THE HARRIERS HERALD No. 257, July 2014 Editor: Sue Francis
Contents, features, reports, results • Thursday night schedules for July and August • Correspondence received • Race results: Chiltern Chase – Dave and Richard are among the category winners; Man vs Horse – Philomena enjoys a tough race in Wales; Whitchurch 5K – Sue recommends a nice local event; Ridgeway Relay – Richard reports on an excellent team day out; Boundary Run & Walk – 43 competitors complete the route in the rain; Austrian Ironman – Ryan breaks the 12-hour mark at his first attempt; Cowman Half Ironman – Rich completes the distance despite being low on ‘fuel’ • Handicap Race – A win for Aaron, a course record, and Mo takes the Championship lead • Webmaster’s article – Mo features: RUNULTRA website; hydration and performance; and forthcoming races of interest • Thanks to Philomena, Richard, Mo and Gerry (Morris) for this month’s contributions to articles and photos • Copy date for next Harriers Herald – 30th July
Thursday night schedule for July Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs
3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st
Run with Didcot Runners Tom to lead Philomena to lead Lucy to lead Martin to lead
Thursday night schedule for August Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs
7th 14th 21st 28th
Richard D to lead Handicap Race Colin to lead run with Team Kennet Sue to lead
Right: Compton Harriers new Ironman - Ryan (see page 4)
Sender
Correspondence received Subject matter
Running 4 Women
Windsor 10K (27-09-14)
SEAA
SEAA AGM (07-09-14)
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Action Events Diary & Notice board File
Race results and reports Chiltern Chase, 7th June Two Harriers did well in this multi-terrain 10K from the picturesque village of Ewelme. Dave A had a good run to finish 32nd (3rd MV50) in 43:39, while Richard D was 67th (1st MV60) in 46:39. The race was won by Tegid Jones (Witney RR) in 35:47.
Man vs Horse, Llanwrtyd Wells, mid Wales, 14th June Philomena Sus and I, with Graham, Belinda and Peter Aked from Reading Road Runners, did this race on a beautiful sunny day. The story goes that the race began in June 1980 following a chat over a pint (or three) in the back bar of Neuadd Arms Hotel in Llanwrtyd Wells. The then Landlord overheard two men discussing the relative merits of men and horses running over mountainous terrain. He thought this would be a great opportunity to promote Llanwrtyd Wells and improve business at his hotel and decided to put it to the test. And so began Green Events and its first, longest standing and now internationally acclaimed event, The Man versus Horse ‘Marathon’. The course is slightly shorter than a traditional marathon at a reported 24 miles, and is over some rather rough but very beautiful terrain. It took 25 years before a man finally beat a horse. Huw Lobb won in 2hrs and 5mins beating the fastest horse by 2 minutes. Having done the course I can assure you that this is a fantastic time to finish the course in! The jackpot had reached £25,000! The escalating jackpot for a runner who beats the first horse and rider is now set at £500 and will increase by £500 per year until it is won. So even more incentive to take part! The race can also be run as a relay team, with 3 stages each being about 8 miles, and transport laid on from the changeover points. It’s all very friendly and relaxed, with a carnival atmosphere in this little town (reportedly the smallest town in the UK! and famous for unusual events such as this one and The World Bog Snorkelling Championships!). There is live music and full-on hooley on the Saturday night after the event. Lovely free pasta on the Friday night before and free food after the race all included in the entry price of just £25! We drove over on the Friday afternoon, which took about 3 hours. Just to entice you a bit more have a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVawpDUQC_0 I can’t recommend the race highly enough and I think it would be a great ‘Harriers Away’ event like the Grizzly or Isle of Wight (not that I have been to either!).
