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THE HARRIERS HERALD No. 247, September 2013 Editor: Sue Francis

Contents, features, reports, results • Thursday night schedules for September and October • Correspondence received • Race results: A quiet month for racing, but Philomena won a category prize in the Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 30K • Handicap Race – Tapani retains the trophy, while Dick extends his Championship lead • Webmaster’s article – Mo features animal attacks on runners, and lists forthcoming races of interest • Thanks to Mo for this month’s contributions • Copy date for next Harriers Herald – 30th September

Thursday night schedule for September Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs

5th 12th 19th 26th

Martin to lead Richard D to lead Mo to lead Pete O to lead

Thursday night schedule for October Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs

3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st

Handicap Race Aaron to lead Sue to lead Gillian to lead Colin to lead

Sender Berks, Bucks & Oxon xc Association England Athletics

English Cross-Country Association (ECCA)

Correspondence received Subject matter Preliminary details of BBO xc Champs (16-11-13, Bracknell Forest) Changes to affiliation fees for 2014-2015: Athlete registration fee: remains at £10 Club affiliation fee: increases to £75 (previously £50) Road race licence fee remains unchanged ECCA x-country handbook 2013-2014: contact details of all UK Clubs that partake in x-country; details of National xc (Nottingham 22-02-14) and xc rules

Action Inform members when entry forms available File

File

Race results August seems to have been a quiet month on the racing front. The only Harriers race result I am aware of is below: Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 30K trail race, 11th August: Philomena was 44th overall and 1st in her new age category (FV55) with a time of 2:51:37. Colin was 87th in 3:16:43. There were 1423 finishers.

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Handicap Race Sue August’s Handicap Race around the Relay Lap was held in near perfect conditions, thanks to some good weather and to Mo for strimming the field edge. Defending champion Tapani set off first and no one could catch him – Philomena was working on it, but Tapani glanced round in the home straight and found a bit extra to push on for victory. His time of 12:12 was 30 seconds faster than his June time. Philomena took a safe second place, and the remaining six runners followed at approximately 10 seconds intervals. Richard D took 3rd ahead of Sue, who recorded a 4-second PB for the course, and set the evening’s fastest time. Dick further improved his 2013 course time to take 4th, ahead of Aaron (running his last Handicap Race before becoming a Veteran!). Neil made a welcome return to the fold following his terrible Ridgeway Relay toe blisters, and Colin completed the field.

Well done to Tapani, and thanks to Jan for timing. There will be no Handicap Race in September – the next one is scheduled for Thursday 3rd October.

Finish Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Position on handicap 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Name

Start time

Tapani Philomena Richard D Sue Dick Aaron Neil Colin

0:59 2:08 3:22 4:16 3:41 3:09 4:00 3:26

Finish time

Actual time

13:11 13:21 13:32 13:37 13:48 14:03 14:18 14:28

12:12 11:13 10:10 9:21 10:07 10:54 10:18 11:02

Handicap Beaten?

-0:49 -0:39 -0:28 -0:23 -0:12 +0:03 +0:18 +0:28

Handicap Championship: After 6 races, Dick remains at the top of the table, with a clear lead. Philomena has moved up to 2nd place, edging Aaron into 3rd. They are currently well clear of the rest of us, but there is a battle for 4th spot, with five people on a score of 25. Remember, at the end of the series in December, it is your best five scores which will count. So, once you’ve run more than five races (as Philomena, Aaron and I have), you can drop your lower scores, and positions may change.

Pos.

1 2 3 4= 4= 4= 4= 4= 9= 9= 11= 11= 13 14 15= 15= 17 18= 18=

Name

Dick Philomena

Aaron Mo Terry Tapani Richard Neil Sue Colin Lucy Gillian Mags Jonathan Pete O Ricky Martin Pete H Piers

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Race 1 12 9 4 6 3 8 2 7 10 1 1 5 1 1 1

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

Race 3 10 8 6 3 9 5 12 4 2 7 -

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

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

2

Race 7 -

Race 8 -

Race 9 -

Total of best 5 45 38 36 25 25 25 25 25 23 23 20 20 15 13 12 12 10 1 1

Website update… http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk Mo Links of interest this month: Further to the link Meena sent round to all, regarding the hornet attack at the Spofforth 10k trail race, you may wish to read the full report shown on the Otley Athletic Club website at http://goo.gl/IMIBvS which also includes comments from competitors and other runners.

This month’s article: Animal attacks on runners Following the news of the above incident, I wondered how often runners encountered such attacks, so I carried out an internet search to find out. The search results not surprisingly mainly featured attacks in the USA made by bears, alligators, foxes, cougars, wolves, deer, horses, bison, bobcats, puma, racoon, goats, big horn sheep, and various birds, but by far the most common was dog attacks. In many instances, the runner’s life was lost in the attack. Aren’t you glad we don’t encounter most of those animals when out on a training run? However, as we are likely to encounter dogs now and again, I thought it worth listing the following on how to react should you be unfortunate enough to encounter an aggressive dog, especially when running alone: 1. Don't panic. There's some truth to the adage that dogs and other animals can sense fear. If you become agitated and shout, you may make the dog feel more confident in his attack, or you may appear threatening to the dog. Neither of these is a good situation.

