood	09:10	F	0
24	Andrea Robottom	09:36	F	2
25	Darcey Mollitt	09:38	F	1
26	Jakob Sobel	09:51	M	3
27	Edie Souter	09:52	F	3
28	Martha O'Shea	09:53	F	3
29	Katie Lockwood	10:51	F	2

Junior 1 mile school years 6+

Pos	Name	Time		Sch.Yr
1	Alvie O'Brien	05:55	M	6
2	Sophie Turner	05:59	F	9
3	Tally Diamond	06:07	F	6
4	Keira Jones	06:25	F	6
5	James Williams-Dustan	06:38	M	7
6	Imogen Idle	06:54	F	6
7	Jason Twigg	06:55	M	10
8	Noah Philpott	07:04	M	9
9	Sofia Robottom	07:07	F	7
10	Zach Powley	07:14	M	5
11	Max Li	07:18	M	5
12	Alessia Teoli	07:27	F	8
13	Lee Rennison	07:38	M	5
14	Joe Irvine	07:47	M	9
15	James Worrall	07:55	M	7
16	Sarah Brady	08:13	F	7
17	Anna McLellan	13:55	F	6

Thanks to Mary Egan and David Howe who were marshalling and to all the parents who helped at the finish.

Club Handicap

As you will see from the results, Richard ran with a group of junior runners. But the only person who started at their officially allotted time was Joe, so congratulations go to Joe as handicap cup winner!

Pos	Name	Gun time	Hcap	Act time	Act pos	GP pts
1	Tally Diamond	0:52:01	0:12:45	0:39:16	33	68
2	Sophie Turner	0:52:03	0:12:45	0:39:18	35	66
3	Joe Irvine	0:52:14	0:12:45	0:39:29	37	64
4	Richard Irvine	0:52:15	0:12:45	0:39:30	38	63
5	Anne Worrall	0:52:19	0:08:00	0:44:19	43	58
6	Kate Brady	0:52:43	0:07:45	0:44:58	44	57
7	Emmett Brady	0:52:55	0:17:00	0:35:55	23	78
8	Andrew Linley	0:53:07	0:20:45	0:32:22	10	91
9	Andy Toon	0:53:09	0:19:00	0:34:09	15	86
10	Stuart Harris	0:53:11	0:11:00	0:42:11	40	61
11	Charlotte Wills	0:53:22	0:18:45	0:34:37	19	82
12	David Merritt	0:53:43	0:19:15	0:34:28	18	83
13	Steph Gledhill	0:53:46	0:14:30	0:39:16	33	68
14	Liz Wood	0:53:50	0:18:45	0:35:05	20	81
15	Graham Pawley	0:53:53	0:16:30	0:37:23	28	73
16	Andrew Bennett	0:53:54	0:23:00	0:30:54	4	97
17	Louise Cazan	0:54:06	0:17:15	0:36:51	25	76
18	Richard Adcock	0:54:10	0:19:00	0:35:10	21	80
19	Vernon Long	0:54:18	0:20:00	0:34:18	17	84
20	Karl Robottom	0:54:21	0:17:00	0:37:21	27	74
21	John Wallace	0:54:25	0:16:30	0:37:55	32	69
22	Joe Hanney	0:54:32	0:19:15	0:35:17	22	79
23	Gary Mann	0:54:34	0:22:30	0:32:04	8	93
24	Daryl Hibberd	0:54:37	0:25:45	0:28:52	1	100
25	Joel Giddings	0:54:43	0:21:15	0:33:28	12	89
26	Paul Fotherby	0:54:49	0:25:15	0:29:34	3	98
27	James Tarran	0:54:59	0:23:15	0:31:44	5	96
28	Simon Vallance	0:55:01	0:22:15	0:32:46	11	90
29	Chloe Hudson	0:55:03	0:15:45	0:39:18	35	66
30	Sue Sunderland	0:55:11	0:17:30	0:37:41	30	71
31	Matt Chadwick	0:55:13	0:23:15	0:31:58	7	94
32	Tim Straughan	0:55:15	0:23:00	0:32:15	9	92
33	Alan Hutchinson	0:55:17	0:17:30	0:37:47	31	70
34	Simon Midwood	0:55:22	0:26:00	0:29:22	2	99
35	Myra Jones	0:55:24	0:21:15	0:34:09	15	86
36	Paul Sanderson	0:55:50	0:19:30	0:36:20	24	77
37	Leroy Sutton	0:55:57	0:18:45	0:37:12	26	75
38	Roy Huggins	0:56:07	0:22:15	0:33:52	13	88
39	Dave Penman	0:56:19	0:24:30	0:31:49	6	95
40	Maureen Coffey	0:56:55	0:05:00	0:51:55	45	56
41	Mick Loftus	0:57:22	0:23:30	0:33:52	13	88
42	Pascale Fotherby	0:57:29	0:13:45	0:43:44	42	59
43	Joanna Chambers	0:57:46	0:15:45	0:42:01	39	62
44	Ian Sanderson	0:59:42	0:22:15	0:37:27	29	72
45	Mick Tinker	1:00:52	0:18:30	0:42:22	41	60

Thanks to Mike and Eileen for timekeeping and to Sam Harris setting the runners off and having a 100% success rate getting them to start at the correct time. And thanks to the most ever number of marshals - Ian Place, Gemma Merritt, Patrick Barrett, John Umpleby, Ross Bibby, Eirik Stangnes, Sean Cook, David Howe and Liz Reddington!

