V S Update - 11 August 2016

- Training (and food)
- New order open for kit (hoodies and polo shirts)
- Membership renewals
- Results from Bramham, Scafell, Wharfedale, Lakeland 50, Borrowdale and Horsforth

Training (and food)

Tuesday 16 August

- Juniors, parents, beginners and improvers meet 6pm Leos (this session is not available to those on the waiting list nor prospective new junior members)
- Intermediates meet 7pm Leos for session at Bedquilts : 7-8mins easy, medium, hard 'triangle running'; 7-8 mins of Indian File running; 7-8 mins of 3 per team relays; followed by a 1km time trial.
- Experienced runners meet 7pm Leos for 5 by 6 minutes by Eccup Reservoir.
- Early sessions followed by lasagne at 7:15pm - book at [email protected]
- Later sessions followed by lasagne at 8:30pm - book at [email protected]
- Book before 10pm Sunday 14 August choosing meat or veggie lasagne (£3.50).
- NB there are still gremlins in the email system, if you get a "not delivered" reply referring to virgin.net, don't worry, the message will have reached us.

Tuesday 23 August

- Juniors, parents, beginners and improvers meet 6pm at Grammar School at Leeds (this session is not available to those on the waiting list nor prospective new junior members)
- Intermediates meet 7pm Leos for hill session of 2 x 3 x (1 lamppost, 2 lampposts, 3 lampposts) on Cranmer Bank.
- Experienced runners meet Leos at 7pm for hills by Eccup Reservoir.

Looking forward

- Tuesday 30 August - to be advised
- Tuesday 6 September - sessions at Leos, followed by VSAC Committee Meeting open to All Members, details to follow
- Tuesday 13 September - track sessions at GSAL and Leeds Met
- Tuesday 20 September - junior 1 mile and club handicap 5 miles at Eccup Res (provisional date)

Hoodies/Polo Shirts

Mr Kit has opened an order - open to the end of August ... should be delivered in time for the Autumn tour and winter season ... same prices as the last order but below is a reminder. Contact Mr Kit in the usual way [email protected] to place an order.

There are facebook posts in VSAC (and will be in other groups) if you want to discuss with Mr Kit.

Description	Cost (£) Ex VAT	Cost (£) Inc VAT
SG24 SG Men's Contrast Pull-Over Hoodie (Black)	£11.09	£13.31
SG24F SG Ladies Contrast Pull-Over Hoodie (Black)	£11.09	£13.31
SG24K SG Kids Contrast Pull-Over Hoodie (Black)*	£8.35	£8.35
SG28 SG Men's Full Zip Urban Hoodie (Black or Light Oxford)	£14.98	£17.98
SG28F SG Ladies Full Zip Urban Hoodie (Black or Light Oxford)	£14.98	£17.98
SG28K SG Kids Full Zip Urban Hoodie (Black ONLY)*	£12.49	£12.49
TJ5402 Tee Jays Men's Urban Zip Hoodie(Black or Heather Grey)	£22.99	£27.59
TJ5403 Tee Jays Ladies' Urban Zip Hoodie (Black or Heather Grey)	£22.99	£27.59
SG50 SG Men's Cotton Polo Shirt	£5.19	£6.23
SG50F SG Ladies Cotton Polo Shirt	£5.19	£6.23
SG50K SG Kids Cotton Polo Shirt	£3.99	£3.99
Embroidery Left Chest VSAC Logo (Black or White)	£2.00	£2.40
Embroidery Right Chest Individual NAME (Black or White)	£1.80	£2.16
Heat Sealed Transfer (Back) Valley Striders Leeds Logo (Black or White)	£2.25	£2.70

*Note: Kids Garments are ZERO VAT RATE however decoration is VATABLE

NB Club vests continue to be available from Complete Runner at Ilkley or Dobson & Robson (Intersport) at Ilkley.

Membership Renewals

The new Valley Striders year starts on 1 September, we'll decide the new membership fees soon, so don't send any money yet ...

... unless you haven't paid for the "current" year i.e. 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016. You can check by looking at www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsmemreg.htm and if you're not on that list, we're fairly sure you haven't paid, so please contact us to discuss how to ensure you have continuous membership.

