Valley Striders News

September 2005 2005 Issue 2

Valley Striders News arrives so infrequently these days that you must already suspect that we are either after your money or after your services. And the answer is both.

Membership Subscriptions Striders Year 2005/6

The Valley Striders’ new year started on 1^st September, so unless have recently joined the club (in which case you will have paid until August 2006), your subs are now due. You can wait till the AGM on 27^th September (see below for more details), but if you want to be ahead of the game, send a cheque for £10, payable to “Valley Striders”, to Danny Burnham at 3 Wyncroft Grove, Bramhope, LS16 9DG.

Harewood Trail race and Junior Race / Fun Run

Our 6^th race (or 7^th if you include the 10k on the Harewood Hill Climb) takes place on Sunday 9^th October. Entries are pouring in despite the fact that we have put the price up £1.50 in an attempt to limit the number of entries! This year all the profits will go to Lineham Farm Children’s Centre - they are helping by sending a circular to the schools in North Leeds and providing the catering for the refreshments. We “just” need 60 Striders to marshal the route, (wo)man the start/finish area and do the race admin. Please phone me or email me to let me know whether or not you are available to help.

Membership Cards

Most of you will receive a North of England AA membership card with this Newsletter. We have registered everyone who paid their Striders membership for year Sep2004 – Aug2005, so if there isn’t a membership card in your envelope, you probably need to pay your arrears for 2004/5 (£12) and your subs for 2005/6. NB Second claim members do not get membership cards from us, they only get one from their first claim club.

Annual General Meeting, Tuesday 27^th September

Will be at Leos, starting promptly at 8:30pm. Come along, hear about what has gone on in the last year, discuss what should be happening in the next year, pay your subscriptions, hope not to be elected onto the committee and enjoy the pie and peas (email or phone your order by Sunday 25^th, stating whether meat or veg pie and whether mushy peas or baked beans).

In This Issue

Page

Grand Prix 2005............................................................................................. 3

GP 2005 Results and Reports........................................................................ 3

GP 2005 Latest Positions............................................................................ 11

GP 2005 Remaining Events.......................................................................... 12

GP 2006 Events.......................................................................................... 12

Other UK Race Successes............................................................................ 12

Inter – Regional Representative..................................................................... 12

New members.............................................................................................. 13

Training....................................................................................................... 14

Tuesday Training......................................................................................... 14

Training Run (recommended by Paul White).................................................. 15

International Reports................................................................................... 16

Email from South Africa (Annemi Van Zyl)..................................................... 16

From the U.S.A. (Ruth Anderson)................................................................. 16

Meanwood Valley Trail Race....................................................................... 18

London Marathon Pace Training Run (at Harewood)........................................ 18

Roundhay Pulse Race................................................................................. 18

Charity Races 2006..................................................................................... 18

Birthdays, births, marriages, etc.................................................................. 19

Rowing (John Hallas)................................................................................... 20

Leading Ladies and Principal Boys............................................................. 22

Junior Striders............................................................................................. 22

Triathlon (Bill Murphy)................................................................................. 23

Race Report – Ironman USA, Lake Placid, NY............................................... 23

Spiders News (Fell, Cross Country etc)......................................................... 28

Errors and Omissions (Steve Webb)............................................................. 28

Turnslack Fell Race, Littleborough (John Hallas)............................................ 29

Errington Moor 8 (GW)................................................................................. 30

Cusack to the Rescue (GW)........................................................................ 30

Off-Road Successes.................................................................................... 31

World Masters World Mountain Running Champs........................................... 31

Cross Country............................................................................................. 31

Off-Road Relays........................................................................................... 32

Bradford Millennium Way Relay.................................................................... 32

Golden Acre Park Relay.............................................................................. 32

Forthcoming Off-Road Relays....................................................................... 33

Lyke Wake Race (Alison Bogie)................................................................... 33

Striders & Spiders Contacts.......................................................................... 36

Email Buddies............................................................................................ 36

Grand Prix 2005

Note that there are 28 races in 6 categories this year. There are 5 races in each of the categories short road, medium road, long and trail/fell, and 4 races in handicap and cross-country.

To qualify for a Grand Prix T-shirt, you need to run at least 8 races. But there are also 9 prize T-shirts open for competition. These are 1^st M overall, 1^st W overall, 1^st M40-49, 1^st M50+ and 1^st W 35+. The other 4 are for the winners in each group B,C,D,E. Striders are placed in groups at the start of the year (or, for new Striders, just after they join) according to recent performance.

Scoring is simple – 100 points for the first Strider home, 99 for the 2^nd, 98 for the 3^rd etc. You then just add up the scores for your best 8 races. (For this reason, it is advisable, but not necessary to run more than 8). Finally, you need to include at least 5 categories of race in your 8 scoring events; otherwise you will receive a (small) penalty score.

For a more detailed explanation and some Frequently Asked Questions, see the website.

NB if you’ve not run any G P races this year, it’s not too late to start but it is too late to get on the leader board; hopefully it will whet your appetite for 2006.

GP 2005 Results and Reports

I know this goes back a long way, but I like to put all the GP results in because (a) if you have not run a race and are thinking about running next year you know who to ask and (b) it gets the name of 107 (yes, one hundred and seven) Striders into VS News and (c) it’s the only way to get my name in this VS News.

Chevin Chase fell/trail

39 Jerry Watson 45.15

52 Mick Loftus 46.00

58 Andrew Cutts 46.32

71 Steve Webb 47.31

82 Howard Jeffrey 48.25

83 Martin Horbury 48.26

93 Paul Hunter 48.50

99 Simon Vallance 49.06

127 Mick Tinker 50.38

135 Bob Jackson 50.55

138 Alistair Fale 51.03

159 Mary Harris 52.07

210 Steve Dixon 53.56

269 Gary Sutherland 55.55

374 Steve O’Callaghan 59.38

381 Tony Haygarth 59.56

498 Ross Anderson 64.01

509 Brendan Kitson 64.23

568 Mitch ScottBaxendale66.25

597 Sara Dyer 67.28

710 Debbi Wagman 73.22

Winter Handicap 5 miles

Note that GP points for handicaps are awarded on run time not on watch time.

Race Watch Hand- Run G.Prix

Pos Time icap Time Points

1 Mary Harris 40.22 5.45 34.37 91

2 John Bucktrout 41.25 0.00 41.25 77

3 Julia Geddes 41.27 0.00 41.27 76

4 Ian Place 41.29 6.00 35.29 89

5 Bob Jackson 41.33 8.00 33.33 93

6 Simon Vallance 41.35 9.15 32.20 97

7 Richard King 41.37 8.15 33.22 94

8 Drew Taylor 41.39 11.15 30.24 100

9 Andrew Cutts 41.50 9.30 32.20 97

10 Paul White 42.05 6.15 35.50 88

11 Martin Horbury 42.06 9.30 32.36 95

12 David Barton 42.12 5.00 37.12 85

13 Rob Bumstead 42.17 10.30 31.47 98

14 Mal Smith 42.27 11.00 31.27 99

15 George Little 42.50 8.30 34.20 92

16 Steve Dixon 42.55 6.15 36.40 87

17 Mike Brown 42.56 2.45 40.11 78

18 Maddie Geddes-Barton 42.57 5.00 37.57 82

19 Eric Green 43.22 8.15 35.07 90

20 Stephen Ball 43.46 0.00 43.46 75

21 Ken Kaiser 43.51 6.15 37.36 83

22 Carole Schofield 43.58 5.15 38.43 81

23 Roy Flesher 43.59 7.15 36.44 86

24 Jules Barltrop 44.51 7.30 37.21 84

25 Dawn Morley 45.04 5.00 40.04 79

26 Geoff Webster 46.45 8.00 38.45 80

27 Mark Bean 48.45 11.00 37.45 83

York Brass Monkey half marathon

Tracey was 2^nd W, Mary 1^st W45 and with Jules they won 1^st W team.

6 Brian Hanley 71.37

19 Tracey Morris 74.47

128 Simon Vallance 86.55

131 Bob Jackson 87.02

147 Howard Jeffrey 87.57

153 Peter Johnson 88.11

163 Mary Harris 88.39

175 Jules Barltrop 89.24

187 Roy Flesher 89.56

209 Gary Sutherland 91.04

222 Mick Tinker 91.35

237 Paul White 92.11

241 Eric Green 92.27

278 Mivvy Tekchandani 94.46

311 Jim Towers 96.21

326 Ken Kaiser 96.56

376 Caroline Lynch 99.26

382 Jackie Buxton 99.45

496 Steve Purnell 104.32

814 Debbi Wagman 121.32

843 Lyn Eden 123.48

Rombalds Stride trail (category “long”)

43 Bob Jackson 204.55

52 Rob Bumstead 213.53

53 Malcolm Coles 214.16

174 Eric Cusack 288.30

211 Peter Stevenson 308.46

Dewsbury 10k

Tracey was 1^st W, Sam 7^th, Vicky 8^th and they were 1^st W team. Mary was 1^st W45.

23 Tracey Morris 33.43

46 Drew Taylor 35.38

64 Mal Smith 36.25

92 Sam Harris 37.18

96 Vicky Whitehead 37.29

106 Jon Willingham 37.47

109 Mark Hetherington 37.50

129 Simon Vallance 38.20

184 Tim Towler 39.33

185 George Little 39.34

197 Mary Harris 39.51

223 Roy Flesher 40.28

236 Julian Bhowmick 40.50

256 Mick Tinker 41.18

283 Eric Green 41.51

284 Bob Jackson 41.53

418 Hayley Palmer 45.05

562 Paul Sanderson 48.32

584 John Bucktrout 48.59

737 Emma Jenkins 52.54

753 Anne McCaffrey 53.25

822 Jane Speight 55.41

Spen 20 mile

Lisa was 1^st W and Yorkshire Champion – congratulations!

22 Lisa Wilyman 137.56

30 Bob Jackson 141.45

51 Eric Green 150.14

53 Gary Sutherland 151.47

97 Bobby Ndawula 167.45

111 Jim Towers 171.35

158 Lyn Eden 209.27

East Hull 20

Jules won the women’s race – congratulations!

13 Drew Taylor 128.47

23 Roy Flesher 133.54

53 Jules Barltrop 143.22

Ackworth half marathon

Carmel was 2^nd W45. Jules also won a prize (for 12^th W?)

