THE HARRIERS HERALD
No.
145, March 2005
Editorial
Sue
Thurs 3rd Sue
to lead
Thurs 10th Handicap
Race
Thurs 17th ) Compton Challenge Route
marking
Thurs 24th ) and collection of route markers?
Thurs 31st Martin
to lead
Thurs 7th Dick
to lead
Thurs 14th Vicky
to lead
Thurs 21st Handicap Race
Thurs 28th Susanne
to lead
Correspondence received by
Secretary, February 2005
Abbreviations: BCAA = Berkshire County Athletic Association;
SEAA = South of England Athletic Association; AAA = Amateur Athletic
Association of England; UKA = UK Athletics
|
Correspondence received |
||
Sender
|
Subject matter |
Action |
|
UKA |
National Fixtures 2005 |
File |
|
SEAA |
Information Update #85;
Liability Insurance for affiliated clubs; Road Relay Champs |
File |
|
Marathon Committee |
Entry forms: Bungay Black
Dog Mara. & Half Mara. |
To Mo & notice-board |
|
UKA |
2004 Annual Review;
Anti-doping fact-sheet; Annual Congress preliminary info.; Inhaler
registration forms |
Pass round / file |
|
UKA |
UKA 2005 calendar |
Notice-board |
|
City of Lincoln Council |
Entry forms: City of
Lincoln 10K |
To Mo & notice-board |
|
AAA |
2004 Annual Report &
Accounts; Voting forms for AAA AGM; update on ‘New England Athletics’ |
File |
|
Tanni Grey-Thompson |
Looking for London
Marathon competitors to run for ‘Team Tanni’ (getting disadvantaged young
people into sport) |
File |
|
Tim Gravina |
Entry forms: Marlborough
Downs Challenge |
To Mo & notice-board |
Website update… http://comptonharriers.cjb.net/
Mo
My offering this month will be of interest should you wish to improve your times over longer distances: -
Strong
Legs will improve your long distance times
Many runners assume that because they run, they don’t need to do leg-strengthening exercises. This isn’t necessarily true. A specific weight programme targeting your legs could reap a huge race dividend, particularly over longer distances. If you run a marathon in 3:30, for example, at a rate of 180 steps a minute, during the entire race you will take 37,800 steps. Stronger leg muscles allow you to spend less time on the ground with each foot-strike and increase your stride length.
A reduction of just 0.02 of a second in the time on the ground per foot-strike translates into running a marathon a staggering 12 minutes 36 seconds faster. And if the same improvement in leg-muscle power helps to improve your stride length by just half an inch, you’ll gain almost 500m, which could be another two minutes off your time.
Doing strengthening exercises twice a week is the best way to build leg power. Try squats, leg extensions, thigh curls (for the hamstrings and buttocks), leg presses, toe raises and heel raises. These will also help to reduce your risk of injury by fortifying your joints and protecting your legs from the repetitive pounding of training.
If you are looking for a non-weight-based programme to build leg strength, head for the hills. Hill intervals are also an effective way to build efficient and powerful leg muscles. Find a hill that is 75-100m from bottom to top and run up at an intensity slightly harder than 5K race pace. Start with seven or eight intervals, each followed by an easy jog back to the bottom of the hill.
Don’t just hammer out the miles on roads or pavements. By training off-road on trails or sand, your legs will work harder to keep you moving, and you’ll put less stress on joints. You can even include races on different surfaces in your training to keep you focused on the long-term goal.
Improve Your Lactate Threshold Pace (LTP)
Your lactate threshold pace
(LTP) is the running pace above which amounts of lactic acid begin to accumulate
in the blood. Scientists believe that this leads to increased fatigue during
running. If you can improve your LTP, you’ll get faster – it’s that simple. A
six per cent improvement in LTP – which should be fairly easy if you don’t
currently focus on this kind of training – will produce a nine-minute
improvement on a 3:30 marathon time.
You can use two
special sessions to increase your LTP: run 10-minute intervals at your current
10K pace (do two or three intervals with five-minute recoveries), or do a continuous
25-minute tempo run at a pace that’s 12-15 seconds per mile slower than your
usual 10K race pace
(Both articles are featured on the Runners World website, http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=1486 ).
