V S Update - 14 June 2018

- Leeds Country Way Relay 2 Sept - respond by 26 June
- Tuesday Food (and Training)
- Junior Mile Races and Club Handicap Race - Tue 26 June
- Pudsey Junior Race 17 June and Eccup Junior Races 1 July
- Danefield Relay Tue 3 July
- Golden Acre Relay and Junior Relay - Tue 10 July
- Washburn Relay and Junior Relay- Fri 13 July
- Sportsshoes code
- Results from two York Track and Field meetings (and a report too)
- Reports from Mulgrave Castle, Cinque Ports 100 mile and Skye Ultra

Leeds Country Way - Sunday 2 September (from Myra Jones) - please reply by 26 June

We're hoping to enter 4 or 5 teams in this year's Leeds Country Way. Please let us know if you would like to take part by accepting the Facebook invite or emailing [email protected]

It would also be helpful if you could tell us if you are not available or would rather be a reserve.

If you have a preference for a particular leg or running partner please let us know and we'll do our best to accommodate it.

We're planning to send the team details out before the end of June so please let us know as soon as you can.

I've attached the details of the event for those who've not taken part before but please let me know if you have any questions. It's a really fantastic event and we would like as many of you as possible to represent the club.

https://kippaxharriers.org.uk/leeds-country-way/

Tuesday Food (and Training)

Tuesday 19June - lasagne (only after early session). To order, please email [email protected] (for food at 7:15pm) before 10pm on Sunday 17th, saying whether you want a full portion (£4) or a half portion (£2), whether you want meat or veggie lasagne. All training sessions that evening from Leos.

Tuesday 26 June - hopefully food (but only after late session). Training that evening is replaced by races by Eccup Reservoir (see next item)

Tuesday 3 July - pie and peas (probably only after early session). All training sessions that evening from Leos but numbers for 7pm training likely to be reduced because Danefield Relay is that evening.

Tuesday 10 July - no food, junior sessions likely to be cancelled, we recommend that juniors run the Golden Acre Junior Relays (or "senior" relays for ages 13 and above)

Junior Mile Races and Club Handicap Race - Tuesday 26 June

The races are by Eccup Reservoir. Meeting point is the lodge at the bottom of Goodrick Lane LS17 7RW. Note that Goodrick Lane is a private road, please park on Alwoodley Lane or one of the side roads nearby. And please allow at least 5 minutes to walk from where you've parked to where we start!

Click http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=429750&y=441300&z=110&zoom=2 for map for start location, go to the bottom of the hill and then turn right towards a gate.

The start of the 1 mile races will be through the gate, the start of the adult club handicap will be just before the gate, please do not congregate in front of the Lodge.

Junior 1 mile

Meet 6pm, there will be THREE races, school years 1 to 4 at 6:10pm, school years 5 and 6 at 6:25pm and school years 7 to 11 (plus adults wanting to run 1 mile) at 6:35pm.

Juniors on waiting list are very welcome to take part.

Parents may run with their children in the first race but will not be timed.

Marshals: We need a marshal at the turn-round point of the 1 mile race and a few marshals along the route, if you can help, please email [email protected]

Club Handicap - The Emmerdale one (from Steph)

Club handicap (5 miles) will start at 7pm please arrive for 6:45pm to get your start times.

Race is free to enter and open to club members and non-members including friends of existing members.

We need 8-10 volunteers, If you can volunteer please email [email protected]

Please meet at the bottom of Goodrick Lane (Eccup Reservoir)

In the Club Handicap, runners are allocated start times based on recent "form" and it is the handicapper's objective for everyone to finish at the same time (except those who've recently won the club handicap, they get an extra penalty.

Please arrive for 6:45pm, see if your name is on a sheet pinned up on the fence, if it is, you will find your start time on it, if not, see Sue Sunderland or Paul Sanderson and tell them your recent or estimated 5k or 10k time and they will calculate your start time. The cup can only be won by someone with their name and time on the list.

Grand Prix points are awarded based on "chip" time."

For information, here's the route map http://valleystriders.org.uk/hcaptrl.jpg

Pudsey Junior Race 17 June and Eccup Junior Races 1 July

Pudsey is on 17 June, details and entries via https://www.runbritain.com/races?keyword=pudsey

Eccup is on 1 July, details and entries via www.racebest.com .

For most juniors, the VS membership fee for 1 Sep 2017 to 31 Aug 2018 included some race entry fees. We have already paid for Peco race and Peco relays. Pudsey and Eccup are the final two races in this offer but we have no way of paying these fees on your behalf so IF YOU RUN we will deduct them from your 2018/19 membership fee when it is due this coming September.

