THE HARRIERS HERALD No. 253, March 2014 Editor: Sue Francis
Contents, features, reports, results • Thursday night schedules for March and April • Correspondence received • Membership subscription renewal reminder • Next Handicap Race - update • Race results: Oxford Mail XC – Harriers race well at Cirencester Park; Bramley 20 – Five Harriers enjoy a sunny road race; Bourton 10K – Good performances from Martin and Lucy; Winslow 10K – A consistent performance from Simon; Cholsey Chase – Category prize for Sue in local MT race • Webmaster’s article – Mo features ‘The Long Run’ and Saddleback Farm Shop; and lists forthcoming races of interest • Thanks to Simon and Mo for this month’s contributions • Copy date for next Harriers Herald – 30th March
Thursday night schedule for March Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs
6th 13th 20th 27th
Rich and Charlotte to lead Sue to lead Handicap Race Richard D to lead
Thursday night schedule for April Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs
3rd 10th 17th 24th
Mags to lead Aaron to lead Final preparation for Compton Downland Challenge Handicap Race
Sender England Athletics England Athletics Association of Running Clubs (ARC)
Correspondence received Subject matter Voting for election of EA Directors Club conferences & consultation meetings Letter encouraging Clubs to affiliate to ARC instead of to England Athletics
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Membership subscription reminder Fees for Club membership (£3), England Athletics competition registration (£10) and Institute Rec. Soc. membership (£24) are due for 2014. Thanks to all those who have already sent their completed forms and membership fees to Jonathan. If you wish to remain a Club member, but have not yet paid for 2014, please do so ASAP. If you do not wish to renew your membership this year, please let Jonathan know so we can update our records accordingly.
Next Handicap Race February’s Handicap Race was cancelled due to flooding in Compton High Street, Cheap Street, Horn Street and School Road. These roads are now being pumped by the fire brigade and Dick managed a Village Lap the other day without getting his feet too wet. The next Handicap Race is scheduled for 20th March so, hopefully, the combination of drier roads and lighter evening will allow it to go ahead round the usual Village Lap route.
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Race results Oxford Mail x-country, Round 3 – Cirencester Park, 2nd February Sue January’s Oxford Mail xc races were cancelled due to flooding on the Banbury course and parking area. However, there were no such problems at Cirencester Park, and February’s race took place on a chilly but pleasant morning. The wooded section was drier than expected, but the valley bottom was rather rutted and squidgy, and the hill was as tough as always. TK ladies had a complete team this time, thanks to a last-minute decision (or persuasion by Colin?) by Mags to run. I felt I raced well, and was pleased in finish 16th (28:59), just holding off a late challenge by a chasing group. With TK’s Helen 14th (28:44) and with Mags 114th (43:18) we were 6th team in Division 2. The race was won by Wendy Nicholls (Cirencester, 26:22) with Newbury’s Jess Franklin only 5 seconds behind. The men’s race was won by Aaron Burgess (Oxford) in 34:05. TK’s men’s team was once again led home by Tom Munt (35th) and included 4 Compton Harriers. Rich, recovered from his chest infection, had an excellent run to be 119th (44:45), with Jonathan 164th (48:14). Colin 199th (52:43) and Aaron 200th (52:48) had raced well together all the way and pushed each other on. The team finished 3rd in Division 3. Mo and I returned home via Saddleback Farm Shop, where we had a very nice light lunch, served by the new assistant manager, a certain Susanne Enhard.
Bramley 20 miles, 16th February On a sunny February morning, five Harriers completed the Bramley 20 mile road race. Susanne was our first finisher in an excellent time of 2:21:54 (153rd), with Martin close behind (2:23:41, 167th). Philomena had a brilliant run to finish in 2:42:31 (356th), while Lucy (2:51:20, 429th) and Colin (3:01:10, 552nd) also ran very well. There were 739 finishers. Race winners were Anuradha Cooray (Vale of Aylesbury, 1:45:31) and Emily Wicks (Aldershot, 2:02:24).
Bourton 10K, 23rd February Martin and Lucy raced well for the second successive weekend. Martin comfortably broke the 40-minute barrier (39:34, 103rd), and Lucy (45:26, 233rd) was 4th in her age category. There were 485 finishers, and race winners were Oliver Mott (Bristol & West, 32:22) and Rachel Felton (Stroud, 34:40).
