Exclusive! Chaos at Meanwood Valley Trail Race due to lack of race marshals! First back to Leo's was a very surprised J.Plodder from Fast Pacers Racers who said "There must have been 100 or so ahead of me, but after 15 minutes I couldn't see the next runner ahead, and by the aqueduct I just asked the man with the dog which way to go for the Meanwood Trail. He sent me back up here". A further 30 runners followed in the "Meanwood Valley 4". There was a similar problem of a missing marshal in Meanwood park and the first 10 runners finally finished back at Leo's after 2¼ hours, having travelled the whole of the Meanwood Valley Trail to Woodhouse Moor and back, so running the "Meanwood Valley 15". Geoff Webster did an Arsene Wenger and suggested a replay a week on Wednesday (but still with home advantage). Paul Briscoe said he couldn't get another 200 bottles ready by then (but that the 10 he'd drunk while waiting for all the finishers to come in had been one of his best brews). The confusion had rubbed off into the start/finish area where Mike and Eileen had lost their watch in the mud and Max didn't know whether he'd started his watch 3 minutes early and stopped it for 2 minutes or vice versa so the winning time was 50:30 or 52:30. And the results service of Bob, Joyce and Jo had labels all over the place (except on the results sheets) and it was only Jo's nursing skills of removing elastoplast that saved them from some very sore parts.

After many months, nay years, the Wimmins Showers will be finally turned on on Tuesday 16th March - I hope (I'm writing this on 14th March). We will have an "official opening" on Tuesday 30th March, although they will have also been used for the Trail Race on the Saturday before.

Starting 6:45-pm-ish from the bottom of the path from Alwoodley Lane to the Res. The run is 10k - along the path, across the dam, to Eccup Village and back.

This cup, donated by Janet Kitchen of Horsforth Harriers is awarded to the Strider who achieves the best marathon performance in the year. (I have just received a letter from Janet on the histories of the Horsforth Marathon and of the Horsforth Cup (which are unrelated) which I will include in the next VS News - ed)

At the Xmas meal, as with all the best awards ceremonies, we first had a list of nominations (in alphabetical order):

• Roy Flesher - 2:45 at Paris - proof of Tuesday training improving performance
• Mark Hoon - 2:29 at Richmond - that’s USA not North Yorks or -on-Thames
• Max Jones - oldest finisher in the Comrades Marathon
• Kathy Kaiser - Yorkshire Marathon Champion with 2:55 at Sheffield
• Sylvia Watson - representing Great Britain (again) in the World 100k Champs

We also nominated Ken Kaiser for 3:01 at Manchester beating Kathy by 1 minute, but our (my) information was incorrect - Ken told me later that Kathy had beaten him by a minute (although he had finished ahead of her on several other occasions in the year). And, on reflection, we should also have nominated George Dawson for his 3:30:03 at Luton having been given his pension book earlier in the year.

In similar style to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, we opened the telephone poll lines at 9pm - 0891 100 001 for Roy, 0891 100 002 for Mark etc etc - but since we had no calls, we had to go for our original selections. Our 3^rd place Denise Lewis was Mark Hoon, our runner-up Iwan Thomas was Roy Flesher.

Our first place was a unanimous choice of the awards committee - on the basis that the best performance is to do with the time and the event, our Michael Owen was Kathy Kaiser, who was duly presented with the Trophy.

This glass tankard, presented by our founder, is awarded to the Strider who tries hardest but does not win anything during the year. I would list the previous recipients, but I have been paid not to.

Having awarded it to all our slow runners in previous years, this year we had to widen the net and look to the slightly faster ones. We found two people who had completed 8 races in both the Grand Prix and the Fell Championship .. and despite the large number of awards in the G.P. neither had won any of these awards.

These runners had also participated in both the Leeds Country Way and the Calderdale Way … and although they had been in a runners-up team (one in one, the other in the other), again they had not 'won' anything.

And then we found that person 1 (we'll call him 'Geoff' but this may not be his real name) had actually finished one place ahead of person 2 in both the GP and the FC. But knowing the personality of 'Geoff', we decided that we couldn’t award him the SStJART as we thought he'd never speak to us again (although that's never stopped us making an award in the past) - so by process of elimination we'd found our man. (NB later 'Geoff' told us that he'd actually won it many years ago).

The Stuart St John Also-Ran Trophy was awarded, for 1998, to Tony Haygarth.

We have wimmin training for the London, Belfast, World Vets and Edinburgh marathons using the Sunday and/or Tuesday and/or Thursday training. Come along if you can, it's much easier (well, more fun) with others than on your own.

Welcome to Carmel and Bernadette our 2 new members who have been training on Tuesday & Thursday but have yet to try Sunday.

A belated welcome to Nikki, also a regular on a Tuesday, and who ran with us at the Yorkshire cross-country champs. And also to Nicola who is with Horsforth but has joined us as second claim to 'enjoy' our Tuesday sessions.

KK's time of 2:55:52 put her 33rd in the UK marathon rankings for 1988.

