• Leeds Country Way - Sunday Sept 3 - all day

• Harewood Trail Race & Hop - Sunday Sept 17 - 10:30am

• Valley Striders AGM - Tuesday Sept 26 - 8:15pm

UK Athletics North of England Registration Scheme

For the last 3 years we have had 2 Clubs in order to allow some of our members to be first claim Valley Striders Athletic Club (Striders) but first claim for fell with another club, and others of our members to be first claim road and x-c with another club but first claim for fell with Valley Striders Fell Club (Spiders).

Last year there were two elements of payment to the NoEAA - the first a club subscription based on number of members (we counted 90 each club which cost us £35 twice); the second a discipline fee which cost us £75 for road, x-c and fell - a total of £145.

We've now had time to read all the paperwork regarding the new scheme!

This year (from May 2000) there will also be two elements of payment. The first, the club subscription, will go up to £130 per club for a club of 90 members. The second is simply a £1 registration fee per member. From September, anyone who wants to run competitive road, x-c or fell will need to be registered, will be given a unique registration number and will need to quote that number when entering races in order not to pay the £1 "unattached" levy. There is no separate cost per discipline. The grand total (based on 90 members) would be £350.

Your committee recommend that we merge Valley Striders AC and Valley Striders Fell Club. This will reduce the fees to £220. We believe we have "solutions" for the main people affected.

Using the calculations above, based on 90 members, the average cost per member is £2.44⁴/₉ (i.e. approx £2.50). There are economies of scale. If the club were to increase to 120 members, the total cost would be £270 (an average of £2.25).

We believe that we can

(a) pay the May 2000 registrations out of existing club funds, and

(b) hold the Striders Club annual subscription at £9p.a. (£6 if paid early)

This is how it will work.

Your Striders membership will be in one of the following categories on the opposite page. Read down until you find the one that describes you. Most of you will become "Full Members". Your Newsletter will be annotated if we think you belong to one of the other categories.

"Full" This applies to the majority of us. If you are a first claim Strider, have no connection with other clubs and run competitively in one or more of the disciplines. If you paid your Sep1999-Aug2000 Valley Striders subs prior to 1 June 2000 we will register you and pay your May2000-Apr2001 NoEAA £1. Your registration card will be sent out with the next VSNews. Your Sep2000-Aug2001 Striders subscription will remain at £9, reduced to £6 if paid before 31Oct2000.

"Full (arrears)" If you are a first claim Strider but have not yet paid your Sep1999-Aug2000 Striders subs, we need you to pay your arrears (special offer £7.50) AND your Sep2000-Aug2001 Striders subs (£6) BEFORE we will register you. Send a cheque for £13.50, payable to Valley Striders, to Danny Burnham at 2 Stairfoot Walk, Leeds, LS16 8DS. Otherwise you may find you need to pay the £1 unattached levy if you want to enter races.

"Non-Competitive" If you are a non-competitive member (i.e. you do not intend to run any road, x-c or fell races), your Striders subs for Sep00-Aug01 will become £6 (£4 if paid before 31Oct00), recognising that we will not be registering you (and thus saving the Striders £2.44⁴/₉ or whatever).

"Training" If you are first claim for another Club and will not (or cannot) run with us competitively (i.e. you just use our facilities for training), then you will not be registered with us. Your Striders subs will be £6 (£4 if paid before 31Oct00).

"Second-claim" If you are first claim for another Club but will be running one of the disciplines with us (e.g. x-c because your club does not put out x-c teams), then your individual membership will be held and paid for by your other club, but we will also register you and you will receive a second registration card from us. In this case your Striders subs will be £7.50 (£5 if paid before 31Oct00). You will need to tell your Club Secretary that you will also be first claim for Valley Striders in the selected disciplines.

"Honorary Competitive" If you are an honorary member, but a first claim competitive Strider, we will pay your May00-Apr01 £1 now, and you will receive a registration card. But from Sep00 we will ask you to pay a contribution of £3 towards registration (£2 if paid before 31Oct00).

"Honorary" If you are a non-competitive honorary member, your Striders membership will continue to be free (of course!).

Lisa Wilyman is a new striker for the Wimins team, joining us from Adams Gym RC in Woodhouse for considerably less than Leeds U paid Celtic for Mark Viduka. I first met Lisa at the Wakefield 10k. Having run with/near her for a mile or two during the race, we chatted at the end. She was looking for running club members to fill in a survey on motivation for training and running a marathon - she came up to a Tuesday session and handed out the forms - I believe 10 or so Striders responded. She enjoyed our summer training routes so much that she has now become a regular on Tuesdays and has now joined us first claim. Her survey was for her dissertation as part of her B.Sc. course in sports science and physiology - it must have been good because she graduated on July 13th - congratulations!

