Heralddec16

THE HARRIERS HERALD No. 286, December 2016 Editor: Sue Francis

Contents, features, reports, results        

Thursday night schedules for December and January Christmas meal – reminder Compton Harriers AGM – reminder Marathon Club Entries for 2017 Race results – Oxford Mail x-country Race 1: Harriers join Team Kennet on a good new course; Eynsham 10K: Harriers earn their pub lunch…but don’t manage to get one!

Handicap Race – A win for Kirsty, and Championship leaders remain unchanged Webmaster’s article – Mo features: New QR code for Harriers website; new links to useful running websites; how running may slow the ageing process; forthcoming races and links to other race calendars Thanks to Mo for this month’s articles and photos

Thursday night schedule for December Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs

1st 8th 15th 22nd 29th

Jonathan to lead Aaron to lead(*) followed by AGM Handicap Race(*) Sue to lead Christmas / New Year break - No leader scheduled

(*) Note the swap of dates for Aaron’s run lead and the Handicap Race

Thursday night schedule for January Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs

5th 12th 19th 26th

Susanne to lead Lucy to lead Handicap Race Darren to lead

Compton Harriers Christmas Meal 2016 The Fox (Peasemore), Friday 16th December (arrive 19:00, to eat at 19:30).

Darren has a total of 23 Harriers and partners for the Christmas meal. If you have not yet done so, please give Darren your deposit (£10 per person) and your menu choices ASAP.

Compton Harriers AGM 2016 The AGM will take place at 20:00 at The Four Points pub on 8th December after the Thursday run (which will be a shorter-than-usual run from Compton). All members are encouraged to attend (we will be having a pub meal as usual).

Marathon Club Entries 2017 Congratulations to Jonathan, who won the 2017 London Marathon Club entry at our recent draw. Compton Harriers also have two guaranteed entries for the Brighton Marathon, which I initially offered to Terry and Jeremy since they were unsuccessful in the London Marathon Club Entry draw. Terry will use one of the Brighton entries (Emma has already successfully entered), but Jeremy is not able to use the other. Therefore, we have one going spare. If you would like to go into a draw to 'win' this second Brighton Marathon Club Entry, please let me know by 7th December, and we can have the draw after the AGM.

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Race Reports and Results Oxford Mail x-country Race 1 – Newbury Showground, 6th November Sue Once again, several Compton Harriers have signed up as second claim members of Team Kennet to compete as part of their team in the Oxford Mail Cross-Country League. The first race of this winter’s league was held at a new venue – Newbury Showground – and organised by Newbury AC. This proved to be a good choice, with plenty of parking space, plenty of toilets and a good course, which was nowhere near as boring as some were expecting. The course looped around several different grassy fields, and included some stony tracks, a nice section along a wooded path, and some undulations; and there was very little mud. It was good for spectators and was well-marshalled. There was a chilly wind, but the threatened rain held off. The races were preceded by a minute’s clapping in memory of Brian Ireland, President of Newbury AC who had suffered a fatal heart attack when measuring out these cross-country courses a month previously.

The 9K men’s race was won by Paul Fernandez (Abingdon AC) in 31:07. The first Team Kennet finisher was Christopher Hall in 82nd place. Ben worked his way through the field to finish 133rd (38:15), Jonathan 224th (41:55) and Colin 295th (48:44). The A team finished 6th in Division 3, and the B team 24th.

The 6.5K ladies race was won by Sophie Crumly (Newbury AC) in 24:38. The first Team Kennet finisher was Helen Preedy (17th, 28:15), closely followed by Sue (20th, 28:33) and Rachel Bladon (24th, 28:49), giving the team 4th place in Division 1.

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Eynsham 10K, 27th November Sue Four Compton Harriers made the annual trip to Eynsham for the 10K road race – Martin, Lucy and me to run, and Mo to support and take photos.

After a cool and foggy start, conditions were quite nice for running. Martin had a great run to clock a good 39:36 (82nd). I decided to track one of my regular ‘rivals’ a V45 Woodstock Harriers lady who is very good at pacing. It paid off as, for the first time ever, I ran very even 5K splits and gradually overtook people all the way. I finished 149th in 41:41 – one second faster than last year, but far more enjoyable for better pacing. Lucy finished fast (see photo) to finish 328th in 48:29, which secured her the Oxfordshire County Championship gold medal for the FV55 category. The race winners were Steve Naylor (Bedford & County AC, 31:59), and Chloe Oldfield (Walton AC, 36:41), and there were 589 finishers.

