THE HARRIERS HERALD No. 288, February 2017 Editor: Sue Francis
Contents, features, reports, results
Thursday night schedules for February and March Membership renewal 2017 - reminder Compton Downland Challenge – request for helpers Busy year for Compton Harrier – an update from Debbie in Gloucestershire Race results – Rough ‘n Tumble: Susanne collects a prize, as Harriers enjoy a tough 10-miler; Goring & Woodcote 10K: Four Harriers start new year with a challenging local race Ridgeway Relay – preliminary information from Team Manager Richard D Handicap Race – A win for Ryan in first race of 2017 Championship Webmaster’s article – Mo features: Compton Harriers Twitter page; how to treat a swelling injury (based on his own recent experience!); and forthcoming local and interesting races Thanks to Mo, Richard D and Debbie for this month’s contributions, and to Mo, Ryan and Debbie for photos
Thursday night schedule for February Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs
2nd 9th 16th 23rd
Mo to lead Sue to lead Handicap Race Philomena to lead
Thursday night schedule for March Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs Thurs
2nd 9th 16th 23rd 30th
Pete O to lead Martin to lead Handicap Race Darren to lead Colin to lead
Membership renewal 2017 Fees for Club membership (£10), plus England Athletics competition registration if desired (£14) are now due for 2017. The Membership Form (along with the Club Rules, Code of Conduct, and Safety & Etiquette documents) can be found on our website at http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk/WebPlus/Membership.html Thanks to those who have already renewed. For those who have yet to do so, please send your completed form and fee to Jonathan (or you may pay directly into Compton Harriers account by bank transfer). Payments received after 31st March will incur a £2 penalty! If you do not wish to renew your membership this year, please let Jonathan know so we can update our records accordingly.
Compton Downland Challenge Compton Harriers will stage the 21st annual Compton Downland Challenge race on Saturday 8th April 2017. For those who don’t already know, this is a 20-mile multi-terrain race, from the Downs School, which attracts about 250 runners from all over the UK and beyond. We already have 55 entrants, including Compton Harriers’ own Darren and Giles. It is a very popular and well-established race amongst the trailrunning community. For the second successive year, Martin and Lucy are the race organisers. They would appreciate any offers of help for either Friday 7th April (route-marking, setting up at the Downs School) or Saturday 8th April (race registration, marshalling, manning check-points, handing out T-shirts to finishers, serving post-race hot meals to runners…). Please contact Martin or Lucy if you, or any of your family and friends, can help out.
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An update from Debbie Cutler (nee Bishop) I hope you are all well. I'd like to remain a member of Compton Harriers. Even though I don't run with you anymore, I still enter races here and there. It's been a busy year here; I thought I'd send a few pics to update you. Alex and I got engaged and married, we bought a house, and we also had twin boys (Isaac and Maximus) in November! So, running is low down the priority list at the moment. My last race was the Kenilworth Half in September when I was 25 weeks pregnant. It was great fun and I got a special shout out (and a bottle of wine...!) from the organisers for being pregnant and finishing it! Please pass on my hellos and best wishes to the club. Hope to see you and run with you all at some point again. All the best, Debbie xx
Race Reports and Results Rough ‘n Tumble, 8th January Four Harriers completed the tough 10-mile multi-terrain Rough ‘n Tumble in Milton Lilbourne, Wiltshire. They were accompanied by Jonathan who had a bad cold, but was well enough to be chauffeur and cakesampler! Ryan had a good run to finish 31st in 1:20:55, but was chased all the way by his (slightly) younger cousin Mike, who finished 38th in 1:22:29. Susanne’s great performance was rewarded with the prize for 3rd lady (68th overall, 1:27:41) and Colin, running for his first-claim club Team Kennet, clocked 2:01:55 (358th). There were 506 finishers, and the race winners were Ben Cole (Swindon Harriers) who set a new course record of 1:04:21, and Holly Tugwell (Cirencester AC, 1:25:30). Mike, running his first race as a Compton Harrier, said: “By far the hardest 10 miles I've ever run but I loved it. A must-do next year if you want a real hilly, muddy endurance challenge”.
