Your editor's fingers have been on the Maxim and V.S.News is making a strong finish in 2001. (Distributing it on Dec 30th is akin to running 10:59 at the Comrades Marathon).

Deadline extended until 31 January! Subscriptions are £8 for first claim members, £6 for social members (i.e. who do not want to enter races as "affiliated"). For second claim members, subs are £8 or £6 depending whether or not they wish to represent the club in any race. These rates go up to £12/£9 from 1 February 2002.

The date is confirmed. Entry forms are now out. Please keep this date free. We need everyone available to marshal the route to ensure the race is a success. All profits will go to Lineham Farm Children's Centre for whom we raised £150 in 2000 and £550 in 2001.

The Harewood Trail race (co-organised with St Leonard's Hospice) raised over £1700. Previous years raised £400 and £2200 so our total involvement with charity now exceeds £5000. Thanks to everyone involved in our events.

Club Captain - Steve O'Callaghan was pleased to see so many at the AGM. He noted some of the highlights of the past year, including a Yorkshire championship winner, a county representative, some good results at relays and many race and series winners (see "Roll of Honour" later in this VS News). He said that it was good that the Striders were increasing their membership while many other clubs were going in the opposite direction.

He then talked about training. He emphasised the importance of the main Tuesday official training session keeping to the published schedule. Last Tuesday the Striders had run "7 hills" rather than Church Lane - but one Strider had gone directly to Church Lane and had to run this on his own. He also recommended that on the fartlek session the faster Striders should run back for the slower ones - if all they did was wait till the last runner was in and then start jogging it would not be fair on the slower runners as they would not get their recovery. Regarding the Sunday run, the roving runs twice from Pool and once each from Collingham and Harrogate had been a success - we would try to keep this going once a month during winter - Steve would be the contact.

A comment was made that all Striders must wear reflective bibs for night training.

Club Secretary - Paul Briscoe said that due to pressures of work he would not mind giving up the Secretary's job, but since he had been doing it 6 years and people had only just got used to his Otley address, thought it might be wise to continue, as even if he resigned he would still get Striders mail for another 6 years. He noted that we had secured 3 London Marathon club places this year - these would be drawn at the New Year Handicap.

Fell Section Secretary & Fell Competition Secretary - Geoff Webster reported that there was not much to report. He had decided to extend the fell race championship into November.

Treasurer & Membership Secretary - Danny Burnham issued the statement of accounts. These showed a loss on the year of £506, but this was due to £593 of expense from 2000 being carried forward into 2001, otherwise the current year would have shown a profit of £87. The current year included a profit of £78 from the Trail Race and an exceptional item of £148 for re-engraving the Handicap Cup with all past winners.

Competition Secretary - Jon Willingham admitted that with regret he was tendering his resignation as first claim member of Valley Striders (although he would stay on as second claim) and therefore also his resignation from Competition Secretary due to not having enough time to travel regularly from Skipton. He was intending to join Skipton AC - travelling time to their training sessions was only 2 minutes! We thanked Jon for his support of the Club and hoped we would see him from time to time. We also promised that we would arrange a Sunday run in his area next year.

Newsletter Editor - Bob Jackson reported a record number and record thickness of newsletters. 25 Striders had made contributions to the Newsletters over the past year and he hoped that this would continue. He declared the battle of the Coach's Column vs. the Non-Coach's Column an honourable draw. He said he would print anything from anybody in VS News and then decided he ought to rephrase that - he then mumbled something about saying to new members that a good thing about joining the Striders was being able to get 100 different opinions on any subject - he then quickly moved on to the next report.

Men's Road & Relays Captain - Paul Furness regretted that the Leeds Country Way had not taken place but that he and Geoff were busy organising teams for the Calderdale Way and that the Harrogate Ringway was also coming up soon.

There was a suggestion that Valley Striders could/should pay for entry fees to enter relays. There was a counter-suggestion that even this would not guarantee the appearance of a men's team (OK so I made that up - ed.). It was agreed that we would calculate the cost of entry fees for all major championships for later discussion.

Men's Cross-Country Captain - Paul Briscoe reported our best ever season in the West Yorkshire league (6th overall) and a good representation at the National. He informed everyone of the dates and arrangements for this season's races (see later in VSNews)

Wimmin's Road & Relays Captain - Kathy Kaiser mentioned 2 more Yorkshire champions (which Bob had omitted from the original list, sorry), third place in the West Yorkshire cross country championships and good team performances at the National cross-country and the Northern 6-stage road relay (where there was no men's team!)

Wimmin's Cross-Country Captain - Carole Schofield congratulated her team on a good year. Due to injury she herself had been unable to run this year but hoped to be back in action early next year.

Wimmin's Fell Captain - Sylvia Watson had little to report on the fells but noted there had been 8 new Wimmin members joined this year 2 of whom were present at the AGM.

There were also reports from Men's Fell Captain - Steve Webb and Men's Vets Captain - Eric Cusack but I was at the bar at the time.

In general the "old" committee was re-elected with some changes as follows

• Grand Prix Sub-committee: The Competition Secretary (Striders) is currently vacant. A sub-committee consisting of Alan Hutchinson, Kathy Kaiser, Paul White and Mick Wrench was volunteered/nominated/appointed to review the Grand Prix and define the format for 2002. Subsequently, to these have been added Tim Towler and Ian Place who were involved with the set-up of the 2001 GP.
• Club Vest Sub-committee: Regarding the change of club colours (vest and shorts design), 19 designs had been received from 6 Striders (of which 14 had come from Jake Shipley) and these designs were included in the handouts at the meeting. The meeting voted to continue this investigation and a sub-committee of Peter Lambert, Gary Shipley, Drew Taylor, Natalie White was volunteered/nominated/appointed to gather opinions and investigate which of these designs were feasible.
• Wimmin's Section: There was a little swap-round of responsibilities.

President Charlie Spedding; *Stuart StJohn

Vice President Stuart StJohn

Club Captain Steve O’Callaghan

Secretary Paul Briscoe; *Geoff Webster

Treasurer & Membership Sec Danny Burnham

Competition Sec Committee of 4 - see below; *Geoff W

Newsletter Editor Bob Jackson

Men Wimmin

Captain Steve O Sylvia Watson

Relays Captain Paul Furness Sylvia Watson

Cross-Country Paul Briscoe Carole Schofield

Fell Captain Steve Webb* Sylvia Watson*

Vets Captain Eric Cusack Kathy Kaiser

Sub-Committees:

• V.S. Grand Prix Alan Hutchinson, Kathy Kaiser, Paul White, Mick Wrench
• Design Club Vest Peter Lambert, Gary Shipley, Drew Taylor, Natalie White

Coaches George Black & Max Jones

• 117 paid in 2000/01 (LY 107).
• 16 not registered (2nd claim or non-runners) (LY 19)
• 101 registered - given membership cards (LY 88)

2001 - 267 finishers (last year 263, previous year 190). £78 profit to VS, £550 to Lineham Farm (last year £197/£150). He handed round the Lineham Farm newsletter which had an article about the Trail Race on the back page.