After a nice warm shower, followed by the presentations, we headed to our favourite Eynsham pub, The Queens Arms, to find it was closed for refurbishment. Still there are four other pubs in Eynsham and, undeterred, we tried them all….two don’t serve food, one had run out of food, and one was fully booked!

That was a disappointing end to an enjoyable and successful Harriers morning (but Mo and I did find ourselves drawn towards Steventon on our way home, where we found The Cherry Tree able to serve us a very nice lunch).

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Handicap Race November’s Handicap race attracted a record 15 runners including first-time-handicappers Mike and Darren, and Ryan running his first Handicap Race for a couple of years. There were some good battles round the course, but Kirsty was triumphant, with a 12-second victory over Lucy, followed by Susanne and Ryan.

Richard D, Mo and Philomena also beat their handicaps, while Martin set the evening’s fastest time, and 7 other runners also broke the 13-minute barrier. Well done Kirsty, and thanks to Jan and Dick for timekeeping and managing to record us all. The final race of the 2016 Championship is scheduled for 15th December (note new date – previously scheduled for 8th), around the same route.

Finish Position 1 2 3= 3= 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Position on handicap 1 2 3 New runner 4= 6 7 New runner 8 New runner 9 10 11 12 4=

Name

Start time

Kirsty Lucy Susanne Ryan Richard D Philomena George Mike Ben Darren Aaron Sue Martin Jonathan Mo

2:29 2:26 3:49 3:49 2:15 2:35 3:38 4:37 4:58 4:26 4:26 4:37 5:11 4:29 0:25

Finish time

Actual time

16:15 16:27 16:35 16:35 16:48 17:02 17:08 17:10 17:11 17:16 17:18 17:20 17:21 17:53 20:48

13:46 14:01 12:46 12:46 14:33 14:27 13:30 12:33 12:13 12:50 12:52 12:43 12:10 13:24 20:23

Handicap Beaten?

-0:44 -0:33 -0:25 New runner -0:12 -0:02 +0:08 New runner +0:11 New runner +0:18 +0:20 +0:21 +0:53 -0:12

Handicap Championship 2016: The top three positions remain unchanged relative to last month but, with only one race to go, anyone in the current top six (Colin, Aaron, Sue, Mo, George and Richard D) has a chance of being the 2017 Championship winner, so there’s still all to run for.

Pos.

1 2 3 4= 4= 6 7 8 9= 9= 11 12 13= 13= 15 16 17 18= 18= 18=

Name

Colin Aaron Sue Mo George Richard D Lucy Philomena John Jonathan Martin Susanne Terry Kirsty Helen Ben Richard T Ryan Mike Darren

HH December 2016

Race 1 12 8 10 9 7 5 6 -

Race 2 8 12 10 8 6 9 5 -

Race 3 10 12 8 10 6 5 7 -

Race 4 7 10 8 12 6 9 -

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Race points Race Race 5 6 (6) (5) 9 8 (8) (5) (4) 10 12 10 4 6 7 9 7 1 2 1 1 12 1 3 3 1 2 -

Race 7 12 7 (8) (5) 10 9 6 1 4 -

Race 8 (3) (2) 8 5 8 10 6 1 1 9 12 4 1 1 1

Race 9 -

Total of best 5 49 48 46 43 43 37 34 28 25 25 16 14 13 13 6 5 2 1 1 1

Website update… http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk Mo The QR code opposite now includes a picture of the Harriers Hare. The countdown timer for the 2017 Challenge has also been started on the website home page. There were only 3 Harriers (Martin, Lucy and Sue) taking part in the Eynsham 10k this year but I captured their efforts in photos now uploaded to an album on our Facebook page; http://bit.ly/2fXLJ3M .