Whitchurch 5K, 22nd June Sue The event previously-named ‘Toad Hall 5K & 10K’ returned this year, with a different format and altered routes, as the Whitchurch 5K and 10K. This local event is certainly one to be recommended. The routes were still very scenic (but a bit less hilly) with a mixture of country roads, wooded tracks and grassy footpaths, the organisation slick, and the event has a very family-friendly atmosphere with children’s races and homemade cakes on the village green. The 10K is the main race, attracting 146 runners (winners Tom Whateley 35:53, and Heidi Price 46:30), but I opted for the 5K (a good move considering it was such a hot morning), with a field of just 32. There was a good race at the front as 14-year-old Eddie Steveni pushed 21-year-old Kieran Tatum all the way, Kieran eventually winning in 18:59. I was 4th overall and 1st lady in 20:53. HH July 2014
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Ridgeway Relay, 15th June Richard D We were fortunate that, after the severe thunderstorm on the Friday night, Sunday June 15th dawned dry for the running of the relay. Whilst overcast for most of the day, running conditions were almost ideal, with a light backing breeze and only a short spell of light rain in the early morning. Unlike many previous years it was also not too windy or cold at the top of Ivinghoe Beacon waiting for the start, or too hot in the later afternoon stages. 47 runners, representing some 25 clubs, together with a small contingent of Compton Harrier supporters, arrived at Ivinghoe Beacon for the start of the relay at 07.30 in the morning. Ryan Morris, first stage runner this year, set off near the head of the field. Running a steady stage Ryan was amongst the early leaders, but avoided going severely off course as the leading two runners did, finishing the tough first stage in Wendover in 9th place. Ryan handed over to Sue Francis, giving her some handily placed runners to chase down. Sue moved through the field and another strong finish saw her improve the club position to 6th place. Sue handed over to me at Whiteleaf outside Princes Risborough. Despite being overtaken in the first 400m by a runner from Witney who ran the fastest time for this stage, I eventually settled down, running this undulating 3rd stage for the first time in the relay, and encouraged at several points by several Harriers, handed over to Debbie Bishop at Lewknor in 11th place for the relatively short but tough stage up to Swyncombe Church. As she did last year, Debbie made the trip down from Birmingham worthwhile and pushed on strongly over the final hill, fending off a runner on the way, maintaining 11th place to hand over to Mike Sheridan for the long 5th stage down to South Stoke. Mike, despite a small inadvertent diversion on the Huntercombe golf course, ran a strong stage on the tricky downhill section along Grim’s Ditch to the Thames, and then alongside the river to South Stoke, handing over to Martin Fray in 13th place outside South Stoke school at 12.49, safely under the 13.00 cut-off time. Martin, surprising on the way the passing Sus and Meena on their way home from running in Wales, ran strongly, despite feeling the effects of a sore Achilles, on the long stage through Goring and the long uphill section to the top of the Downs by West Ilsley. Terry Bartholomew took over from Martin in 13th place on Bury Down, 8 minutes after the mass start had left. Running competitively for the Club for the first time after his recent injury Terry did well to overtake several mass start runners and finish the stage in an overall position of 14th, passing over to Lucy Gettins at Sparsholt Firs. Lucy also managed to roll in a few slower runners from the mass start to keep her going on the 8th stage past White Horse Hill to Charlbury Hill, where she handed over to Jonathan Phillips in 17th place. Jonathan, like last year fresh off the plane from San Francisco, showed little signs of jet lag on the tough and long 9th stage up to Barbury Castle, and he did well to finish the stage in 18th place. Tom Munt, starting in the second mass start of the day at 17.45, and encouraged by a mass of supporters at the start at Barbury Castle and outside Manton Stables, ran a fantastic stage, easily the fastest runner of those at the mass start, and brought the team home in a very creditable 16th place just after 18.45, in an overall time of 11:22.18. This was our best result for several years. The team of supporters and 8 members of the team who made it to the finish line duly celebrated together with a well-earned meal in Hungerford before returning home. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the relay, Dick, Sue, Mo, Martin and Lucy for their ferrying of team members and cars, and the many supporters of this event. Let’s look forward to another enjoyable event in 2015. Editor’s note: And many thanks to Richard for his efficient organisation of our team, ensuring that everyone was in the right place at the right time, we all finished our stages without getting lost or injured, and we all enjoyed a nice team meal afterwards.
See next page for a selection of Mo’s Ridgeway Relay photos HH July 2014
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Austrian Ironman, 29th June Ryan has just completed his first Ironman, a lifetime dream. Ryan has been training hard at the three disciplines for over 18 months. Last week, Ryan, and his wife Gerry, flew to Austria. On Sunday, Ryan tackled his toughest ever challenge. Not only did he complete the Ironman, he cracked the 12-hour mark with a fantastic 11:52. Ryan posted on Facebook: “We’ve had such a memorable time out here and don't want to come back. Race itself was mad. Started swim and it was like I was having the crap kicked out of me but still good fun. The bike was great, so much beautiful scenery took my mind off the miles. The run wasn't my best but I set myself a target of 12 hours and ended up with 11:52 - well happy”. While all this was going on, Gerry was volunteering from 5 am until Ryan finished, sorting baggage and marshalling. Below are photos of Ryan in action, and his well-deserved medal.