64 Roy Flesher 85.00

67 Howard Jeffrey 85.12

85 Simon Vallance 87.22

97 Peter Johnson 88.18

109 Paul Hunter 89.52

122 Jules Barltrop 91.23

131 Bob Jackson 92.04

132 Paul White 92.06

134 Eric Green 92.08

138 Mick Tinker 92.26

181 Gary Sutherland 96.19

192 Sam Guy 97.47

248 Carmel Barker 101.53

371 Tony Ward 111.16

417 Emma Jenkins 115.21

551 Mike Brown 133.24

Baildon Boundary Way half marathon trail

Sam was 1^st W. Alison didn’t win a prize for 4^th W but did win a prize as part of the Chapel Allerton winning women’s team.

25 Andrew Cutts 91.42

33 Mick Wrench 93.23

45 Howard Jeffrey 95.01

46 Simon Vallance 95.03

54 Sam Harris 96.29

57 Paul Hunter 97.38

58 Alan Hutchinson 98.15

68 Bob Jackson 100.15

83 Adrian Knowles 103.12

105 Alison Bogie 106.19

121 Eric Green 108.47

126 Johnny Harrison 109.22

218 Bob Wilkes 120.56

324 Lyn Eden 149.53

325 Jim Towers 149.54

London marathon

Tim and Natalie came across from Belfast, Britt from Denmark, but the furthest traveller was Mark from Maryland on the East Coast of the U.S.A

Mark was disappointed with his time which he put down to the poor travel arrangements at the start. I had no such problem, I looked at the tube timetable from the nearest station to the hotel and found they didn’t start till 7:30 so I was going to be on the busiest train out to Greenwich. Then I got into conversation with another resident and found that he was from East Hull Harriers and that they had a coach going to the start. This dropped us off 400 yards from the start, thus also saving the mile walk across Greenwich Park.

Jules fared even worse than Mark with her travel arrangements, she was on the earliest tube but being on the Women’s AAA start had to be there for 9:00 not 9:45. She injured her foot pushing her way onto the train and only arrived with 10 minutes to spare.

Natalie got to the start OK but had a fall in the first mile, grazing and bruising her knee which hindered her running action. She bravely got round but then had to have 2 days off work and 6 weeks off running to recover.

Congratulations to those Striders competing in their first marathon, particularly those who were also raising money for charity.

NB stories that Mark Hetherington scraped me off the floor at the end are greatly exaggerated.

180 Tim Crossland 2:39.14

189 Mark Hoon 2:39.32

303 Jerry Watson 2:44.22

682 Drew Taylor 2:53.57

987 Roy Flesher 2:58.27

2039 Jules Barltrop 3:11.03

2253 Bob Jackson 3:13.03

3229 Rob Liddle 3:22.19

3329 Sam Guy 3:23.11

3711 George Little 3:25.45

4333 Adrian Knowles 3:29.22

7162 Steve Dixon 3:46.09

7303 Ken Kaiser 3:46.49

7487 Britt Laustsen 3:47.40

7553 Bobby Ndawula 3:47.57

8080 Johnny Harrison 3:50.13

8290 Mary Egan 3:51.11

13878 Tony Ward 4:13.03

14163 Natalie Crossld 4:14.07

23315 Jayne South 4:49.27

23652 Anne McCaffrey 4:50.45

Rothwell 10k

Vicky was 1^st W. Carmel was 2^nd W45 and won the Yorks Vets W45 runner-up trophy.

12 Gary Shipley 33.41

31 Vicky Whitehead 35.16

53 Niels Laustsen 36.50

68 Peter Johnson 37.35

86 Howard Jeffrey 38.35

88 Julian Bhowmick 38.38

91 Richard King 38.44

95 Paul Hunter 39.05

133 Bob Jackson 40.41

150 Johnny Harrison 41.30

154 Mick Tinker 41.37

164 Alison Bogie 41.47

167 Paul White 41.54

172 Eric Green 42.07

179 Dave Milner 42.17

243 Carmel Barker 44.29

252 Paul Sanderson 44.44

260 Simon Redshaw 45.01

316 Bob Wilkes 47.06

326 John Bucktrout 47.26

399 Peter Stevenson 49.25

436 Emma Jenkins 50.28

586 Jane Speight 58.03

Spring Handicap 10k

Race Watch Hand- Run G.Prix

Pos Time icap Time Points

1 Andrew Cutts 48.40 10.45 37.55 98

2 Jerry Watson 49.01 12.30 36.31 100

3 Simon Vallance 49.08 11.15 37.53 99

4 Roy Flesher 49.16 10.30 38.46 95

5 Erica Hiorns 49.34 4.00 45.34 82

6 George Little 49.45 10.00 39.45 93

7 Paul Hunter 49.57 10.00 39.57 92

8 Johnny Harrison 50.16 9.00 41.16 88

9 Richard King 50.31 10.30 40.01 91

10 Bob Jackson 50.36 9.15 41.21 88

11 David Barton 50.41 5.45 44.56 83

12 Rob Liddle 50.42 10.30 40.12 90

13 Alan Hutchinson 50.47 10.30 40.17 89

14 Mick Tinker 50.51 8.45 42.06 87

15 Rob Bumstead 50.53 13.45 37.08 100

16 Kay Mason 50.55 0.40 50.15 69

17 Alistair Fale 51.01 8.00 43.01 85

18 Mary Egan 51.05 4.30 46.35 78

19 John Bucktrout 51.09 2.15 48.54 72

20 Mal Smith 51.10 13.15 37.55 98

21 Bob Wilkes 51.12 3.30 47.42 75

22 Mike Brown 51.15 3.00 48.15 74

23 Emma Richardson 51.19 5.30 45.49 80

24 Paul White 51.35 8.00 43.35 84

25 Michael Grant 51.43 9.30 42.13 86

26 Sheila Grant 51.51 -1.15 52.26 66

27 Drew Taylor 51.59 14.00 37.59 96

28 Anne McCaffrey 52.00 -1.15 53.15 65

29 Ken Kaiser 52.08 6.15 45.53 79

30 Paul Sanderson 52.10 6.15 45.55 79

31 Mick Loftus 52.51 13.15 39.36 94

32 Sara Dyer 52.55 1.15 51.40 67

33 Peter Stevenson 53.01 2.30 50.31 68

34 Mivvy Tekchandani 53.43 8.00 45.43 81

35 Geoff Webster 54.10 5.30 48.40 73

36 Tony Haygarth 54.28 7.15 47.13 76

37 Bill McCaffrey 54.55 8.00 46.55 77

38 Kathy Kaiser 55.15 5.30 49.45 70

39 Steve O’Callaghan 58.41 9.30 49.11 71

Jack Bloor fell

Striders were 3^rd team due to good team packing (or was it just a mad dash for the 100 GP points). Sadly only the first 2 teams won the souvenir bottles of Briscoe’s beer.

23 Rob Bumstead 48.30

24 Andrew Cutts 48.31

25 Simon Vallance 48.32

28 Ross Anderson 49.02

33 Mick Wrench 49.22

52 Paul Hunter 52.57

68 Alistair Fale 54.30

74 Mick Tinker 55.10

101 Malcolm Coles 58.27

106 Bob Jackson 58.38

108 Bill McCaffrey 58.55

109 Geoff Webster 59.06

152 Sylvia Watson 67.52

158 Eric Green 74.43

Leeds half marathon

Striders were again well represented on the podium and in the prizes with Vicky 2^nd W, Carmel 2^nd W45, Roy 3^rd M50 and Julia 3^rd W50.

I’m pretty sure that Striders can claim to have had more runners than any other club!

17 Vicky Whitehead 76.21

39 Drew Taylor 79.19

46 Mick Loftus 80.58

63 Howard Jeffrey 82.29

85 Roy Flesher 83.41

105 Peter Johnson 85.29

118 Richard King 86.09

123 Paul Hunter 86.29

131 Julian Bhowmick 86.49

140 Bob Jackson 87.00

159 Alan Hutchinson 87.27

176 Mick Wrench 88.01

196 George Little 89.06

265 Mick Tinker 91.35

304 Michael Grant 93.05

308 Eric Green 93.11

335 Paul White 94.00

350 Johnny Harrison 94.11

440 Hayley Palmer 96.26

532 Steve Dixon 98.14

547 Mivvy Tekchandani 98.26

571 Tom Boddington 98.49

620 Erica Hiorns 99.49

651 Carmel Barker 100.34

727 Paul Sanderson 101.58

875 Bob Wilkes 104.30

963 Simon Redshaw 105.49

1149 Paul Leary 108.14

1273 David Barton 110.18

1295 Penny Sanders 110.35

1381 Julia Geddes 111.53

1591 Hannah Scott 115.14

1841 Emma Jenkins 119.10

2230 Jayne South 126.53

2311 Sheila Grant 128.53

Thirsk 10 mile

Hayley was 4^th, Carmel 1^st W45, Dawn 3^rd W35 and together with Sheila they won the W team prize (it was only Sheila’s second race in her Striders vest). Drew was 2^nd M40 and picked up all the prizes as he was the only Strider at the presentation.

12 Drew Taylor 58.03

25 Mick Loftus 59.59

33 Howard Jeffrey 61.37

39 Peter Johnson 62.20

54 Paul Hunter 63.55

56 Andrew Cutts 64.05

61 Bob Jackson 64.27

84 Eric Green 66.35

95 Mick Tinker 68.19

104 Michael Grant 68.50

140 Hayley Palmer 72.17

148 Jackie Buxton 72.37

154 Carmel Barker 73.00

164 Paul Sanderson 73.30

205 Dawn Morley 76.14

346 Sheila Grant 88.20

Summer Handicap trail

This was the second largest number of runners since the Grand Prix began in 1989.

