THE HARRIERS HERALD No. 273, November 2015 Editor: Sue Francis
Contents, features, reports, results
Thursday night schedules for November and December Correspondence received, and update on England Athletics registration / affiliation Compton Harriers AGM – preliminary information London Marathon 2016 Club Entry – are you eligible? Compton Harriers Christmas Meal - update Race results: Hanney 5 – Lucy represents the Harriers; Cardiff Half – Ryan makes a good return from injury; Lakes-in-a-day – Jeremy completes a tough 50-miler in Cumbria; Oxford Half – Mags has a good run, while Jonathan has a late start; Beachy Head Marathon – Three Harriers post good performances Handicap Race – Mo runs his fastest time for 3 years to win the trophy Webmaster’s article – Mo features: websites covering injury identification and treatment, and fitness to compete; and a list of forthcoming local and interesting races Go West – Simon provides mathematical evidence that a westerly race could get you a PB! Thanks to Simon and Mo for this month’s contributions to articles and photos Copy date for next Harriers Herald – 30th November
Thursday night schedule for November Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs
5th 12th 19th 26th
Martin to lead Sue to lead Philomena to lead Mo to lead
Thursday night schedule for December Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs
3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st
Handicap Race Short-ish run, followed by Club AGM Colin to lead No leader scheduled, but we could organise a daytime run if anyone’s keen No leader scheduled, but we could organise a daytime run if anyone’s keen
Correspondence received Sender England Athletics UK Athletics Berks County Athletics SEAA
Subject matter Athlete registration fee 2016/2017, with info. on how it’s spent Consultation on rule changes for 2016 Update on cross-country champs Information Update November 2015
Action Inform members (see below**) File File File
**England Athletics Affiliation and Registration Scheme England Athletics have advised that the athlete registration fee for 2016/2017 will be £13 (an increase in £1 from 2015/2016). The club affiliation fee will remain at £100. England Athletics say that small frequent increases in these fees are considered preferable to larger (but less frequent) increases. They also provide a summary of the reasons for the registration fee increase, and how the money is spent. England Athletics’ main sources of income are: Sport England funding (57%); income from athlete registration / club affiliation fees (22%); competition entries; road race licensing; coach and officials education courses; sponsorship. Sport England fund England Athletics to grow participation in the sport (both competitive running, and recreational running). Income from registration and affiliation fees is spent on: Coaching and athlete development; competition; community participation; direct membership benefits (including insurance cover for clubs); affiliation and registration management; communication and business development; corporate costs. HH November 2015
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Compton Harriers AGM 2015 The AGM is scheduled for the evening of Thursday 10th December at 20:00 (after the Club run) – venue to be confirmed. All members are encouraged to attend. Further details and an agenda will be circulated nearer the time.
London Marathon Club Entry 2016 Sue Each year every England Athletics-affiliated running club can apply for a / some 'guaranteed' entries to the London Marathon, the number of entries being dependent on the number of first claim club members. I have applied on behalf of the Club for 2016, and it has been confirmed that we are entitled to one Club Entry (as usual). Although a guaranteed entry, it is not free - the recipient still has to pay the race entry fee. As in previous years, the Club will have a draw to decide who receives this guaranteed place in the Marathon. Those eligible to be in the draw are any first claim members of Compton Harriers who had posted an entry for the Marathon but had that entry rejected. If this applies to you, and you would like your name to go in to the draw, please let me know by Monday 10th November. So far, I have three eligible people: Richard T, Ryan, and Terry.
Compton Harriers Christmas Meal 2015 Sue It is time to plan our Christmas gathering for this year. Traditionally, we’ve had a Friday or Saturday evening meal (the weekend before Christmas) at a fairly local pub, to which all Harriers and their partners have been invited. Wherever we go, it needs to be somewhere that can accommodate about 30 of us. We will look at potential menus, prices and available dates, and make a decision soon. Martin and Lucy are going to get a menu from ‘The Kingswell’ near Harwell. I have picked up a menu from The George & Dragon (Upton), but the choice seems a bit limited (especially for anyone who happens to be vegetarian) and it is more expensive than I expected.