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Boundary Run & Walk, 26th June Sue Well done and thanks to all participants and helpers at last week’s Boundary Run & Walk. It was an excellent turn-out, despite the rain which started just as the runners were gathering. The Boundary Run was first held in 1975 and, although there have been some variations in the route, the event has taken place every year since that time (the walk was introduced in the early 1990’s), so this was the 40th anniversary of the event. One person has taken part in virtually every Boundary Run since 1975. Dick first won the event in 1977 and won it a further 19 times between then and 2005. This year, 43 people and one dog completed the route by running, walking, or a mixture of both. It was good to have participants from Compton Harriers, the two Institute sites, Merck, Didcot Runners, Team Kennet, Newbury Runners, Newbury AC, Headington Roadrunners, Oxford AC, the Downs School, and local villages. The underfoot conditions on the second half of the course were as tough as they have ever been – uneven, rutted and slippery – so there were no course records set this year. Simon was the fastest walker for the 5th successive year, once again breaking 1:40 despite having to retrace his steps in the wood after realising he’d dropped his car key. The first lady walker (2nd overall) was Claire Powers. In the Run, last year’s runner-up, Tom Munt, was this year’s winner with a 90-second winning margin. In 2nd place overall was Newbury’s Jess Franklin (1st lady) who had a good race with Kingsley Harding and Rebecca Campbell, all three finishing within 7 seconds of each other with fast sub-57:30 times. Many thanks to all those Harriers, family and friends who helped to make the evening a success: Gillian for providing refreshments at the drinks station; Jan for her expert time-keeping; Tom, assistant time-keeper who also had the important job of issuing bar tokens; Mo for spending 10+ hours strimming overgrown footpaths, and for taking race-day photos; Martin, Lucy and Dick for route-marking and signage; Simon and Nick for making and preparing the new walkers’ trophies. Full results, along with more of Mo’s photos of the evening, can be found on the Club’s website.
Simon led the walk from start to finish
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Sue was first Harrier to finish the Run
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Dick leads a rival at half way
Cowman Half Ironman, 29th June Rich completed the Cowman Half Ironman (1.9K open swim, 92K bike, 21K run) at Emberton Country Park. He got round in 5:23:47 on only a bowl of cornflakes, cup of coffee, and a gel.
Handicap Race Sue June’s Handicap Race took place on a nice evening. The course was in good nick, with the exception of the hill, where the path was obscured by long grass. Nevertheless several runners recorded PBs or season’s best performances. Aaron gathered speed on the downhill section, and took the lead when he passed Mo 200m from the finish. His winning time was a personal best performance. Behind Aaron, the runners finished thick and fast. Mo held off Richard D to take second place, both running season’s best times. Sue and Mark both established new PBs, with Mark’s time being (I think) a course record. Well done Aaron, and thanks to Jan and Tom for timing. There will be no Handicap Race in July. The next race is scheduled for Thursday 14th August, and will be around the same route. Finish Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Position on handicap 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Name
Start time
Aaron Mo Richard D Colin Sue Mark Jonathan Dick Mags
Finish time
4:56 0:30 5:21 5:01 6:29 7:03 6:02 5:21 1:30
Handicap Beaten? -0:44 -0:32 -0:29 -0:23 -0:18 -0:17 -0:11 +0:05 +0:18
Actual time
15:15 15:28 15:31 15:37 15:42 15:43 15:49 16:05 16:18
10:20 14:58 10:10 10:36 9:13 8:40 9:47 10:44 14:48
Handicap Championship: Mo’s high scores in the last two races have moved him to the top of the points table, three points clear of Colin and Sue, at this halfway point in the championship. Pos.