2001 - 462 finishers in 10 mile and 125 in 2 mile (last year 424/53, previous year 90/27). Approx. £2000-2500 raised all to St Leonard's Hospice - we will know the final figure late in November (last year £2200). This had again been a success and it was pleasing to see the numbers for the junior race picking up.

2002 - Sunday September TBA

Max brought booking forms for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 (obtainable from www or Asda).

A bright blue and yellow pair of spikes was presented by Geoff to the Strider who had travelled furthest for the A.G.M. - that was undoubtedly Niels from Denmark.

Women - Lisa Wilyman

Men Vet - Bob Jackson

Men Vet 50 - Bob Wilkes

Women Vet - Kathy Kaiser

Group Winners:

- Ingo Zoller & Britt Laustsen

Cross-Country award -Steve Webb

Fell Champion 2000* - Steve Webb (again)

Horsforth Cup 2000** - Alan Hutchinson (2:48 at London)

Also Ran Trophy 2000** - Sara Dyer

Xmas 2000 - Neil Dutton (22 ran) (last year 20)

Spring (Roundhay 5 route) - Mike Brown (31) (LY 28)

Summer Trail (new 5 mile route) - Mark Bean (23) (LY 18)

Autumn - Tony Haygarth (31) (LY 23)

Lisa Wilyman in inter counties cross country

Kathy Kaiser W45 and Sylvia Watson W50 at Esholt 5k

Peter Lambert M65 at Holmfirth 15 on 28/10/2001

West Yorks Cross-Country - wimmin 3rd team

National Cross-Country - wimmin 19th team of 37, men 43rd team of 107

• Calderdale Way 2000 - Mixed 3^rd (43^rd o/all), B team 49^th
• Harrogate Ringway Relay - 6^th, 9^th & 14^th (/22)
• Bunny Run Relay - W6^th, Mixed 3^rd
• Danefield Fell Relay - 4^th, 48^th, 53^rd(W6^th), 67^th(W12^th)

George Black - Scottish V60 cross country champion

Paul Briscoe - 1st vet W.Yorks XC, 1st vet Meanwood Trail, 1st vet Harewood Trail

Eric Cusack - 9th in WAVA V50 marathon & GB team gold 2:53

George Dawson - 99 marathons

Roy Flesher - 1st British vet at Venice marathon

Mark Hoon - 1st at Marathon in the Park, Maryland 2:34

Kathy Kaiser - 1st at Roundhay multi-terrain & 1st V45 at New York marathon

John Keston - V75 world record track 10k 41:59

Peter Lambert - 1st V65 Las Vegas ½marathon

Jerry Watson - 2nd vet W.Yorks XC

Steve Webb - 1st Burley Bridge Hike

Lisa Wilyman - 2nd open wumin W.Yorks XC

Mick Wrench - 1st Hornsea 10k

Annemi Van Zyl only joined us in September but has run cross-country, the Burley Bridge Hike and the Calderdale Way relay with us. If ever she's unavailable at a weekend, it's probably because there's a race in the Lake District.

Jared Read is a regular on Mondays and Thursdays and an occasional on Tuesdays. You haven't heard of the Monday session? It's lunchtime from Leeds City Centre with Henry and Bill.

Mary Egan met Kathy Kaiser when she was out for a training run round Eccup Reservoir on a Sunday morning and found 400 runners coming in the opposite direction (the Harewood Trail Race!). Her previous acquaintance with the Striders was running in the 2000 Meanwood Trail Race where she finished 2nd W45 but vowed to stick to road running in future (she has also run Leeds half twice)

Andrew Cutts has run the Meanwood Trail Race several times. He lives less than a mile from Leo's but has been a member of Longwood Harriers in Huddersfield since birth. He prefers fell running and has been suffering withdrawal symptoms this year, so much so that he started speed training with us. Andrew is easy to spot - he's the one training in a vest when the rest of us are wearing thermals on a winter evening.

Mike Midgley was a Striders member in the early 1990's (I remember being dragged round LCW leg 5 by him) and has rejoined, having answered the call when we were short for the Calderdale Way. He has turned his attention from road running to the fells and is also competing in duathlons (bike & run).

From Bernadette Clayton: Hi Bob - just to let you know that I'm out of action- for a while! Broke my ankle quite badly- had to have an operation to have a metal plate
put in and don't think I'll be walking before Xmas.

From Jayne Rodgers: Just a note to let you know that I haven't forgotten I'm supposed to be a Strider. My daughter is in school play at the moment and rehearsals are, rather annoyingly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll be back in December as soon as she's made her debut. I'm still running in the meantime and planning to do the Abbey Dash just to keep my hand (feet!) in.

Special congratulations to Natalie Curtis who becomes a vet in January.

Others with big birthdays coming up are Steve Ball (55 in February), John Hallas (45 in February) and Steve Thirkell (50 in March). Congratulations to you all!

There will be a lot of 50-54 year olds not welcoming Steve into their ranks, as will a lot of 40-44 year olds wishing former Strider John Convery was also not having a birthday in March. Don't runners look young these days?!

For the second year, more Striders spectators than Striders runners as the Sunday run "just happened" to be in the Horsforth area at the time of the race. Since the race started at 11:00 and the Sunday run at 09:25ish, the Sunday run became a 3 hour endurance test, but they probably enjoyed it better than the six Striders who had to save enough for the tricky last mile - a steep downhill and back up round the houses before the full lap of the slippery playing field.

Mick Wrench again ensured there was a Strider in the top 10. It was Claire's first outing in the Strider's colours - look out for sub-50 at the Abbey Dash!

7 Mick Wrench 34.58

22 Steve Thirkell 36.58

31 Roy Flesher 37.38

73 George Little 40.34

213 Mark Bean 46.34

403 Claire Taylor 52.44

Goings-on at the Striders tent resembled a bring-and-buy sale as there was some testing for size and borrowing of club vests before the race for Madeleine's cousin Jill, Tina, Henry and Drew. There were also some new spikes on show including a blue and yellow jazzy pair that Geoff had bought earlier in the week. Sometimes I wonder about his bargain buys, but I don't think I would have resisted his BOGOFF (Buy One Get One For Free) on spikes at £5. If you like detective work, you can find out elsewhere in this newsletter where the second pair went.

The wimmin's race was about 1k over normal distance which suited Sylvia but not the others - the team finished 8th.

Pos Name Time GP Pts

36 Sylvia Watson 34.01 89

40 Madeleine Watson 34.36 88

52 Sara Dyer 38.58 86

56 Jill Watson 40.22 85 Team 184pts 8th/9

59 Tina Pennock 41.46 84 62 ran

Note that G.P. points are allocated according to calculated pace - the Watsons ran faster than Bob Wilkes in the men's race so scored more points.