Race Results and Reports Hanney 5 miles, 4th October Lucy finished 117th in 39:40. The race winners were James Bolton (Woodstock Harriers) in 26:39, and Jennifer McBain (Alchester RC) in 30:27, and there were 181 finishers.
Cardiff Half Marathon, 4th October Ryan obtained a last-minute entry from Kevin Wilkinson, who had to withdraw due to injury. He started a bit too far back in the field, so couldn’t get into a good running rhythm for a while. However, he was pleased to complete this first race since his calf muscle injury in 1:30 and with no pain, so is now feeling confident for his forthcoming Ironman event in Florida.
Lakes-in-a-day, 4th October This is a 50-mile point-to-point race from North to South across the Lake District. It starts in the town of Caldbeck and passes through Threlkeld, Ambleside, Finisthwaite and Newby Bridge. It is a tough challenge with 4000m of ascent including Helvellyn Ridge and the western shoreline of Lake Windermere. Jeremy rose to the challenge and completed in 14:35:49, 66th out of 241 finishers.
Oxford Half Marathon, 11th October Jonathan was keen to post a fast time in this race. However, having decided to get the train from Didcot to Oxford, he was frustrated to find his train delayed by over an hour. The organisers delayed the race start to accommodate those with train travel problems, but Jonathan’s train was still too late! Once eventually at race HQ, he and others asked if they could still race and were told that they could run but, so as not to clash with the kid’s fun run, they would have to start the race at the 1.5 mile point. After getting over his frustration at missing the start, Jonathan enjoyed trying to catch as many people as he could, but did not record an official time. Mags completed the race in a pleasing 2:25:56, but Gillian was disappointed to have to drop out at 10 miles, as her plantar fasciitis problem flared up. The race winners were Steve Naylor (Bedford & County) in 1:10:24, and Fabienne Amrhein (Engelhorn Sports Team) in 1:15:53. HH November 2015
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Beachy Head Marathon, 24th October Three Harriers completed this tough multi-terrain marathon. Martin had a great race to finish in 3:47:36 (68th), with Rich B 223rd in 4:17:11, and Lucy 536th in 4:51:37. Race winners were Stuart Mills (3:08:06) and Sarah Swinhoe (3:23:44) and there were 1425 finishers (last finisher recorded 8:48:08).
Handicap Race Sue On a mild but drizzly evening, only five Harriers turned up to race the first of this winter’s dark Handicap Races around the Village Lap. Mo set off first, with Helen 88 seconds later. This was Helen’s first run round the Village Lap route, so John kindly popped up at key places to point her in the right direction. Colin set off next, with Richard D just 8 seconds behind, but Sue had to wait over 2.5 minutes before she set off in pursuit which made for a bit of a lonely run. Mo posted his fastest time for 3 years to take a 35-second victory, with Richard D safe in 2nd spot. Sue was 3rd, just ahead of Helen. Colin took a nasty fall on uneven road in Horn Street half way into the race, grazing his knee and turning his ankle. However, having never failed to finish any race before (and wanting to score some points!) he bravely completed the route by walking and jogging. Well done Mo, and thanks to Jan and Dick for timing (despite the dodgy stopwatch). The next Handicap Race is scheduled for Thursday 3rd December, and will again be around the Village Lap route. Finish Position 1 2 3 4 5
Position on handicap 1 2 3 4 5
Name
Start time
Mo Richard D Sue Helen Colin
Finish time
Actual time
19:16 19:51 20:06 20:18 24:59
19:16 14:42 12:23 18:50 19:58
0:00 5:09 7:43 1:28 5:01
Handicap Beaten? -0:44 -0:09 +0:06 +0:18 +4:59
Handicap Championship 2015 While Mo has closed the gap on Aaron and George, Nitish still has a clear 8-point lead in the Championship. By my calculations, the only person who can beat Nitish now is George, who would need to finish in the top three in the next (and final) race. Are you up for the challenge George?! The runners’ up places (2nd and 3rd) are still up for grabs and several people could move up the rankings with good performances in the next race. Pos.