Win for Ali Burns at Beamsley Beacon fell race

Steve Webb emailed

Latest edition of the fell champs is attached, to include Duddon Short, Beamsley Beacon and the Danefield Relay. (Now on the website www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsfc2016.xls )

Keen students of the fell league will note that Ali Burns scored 100 points at Beamsley Beacon, and realised that as this was a category B race he must have won it outright. Fantastic result; really good to see VS at the top of a fell race and beating some quality runners.

http://www.wharfedaleharriers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/BeamsleyBeacon2016_0v1.pdf

Ross still leads the men's league but must be looking over his shoulder as Ali is closing. In the ladies league Amanda has completed 3 qualifying races and takes the lead - rather strangely for an endurance afficionado her 3 races to date are short and medium.

Please let me know if I've missed any FRA races you have completed.

UTMB Recce report - from Clive Bandy

Not often you get a report for a training run, but as Steve Dixon and Simon Redshaw are running the 168km UTMB (Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc) this August, a recce was organised & Ross Bibby, Andreas Mayer & I (Clive Bandy) tagged along for a 'holiday'... If a run such as this could be described as such. Heads up - this goes on a bit, so either mark it as spam, or settle in with a coffee.

Day 1. 22miles. We arrived late Fri night/Sat morning, made our way to the hostel and bedded down with nothing more than a pint of Affligem ('falling down water' according to Simon) at Geneva Airport for tea. Having checked and re-checked our light weight kit and packs, laced our first choice of trail shoes we promptly jumped on the bus to Les Houches. Easy this ultra marathon running lark. In our defence that stretch is road, not on the UTMB race route, and the weather forecast thunderstorms towards the end of the day when we knew the route took us high into the alps. With the weather looking threatening we made our way over the first climb of Col De Voso (1,776m) then down to Les Contamines for lunch where the heavens opened. Not the idyllic, blue sky/beautiful view combo we had in mind. The afternoon was a 25km uphill push over the snow covered Croix Du Bonhomme at 2,479m as our efforts to beat the storm were in vain. We dropped down the other side to Les Chapieux 1,549m to our overnight accommodation at Refuge La Nova. The Mountain refuges would be our accommodation each night and were pre-booked, so no opportunity to 'do a Batchelor' on any given leg. For info, Refuges are similar to youth hostels providing an evening meal, great atmosphere and concentration camp like sleeping arrangements.

Day 2. 20miles. Off to Italy. We were all looking forward to a Pizza in Courmayer. Legs were stiff, shoes were still wet but spirits were high as we galloped off over the Col De La Seigne (2,515m). Ross showed us all how to descend properly through the wild snow fields whilst Steve took the sliding-on-backside approach (sometimes intentionally), and as the weather had relented to the odd shower we all had plenty of practice putting jackets on, and taking them back off again. As we neared Italy, crossed the Arete Mont Favre (2,435m) and dropped down into Courmayer (1,200m) the sun came out and Mont Blanc revealed itself to our left. When we arrived in the centre of Courmayer a large Pizza and a couple of pints of Peroni in the sun did wonders for team spirit. Our overnight stop was an 800m climb to Refugio Bertone during which four of us concluded that 2 pints of Peroni was approximately one and a half too many. Andreas on the other hand felt it wasn't nearly enough and was easily first up. Ze Germans really do work better with a beer in.

Day 3. 19miles. Refugio Bertone enjoyed a spectacular location with a view of most of the Mont Blanc Massif and eastern valley. The weather was perfect and the silence was broken only by the days supplies (replacement beer following Andreas' visit) being helicoptered in, and Ross throwing up in the nearby field. We had all relied on mountain streams for water but Ross was like a Labrador drinking out of every puddle going. Bad luck as the run along the valley ridge towards Switzerland was truly stunning. Running is an individual sport and we all have our own reasons for doing it, but that day will stick with us for a long time as example of how incredible trail running can be. The afternoon saw us climb up to the Swiss/Italian border over the Grand Col Ferret (2,537m) and down to La Fouly overnight. Simon was proving to be more than up to the UTMB task and frequently ran ahead. Fortunately his inability to cross a snow covered trail meant we caught him up pretty regularly. Those of you who have had a pet puppy/kitten and let it outside for the first time in the snow would have recognised the timid approach and wide-eyed expression that says 'what the....' that earned Simon his tour nick name of 'Snow Leopard'. Adding to the insult, he was the only one to fall through the ice. Unfortunately no one had a camera to hand at the time.