The men had 12 runners so had two scoring teams. Paul was just outside the first 10 - one of his highest placings - but he was only 3rd vet - defending his title is going to prove difficult. New members Henry and Drew counted for the first six, it was also Alistair's first cross-country in white-and-black. Tim pulled a calf muscle on the last lap but his tongue muscle was still in good shape to swear at me as I went past him with 400 yards to go.

Pos Name Time GP Pts

11 Paul Briscoe 38.24 100

18 Steve Webb 38.52 99

21 Mick Wrench 39.12 98

47 Jerry Watson 41.45 97

66 Henry Lang 43.15 96

80 Drew Taylor 45.09 95 Team 243pts 6th/15

84 Alan Hutchinson 45.51 94

92 Bob Jackson 46.45 93

94 Tim Towler 46.58 92

109 Geoff Webster 48.15 91

117 Alistair Fale 49.21 90

137 Bob Wilkes 54.40 87 Team 633pts 13th/15 140 ran

Firstly, congratulations to Peter Lambert on winning the Yorkshire 15-mile V65 championship in this race.

This race wasn't as bad as you'd all told me. The route was quite scenic ... if you kept your eyes off the traffic! One section was traffic-free ... because they were digging the road up - raised manholes to negotiate! Roy and I paced each other and had a word or two from mile 4 until mile 12 when he decided that not having trained for 2 weeks he'd better conserve his energy for the last mile. In fact it was the 14th mile that was all uphill - I ran a 7:45 having averaged 6:45 for the other 14. Another piece of evidence for the route being not so bad was that Roy and I ran a couple of miles with (and had a chat with) the other Natalie White - the Yorkshire junior from Holmfirth - out for a training run, who clearly thought that striding with a couple of old(er) men in the race was better for her than putting in some mileage across the South Pennines. NB Roy's 4 minutes and 26 places behind me was due to him attempting to point a St John's Ambulanceman in the right direction to find the leading lady who had collapsed with ½ mile to go (she recovered and jogged in).

15 Mick Wrench 89.44

66 Bob Jackson 100.35

92 Roy Flesher 104.57

131 Mike Midgley 110:14

134 Peter Lambert 110.31

Before starting the race report, I must make a special mention of all the Striders who turned out to support the second race which we organised at Leo's. Thanks in particular to all the non-runners (in alphabetical order of surname: Jo, Danny, Bev, Keith, Eric, Paul, Tony, Martin (who was marshalling and supporting Keighley & Craven), Max, Ken, Peter & Joyce, Steve, Carole and Alan), whether you came for the whole day or just a couple of hours. We had many favourable comments after the race - this was all due to the preparation and support. The only adverse comment was from Paul Briscoe - he said it was too short and not muddy enough. If he'd wanted it muddy he should have watered the course like they do in horse racing! There have been suggestions that we should organise another next year but I think this was only from the people on the computer results - usually they get a muddy changing room but we gave them the back bar at Leo's and a supply of Briscoe's.

The wimmin's team welcomed back Jane (from New Zealand) who finished 12th and Lisa (from injury) who finished 16th. This brought them up 3 team places to 5th. Tina, having only had 3 finishing behind her in the first race, managed to relegate a further 4 in this race. At this rate, 4 seasons will get her into the top 10. Carin, sporting new spikes, twisted an ankle early on and had to pull out otherwise we would have had 2 teams.

Pos Name Time GP Pts

12 Jane Sutton 26.44 92

16 Lisa Wilyman 27.18 90

38 Kathy Kaiser 29.21 87

45 Annemi Van Zyl 30.27 85 Team 111pts 5th/9

46 Sylvia Watson 30.31 84

65 Sara Dyer 33.36 83

71 Tina Pennock 36.02 82

Carin Van Doorn DNF 78 ran

Pos Name Time GP Pts

22 Steve Webb 35.22 100

23 Mick Wrench 35.24 99

25 Paul Briscoe 35.43 98

40 Terry Bean 37.01 97

73 Jerry Watson 39.23 96

76 Henry Lang 39.47 95 Team 259pts 7th/19

83 Drew Taylor 40.07 94

101 Alan Hutchinson 41.43 93

109 Mark Bean 42.26 91

124 Bob Jackson 43.34 89

125 Geoff Webster 43.34 89

156 Bob Wilkes 47.14 86 Team 698pts 17th/19 164 ran

Sara Dyer was the only Strider/Spider so scored the 100pts

Pos Name Time GP Pts

7 Lisa Wilyman 22.24 96

11 Jane Sutton 22.32 94

33 Kathy Kaiser 24.45 89

36 Janet Parkinson 24.58 87 Team 87pts 2nd

45 Sylvia Watson 25.56 85

55 Carin Van Doorn 27.56 84

57 Sara Dyer 28.16 83 69 ran

Pos Name Time GP Pts

25 Paul Briscoe 32.36 100

46 Terry Bean 34.46 99

70 Henry Lang 36.25 98

81 Drew Taylor 36.53 97

87 Mark Bean 37.20 96

103 Alan Hutchinson 38.47 93 Team 12th

107 Bob Jackson 39.09 92

126 Alistair Fale 40.18 91

127 Geoff Webster 40.31 90

135 Tony Haygarth 41.25 88

139 Paul Furness 41.40 86 166 ran

I have been racing most weekends recently and have done a couple of the x-country events, so even though I still have my aversion to speedwork and have done none in training, I felt that I had a good chance in this fast and flat 10k to run a good time. I was aiming for a sub 40.

As usual I didn’t set off from home early enough and then found the road from Horsforth into town shut because of some crazy runners doing a 10k. By the time I got there and found a parking space, I had about 5 minutes to get to the start so this was basically my warm-up. I got directed by the marshals round to the back of the pack, but ignored them and snuck my way through on to the road at the start and joined the line-up at the front.

As we all got underway, I was deluged with people streaking past me, many of them women and so I just tried to settle into an even, strong pace, without going mad. After a few miles a friendly Strider cheered me on as he ran by and I said ‘hello’ back, but didn’t know who he was! A bit further on Bob passed me (I knew him !) and as he gradually moved off into the distance I wondered how I was doing. I didn’t expect to keep up with Bob, but I wanted to keep him in my sights, although this was difficult, as the runners never seemed to thin out much.