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Winslow 10K, 23rd February Simon I last ran the Winslow 10K back in 2011 and, although it was a good event, it didn’t really appeal to me enough to want to rush back and do it again until this year when, having started running once or twice a week with Matt, whose daughter is in the same year as Hannah at school, we sort of had an “I’ll-do-it-if-you-do-it” agreement. So we did it. Not much has changed over three years, so you can either read this or dig out HH Issue No 217 and read that report. The start and finish are based at Furze Down School in Winslow and, although adequate in 2011 when there were just under 250 finishers, it was at times a little cramped this year. It probably wasn’t helped by extensive building works in the school grounds but, in my opinion, they could do with using at least one more room for registration, baggage, snack bar and changing. Still, it was cosy… Having picked up Matt and driven to Winslow we collected our numbers and had a coffee before the off. The weather wasn’t brilliant – the occasional outbreak of drizzle was ok but the route meant we were either running into a strong headwind or being buffeted from one side or t’other for the most of the run. The route itself was unchanged from last time I did it - a one-lap anti-clockwise circuit along quiet gently undulating rural country lanes, passing Verney Junction, Sandhills and East Claydon before returning to Winslow. The roads weren’t closed to traffic but there wasn’t much around – I only saw three cars during the race – although one guy in a 4x4 seemed to have glued his horn button down and shattered what could have been a rather peaceful run. Once again there were t-shirts for all finishers – I picked up a very nice purple one, Matt went for bright orange – although they were being handed out right at the entrance to the registration/baggage/snack bar room and the queue when we left was longer than the queue for toilets at the London Marathon. The results were up on the Winslow Lions’ website within a matter of hours. First home was Glen Turner from Leighton Buzzard AC in 34:35, followed by Eddie O’Gorman of Chiltern Harriers in 35:56 and Jeremy Vick of Marshall Milton Keynes in 37:10; first lady was Hannah Turner of Harpenden Arrows in 39:51, followed by Sophie Green of Vale of Aylesbury AC in 40:59 and Wendy Clark of Shenley Striders in 42:23. Interestingly the first and third ladies’ places were the same in 2011. Of the 318 finishers, I was 173rd in 52:39 – a stonking 6 seconds faster than I was three years ago (yeah, I’m getting quicker with age) – although as happened in 2011 I’d very kindly been given a chesty cough and cold by Hannah the previous week so I suppose I can’t really complain. And if anyone’s interested, Matt finished in 159th place with a time of 51:38 and the last one back was John Copsey from Dagenham Crusaders, who finished in 1:19:23.
Cholsey Chase 9 mile MT, 23rd February Sue The Cholsey Chase, a multi-terrain 9-mile race last held in 2006, was re-launched this year by Reading-based company Barnes Fitness. As might be expected for a commercially-organised race, it was a little more pricy than the average similar MT race (especially when the online registration system added an unexpected £1.96 administration fee!), but it was very professionally and slickly organised, chip-timed, and a very enjoyable local event. Race HQ was a nice new village facility, ‘Cholsey Pavilion’, which accommodated a spacious registration hall, toilets with full changing rooms and showers, and a tea bar with plenty of seating. Free parking was available at a farm 10 minutes’ walk from the start but, as it was raining, I decided to pay the £2.80 to park at the railway station just 2 minutes from race HQ. Ryan and I turned up to represent the Harriers on a cloudy, drizzly and windy day. For me, this was to be a nottoo-competitive nice Sunday run, as I’d raced a hard 5-mile x-country for Reading AC the previous day, so I set off at a steady pace. The first 2.5 miles took us on flat muddy tracks across to Aston Tirrold, into a strong headwind. After a short section on quiet roads, we crossed the A417 and the climb began - a gradual ascent on stony tracks and grassy paths up to ‘The Fairmile’ (via the track we sometimes run down to reach the former ‘little railway’ house). I latched on to two men and followed them steadily up the hill, using them as windbreaks. HH Mar 2014
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Once at the top, Mo (who’d cycled up to The Fairmile from home) informed me I was 4th lady (actually I was 5th, as he’d missed someone of ambiguous gender!). With the underfoot conditions now much better, and a good tailwind, I got into my running and passed quite a few people (unfortunately none of them were ladies). At the end of The Fairmile, we were on to a hard stony track and beginning the long descent to Cholsey. This bit was good fun, and I passed some more men. There was a final sting in the tail, with a short sharp uphill farm track on Lollingdon Hill, then a flat run-in to the playing field with a cheer from Ryan. As I approached the finish, I was announced as ‘no. 69’ and called ‘Joanne’ (actually I was no. 59 and called Sue, but I still got a clap). All finishers received a goody bag with medal, water bottle and energy bar. Ryan had run really well to finish 7th overall (1:02:43). The presentations happened fairly promptly, and I collected a trophy and voucher for being 1st FV40 (5th lady, 36th overall, 1:13:59) before enjoying one of the fantastic cakes available at the tea bar. Race winners were Paul Fernandez (Abingdon, 55:12) and Sarah Dudgeon (Serpentine, 1:06:51). There were 198 finishers. I would certainly do this race again, and recommend it to others.
