• Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed your new year's celebrations. You will be relieved to know that there is minimal use of the m-word in this edition. But we do have 20 pages packed full of results, reports and events listings.
• Valley Striders / Spiders need you ... to assist at the 5th Meanwood Valley Trail Race on Saturday 25th March. Because of the nature of the course we need as many marshals as possible to point the runners in the right direction and shout at them if they go off course. That's the job description - are you available to help? If so, contact Geoff on 266-6288. Please! (And in case you're wavering on your decision, there's a free bottle of Briscoe's Brewery Meanwood Millennium Meander for every Strider that helps). It's three years since we last lost any competitors en route and we'd prefer not to lose any this year either!

1999 Awards

The "Also Ran Trophy" (politely known as the Stuart StJohn trophy for perseverance) was awarded to Paul White who, despite another eye operation which stopped him from all running for a couple of months, still managed to complete 8 Grand Prix races ... but not win any prizes, that being the key criterion for the awarding of this trophy.

The "Horsforth Marathon Trophy" (also known as the Janet Kitchen Cup) for best marathon performance of the year has been the subject of some obscure decisions e.g. one year it was awarded to the women's 1/2 marathon team that won the UK Championships; another year it wasn't awarded to Max after he had set 6 or 7 world records (because he had won it the year before). So there was much anticipation in the audience to hear the results of the deliberations of the committee. And again they came up with a surprise - for the first time ever they awarded it to the previous year's winner - a unanimous decision in favour of Kathy Kaiser for her W45 world championship run at Gateshead.

Your editor stood on a traffic island half way up the Headrow with chief supporter Joyce Lambert and we had a marvellous view of Striders coming in at approximately one minute intervals (we apologise for not cheering the Chapel Allerton crew but we are only programmed for white vest black shorts)

For the result of the final West Yorks x-c, see page 7

Final Grand Prix positions (scores from best 8 races)

Mens Champ yellow Mick Wrench 800 (scored his 8th 100 when beating

1998 Champ Steve Webb at the Huddersfield x-c)

runner up white Tim Towler 791 (vet in 2000 G.P.)

Ladies Champ yellow Kathy Kaiser 765 (champion again - she's got a

wardrobe full of yellow shirts)

Mens Vet old gold Bob Jackson 769

Ladies Vet old gold Carole Schofield 751

Mens O-50 grey Geoff Webster 749

Group B blue Niels Laustsen 781 (to match wife Britt)

Group C blue George Little 756, runner up Dick Dale 734

Group D blue Paul White 729 (not an "also ran" in the G.P.!)

Group E blue Britt Laustsen 697 (to match husband Niels)

Neil Dutton is in the same line of business and Steve O and Jon W. He ran 36:31 at the Abbey Dash before risking one of our training sessions but has now become a regular on a Tuesday night when not on shift.

Mike Brown lives on King Lane near Leo's and up to now has been a member of the Road Runners Club. He's obviously been a regular runner prior to joining us as his first race in a Striders vest was the millennium marathon at Leyland where he ran 4:08. He had some minor injuries in January but is now getting back into training and is hoping to run sub 4-hours at London in April.

Jerry and Madeleine Watson are/were members of Thames Hare and Hounds but have emigrated to Leeds and one of their first races here was the Harewood Hop - Jerry finished 5th overall and Madeleine 62nd (just behind Fran). Madeleine had a good run at the Chevin Chase 57mins and joined us when she ran the Xmas Handicap (we will also credit her Grand Prix points for the Chevin Chase). Jerry, turning vet this year, is wanting to run the National Vets Relays with his "old" club but is joining us second claim and has already run the Tuesday sessions with us.

Simeon Perry has been running with Hash House Harriers for some years, but when he got his acceptance for the London Marathon decided he needed some serious training. Why did you come to us, Simeon? The running to drinking ratio isn't much different from the Hash House Harriers! Except that we do our drinking after the running, not during!