It wasn’t until after the half way point that I began to overtake runners and although I was tired, I knew I had run sensibly as I was able to keep up an even pace (as far as I could tell without a watch!). On the way out, a blonde woman dressed in black leggings and a long sleeved top, had passed me, and I was really miffed that what looked like a ‘gym babe’ was running faster than me. Now I could see that I was very slowly reeling her in and as I neared the finish, I kept repeating to myself, ‘it has to hurt otherwise you’re not trying hard enough’. I thought I was so tired I wouldn’t be capable of my usual sprint finish but with a 100m or so to go, I kicked in and sprinted past the gym babe and a few blokes, one of whom patted me on the back in the finish funnel, and turned out to be the mystery Strider from earlier. I apologised for not knowing who he was and he identified himself as Eric Cusack – "Oh, I know you", I said, "from the newsletters!" I saw Bob at the finish too and he was only 9 seconds ahead, but I would never have caught him even if I’d known. I finished in 38.49, a PB.

I decided to hang around for prize giving even though I knew I wasn’t in the prize placings. Now I do not have to rush back home after races to my family, I really enjoy watching the prize giving and seeing who won what. I met Sylvia and Geoff in the bar beforehand, then went through to see who had won. Some of the times were awesome. I was about to leave when they started to announce the vets winners, and as they called out the third place in my category (35-40) and it wasn’t me, I thought, ‘well that’s that then’. I really didn’t expect to get a prize but thought there might have been a slim outside chance of a 3^rd place. He announced second, and then said, "In first place, from Valley Striders…" and even at this point I was not expecting to hear my name, "JANE SUTTON"! I was really thrilled, not only to have got a PB but to have won my age group in a big race. I was so pleased I almost snogged the mayor but didn’t think it would look good on the photo, so just beamed at him instead. All in all a great day.

There were 28 Striders running, including 2 who ran in their first claim colours and some who ran in any colours available. There was some good packing - 5 in 46 secs between 36:53 and 37:29, then 5 in 14 seconds between 38:39 and 38:53. PB's included Henry, Jane, Paul W, Natalie and Claire. There were 1999 finishers so 75% of us got in the first half of the field. Congratulations also to Max on his 1st M70.

Also thanks to Geoff, Sylvia, Kathy and John for helping marshal the event (and for your unbiased encouragement of all Striders)

69 Terry Bean 34.10

176 Mark Bean 36.53

189 Henry Lang 37.15

195 Roy Flesher 37.21

199 Mick Loftus 37.24

201 Drew Taylor 37.29

266 Bob Jackson 38.39

275 Jane Sutton 38.50

276 Eric Cusack 38.50

277 Andrew Cutts 38.51

279 Rob Liddle 38.53

319 George Little 39.33

351 Alan Hutchinson 39.55

360 Alistair Fale 40.04

442 Paul White 41.19

582 Peter Lambert 43.22

590 Dick Dale 43.26

817 Jared Read 45.54

845 Mary Egan 46.11

886 Mick Tinker 46.40

961 Alison Marrington 47.25

1005 Max Jones 47.50

1087 Natalie White 48.37

1091 Bob Wilkes 48.40

1112 Bob Wilyman 48.52

1238 Claire Taylor 50.08

1284 Mike Brown 50.49

1807 Tina Pennock 59.54

Despite the lack of trail and fell races, many of the top runners in the list have managed to run a race from 5 categories but many haven't. As outlined in the last VS News, to calculate a total score, we have deducted 5 points if a runner has only run in 4 categories, 10 if only run in 3 categories etc. Scores shown below are from the best 8 races

• Champion of Champions - Mick Wrench 800 (also Road champ 600 from 6 races)
• Wimmin's Champion - Lisa Wilyman 745
• M Vet 40 - Paul Briscoe 796 (also Cross-country champion 300 from 3 races)
• Wumin Vet 35 - Sara Dyer 684-5=679 (also Group E champ) (promoted to D)
• M Vet 50 Tony Haygarth 744
• Group B Bob Jackson 785 (promoted to Group A)
• Group C Paul White 729-10=719 (promoted to Group B)
• Group D Mark Bean 753-5=748 (promoted to Group C)

Qualifying for a white Valley Striders 2001 Grand Prix white T-shirt for completing 8 races are Steve Webb 792-5=787, Jerry Watson 788-5=783, Roy Flesher 787-5=782, Alan Hutchinson 764, Bob Wilkes 740, Geoff Webster 707-10=697

3 Striders ran 7 races, 4 ran 6, 3 ran 5, 13 ran 4, 10 ran 3, 13 ran 2 and 26 ran 1 - a total of 86 competed in the Grand Prix this year

Events to March are fixed. Events April to June will be confirmed by the end of February.

Definite events in bold, Provisional/possible events in italics

• Short road – Dewsbury 10k (3 Feb), Wakefield 10k (7 Apr), Esholt 5k (1 May), Harrogate 10k (Jul), Horsforth 10k (Oct), Roundhay 5 (Nov), Leeds Abbey Dash 10k (Dec)
• Medium road – Brass monkey ½m (27 Jan), Tadcaster 10 (5 May), Leeds ½m (12 May), Thirsk 10 (2 Jun), Humber Bridge ½m (30 Jun), Eccup 10 (Jul), Guy Fawkes 10 (Nov)
• Long road – Spen 20 (17 Mar), London marathon (14 Apr), Leeds marathon (12 May), Manchester marathon (Sep), Nottingham marathon (Sep), Holmfirth 15 (Oct)
• Fell – Jack Bloor (May), White Wells (Jun), Reservoir Fell Race at Wadsworth (Jun 23), Dick Hudsons (Jul), Burnsall (Aug), Briscoe's Otley fell race (Sep)
• Trail – Chevin Chase 2001 (26 Dec), Rombalds Stride (2 Feb), Guiseley Gallop (31 Mar), Baildon Boundary Way (7 Apr), Burley Bridge Hike (Nov)
• Cross-Country – West Yorks league 12Jan, Oct, Nov, Nov
• V S Handicap races – Christmas 2001 (30 Dec), Spring, Summer, Autumn

The Grand Prix was started in 1989 and has gone through minor changes each year to arrive at its current format.

At the 2001 AGM, a sub-committee (Alan Hutchinson, Bob Jackson, Kathy Kaiser, Ian Place, Tim Towler, Sylvia Watson, Geoff Webster, Paul White, Mick Wrench) was nominated to review the Grand Prix and make recommendations. These are the findings:

The Grand Prix aims

• to encourage club members to participate in a variety of local and key events during the year.
• to encourage club members to participate in different types of running - road, cross-country, trail, fell
• to create friendly rivalry through the award of points which accumulate over events to produce a performance score at the end of the year.
• to encourage a good turn out of club members at these events raising prospects for improving club team placings.
• to create a sense of comradeship at events.
• to encourage improvement in personal performances.

The Grand Prix 2001 is/was a worthwhile competition and it largely achieved these aims and objectives. The existing format (for 2001) does not need substantial change.

However more can be done to ensure greater participation in the Grand Prix. Important factors are

• promoting the understanding throughout the club of the aims and objectives.
• good advance publicity in the Newsletter
• careful selection of events with ample availability of entry forms and publicity of closing dates.
• explanation of category groupings.