Fixtures: A selection of
local and other well known events for your information:-
·
Sunday 6th
March 2005 - OXFORD MAIL X-COUNTRY LEAGUE – Shotover,
Horspath
Ladies Start
time: 11:00 a.m.; Men’s Start time: 11:45
a.m. http://www.geocities.com/oxmailxc
·
Sunday 13th
March 2005 – THE GRIZZLY – Seaton, Devon http://www.axevalleyrunners.org.uk
·
Saturday 19th
March 2005 – COMPTON DOWNLAND
CHALLENGE 40 – 0900hrs Downs School
Compton http://comptonharriers.cjb.net
·
Sunday 20th
March 2005 – COMBE GIBBET TO OVERTON
16 – 1400hrs http://www.overtonharriers.org.uk
·
Sunday 3rd
April 2005 – WHITE HORSE HALF
MARATHON – 1000hrs Millbrook School, Grove http://www.whitehorseharriers.homestead.com
·
Sunday 3rd
April 2005 – THE HANHAM HORROR 6
MILES – 1100hrs Vicarage Rd playing field, Hanham, Bristol. Woodland trails and towpath along the River
Avon. (Email your webmaster
for an entry form)
·
Sunday 3rd
April 2005 – CHEDWORTH ROMAN TRAIL
10 MILES – 10:30 am multi terrain, tracks, footpaths, fields and river
crossing. Chedworth Village Hall, 6
miles north of Cirencester. (Email your webmaster for an entry form)
·
Sunday 17th
April 2005 – THE FLORA LONDON
MARATHON – 0945hrs Blackheath, London http://www.london-marathon.co.uk
·
Sunday 24th
April 2005 at 11am - THE HIGHWORTH 5 MILE - Warneford
school, Shrivenham Road, Highworth, Wiltshire.
www.swindonweb.com/hrc
·
Sunday 8th
May 2005 at 10.30am - 8TH CHOLSEY
CHASE - 8-mile multi terrain race along lanes and bridleways of the
Berkshire Downs. The Pavilion, Station Road, Cholsey Nr Wallingford Oxon.
(Email your webmaster for an entry form)
·
Sunday 8th
May 2005 at 10.00am – HAIRY LEGS CHALLENGE
– X-Country 5k Run – 20k Bike – 5k Run, Goring-on-Thames. www.mountainhigh.co.uk
·
Saturday
21st May 2005 – MARLBOROUGH DOWNS CHALLENGE 33 or 20 mile
routes – Runners Start times 9:00 am long route, 10:45 am short route. (Email your webmaster for an entry form)
(Mo - Mar 2005)
Longleat 10K,
Sunday 6th February
Susanne
I initially decided to do this race so Elo, as a spectator, would have a
chance to visit the castle while I was away.
But the route was made up of 3 laps (first and third the same) which
each time ended by the castle so he never managed to see it due to excitement.
When we arrived, everything was just covered in fog - so much for the
beautiful scenery. But it did
clear. We were all provided with a chip.
I have never tried that before, so when I did my warming up and came to
the start I was not sure if I was allowed to cross it, supposedly my time
would start ticking so I thought best not to. Off we went at 10:00. A lovely uphill start with equal downhill at
the end of the lap. Thinking of what Martin once taught me I decided to
also push hard downhill and did manage to reel in a couple off runners. At one point approximately 1 K from the
finish on a downhill stretch when I had a little stomach pain, a fellow runner
must have spotted this because he advised me to lean more forward and
he kindly offered to guide me home since the last bit was all
downhill. That is what I call a real
sportsman, he ran next to me the last few hundred meters and kindly let me
finish before him – a real gentleman.
After the finish we shook hands and he complimented me for my fast
finish - very nice man indeed! I met up with Elo again had a quick change
of clothes and we went for the nearest pub for a lunch. All in all a lovely day.
Fastest man
finished in 33:37:85
Philip
Parry, Bristol West AC
Fastest lady
finished in 39:07:00
Sian
Monahan, Bristol West AC
I
managed 44:42:05 (88/626)
Susanne
The fourth Oxford Mail cross-country race took place at the scenic venue of Cirencester Park. The race route started on flat, open park land before entering the woods to follow muddy tracks down to the valley bottom. Each lap finished with a steep climb back up to the start area. While the women ran two laps, the men ran three. The Cirencester ladies were in their element on home territory, and took first (24:07), second, and third places. Our Team Kennet ladies A team did very well this time (3rd out of 26 teams) boosted by a good performance from Marie, who had only been persuaded to run on the previous evening. The individual placings were: 10th (Sue F, 27:27), 17th (Marie, 30:04), 21st (Vicky, 30:23), 54th, 60th (Yvonne, 36:00).