Peter Cox and Ryan Benn are friends of the Meanwood Four. Or maybe they each bought a carpet from Stonegate Carpets and Carmel gave them free vouchers for Valley Striders training sessions. Peter was a footballer before retiring with a cruciate ligament injury. He is catering manager at Beckett Park (I wonder what additives he puts in the meals, Max). Ryan is still a rugby player but enjoys running and ran the Leeds Half last year in 1:51. Both are now into serious training and setting their sights on the Leeds Half Marathon in May.

Training Sessions

• Tuesday training runs are from Leos at 18:45 on a monthly cycle - 400metres, fartlek, mile reps, hills. Since Christmas there have been over 20 at each of these sessions - looks like the New Year Resolutions are still resolute.
• Thursday sessions are from Scott Hall 18:45 - six to seven miles "steady" - Paul Furness is the contact on 269-8231.
• Sundays are 09:15 from Parkside Road / Smithy Mills - Harry Bates's guided tours will take you to infinity Eccup and beyond - contact Steve O 239-1946.

There will be another VSNews before May with the final details; in the meantime if you have comments or queries address them to Paul or Bob.

The groupings for 2000 will be based on estimated fastest times for 5 mile or 10k - group A is sub-6-minute-mile, group B is 6:00-6:25, group C is 6:25-6:50, group D is 6:50 to 7:15 and group E is slower than 7:15. We may have a group F, depending on how many in the 7:15+ group run G.P. races.

Don't blame the handicapper! John Sutcliffe's Abbey Dash time was worth 43:30 on the 5 mile handicap course - he made a significant improvement on this and was nearly a minute clear. Paul White, having been awarded the "Also Ran" trophy a few days earlier, was "nearly man" in 2nd place! Gary was fastest by 11/2 minutes.

The wimmin had a team and a half and the men had half a team. Bernadette ran very strongly to lead home the wimmin's team ahead of her x-c captain Carole and GB international Sylvia. Her time for her two laps was exactly the same as Bob's time for his last two laps, so they each score the 98 Grand Prix points.

35 Bernadette Clayton 27:02
43 Carole Schofield 27:37
53 Carmel Barker 28:38
61 Sylvia Watson 29:24
67 Sara Dyer 30:23
71 Britt Laustsen 32:15
Team 11th

The wimmin had two teams and a sub and the men a full team (just!). Bernadette had another strong run to again finish 1st Strider this time ahead of 1998 Yorks O-40 x-c runner-up Liz and 1999 world O-45 marathon champ Kathy. Carole was 2nd counter, completing a successful season as team captain. Madeleine had recovered from her Christmas virus to be 4th counter for our first team. Lisa completed her first x-c, and Melanie donned the black-on-white for the 2nd time. Carole, Sara and Britt ran all 5 x-c races, as did, in the men's team, Steve and Bob.

20 Bernadette Clayton 20:21
23 Carole Schofield 20:39
25 Liz Ball 20:53
32 Madeleine Watson 21:35
37 Kathy Kaiser 22:05
41 Sara Dyer 22:37
44 Britt Laustsen 23:25
49 Lisa Michez 24:23
58 Melanie Gray 26:10
Teams 5th and 9th

Ever-presents so far are Steve Webb (399), Bob Jackson (381), Bernadette Clayton (372), Sara Dyer (356). Missing one race are Carmel Barker (270) and Madeleine Watson (267). Six Striders have run 2 races, and 23 have run 1. The next few races are road races so expect to see some softie road-runners making their first appearances!

Lots of Striders but official results not yet to hand. The long sleeve sweatshirts with 3 brass monkeys - see no evil etc etc looked great. Wish I'd sent off my entry earlier! Anyone able to write a race report for the next issue?

For a novice Strider in October 1997, sub-2.55 seemed like a decent time in the Chicago Marathon considering it included two toilet stops ("you weren't working hard enough", advised Steve O) and so, wiser and better prepared, I returned in October 1999.

Having been disappointed by the services of a sports tours company who will remain nameless, this trip was put together by a Headingley travel agent who will also remain nameless. A journey to the U.S. on the Friday before a marathon is perhaps not the best preparation but an early flight plus time difference saw us 'downtown' by 2:00p.m. and checked in to our hotel which was flanked on one side by an Italian restaurant and on the other by a 24-hour deli selling fresh bagels and bananas.