"But its only March" I hear you say. Yes, but it would be good to get our teams organised early this year. The above date is only a calculated guess but this race is normally run on the first Sunday in September so I think the 5th should be a safe bet. So, don't book any holidays for this weekend as we need our strogest teams available and hopefully we may win one of the main trophies this time. If you would like to run in any of the teams please contact either

• Sylvia Watson (266-6288) for the Ladies Team
• Paul Furness (269-8231) for the Mens Open Team or Vets Team

Sunday training is normally from Smithy Mills at 9:15, but we are discussing whether to use Leo's on a Sunday, maybe starting at 9:45 or 10:00 and using the showers (and bar!) afterwards. Let Steve O have your comments on this.

A couple of weeks ago, a splinter group 'led' by Eric and consisting of Hutch, Roy, Dick and Harry (but not Tom) decided on a longer run from Guiseley via various trail routes to Ilkley with the intention to catch the train back from Ilkley. I put 'led' in inverted commas because although the estimated distance of 20 miles was probably accurate, the estimated time of 2hrs 45mins did not account for the ankle-deep mud in various places. Fortunately most of the runners were carrying some Maxim, otherwise there might have been cause to call out the mountain rescue. As it was, our group decided to cut short the route by 2 miles and head for Ben Rhydding instead of Ilkley, but still missed the train. Also spotted training that day were Striders' version of Howard and Marina. Gary and Paul F had made the sensible decision that day and ran from Smithy Mills for the normal 2 hour run.

Tuesday training from Leo's is still attracting numbers in the teens to low twenties. Just to remind you that the regular cycle is

Now that we have the SHOWERS, Thursday will always be from Leo's at 18:45. The usual run is about 6 miles steady.

Winter Handicap - Tim Towler was first to finish, but being as he had started at the front of the field so that he could get away early to take the family to see the pantomime (oh yes he did!), he was not awarded the Handicap Trophy. George Little was 4th away, but had taken the lead by the half way mark, and was looking a certainty to win until a leg muscle injury recurred and he had to slow down. Look out! Who was behind him? None other than your editor (and club handicapper) Bob who crossed the line in 40:08 (an on-the-road time of 31:53). 15 ran, and Tim's time of 31:02 was the fastest of the day for the first 100pts of 1999.

Guiseley Cross-Country - Kathy (15th) Carole (25th) and Sylvia (36th) were three-quarters of a wimmins team. We also failed, for the first time for a couple of years, to have a men's team - Pauls Briscoe and Webster had threatened to come, but didn't, and Steve Webb came in plain clothes having been organising an orienteering event the previous night - we only had 5 starters. Peter Lambert lasted just one lap, still suffering from the cold he had recently passed on to Joyce, and our finishers were Mick Wrench, Bob, Geoff and John Whalley.

York Brass Monkey Half - Results from Paul White ([email protected])

26th Mick Wrench 1.17.32, 36th John Willingham 1.18.46, 139th Alan Hutchinson 1.27.09, 197th Dick Dale 1.30.13, 260th Paul White 1.33.56, 315th Max Jones 1.36.54, 369th George Dawson 1.39.17, 378th Alan Whittle 1.39.49, 406th Bob Wilkes 1 40.52. 694 finished, winning time 1.06.36.

Bradford Cross Country - The wimmin were just half a team with Carole finishing in 20th place, 1min 50secs and 14 places ahead of Sylvia. But the men managed a full team, and a good one at that (certainly the first 4 of them were), with Paul Webster taking Steve Webb on the final downhill for 21st and 22nd places, Paul Briscoe 35th and Mick Wrench 46th - it’s a few years since we had 4 in the first 50. Further down the field (quite a lot further) were Bob and Geoff. The team finished in 9th place with 371pts, but only 43 behind 5th placed Holmfirth.

If you're a man born on or before 29 July 1959 or a woman born on or before 29 July 1964, you have just a month (closing date 29th April) to enter the WAVA Championships at Gateshead. The 10k cross country is on Thursday 29th July and the Marathon is on Sunday 8th August. Bob and Max have entry forms.

There were a large number of Striders taking advantage of a particularly mild Boxing Day morning, but only Steve W (18th) got back to the shelter of Guiseley before the wind and rain started; Steve O (87th) was on the final downhill road section and the rest of us were in an extremely boggy field just off Yorkgate.

Unfortunately the stopwatches also failed in the rain, but I can report the rest of the places - Bob J 156, Eric 193, Chris 194, Peter 199, Mike H 289, Dick 305, Dave Cusack 353, Bill 377, Andy 407, Tony H 427, Bob W 498, Martin Cockerham 523, Tony Lupton 534, Penny 560. Perhaps you 16 will suggest this for next years GP - that was better attended than many races in the schedule.

This course starts at Guiseley and crosses Baildon Moor Top then over to Ilkley Moor radio mast. This is followed by a brief visit to Burley and Menston before climbing Otley Chevin back to Guiseley.