Race Watch Hand- Run G.Prix

Pos Time icap Time Points

1 Bill McCaffrey 40.41 5.15 35.26 82

2 Paul Sanderson 40.47 4.30 36.17 78

3 Erica Hiorns 41.34 3.45 37.49 76

4 Hayley Palmer 41.48 6.00 35.48 81

5 Jerry Watson 41.51 12.00 29.51 100

6 Paul Bunton 42.10 6.00 36.10 80

7 Simon Vallance 42.11 11.00 31.11 97

8 Steve Dixon 42.14 5.15 36.59 77

9 Alan Hutchinson 42.18 9.15 33.03 92

10 Jules Barltrop 42.20 8.00 34.20 87

11 Richard King 42.23 9.30 32.53 94

12 Gary Sutherland 42.35 7.15 35.20 83

13 Bob Wilkes 42.39 3.00 39.39 71

14 John Bucktrout 42.40 1.30 41.10 69

15 Ross Anderson 42.42 10.00 32.42 95

16 Paul Hunter 42.46 9.45 33.01 93

17 Rob Bumstead 42.49 12.15 30.34 98

18 Dawn Morley 42.58 5.00 37.58 75

19 Drew Taylor 43.02 13.00 30.02 100

20 Peter Stevenson 43.15 1.15 42.00 67

21 Peter Lambert 43.24 4.15 39.09 72

22 Paul White 43.29 7.15 36.14 79

23 Emma Bartholomew 43.30 -4.00 47.30 62

24 Bob Jackson 43.49 9.45 34.04 88

25 Sally Corbin 43.50 9.00 34.50 84

26 Eric Green 43.57 9.00 34.57 84

27 Steve O’Callaghan 44.13 5.15 38.58 73

28 Andrew Cutts 44.19 12.15 32.04 96

29 George Little 44.31 9.45 34.46 85

30 Roy Flesher 44.37 10.45 33.52 89

31 Mivvy Tekchandani 44.39 6.30 38.09 74

32 Brian Hanley 45.29 15.15 30.14 99

33 Mick Wrench 45.35 12.30 33.05 91

34 Tracey Stewart 45.42 0.00 45.42 64

35 Paul Furness 45.43 0.00 45.43 63

36 Tony Ward 46.18 1.30 44.48 65

37 Sam Harris 46.32 12.45 33.47 90

38 Mick Loftus 46.38 12.15 34.23 86

39 Kathy Kaiser 47.07 4.15 42.52 66

40 Geoff Webster 47.56 7.15 40.41 70

41 Debbi Wagman 48.51 -4.00 52.51 61

42 Mark Bean 52.18 10.45 41.33 68

Hyde Park 5k

There were 144 finishers so one in every seven finishers was a Strider!

15 Drew Taylor 17.18

24 Rob Bumstead 17.56

30 Neil Dutton 18.17

32 Johnny Harrison 18.23

35 Julian Bhowmick 18.46

38 Andrew Cutts 18.59

44 Paul Hunter 19.20

49 Bob Jackson 19.35

50 Richard King 19.36

56 Eric Green 19.58

57 Jules Barltrop 20.08

60 Mick Tinker 20.25

66 Paul Sanderson 20.39

67 Paul White 20.43

77 Mark Hunter 21.20

82 Carole Schofield 21.51

103 Bob Wilkes 23.32

107 Kay Mason 23.56

108 John Bucktrout 23.59

123 Anne McCaffrey 26.02

143 Melanie Watson 33.07

Pudsey 10k

Brian, Julian and Richard won the M team prize. Peter was 1^st M55 and Jane and Alison were in the W prize list. All the prizes were alcoholic!

6 Brian Hanley 36.12

25 Peter Johnson 40.28

31 Julian Bhowmick 40.54

39 Richard King 41.30

49 Andrew Cutts 42.55

52 Johnny Harrison 43.17

56 Bob Jackson 43.30

59 Alan Hutchinson 43.42

64 Mick Tinker 44.04

78 Michael Grant 44.44

84 Eric Green 45.11

87 Jane Whitley 45.20

95 Alison Bogie 45.35

106 Laura Clark 46.34

171 Simon Redshaw 50.42

189 Bob Wilkes 51.38

312 Sheila Grant 59.20

335 Matt Watkins 61.45

336 Nigel Birch 61.45

Round Hill fell race

Sylvia was 1^st W vet and won a bottle of wine.

8 Steve Webb 61.03

14 Drew Taylor 63.16

15 Andrew Cutts 63.41

22 Martin Horbury 65.19

45 Steve Dixon 71.11

54 Malcolm Coles 74.05

55 Bob Jackson 74.14

56 Geoff Webster 74.33

69 Sylvia Watson 88.30

70 Peter Stevenson 89.13

Norland Moor fell race (but more trail-y)

Four Valley Striders went up to the prize table to select a prize, for Brian it was a tin of Quality Street, a giant Toblerone for Sam (2^nd W), a box of Maltesers for Bob W (1^st M65) and a bottle of wine for Sylvia (1^st W55).

3 Brian Hanley 44.03

22 John Hallas 52.33

27 Bob Jackson 54.20

36 Sam Guy 56.31

37 Steve Dixon 56.45

45 Eric Green 58.14

56 Geoff Webster 60.27

60 Bob Wilkes 61.39

65 Sylvia Watson 63.41

77 Peter Stevenson 69.38

Autumn Handicap – Stop Press

Won by Simon Redshaw, full results in next VS News (look on the website if you can’t wait).

Any other marathon – current leader board

Name Time Where Pos in race

Alan Hutchinson 3:11.21 White Peak 14

Bob Jackson 3:17.45 White Peak 20

George Little 3:20.12 Edinburgh 296

Eric Green 3:25.02 White Peak 32

Michael Grant 3:25.11 Rotterdam 1913

Gary Sutherland 3:58.59 Shakespeare 287

Alison Bogie 4:00.23 Wharfedale 12

Dave Milner 4:00.51 Wharfedale 13

Jerry Watson 4:05.00 Wharfedale 23

Sheila Grant 4:43.39 Rotterdam 8460

Sara Dyer 5:03.00 Wharfedale 32

Bob Wilkes 5:03.00 Wharfedale 33

Alan, Bob and Eric attempted to win the team prize at the White Peak marathon but were relegated to 2^nd place by at team of M, M50 and W from the organising club, Matlock AC. Eric got a P.B. and Alan got a good-for-age qualifying time for London so it was still a successful day.

A few Striders will be running the Wharfedale off-road marathon, but since the course record is 3:25, are going to figure a little way down these points. Leicester, Luton and Abingdon are still available as road marathons this year.

GP 2005 Latest Positions

After 21 events including Autumn Handicap

At least 8 races completed: Drew Taylor (A,M40) 797, Andrew Cutts (A,M40) 780, Bob Jackson (B,M50) 776, Simon Vallance (B,M) 776, Paul Hunter (B,M40) 762, Roy Flesher (B,M50) 758, Eric Green (C,M40) 750, Richard King (A,M) 741, Mick Tinker (B,M50) 736, Paul White (C,M50) 696, Bob Wilkes (D,M60) 692.

7 races completed: Rob Bumstead (A,M) 679, Alan Hutchinson (B,M40) 650, Jules Barltrop (B,L) 642, George Little (B,M40) 639, Steve Dixon (B,M50) 617, Paul Sanderson (D,M) 580, Peter Stevenson (E,M50) 554, John Bucktrout (E,M50) 524.

6 races completed: Mick Loftus (A,M) 565, Julian Bhowmick (B,M) 560, Michael Grant (B,M40) 529, Gary Sutherland (C,M40) 541, Geoff Webster (D,M50) 487, Sheila Grant (E,LV) 461.

5 races completed: Brian Hanley (A,M) 494, Hayley Palmer (C,L) 411, Mivvy Tekchandani (C,L) 381, Emma Jenkins (L,E) 381, Anne McCaffrey (L,E) 381.

4 races completed: Mary Harris (C,LV) 365, Sam Guy (C,L) 357), Ross Anderson (B,M) 338, Carmel Barker (D,LV) 337, Bill McCaffrey (C,M) 321, Simon Redshaw (C,M) 321, David Barton (D,M50) 301, Sara Dyer (E,LV) 295, Tony Ward (E,M50) 294, Debbi Wagman (E,LV) 277, Steve O’Callaghan (D,M50) 273.

And 66 Striders who have done 3 or fewer races – see website for full details.

GP 2005 Remaining Events

Cat Day Date Time Event

Med Sun Oct 2 11:00 Selby ½ marathon

X-C Sat Oct 15 13:30 West Yorks cross country race 1 at York (see p.31)

X-C Sun Oct 30 13:30 West Yorks cross country race 2 at Otley

Long Sat Nov 12 08:00 Burley Bridge Hike 20

X-C Sa/Su Nov 19/20 13:30 West Yorks cross country race 3 t.b.a.

Short Sun Nov 27 09:30 Abbey Dash 10k

XC Sun Dec 4 13:30 West Yorks cross-country race 4 at Guiseley

Long any any any Any other marathon, score according to time

GP 2006 Events

We expect a similar format for 2006 with 28 events, maybe a few changes to remove a few less well attended ones, so an opportunity for you to suggest your favourite race for inclusion (to Alan Hutchinson or Paul White).

Unfortunately, unless you were quick off the mark, one GP event you won’t be able to run is the Brass Monkey Half Marathon (January 22). Entries opened on September 12, but by the time this reaches you are likely to have closed.

You should also enter the Chevin Chase (Boxing Day) well in advance, this tends to close very early in December.

We are also likely to include the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships in January, providing it doesn’t clash with another event.

Other UK Race Successes

Included:

· March: Liverpool half: Tracey Morris 2^nd W

· March: East Hull 20: Jules Barltrop 1^st W

· March: South Leeds 5: Gary Shipley 1^st vet

· March: Littleborough 5k: Gary Shipley 3^rd overall & 1^st vet

· April: Wakefield 10k: Mary Harris 1^st W45, Roy Flesher 1^st M50, Women 1^st team (Sam Harris, Mary Harris and Hayley Palmer)

· May: Esholt 5k: Vicky Whitehead 1^st W

· June: Pulse Race: Julia Geddes 1^st W45

· August: Askern 10: Vicky Whitehead 3^rd W

· August: Armthorpe 10k: Vicky Whitehead 1^st W

Inter-regional Representative

· September: Cardiff 10k: Vicky Whitehead 7^th W and represented North of England in the inter-regional competition North vs South vs Midlands vs Wales vs Scotland, she was 3^rd counter for the N. and the N. team finished 2^nd team.

New members

New Members

212. Adrian Knowles – joined to get tips for London marathon.

213. Tony Ward – friend of Paul Furness, joined for London training, Thursday regular and occasional runner on Steve and Geoff’s Tuesday tours.

214. Peter Stevenson – experienced senior runner, first race with us was Rombalds Strider, regular Tuesday runner.

215. Jane Speight – ran with us in winter, has been doing a lot of cycling in the summer but promises to be back soon.

216. Diana Dubelaar – friend of Kirsten Jackson, Australian currently in USA.

217. Sam Guy – joined in February to get tips for London marathon, a sub 3:30 got her listed on the British Club Rankings website.

218. Paul Sanderson – joined to keep Jane Speight company, now a Tues regular.

219. Michael Grant – “persuaded” to join by Sheila, looking to improve his marathon time to 3:15 … or better.

220. Sheila Grant – joined the Thursday group, won a prize at Thirsk.

221. Bill McCaffrey – husband of Anne, a useful fell runner & not bad on the road too.

222. Jonny Harrison – first claim for Chapel A, had quite often trained on Tuesdays us, decided to pay up.

223. John Smith – in the slow group but has only missed one Tuesday since he joined 3 months ago.

224. Tracy Stewart – Thursday regular, first Striders run was in LCW team.

225. Emma Richardson – friend of Sam Harris, ran as a junior with Hyndburn AC (that’s in Lancashire), Tuesday regular.

226. Ian Sanderson – ran 40:03 at Sandal Castle before joining, now a Tuesday regular

227. Emma Bartholomew – found one of our Meanwood Trail Race notices in Meanwood Woods in July (I was surprised that neither the notice nor the tree had been vandalised)

We also welcome back

Mike O’Callaghan and Jane Halloran, both for the third time, and both running well, maybe suggesting that a strategy for prolonging your running career is to take a couple of years out now and again.