The Germans are well organised but you have to hand it to the Americans and the Land of Plenty lived up to its reputation - including pre-race toilets. Even 29256 starters did not create long queues at registration or on the day.

A 7:30a.m. start meant leaving the hotel in darkness for a 10 minute walk to Grant Park. The temperature rose to 36^o at the gun (cold enough for gloves, Keith?) and it remained cold but crystal clear and sunny throughout. A seeded number (403) allowed strictly controlled access to the front pen just behind the élite and the rest, as they say, is history. The course runs north through Lincoln Park, through the centre of Chicago and then on New York style through the ethnic neighbourhoods of Greektown, Little Italy and Chinatown, passing Comiskey Park (home of the White Sox) before turning along Lake Front past Soldier Field (home of the Bears) to finish back in Grant Park.

Khalid Khannouchi, occupied more by the challenge of Moses Tanui for most of the way rather than by the cold, eventually took the lea at teh 25 mile mark and finished in 2:05:42 to take 23 seconds off the world best time set by Da Costa in Berlin the previous year.

As for me, my seeding proved uncannily accurate as I finished 397th, 12th O/45, in a time of 2:49:17 confirmed by electronic chip (and no toilet stops). Having attempted a quick first half in London and regretted it, I set out to run even pace and a half-way split of 1:24:36 is as even as it gets but the end result was less than a minute quicker than London!

The big-city marathons do not come much bigger than this. At school I first ran cross-country, I enjoy the relays and I have even done a fell race; but turning to face the Chicago skyline, having been cheered on by just short of a million people and to finish with my name and that of Valley Striders UK ringing out over the P.A. makes the spine tingle.

My kinda race ... Chicago is ...

What a superb Holiday. 14 Days in sunny Cyprus. 4 Races to choose from - 2 half marathons (one split over 2 days) and one delicious beery run. What more could you ask for?

Wednesday 24th Nov: departed Manchester on time at 0700, arrived late afternoon at the Atlantica Bay Hotel 5 star. I had a single room - all the comforts of home.

Each day we ran at 8am but not on race days.

Friday 26th Nov: we went to the Ron Hill Keo Dinner. Enjoyed a meal and the after dinner speech from Ron.

Sunday 28th Nov: ran the Aphrodite Half Marathon in Paphos. I ran 1 hr 27 mins just outside the prizes.

Tuesday 30th Nov: ran 7 miles down to the Keo Brewery in Limassol. A few drinks on that day!

Thursday 2nd Dec: first half of the Cyprus Half Marathon Challenge - the Agros 10k very hilly I did 42 mins 8th overall.

Friday 3rd Dec: ran the second half an uphill 11.1k. This is the first time I have ever run a race uphill all the way. In fact it was so high my ears were popping. I completed in 59 mins 8th overall 2nd over 50 in both events. Combined time 1 hr 32 mins.

Sunday 5th Dec: we had the Kollossi Marathon/Half/10k which all started at the same time. I ran the 10k. The course was a flat as a pancake. I failed to break 40mins by 25 seconds but came 11th overall and again 2nd over 50 (not behind the same 1st over 50 by the way).

So a good time was had by all. We had a delay coming home on the 8th Dec but this did not detract from a lovely time.

Ian

Gary is well on the comeback trail with an impressive series of race results

At Littleborough he beat Dave Throup and at Woodkirk he was ahead of Michael Pearson. All of these courses would be described as hilly - one wonders what sort of times he could do on a flat course! His next target is the Leeds Marathon.

George was one of over 1000 starters for the Millennium (oops, the m-word, ed) Marathon and 1/2Marathon at Leyland Lancashire on January 2nd. Unlike Leeds, there were more entries for the full marathon than the half. The Full had 590 finishers, making it one of the larger marathons in the UK (there were 460 finishers in the Half). George finished 249^th in 3:42:37 and was first over-65 (of seven who completed the marathon). He received a congratulatory and apologetic letter from the organisers - the top age-band was over-60 so he did not receive a prize.

His next marathon will be the Shakespeare in April and he hopes to get to 100 sometime next year, possibly at Leeds which was where he ran his first marathon.