The number of events to be incorporated will be 28 each year. This will represent 4 events from each of the following categories:

• Short road races – 5k, 5 mile and 10k
• Medium road races – 10 mile and half marathon
• Long road races – 15 mile, 20 mile and marathon
• Fell
• Trail
• Cross-Country
• V S Handicap races

The season runs from late-December one year to mid-December the next. This enables the awards for one year to be presented at the Christmas Dinner whilst allowing two of our most popular events (the Chevin Chase and the Xmas Handicap) to be included in (next year's) GP.

The GP sub-committee will attempt to decide the majority of events in advance, but some will be marked as provisional. These would mostly be based on popularity in previous years, but consideration would also be given to new local events. Suggestions will be encouraged from club members for the inclusion of events not on the list to substitute for provisional events or where less than 4 events in any category have been chosen. Such suggestions would only be incorporated as long as good advance notification was given. These suggestions will be put to a vote after Tuesday night training sessions.

100 points are awarded to the fastest runner in an event followed by 99 for the second and so on.

As good notice will always be given of forthcoming qualifying events there will be no minimum restriction on the number of Striders participating for points to be awarded. Thus in a turnout of one that runner would score maximum points.

There are 5 groups A-E. All club members will be entered into the Grand Prix automatically and will be placed in a group based on their best performance in a 5mile, 10k or club handicap event over the previous year.

The placing will be based on their pace per mile with groups being based on bandings of 30 second intervals with Group A being sub-6 minute mile, B being 6-6½ minute mile pace , C being 6½-7 minute mile pace, D being 7-7½ minute mile pace, E being slower than 7½-minute mile pace. Adjustments will be made for hilly courses!

Groups will be set and published at the start of the year. (It doesn't matter that the number of runners in each group may be different).

New-comers (and other Striders with no recent form) will be placed into group "U" (unclassified) until they have run 3 races and then their grouping assessed on this performance. This way new club members have the opportunity to complete a qualifying number of events if they join the club mid way through the year.

Runners must run a minimum of 8 events to qualify for any award. For each runner we will calculate a total being the total of their best 8 points scores with the following conditions

• The 8 scores must come from at least 5 different categories. So if for example, a runner's 5th category is his 9th best score, the calculation will exclude the 8th best and include the 9th best
• If a runner races in fewer than 5 categories, his/her total will be reduced by 10 points per category less than 5 (e.g. by 20 points if only 3 categories run)

The runner scoring the most points (on this basis) in each group become the group winner, and the runner with most points overall becomes Valley Striders Grand Prix Champion of Champions.

Group winners, other than of group A, will automatically be promoted to the group above for the following year.

There will also be titles for Ladies Champion, Men's Vet (O-40) Champion, Men's Vet (O-50) Champion and Ladies Vet (O-35) Champion. All of these will be calculated on the best 8 scores from at least 5 categories as above.

There will also be "discipline" (NB this is a U K Athletics term) awards for "Road Champion" (based on best 6 scores) and "Off-road (cross-country and trail) Champion" (based on best 4 scores). The fell section has a separate championship (which Geoff Webster can explain(?)).

There is no best handicap points award - the Handicap Cup is the prime award in this category and is held for 3 months by each winner.

No Strider can win more than one award (group, sex, age or discipline). The sequence of allocation is Champion of Champions, Ladies Champion, Vets (3), Disciplines (2), Groups (4). So for example if group C is won by the MV50 champion, this person takes the MV50 award and also is promoted to group B next year, but does not take group C, nor does the runner up in group C win an award.

A new award starting in 2001 will be to the best age-graded performance in a Striders GP road race, giving runners of all ages and either sex the chance of demonstrating the best performance of the year. This may be won by a winner of another award.

The Newsletter will be used to publicise forthcoming events and invite suggestions. Information will also be sent out by e-mail. Forthcoming races will be announced at the club each Tuesday. A folder of entry forms for GP events will be held at the club. The practice of handing out a results sheet periodically will continue although this will revert to the previously used format of showing scores and positions by groups rather than across the whole club.

An explanatory note of the Grand Prix competition will be included in the information presented to each new member in the future.

As always, at least one competitor at each Grand Prix event should ensure they obtain at least one set of results to forward to Bob Jackson.

The Grand Prix co-ordinators are responsible for selecting events, collecting results and resolving queries. They will call upon the sub-committee to meet as appropriate.

• Alan Hutchinson 01937 574613 [email protected]
• Paul White 0113 265 8667 [email protected]

Please address any other queries to either of the Grand Prix Co-ordinators - Alan Hutchinson and Paul White.

At the AGM, a sub-committee (Peter Lambert, Gary Shipley, Drew Taylor and Natalie White) was appointed to further investigate introducing a new club vest. Over the last few weeks, these people and a few others have met to make progress as follows:

The original "style" dates back to the white vest bought in 1982 in Leeds Market by Stuart St John and the logo designed by his friend's wife Morin.

Over the years there have been several attempts to introduce a new style, the most recent being a plea in the form of a poem (first published in VS News January 2001) for something easier for spectators and supporters to spot:

Dear Bob, I would just like to say, About Striders Vests, that's if I may,

The ones now worn are out of date, And I should know 'cos I spectate.

Other clubs' are more up to date, So let's think about it before it's too late.

The colours are good but the design is not, And in a race you are hard to spot.

Look to the future and change the vest style, And then I'll be cheering you every mile.

Since then we have received 21 suggestions (the majority from Jake Shipley, aged 8), and now we are putting these suggestions forward to you.

The designs opposite are the favourites selected by the sub-committee. We are hoping that you are inspired by these and that some of you will send in some more suggestions.

While your suggestions are pouring in, we will be evaluating the initially suggested 21

• ensuring they are a practical design with space for a logo
• ensuring they are easy to "spot"
• checking that the design is not used by any of the other 423 clubs in the North of England (unfortunately, one of our favourites, design 13, is used by Bury A.C. and therefore must be eliminated)
• with the assistance of Sport Direct, assessing the relative costs of the styles (e.g some such as the stripes and bands are standard designs, some such as "Friesian" are definitely not)

The deadline for further designs is the end of January. During February we will create a shortlist by using the evaluation guidelines on the 21 and all the new suggestions. We will take advice from a few club members and come up with a shortlist of 5 to 10 designs. These will be published in the next V S News. We will work out a voting system that allows you to express your choice such that you will be able to vote for your one preferred design or list your top three in order.

Where to Park - anywhere except the official car park (½ hour to get in, long queue for the buses, car wheels stuck in muddy ground to get out)

Where to Go - Manchester Town Hall - ignore signs on ground and first floors. Go up two flights of stairs. Walk around the corridor that surrounds the enclosed courtyard. The loos are in rooms that have been cunningly built on the inside of this corridor also overlooking the courtyard.