NB if you're not on the list, you're no longer entitled to get the £2 discount on your race entry fees.

PS if you're not on the list, the V S Update emails will cease at 31 August (may be a relief for some of you!)

Results

Apologies to Mick Tinker for an error in his start time for the most recent club handicap. We had picked up a race result for Michael Tinker at the Bramham Park 10k run last October. There are two Michael Tinkers in Yorkshire and we'd got the wrong one, the slightly faster one.

So just to confuse us, here's a report from "our" Mick at a different Bramham 10k ...

Bramham 10k - from Mick Tinker

Please find attached the results from the first Bramham 10K which took place today, not to be confused with the Bramham PARK 10K, which I've never done.

An interesting new run with about half very quiet country roads and pavements and half tracks and fields, which were quite bumpy and certainly not flat. There was a killer hill just before a circuit of the finish playing fields.

1 Paul Millgate (Wetherby) 47:35
24 Paul Crossan (VS) 47:35
51 Michael Tinker (VS) 53:24
103 finished

So my next handicap calculator should be based on 53 minutes for a 10K, not 45!

Scafell Pike Trail Marathon, 10th July 2016 - from Ross Bibby

27 miles, 1800m ascent/descent

1. Tory Hugh, Serpentine AC, 4.21.33
8. Ross Bibby, Valley Striders AC, 4.40.37
18. Tracy Dean, Team Raidlight UK, 5.08.04 (first female)
(209 runners)

Wharfedale 3 Peaks Challenge

Well I'll be the first to admit that I was not at all motivated to get up at the crack of dawn for an 8am start in Kettlewell. As I'd entered as a lone Valley Strider I didn't have the commitment of car sharing and a part of me was tempted to stay in bed, however my brain remembered that I'm training for an ultra, so I pulled the stops out and set off along the scenic A65 highway to the Dales.

The weather forecast looked very good for the morning but there was a threat of heavy rain mid-afternoon so my plan was to not take photos, focus on map reading as the course wasn't marked and get to the end before the weather took a turn for the worse. At 8am it was already scorching and hard to believe that forecast but also hard to tell how many people wearing shorts in the starting crowd may be running (more importantly, were there enough runners for me to follow!).

My recent strategy in small events is to try and get ahead at the start so I can count how many ladies pass me on the way and work out my finishing place which is a good motivator. We soon started climbing up a fairly steep but fairly shuffleable hill from Kettlewell up onto a fairly runnable ridge which seemed to go on forever but offered spectacular views for miles on such a clear day, allowing us to view the opposite side of the valley where we'd end up later. Finally we were treated to a nice descent from Horse Head dropping down to Yockenthwaite and the first check point. Note this was quite some way in and only offered water so if you're planning to do this I'd recommend being fairly self-sufficient on the food front.

I didn't stop long as so far no other women had passed me and I didn't want to push my luck, plus the runners in front were disappearing from sight which meant I needed to get a move on or use time map reading. I sped off and stupidly looked at the map instead of looking up for race tape and realised after about 100m that I was going the wrong way - not much time lost and still no other ladies so it was all good. That slip up had meant that a runner behind me had caught up and we started chatting as you do in these distance races (where you're not really 'running' as such!). It turned out that he had previously done the race and was also quite a good ultra runner (he mentioned a few tough races including the Hardmoors 160 and I instantly knew I would soon be eating his dust!). Our chatting however meant that we were both caught off-guard and managed to spot a marker which led to a closed gate ... that didn't make sense but it was definitely a race marker and this fellow didn't correct us so we carried on. After a few minutes it really didn't feel right and he decided it didn't look familiar plus I mentioned to him that I was sure the marker was one of those you see at orienteering races ...

I still had my map out so it didn't take long to figure out how we could get back on course without back-tracking however that meant running through a thistle field which was pretty painful on the feet (and I still seem to have spikes embedded in my toes!). The important thing though was had any other women overtaken me??? As I thought, the Ripon runner left me for dead once we were back on track and I caught up with a guy who I knew wasn't far behind me earlier so hopefully that meant I was still ahead of the other ladies.