Martin Cockerham has rejoined us after an absence of 5 or so years. He originally joined in 1985 and was involved in publishing one of the first Striders Newsletters - glossy paper and photos - more professional than today! It was called "The Strider", but we subsequently had to change the name due to that being the name of the LDWA newsletter.

Ian Townsley is yet another Meanwood local. He has run the Trail Race the last two years, finishing 29th out of 190 in 1999 and even better, 35th out of 264, this year. He also ran the Harewood Hop last year finishing 14th (one place above Hutch). He will be an asset to the Vets LCW team!

Many special happy returns to the following:

• August : Bob Wilkes (60)
• September : Maddy Illingworth (45), Yvonne Bissitt (45), Nicola Wilde (40)

May you enjoy success now that you are youngest in your new age-groups!

Training Sessions

• Tuesday training runs are from Leos at 18:45 on a monthly cycle - 400metres, fartlek, mile reps, hills
• 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 - contact Steve O on 239-1946 or Paul Furness on 269-8231.

If you want to send an e-mail to all Striders (who are on e-mail), then e-mail it to me and I will forward it.

I have received an e-mail from Jane who has safely arrived in New Zealand but has not had time to unpack her running shoes ... yet! I will forward it to everyone on my e-mail distribution list. It has her e-mail address if you wish to electronically correspond with her.

Good news to report that 3 Striders are overcoming periods of injury - Paul Webster is now back and racing after a hernia operation, Roy Flesher is building back after knee problems and Carole Schofield has just restarted training after ankle problems. For you Striders currently out with injuries, there's hope for you! 

Grand Prix 2000 Results & Race Reports

London Marathon (from Ingo)

Lots of Striders present at this event, and at 9:15 everybody was raring to go. Fantastic weather, around 6 degrees C at the start, and around 20000 were buzzing for the blue start. I guess it was similar at the red and at the green start. Still, we had to wait in our starting pens for another 15 minutes. Finally, the gun went, and
slowly the masses got going.

Having been too modest when entering the expected finishing time IZ needed 1m40s to get to the starting line, and lost another minute on the first two miles, before easy and relaxed running was possible. When passing around Cutty Sark suddenly a voice came from behind: "****** foreigners! Can't ******* pass them!" IZ might be forgiven for not realising that he was passing Dick Dale, since DD was running incognito, not wearing his Valley Striders vest! Shortly afterwards VS chief supporter Joyce was spotted (she must have been all around the course, IZ heard her lots of times!). Eric C., on his extreme minimum training programme, was passed shortly before half-way. In a quiet area IZ finally reached Roy Flesher, whose knee was playing up badly. Still, he kept on jogging around to reach the finish. IZ meanwhile found the difficult stretch along the cobbles, losing lots of time and speed here.

Never really recovering from here he was struggling along the Embankment, when suddenly Britt and Niels appeared in the crowd! Even with his broken collarbone Niels came to London to support the "Striders in Need"! Thanks to this phantastic international Strider support IZ picked up the last bits of life left in his legs, and reached the finish in 3 hours 01 minutes 26 seconds, almost collapsing in the finish area. Subtracting the 1m40s it took to the starting line it left a net running time of 2:59:46 and an extremely tired correspondent.

NB Full results in May 2000 VSNews except that I missed:

• Mike Brown 16768th in 4:44:22
• Nikki McNally's position was 250th woman

Striding here were (in finishing order) Mick Wrench, Neil Dutton, Kathy Kaiser and Bob Wilkes. Times and positions not to hand.

Ian Place proved that marathon training improves your speed for shorter distances. He overtook Bob Wilkes just after coming through the swing gate and was well clear at the finish. Times were slower than usual due to heavy showers throughout the day but thankfully it stayed dry for the run. However in many places there were puddles the full width of the reservoir path and the road outside of the farm was very muddy so many runners came back looking as though they'd just run cross-country. Neil Dutton's 36:44 was fastest by 1½ minutes; second fastest Alan was also still trained up after London. The handicapper apologises to the new members who finished in the lower half of the race but in the past we have had several instances of people with no "form" winning the race - your marks will become more accurate (i.e. improve) the more races you run.

Leeds Marathon (from Mick Loftus)

Commiserations to John Convery who almost became the third ex-Strider to win the Leeds Marathon. Congratulations to Steve Thirkell who finished 4th overall and 1st vet, having only restarted training just before Xmas.

49 Eric Cusack 3.22.16

Marvellous turnout of Striders - just like the old days - and great to see Yvonne, one of Striders' leading ladies of the 80's, back running again and well up the field. Jane was 6th lady and Lisa 9th. John Blundell was 3rd M55.