Also running at Leyland was new member Mike Brown who ran 4:08:06 (382^nd).

The team were 55th out of 99 teams and were 4th mixed team behind Todmorden, Saddleworth and Holme Pierrepont:

Leg 1 Mick Wrench & Alan Hutchinson 1:30:43 (58th fastest for leg)

Leg 2 Liz Ball, Jane Halloran & Bessie 1:16:31 (52nd fastest for leg)

Leg 3 Britt Laustsen & Penny Sanders 0:57:16 (80th fastest for leg)

Leg 4 Geoff Webster & Ingo Zoller 1:32:35 (67th fastest for leg)

Leg 5 Kathy Kaiser & Sylvia Watson 1:15:54 (64th fastest for leg)

Leg 6 Steve O'Callaghan & Harry Bates 1:23:32 (32nd fastest for leg)

Note that the legs are not of equal length (and I'm talking about the distances run, not the inside leg measurements of O'C and Bates). N.B. P.B. ran 1:19:54 on leg 6 for P&B 'B'.

We are currently unsure whether the race will go ahead this year - the St Leonards people are in negotiation with the Harewood Hill Climb people who are asking for some payment for 'hire' of the land for the day. The problem is that the money they are asking for would negate the profits.

The Club is sent 2 guaranteed entries each year. Usually we get 1 maybe 2 enquiries for these entries - we're quite often ringing round to see who might be interested. This year we had 5 enquiries of whom 4 had had official rejection slips from London. Their names went into Geoff's hat and the lucky winners were Alan Hutchinson and Erica Hiorns! Now they've got to start the extra training.

For the two who were doubly unlucky this year, if they are trebly unlucky by getting another rejection next year, we will give them priority in our hat. But for you others wanting to run London in 2001- if you get a rejection, then give your name to Paul Briscoe at least a week before Xmas and you will go into the hat. Even if you aren't lucky for 2001, you will have priority for 2002. Seems fair, I think!

Further to the item in the previous edition of VSNews about the Valley Striders Measuring Wheel, Keith Cluderay included the VSNews in his application form for a job involving surveying locations of gas mains pipes and their risk to nearby housing. Sure enough, he got the job!

You only get embarrassed in this section once every 5 years.

New to the veterans class are / will be George Little (40 in February), Sharon Wright (35 in February) and Alison Marrington (35 in March)

Other "major" birthdays include George Black (60,Nov), Ken Kaiser (50,Feb), Mike Evans (45,Nov), Carmel Barker (40,March) and Dave Cusack (18,March).

Many happy returns to you all and may you enjoy success now that you are youngest in your new age-groups!

A three-barrel brewery has been constructed in an outbuilding at the rear of the Bowling Green P.H. in Bondgate in Otley.

An opening ceremony will take place on the afternoon of Saturday 4 March and there will be a group run up the Chevin and back : plenty of beer will be available afterwards (or before!). The celebrations will continue into the evening.

All Striders and Spiders are welcome for the run, the beer, or both!

New Members
Max has brought three new members from afar into the Club this month. All are WAVA World Champions, two current and one former; two are World Record holders and one was a full GBR international not so long ago. They are, oldest first:

John Keston A former opera singer who emigrated to the United States over 20 years ago, John and Anne live in McMinnville, Oregon and they have just finished building another house at Sun River which is down in ski-country in southern Oregon. Anne was a teacher - in England for a while - and John lectured on Music at the University of Minnesota for several years. It was there that he took up running when he was injured from playing squash and he was soon winning his age group in road races. In almost 100 races as an M65, he was only beaten once on the Track and once on the roads. He directed his attention to collecting world records when he turned 70 just over 5 years ago : 5:34.03 for 1 Mile ; 10:51.00 for 3000m and, 8 weeks before his 72nd birthday, the marathon in 3:00:58. All these times were, of course, well into the 90s on the Age-Graded Tables, his marathon time being equivalent to a young man's 2:13:11. He is also the oldest person ever to run a sub 3-hour marathon, a 2:58:33, six months before his 70th birthday. John won both the 10000m and the 5000m in the WAVA Games in Buffalo, USA, in 1995.

