THE HARRIERS HERALD
No.
139, September 2004
Editorial
Welcome to September’s
edition of the Harriers Herald. August
was a relatively quiet month for the Harriers, although we have enjoyed a
couple more ‘away days’ at Aldbourne and Newbury
thanks to Sue P, and Dennis & Sue.
However, there are plenty of events to train for, as you’ll see in this
issue. We begin with
Thursday
night schedules for September and October, followed by details of the Oxford
Mail cross-country series. Vicky
reports on the Burnham Beeches Half Marathon and Mo gives us his latest choice
of
websites,
and race Fixtures of interest.
Thanks to Vicky and Mo for this month’s contributions – race reports and
other articles are always welcome.
Thurs 2nd Dick
to lead cycle ride (see below)
Thurs 9th Lucy to lead
Thurs 16th Handicap Race
Thurs 30th Vicky & Iain to lead
Thurs 7th Peter to lead
Thurs 14th Tom
to lead
Thurs 21st Handicap
Race
Thurs 28th Marie
to lead
Oxford Mail
cross-country series
Nick Bull has asked me to find out who is
interested in taking part in the combined Team Kennet/Compton Harriers team for
the above cross-country series this winter season.
There are five races (one per month from
November to March) on Sunday mornings at various venues round Oxfordshire (last
year included Radley, Banbury, Cirencester, Kidlington). Ladies
races are approximately 3 miles (about 80 runners) and men's approximately 5
miles (about 150 runners), with a wide range of people taking part.
By expressing an interest in taking part, you
are by no means committed to running every race, but they are enjoyable events
and the more the merrier. Last year,
there were some races where we struggled to get full teams so it would be nice
to better that this season - it doesn't have to be the same team each time, so
long as the team is from the registered list of Team Kennet/Compton Harriers
competitors.
Whether you are very keen, or just thinking
about having a go, can you let me know your date of birth ASAP? Nick needs to have this information so he can
enter the names of those who are interested.
There may be a small fee payable to Team Kennet for the races you do,
but it's much cheaper than your average 10K race.
Burnham Beeches Half
Marathon
Vicky Jordan
We decided to
enter fully into our tried-and-tested, can’t-fail training strategy before the
Burnham Beeches Half Marathon. Having
put in several weeks of hard running on our crash course marathon schedule,
there was no stopping us. We were
feeling fit and healthy. There was only
one slight problem – Dennis and Sue Hubbard (old members of CH) had decided to
hold their farewell party at the Taste of England the night before. One of us – I shall let you guess who!! – was
already older, but maybe not much wiser, after having enjoyed themselves too
much the night before a previous half marathon.
A few other
Harriers also attended to wish Sue, Dennis and Georgina all the best for their
new lives in Spain and to do their best to drink up the new barrels of West
Berkshire Brewery’s Good Old Boy order by the landlord especially for the
occasion. So, after a modest few pints
and an enjoyable evening, we rolled home feeling optimistic about the next
day’s run which we were trying to convince ourselves was only a ‘training run’
after all.
We got up fairly
early the next morning, feeling pretty sprightly but nervous. There was a bit of a queue to get into the
car park at Burnham and then a 10 minute walk to the start so we were glad we
had allowed a bit of extra time. Our
nerves had time to increase even more when the start was delayed by 15 minutes,
as there had been an accident on the motorway.
The course itself is a pleasant two-lap route around the Beeches. It was a fairly enjoyable, undulating run – mostly in the shade of the beeches with lots of friendly marshals cheering us on. However, the long downhill section between miles 9 and 12, which I had spotted on the course profile, never quite materialised and used up more of my Lucozade tablet provision that I had intended. Finally, both of us made it round the course despite the previous night’s merriment and thanks to the efforts we had invested in our training regime of hard running and beer drinking.
(Vicky was rather modest in her report and did not say
how well she and Iain performed: Iain finished in 1:28, marginally outside his
target time, while Vicky knocked 3 minutes off her P.B. to record 1:43. Well done to both).
Website
update…
http://comptonharriers.cjb.net/
Mo
First of all, I
must admit to being a bit lax of late in adding additional features and new
photos on the website … I can make up dozens of excuses as to the reason why,
but I will endeavour to improve the situation over the next couple of
months. Now on to business: -
My first
recommended link for this month is http://www.letsrun.com
which is an American sporting website.
However, there are a multitude of interesting athletic stories to keep
you occupied, especially if you would like to look back through the various
Olympic events, results, related stories and scandals. Stories include history and fact files of
athletes and events … with a good article on Kelly Holmes and her golden
double. Most of the articles have links
to other sporting websites which will keep you amused for hours … that is if
you have the time of course! Read about
Darren Campbell’s confrontation with Michael Johnson when meeting in Athens
after the famous “hamstring” incident.