Name Race 1
1 2 3 4 5 6= 6= 6= 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Nitish George Aaron Mo Colin Dick Martin Sue Helen Jonathan Lucy Richard D Richard T Pete O Kevin
HH November 2015
10 6 5 12 8 9 7 -
Race 2 12 10 8 5 9 7 4 3 6 -
Race 3 12 10 8 (4) (5) (3) 7 6 9 -
Race 4 10 12 9 8 (5) 7 (4) 6 1
3
Race points Race Race 5 6 8 12 (7) 6 (2) 9 10 (3) 1 5 4 1 -
7 10 8 9 4 5 12 6 -
Race 7 10 8 5 9 6 12 4 7 -
Race 8 12 7 9 8 10 -
Race 9 -
Total of best 5 52 44 42 41 38 35 35 35 32 31 27 22 8 6 1
Website update… http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk Mo No changes to site layout at the moment, but I am looking at making it easier to find information on specific topics or at least making the 'Site Directory' more prominent. If you haven't noticed it yet, it is on the home page, just below the coloured menu tabs (just above 'Lowbury Hill' on the front page background picture). The Site Directory details what each of the main menu tabs link to. Links of interest this month Here's a little gem for you this month, http://www.runnersmedicalresource.com . According to the home page, 'The runners' medical resource is the product of a joint arrangement between leading UK Road Races and Triathlons including the Virgin Money London Marathon and the BUPA Great North Run. These events combined forces to create a unified stance on medical issues relating to running and triathlon events. The group has subsequently been appointed as the official Medical Advisory Group for RunBritain, UK Athletics' strategic management group for road running in the UK'
The site advises on fitness to compete, training, eating, drinking and what to do on the day. There is also an 'Injuries' section that covers the 10 most common running injuries and how to deal with them. Injury, Treatment & Physiotherapy: My article this month features another very interesting and useful link to information on the following website: http://find-a-physio.com . Although the site is essentially for finding a local physiotherapist by typing a postcode or place name in the search box at the top of the home page, this part of the site doesn't work ... unless you become a member! However, if you ignore this and click 'Physiotherapy' on the menu bar, you can find out all you need to know about what a physiotherapist does, the types of treatment available and the most common injuries. Whilst on this page, by clicking 'Common Injuries' you will be taken to a page entitled 'Your Injury' where you can click on various human anatomy figures to learn about injuries in that particular part of the body. By clicking again you will find very detailed information on a whole range of injuries with a breakdown of causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. It also covers prognosis and likely contributing factors for the injury. Have fun! Events of Interest – see Website Training & Events Calendar for more details:
Sun, 01 Nov: 10:00 Marlow ½ Mth & 7miles • Muddy Mo Run (10Mile & 10K) 11:20 (W) 12:00 (M) Oxford Mail XC - Ascott under Wychwood Sat, 07 Nov: 10:30 Thames Meander Half & Full Marathon Sun, 08 Nov: 10:00 Grand Union Canal ½ Mthn Sun, 15Nov: 10:00 Rugged Radnage 10K • 11:00 Herberts Hole Challenge (MT 10K) Sat, 21 Nov: BBO XC, Horspath 11:30 Senior & Vet Women (6k) 12:15 Senior & Vet Men (9.5k) Sun, 22Nov: 10:00 9Bar Chilly 10K (Castle Combe) • 10:30 Meon Valley Marathon Sun, 29 Nov: 10:00 Mapledurham Ten - 10K & 10 Mile • 10:30 Avebury 8 (Miles) Trail • Eynsham 10k Sun, 06 Dec: 11:20 (W) 12:00 (M) Oxford Mail XC - Culham • 11:00 Tadley Runners Xmas XC 5.2 Sun, 13 Dec: 10:30 Andy Reading 10km Sun, 20 Dec: 10:00 Muddy Welly 10K & 5K Trail • 11:00 Hooky Xmas Canter 7miles Mon, 28 Dec: 10:00 Gut Buster 2015 - 10K & 10 miles Sun, 03 Jan: 11:30 Tadworth 10 Sat, 09 Jan: Berkshire Cross-Country Championships Sun, 10 Jan: 10:30 Woodcote 10k • 11:00 Rough 'n' Tumble 10 11:20 (W) 12:00 (M) Oxford Mail XC Horspath Sun, 24 Jan: 10:00 Oxford 10k Sun, 07 Feb: 11:20 (W) 12:00 (M) Oxford Mail XC - Cirencester Sun, 14 Feb: 10:30 Bramley 20/10 • 11:00 Reading 5 Miles Sun, 21 Feb: 10:00 Wokingham ½ Mth Sun, 28 Feb: 10:30 The Terminator 12 Sun, 06 Mar: 11:20 (W) 12:00 (M) Oxford Mail XC - RAL, Harwell Sun, 13 Mar: Goring 10k 2016 Sun, 17 Apr: Brighton Marathon 2016 Sun, 24 Apr: London Marathon 2016 HH November 2015