Louise Gilchrist Lou was first W60 in the London Marathon in 1994 and in 1995. She then got bored - and injured - training for marathons, but, concentrating on shorter road races, she now holds the W65 WR for 10 miles in 74:30. Deciding on the last possible day to enter the WAVA Championships in Gateshead last year, she won the W65 cross-country title in the first race on the first day. In her first
track race ever, she won the silver in the 5000m; in her second, she ran 6:08.69 for the bronze medal in the 1500m, a time which was only a second off the British W65 record and which led the British rankings in 1999 by almost 19 seconds. She and Brian - he was a contestant on the Channel 4 show Fifteen To One a few years back - live in Wardle, near Rochdale.

Teena Colebrook Teena lives and works in Los Angeles. She came back to Britain for the 1996 Olympic Trials and ran 2:08.32 in the 800m semi-finals, an age-graded 94.47% for a then elderly W35. In the WAVA Championships in steaming Durban, South Africa, in 1997, she won W40 gold medals in the 800m, the 1500m, the 2000m steeplechase and as the anchor leg runner in the 4 x 400m relay. Hampered by an Achilles tendon injury in Gateshead, she finished 4th in the 800m behind second-placer "little sister" Jane, scratched from the 1500m, but
retained her steeple title in her only run in the event since winning in Durban. She is running in the London Marathon this year.

Age-grading (from Bob) Refer to Nov 99 VSNews - any takers? - there must be someone in the club sad enough to have a computer with Excel or Lotus and be interested in age-grading!

Their Grand Prix events are only open to vets, but their Championship races are normal road races open to all runners at which the Yorkshire Vets are awarding their trophies. These events, as per the decision at the 1999 AGM are all in our 2000 Club Grand Prix and are marked VSGP.

Sun Feb 27 1100 South Leeds Stadium 1st monthly Grand Prix

Sun Apr 30 1100 Halifax 2nd monthly Grand Prix

Sun May 14 1100 Heslington, York 3rd monthly Grand Prix

??? Jun ?? 1930 Harrogate 4th monthly Grand Prix

Wed Jul 5 1930 Eldwick nr Baildon 5th monthly GP (Fell Race)

Sun Jul 9 1100 Mickletown, Castleford Road Relay Champs

Wed Jul 12 1930 Ripon Cricket Club 6th monthly Grand Prix

Wed Aug 2 1930 Pudsey Leisure Centre 7th monthly Grand Prix

Sun Aug 20 1100 Harrogate Squash Club 8th monthly Grand Prix

Sun Sep 3 1200 South Leeds Stadium Track & Field Champs

Sun Sep 17 1100 Honley 9th monthly Grand Prix

Sun Nov 19 1100 Esholt Sports Club 10th monthly Grand Prix

Sun Jan ?? 1300 tba Cross Country Champs

I was interested to note from the last edition of Valley Striders News that despite (or more likely because of) my absence at the AGM I appear to have been elevated to the position of Spiders Captain. What an amazing electoral success this is; acheived without canvassing, without spin-doctoring, without a deposit, and most importantly without a manifesto! Jeffrey Archer will be very envious.

Anyway in my undefined role as Fell Running Tsar I nevertheless have a few ideas for the year ahead:

Relay Races: I would like to raise the Spiders' profile at the fell running relays. Last summer I attended two local, informal and very enjoyable off road relays but unfortunately I was the only Spider present. These races were the Will Ramsbottom Badger Stone Relay at Ilkley Moor and the Danefield Relay, organised by Horsforth Fellandale, on the Chevin. Another event we could possibly try is the Bunny Run Relay at Harden Moor near Bingley.

Club Run: A couple of years ago we had a challenging and very damp tour of the Yorkshire Three Peaks route led by Steve O. It would be good to do a similar group run in the Dales this spring or summer and I shall investigate some suitable routes; one possibility would be to adapt one of the "anytime challenge" walking routes that have been established.