“Resignations”

Martin Horbury has rejoined Keighley & Craven as 1^st claim but remains with Striders as 2^nd claim. That does mean that he can be considered fair game for “sledging” for example when we were not very sympathetic when he ran leg 5 of Bradford Millennium way with Willy Smith (previous winner of the Harewood Trail). Despite this he did run for us in the Leeds Country Way team.

Niels Laustsen is back in the UK with a permanent job at Lancaster University. He has joined Lancaster & Morecambe AC 1^st claim but remains with us as 2^nd claim.

Training

Tuesday Training

In the early days of Valley Striders, the Tuesday training run was generally a fartlek session which generally turned into an eyeballs-out session about half way round. In winter the route was Alwoodley Lane, Wigton Lane, then either Roundhay Park Lane and Park Lane (the 9 mile route) or Shadwell Lane and Street Lane (the 11 mile route), merging on Princes Avenue, then Gledhow Lane, St Gemmas and back up King Lane. In summer, the route was via the Golf Course, across the fields, round the Res, through Eccup, and back via Black Moor Lane, Kings Road, Otley Road and Stairfoot Lane.

Some years ago we realised that our slower runners became discouraged by being left behind early into the session and our faster runners were not getting enough variety. So we set up a cycle of training - 16 times 400 metres, traditional fartlek, 5 times 1 mile and 6 or 8 times up a hill.

We were still leaving the slower runners behind on the fartlek so 2 years ago our coach Max Jones devised a new session, which we call the 10-minute session.

· runners position themselves fastest first

· run for 5 minutes, turn round, run back for 5 minutes

· all should arrive back together

· wait 2 and a half minutes, repeat 2 further times

· runners should aim to get to the same turn point each time and be back at the start point as near as possible to the 10 minutes

Early this summer we looked at what could be done to improve the other sessions. We had two suggestions

6 or 8 times up a hill became rolling 8 hills a.k.a. Mivvy's hills:

· fastest runners start at the front

· as soon as the first runner gets to the top (or an agreed point), all turn round

· all runners reach the bottom around the same time

· and all immediately start back up the hill

· a different fast runner may reach the top first

· continue 8 times (but with a 2 minute break half way)

5 x 1 mile became 5 x 7 minutes with 2 minutes rest a.k.a. Peter (Stephenson)'s miles:

· so faster runners run further than a mile (or, but not recommended, can run the mile and take more rest)

· so slower runners run less than a mile (or, but not recommended, can run the mile and take less rest)

16 times 400 metres has always been run as 8 pairs of 400m, out and back, so there has always been the feature for the slower runners to run less distance

And what about new runners? The jog of nearly 2 miles to the start may leave them behind or over-exerted for the “session”. We have two options - jog up The Avenue to the start (1¼ mile) or drive to Wigton Lane then jog down to the Res (¼ mile).

So, in Summer 2005, we had a cycle of training

· 1st Tuesday in month - 3 times 10 minutes with 2min30sec rest between each

· 2nd Tuesday in month - 16 times 75 seconds with 45 seconds rest between each

· 3rd Tuesday in month - 5 times 7 minutes with 2mins rest between each

· 4th Tuesday in month - rolling hills (8 times), 2 mins rest at half-time

For Winter 2005, these will move to run on well-lit roads with minimum road crossings

· 1st Tuesday – “10 minutes” on High Ashes off Wigton Lane

· 2nd Tuesday – “75 seconds” on Otley Road near Bodington Hall

· 3rd Tuesday – “7 minutes” on High Ashes off Wigton Lane

· 4th Tuesday - rolling hills (6 times), 2 mins rest at half-time on Church Lane Meanwood

There are no short-cuts to the start of these sessions, but newcomers still have the option to drive to the start or near to the start of each session. Maps of the locations of these sessions can be found from the Training Section of the Striders website homepage.

Training Run (recommended by Paul White)

Thorner, Scarcroft, Shadwell, Ring Road (9.6 miles)

Mile Total

Start at junction of Wetherby Road and Redhall Lane (near Strikes)

Run down Redhall Lane to mini roundabout, go ahead onto Skeltons Lane 0.3 0.3

At end of Skeltons Lane (long straight road) turn left on to Thorner Lane 1.0 1.3

Run into Thorner village, pass Beehive on right, Mexborough Arms on left 1.5 2.8

Continue on the main road past the Church and take road to left (Milner Lane)

At top of hill turn left on to Thorner Lane 0.7 3.5

Pass Scarcroft Hall Farm Liveries and follow the main road to the right

Continue to the cross roads (main Wetherby Road) 1.0 4.5

Go straight across onto Syke Lane, pass the Bracken Fox and Scarcroft Golf

Club. At the cross roads, top of the hill, go straight across on to Tarn Lane 1.0 5.5

At next cross roads go straight across on to the continuation of Tarn Lane 0.3 5.8

At T junction turn left 1.0 6.8

Follow road up to Slaid Hill, pass the Dexter on the right

At traffic lights go straight across on to Roundhay Park Lane 0.4 7.2

At next traffic lights turn left on to the Ring Road 0.6 7.8

Continue along the Ring Road to the Wetherby Road roundabout 1.5 9.3

Turn left and run to finish at Redhall Lane. 0.3 9.6

Paul’s comment: Generally pleasant, reasonably testing run, mainly on road with 4 hills and some steady climbs.

Editor’s comment: Please submit details of your favourite training run for inclusion in VS News and/or the website.

International Reports

You thought that emails were supposed to speed up communication but the following has been in my in-box since last December. But it’s very timely if you are considering a trip to South Africa this (UK) winter.

Email from South Africa (Annemi Van Zyl)

Thank you for your emails and all the race invitations and results that I am still receiving!

My move to Cape Town was definitely the 'right one', but after being out of your home country for nearly 8 years still makes me a stranger here!! My English is definitely deteriorating and I am falling into the relaxed way of living in Cape Town, but there are days that "African Time" is just not doing it for me.

What's been happening on my activity front over the last 6 months? I run with a club, Celtic Harriers, one of the oldest and bigger clubs in Cape Town - they've been around since early 18-something! There are few traditions in a country that had the first westerners arriving in 1652 only, but Celtics has their traditions!!! Because of such a large number of people that belong to 1 club, it is hard to know 1/3 of them, and at races you only recognise club members because of our green and white club gear.

South Africa - the land of long distances and ultra marathons! I've been sticking to half marathons and is proud to say that my half marathon time has improved with 12 minutes since I left the UK (less air pressure down here!)

I've also completed 3 triathlons, but every time I find myself on a bike, I wonder what the hell I am trying to do!!! 2005 will see me spending a lot more time on a black racing bike!

After a nasty shark attack on an old lady in False Bay, swimmers are careful to set foot in the sea and open water swimming competitions are held with a helicopter circling low above the water!

It's a boiling hot time of the year here - activity takes place before 6.30 am or after 7pm! If anyone needs some hot weather training or want to sweat heaps, find a flight to Cape Town!

Enjoy the Xmas season, and good luck with all the cross country and other icy runs!

From the U.S.A. (Ruth Anderson)

E-mail January 2005

Good to get the current Striders news.  Sorry to hear of the bad weather news, however.  I finally ran my first race of 2005, a XC on a wet, muddy course at Ft. Vancouver, just into Washington State from Portland, OR across the Columbia River. At least it was warm enough to rain, but no frozen spots .  As I was the only female aged 75 to be entered  in the 8K, I "won" by just finishing.  Nice to get a National Masters Championship medal for my efforts, too.  John Keston is still running so well, it is no surprise he won, even though he is now 80yrs old, but was ahead of all the 70yr olds, too.

I hope to run the 8K in San Sebastian, Spain this August, but expect a lot of competition in the 75 W there.  Do you know of any VS masters going to this WMA Championship?  It would be great to meet up with any of them.
Ruth

Regarding letter and press clippings received March 2005

In May 1993, Ruth came across to the UK to run in the Isle of Man 40 mile race run on the TT motor cycling circuit. She sent me an article she had written at the time for her club newsletter and some press clippings. It was on 30^th May, but conditions were rainy and windy and, according to the “Isle of Man Examiner”, the worst conditions in the 29 year history of the race. There were 18 starters, but Ruth was one of the 4 non-finishers, dropping out after completing the marathon distance.

E-mail April 2005

You may have received my mail on my 1993 IOM TT40 by now or will soon. Thought I would email you a bit about how I got "introduced" into that fascinating place during several visits to England, and meeting many wonderful people. Several times my "birthday celebrations" seemed to get involved. Of course the 1999 occasion for my 70ieth there with you Valley Striders will always be the most special. 

In 1992 I arrived July 27th with my husband, John, to visit friends in Kent
before going on to the Isle of Man. The Rider family had been my crew for the 1979 London to Brighton Race, all 54miles of it that year.  I had met Hazel Rider in 1976 at my first IGAL veterans championships, the Coventry Marathon (also my first trip to England). I attended IGAL meetings and met Bryan Doughty IOM, and Secty. General of IGAL. We got to be great friends over the years at more IGAL meetings and competitions. As it turns out he is a real icon/hero for all his athletic work, but a bit before your time? He was to be our most gracious host for several weeks in 1992 (and crew in 1993 TT40 as you will read when you get my postal mail).

We made one more stop over in North Devon to visit another family, the Billingtons, who oddly I had met in 1979 in Eugene, OR, long before we moved here. It was a great Marathon, then sponsored by NIKE, with invited runners like Lyn Billington, a world class marathoner having represented UK Internationally. Another British star was Gillian Adams (Horowitz) now still competing well in this country as a masters.

We finally arrived on the Isle of Man, August 10th, just in time to enter a Grand Prix of 5 races starting Aug. 16th, all in less than a week.  The Half Marathon was first, then a 4 mile "Peel Hill" fell type event, up and down, the next day.  We got a "rest day" the
18th, then a 10Miles road race, followed by a 6Mile and 4Mile road events the next two days. Both of these were tough runs, as my times of 87:42 and 50:14 would attest!  These were run all over the IOM, so got to see a lot of the Island. The amazing thing to me
was that I scored well enough to finish 3rd woman in the Grand Prix.