2. Stop running. Your natural instinct may be to run away, but unless you know for sure you can get behind a barrier of some sort that will separate you from the dog, running away and/or shouting is most likely going to make the situation worse. The chances are that you’re not likely to outrun a dog, and the act of running away will probably activate the chase instinct present in all dogs.

3. Stand still. The best thing to do is become motionless and boring with your arms folded across your chest. Stand sideways to the dog and keep the dog in your peripheral vision instead of facing it and making eye contact. This will signal to the dog that you are not a threat. If you’re boring and don’t engage the dog, the dog will most likely sniff your leg and move on. Then, when the dog is a good distance away, you can move quietly to a safe area or continue with your run.

4. Be a rock. If the dog still attacks you and manages to knock you over, the best thing to do is “curl up like a rock” and cover your head. If you’re boring the dog is much more likely to simply leave you alone.

5. Take precautions. If you’re particularly concerned you could carry a canister of pepper spray or mace with you that work well. However, the best prevention is to know your route. Avoid areas where people don’t care for their dogs properly and allow them to roam. Be aware while you are running and if you notice an unknown dog ahead of you that you’re not comfortable with, the sooner you stop and keep your distance (not by running away), the better chance you’ll have at avoiding an encounter.

Despite the dangers posed by animals, my own experience and research indicates that most of the interactions and incidents experienced by runners tends to involve people. I suspect most of us have received derogatory comments from children and on the odd occasion have needed to jump on to the verge to avoid speeding traffic whilst running down ‘quiet’ country lanes. Near-misses with traffic of course can be largely avoided by observing the general rule of running on the right towards approaching traffic and being vigilant by listening to the country sounds rather than the iPod! As for comments from children, a certain amount of self-restraint can be needed especially when they shout out comments like “can’t you run any faster fatty” and yobs passing in cars shout out various obscenities. I have on occasions challenged mouthy children to run with me for the next half mile or so, but it’s rarely the invitation is accepted … and I suppose it does give you a certain sense of satisfaction that you probably have the superior fitness. As for yobs in cars, it’s probably best to ignore them, avoid any impulsive hand gestures and remember you are doing something they are physically incapable of doing!

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Forthcoming Events of Interest – see Website Events Calendar for full details and listing: For those that aren’t involved in the IOW series on 14th & 15th September, you may be interested in taking part in the Compton Charity Cycle 25 mile off-road event on 14th September. The entry fee is just £10.00 and the event is in aid of Compton Pre-School. The course covers the Ridgeway and much of the second 20 miles of the Compton 40 route. It also covers some of the Boneshaker cycle route, including where I came to grief last year, however this part is in the reverse direction (up hill), so it won’t be possible to achieve the speed at which I was travelling at the time!

There is also a 5-mile running event at Ickenham in Swakeleys Park on 15th September and with only 2 metres difference between the highest and lowest points on the 2 lap course, it is ideal if you are seeking a PB. Sun 8 Sep

Sat 14 Sep

Sun 15 Sep

Sat 21 Sep Sun 22 Sep Thu 26 Sep Sun 29 Sep

Sat 5 Oct Sun 6 Oct Sun 20 Oct Sun 1 Dec

Pangbourne 10k The 43rd Chiltern Marathon - Lane End Village Hall, HP14 3EY Dunstable Downs Mthn, 20M & ½ Mthn - LU6 1BB Kennet & Avon Canal 56 mile - BA2 6QT Kennet & Avon 21 mile - BA2 6QT Compton Charity Cycle 25 miles – Off Road 10:00am Recreation Ground IOW Fell Running Series 2013 - Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 1TT IOW Fell Running Series 2013 - Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 1TT UWC Aldbourne 10k Road Race - Farm Lane, Aldbourne, Wiltshire Chippenham Half Marathon 2013 - Chippenham Sports Club, SN15 1NG Ickenham 5Mile – Swakeleys Park Middlesex.

Woodstock 12 - Woodstock, OX20 1PX High Peak 40 - Buxton, SK17 9BS Swallowfield 10K, 5K & 3K - RG7 1QX Weston Prom 5 - Race 1 of 9 - Weston-Super-Mare, BS23 2DT Highclere 10K - Highclere Castle, RG20 9RN Henley ½ Mthn River Trail Run - RG9 3DB Mortimer 10K - Mortimer Fairground, RG7 3SW Bournemouth Marathon Festival - Kings park drive, Bournemouth, BH7 6JD Bournemouth Marathon Festival - Kings park drive, Bournemouth, BH7 6JD Autumn 10 miles - Tadley - RG26 5NL Abingdon Marathon - Tilsley Park, Abingdon OX14 1PU Winter 5.3 XC race - Tadley - RG26 5NL

Next Month: Is Running Better Alone, with a Partner, or in a Group?

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