Thanks to Andy
for the next link … http://www.runacrossamerica2004.com
… this is the website that details the 3,100
mile 71 stage race from Huntingdon Beach, California to New York all the way
from the west coast to the east coast of America. Pictures and stories about one of the biggest
endurance races ever … won by Englishman Bob Brown in a total time of 510 hrs
47 mins and 24 secs.
Whilst on the
subject of ultra runs, how about a visit to http://www.raidsahara.com
which provides all the details for the first running of the 220 km, 5-stage
race across the Sahara desert. Should
you relish the challenge, just drop an email message to uk@raidsahara.com
for more information and
entry details.
Fixtures:
A selection of
local and other well known events for your information:-
·
Saturday, 4th
September 2004 at 3pm - Overton 5 Mile Road Race
http://www.overtonharriers.org.uk
·
Sunday, 5th
September 10.30 am 2004 - THE BEAST,
"Legs Eleven" 13 miles (multi terrain)
Non-refundable entry fee
£7.00, £8.00 for unattached runners. Entry on the Day £11 & £12
LAST DAY OF ENTRY TO ENSURE
T-SHIRT SIZE 18TH AUGUST.
Entry form http://www.poole-ac-races.co.uk
·
Sunday, 5th
September 10.30 am 2004 – The Kerridge 10k at Highclere
Castle.
Entry forms on Harriers
Notice board £7 (+ £2 extra on the day).
·
Sunday, 5th
September 08..30 am 2004 – O2O
Oracle to the Oracle 10k road race Starts & finishes at The Water
Meadow, Thames Valley Park following road, towpath and track. NO ENTRIES ON THE
DAY. (Entry forms on notice board).
·
Sunday, 5th
September 2004 - 16th Newbury
Triathlon - Northcroft
Leisure Centre, 300m Swim, 22km
Bike, 5km Run. Ideal for first-timers!!! Entry form http://www.teamkennet.com
·
Sunday, 12th September 2004 - Aldbourne 10k Road Race Starts at Aldbourne Football Field, Farm Lane, Aldbourne
(in Wiltshire) £6 UK:A club members, £7
other club or unattached
·
Sunday, 12th September 2004 10.30 a.m. – The INKPEN LONG BARROW CHALLENGE 14 miles
mainly off-road at Inkpen … Entry forms from Tom (or
any standard entry form will do) £6, £7 on the day.
·
Isle of Wight Fell Running Series
Saturday Sept 18th (AM) - The St. Boniface Fell
(3 Miles 775 feet ascent, FRA class AS).
Saturday Sept 18th (PM) - The Ventnor Horseshoe
(7 Miles 1500 feet ascent, FRA class BM).
Sunday Sept 19th (AM) - The Wroxall Round (13 Miles 1500 feet ascent, FRA class CL).
http://www.rydeharriers.co.uk/
·
Saturday 18th
September 2004 at 2.00 pm -
WOODSTOCK 12,
Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/cl.asp?cn=638
for entry details.
·
Saturday 18th
September 2004 – High Peak 40 mile
Challenge, Buxton, Derbyshire. See TRA website for details.
http://www.tra-uk.org/
·
Sunday 19th September 2004 - New Forest Marathon at 11:30am (& New Forest Half Marathon at 11am) Location New Milton,
Hampshire http://www.nfma.org.uk
·
Sunday 26th
September 2004 - MAIDENHEAD 8K / 6K HIS-N-HERS (10.30 am & 11.30 am),
Berkshire College of Agriculture, Burchetts Green,
Maidenhead, Berkshire
http://www.maidenheadac.co.uk/
· Sunday 10th October 2004 at 11am - Ridgeway
Run 15Km cross country
Location Tring
Park Cricket Club, Tring (in Hertfordshire)
http://www.tringrunningclub.org.uk/Ridgeway.htm
·
Sunday 17th
October 2004 at 9.00am - AKZO NOBEL
ABINGDON MARATHON - wheelchairs 8.55am http://www.abingdonamblers.co.uk
·
Saturday 23rd
October 2004 at 9.am – BEACHY HEAD
MARATHON - St Bede's
School, Duke's Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex http://www.beachyheadmarathon.org.uk
for details.
·
Sunday 21st
November at 10.30am. The Avebury 8 is just over 8 miles, starting and finishing
in Avebury, a World Heritage Site famed for its stone
circle. Closing date for entries 7th
October 2004. T-shirts for every
advanced entry. For entry form and further details, visit www.marlboroughrunningclub.org.uk
(Mo - Sep 2004)