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Go West… Simon At this year’s post-Boundary Run and Walk barbeque I was talking to the Harriers’ very own Spice Girl Martin Fray and Emma B (note: I may have got the names the wrong way round there…) about (surprise, surprise) running, and I happened to mention that I had long thought that it was quicker to run East to West than it was to run West to East due to the rotation of the Earth. This is not perhaps something which taxes many brains but it’s something which I’ve had at the back of my mind for a number of years, and I’ve recently got round to sitting down and working it out … The short answer is: Yes, I think it is. For example, if you ran a marathon East to West at the Equator you’d be 7.58 seconds faster than if you ran from West to East. Not only that, but the further you move away from the Equator the greater the difference. At a Latitude of 51 50’ N (roughly Aylesbury) you’d be 12.26 seconds faster, and at 89 Degrees North you would, in theory, be faster by 7 minutes 14.38 seconds. So how does it all work? Like this: The theory: Imagine, if you will, that you’re on a travellator at an airport (any airport): the belt moves in the same direction of travel as you do. Now, if you run towards an imaginary finish line at the far end of the travellator, the line moves away from you as you run; this would be the same as running towards a finishing line in an Easterly direction as the Earth is rotating faster than you can run. If, however, you run the wrong way on a travellator the imaginary finish line moves towards rather than away from you and you reach it in less time; this is the same as running towards a finishing line in a Westerly direction, as the Earth is rotating towards you as you run. Got that? Ok, read on… The maths: If you run a distance (d) in a time (T) it is possible to calculate your average speed (v) as time/distance, or (v = T/d). And if you can do that, it is then possible to calculate the time difference between running East to West and West to East. For example, the time taken (T) to run a marathon (42.195km) at a constant speed (v) can be expressed as T = 42.195/v, so at 10km/hr T = 42.195/10 = 4.2195 hours, or 4 hours 13 minutes 10.2 seconds (remember, the .2195 is decimal hours, so to convert to minutes and seconds multiply by 60 to get minutes then subtract the integer and multiply the remainder by 60 to get seconds). In other words, to run a marathon on a non-moving surface at 10 km/hr it will take 4 hours 13 minutes and 10.2 seconds. Aah, but the Earth isn’t a non-moving surface, I hear you cry. Correct, it’s not: the Earth has an Equatorial Circumference of 40,075.017km, completes one revolution every 24 hours and is therefore moving from West to East at 1669.7924km/hr at the Equator. Now you probably already know this, but to calculate the circumference of the Earth at any given Latitude, one multiplies the Equatorial Circumference by the Cosine of the Latitude in decimal Degrees, Minutes and Seconds; so, for example, at a Latitude of 51 50’N (pretty much Aylesbury), the Earth’s Circumference is 40075.017 x Cos51.83 = 40075.017 x 0.617996836 = 24,766.23km. So the Earth, in a nutshell, is one very large travellator… If you’re running East to West, to take the Earth’s rotational speed into account you need to subtract the speed at which you are running from the circumference of the Earth at the Latitude at which you are running, then divide it by the circumference of the Earth at the same Latitude, because you are moving against the Earth’s rotation. (If, however, you’re running West to East then you need to add the speed at which you are running, because you’re moving in the same direction as the Earth is rotating, but you’ve probably already figured that out). So the actual time taken to run any distance from East to West can be expressed as: T = ((d/v) x ((EcosL – v) / EcosL)) where T = time (in hours) d = distance v = speed E = the Equatorial Circumference of Earth (constant 40075.017) and L = the Latitude at which you are running (in decimal Degrees, Minutes and Seconds) HH November 2015