I really hated to leave the IOM for Birmingham the 27th of August for the 10K and 25K Veteran Championships, but did get a couple of days "rest" before "competing". Of course these were back to back events, now under WAVA rather than IGAL, and needed some management improvements.  For me there was tough competition  in the W60-64 division behind Eileen Quinton  and Bertilia De Preter, but hung on to third. They may have been better rested than I was, but still my times were slower than I would have liked
50:15 for 10K and 2:18:00 for the 25K. Over the next several years I did better against these same women, always enjoying the competition.

Meanwood Valley Trail Race

Was again a great success, which would not have been possible without the help of 65 yes sixty five Striders and friends who helped on the day. Particular thanks to Sam and Mary Harris who did all the entry administration. £1,000 was raised for Lineham Farm Children’s Centre. There were 55 finishers in the combined 1 and 2 mile races for 5 to 16 year olds (this was double the number of last year), and 304 finishers in the main race which was the second best ever and only 21 down on the record in 2003.

London Marathon Pace Training Run (at Harewood)

After a week of almost continuous rain in the week prior to the event (Feb 27), the run had to be cancelled due to the bad weather, the field to be used for the car park being waterlogged. The 300 runners were notified by email of the cancellation and most read their emails, but 20 turned up and together with 20 Striders who were determined to do the 2 laps of an 8 mile figure-of-eight circuit Harewood-Emmerdale-Eccup-Emmerdale-Harewood), they set off in 3 groups and finished in 7 or 8 muddy groups. Thanks to all the Striders who helped that day. Should we have another go in 2006? If so, I’ll get back in touch with Runners World.

Roundhay Pulse Race

Thanks also to the 10 Striders who helped with the finishing line administration and some marshalling at the Pulse Race. Particular thanks to Mick Tinker who, at short notice, took over from me at 10:00 on the Sunday morning and to Ken and Kathy Kaiser who ran the computer race results service. I believe around £8000 was raised for the British Heart Foundation.

Charity Races 2006

We are also helping at the Cancer Research 10k at Harewood in 2005. I would like to know which races and charities Striders should support in 2006 – we should not spread ourselves too thinly. Your opinions, please?

Birthdays, births, marriages, etc

Big Birthdays

35 - Dawn Morley (May) and Mivvy Tekchandani (June)

40 - Simon Vallance (Sept) and Gillian Goodwin (Oct)

45 - Paul Briscoe (June)

50 - Maddy Illingworth (Sept) and Yvonne Bissitt (Sept)

65 - Bob Wilkes (Aug)

Births

Congratulations to Paul & Kim Bunton – a son Joe on 11^th August.

Engagement

Sam Guy to Dalton - on holiday in Budapest in April just after the London Marathon.

Marriages

Congratulations to

· Kay Mason and Glen Duggleby who were married on March 24^th at the Kings Croft Hotel at Pontefract. Daughter Eliama was a flower-girl and son Lucas a page-boy but they stayed with the grandparents while Kay and Glen honeymooned in Venice.

· Mick Wrench and Emma who were married on July 23^rd ay Baildon Methodist Church with a reception at Hollins Hall – a fantastic day (Emma said) but neither had time to use the sports facilities there. They honeymooned in Switzerland, climbing and walking, the second week was the first rainy week of the floods and one day the only other walkers they saw were also Brits.

· Bob Wilyman and Bridget who were married on August 12^th at the Hotel du Vin in Harrogate.

· Rob Liddle and Gardie (short for Gardiol) who were married on August 6th in Gardie’s home town of Stellenbosch near Capetown (where Annemi studied). Rob says “I was over there for a month and so did plenty of running up Stellenbosch Mountain to burn off all the biltong and springbok I consumed. It is a very mountainous area with lots of vineyards and spectacular scenery”.

Rowing (John Hallas)

Indoor rowing is a fast growing sport that is one that is particularly easy for runners to cross over into and where good cardiovascular ability shows immediate benefits.

The standard machine for all indoor rowing attempts and records is the Concept C2. Various models exist but the 2 most recent ones are the Model C and Model D. All machines are interchangeable and timing should be very consistent between each machine, provided it is well maintained. The new machines have much fancier computer displays indicating speed (rate), strokes per minute, heart rate, calories used and watts generated.

The key thing is to set the machine to the drag that is best for you. Drag is the rate of air resistance that is allowed through to slow the fan down. Drag is managed by the lever that moves between 1 and 10. Visit most gyms and you will see the uneducated rower stick it up to 10 and go hard it , showing a rate of 1:50 per 500 metres and gradually slowing to 2:15 plus before he/she walks away after 500 or 1000 metres (or less) muttering about having had a good work-out. Pinsent, Redgrave and other top rowers use a drag of about 130 which is generally about level 4 on a well maintained erg (ergonometer / rowing machine). The same setting or lower is good for slightly less trained athletes such as ourselves at VS.

An analogy between rate settings can be seen by looking at the top cyclists. In the Tour De France Jan Ulrich is notorious for pushing a very big gear slowly but surely up the big mountain climbs whereas Lance Armstrong spins a much smaller gear but much more quickly. Armstrong’s method relies on good technique and that is all important when rowing. Technique is hard to acquire by yourself but in a gym try to find someone who looks to have a smooth stroke and is rating at a decent pace (sub 2:00 / 500m) and ask them to check out your style.

The beauty of getting into rowing from a running background is that you immediately feel the lack of contact and stress on the joints and it is quite easy to produce respectable times. Times are the key business in this game. There are a standard set of distances that are rowed with the blue riband being the 2K event. Events are held around the world over this distance and the British Indoor Rowing Championships (BIRC) are held at the NEC each year and attended by hundreds of rowers. The short explosive events are the 500M, 1K, 1 mile gradually moving up through 2K to 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon. The other 2 significant challenges are to see how far you can get in 30 or 60 minutes.

The equivalent of an on the road sub 60 10 miles and the 3 hour marathon are probably the sub 7 minute 2k event (definitely the main one) and various suggestions could be 17:00 5K, 35:00 10K, 1:15 HM targets. With not a vast amount of training I have managed to get sub 40 for 10K and will do sub 90 for HM when I attempt it. That has been helped by the stamina achieved from years of running and being used to working hard over that period of time. Over the shorter distances it will be much harder as I am relatively short of upper body strength.

One area where running is different from rowing is the build of the ideal competitor. Rowing competitions are split into 2 categories, lightweight and heavyweight, with 75kg being the divider. Further divisions are made between each decade of age. The ideal rower will be built like members of the ‘Oarsome Foursome’ (which is not a surprise really) and will be tall, have a very well developed upper body and have great stamina. Over the standard 2K distance a heavyweight rower will be 30 seconds faster than a lightweight one, on average. A runner like Steve O would be ideally suited to rowing and it would probably help his knees as well.

So what does rowing do for you? It can be a very hard CV work out that builds and tones a large number of muscles throughout the body. It is probably only second to swimming as the best overall activity to work out. It is certainly causes less wear and tear on the joints. It is a fast growing sport and a number of runners are turning to it as a means of reducing the strain on their knee joints , as a general cross training exercise and because it is quite competitive. I have heard a number of reports of runners who have concentrated on erging for a few weeks and then gone for a run. Their breathing has felt so good that they have suffered the next day from doing too much.

There are a number of online forum and sites to enter and maintain your times. Concept2 maintain two sites, in the UK and the USA with a multitude of information. One of the sites is a rankings site. Once registered you can keep your training log online and rank any PBs at a selected distance. These can then be viewed in age groups, selecting either the UK or everywhere. My initial idea was to get below the 50% mark in most categories and having achieved that I am gradually trying to reduce it to 33% or better. A friend is planning a Marathon on his 50^th birthday and his target was to break 3:15 which would have put him into the top 10% for the 50-59% age group. Rankings can be seen at http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/log.asp. Another very good site is the Nonathlon site. This is maintained by people who obviously have a keen interest in Mathematics. They have a formula that takes age into account and awards points as a ratio of the worlds best times. They have a range of 9 distances and it is really good to see where your strength and weaknesses lie. I have scored between 840 and 875 on distances from 5K to 60 minutes (about 15k) and yet I am below 800 points for distances 500m to 2K. Once again this is due to the stamina I have developed that allows me to row for longer, but don’t have the sheer muscular power to pull very hard for a short distance. The Nonathlon site can be seen at http://www.matrix.uk.net/nonathlon

So, if you are looking for a change in your training, or fancy a new challenge, or are sick of being injured, why don’t you try rowing as an alternative. As an incentive there are 3 eighty year olds who train at Armley Sports Centre who are amongst the best in the world for their age. So Geoff W has a couple of years to get fit enough.

Leading Ladies and Principal Boys

News of our leading ladies

Tracey finished 2^nd at the Brass Monkey and 1^st at Dewsbury back in January / February but was then injured and despite many attempts to pick up on training did not get back to competitive racing and so was disappointed to miss London and also her reserve place in Helsinki. In July she had an operation to remove scar tissue from near her Achilles, at the end of August she started training at 5 minutes per day, 3 times per week. Providing she can reach a level of racing fitness by December, she is still planning to run for Wales in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next March.

Vicky had successes in April at the Rothwell 10k and in May at the Leeds half, then a period of injury but is now back racing with a win at Armthorpe 10k and 3^rd places at the Askern 10 and the Nottingham half, She ran for the North of England at the Cardiff 10k, finishing 7^th. She has now been selected to run for G.B. at an international half marathon at Reims on 23^rd October – she will become our 6^th honorary member by means of being an international runner or world champion.

Lisa won the Spen 20 (and Yorkshire Championship) in March, was then injured, and was then building up her training when, after a long training session, she wanted to take her dog, Milo, for a walk and decided to take it easy by cycling while the Milo was running. However Milo decided to look at an empty burger container and Lisa decided to keep cycling, Milo’s lead got entangled in the bicycle wheel and Lisa ended up in casualty with a broken femur. She’s allowed back jogging from November. NB another reason that you haven’t seen her recently is that she’s moved to Manchester with her boyfriend John.

Sam also had a good spring – good positions at Dewsbury 10k and Wakefield 10k and a win at the Baildon Boundary Way, but has since been beset by injuries. She recently found some super-fast shoes which also seemed to sort out her back problems. Unfortunately they have now given her a foot problem. Come back soon!

Jules won the East Hull 20 in March and has been running steadily during the summer, building up to the Berlin marathon in October. She had her first professional acting role playing Ursula and Conrade in Much Ado About Nothing in Knaresborough, for winter she will be in the title role of Dick Whittington at Whitby. Oh yes she will!

Junior Striders

Gavin Taylor (aged 7) now has his own Striders vest and finished 5^th in one of the Hyde Park mile races.