Danefield Relay - Tuesday 3 July (from Amanda Seims)

Teams of 3 needed for the Danefield relay on 3rd July with each person running a nice hilly 3 mile loop. We had a great turnout from the club last year and even managed to keep a few people back after for a post-race drink. If we get enough interest then we could try and do post-race food somewhere local.

There is an event page on facebook but if you can't access that then you can find race details here: https://www.fellandale.com/danefieldrelay/ and join a team on the spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iSe1hNBqrt__Z4r_Sv6UUIzNa8MVFceWtPBmP6jgJso/edit?usp=sharing

Minimum age 12. There is an event in the VS Juniors FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/369749209844475/ , please respond to this post if you want to form a young adults team.

Golden Acre Relay and Junior Relay - Tuesday 10 July

Organised by Abbey Runners. 3 x 2.75 miles at 7pm. Minimum age 13. Entries are only available on the night, from 6pm onwards, but entry forms can be downloaded, printed and completed in advance to save time on the night:

http://www.abbeyrunners.co.uk/golden-acre-relay/

Junior relays - This year, for the first time, there will also be a 3 x 1 mile Junior relay for 6 - 12 year olds, starting at 6:30pm, registration from 5:30pm. There will be 2 age categories of junior teams, one where all team members are aged 9 or less, the other is open to any age. Prizes for 1^st boys team, 1^st girls team and 1^st mixed team in each age category.

There is an event in the VS Juniors FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/369749209844475/ , please respond to this if you want to discuss forming a junior team (or juniors 13+ for a "young adults" team"). Please email [email protected] if you definitely want to run.

Washburn Valley Relay and Junior Relay - Friday 13 July

From Swinsty Reservoir Car Park, organised by Otley A C, 3 legs approx. 4 miles each, minimum age 16.

http://otleyac.org.uk/washburn-valley-relays/

Junior relays 4 x 1.1 miles ages 8 to 15 as follows
- Each team will consist of at least 1 girl and 1 boy
- Each team shall have at least 1 runner aged 8 to 9
- Each team shall have at least 2 runners aged 8 to 11
- Each team shall have at least 3 runners aged 8 to 13

There is an event in the VS Juniors FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/369749209844475/ , please respond to this if you want to form a junior team.

Discount code for www.sportsshoes.com

Members of Valley Striders can have a 10% discount and free delivery on purchases.

This is available to all members of Valley Striders including juniors, cyclists and triathletes.

Please don't share this code with people who are not a member of VS and please do not copy to any social media site open to the public.

The code for this month is: (see Facebook)

RESULTS

York Summer League Meeting 1

Cat	Event	Pos	Name	Time / Dist	Pts
U13G	150 Metres	8	Josie Pawley	23.06		1^st in heat
U13G	800 Metres	6	Josie Pawley	2:42.03	1

York Summer League Meeting 2 (and report from Jamie Walker)

Cat	Event	Pos	Name	Time / Dist	Pts
U11B	75 Metres	13	Toby Walker	13.25
U11B	600 Metres	4	Toby Walker	2:08:28	3	1^st in heat
U11B	Long Jump	7	Toby Walker	2.89
U13B	200 Metres	11	Jamie Walker	32.15
U13B	800 Metres	3	Jamie Walker	2:35.80	4
U13B	Long Jump	13	Jamie Walker	3.42
U15B	100 Metres	13	Isaac Rose	14.60
U15B	Long Jump	6	Isaac Rose	3.52	1
U15B	Shot 4Kg	6	Isaac Rose	7.02	1
U11G	75 Metres	4	Evie Rose	11.40	3	1^st in heat
U11G	600 Metres	4	Evie Rose	2:00.07	3	1^st in heat
U11G	Long Jump	3	Evie Rose	3.42	4
U11G	75 Metres	5	Jessica Baxter	12.18	2
U11G	600 Metres	1	Jessica Baxter	1:56.39	6
U11G	Shot	3	Jessica Baxter	3.65	4

Thanks to Jamie Walker who emailed me report

The York summer league is held at the athletics track in York. This location has many excellent facilities, such as a stand to watch competitors from (especially when it's wet, like at the weekend!) and also has full equipment, such as discus and hammer cages, etc.

Some of the many events included a lollipop race for any younger siblings who are not performing in the actual event.

One of the popular facilities was the sweet shop at registration (no surprise!). There was also a commentator who is scheduling the events at their approximate times.

Anyone who enjoys competitive athletics should give it a go; it is a great event to enjoy, with many different competitions to participate in.

There are also a number of events for the disabled, so anyone with disabilities can come and join in as well, which I think the spectators really loved!