Otley 10 (report from Ingo, results from Mick)

Perfect race conditions just 10 days after the scorching sun of the Leeds Marathon, and a lot of Striders turned up for this evening event. At the start we detected two Striders (MW, IZ) on the front row, both with the same race plan: start from the front, keep it fast while it's flat, and get over the hills (Hills? It certainly felt like crossing the Alps!) somehow. Lots of Striders behind, with IP surprisingly finding himself at the back of the field. Not for long... MW was flying along the course, finishing in under the hour, followed by IZ in 63 and IP in 65 minutes. No prizes, though, only the top 10 men got some... The only Strider actually winning something was JS, finishing 5th in the women's main field. Well done! But since she had to leave early her prize (Butterfly Ridge 1999 Colombard Chardonnay) rests with the correspondent.

Fast course, scenic countryside, good organisation. It can only be the thought of the muddy car park that put Striders off, because there were only half as many as in previous years. Showing the white-and-black were:

Full Bronte 5 - Haworth (from Bob Wilkes)

Bob wrote claiming his 100 points as the only Strider - 84th (5th V55) in 37:35 - "scenic course on a beautiful summer evening".

Of 18 Striders running the 3 lap approx 5 mile course round the woods at the back of Leos, Mick Wrench was first back and Steve Webb fastest. Full details in next VS News.

plus 10 more with 2 races and 15 or so with 1

GP 2001 Suggestion (e-mail from Ian Place)

Just been looking through my old files and came up with the March 1989 Newsletter. Inside is the old Club Championship format - 15 races i.e. 2 Marathons, 3 Half Marathons, 1 20miler, 3 Ten milers, 3 10kms, 3 Handicaps.

Minimum 8 races to qualify for the following prize list: Grand Prix Champion, Ladies Champ, Vet +40, Vet +50, Ladies Vet, Most Points 11 events, Most Pts 14 events, Long distance (4 events), Short distance (4 events), Group B, C, D, E, F.

Now I know most of these are still in the Championship but some things have disappeared - what a shame. I would like us to take a step back to the simple logistics of the old days.

GP 2001 Suggestion (e-mail from Ingo)

A suggestion: a new Striders Cup Competition! This cup is to reward the versatile Strider, and should enhance the presence of Striders on tarmac, grass and fells.

The Valley Striders Challenge Cup - containing a total of 24 races in 6 categories, best race of each group counts.
Category 1: Short Road Race (fast!) - contains 4 races in the range of 3M to 10k, to be selected by the committee.
Category 2: Long Road Race (steady!) - contains 4 races in the range of 10M to ½marathon, to be selected by the committee.
Category 3: Cross Country - contains the 4 West Yorks winter cross country races.
Category 4: Club Handicap - contains the 4 club handicap races
Category 5: Short Fell race - contains 4 short fell races, with course records well under 1hour, to be selected by the committee.
Category 6: Long Fell race - contains 4 long fell races, with course records over 2hours, again to be selected by the committee.

One of the two counting fell races has to be a category 'A' fell race (lots of climbs).

Striders collect points according to their position, 100pts for 1st, 99pts. for 2nd, and so on. The winning Strider will probably have to compete in all 6 categories, showing his or her abilities on all sorts of terrain and distances.

Scottish Veterans' X-C Championship (from George Black)

Having been unable to train during December and January and only a little jogging, mostly with Clare (my 11-year old daughter), during February, I travelled to the Scottish Athletic Federation Veterans Cross Country Championships at Cumnock, Ayrshire, on 4 March without any certainty I would compete.

I had been entered by the Club Secretary as a matter of course and only found out the week of the race.

I had pulled out of the National Championship at Irvine the previous weekend when I felt I was aggravating my injury during the warm-up and decided not to start.

My wife Louise had spent the week giving me deep and painful massage - shades of Maureen Bennett - and sent me off to Cumnock with the encouraging message "If you run you are mad". How often have we heard that from our partners?

When I examined the course I found that the hilly sections had been removed due to the lambing season which meant that the main cause of my problem had been eliminated as the injury only became difficult on the hills. I realised that I could not beat 2 of the other 60 year olds in my state of fitness so I decided to run for 3rd place.

Accordingly I ran off the shoulder of the 3rd 60 year old and then managed to get past him in the finishing straight for the bronze medal. While it is always nice to get a medal, the performance was poor as 3 of the over-65s also finished ahead of me.

However as it is the first Scottish Vets Cross Country medal I have ever won, I am pleased from that point of view.

Scottish Veterans' Marathon Championship (from George Black)

Following the X/C Champs I caught another "bug" and did no training for another 2 weeks.