Website update… http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk Mo Links of interest this month Here are a couple of links I can thoroughly recommend if you have a little spare time to browse: http://www.runaddicts.net and http://www.fellrunner.org.uk … and just one more which I have to fully recommend, having visited and sampled its wares http://www.saddlebackfarmshop.co.uk … happy browsing! Webmaster’s article this month: The benefits of varying your Training Modes This is the first of a series of 3 articles to explain and outline the benefits of various common modes of training, namely Speed/Interval, Tempo/Threshold and Long Runs. Many of the ‘Tuesday Session’ Harriers will most likely be familiar with these modes, but hopefully the information will be interesting and helpful to all. This month, I am starting with the Long Run … Generally, a long run is a steady low intensity run of between 1 and 3 hours duration, the aim being to build up the stamina for a particular event e.g. half marathon or marathon. Long continuous duration runs will develop your aerobic endurance by improving V02 max (maximum oxygen uptake). A high V02 max, i.e. the body's ability to get plenty of oxygen to the working muscles is a key determinant of middle and long distance running success. Long slow runs also boost the number of mitochondria (oxygen carrying components of cells) in your body, making you a more efficient aerobic machine! Ideally the pace of your long run should be at about 80 per cent of the speed you could race the same distance, or slightly slower … a rough guide being that you should still be able to chat comfortably whilst running. As an illustration, if you can race 10 miles at 7:30 pace, you should do your training runs at about 9:23 pace. (As a quick guide in calculating your training pace, multiply race pace by 1.25). The key to building endurance conditioning is to keep it slow but steady. Add one mile a week to your weekend long run. Every fourth week, reduce your mileage by missing out the long run, or keeping it at the same length as week three. Then starting building again, one mile at a time or, as a general guide, increase the volume by 10 per cent each week.
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Long running for marathons: When starting out, the goal is to build up to at least one run of 20 miles, over a period of three to four months. For more advanced runners, the aim will be to run four or five 20 mile-runs in the build up to a marathon, over a period of 16 to 18 weeks. Next month: Tempo/Threshold Runs
A few forthcoming Events of Interest – see Website Events Calendar for more details: Sun, Mar 2 Sun, Mar 9
Sun, Mar 16
Sun, Mar 23
Sun, Mar 30 Tue, April 1 Sun, April 6
Sun, April 13 Fri, April 18 Sat, April 19 Sat, April 26 Sun, April 27
Sun, May 4 Wed, May 7 Sat, May 10 Sun, May 11
Sun, May 18 Sun, May 25 Sun, June 8 Sun, June 15 Sun, June 22 Sun, June 29 Sun, July 6 Sun, July 13 Sun, Sept 21 Sun, Sept 28 Sun, Oct 5 Sun, Oct 19 Sat, Oct 25 HH Mar 2014
Mizuno Reading Half Marathon Oxford Mail XC - Round 5 Banbury 15 Oxford 10km Salisbury 10 Mile Goring 10k Ringwood Rabbit Run 5k & 10k Surrey Spitfire 20 & Tempest 10 Hillingdon ½ Mthn New Forest ½ Mthn Water of Life Half-Marathon & 10k, Marlow Wiltshire Scramble - 12 miles off road Combe Gibbet to Overton 16 Berkshire Primary Schools X-C Chedworth Roman Trail 10 miles The Bluebell Race 12k White Horse ½ Marathon Bag4Sport Abbeyfield 10km & Fun Run Virgin Money London Marathon Maidenhead Easter Ten 18th Compton Downland Challenge Chieveley Chase 5.7 miles Hurstbourne 5 Multi-Terrain Race Fairoaks Five & Ten (Miles) Highworth 5 Treehouse School 10k Three Forts Challenge (Mthn & ½Mthn) Silverstone Grand Prix 10K Marlborough Downs Challenge Grant & Stone Marlow 5 Highclere 10k Woodley 10K Royal Berkshire 10K Bayer Newbury 10k Wallingford 10K Thames Run Chiltern Chase - 5K Wargrave Charity 10K Ridgeway Relay Hungerford Harey 8 Airbase Race - 10K Thame 10K Didcot 5 Tadley 10k New Forest 10 mile Farnham Pilgrim Mthn + ½ Mthn The Barnstaple Mthn & ½ Mthn Basingstoke Half Marathon Frieth Hilly 5k and 10k Tadley 10 Mile Beachy Head Marathon & 10k
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