Where to Park - Park Square - from North and West, aim for Wellington Street, towards Station, turn left onto King St to pass Metropole, left, right, left and right. Hard to find if you don't know Leeds, hence plenty of parking. From East and South, follow round the Loop, past the Queens Hotel, along Wellington Street, turn right on King St to pass Metropole, etc etc. Good warm up area, 2 minutes jog to the Pool, 2 minutes jog to the start, 2 minutes walk from the finish.

Where to Go - Leeds International Pool. By reception, go up the stairs to the first floor. There are loos for ladies at the top of the stairs and for gents about 20yards on your right. Ignore both of these. Take the door marked fire exit just further on from the ladies. This leads to a corridor which runs right round the outside of the building, overlooking the street and carparks. About half way round just before a glass door is the door for the ladies (seating for 8), just after the glass door is the door for the gents (seating for 4).

In the Yorkshire Evening Post on Monday 17 December was an article by Paul Robinson about Liv Tyler, star of LoTR, whose fiancé lives in Headingley.

"... Liv drew part of the inspiration for her performance by seeing first hand some of the spots frequented by Tolkien during the five years he spent as lecturer at Leeds University in the 1920's. Some experts have even suggested that the writer's fantasy world was based on Meanwood Valley in the north of the city"

One of the heroes of LoTR, Aragorn, also goes by the name of "Strider". Could someone who has read the books let me know whether he has a happy ending or do I have to wait for the third film in December 2003?

Belated congratulations to Nicola Wilde who finished 3rd W, 2nd W/Vet, 1st W40 in 3:18:21

I just came on here to send you details of the race today and there was your message awaiting me - I did 31.57, which is a PB, I was quite pleased with it actually. I got a vets prize but not sure what! they were all mixed up, but I know there were some very swift older women in front of me, in fact I think the overall female winner was 50!!! BUT the best news of the day was that VS women got the team prize! I was hanging around at the prize giving, not really listening, when he mentioned my name again, then Lisa's then I didn't hear who, and we had won first prize, so I have a plaque for the others, and some goodies. They wanted a photo so it was a shame we weren't all there. Lucky I was though, it was totally unexpected, I don't even know yet who the 3rd counter was. This is the best thing about being in a club. Winning a team prize makes you feel proud to be part of it.

Roundhay 3 - 34^th (2^nd W35) Alison Marrington 22:29, 110^th Oliver Watson 32:30, 111^th Jerry Watson 32:30, 114^th Helen Hutchinson 34:37. 130 ran and winner's time was 15:32!!

Roundhay 5 - 23^rd Mick Wrench 27:11, 56^th Jerry Watson 29:05,

91^st Harry Bates 31:10, 111^th (3^rd W35) Jane Sutton 31:52, 112^th Andrew Cutts 31:53,

116^th Alan Hutchinson 32:10, 123^rd Lisa Wilyman 32:28, 138^th Peter Marrington 32:57,

151^st Alistair Fale 33:12, 170^th Paul White 33:57, 210^th (2^nd M60) Peter Lambert 35:34,

218^th Bridget Strong 35:52. 632 ran winner was Andrew Pearson 24:28 Women's team 1st, Men's team 11th.

George ran a 10k on Saturday 2nd December in a time of 37:56. This would be a good time for most of us - only 6 of our 28 Striders ran faster than that in the Abbey Dash the next day. What makes it a better performance was that it was a difficult course with 30 right-angled turns, 2 overhead footbridges, 6 underpasses and 2 flights of steps. What makes it even better if that George is now aged 62 - this was the fastest time for 10k by a V60 Scot in 2001. Coincidentally the fastest V60 Englishman, Fred Gibbs of Bingley Harriers, ran 35:55 at the Abbey Dash.

Danish Report (from Niels Lausten)

Following my disappointment of not breaking 3 hours in London Marathon this spring, I was determined to have another go at it in the Hans Christian Andersen Marathon in Odense, Denmark, on 14th October. This race would also be Britt's marathon debut. Our training went well over the summer. I set new PBs for 5k (17:46, even on a slow course), 10k (36:58), and 1/2 marathon (1:21:04) during August and September, so I felt confident when I stood on the start line in Odense. However, exactly the same thing happened as in London: I got half way according to schedule, but then my thighs jammed. This time I tried to keep going, not worrying about cramps, so I was still on target up to around 30k, but shortly afterwards my thighs blew up completely, and after a lot of pain I eventually finished in 3:02:20 - a new PB, but 2:20 too slow.

Britt, on the other hand, had a fine debut in 3:56:42. She is already thinking about her next marathon, aiming to break 3:45.

American Report (from Max and Ruth Anderson)

Results spotted by Max: USA Fall Cross Country Championships & National Masters 6 km Championships - USS Alabama Battleship Park, Mobile, AL; Saturday, December 1 - W70 1. Ruth Anderson, 72, Unattached, 41:20.26

Reply from Ruth: ... But for news you may not have heard, John Keston was inducted into our Masters Hall of Fame. This was announced at our USATF convention the week of the X-C Championships, and John may not have been back from his trip to Mexico to receive this announcement yet. Know you would like to congratulate him.

I finished our local (Pacific Assoc'n) X-C first in the 70+ women's division with the most points (mostly just for finishing). I hope to do a 50K next year, but haven't been able to train well for distance yet. The marathon in Lincoln, NE, next May might be my better chance, it's their 25th Anniversary run.

After suffering the cold and wet of last years Dublin marathon, the Valley Striders Marathon Tours committee decided this year we should travel to a warmer climate. On the 24th November, Dick Dale, Harry Bates, George Dawson, myself and partners flew off for Benidorm (the women were hoping for Mauritius so I think we got away quite lightly!).

After a 2½ hour flight followed by a 40 minute bus ride we arrived at our hotel, the Flamingo Oasis. We checked in then left the women to unpack as we set off to register. Registration was quite a subdued affair, not like the big city marathons, no expo just one clothes stall, the registration point and a large display of trophies to be won. We picked up the numbers without any hassle and received our goody bag, the highlight of which was a lovely sweatshirt. Not bad for £8.

The rest of the day was spent trying to catch up on our sleep (we had been travelling since 1:30am). We all met up around 7pm for our evening meal. The hotel was all inclusive so we didn't have the problem of finding a pasta place. The restaurant had a large selection to choose from and the food was excellent. You could eat as much as you wanted (Keith C would have loved it). It was then off for an early night as the race started at 8:30a.m.