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Or, if running from West to East: T = ((d/v) x ((EcosL + v) / EcosL)) Just as an aside, the above equations will give the answer in hours; if you want to work out the answer in minutes you need to divide 60 by the second instance of EcosL, giving the following equation: T = ((d/v) x ((60 / EcosL) x (EcosL – v))) But I digress… Pick a distance, any distance. Let’s say the marathon: 42.195km. At, let’s say, 10 km/hr. Then we need a couple of circumferential distances: let’s say the Equator and Aylesbury, as mentioned previously. Taking E (the Earth’s circumference at the Equator) as 40075.017, cosL (at 0 degrees) = 1 and substituting these values into the equations gives us: Running East to West: T = ((d/v) x ((EcosL – v) / EcosL)) T = ((42.195/10) x ((40075.017 – 10) / 40075.017)) = 4.2195 x 0.999750468 = 4.2184471 hours, or 4 hours 13 minutes 6.41 seconds Running West to East, however, produces the following result: T = ((d/v) x ((EcosL + v) / EcosL)) T = ((42.195/10) x (40075.017 + 10) / 40075.017)) = 4.2195 x 1.000249532 = 4.2205529 hours, or 4 hours 13 minutes 13.99 seconds So, in theory, if you ran a marathon on the Equator from East to West, you would be 7.58 seconds faster than if you ran from West to East. Meanwhile, in the Nirvana that is Aylesbury (51 50’N), cosL is 0.617996836 and EcosL is 24766.23 (40075.017 x 0.617996836), which, when these values are substituted into the equations, gives us: East to West: T = ((42.195/10) x ((24766.23 – 10) / 24766.23)) = 4.2195 x 0.999596224 = 4.217796269 hours, or 4 hours 13 minutes 4.07 seconds West to East: T = ((42.195/10) x ((24766.23 + 10) / 24766.23)) = 4.2195 x 1.000403776 = 4.221203731 hours, or 4 hours 13 minutes 16.33 seconds So a marathon run from East to West at 51 50’N at 10 km/hr would be 12.26 seconds faster than a marathon run from West to East at 10km/hr. Comparing these times to a marathon run at the same speed on a non-moving surface (q.v. Paragraph 3), which would take 4 hours 13 minutes 10.2 seconds, it’s all rather interesting. In fact, the further North you go the greater the difference, as the circumference of the Earth reduces and, consequently, ((EcosL – v) / EcosL) increases. Incidentally, and before anyone emails me to point this out, this equation (obviously) doesn’t hold if you’re at the North Pole for two reasons: 1. because Cos90 = 0 and 2. if you’re standing at the North Pole there is no East or West; everywhere is South. And finally, it doesn’t actually matter what your speed is – the time difference is always the same. At 10km/hr the time difference running a marathon East to West compared to West to East is 7.58 seconds at the Equator, 12.26 seconds at 51 50’ N and 7 minutes 14.38 seconds at 89 Deg. N; at 20km/hr the time differences are identical (7.58 seconds, 12.26 seconds and 7 minutes 14.38 seconds respectively). And obviously, the further you run the greater the difference… So there you have it: running East to West is faster than running West to East. As an example, running a marathon on a non-moving surface (essentially North to South, South to North or on an out-and-back course) will take 42.195/v hours. At 10km/hr it would take 4:13:10.2; run the same distance East to West and you would be 3.79 HH November 2015
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seconds faster at the Equator, 6.23 seconds faster at 51 50’ (North or South) or a whopping 3 minutes 37.19 seconds faster at 89 Degrees North or South. Good, eh? I just need someone to test this theory out now. Someone who runs at a good steady pace. Did someone say Mo?... Simon Ps: Many thanks to Sue for proof-reading this and pointing out a glaring error in my original calculations. Pps: My maths teacher at Secondary School was the late, great Stan Jones. Granted, you’ve probably never heard of him, but you might have heard of his son-in-law Simon May, composer of (amongst other things) Smike – the musical version of Nicholas Nickleby – and the theme tune to EastEnders. Stan Jones once proved to a class of ‘O’ Level maths students that 2 = 1. I still recall the equation if anyone’s interested…
Hanney 5: Lucy at 4.4 miles Photo by Barry Cornelius (http://www.oxonraces.com/photos)
HH November 2015
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