Checkpoint 2 was at not far before the climb to Buckden Pike (and again only water from memory) and they told me I was first lady which is something I've never heard before! The climb up to Buckden summit was pretty tiring and I stopped for a brief moment to touch the trig point and enjoy the views. Onwards from here followed another straight ridge, following the wall edge whilst trying to find a safe way around some pretty treacherous bogs. I was doing OK when I decided to step on a plank of wood to get myself over a bog, only for it to completely give way, plunging me chest deep into cold peaty water. I could tough the ground but my calfs had cramped up so I was torn between wanting to get out (whilst realising I'd not put my phone in a dry bag today ...) but unable to unless I got rid of the cramp. I finally hauled myself out and was sodden (but luckily the lining on the backpack kept the water out long enough to keep my phone alive!). It was at this point that I realised it was worth me carrying all the heavy kit list (despite feeling miffed earlier that many others just seemed to have a bum bag with a bottle of water!). It was a hot day but had the weather turned I would have needed to get out of my wet kit sharpish but for the time being I decided to carry on with my new found peaty brown look (should we have an away coloured vest for events with bogs?), to warm myself up.

After another nice descent I came to another water station before the climb to Great Whernside which did seem fairly steep and I was starting to get tired but I could see runners ahead and the Ripon guy who left me earlier so that spurred me on to keep moving. I was on my own reaching the top but knew it was all downhill to the end - first a bit of a loose rocky path to contend with then a very fast grassy downhill all the way to Kettlewell before a final tough flat stretch on tarmac.

I knew I was still first lady but worried I may have slowed down so in a state of panic I made a bit of an error ... the race had been fairly well marked with tape at times and coming into the finish I saw tape next to a path turning - for a split second I wondered if I was supposed to go back to the field the way we left or take this path and come into the field by another entrance (it was logical that the extra stretch may have been needed to make up the full 22 miles after all). I took a 50/50 gamble and followed the tape along the river to a gate and into the finishing field ... to discover the marshals at the finish line all had their backs to me. 'Ahem??' I think I said. 'Where did you come from?' was the reply. 'I followed the tape like I was told to' ... 'oh that was from earlier on ... have you finished then?' followed by something I've not heard in a race before 'Well, I think you must be first lady??' (Cue confused looks between marshals).

It made a refreshing change to hear there was a masseuse twiddling his thumbs waiting for clients so after a quick scrub down in the river to remove the caked on mud (exfoliating gloves should be on every fell runners kit list for post race river scrubbing) my legs received some pampering. He was a member of UWFRA team but also a fell runner and apologised profusely for the lack of prize or medal for coming first lady. In all fairness the field was probably pretty small (hard to tell as the results don't differentiate between walkers and runners) and it is essentially the same setup as an LDWA - a challenge but for me a nice personal achievement!

So, how does this compare to 'The' Yorkshire three peaks? Well, this was the ascent profile - only just over 1000m over a 22 mile course which is not a lot in comparison and the climbs are much more forgiving although Buckden Pike and Great Whernside were a much steeper slog than this profile suggests!

The event was held to fundraise for our local fell rescue team (Upper Wharfedale). It was a great event all round, particularly given the fantastic weather and if you agree it was for a great cause you may want to check out my Lakeland 50 ultra fundraising page ? https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Amanda-Seims2

Oh and the threat of heavy rain and thunder did come true as I was driving home and I have never seen anything like it (poor walkers!).

Lakeland 50

Amanda Seims emailed "Four of us started and all completed the Lakeland 50, all finishing in the top half of the field and I think all achieving PBs?" http://www.lakeland100.com/the-lakeland-50

56 Andreas Mayer 10hr6min
59 Amanda Seims 10hr9min
194 Sarah Smith 12hr14min
267 James Loftus 13hr20min
672 started, 625 finished

The Classic Borrowdale Fell Race, Saturday 6 August 2016 - from Steve Dixon

A 'long' counter in this year's English Fell Championships - 17 miles and 6,500ft of climb.

I foolishly entered the 2015 race fully aware that it was just a week after the Lakeland 100. Been on crutches with a fibula stress fracture following completion of the 100 I decided there was little chance of making the cut off at Honister Hause even with my 'cheat sticks' and gave my number away. 

Well there's no fool like an old fool! Borrowdale again fell the week after L100 on my race calendar and my name was down for both again!