REPORTS

Mulgrave Castle 10k Races (from Bob Jackson)

The Mulgrave Estate is to the Whitby area what the Harewood Estate is to the north of Leeds i.e. they own most of the farming land in the area. Mulgrave Castle is in the village of Lythe, a mile uphill from Sandsend at an average gradient of 1 in 10; Sandsend is 2 miles along the coast from Whitby. To get an idea of the gradient of Lythe Bank see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5W9e8aypVc

Competitors were walked from the sports club in Lythe to the Castle then a little further downhill to the start, we were then probably 100m above sea level. The race was all off road through the woodland of the Mulgrave Estate and twice we went downhill almost to Sandsend and in between went two-thirds of the way back uphill again.

There were two races, and open race organised by Loftus & Whitby AC, followed 5 minutes later by event 4 in the Yorks Vets Grand Prix http://www.yvaa.org/grand-prix/

The races followed the same route, so within 10 minutes or so, the leader in the YVGP race was overtaking the backmarker in the "open" race, but the course was reasonably wide all the way round so no real problems for the vets to get past.

The races also had a piece of route used 3 times, once near the beginning going west to east, then at half way again going west to east and finally at the end going west to east. I don't know who designed this and how they persuaded their race committee it would work, to me it seemed an invitation for confusion and collision but neither happened, indeed I only met one person (the tail-ender for the vets race) going in the opposite direction.

Back at the sports club (NB built on land donated by the Mulgrave Estate), there was a long queue for bacon sandwiches and cakes - I knew I should have rushed back rather than chatting with people and then admiring the rhododendrons.

Open race
81 Bob Jackson 56:39
181 ran

Vets Race
Men
26 Roy Huggins 48:09
32 Ken Fox 49:44
52 Leroy Sutton 53.03
112 ran
Women
46 Maureen Coffey (Roundhay Runners and VS team dietician and photographer) 69:43
58 ran

Cinque Ports 100 - from Tim Straughan

Cinque Ports 100 (it's not a race) report - 26/27 May 2018

On Saturday 26 May at 10am Ian Sanderson and I set off from Hastings with 447 other walkers/runners on the LDWA annual flagship hundred mile challenge.

This year the route visited some of the finest coast and countryside in Kent and East Sussex passing through all the original Cinque Ports (Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich and six associated towns. The weather was warm and sunny and the heat became a real challenge for some particularity on the second day.

We were cheered on at each of the 16 Check Points (usually a village hall) for drinks and snacks by a team of fantastic local volunteers and often included Valley Strider's most committed and loyal supporter Katharine Robbins who also stayed up all night doing the mandatory kit check just outside Lydd.

Breakfast was at Hythe (roughly half way) which Ian and I reached at 3am on Sunday morning and was an opportunity to take a quick shower and change of shoes and clothing (and in my case bandage some badly blistered feet). Sadly Sara Dyer had to pull out with an injury at CP8.

Of the 449 starters 306 finished and first to cross the line (101.3 miles) was in 23 hours 18 minutes

Ian and I finished in 42th position just before 7pm on Sunday evening in a time of 32 hours 48 minutes which took a whole minute of Ian's PB !

At the station on Monday morning we met two Geordies who had literally come straight from the finish having completed the 100 miles just inside the 48 hour cut off. The guys that keep going through not one but two nights are the real heroes of this event.

Thanks to Madeleine Watson and all the other LDWA volunteers for looking after us all so well on this my first LDWA Hundred.

Hadrian's Wall is the destination for the 2019 Hundred if you fancy adding this sort of crazy challenge next years to do list?

Cinque Ports 100 - from Ian Sanderson

It's a bank-holiday Saturday night and I'm not in a pub. I'm in a field, trying to fight my way between two rows of head-high rapeseed plants with some people I don't know. It's still warm. Up ahead I get the occasional glimpse of other headtorches heading on a parallel path about three rows to my left; hopefully one of them belongs to Tim. The frogs have fallen silent but the light show is still going strong above. We're 14 hours into the '100' and we've only just reached the half-way point.

The Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) organise their flagship 100 event each Spring Bank Holiday Weekend. This event is held in a different part of the country each year, with 500 entrants covering 100 miles in up to 48 hours (without sleeping). This year, the Kent group were hosting the 'Cinque Ports 100' (pronounced 'Sink'). The Cinque Ports were an association of towns on the south east coast that provided ships and sailors for the Kings of England before the development of a standing navy. The route from Hastings to Dover, via Sandwich, took in the five principle towns and some of the associated 'limb' settlements. With only 6000 feet of ascent and dry conditions forecast, this was going to be 'the easy 100'.