The men’s race was won by William Joyce in 33:47. Team Kennet placed an excellent 5th out of 20 teams in Division 2, and the individual placings were: -
31st (Tom Munt, 37:24), 59th (Nick, 40:04), 64th (Iain, 40:22), 82nd, 127th (Dick, 45:32), 165th, 166th, 170th (Pete, 50:39), 176th, 177th, 180th, 189th
The final race of the series takes place at Horspath (outskirts of Oxford) this Sunday (6th March).
The race times are altered on this occasion to allow the organisers more time to compile the men’s results for the final presentation: Men 11:10, Ladies 12:00.
Wokingham Half
Marathon, Sunday 13th February
Pete
The weather for the Wokingham Half Marathon on Sunday 13th February was more akin to that found in Arctic regions than Berkshire, with heavy rain, sleet and a bitingly cold wind preceding the start. So cold in fact that I wore a tracksuit until minutes before the start. As 10am approached the PA announcer informed us there were no reasons to delay the start! A couple of years back the race was cancelled due to subsidence on the course. In view of the conditions few would have complained if the race had been called-off.
The strong winds prevented the erection of a start / finish banner and together with the absence of a painted start line this caused some confusion. The announcer requested competitors walk up to the start point, presumably those at the front knew what he meant, and added that the race would commence upon the sound of a claxon. As walking pace turned to jogging pace several competitors were asking, "have we started?" When it was clear we had it was too late to accurately set our stopwatches.
The course itself was flat with the only inclines being the approaches to the four bridges across motorways that we had to negotiate. That said the course was entirely rural with the lack of buildings, and often trees, giving the wind the opportunity to do its worst. On the positive side there was no precipitation during or after the race.
I assumed that I must have set-off too fast for I pulled away from Vicky at the 2 mile point. Amazingly she looked fresher at the 10 mile point when she passed me and disappeared into the distance.
At around three miles a runner who had presumably decided to pull out came past in the opposite direction. Nothing unusual about that you may think - except for the fact that he was running considerably faster than any of the runners around me!
The rest of the race was fairly uneventful with the pretty scenery providing a pleasant backdrop. The sun came out toward the finish but its rays reflecting off the wet roads only served to dazzle competitors running southbound along the accurately named Straight Mile.
An international dimension was provided by the winner, Dai Roberts, who came from the other side of the Severn Bridge. His winning time of 1 hour 12 minutes 50 seconds was seven minutes outside the course record which demonstrated the effect of the wind. The first lady clocked 1:20:14 (Alice Braham) with Reading AC picking up both team prizes. Vicky finished in 1:39:37 (496th), myself in 1:40:39 (529th) and Yvonne in 1:58:52 (1,160th). The final finisher clocked 3:15 in 1,523rd place.
Dursley Dozen
12M, Sunday 20th February
Lucy, Martin, Mo and I took
part in this year’s Dursley Dozen event.
It was a pretty chilly day, but the clear skies and sunshine made for
pleasant running weather, with some excellent views. The course was the same as usual, but made a
bit easier because there was much less sticky mud. Nevertheless, we still had to contend with
long and steep climbs in the first mile and at halfway, and the ‘rope-climb’ at
ten miles. Dick, having run 28 miles of
the Thames Meander the previous day, was supporting this time. He and Jan managed to place themselves close
to the top of the hills, to cheer us on when we needed it most, and to take
photographs when we needed it least.
Martin was the first Harrier
to finish, with an excellent 25th place, but feeling a bit perturbed
that Newbury’s Dave Wright was ahead of him again. I was pleased to run my fastest recent
Dursley time, despite having a ‘poo stop’ at 3 miles, while Lucy annihilated
her 2004 time by over 15 minutes. Mo’s
goal was to finish in less than 150 minutes, having been unwell for over a
month, and this he achieved admirably with half a minute to spare. We gathered in ‘The Old Spot’ pub to
reminisce on a good morning’s efforts.