Try Orienteering: There is an orienteering map of Adel Woods and Meanwood Park and if there is enough interest I am happy to organise an introductory event for Spiders on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening at Leos in the summer. This would give you a chance to try "running navigation" in a reasonably familiar area; thus you can all have a good off-road run with a difference and nobody should get hopelessly lost.

Please let me know if you have any other ideas for a fell running agenda.

Steve

If, after reading Kathy's article in the last VSNews, you are interested in Fell Navigation, the next course is to be held at Kettlewell on the weekend of 14-16 April. Details are in the 2000 Fell Runners Association calendar - there is a copy on Leo's noticeboard and Geoff also has a copy.

Burley Bridge Hike - This 20 mile event in November was to raise money for the Bridge over the Wharfe at Burley. Liz was in the lead until she slowed with cramp towards the end. She was given the same time as the winner (3h42m) and thought her cramp was due to not drinking anything during the race. Sara was 3rd F in 4h13m. This was Sara's 2nd attempt at the BB - last year she spent the entire event wondering where the bridge was!

South Leeds Womens' X-C - While Liz and Sara were at the B.B., Kathy K and I ran in a 5k women's cross country from South Leeds Stadium. This was a supporting act for the Aaron relays (not that any V.S. men were relaying!) and an experiment to see what interest there might be for a women's relay - something to watch out for next year.

Calderdale Way Relay - Liz, Jane, Bessie, Penny, Britt, Kathy K and myself ran in the Calderdale Way in December supported by 6 of the tougher men to complete a mixed team.

Auld Lang Syne Race - Having run in fell races for about 15 years (!!) I wasn't going to miss the 1999 Auld Lang Syne Race (on December 31st!). It had to be a bit special this time and I thought "everyone" would be there. 536 ran - Sara was the other W.Spider - an enormous field for a fell race and nearly twice as many as the previous year. Or were they just there for the Briscoe's Auld Lang Syne Ale "brewed especially for the last fell race of the millennium" which was handed to every finisher. I won a further 8 cans of beer plus a millennium hat, cracker, balloon, party popper etc.

Welcome to Madeleine Watson (no relation) another fell runner who ran in both the Rivock Edge and the Chevin Chase before joining us.

Fell Relay Race Calendar (Races suggested by Steve, Sylvia & Geoff)

Sat Feb 19 1100 Wound Wither Wood Welay near Denby Dale

4 legs & 3 miles * 300ft climb - a new venture for us

Sat Mar 11 1400 Ian Roberts R, Marsden 2 fell, 2 road legs

Tue May 2 1930 Bunny Run Relay, Haworth 3 * 21/2miles * 250'

Tue Jun 13 1900 Sheepstones R, Mytholmroyd 3 * 3 * 1000'

Wed Jun 14 1915 Badger Stone Relay, Ilkley Moor 3 * 21/2 * 590'

Sat Aug 26 Cross Keys, Saddleworth 2 * 3 road, 2 * 21/2 fell

???? Danefield Relay, Otley Chevin

???? Worth Way Relay

Fell Race Reports (from Geoff 266-6288)

Dec 27 - Coley Canter Sylvia, G.W., Tony Foster and son Nathan ran in this trail-cum-fell race which was advertised as 7 miles but was nearer to 8. G.W. and S.W. found it heavy going due to recovery from a bout of flu. Tony F was recovering from a bout of Christmas! All got round without getting much sight of the leaders after about the first 100 yards. Sylvia still managed to be quick enough to win a vets prize (a teddy bear). G.W. got a spot prize. "The only way he can win anything" quipped a wag at the prize giving.

Dec 31 - Briscoe's Brewery Auld Lang Syne 7 at Haworth. This was a good muddy run from the usual Dave Woodhead venue of Penistone Hill Car Park. Steve Webb was 1st Spider to get his beer by finishing 16th. A good way back down the field G.W. was next (only there for the beer). He only just managed to catch Sylvia in the last mile. Sylvia won the vets prize in a time not much longer than her best when she was in serious training. Sara came in a few minutes later and was in time to get one of the fast-diminishing supplies of Briscoe's Beer. The later finishers had to make to with a poor substitute from an inferior brewery!