During a telephone conversation with a fine Scottish runner and senior coach, Mel Edwards, he suggested I try glucosamine sulphate, an amino sugar, for my long term knee problem. I took his advice and within 4 days the problem I had endured for several months had gone. I believe Max also uses this product.

In the 12 weeks from the start of the year I had run 231 miles so it seemed a good idea to run a marathon!!

The Scottish Vets Championships was incorporated into the Lochaber Marathon at Fort William on 30 April and as I had heard what a well organised event it was I decided to have a go.

I increased my mileage for the next 3 weeks to 73, 76, 79 and then had a recurrence of the virus. At this point I also began to feel a niggle in my groin so was unable to do any quality training. My mileage dropped to 25 and 29.

I did manage to finish a ½ marathon in 1 hr 28 min thanks to Ibuprofen, Pro-Plus and Bisodol without causing any further worsening to my groin strain. This was the furthest I had run, never mind raced, in about 4 years.

I had by now managed to finish 4 runs of 14 miles so I thought I would be able to get round the marathon if I took it easily.

My doctor gave me a course of antibiotics which contained the warning - avoid sunlight. As the family had booked into the Glen Nevis caravan site, paying a deposit, it was against my Scottish nature not to travel to Fort William.

On the day before the event I saw Mick Wrench but could not get to speak to him but thought I would see him at the race the following day. Unfortunately Mick did not appear to have entered but I did see Kathy and Ken Kaiser in the changing rooms. Kathy and I did the usual "athlete thing" of comparing injuries and medication!

The weather was now well into the 70's which gave me the additional worry of avoiding the sunlight because of the antibiotics.

I received the usual words of encouragement from Louise "If you run you are mad" before she set off with some friends to take care of my drinks and time checks on all the other 60 year olds. I had carefully planned the pre-race routine, hydration and other tricks of the trade, during the final days and this proved to be significant.

Ken passed me during the first ¼ mile and disappeared into the distance. Kathy passed me just before the mile marker which I hit dead on 7.00.

I was 6 minutes clear of the next man in my age group at the 6 mile mark which meant I could relax and concentrate on finishing. I had set my heart monitor at 137 and eased off when it reached that point.

A little group formed, including Sharon Gayter of New Marske Harriers and Kathy K, just ahead of me but then disappeared down the road again.

At the turn - it is an exact out and back course - I could see both KK's seemed to be going well and had no thought of seeing them again.

However at about 16 miles I was joined by a lady runner, who runs 35 minutes for 10k, who told me she was using it for a training run and would drop out at 18 or 20 miles. We then began to come through the field as the miles and heat began to affect the brave and the stupid (time in the bank scenario).

At exactly the point that Kathy caught Ken, I reached them both, and after a few brief mutual words of encouragement I pressed on. The adrenaline of catching people kept me going and I eventually reached the first lady at 25 miles. I felt sorry that Kathy had not stayed with me from the start but then hindsight has 20/20 vision.

The last mile was very strange with several steep little slopes caused by the canal lock gates. They were so bad I resorted to the fell runners' trick of pushing down my knees with my hands.

At the finish I found I had run 1:35:28 / 1:37:46 splits which was about right as there was a breeze and a couple of drags on the way back and also I had eased off in the final 2k as realistically I was not going to pass anyone else. I also discovered my HRM showed my average had been 137, my exact target.

Again the time was poor but I had won my age group by 43 minutes and finished 35th overall which in the circumstances was better than I had a right to expect.

The presentation was made by a Sir James Savile who was surprised when I remarked in by Glasgow accent that we were both a long way from the Otley Café.

I had a look at the Vets Championship Cup, won by 2nd overall Nick Maltman in 2:38, and the engraving gave me cause for thought. Of the names of previous winners I am the 2nd oldest surviving winner - 1983 - so I really hope Bill Stoddart - winner 1982 - keeps well.

In conclusion I am sure that both the KK's would endorse the race which is well organised and run in magnificent scenery in the shadow of Ben Nevis.

It can also be quite fast as the British over 60 record of 2:46 was set there 10 years ago by the wonderful Willie McBrinn.

As an aside Bill asked me if I would be running in the Glasgow marathon this August as he would have appreciated my help in attacking the over 70 record and trying to get the accolade of being the first over 70 in under 3 hours. I pointed out that if I did I would never be able to return to Leeds as a Valley Strider (John Keston) currently holds the record!