It would be great if other sons and daughters of Striders registered for races as “Valley Striders” and if possible ran in a Striders vest or T-shirt. Maybe we could start a scheme where vests, when outgrown, could be passed on to younger and/or smaller Striders.

Triathlon Race Report (Bill Murphy)

Ironman USA, Lake Placid, NY, July 24 2005

There we were about to set out on a drive around the bike route at Ironman USA Lake Placid.

I had managed to team up with some Americans from the room next door. These turned out to be Derek Richie and Seth Mosier. Derek’s wife (Kelly) and one of two of his friends (Stephen Kenrick[1] and Brian McGuire) who were also racing arrived later in the week. We had a brief chat and agreed to touch base later to do a reconnaissance on the bike course.

I clicked on the altimeter on my heart rate monitor as we set off. In that moment the vague spectre of Julie Andrews floated in the air in a vaguely Austrian way. The bike course, like the run course, was a hilly two lap affair. Some 3 km out of the town there is the first climb. This is about 1km (which passes the Jackrabbit Inn – so I felt that temptation to stop would be strong on lap two). Then there is a long 10 km descent on the flat for about another 25 km then two significant climbs separated by a long flat(ish) stretch. Even the flat stretches of the bike course were undulating. The last 14-15 km into Lake Placid at the end of the lap was almost uninterrupted climbing. In total the 180 km bike course accumulated over 2000m of ascent. This is where I started to have rather twitchy memories of the Leicester Marathon. To put this in context my normal long bike route that takes me through York, Ripon, Harrogate and Bolton Abbey accumulates 1200 m of ascent in 180 km. There was no doubt that the bike course was challenging. The run course was a two lap out and back affair which took you through the town centre for much needed morale boosting support four times. There were two major climbs – both about 10^o. The first one encountered was about 300 m and the second a mere 100 m in length[2]. However I had done a lot of miles for this race and felt confident. There was no doubt that this course was considerably tougher than either Ironman New Zealand or Austria that I had done last year. At least the swim would be flat – although with 2000 odd (and the occasional normal) athletes (and I use the term with some caution when applied to myself) in the water it is safe to say that the swim would be the usual choppy (i.e. as in karate) affair. Even the weather forecast looked good. The hot and humid weather was supposed to clear for a brief period (i.e. race day) before rain on Monday and a then a return to hot and humid conditions on the Tuesday. The temperature was forecast to drop to 74^oF. A chilly night was forecast which would drop the water temperature somewhat – just as well really as it was borderline for wet suit use as it was (above 22^oC you are not allowed to use a wetsuit due to risk of dehydration) water temperature was measured on Saturday morning at 21.5^oC).

Right for the last time, never to be commented on again, promise etc etc. Race day dawned extremely bright and exceptionally clear (as always – maybe it’s a commentary on how few races I do in the UK!) I awoke at 3am (well before any of my alarms (note plural there – too many miles and too much money were invested for me to sleep in and miss the race) went off. I was in the town, bike checked, into wetsuit and ready for the start in good time. Rather unusually I didn’t get there early and spend time wandering about thinking “I have plenty of time” only to have a mad dash in the last half an hour. I met up with Derek, Stephen, Seth and Brian. Kelly who was not competing wished us all good luck and we all went through the process of getting ourselves into the water. There was a brief pause for a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and then we were off.

The swim was a two lap affair. Rather unusually I found that my wetsuit was chaffing around the neck and this meant that occasionally I had to adjust the collar somewhat – this lost me some time, as did my apparent inability to swim in a straight line but on the whole I was happy with the swim. I covered the 3.8km in 1:16 (I am now going to skip the few seconds so all the times will be in hours: minutes). There was a 300m run to transition a quick(ish) change and then off on the bike. In Transition (T1) I took time to put on plenty of sunblock – and managed to forget part of my bald pate: I now have three brownish strips marking the ventilation slits in front of my bike helmet on my head.

The bike course turned out to be just as horrid as I anticipated. Out of T1 a few sharp bends and fast descents took me to the first climb which I shot up at a pace that surprised me. Long days of bike training around Bolton Abbey and Burnsall had paid off. Feeling strong, out the saddle I felt happy that I would be able to drive through the climb so switched up into the big gears and Lufthansa’s baggage handlers struck back. The brutality that my bike had been subjected to on the flight over had caused minor, and unnoticed, damage to the front chain rings and the chain and given that I was putting quite a lot of force through the drive system at this time when the chain slipped off the cogs. A number of things then happened in quick succession. Firstly I slowed substantially. Secondly, the sudden lost off support catapulted me forward onto the handle bars: my right knee hit the bar ends and as I pitched forward I wont say what hit the headset. I managed to stay upright and on the bike, but my momentum was lost and I ground to a halt half way up the hill. Even more galling: Derek and Stephen passed me (I presume Brian did too but I did not see him) - Seth was so far ahead of the rest of us I think he had been on a jet ski instead of in a wetsuit – he was chasing a place at Ironman Hawaii. Inspection of the chainset was not good. Some of the cogs were damaged and the chain appears to be twisted: it looked like terminal damage and I thought that less than 10 km into the bike course my day would be over. Fortunately geology came to the rescue. You may be wondering what esoteric aspect of my understanding of the earth I am referring to – the answer is none. What I actually mean is that I hammered one of the front rings with a rock until the cogs were straight and I could get the chain back on (I think Jim Huggins fainted when I told him this). I rather gingerly got back on the bike having lost about 10-15 minutes being rather resigned to not using my full range of gears[3]. The remainder of the lap passed without incident and I came into Lake Placid still feeling strong. The end of the major climb was just before the start of the town and had a crowd. By this time I had restored some confidence in my gears and was out the saddle climbing again and attacking on every hill. It’s a great feeling having people cheer you on – all our race numbers had your name on it so people could actually shout your name in encouragement. Buoyed up by the cheering masses – well ok but the somewhat muted few – I started the second lap feeling good – what could go wrong now?

A flat tyre – that’s what could go wrong now. On one of the flat sections of the course the bike felt unusually dead, I was slowing down and strange noises were coming from the back wheel. However I was prepared for this, and for the first time in a race I had to change a tube and got to use my nice new CO₂ tyre inflator. This meant that I was actually on my way again in approximately 10 minutes but it was another delay and another break in my rhythm. A rhythm that was broken again when someone at an aid station managed to spill some Gatorade bottles in front of me – I was vexed at almost crashing because of someone fooling about but somewhat mollified by another competitor commenting on my bike handling skills (this was a first). The main climb on the second lap was hard going. There was now no shade and the simple physics of differential heating and cooling around lakes meant that there was a head wind. Nevertheless I was back in Lake Placid some 6:35 after setting out from T1 not bad for such a hilly course especially given some of the problems I had experienced. My time in T2 was taken up by changing, putting on more sunblock, having some pretzels and generally trying to get my running head on. I was actually still feeling good: I had drunk sufficient water en route and had eaten enough. I had avoided drinking Gatorade Endurance as I had not used it in training and was able to carry my own sports drink on the bike. I was resigned to using Gatorade on the run as this was the only drink available. So only the little matter of a marathon remained between me and Ironman glory (well maybe not glory…a better term would be not-glory or an inglorious finish – for me to finish first in one of these would require a freak tornado to wipe out the top half of the field and even then I would probably stop and gawp at the chaos long enough for someone to pass me in the last 100m…).

The run was well organized: there were aid stations every mile and my cunning plan was simple; I would run to each aid station take on some small amount of fluid and then run to the next aid station. In this way I could think of it not as 26 miles, but 26 food stops – on a mind games front there are few better than this for someone who enjoys eating as much as I do. On the first lap I was going well – as I powered up the second 10^o climb I again found the crowd cheering me on (as they did for everyone I should say this was not particularly partisan – although I was one of the few to run up this hill at this stage of the day – something I would later regret) and I averaged about a 9 minute mile pace. On the second lap the effect of the Gatorade Endurance kicked in. At this stage I can only say that it is called “Endurance” as it is an effect you have to put up with. In my case this was quite severe stomach cramps. I felt ok on the start of the second lap I shouted to Seth as he powered towards the last two miles of the marathon some 10 miles in front of me. I had passed Stephen and Brian on the second bike lap and they were both on the first lap of the run course when I saw them again – but by the 17 mile mark I was in serious discomfort and when I caught up with Derek I was forced to walk for about 20 minutes while my stomach cramps abated. I would have been quite content to stroll the remaining distance chatting to Derek had he not used some serious moral blackmail to get me moving again. By the 20 mile mark I was beginning to feel better – I eschewed further offers of Gatorade and stuck to water, grapes and Pepsi and I was able to attack the two serious climbs again. As I pushed back into the town there were again people to cheer you on and I felt my spirit lift somewhat as I pushed past the 24 mile mark – the end was in sight. I was determined that there would be no more walking! As focussed and implacable as I was in my world, the outside world was still there and in some cases shouting – not that I noticed. Kelly told me the following day that she saw me twice in the last two miles: at one point she was less than a metre from my right ear, shouting my name at the top of her voice and it completely failed to penetrate to Bill’s world. I had room for one thought only in my carbohydrate depleted, somewhat dehydrated mind – the finish and it was (by the time I passed Kelly the second time) less than 400 m away. I found some reserves of strength, lengthened my stride and ran into the stadium and onto the running track. I was vaguely aware of the crowd, vaguely aware of the commentator saying my name but acutely aware of the finish line which I crossed in 12:52 minutes. The marathon had taken me 4:35(ish).

Crossing the line I went through the usual mix of things: I was given a medal, goodie bag and stripped of my ChampionChip. I was then given a brief medical examination and then taken to the massage tent and thence to the food tent. Derek, Stephen and Brian all finished over the next couple of hours. Seth by this time had finished early enough that he could have done another lap of the marathon course while waiting for the rest of us! By the time the massage was over and I had been given some pizza (I could not face any more pasta) I decided I would wander up the hill to the Ben and Jerry’s shop there to join a lot of other competitors in some cold post race refreshment.

A great day – a well organized race in perfect conditions and a few more lessons learned. I would certainly do this race again. Entry for Ironman USA Lake Placid opened at 10am the following day (Monday 25^th of July 2005) and the two thousand race slots were all taken by 4pm. I was not one of them!

Returning to Canada on the 26^th the customs official took one look at my passport, my race finishers T-shirt and waved me through.

A less than satisfactory footnote came courtesy of Lufthansa. Although the flight was fine, the bike box was once again brutalized. One of the handles was pulled off and the cracked wheel housing further damaged making it unusable. Anyone wishing advice on writing letters of complaint please contact me as the one sent to Lufthansa called upon all my academic abilities with the written word. Whether it will achieve anything is a different story.