Jan 1 - Giant's Tooth Fell Race 31/2 This was an Alan Greenwood trail and fell special round Ogden Reservoirs. The race attracted around 60 runners including Sylvia, GW, Tony and Nathan. This was a good turnout considering the previous evening's celebrations. To emphasise this Tony put his head in G.W.'s car's doorway and said "Why did you tell me about this? I'm not sure it's a good idea. I've been feeling sick all the way here." Well Tony did run and finished with a smile on his face. Nathan wasn't far behind and said he'd enjoyed his morning out in the fresh air. G.W. and Sylvia got round without threatening to win anything.

Jan 8 - Scarborough Rock 24 Trail Seven Spiders took part in this LDWA trail and mud run. First back in a time of 3h21m was Ian P in sixth place. Ian was accompanied for two-thirds of the run by Ingo whose bid to finish ahead of G.W. in a long run petered out when the hip he injured falling off his bike the previous week began to play up. Meanwhile Peter L overtook G.W. and Ingo and disappeared in the direction of Reasty Bank, the last big hill. G.W. was finding the whole thing a bit hard and decided to jog in with Ingo. They finished in 3h55m. This wasn't a bad time for Ingo who hopped the last 6 miles. One consolation for the old bloke was that he was put ahead of Ingo in the finishing list. Peter L had the last laugh by finishing 20 mins ahead of G.W. and took the V60 prize (again). Eric and Dave Cusack were next and some way down the field was JohnW who was running on minimum training, eating lots of buns and taking photos on the way round. Pies were eaten at the finish as usual.

Saturday 8 January 2000. We made an early start much to David's disapproval and arrived in Scarborough by 7:15a.m. After registration we enjoyed a cup of tea and a bacon buttie. The sun had risen by this time but there was a cold wind blowing.

At 8:25 we gathered outside the scout hut ready for the start. Ingo was there in his new luminous yellow shoes. Obviously it was his first attempt at this event. We stood shivering as last minute instructions were given, then we were off jogging down hill to the Corner Cafe. From there we made our way uphill to the Castle and first checkpoint. Down to the sea front and across the beach. I looked around but David was not there, he had taken the footpath.

At this point I wondered whether he would last the distance as the only preparation he had put in over the last month was the Abbey Dash, the Chevin Chase and a 10 mile training run. His target was to retain last year's title of First Junior and better his time of 5:19. I was hoping he could break 5 hours.

We joined up again at the Spa checkpoint and agreed to have an early "pit stop" as the public w/c was open. Then we made our way up towards Oliver's Mount. The conditions underfoot were the best I had seen at this point. The "pit stop" had worked wonders and soon we were overtaking many runners. Out into the countryside and the clear blue sky and sunshine were a real bonus from the usual snow, wind and rain.

We kept a good steady pace going and I thought we would break 5 hours by a good few minutes. As we reached checkpoint 10 at Reasty Bank we both grabbed a mug of tea and a jam sandwich. Chewing and slurping, we kept moving.

Then we agreed to try to make it to the penultimate checkpoint at Burniston under 4 hours. We made it in 3:56, had a quick drink and pushed on. Even though David said his legs were dropping off by this stage, he picked up the pace as I told him we might break 4:30.

He was glad all over when we reached the finish in 4:28 and he could sit down. He had knocked 51mins off last years time and a massive 1hr 54min off his first marathon in 1988. "That's my boy".

David retained the First Junior title. Peter Lambert retained the First Vet title. Ian Place had a great run finishing 6th overall and beating Geoff Coulson in 10th. Geoff (Jimmy Savile) Webster and Ingo finished together 32nd/33rd. David and I were 64th/65th. John Whalley just made it onto the first page of results in 150th.

A great day out and not a cloud all day.

2000 Fell Championship (Geoff 266-6288)

Dates marked ?? are the equivalent date of last years race - contact G.W. nearer the date to check whether these are still on. Full details of the events are in the Fell Runners Association 2000 Handbook on Leo's Noticeboard or ring Geoff. For BOFRA events, get details from Geoff. Further events in the next VSNews.