From the official results

Kathy 48th place, 3rd Lady, 2nd Lady Vet 45-49, Time 3:17:03

Ken 52nd place, 4th 50-54, Time 3:18:54

Potteries Marathon (from Bob)

Your correspondent was the only white-and-black Strider at this race, but our representation was trebled by the appearance of two of the Horsforth Harriers section of Valley Striders. This was the weekend of 30^oC 86^oF and there wasn't a lot of shade. The race started at 10:30 so the longer you took the hotter it got. Every 3 miles were drinks stations with orange squash in cups and water in cartons - the water was warm-to-hot having been left out all day - not good. There were sponge stations in between - the water was cold and the sponges large - better. But the best feature was the unofficial drinks stations which outnumbered the official ones - cold water in cups or in buckets, ice pops, orange segments, more sponges and many garden hoses for a shower.

Even so, the times were well down - the winner ran 2:42, second placed Bashir Hussain could only manage 2:48 - he was nearly caught by HH/VS Steve Thirkell who was 3rd in 2:50. The other HH/VS was Nicky Wilde who ran 3:51 for 5th W and 1st W40. I recorded a PW 3:38 - running at 7½ min mile pace to half way, two long hills at 14 and 15 sorted me out and I chose to jog the rest of the way at 9½ min mile pace rather than suffer the ignominy of walking or not finishing at all.

My tip for a marathon in hot weather - if you wear a bum bag to carry sachets or gels and also carry items that can absorb water (e.g. bandages, plasters, spare socks) then put these items in a plastic bag because it is unlikely that the bum bag is waterproof and when you pour water over yourself (as per Max's instructions) the contents will absorb water and so be (a) useless and (b) heavier!

A week after running 4:10 (3rd O-60, £30 prize) at Leeds, George Dawson was back in action at the Hereford marathon, improving his time by over ½ hour to 3:37. He was 1st O-65 but there was no prize in this age category. A few weeks later George ran in the Wyre Forest near Kidderminster - over 24 miles of this was on trails but the course was officially measured. He was first O-65 in 3:46 and there was a prize this time. These were his 95th and 96th marathons.

Fell Championship Positions (from Geoff)

Steve Webo and Sara have been the two most active Spiders so far this year. It's no surprise to find them setting the pace in the Championship, but there's still plenty of time to catch up.

Steve W 491, Sara 473, Ingo 287, GW 268, Ken K 192, Sylvia 167,

Madeline W 114, Jerry W 100, Kathy 90, Peter L 80, Tony F 75, Jane S 59,

Mick W 57, Paul Webo 55, PB 52, Eric 45, Mick L 44, Vadim 40, Lisa M 30

Fell Championship Race Reports (from Geoff)

Ken and Kath represented the Spiders this year and had a good day out in the Dales. The weather conditions were good so there were some good views to be had as the course went over Pen y Ghent and Fountains Fell to name but two of the strenuous climbs involved. The dynamic duo got round in 7hrs which is quite a fast time but they didn't exert themselves enough to pick up a trophy. The meal at the finish is pretty good anyway and you enjoy it more if you're not completely done in by the run.

Paul Webo made his return to racing. He said he wasn't fit so he ran in the 'B' team but still managed to be second fastest Spider on the 2½ mile course. Steve led the 'A' team to a 10th place triumph by being the fastest Spider in Ilkley. The other two in the 'A' team were Jerry W and Ingo. Ingo threw himself into the event with enthusiasm. Unfortunately the throwing took place on the stony track near the finish - he will show his scars for a small fee. The 'B' team consisted of Paul Webo, Ken K who was drafted in as a reserve and who had done the Ulfkil the previous weekend, and Vadim who was making his fell running debut. Vadim enjoyed it so much he said he can't wait to do the 14 miler at Sedbergh. The 'C' team was the V.S.Wimin/Old Bloke set. They managed to get round and avoided the humiliation of being last. The wimin were Sara and Sylvia but the old bloke has yet to be identified. He was not Jimmy Savile.

Jack Bloor Race (Ilkley Moor) 5½ miles

Much dashing and scrambling about by all concerned in this event due to the orienteering aspect of the course. Just about everybody found some way or other to make a wrong turn - some worse than others. However this was one of the best turnouts for the Spiders with 8 taking part. Steve W managed not to get lost and was 1st Spider and ninth in the race. Ingo was next 4 minutes later (34th) with the rest finishing in this order 66th Ken K, 68th GW, 106th Sylvia, 132nd Sara, 135th Tony F, 143rd Madeline W (went the scenic route). Nathan Foster also ran (but is unattached).

Fell Wimin from Sylvia

Congratulations to Sara on making the men (especially Steve) run hard to catch her in the Fell Championship. Well done Kathy in completing the full 33 miles of the Ulfkil Stride.

I have just been cycling in the French Alps so I hope I will be super-fit for the fells. That is when Maureen the physio has cured the achilles I strained while cycling. Maddy I. is also having Maureen's achilles treatment and I hear it was quite a painful session last time - my turn next!