The boys met up for breakfast before taking a taxi to the start, no expense spared! We left the women primed with our drinks and where to hand them out. The morning air had a slight chill to it but the clouds were already starting to break, I just hoped they would last until midday. We gathered outside the stadium before being walked round the track to the start line. I was quite nervous, aiming for that long awaited PB, but talking to George it became apparent that he was just as nervous. Which is funny really, having done 99 marathons you think he would be used to it by now! It was a nice relaxed line up, partly because the marathon field contains only a few hundred and the half marathon does not start until 10am. Bang, we were off. Once round the track, which is good as you can calculate your pace for a 1/4 mile so preventing you setting off too fast, then 2k downhill to the front. The course consists of running two traffic free loops along the sea fronts of both the old part and new parts, it is therefore predominantly flat. With it being looped, you have the added advantage of being able to see the race at the front end as well as being able to support fellow runners. Sue, Jenny and Sharron were at the required points to provide drinks and encouragement. The sun came out but it didn't get too warm. The last few kilometres were hard (aren't they always) especially since the last 2 were a steady climb back to the stadium. We were greeted at the finish by the women (I last saw them at 38k, so how they got there before me I'll never know!). I finished 23rd in 2:45:52, Harry 49th in 3:01:32 and Dick in 121st 3:24:45. Then we waited for what has to be the highlight of the trip, we gave George the biggest cheer as he crossed the finish line of his 100th marathon, 210th in 3:53:04. Congratulations George. Harry and George came 4th in both there respective categories, just missing out on a prize.

We made our way back to the sea front for a much deserved beer(s) before returning to the hotel. Later in the evening Dick presented George with a specially designed T-shirt to commemorate his achievement.

I would certainly recommend the Benidorm marathon, a good course and a well organised event. It should be noted that out of the 281 finishers, 1/3 of them were British. It would be nice if one day we could send a mass of Valley Striders.

Thanks to Dick and Sue for another successful tour! Next year Cyprus?'

Congratulations to George Dawson on achieving his 100th marathon at Benidorm.

Striders results were

23 Mick Wrench 2:45:53 (3rd UK) (PB)

49 Harry Bates 3:01:32 (4th V50) (Brits were 2nd & 3rd)

82 Nicola Wilde 3:15:50 (9th W)

121 Dick Dale 3:24:45

210 George Dawson 3:53:04 (oldest finisher)

There were 281 finishers of whom 93 were English and 3 Welsh, so over one-third were from the UK. Other names I recognised included Bob Duncan of York (2:40, 1st Brit, 3rd vet), Julie Holdsworth of Baildon (3rd W), and Jean Davey of Horsforth (3:42). The winner's time was 2:18:59. There was also a half marathon which had 953 finishers.

If you've read your V S News this year, this should be an easy one! If you've read the race reports in this edition it will be even easier! But for me, the last item gave the game away ... if you ran the Xmas handicap 1999, you will know, too! Answer on page 35

The e-mail distribution list is now up to 61 addresses / 67 Striders. If you're on e-mail but not on the list, simply send me an e-mail and you will receive the next Update. One of the new additions to the distribution list is VLS00001 [email protected].

Note that the Yorkshire vets has now been moved to mid-February, so you will (if you are old enough) be able to run the Northern x-c and/or Brass Monkey and the Vets x-c.

Sat Jan 5 Yorkshire XC Champs - Valley Park, Rotherham

Sat Jan 12 13:50 West Yorks XC league (4) - Newsome HS, Huddersfield

Sat Jan 26 North of England XC Champs - Allestree Park, Derby

Sun Feb 17 13:00 Yorkshire Vets XC Champs - Thornes Park, Wakefield

Sat Feb 23 English "National" XC Champs - Bristol

Sat Mar 23 Meanwood Valley Trail Race - Leo's

For reports of the first three West Yorkshire league races, see the Grand Prix reports

Ran in the Vets yesterday and finished 7th and 2nd counter in the Scottish silver medal team. Race was a nightmare with 2 forced pit stops, the first while running with the 3rd and 4th finishers (both English). I felt that we had just cracked one of the guys when I got the "call". It has only happened to me once before in 20 years and that was during a marathon, what a time for it to happen. Afterwards, I had a chance to talk to my old pal Freddie Gibbs, who along with Bob Toogood had got away from me about the 1 mile mark, recalling our old battles in Leeds. I will be taking a bit of a planned rest from serious competition this winter and will probably concentrate of duathlons next year as I was 3rd in the Scottish cycling over 60 road race champs this year so it seems a good idea a change being as good as a rest? Best wishes to all, George

Results from A.W. 14 Nov 2001 - M60 1st R.Toogood (Eng) 34:04, 2nd F.Gibbs (Eng) 35:27, 7th G.Black (Sco) 37:39. Team Eng 1,2,3=6pts Sco 5,7,15=27pts, Wal 8,10,11=29pts, Irl 6,9,14=29pts, NI 50pts

Valley Striders Grand Prix 1992? white T-shirt lent out at 1st x-c at Bramley - return to Sylvia please

The final accounts reported a £1700 profit. £300 of this was made from the refreshment stall - clearly enjoying as good a reputation as Betty's. We have had letters of thanks from Janet Morley at St Leonard's Fundraising Centre and from Alan Pennington our co-organiser from the St Leonard's volunteers. Once again thanks to the 45 Striders "on duty" that day.

These are all reports from events organised by the Yorkshire Veterans association. They run a set of events approximately one each month throughout the year.

This was an approximately 10k multi terrain race between Yorkshire vets and Northern Vets. Yorks wimin beat the Northern wimin with Kathy counting and winning her age category.

Leaving Geoff and Annemi at Burley to do the 20 mile Burley Bridge Hike, I took what I thought was the easy option and cycled over to Eldwick near Baildon to do the vets fell race.

Cycling over Ilkley Moor into a very strong cold wind, I arrived at the pub to register hoping they'd be selling coffee. Huh! I had a mouthful of cold water and felt so done in I carried a choc bar in my bum bag on this 6mile easy fell race.

It was a superb route and I got going eventually and won my category (not much competition) and enjoyed a cold ½ of Guinness before cycling back up on to Ilkley Moor now in mist.

Fortunately GW appeared and the bike and I got in the car at Dick Hudson's, GW having had a much easier outing than me with plenty of buns and tea. I was the only VS in the vets' race.

The final vets' race of the year was a multi terrain from Esholt about 6 miles on 25 Nov. A perishing cold wind again but another good course with tea/coffee and biscuits at the end.

Kathy and Ken, Geoff and myself ran with Kathy coming away with a bottle of red wine, her prize for 1st O50. She kept hold of her prize despite Gerry Spink (1st O70, Bingley Harriers) trying to persuade her to exchange his larger but inferior bottle of white plonk. He related many tales of his drinking - yes drinking - habits, but Kathy stood firm.

The cross-country is on Sunday 17 February at Wakefield and the full 2002 calendar of events should be out soon.

Four Striders went spidering about Rombalds Moor for this event. Alan Hutch had a good run and finished in under 3:20 for fourth place overall while G.W. set off a few minutes late and finished in just over 3:30.

Annemi was only a few minutes behind, finishing as first wumin on her first venture into fell and trail running.