Striders representation this year was myself, first-timer Tim Straughan and 100 veteran Sara Dyer, ably supported by Steve Webb and Kathy Robbins (who also stayed up all night assisting at the secret 'kit-check' location). It was already hot and sunny at 10am when the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports set us off from Hasting promenade, with Tim and myself immediately settling into a good pace... a gentle stroll. The event has two starts; 10am for the walkers, and 2pm for the runners. Only about 30 people opt for the later start, with everyone else making use of the four extra hours of daylight. But the checkpoint opening times do mean the 10am starters can't do much running before tea-time. Perhaps not such a bad thing when you've got a 100 miles to cover.

So Saturday morning and afternoon feel very relaxed, walking and jogging through some lovely Sussex and Kent countryside, managing our pace to get to checkpoints about 10 minutes after opening. The route turned inland at first and, away from the coastal breeze, it felt quite hot but the frequent checkpoints (16 in total) mean you never go more than 10 miles without refilling bottles and getting something to eat. And the LDWA take checkpoint catering very seriously; 100 miles = 10,000 calories to make-up!

Saturday evening and the checkpoint opening times start to open out again, so we start running. In truth it's a shuffle, about 10-11 minutes/mile, but we're passing some of the faster walkers and hit our peak position of about 20th. As soon as we start walking, the fast walkers overtake us again, so we're getting to know people quite well. We've seen Steve and Kathy a number of times already around the route, but this time Kathy has got high-vis on and is directing us into kit-check. Passed (with an update on the football) and its head-torches on and into the night. High points include the 'frog chorus' going over Romney Marsh (Paul McCartney lives nearby, apparently) and, running (shuffling) along the prom to Dymchurch , wind in our faces and the sea being lit-up by the lightning that went on most of the night (without raining, thankfully). We are overtaken by the first pair of 2pm runners around midnight, on their way to a sub-24 hour completion. Into the afore-mentioned rapeseed fields and eventually, at 3am, to the breakfast stop.

Breakfast is a major checkpoint, where you can pick up your breakfast bag (transported from the start) and prepare yourself for the day ahead. Shower and complete outfit change, reapply suncream (seems strange, as its still dark) and onto the 'at table' breakfast service. None of us can face the full English on offer, but scrambled eggs on toast slips down easily enough. Tim has changed shoes as he's got massive blisters on the balls of both feet. Fortunately Dawn, who joined us six hours ago, has some blister pads that are a perfect fit - serendipity.

Refreshed (sort of), the three of us head off into the breaking dawn. We don't quite see the sunrise (behind a hill) but it's good to turn the headtorches off. A few silly navigational errors start to creep in over the next stages. Navigation is mainly off the written route description (like the LCW relay) with little need to refer to maps, but tiredness starts to creep up on everyone. Best tactics for day 2 is to get into a group, either permanently or just for a few miles, in the hope that someone can still tell L from R! Failing to find our way out of a village churchyard, we tag onto a larger group for the drop into Dover (Hooray!) - but this is only 72 miles in, so we have to leave and head north again.

Kathy re-appears in her supporter role, and we gain Cassie from Hasting Runners; she's recced the route so we need to hang on to her! Over the white cliffs of Dover (not literally) and we're shuffling along the prom at Deal, through crowds of 'normal' people giving us a very wide berth. Kathy reappears, we're through the checkpoint and I hit a massive low. Walking up a pebble-strewn path, it's Sunday afternoon, it's hot, I'm tired, I'm miles from the finish and I really can't see the point anymore. The other advantage of forming groups is that it's unlikely you'll all hit a low simultaneously; Dawn is on her tenth hundred and talks me into the Sandwich checkpoint, which is 90 miles "and no-one quits with 10 miles to go". Kathy re-appears. Pep talk from Kathy.

We turn south for the inland route back to Dover. Northbourne. Kathy re-appears, as does Cassie's family. Cassie declares we're not sitting down at this checkpoint, no-one dares argue. Kathy disappears, into the village pub with Cassie's family. The last ten miles are always very simple to navigate in 100s, for obvious reasons, which in Kent means ploughing through more large fields of rapeseed. We're walking strongly, and the four of us pass quite a lot of broken looking individuals. The grand finale is a walk beside the A20 and round the back of a Travelodge, and we're into the Duke of York school and FINISHED. Kathy re-appears. Photos, certificates, a sit-down meal. Too befuddled to recognise David Thompson (a VS autumn tour regular - he did run it, in 28 hours). My traditional post-100 'funny turn' comes on, but I manage not to faint or vomit this year. Kathy organises a lift for us back to our hotel in Dover. Shower, beer, bed.