To give myself a fighting chance this year I pulled out of the L100 at Dalemain 60 miles in. It just happened to be at the start of the Lakeland 50 race so was able to cheer off a number of Striders - Sarah Smith, Amanda Seims, James Loftus and Andreas Mayer and a host of other runners from around Leeds and West Yorkshire. I'm looking forward to a race report on this amazing event.

Luckily I survived those 60 miles and stood on the start field in the Borrowdale village of Rosthwaite opposite the Scafell Hotel feeling relatively confident of completing the course and not at all tempted to retire to the hotel bar instead. 

Unfortunately injuries prevented Sarah Smith, Daniel Price and Alison Campbell joining me at the start so it was me and Ross Bibby left to represent Valley Striders. It's a flat start running along a narrow path by the side of the beck to Stonethwaite and back along the road almost as far as Rosthwaite before swinging left into The Combe and the climb up to Bessyboot began. It's a lung bursting slog but once the Checkpoint is reached the reward is miles of undulating trods skirting below Glaramara with fleeting glimpses down into the deep cut valley of Langstrath. Eventually the second Checkpoint at Esk Hause was reached with a steady climb now needed to reach Scafell Pike. It got very busy here with many walkers out on what was a very fine weather day. More importantly the rocks were dry and it was reasonably easy to hop from one rock to another and weave between the walkers without been too much of a nuisance. 

The Pike was reached in 2hrs 5mins - 5 minutes behind my schedule for a PB but I was just happy to be feeling strong and ready for the very scary screes down to the Corridor Route. There are lots of lovely trods crisis crossing the Corridor Route down to Styehead. Concentration however was needed here to avoid a twisted ankle or losing the way. The checkpoint at Styehead is the start of the climb up to Great Gable. It's head down time and get it over with without destroying yourself as there's still plenty of running to be done. Pleased I kept my position on the climb apart from losing a place to the amazing fell runner that is Wendy Dodds! 3hrs 8mins at the summit meant 8mins over my PB schedule. Still feeling strong so was happy to tag onto the back of a group of runners who would hopefully guide me down to Windy Gap and across to Honister Hause Checkpoint via Green Gable, Brandreth and Grey Knotts. Lost some time on this section but was happy with the lines I took so probably was just fatigue taking its toll! 15 mins down at this checkpoint in 3hrs 45 but well within the cut off of 4hrs 30mins. 

I always get fooled by the numerous false summits on the climb up to Dale Head and today was no different. I was pleased though to be able to pass a few runners and tried not to get too uptight about a couple who climbed swiftly passed me. 17 minutes outside my PB schedule here at the top but I'd given up on a PB to be honest at Scafell Pike. Target now was to get down in under 30 mins and break 4hrs 45. That was a bit too ambitious and had to make do with a sub 5 hour effort. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing and will be back!

Ross had an awesome race finishing in well under 4 hours, taking almost 40 minutes off his previous best and he assures me that, even better, it was 13 seconds faster than Eirik Stanges' time from 2013.

Results
- Ricky Lightfoot of Ellenborough won, as he usually does, in 2hrs 49mins 21secs
- Lou Roberts of Ambleside was first woman (40th) in 3hrs 26mins 09secs
- Ross was 124th in 3hrs 57mins 21secs?
- I was 270th in 4hrs 51mins 22secs
- 352 finished and 21 either retired or were timed out.
- An indication of the quality of the veteran categories - first vet 60 was a minute faster than Ross!

There was good support from Daniel, Alison and Becky round the route and many thanks for that.

I didn't see any other Striders so my apologies if I missed anyone.

Horsforth Hurtle

Amanda Seims emailed to say that she was 1^st lady and she and Andreas Meyer were 1^st mixed team at the Horsforth Hurtle (the 3^rd race in Jason Praill's summer race series). They were equal 7^th overall. And as they were the only V S runners there, they (on behalf of VS) won the team prize for the best average time.

She pointed out that Rachel Mackie had been 1^st lady at the first two races in the series (at race 2, jointly with Sarah Grant), so have a clean sweep so far.

The 4^th (and final) race in the series is on 17 August at Sicklinghall see www.countrytrailraces.co.uk