Best wishes to Jane Sutton for her year in New Zealand - there are some decent mountains there so she may be a fell expert when she comes back.

Cartmel Park Trail Race (from Bob)

Paul Briscoe competed in his first run as a veteran in this 5 mile off-road race. Good news - he was first vet. Bad news - there was no prize for age groups. Good news - he was third overall and won a 4-portion sticky toffee pudding and a £10 physiotherapy voucher. Bad news - he didn't save any pudding for the VSNews editor.

Harewood Chase (from Bob)

Paul Briscoe finished 1st vet here as well, making a strong challenge at the end to overtake the 3rd vet at the top of the hill from Stanks and the 2nd vet on the final 400m run-in. His prize was a bottle of wine and 3 pairs of socks (none of which shared with the VSNews editor. His 34:42 for this approximate (slightly long?) 10k course gave him 7th place overall. George Little ran a PB of 37:50-something. Earlier, in the ladies race, Striders representatives, running in their first claim colours, were Lisa Wilyman and Mel Gray.

Three Peaks 30th April 2000 (from Paul Briscoe)

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Predictably, I ran the Three Peaks for the 8^th consecutive year. I suspect that my chances of winning the event have gone for ever and my best hope of glory now is to win the Vets category. As my birthday is in June, that challenge awaits me next year. For this year my main target was simply to place in the top 50 to gain an automatic entry for 2001. Ordinarily that would have been a formality but a viral infection robbed me of the entire winter season and I started my build up in late February from a very low ebb. Also, for the first time, the race was to be a Championship event, making my task doubly difficult.

I trained as hard as I could but only a month before the race I could still detect no discernible improvement in my form. Then, with about 3 weeks to go, my weight fell abruptly by around 5 pounds and my strength came flooding back - my flat out speed was still poor but at least I now had the strength to push hard towards the end.

April was wet … very wet and the course was saturated, but thankfully someone answered my prayers and the weather dried up with a couple of days to go. The day itself dawned sunny and warm - perfect! Sadly, there was only one other Strider (Mick Loftus) this year but there was the strongest field of runners ever assembled for the race. Pudsey stood a realistic chance of a team medal but on recent form I was expected to be around 7^th counter and therefore out of contention.

As the gun went off, all of the major players jockeyed for position and set off at pace, reaching the summit of Penyghent 2 minutes faster than I ever achieved at my best. I felt sluggish off all my carbo loading and got left behind by all of the Pudsey hopefuls. After a characteristic poor descent, I still felt sluggish and was probably in about 60^th place as I reached the track towards Ribblehead - why was I doing this? It was only once I reached better tracks that I suddenly came to life and started passing people … by the time I reached Ribblehead I was around 40^th and was now at least determined to finish.

I continued my chase up Whernside and at last the Pudsey vests started to come back to me; first I passed Steve Bottomley, then Jason Helmsley and just before the summit I caught Steve Neill as well … and he was supposed to be fit! Steve duly passed me on the steep descent but my growing confidence kept the gap down to a minimum and I quickly reeled him in again on the road to the Hill Inn. Just before the feed station, I passed Gavin Bland (British Fell Champion). It was now clear that I was a lot stronger than anyone around me and, feeling a bit of a high, I set off up Ingleborough with my trademark drive for home. I passed another 7 runners on the climb, including from Pudsey Paul Stevenson and then, sat on a boulder near the summit, an exhausted Phil Sheard - now I was Pudsey’s 2^nd counter!

On the top I saw John Deegan (alias Fred Flintstone and formerly a Pudsey man) struggling off down the hill over the boulders. This bolstered my confidence still further and I duly caught and passed him in Sulber Nick on the way to the finish. Remarkably, despite being "unfit", I finished strongly and unchallenged in 20^th place in a Championship race and only 8 minutes behind Pudsey’s 1^st counter, former fell champion Gary Devine. We were second team - I was amazed and delighted! The time was poor (3hrs 18 mins) but the manner of my finish and the people I had beaten was a huge source of satisfaction - after all of the months when I wondered whether it was really worth the effort any more, the race reminded me once again why I continue to slog my guts out!

The other Pudsey lads were left wondering how I could apparently come storming through from miles back when they were so knackered. Of course, all seasoned marathon runners know that the key to success in long races is the "3 P’s" - Preparation, Pacing and exPerience! Now I await next year with trepidation … can I stay fit over the winter? Even if I do, I’ll still have my work cut out to win the vets prize. 1^st vet in 3-04 was Dave Neill (no surprise there) but 3^rd vet and still 3 minutes ahead of me was the first Over 50, wearing a very faded England vest. Nobody seemed to know him but I guess he must have been pretty useful at some stage in the past!!