1 2= 2= 4 5 6 7 8 9= 9= 11 12 13 14= 14=
Name
Mo Colin Sue Aaron Richard D
Martin Jonathan Lucy Dick Mags Dave Philomena Mark Jacqueline George
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Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
2 4 5 6 4 9 7 8 10 12 1 -
6 8 9 12 10 7 5 1
12 7 6 8 12 3 5 4 9 1 -
Race points Race 4 Race 5 10 8 7 12 9 5 4 3 6 -
-
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Race 6
Race 7
Race 8
-
-
-
Total of best 5 30 27 27 26 25 24 22 20 13 13 12 9 7 1 1
Website update… http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk Mo
The Compton Village Fete is the first event listed on this month’s Events Calendar as Compton Harriers will be organising the children’s races through Martin and Lucy. During the race prize awards ceremony, we have also arranged to present our charity donations, arising from the surplus funds of the Downland Challenge in April. So if you have nothing better to do, why not come along to support the event and enjoy a pleasant afternoon out? Links of interest this month The following link will take you to RUNULTRA which lists and provides details of ultra events all around the world. http://www.runultra.co.uk/find-events.aspx . Webmaster’s article this month: Hydration & Performance Now the warmer weather of summer is here, hydration becomes a little more important in order to maintain performance, so my article this month will give you some pointers to help you get it right. Pre-exercise: As performance is affected by the level of hydration, it is essential to start your run or race fully hydrated. As a rough guide, you should aim to take in half a litre (about a pint) of fluid approximately 2 hours before you start your run and another 150ml (¼ pint) of fluid just before you run. During exercise: Current health guidelines recommend drinking anything from 300ml to 800ml of fluids per hour during exercise, depending on the intensity and temperature. The upper end of that scale is almost certainly more than you need so you will need to try different approaches to hydration in your training to establish a strategy that works for you. 150 ml every 15 minutes works well for most situations. Post-exercise: Replacing fluid after a run is just as important. For every kilogram of bodyweight you lose, you need to drink 1½ litres (about 3 pints) of fluid. You should try to drink around 500ml (1 pint) in the first 30 minutes after your run then keep drinking small amounts every 5 to 10 minutes until you have reached your target. Over-hydrating: Although your body has a finely-tuned thirst mechanism that lets you know when you need to drink, you should also take care not to drink too much. Excessive consumption can bring on Hyponatraemia (low blood sodium) which will cause bloating and nausea and in extreme cases it can lead to brain seizure and death! Getting your intake right for ultra events is therefore very important. Women are most at risk of developing Hyponatraemia as generally they are smaller and less muscular, so they tend to sweat less and therefore need to drink less. An average woman needs to drink up to 30 per cent less than an average man to ensure blood doesn't become diluted and so lowering sodium to a dangerous level. Anyone running for more than four hours should be guided by thirst, but should also avoid drinking large amounts of water and instead make use of sports drinks that contain sodium. You should also take extra care if you are using drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen as they impair the body's ability to excrete water and therefore increase the risk of developing Hyponatraemia. Hypotonic, isotonic and hypertonic drinks A hypotonic drink is more dilute than your body fluids (i.e. there are fewer particles – sugars / electrolytes - per 100ml), which means that it can be absorbed faster than plain water. For example squash diluted at least 1:8 with water or one part fruit juice diluted with three parts water. Isotonic means it is the same concentration (i.e. the same number of particles per 100ml) as your body fluids – it is therefore absorbed as fast as or faster than water. These drinks provide an ideal compromise between rehydration and refuelling. For example Isostar, Lucozade Sport or fruit juice diluted half and half with water or squash diluted 1:4 with water. Hypertonic drinks, such as cola, lemonade or neat fruit juice, are more concentrated than body fluids, and will be absorbed more slowly than plain water. Hypertonic drinks slow down the rate at which the stomach empties and therefore reduce the speed of fluid replacement. These are better post-run drinks that offer a higher dose of energy with the fluid.
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A few forthcoming Events of Interest – see Website Events Calendar for more details: Sat, Sun,
Jul 5 Jul 6
Sun, Sun,
Jul 13 Jul 20
Sun, Jul 27 Wed, Jul 30
Sun, Aug 3 Sun, Aug 10 Sun, Aug 17 Sat, Aug 23 Sun, Aug 24 Sun, Aug 31 Sun, Sun, Sun, Sat, Sun, Sun,
Sep 7 Sep 14 Sep 21 Sep 27 Sep 28 Oct 5
Sun, Oct 19 Sat, Oct 25 Sun, Oct 26 Sun, Dec 7,
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Compton Village Fete – Children’s Races Didcot 5 Tadley 10k New Forest 10 mile Abingdon (Summer) 10K Grant & Stone Wycombe 10K & ½ Mthn The Great Bustard 5 Mile Down Tow Up Flow ½ Mthn Woodland 5 - Race 3 (Crowthorne) Back in a Flash 5K Race 3
Horseless Steeplechase & XC Challenge 5-4-3-2-1 Trail Marathon Roundway Rampage - 7.2miles MT Burnham Beeches Half Marathon Cheddar Gorge 10km & 5km Ridgeway Challenge Pewsey Vale ½ Mthn Severn Bridge Half Marathon Englefield 10k Headington 5 Mile THE BEAST Maidenhead Half Marathon Pangbourne 10k Multi-terrain Farnham Pilgrim Mthn + ½ Mthn Windsor 10K (Women) The Barnstaple Mthn & ½ Mthn Basingstoke Half Marathon Reading O2O 10k Frieth Hilly 5k and 10k Tadley 10 Mile Beachy Head Marathon & 10k Fairoaks Five & Ten (Miles) Tadley Xmas X-C 5.2 Mile
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