Sat Mar 24 Trollers Trot 24

Sat Apr 1 1200 Millennium Dome 1/4mile/186ft climb

Sun Apr 2 Blubberhouses Moor 25miles/2100ft pre-enter

Tue Apr 4 & 11 & 18 & 25 Bunny Runs 3/300' Guide Inn Keighley

Sat Apr 8 Calderdale Hike 35 pre-enter

Sun Apr 9 1200 Gisborough Moors Race 121/2/2600'

Sun Apr 9 Otley 9 leagues (27 miles)

Sun Apr 30 1000 Three Peaks 24/4500' pre-enter

Mon May 1 1415 Wray Caton Moor FR 6/1000'

Mon May 1 1500 Penistone Hill Race 7/1050'

Tue May 9 1915 Jack Bloor Ilkley Moor 51/4/1150' - Ilkley College

Sat May ?? Cross Hills Gala (BOFRA)

Sun May 14 1200 Horbury Hike trail race 21/1500' - National Mining Museum

Sat May 27 1430 Hutton Roof Gala 7/1300' - near Kirkby Lonsdale

Sun May 28 1530 Nidderdale 5/1000' - Ramsgill nr Pateley Bridge

Mon May 29 1300 Austwick Amble 8/1200' - nr Settle (record 59:10 S.Webb)

Wed Jun 7 1930 Otley Chevin 31/2/900'

Sat Jun 10 Ulfkil Stride 33 - pre-enter

Sat Jun ?? 1500 Pen-y-Ghent 51/2 - Horton in Ribblesdale

Sat Jun 17 1430 Buckden Pike 4/1500'

Sun Jun ?? 1300 Sharphaw nr Hellifield (BOFRA)

Wed Jun 21 1900 Mytholmroyd 7/1350' - Dusty Miller Pub, Myth. nr Halifax

Sun Jun 25 1245 Settle Hills 7/1750' - Settle Rugby Club

Sat Jul 1 1100 Erringdon Moor 81/2/1900' - nr Mytholmroyd

Sat Jul 1 Osmotherley 30 pre-enter

Fri Jul 7 2000 road race 3 miles } Wharfedale Triple T

Sat Jul 8 1100 fell race 12 miles } all from Kettlewell

Sun Jul 9 1100 fell race 2 miles } as recommended by Steve Webb

Sun Jul 9 1100 Reeth 41/2/1000'

Tue Jul 11 1930 Stoodley Pike 31/2/700' - Top Brink Inn, Lumbutts, T'dm'rd'n

Tue Jul ?? 1830 Addingham 5 (BOFRA)

Sun Jul 16 1430 Oldfield Gala 3/500' - Grouse Inn, Oldfield, nr Oakworth

Sat Jul 22 1430 Turnslack 8/2000' - Calderbrook, Summit, nr Littleborough

Sun Jul 30 1100 Holme Moss 16 - Brown Hill Res nr Holmbridge

2000 Grand Prix (Jon Willingham 01756-700820 or Tim Towler or Gary Shipley)

Sun Feb 13 1000 Dewsbury 10k - no entries on day

Sun Mar 12 1115 South Leeds 5 (e.o.d. £2 extra)

Sun Mar 19 1200 Spen 20 (Yorks ch)

Sun Apr 9 1000 Wakefield 10k (e.o.d. £2 extra)

Sun Apr 16 London Marathon (entries closed)

Sun Apr 16 0930 Sheffield Marathon (Yorks ch)

Tue Apr 25 1845 Striders Spring Handicap

Wed May 10 1930 Esholt 5k (Yorks vets ch)

Sun May 14 1000 Leeds Marathon and Half Marathon (c.d. 23 April)

Wed May 24 Otley 10 (Yorks ch)

List of events from June onward in next VSNews - will include:

Thu Jun 15 1930 Haworth 5miles (Yorks vets ch)

Sun Aug 13 1100 Askern 10 (Yorks vets ch)

Sun Sep 10 1100 Bradford 10k Odsal (Yorks ch & vets ch & AAA ch)

Sun Oct 15 1200 Bridlington 1/2marathon (Yorks vets ch)

Sun Oct 19 1030 Holmfirth 15 (Yorks ch & vets ch)