Links of interest this month: I am usually wary of email requests to add links to our website, but I have added a link to ACLS Training Center's article on the benefits of running. Although the site offers online courses and certification for Cardiac Life Support, it also supplies links to a wealth of information on running and its benefits; http://bit.ly/2gn9keC . Another link to a Runners World article about a ‘classic exercise’ (the squat) features a video with athletes demonstrating all the various squat exercises. The link is http://bit.ly/2gRuVzl ).

Can running slow down ageing?

It is well known that running improves cardiovascular function, strengthens the heart, improves insulin control and encourages healthy eating habits, all of which improve our bodies and minds no matter how old we are, but there is also scientific research available that suggests running helps to slow the degeneration of our DNA, hence slowing the ageing process. Without being too technical, running and other aerobic exercises such as swimming and cycling strengthen the ends (telomeres) of the chromosomes (our DNA chains) which slows the natural degeneration of DNA. (Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, contains the genetic instructions we need to develop, live and reproduce). One recent study demonstrated that the DNA in sedentary 55-72 year olds had noticeably degenerated in comparison to sedentary 18-32 year olds.

However, when comparing 55-72 year olds who have exercised all their lives, there was no significant difference! So as Spencer Davis would say, 'Keep on Running'.

Events of Interest – see Website Training & Events Calendar for more details December 2016 Events: http://southernrunningguide.com/races/12/2016 Sun, 04 Dec: OXON XC Round 2 • 10:00 Mapledurham Ten (10k & 10miles) Sun, 11 Dec: 10:30 Andy Reading 10km • 11:00 Tadley 5.2M X-country Sun, 18 Dec: 10:00 Hooky Christmas Canter ~7miles Sat, 17 Dec: 10:30 Team Kennet Santa Fun Run 5K • 10:30 Dinton Santa Dash 5k Sun, 18 Dec: 10:00 Hooky Xmas Canter ~7miles • Muddy Welly 5k, 10k • Winter Solstice Run 5 & 10 km Sat, 31 Dec: 11:00 The Gutbuster 10ml January 2017 Events: http://southernrunningguide.com/races/01/2017 Sat, 07Jan: Berks County XC Champs • 10:30 Gibbet Hangover 10 & 5 miles Sun, 08 Jan: Oxford Mail XC • 10:30 Woodcote 10k • 11:00 Rough 'n' Tumble 10 Sat, 14 Jan: 08:30 Country to Capital 45 Sun, 22 Jan: 10:00 Oxford 10K • 12:30 Windsor 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k & ½ Mthn Sat, 28 Jan: SEAA XC Champs - Parliament Hill February 2017 Events: http://southernrunningguide.com/races/02/2017 Sat, 04 Feb: 08:30 Thames Trot 50 Sun, 05 Feb: Oxford Mail XC Round 4 - Harwell • 10:30 Gloucester Marathon & 50K • Lungbuster 9 ml off-road Sun, 12 Feb: 10:00 Wokingham ½ Mthn Sun, 19 Feb: 10:30 Bramley 20/10 Sun, 26 Feb: 09:00 Winchester 10K • 10:30 The Terminator • Bourton-on-the-Water 10k • 11:00 Goring 10K March 2017 Events: http://southernrunningguide.com/races/03/2017 Sun, 05 Mar: Oxford Mail XC Round 5 - Farmoor Sun, 12 Mar: 09:30 The Ridge Off Roader ½ Mthn & 10k • 11:00 Bath ½ Mthn • 12:00 Silverstone ½ Mthn Sun, 19 Mar: Reading Half Mthn April 2017 Events: http://southernrunningguide.com/races/04/2017 Sun, 02 Apr: 10:00 Treehouse 10K • 14:00 Combe Gibbet to Overton 16 Sat, 08 Apr: 10:00 Compton 20 mile Challenge Sun, 23 Apr: Virgin Money London Marathon 2017 Fri, 14 Apr: 09:30 Maidenhead Easter 10 Sun, 23 Apr: 08:30 North Dorset Village Marathon & Relay • 10:00 Danesfield Dash 10K May 2017 Events: http://southernrunningguide.com/races/05/2017 Sun, 21 May: 10:00 Wallingford Thames Run 5k & 10k For more events, follow our page link: http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk/linkindex.htm#Event Finder: HH December 2016

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