The only question that remains is “what will be next? Ironman France in Nice or Ironman Coeur D’Alene in Idaho?” I sill have some thinking time on that front.

~ ~ ~

Some of you may be aware that I am active in raising money for a charity called St Dunstan’s.

St. Dunstan’s (www.st-dunstans.org.uk) is a charity for the blind. It focuses on ex-service men and woman who were either blinded in service or have become blind after retirement from the Armed Forces. Whether you agree with the policies of the Government that sends our troops into action, it is invariably the service men and woman, along with their families that suffer.

In order to raise funds for St Dunstan’s this year, I am competing (and I use the term loosely as the chances of me finishing on the podium are so small as to be virtually non-existent) in Ironman USA at Lake Placid in New York State.

In previous years some friends and colleagues have expressed moral qualms about supporting a charity which is focused on the armed forces. I personally believe this to be misplaced, but I recognize that some colleagues may hold a different view. Therefore, I would ask those who do hold this view to sponsor me, but to advise me that monies raised should be remitted to the Sally MacGill Memorial Fund (Sally was a Professor in the School of Earth and Environment who was killed in the Boxing Day Tsunami). In the absence of clear instructions to the contrary I will presume that you are happy to support St Dunstan’s, which after all, is fully deserving of support. If you are happy for funds to go to St Dunstan’s please feel free to make a donation through my web page:
http://www.justgiving.com/imbill2005

If you wish funds to go to the Sally MacGill Memorial Fund please let me know directly.

Spiders News (Fell, Cross Country etc)

Errors and Omissions (Steve Webb)

Error:

In his foreword to the last edition of VS News (Section 2) the editor explained the origin of the name “Valley Spiders” and said that fell running requires one “to keep as many parts of the body touching the ground as possible”. I respectfully point out that the aim, indeed the golden rule, of fell running is in fact to try and get round the course without at any stage being in contact with the ground!

This brings me on to the Omission, which is coincidentally the one exception to the golden rule.

Omission:

In his excellent article on downhill running techniques Jerry Watson omitted to mention one very useful technique known as the Cresta. As noted above this is the exception to the golden rule and it must only be deployed in the following circumstances:

· Slope in excess of 25º, preferably 30º plus.

· Slope covered in a couple of inches of snow or saturated short grass.

· Athlete wearing lycra tights or nylon overtrousers.

· No big stones underfoot.

The technique requires the athlete to basically hurl themselves down the slope on their backside, feet first, legs straight, and using the arms to provide additional thrust in the style of a luge sprint start. If there is a suitably slippery lycra/snow interface then a most impressive turn of speed can be achieved. It is important to keep the upper body upright to provide good range of movement for the arms, and so you can scan the terrain below for hazards such as boulders/gorse bushes/annoyed sheep.

I was able to use the Cresta to very good effect towards the finish of the Noon Stones race in February this year and it enabled me to stay just ahead of Rob Bumstead. I saw the technique employed most impressively by my team mate in the Howgills KIMM of 1998. At the start of yet another knee crunching descent in the pouring rain he said “I think I’ll go on my arse” and duly tobogganed down several hundred feet in no time at all. It was hilarious to see another team do a classic ‘double-take’ as Roger literally hurtled past them at waist height on his barely controlled descent to the valley floor.

Turnslack Fell Race, Littleborough (John Hallas)

8m / 2000 feet. 23rd July, 2005

Today I ran an 8 mile race in 89 minutes and still  felt good at the end.

I have to say it was not a road race but a fell race with 2000' of climbing. I have not raced on the fells since 1989. It is part of my master plan to build up to doing the Comrades Marathon in 2007 (or maybe 08). Today's race was Turnslack Fell race nr Rochdale, Lancashire. It was a low key event, as most fell races are. 104 entrants and it is immediately obvious when looking around at the beginning of the race that this attracts a different kind of competitor than a 10k road race. The average age is much older. The competitors are generally leaner and wiry and some of them look as if they have attended the Nip 'n' Tuck cosmetic surgery wing to have quad implants.

I set off steadily, but you tend to forget how hard it is to run straight uphill for about ¾ mile before even getting onto the moors. The conditions were perfect, cloudy, still and dry, although there were a lot of flies around. The old memories of fell races came flooding back to me, the gasping and heavy breathing after only a mile, the stumbling through tussocks grass, the fear of going down the descents, the pain of the ascents. The good memories and feelings also returned, the peacefulness, the isolation, the pleasure of getting onto a good track and picking up speed, the feeling of getting stronger as the further it went.

It is hard to overlook the hard work of climbing the hills and the wondering about how best to do it. To try and keep running with little steps, almost like a shuffle until it gets too hard, to walk head held high up the hills or to be bent over with chest parallel to the ground, hands pushing against thighs to give yourself that bit of respite. Or to just lie down and let everyone walk all over you.

After about 1 mile I was only passed by 3 runners, all on the downhill sections which I have always been weaker at than going uphill. However I passed a number of runners, especially towards the end and I paced myself well and was definitely going well over the last couple of miles, even though I was tired.

I had estimated a time of 90 minutes and I did 89:15 so quite pleased. The beauty of these races is that time is immaterial, no mile markers to check just good solid running and trying to pace yourself well to the terrain and the conditions on the day. You could tell it had been a fell or x/c race because, as competitors were changing near their cars and taking their muddy shoes and socks off, you could see peat covered calves and a white mark 3 inches above the ankles where their socks had been.

I will definitely be doing more of them.

GW Comments

This was John’s first attempt at an “A” race for several years. It is part of a plan to build up for next year’s 3 Peaks. John also plans to do the Lyke Wake route as a training run so he must be getting serious!

Errington Moor 8 (GW)

Four Spiders turned out for this jaunt around Stoodley Pike on a hot afternoon in June. Rob B was the first VS runner to complete the course which climbed up the Pike from Mytholmroyd, dropped to Mankinholes and climbed back up to the Pike summit before returning to base. After the summit, most of the route to Mytholmroyd was downhill although it didn’t feel like it in the heat. Rob was followed in by Andrew C who felt he had a poor run. This could have been caused by the heat, old age or fish and chips. AC has yet to report back on this. GW and Sylvia both found the course more than a little trying after their efforts on the C2C cycle route. Well that’s their excuse anyway. No prizes were won but it was a good day out.

Cusack to the Rescue (GW)

In June this year, GW and Sylvia set out on a cycling and camping expedition to do the C2C (coast to coast) route from Whitehaven to Sunderland. This is a mixed terrain cycle route which takes in some scenic climbs through the Lake District and the North Pennines. The weather was good on most days except one which took in the climb over Hartside Fell. Doing this in heavy rain and carrying camping paraphernalia was pretty tough but good cycle touring clothing kept our heroes from perishing with cold. Which is more than can be said for some lightly-clad mountain bikers they encountered, some of them were close to hypothermia.

However, the rest of the ride was in good weather and after 4 days cycling and camping as sea front bed & breakfast establishment in Sunderland was in order. Fully refreshed, GW & Sylvia set out to ride to Newcastle (via the ferry) and from there some further camping on the way through Kielder Forest and the Scottish Borders until reaching Carlisle to get the train to Leeds. (I’m sure there is a train from Newcastle to Leeds, ed)

What, no mention of Mr Cusack, do I hear you say? Well here is the reason for the title of this report. As G.W. was on a rough trail leaving Newcastle, he allowed his bike to hit a large bump. This had the effect of shooting him out of the saddle while the bike crashed over on its side. After an inspection of GW & bike, no damage was found to either so the journey continued and after a night camping the VS explorers set off for the small Kielder town of Bellingham (which, as Mr Cusack will tell you, is pronounced Bellingjam).

It was here that Sylvia received a surprise when she was approached by a man who looked like Eric Cusack and furthermore claimed to be Eric Cusack. Indeed it was Eric Cusack who was renovating some property in the town square more than 120 miles from his base in Guiseley. Perhaps Eric will send us a report on working and running in the scenic Bellingham district.

Taking leave of Eric and heading off into the late afternoon sun in search of a suitable campsite the intrepid cyclists’ journey came to a halt about a hundred yards from the town centre; GW’s bike was in trouble and the cause was the previous afternoon’s crash. An inspection of the bike revealed that the pannier support arm, which had taken the brunt of the crash, had snapped and this made further progress impossible because of the weight of the tent etc. After a few futile attempts at making a repair it was concluded that the only way to fix it was to find a bloke with an electric drill. But where can you find one at 4:30 in the afternoon without a garage of workshop for miles?

Well, hence the title of this report. Yes, Eric “bicycle repairman” Cusack sprang to the rescue and skilfully did the required drilling and bolting. And so GW & Sylvia were able to continue on their journey to Carlisle while Eric could claim to have done his bit to make Britain a better place for bikes.

Next time GW has any trouble with his car, he intends to contrive a breakdown outside Andrew Cutts’ place of work; Andrew claims to be an expert at motor repairs.

Off-Road Successes

· Apr 05: Blubberhouses 25: Steve Webb 1st

· Jun 05: Wharfedale half: Peter Lambert 1st M65, John Blundell 1st M60; Marathon: Alison Bogie 2nd W

· Jul 05: Lyke Wake Walk – see Alison’s report

World Masters Mountain Running (Steve Webb)

Results from Masters World Mountain Running Championships at Keswick Saturday 10^th September.  This was an excellent event.

Short course:

· W55  Sylvia 9th in 65.09  (winner was 57.16)

· M60  Geoff  34th in 58.03 (winner was 47.53)

Long course:

· W45  Sara  32nd in 91.38 (winner was 65.23)

· M40  Steve retired after 4½ minutes.  Should really have retired after 30 seconds but that would have been even more embarrassing.

Cross Country (John Hallas)

2004/5 Results included Tracey finishing first vet and third overall at the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships.

2005/6 season starts with the 4 races for the West Yorkshire Cross Country League. The dates are on the back page of this VS News. They are all in the VS Grand Prix so pride and points are at stake. The first race is on 15^th October and entries need to be in by 2^nd October. Contact John Hallas [email protected] if you want to run and/or see the website for more information.

Off-Road Relays

Bradford Millennium Way Relay

What a great team effort! The Striders Mixed Team (one man, one woman per leg) retained the trophy that they have won every year since the race started in 2002.  Thanks to some great team selection (pick the first 5 women who volunteered) and great team tactics (put them with slightly faster men who know the route - except for leg 2 where Sara knew the route), they came home 10 minutes ahead of Chapel Allerton.  The team manager was presented with the trophy by the Lady Mayoress.