Madeleine W. was on a get fit mission and did the course in around 4½ hours combining jogging, walking and running. Her cousin Jill (still to join V.S. but Madeleine is giving Jill a subscription to V.S. as a Xmas present) used similar tactics for a 5 hour finish

Pies etc were on offer at the finish and tea and buns at some checkpoints on route.

It was pure curiosity (and Alan Hutchinson's friendly invitation while we were panting through 400m reps on a Tuesday evening) that made me turn up at the school in Ben Rhydding on Saturday morning.

A 21 mile race is a challenge I could not say no to and I've always wondered what is "great fun" about running over frozen puddles, against a freezing wind, just to land in awful smelling bog the next moment! The fact that I had to be able to read a map and orienteer did not cause too much concern. Geoff forecasted that it would be a clear day and according to him there would always be runners or walkers around who knew the way.

Alan, Geoff, Peter, Madeleine and me turned up for Valley Striders (Madeleine - Geoff would have introduced us if he had turned up on time!). It was a very fresh, should I rephrase, lip-nose-and-ear-freezing morning to set off, but it was clear and nearly sunny day. I memorised the names of the points we had to get to, I had the map with me, but between the map and the "real thing" I realised that sticking with other runners would definitely be my safest option.

Despite the freezing wind on the top of the Ilkley Moors we could still appreciate an amazing view over the Dales. It was rather amusing to be able to catch my breath opening a farm gate or finding the way over a stone wall using a ladder. (I have to admit it was a benefit to have grown up as a farm girl).

By the time we managed to get down to the canal near Keighley (approximately 8 miles) it was as if the group of runners with me were old running buddies. I was amazed by the friendly and supporting atmosphere amongst the runners. The 3 mile dead flat towing path to Micklethwaite was terribly hard work and only took us up to 11 miles! But the promise of drinks and fruit cake on the top of the hill kept us going. To my big surprise the drinks lady expected me to have brought my own cup! (I'll remember the cup next time!)

Well, if I thought we had run over wet and muddy fields till now, I was very wrong. We were back on top of the Moors and it was like running up a very muddy river! From the top of the Moors we were bearing right, on our way to Burley. Things were getting a little more tricky from here as my only "way finder" was a well fit veteran who clearly lives for long runs. But we were getting back on easy terrain, so I tried to forget my really stiff legs (not even thinking how muddy they were) and enjoyed the now sunny Saturday morning run.

Back at the school at Ben Rhydding, 3hrs 37mins later, I was well pleased having finished my first off road race and 21 mile distance run. And Peter's Joyce was there, still supporting the Striders!

I am now the proud owner of a compass and a whistle and even know a little about using them! (I'm still working on that special orienteering vocabulary!). And I agree, the muddy run was great fun.

While the Burley run was taking place, Sylvia cycled to the vets fell race and won the wimmin's V50 title. It was a bit wild and windy up on the moors and she reported that the bike ride was harder than the fell race!

The course here was pretty wet, slippery and boggy on the higher part of the moor. This resulted in lots of runners taking some spectacular dives on the fast descent. Five Spiders negotiated the course led home by Jerry W, closely followed by V.S. international Ingo. Sylvia was next, finishing as 2nd in her age category. Her prize was a frog that croaks, stands on its hind legs and sticks its tongue out, which reminds me that G.W. finished 10 second after Sylvia.

V.S. had another international runner attempting fell running for the first time. This was Carin whose previous experience of fell running was mainly in Holland so she found the descent a bit unnerving. But she still managed to reach the finish with a strong run despite falling in the bog several times on the way. Sara showed Carin how it should be done when she left her floundering in the bog on the descent. Experience triumphed over enthusiasm when Sara beat Carin by more than a minute.

Carin says she can't wait to get on a really boggy course preferably 20 miles long. Ingo has returned home where bog dodging is not encouraged. He is threatening to return in August with a German fell running team for the Sedbergh race.

Fell Championship Final Positions (from Geoff)

Due to foot and mouth, the fell championship was been won on the lowest number of points ever. The fell running committee was prepared to allow Steve Webb to keep the trophy for another year forgetting that a few extra races had been added to the list. However, Sara heard the news and demanded a recount. And quite right too!! This resulted in Steve being relegated to second place and the prize being awarded to that good old man of fell running (who is not a day over 37½) Mr G.W. He deserves it. As Alan Hutch said at the end of the Burley Bridge Hike "He is a real hero and an inspiration to young blokes like me, Steve Webo and Dick Dale". G.W. has made no comment. He is too modest.

Final points: G Webo 298 S Webo 222 Sylvia 214 Sara 161 Eric 92 Hutch 91 Madeleine W 83 Paul B 54 Bob J 52 Ian P 50 Tony H 48 Ingo 47 Annemi 41 Carin 38 Lisa 36. P Webo who did not run any races nowhere scored no points.

Stop press - the V.S. Mixed team were 2nd mixed team and won a set of long sleeve T-shirts

Stop stop press - full results have now arrived. In the mixed team category, where 1st prize had been awarded to Pudsey & Bramley and 2nd prize to Valley Striders, a recount was necessary and Saddleworth were found to have won. So we were third ... but we haven't been asked to hand back the T-shirts!

Overall the mixed team were 47th and the men's team 50th. 92 teams finished.

More details next VS News.

Lots of Striders, two or three making their annual appearance racing in a Striders vest (or they would have been had they been wearing one). On the podium were Paul Briscoe (2nd M40) and Jane Sutton (1st W35). Lisa finished 4th W and was unlucky not to win a prize as at least one of the W in front was a vet. Full report next V S News.

Jan '02 12^th Huddersfield x-c, 27^th Brass Monkey ½m

Feb 2^nd Rombalds Stride, 3^rd Dewsbury 10k

Mar 17^th Spen 20, 31^st Guiseley Gallop

Apr 14^th London marathon

May 12^th Leeds full marathon and half marathon

The following were taken from the North of England A.A. website. Some do not have permits so the dates are provisional

Jan '02 20^th Woodkirk 10k, 27^th Moorside 10k @ Meltham

Feb 10^th Penny Pot 10k (Harrogate), 17^th Liversedge ½m, 24^th Huddersfield 10k,

24^th Snake Lane 10 (Pocklington)

Mar 3^rd Norton 9, 10^th East Hull 20, 17^th South Leeds 5, 24^th Ackworth ½mar

Apr 7^th Baildon B Way ½mar, 7^th Wakefield 10k, 28^th Sheffield ½ & full marathon

As an alternative to the Sunday run, for January 13th Steve O is organising a mountain bike route. Start 9:15 from Smithy Mills. Contact Steve O for details

As promised in the last VS news, we will be having an evening to browse through the records and photos from the Horsforth marathons and half marathons from the 1980's. I'll try and sort out some photos of current Striders for our newer members to identify. I'm also hoping that two winners - marathon winner Martyn Hopson and half marathon winner Carole Wood (Carole who? - you'll have to wait and see) - will attend.