The official race
results were:
1st
overall 77:00 Garry Hughes (Dursley &
District AC)
1st
lady (20th) 86:47 Ruth Pickvance (Les Croupiers
AC)
Last finisher 172:53 Roy Lewis (Abingdon Amblers)
Martin 88:21 25th
Sue 99:23 100th
Lucy 114:45 239th
Mo 149:25 374th
Goring 10K,
Sunday 27th February
Sue F
Sometime in the week preceding race day, the organisers decided to
run the race in the reverse direction compared with previous years. None of the competitors seemed to know why,
but it may have been the fact that there were 1200 entrants this year and it
was thought better to spread out the runners on the wider roads in the first
2K. The general consensus was that the
route was ‘easier’ this way round: the big hill and the snow shower were out of
the way by 3K and, from 5K onwards, the wind was behind and the route was
mainly flat.
Five Compton Harriers took
part with good results all round. I was
second lady beating my previous Goring P.B. by 20 seconds, while Susanne had an
excellent run to beat her all-time 10K P.B. by almost a minute and, we think,
finished as fourth lady. Lucy, with
Martin pace-making on this occasion, ran very well to be two minutes quicker
than in 2004. Mo and my brother-in-law,
Lincoln, ran the first 3K together until Mo’s breathing became
troublesome. However, he battled through
this bad patch and did well to complete the tough course in just over the
hour. We were all rewarded at the end
with a goody bag containing a medal, carbo drinks, and socks or sports bags for
the lucky ones. The race itself was very
well organised, with good marshalling, kilometre markers, water station and
friendly atmosphere. However, there was
a little room for improvement at the start (only those at the very front seemed
to hear the starter) and with the presentation, which did not happen until
almost 1 o’clock (the winners finished at 11:30) and many had gone home because
it was so cold. Thanks to Martin, Lucy
and Mo who all hung around with Susanne and me, in the false hope that we may
have won something in the ladies event.
At least they managed to get half price burgers!
The official results are not yet available but,
according to our own watches, the results were:
Sue F 39:53 2nd lady
Susanne 43:03 4th lady ?
Lucy & Martin
~46:45
Mo 63:32
Sue
After five races in the
championship series, it’s a close competition between Pete, Dick and me. However, because only the best five scores
count towards each person’s total, Dick and Pete both need to run the last race
and have the chance to considerably boost their scores above mine. Tom and Lucy are also in with a shout if they
score well in the last race. There are
prizes for the top three, so the race is on……….
|
Pos |
Name |
Start time |
Finish time |
Actual time |
Handicap Beaten? |
|
1 |
Yvonne |
1:14 |
16:28 |
15:14 |
-0:32 |
|
2 |
Pete |
3:15 |
16:44 |
13:29 |
-0:16 |
|
3 |
Sue |
5:15 |
16:50 |
11:35 |
-0:10 |
|
4 |
Tom |
1:27 |
16:52 |
15:25 |
-0:08 |
|
5 |
Susanne |
4:07 |
16:57 |
12:50 |
-0:03 |
|
6 |
Lucy |
3:12 |
17:04 |
13:52 |
+0:04 |
|
7 |
Dick |
4:09 |
17:08 |
12:59 |
+0:08 |
|
8 |
Martin |
5:56 |
17:09 |
11:13 |
+0:09 |
|
9 |
Mo |
0:14 |
19:21 |
19:07 |
- |
|
Position |
Name |
Race
points |
||||||
|
Race
1 |
Race
2 |
Race
3 |
Race
4 |
Race
5 |
Race
6 |
Total |
||
|
1 |
Pete |
- |
3 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
- |
23 |
|
2 |
Sue |
5 |
5 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
- |
22 |
|
3 |
Dick |
7 |
7 |
6 |
- |
1 |
- |
21 |
|
4 |
Tom |
3 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
- |
15 |
|
5 |
Lucy |
4 |
- |
4 |
4 |
2 |
- |
14 |
|
6= |
Yvonne |
1 |
- |
- |
3 |
7 |
- |
11 |
|
6= |
Marie |
- |
6 |
5 |
- |
- |
- |
11 |
|
8 |
Susanne |
- |
4 |
1 |
- |
3 |
- |
8 |
|
9 |
Mo |
1 |
2 |
3 |
- |
1 |
- |
7 |
|
10 |
Vicky |
6 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
6 |
|
11 |
Martin |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
3 |