101 miles, a smidge under 33 hours, =42nd place for myself and Tim after all the runners had come in. Lots of great memories, with a few bits I'll quickly forget. Tim did brilliantly given he was in considerably pain for all of Sunday (and Monday...) and his positive attitude was a great help. About a third of the field failed to finish, including Sara who hit her head on something and came into kit-check "looking like Mr Bump" - she'll be back next year. As will I. Will you be joining us? https://www.ldwa.org.uk/2019Hundred

Skye Trail Ultra DNF (from Steve Dixon)

73 miles, 4500 metres of ascent.

The Isle of Skye is not what it used to be. For one thing it's has been linked to the mainland by the Skye Bridge for many years now and it's even free to cross now. This has had the effect of making the island much busier traffic wise on the road between the Kyle and Portree. Venture further afield from this main road and thankfully it still has the magic of the Scottish Islands. Venture even further to the far northern tip of the Trotternish Peninsula the feeling of isolation and remoteness becomes surreal. This is where the trail begins - next to the Duntulm red phone box (in working order) seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The adventure began at 2.30am on Saturday as 30 something runners congregated in the Broadford Village Hall waiting to board the school bus for the 90 minute drive over to the phone box.

The 30 minutes before the 5am start went by in a sleepy sort of flash and we were off! Off running along a short section of road heading towards the boggy tracks up onto the Trotternish Ridge. It was then in excess of a marathon distance of running through indescribable dramatic scenic beauty before we dropped down off the ridge onto the road a mile or so outside Portree. The views went on forever, whether looking south along the never ending ridge, or west across to Harris and Lewis or east across to the Highlands. It also happened to be extremely hard going in terms of many steep ascents and descents, the technicality of the trails (when trails were there) and increasing heat as the early dawn evolved into mid morning and then early afternoon.

The Storr was the highest point on the ridge and I made the mistake to believe/hope it was then a gentle undulating descent onto road into Portree. I hadn't factored in Ben Dearg!!! It appeared on the horizon after climbing up onto The Storr. Below me was a 400 metre drop down to the bealach and directly above that a 200 metre cliff leading up to Ben Dearg. That sight almost destroyed me psychologically! Eventually I gained that top optimistically hoping it was finally an easy gently descending path to the road. That descent was nothing but and after 3 miles of tussocks, bogs, vicious little climbs, increasing heat and tricky navigation I ended up on the tarmac totally destroyed physically and psychologically! Less than halfway with absolutely nothing in my legs and persistent nausea making drinking and eating impossible. I felt so dreadful as I staggered into Portree that I promised myself I would give up running totally and take up cycling instead. Jeff, the race director, took pity on me and very kindly bought me a chocolate covered ice cream lollipop. How could I refuse!? I should have! A couple of cautious nibbles and I disgraced myself retching into the grass verge in front of all and sundry at the checkpoint. End of race for me! DNF! 8 hours to cover 27 miles and 2,200 metres of climbing. It was relatively soon into an ultra for me to feel so bad but my excuse was my stupid attempt to run the Ultra Trail Snowdonia two weeks previously! It's strapline 'savage beyond reason' is a clue that 6000m over 50 plus miles was not good preparation for this race. 45 miles and 5000m over 17 hours saw me DNF in Wales hoping I could still recover in time for Skye. Not a totally convincing excuse as Mick Cooper of Baildon Runners completed the same Snowdonia race coming second in his age category and then, rubbing salt into my wounds, by narrowly missing out on winning Skye and settling for second place overall!

For such an iconic trail the numbers of participants were relatively low. There are a few reasons:-
- The race director deliberately wants this to be the case!
- He can't get a big enough bus to come out to Skye in the early hours of the morning to cope with a bigger field.
- He would upset both the John Muir Trust and Scottish Natural Heritage as the trail crosses fragile habitats easily damaged by too many feet trampling over it. Firstly, the Trotternish Ridge is not only a Site of Special Scientific (SSSI) but a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Secondly the trail crosses much upland and coastal trails managed by the John Muir Trust.
- It's not an easy ultra, being mainly self supporting, with no way marking and often pathless.
- It's a long way up north!

I liked all these reasons, giving the race an exclusivity, and signed up for this last summer. It also fitted in nicely with my build up for the Eiger Ultra and the Ultra Tour of Mont Blanc later in the summer. In retrospect it's done the opposite in demolishing my confidence. Even so, now that the legs work again and the nausea has subsided, I'm really keen to give this one another try if only to experience the remaining Skye terrain magic through the Cuillins and the coastal trails beyond.

Highly Recommended for fellow Ultra Running Striders.......