Valley Striders "Mixed"

1. Mivvy Tekchandani & Steve Webb 1:45:46 (21) 1:45:46 (21)

2. Sara Dyer & Gary Sutherland 1:54:38 (26) 3:40:24 (22)

3. Laura Clark & Peter Lambert 1:19:22 (7) 4:59:46 (18)

4. Sylvia Watson & Geoff Webster 1:41:44 (21) 6:41:30 (21)

5. Hayley Palmer & Mick Wrench 1:36:34 (9) 8:18:04 (17)

I should mention that the Chapel Allerton team who finished runners-up included three 2nd claim Striders and the fact that they finished ahead of our Striders pairs will not be held against them (Alison Bogie and Dave Milner 16th on leg 1 and Johnny Harrison with Fiona Lang 13th on leg 2).  Their team were ahead of us until the last leg but Hayley and Mick took us to victory by 10 minutes.

The Vets team were given a great start by Drew and Jerry who finished 2nd on leg 1 and set a record time for a vets team on that leg.  However we were soon overtaken by Keighley Vets (eventual vets winners) and Wakefield Vets (who had won the vets trophy all 3 previous times).  We eventually finished a very creditable 3rd vets (20mins adrift of Keighley), and 5th overall.

Valley Striders "Vets"

1. Drew Taylor & Jerry Watson 1:24:34 (2) 1:24:34 (2)

2. Paul Hunter & Bob Jackson 1:26:59 (7) 2:51:33 (4)

3. Keith Cluderay & Eric Green 1:24:24 (10) 4:15:57 (6)

4. Andrew Cutts & Alan Hutchinson 1:21:11 (5) 5:37:08 (5)

5. Paul Briscoe & Tim Towler 1:35:07 (6) 7:12:15 (5)

Golden Acre Park Relay

This was an excellent event on a warm summer’s evening with a friendly but competitive atmosphere. There were 40 teams. Striders results were

• 6^th – Andrew Cutts, Paul Hunter, Rob Bumstead
• 16^th – Eric Green, Mick Tinker, Bob Jackson
• 20^th – Mal Smith, Mark Hetherington, Paul Morris (Abbey Valley Striders)
• 24^th – Erica Hiorns, Mark Hunter, Steve Dixon

Highly recommended for next year!

Forthcoming Off-Road Relays

By the time this reaches you, you will know the results of the Leeds Country Way

Looking forward, we have

· Calderdale Way relay, 6 legs in pairs, total approx. 60 miles, Sunday 11 December, 08:00 start. Contact GW for details. NB essential to recce and full body cover must be carried.

· Harrogate Ringway Relay, 5 legs solo, total approx 22 miles, Sunday 1 January, 10:30? start. Contact Bob for details. This is also essential to recce, but because each leg is at most 5 miles, you can do these as a there-and-back training run. It is a rather less serious and less demanding event than the Calderdale; it has to be to take place on New Year’s Day. The biggest challenge is the giant sausage meal in the Yorkshire Lass pub at Knaresborough at the end of the race (the Chapel A team outdid the Striders at this last year).

Lyke Wake Race (Alison Bogie)

The Lyke Wake is a 42 mile undulating course across the North Yorkshire moors from Osmotherly to Ravenscar (west to east). Once a year (early July) there is a race organised as a handicapped event with time limits for completing the course set at 12 hours for walkers and runners (on any other day of the year the time limit is set at 24 hours). The idea is that everyone finishes around 4 pm therefore the slowest competitors set off at 4am.

The event is mainly individual but there is a team trophy if you have a team of 6 runners, with the fastest four to count, one of which must be of the opposite sex. This year five teams entered in total with 2 of those being from Chapel Allerton Road Runners and one being last year's winners - Cops and Robbers. This strange behaviour on the part of those agreeing to run from Chapel A can be explained by the forceful behaviour on the part of the 'veterans' of the Lyke Wake- Dave Milner and Steve Todd who between them have run 30 races and should know better by now! The organisers of the Lyke Wake have been struggling for entrants in recent years but this year there were record entries with 120 entrants and competitors from as far a field as Canada.

The weekend of the Lyke Wake coincides with Chapel Allerton's 'Dads and lads' weekend at Robin Hood's Bay, where dads from the club take their sons for a camping weekend (and also laddettes in the form of little girls). This weekend has grown in popularity, alongside the Lyke Wake race and there is a lot of support at the finish for the Chapel A runners with people running us in (the short distance down the road to the finish- thanks to all Dads and Chavs!)

On the day of the race, Mel Gray drove us to the start (my start time was 8.15am). We secretly hoped that Chapel A may 'nick' the team prize as the recces and training had been going well (thanks Alan H for company on the recce in the rain!). So after a good night's sleep we registered at the start where it was very misty but the forecasts were predicting temperatures up to 30 degrees for later on in the day. I was prepared with my white hat and had also acquired an IPOD to drown out Dave and keep me going (thanks to Gary Shipley for his tips on Northern Soul music!)

Chapel A's team A consisted of myself, Mike Robins, Dave Milner, Steve Todd, Andrew Fish and Fiona Lang. The plan was for Mike to get as near as possible to the winner of the race for the last three years and Steve to get as near to the leading woman. The rest of us had to get as high up in the positions as we possibly could to get that team prize.

Dave decided we should go for it when it was cool and get to the half way point in a reasonable time, given that everyone was likely to struggle in the second half in the heat. The 'lunch' stop (rice pudding and peaches) is in the Lion Inn car park but before we got there we had to run the old railway line which is gruelling and goes on forever, looping round. We were going well here and passing quite a few people, including women who had set off before us and could be a threat! Dave checked on the times for other competitors at half way (not easy to work out when you're tired and it's a handicapped race!) The favourite for the women's race had dropped out and at that point I was in the lead and had 20 minutes on the next lady.

The heat was a massive problem after half way- think of the Bradford Millennium way this year with no shade and 42 miles of running! However Steve O had saved the day and got us some tubs of maxim in time for the big day and that kept us going (the first four Chapel A runners were all on Maxim). At every checkpoint we got out our little bags of white powder and mixed up more maxim. The checkpoints were becoming more chaotic as people were dropping out and everyone was trying to get water. We tried to minimise the amount of time we spent at check points as a couple of minutes too long could make all the difference with the end result. We had our own team of trusty Chapel A supporters at every checkpoint with different trainers, sun cream etc. They did a marvellous job- Mel, Janet, Jonny, John and Margaret.

Dave was dipping my cap in puddles to try and cool me down but the water in the puddles was now really warm! I was also nicely burnt and really struggling at this point and couldn't speak! Jonny Harrison came to meet Dave and me at about 10 miles to go (Ellerbeck) to run us in and I couldn't even face the jelly babies he had carried as I felt so sick.

Dave ran ahead to the last checkpoint at Jugger and checked with the marshal on times. The lead I had was going down- I had 13 minutes on the next lady but only about 30 minutes of running to go. There was no shade and it was down to digging in as much as possible and not giving up. The Chapel A support crew helped me massively.

At long last we were on the last part of the long climb up to the Radio mast (that had been a tiny dot ahead in the distance for miles) and then onto the 1.5 miles on the road to the finish at the Ravenscar Hotel where we got a big cheer and clap from everyone supporting. I finally got some shade and to collapse on the grass! I had no idea if I had actually won as there were still other ladies to finish, who had started after me.

Meanwhile Mike Robins had run an unbelievable race and after setting off at 9am, caught us at 30 miles and was waiting anxiously at the finish for the favourite to finish (who it turns out he beat by 6 minutes!)

Before the prizes were handed out in the grounds of the Ravenscar hotel we were allowed showers and congregate in the bar. It emerged that I was first woman, Mike was overall winner and Chapel A have won the team prize (all unconfirmed!). There was mass hysteria and then the prizes were handed out by the hotel manager and we have some serious silverware! Mike has the huge coffin shaped Lyke Wake shield which dates back 41 years with famous names such as Josh Naylor, Mark Rigby and some people closer to home - Steve O and Harry Bates.

The overall positions for the winning Chapel A team were as follows:

· Mike Robins - 1st – 6hrs 42min

· Alison Bogie (1st W) and Dave Milner - joint 5th place overall – 7hrs 46min

· Fiona Lang - 10th – 8hrs 11min

· Andrew Fish - 18th – 8hrs 34min

· Steve Todd - 21st – 8hrs 36 min

The Chapel Allerton runners on the "B" team were Helen Townend, Dave Nicholls and Dave Tynan- all 'Lyke Wake virgins'! Their positions overall were 22^nd (8:41), 26^th (8:51) and 28^th (8:53) respectively. There were 70 finishers.

A taxi to the camp site followed and a serious number of sausage sandwiches from the BBQ were consumed before we went for a night out in Robin Hoods Bay. The next day we had official photos taken back at the club and the champagne was waiting for us on ice.

The Lyke Wake shield is residing under Mike's bed at the moment for fear it gets stolen, the team trophy has been washed out (we were drinking champers out of it) and is in the cabinet at Chapel A and my trophy is on the mantelpiece at home. It is all definitely worth it now! Thanks to all Striders for their support and advice and the long runs on a Tuesday night, no excuse to avoid speed work now.

So who will win it next year? Will it be a Striders team (I understand Bob is looking for someone with "very few brain cells left to be persuaded to run it"!) or a Chapel A team or last year's winners- Cops and Robbers???

Alison

website http://freespace.virgin.net/bob.jackson/striders.htm

or http://run.to/striders

e-mail [email protected]

Email Buddies

We have over 80% of Striders and potential Striders on the e-mail distribution list - if you have e-mail and are not receiving the Electronic Striders Updates that come out every two weeks (sometimes more often), e-mail the [email protected] address and ask to be included.

These Updates are now also available on the Valley Striders website, so if you have internet access but don't have email (or can’t use your work email for private use), then look at the website every few days.

If you have neither email nor internet, then contact me and I will find you an email buddy - someone who has email and lives near you and can print out the emails and put them through your letterbox.

Xmas Meal & Presentation Night – Friday 16^th December

Contact Steve O [email protected] for more details. Book your diary now for this event, not to be missed!

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[1] By curious co-incidence Stephen used to play rugby for West Potomac RFC. This is a club for which I made a guest appearance for in a seven-a-side tournament on the day of Ironman USA in 2000. Once again it is proven that the world is not as big as you think*.

* Well actually, the world is as big as you think. As a geologist I can prove it by a variety of methods ranging from looking at the gravitational field or the time it took for the seismic waves from the Boxing Day 2004 earthquake to bounce around the outside.

[2] On the second lap of the run on race day these felt more like 300 and 100 km respectively.

[3] As it turned out this was not an issue and I did a good enough hatchet job to have no further problems. Just as well really as on large parts of the second lap I was effectively reduced to using what is colloquially termed the “granny ring” to go up some of the hills.