Three Striders (Madeleine W, Geoff W, Ingo Z) amongst the 118 competitors at the start for this race. Unsure about the category of this race, IZ was wearing his fell shoes, whereas GW chose road shoes! Thanks to the sunny and warm weather most of the tracks involved were more suited to GW's footwear than to IZ's, and the additional bits of tarmac even suggested that it should have been classified as a road race. Even the only really muddy downhill didn't cause GW any trouble … But here IZ used his extra bit of grip to start his charge up the field, and after a testing climb he found himself in 12th position. On the last downhill he had to battle hard to keep this position.

GW surprisingly lost his shoe in one of the muddier bits somewhere near the highest point of the course, was lucky enough to retrieve it, and had a long and hard battle to finish inside the top 50, shortly followed by MW, who apparently saved herself for the fell relay on the next day.

Spring And Early Summer On The Fells (from Steve Webb)

My resolution to try and avoid over-racing this year has been an abject failure; there are just too many good races out there. So far I have managed to avoid any "A Long" races, and just as well too, because I am still working out a strategy to avoid "hitting the drystone wall" after about 90 minutes. However the highlights so far are as follows:

The first of many forays on the north face of Ilkley Moor - this place has to be the Crystal Palace or Bislett Stadium of Yorkshire Dales fellrunning. Weather was very realistic; cold and wet with plenty of mud underfoot.

Sara ran all four races, collecting four cream eggs and winning one big egg. Steve ran two races and enjoyed spectating at the other two: the sight of the field hauling itself up the steep and slippery valley side was reminiscent of wildebeest migration in the Serengeti. It just needed a few crocodiles and lions picking off stragglers to complete the image. Dave Woodhead will probably be happy to arrange this in future years.

A reasonable turnout here for the Spiders. Steve employed local knowledge to good effect, frequently detaching himself from the pack to gain ground with some innovative route choices. He was followed home by Ingo, Ken, Geoff, Sylvia, Sara, Tony Foster and Madeline.

A good burn-up from Eldwick to the top of Baildon Moor and back via Shipley Glen. 'Beer to all finishers' it said on the advert, sadly it turned out to be fizzy French lager and not Briscoe's Baildon Bog Snorkler or equivalent.

A new "A Short" promotion this by Wharfedale Harriers. It involved three steep climbs and two steep descents, all in view of the White Wells Spa on Ilkley Moor. Boxes of biscuits were won by Sylvia and Sara. Ahead of them the efforts of Ingo and Geoff were rewarded only with the warm glow that comes from coping with all the course planner can throw at you.

The tea and cakes remain a major attraction at this very enjoyable race but some of the other sideshows - dog agility, sheep display etc were missing. This is a good fast route and quite popular with road runners, but Steve and Sara were the only Spiders this year.

If you think that some of the fell race descents are a bit reckless then you should see the downhill mountain bike racing which is one of the attractions at the Ramsgill Games. Mind you the mountain bikers do wear crash helmets and full body armour whereas Steve and Sara were protected by the traditional but less robust vest and shorts. Steve was fourth and Sara found a good route through the river crossing to splash away from one of her rivals.

Steve beat his course record by four minutes but ended up fourth overall. Ingo claimed his body had told him to sit out the first two races of the weekend but that he was fit for this one. He had a good run but could not quite hang on to his nemesis, ladies winner Vanessa Peacock. There was an interesting incident soon after the start when a large herd of stampeding cattle nearly wiped out the leading pack.

This is normally an excellent route; run out via Brackenbottom and climb up the steep rock steps, then a grassy descent from the summit to Hull Pot and a further short climb before descending to the Pennine Way. Unfortunately this year the route was amended and reversed because of access problems. I ascended in a forthright manner and was in a strong fourth place at the summit. However I was unable to fling myself down the slippery rock steps with the necessary abandon and lost many places to the suicidal descenders.

This route is similar to the inaugural Briscoe Brewery Run but there is no requirement to down a pint in race time at the finish. S and S were the only Spiders at this local knee trembler, and thanks to an extensive prize list they came away with wine and a sweatshirt. Some of the leading prizes were interesting; a deckchair for the winner, a kimono for the second lady!

Fell Running Relays - Lots Of Spidery Action! (Steve W)

Many thanks to the Spiders who answered my call for more participation in the local relay events, especially Ken Kaiser who filled an unexpected gap for us at the Badger Stone Relay at very short notice.

There was some consternation at this race when it was announced on the start line that each team was to carry a baton consisting of an egg (not hardboiled), with a hefty time penalty for any broken eggs. Various egg handling techniques were adopted; inside bras, down shorts, in plastic bags etc, but the three Spiders teams simply took their eggs in the hand and all were returned safely.