G.W. had quite a good run and led the field for the first hundred yards. He was soon passed by Paul W. who went on to be the first Spider back (3:07) for the pie & peas. Not far behind came P.Lambo (3:32, 1st O-60) who was delayed a little by having to wait for that old stager and former Spider Jeff Coulson. G.W. was passed at the top of the Chevin by Mike Henry & Bobby (1st dog, NB wearing Striders colours), who posted their best time (3:37) running as a duo. G.W. got back (3:42) for his pie a little before Kathy & Ken K. who were some way ahead of the galloping Cusacks (old Eric & young David).

The new VS Fell Championship starts with the Blubberhouses Moor 25 on March 28. This is a mix of moorland and good footpaths and starts at Timble near Otley, crosses the moor to Bolton Abbey then returns to Timble via Rocking Hall and Thruscross Res - a good training run for marathons, three peaks etc. Pre-enter - see G.W. for entry forms.

For the rest of the 1999 programme, see opposite. Dates marked ?? are the equivalent date of last years race - contact G.W. nearer the date to check whether these are still on.

Sun Mar 28 Blubberhouses Moor 25 pre-enter

Tue Mar 30 & Apr 6 & 13 & 27 Bunny Runs 3miles Guide Inn Keighley

Sun Apr 11 1200 Gisborough Moors Race 12

Sat Apr 17 Calderdale Hike 35 pre-enter

Sun Apr 25 1000 Three Peaks 24 pre-enter

Mon May 3 1415 Wray Caton Moor FR 6

Mon May 3 1500 Penistone Hill Race 7

Sat May 8 } Fellsman Hike 61 pre-enter

Sun May 9 } (any takers get triple championship points!!!)

Sun May 9 1200 Horbury Hike trail race 21 - National Mining Museum

Tue May 11 1915 Jack Bloor Ilkley Moor 5 – Ilkley College

Sat May 15 ?? Cross Hills Gala

Sat May 29 1430 Hutton Roof Gala 7 – near Kirkby Lonsdale

Sun May 30 1400 Dodd Fell 5 – West Duerley Farm, Gayle nr. Hawes

Sun May 30 1500 Saddleworth 3 – Tanners Mill, Greenfield

Mon May 31 1300 Austwick Gala 8

Wed Jun 2 1930 Otley Chevin

Sat Jun 5 Ulfkil Stride 33 – pre-enter

Sat Jun 5 1500 Pen-y-Ghent 5½ - Horton in Ribblesdale

Sat Jun 19 1430 Buckden Pike 4

Sun Jun 20 1100 Holme Moss 16 – Brown Hill Res, Holmbridge, Holmfirth

Sun Jun 20?? 1300 Sharphaw nr Hellifield (BOFRA)

Wed Jun 23 1900 Mytholmroyd 7 - Dusty Miller Pub, Mytholmroyd nr Halifax

Sun Jun 27 1245 Settle Hills 7 – Settle Rugby Club

Sun Jul 4 1130 Rossendale Fell 12 - Rawtenstall

Wed Jul 7?? 1800 Stirton 5 – near Skipton (BOFRA)

Fri Jul 9 2000 road race 3 miles } Wharfedale Triple T

Sat Jul 10 1100 fell race 12 miles } all from Kettlewell

Sun Jul 11 1100 fell race 2 miles } as recommended by Steve Webb

Tue Jul 13 1930 Stoodley Pike 3½ – Top Brink Inn, Lumbutts, Todmorden

Tue Jul 13?? 1830 Addingham 5 (BOFRA)

Sun Jul 18 1430 Oldfield Gala 3 – Grouse Inn, Oldfield, nr Oakworth

Sat Jul 24 Turnslack 8 – Calderbrook, Summit, nr Littleborough

Sat Jul 24?? 1500 Cowling Gala 3

Sun Aug 1 1100 Barnoldswick mixed terrain 6

Sun Aug 1?? Weeton Show 4

Sat Aug 7 1100 Borrowdale 17 – Rosthwaite, Borrowdale

Sat Aug 7 1500 Arncliffe Gala 2

Sun Aug 8 1200 Latrigg 3 – Keswick (part of Borrowdale weekend)

The Sunday run for 5 Striders on Sunday 28th Feb ran from Kirkstall to South Leeds Stadium, took in the Vets 10k race, and then back to Kirkstall. The extra distance is not compulsory, but the Vets Races are recommended for a lower-key competitive race. There is normally one race each month till November - the schedule will be out shortly - contact Eric for more information.

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

Hopefully these dates and times are more accurate than those listed in the last newsletter. Particular apologies are due to anyone who didn't get the hand-written amendments and so turned up at South Leeds on 7th March (although one week early is slightly less of a disaster than one week late! )

Sun Mar 21 Spen 20

Tue Mar 30 1845 Spring Handicap 10k

Sun Apr 11 1000 Wakefield City 10k

Sun Apr 25 1100 Rothwell 10k

Mon May 3 1145 Wigginton 10k

Sun May 16 1000 Leeds Marathon AND Half Marathon

Sun Jun 6 Thirsk 10

Tue Jun 22 1845 Summer Handicap

Confirmation and full details of events from June in next newsletter.