Day 4. 20miles. With Ross almost back to full strength we had a day contouring the mountain side to Champex-Lac for lunch then one significant climb to Bovine (1,967m) to our overnight stop at Col De La Forclaz. We met a team of 'proper' runners first thing who were taking part in the Asics Beat the Sun Relay (First runner sets off on the Tour du Mont Blanc route at dawn with the aim of the final runner being back in Chamonix before sunset). They looked a well organised bunch and given they were running the TMB route in the opposite direction to us it was odd that we didn't see many coming the other way. That probably says more about our navigation than theirs. The Swiss part of our little fun run had a distinctly different feel to the days in France & Italy, though equally beautiful. The locals seemed a miserable bunch although I can appreciate our 'travel-light' approach had left our appearance a little rough by now. They had the last laugh though when they fleeced Steve Dixon 22 Euros for a bowl of Spaghetti. I chuckled about that all afternoon. Our overnight Refuge was once again flanked by stunning alpine vistas, and when our Valley Striders club takes its next logical expansion from Running club, to Cycling, to Triathlon to Chicken and Chips eating, then Simon Redshaw is first on the team sheet. Christ almighty I've never seen anything like it. We'd eaten every morsel served to us during our trip, so much so that the shout preceding a group photo morphed from 'Say cheese' to 'Breathe in'.

Day 5. 22miles. Final day back into France but containing two significant climbs over Catogne (2,011m) down to Vallorcine (1,260m) and then up to Flegere (1,860m) before heading down to Chamonix. The weather was well and truly onside now, clear skies and high temperatures meant jackets were stowed and the sun cream was out. Most of us having run trail races in Chamonix before, we were now on familiar(ish) trails. Fantastic views of Mont Blanc and its many Glaciers were on offer and the local wildlife was out to show us how mountain running should be done, as an Ibex almost pushed past us. A beautiful days running to finish off, marred slightly as I took a horrible tumble on the descent. Fortunately Andreas stopped to patch me up, friendship indeed as there was a beer going warm for him at La Floria.

And that was that. All in 101.5 miles with over 10,000m of ascent and descent. Difficult to use the word epic without sounding like a prat, but it has been a fantastic adventure. There are photos on our various facebook pages. It just remains to wish Steve Dixon, Simon Redshaw and Eirik Stanges the best of luck when running the whole thing non-stop in August. Rather you than me lads.

3 Race reports from Clive Bandy

Vertical Km

Not content with a mere one hundred mile run that week Ross was back in action on the Friday with the Vertical Km race (known as the KMV if you are up with the lingo). A distance (as we know it) of only 3.8km, however the finish line is 1,000m up in the sky, and requires ladders. A perfect race for roofers and window cleaners then. With racers setting off at their own individual start times at 20 second intervals Ross dodged the midday heat & set off at 7pm. As the race route went past our apartment we all lumbered out to watch Ross sprint (I'm being extremely generous here) past, and off up the mountain with the route zig-zagging up under the Brevent cable car. Looked like hard work to me. Ross finished in 53m11s (Winner 35m51s), in 155th place of 566 finishers.

Cross Du Mont Blanc

This year Curly (Matt Allen) had gone missing even before he arrived. With nothing but the occasional 'thumbs up' icon on the facebook page we had to assume he had a working knowledge of flight/transfer arrangements and the apartment address. But arrive he did, and on Friday morning he ran the 23km, 1,655m ascent Cross du Mont Blanc race. The beautiful weather disappeared and in rolled violent claps of thunder, and rain that makes you start looking for two of each species. Nevertheless Curly finished in 3hr29m in 357th place of 1,527 finishers (winner 1hr59m), cheered on by hardy support from Steve and Andreas, and looking very much like a drenched poodle by the end.

Mont Blanc Marathon

It appears that Ross Bibby is physically incapable of not actually being running, all of the time. Sunday morning saw him toe the start line for the Mont Blanc marathon. It is a nice route from Chamonix Centre finishing up a steep climb at the Plan Praz cable car covering 42km with 2,700m of climbing. A race that many Striders have completed over the years. We expected big things from our reigning fell champ, but given his 'taper' in the previous few days doesn't resemble anything you'll find in Runner's World, Eirik Stanges' club record of 5hrs10mins still stands. Ross finished in 5hr38m (winner 4hr04m) in 167th place of 2,045 finishers, which I think was a cracking effort.