There was a total of 44 teams and the Lady Vets were First Lady Vets, and thus won large Easter eggs. Well done!

We managed to enter three teams of three for this short but punishing race. Full results are still awaited. The teams were:

VS 'Nearly Elite' Jerry Watson, Ingo Zoller, Steve Webb (10^th overall?)

VS 'Nearly Fit' Paul "I'm not fit" Webster, Vadim Kousnetzov, Ken Kaiser

VS 'Nearly Juniors' Geoff Webster, Sylvia Watson, Sara Dyer

There was some excitement on Leg 1 when GW, who initially shot straight to the back of the field, was seen to kick hard on the big climb and began to haul in the Bingley and P&B big guns at the front. However when he was out of sight behind White Wells he stopped to draw breath. There was more excitement at the end of Leg 1 when Paul "I'm not fit" Webster hurtled into the finish just ahead of Jerry and well before Vadim was expecting to take over. The most exciting moment came at the end of Leg 2 as Ingo reached the bottom of the steep descent: the ground levelled off but Ingo kept descending and he ended up eating dirt and bracken and shedding an amount of blood. Undeterred he immediately headed on to the finish and regained his place, handing over to Steve who had an incident-free run.

The assembled Spiders were then attacked by plagues of midges and retired to the bar to pick up some well deserved spot prizes.

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 or look in Athletics Weekly. Further events in the next VSNews.

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

Sat Aug 5 1100 Borrowdale 17/6500' – Rosthwaite, Borrowdale

Sun Aug 6 1100 Barnoldswick mixed terrain 6

Sun Aug 6 1200 Latrigg 3/950' – Keswick (part of Borrowdale weekend)

Sun Aug 6?? Weeton Show 4 (BOFRA) – between Leeds & Harrogate

Sat Aug 12 1500 Arncliffe Gala 2/450'

Sun Aug 13 1200 Sedbergh Hills 14/6000'

Thu Aug 17 1915 Dennis Stitt 5/850' – Victoria Inn, Woodhead Rd, Holmfirth

Sat Aug 19 1700 Burnsall Gala 1½/900' – pre-enter

Sat Aug 26 Smugglers Trod 25 trail – pre-enter

Sun Aug 27 1430 Halton Gill 1¾ – Arncliffe

Sun Sep 3 1630 Bradley 4½ Gala (only if you're also doing an early leg of the LCW)

Sun Sep 10 0930 Yorkshireman off-road marathon 26 trail – pre-enter

Sat Sep 30 1500 Thieveley Pike 4 – Holme Chapel, nr Todmorden

Sat Oct 7 1030 Saddleworth 10 trail – Diggle, nr Saddleworth

Sun Oct 22 1130 Withins Skyline 7 – Penistone Hill, Haworth

Sun Oct 29 1130 Gayle Inn 4½

Sat Nov 4 1400 Shepherds Skyline 6 – Shepherds Rest Inn, Lumbutts, nr Tod

Sun Nov 12 1100 Lordstones 11 – Kirkby, nr Stokesley, N.Yorks

Sat Nov 18 1030 Tour of Pendle 17 – Barley Village, nr Burnley

Sun Nov 26 1100 Rivock Edge 10 – Silsden - THE LAST ONE!

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

Sat Aug 26 Cross Keys, Saddleworth 2 * 3 road, 2 * 2½ fell

Sat Oct 21 Wound Wither Woods Welay

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

Sun Jul 23 1100 Eccup 10

Sun Jul 30 1130 Harrogate 10k

Sun Aug 13 1100 Askern 10 (Yorks vets ch)

Tue Aug 29 1845 Striders Autumn Handicap 10k

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

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

Sun Oct 15 1200 Bridlington ½marathon (Yorks vets ch)

Sun Oct 22 1030 Holmfirth 15 (Yorks ch & vets ch)

Leeds Country Way Relay (from Paul Furness)

It is "Leeds Country Way" time again. The date for this year's race is Sunday 3rd September. The LCW Relay is probably the best club event in our racing calendar. In last year's event, we entered three teams, one each in the Open, Vets amd Ladies categories. Thirty-six Striders competed and each team did extremely well. This year the Club intends to enter a team in each of the above categories again and so to make my life so much easier (and also keep my phone bills down), please let me know:

(a) if you are interested in running on 3rd September

(b) which of the six legs you know best

(c) which running partner(s) you have run with in the past

Entries for the race close on 31 July and I am away on holiday from 5 August for 2 weeks. So please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested. My home phone number is 0113 269 8231, my office number is 0113 243 2226.

(Ladies please contact Kathy Kaiser or Carole Schofield - phone numbers below)