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Goring & Woodcote 10K, 8th January Four Harriers started the New Year well with good performances in this local 10K. It’s traditionally bright and chilly for this race, but this year it was held on a mild and very wet day. Martin clocked a good 42:19 to finish 36th, followed by Terry in 47:36 (107th), Rich B making a welcome return to running in 48:06 (122nd) and Lucy in 51:45 (170th). Martin and Terry witnessed a rather nasty running accident, as Team Kennet’s John Marriott tripped at the rutted edge of a deep puddle, fell badly, and cut his knee to the bone. The other 409 runners all finished safely. Winner Jack Shayler, aged just 20, finished in a fast 34:31, with a minute to spare on 2nd placed Ben Paviour (Reading RR). The first lady was Asia Zmyslona in 38:47. Photos: Barry Cornelius (http://www.oxonraces.com/photos/) and Mo. Rich & Lucy at 1.8K: as Rich poses for the camera, Lucy pretends not to be with him Martin at 6K on the first of two big hills Terry on the run-in to the finish
Ridgeway Relay 2017 Richard D The club has received its invitation to participate in the Ridgeway Relay which is being held on Sunday 18th June. I have the honour of being the team 'manager' again this year and hope we will be able to give at least as good a showing in 2017 as we did last year. At this point of time I would just like an indication of those who would definitely like to run, those who are interested and those who are definitely not interested or are not able to make the date, to get an idea of numbers. For those who are not familiar with the event, the following is the description from the official site: The Ridgeway Relay is a team relay, organised by Marlborough Running Club. It is run over ten legs, the legs varying in length from 5.4 miles to 11.0 miles. At least two of the legs must be run by a female runner. The route is scenic, hilly and off-road. Teams are responsible for their own route planning and support on the day and we strongly advise that you recce your leg in advance! We have the reputation of being the best supported team (by a long way!) on the day, so everyone who runs will be sure to find it a rewarding experience. Please note that any positive response will not be taken as a firm commitment by you at this stage as injuries, personal circumstances etc can make even the bestintentioned plans be subject to change. But it would be helpful to have a good idea to know how the numbers look like stacking up. For more information see: http://www.marlboroughrunningclub.org.uk/races/ridgeway-relay HH February 2017
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Handicap Race Sue There was a grand turn-out of 15 runners for the first race of the 2017 Handicap series. Thirteen ‘handicap regulars’ were joined by Kristie (running her first Handicap Race) and Tim (running with the Harriers for the first time). Although it was a rather cold evening, the air was still and some very good times were posted. Well done to Ryan, who smashed the 12-minute barrier to record a 10-second victory. Tim, who had been uncertain of his speed having done less running in recent months, was next home clocking a good time. They were chased all the way by Mike who took 40 seconds off his December time to also break 12 minutes. Darren proved his recent increase in training is really paying off, as he knocked 25 seconds off his PB. A big ‘well done’ also to John, who broke 23 minutes for the first time (which placed him 2nd on handicap), and to Kristie, who completed her first Handicap Race with injured Martin as pacemaker. Well done and thanks also to Jan and Dick, who equalled their timekeeping ‘PB’ (successfully recording 15 runners!). Finish Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Position on handicap 1 New Runner 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 New Runner 13 9 2
Name
Start time
Ryan Tim Mike Darren Philomena Aaron Sue Colin Susanne Ben Lucy Kristie Martin Mo John
4:14 3:57 4:27 4:10 2:35 4:14 4:25 1:48 3:57 4:54 2:47 0:21 0:21 0:21 0:21
Finish time
Actual time
16:00 16:10 16:20 16:35 16:47 16:50 16:55 17:01 17:09 17:10 17:16 20:23 20:23 21:00 23:09
11:46 12:13 11:53 12:25 14:12 12:36 12:30 15:13 13:12 12:16 14:29 20:02 20:02 20:39 22:48
Handicap Beaten? -1:00 New Runner -0:40 -0:25 -0:13 -0:10 -0:05 -0:01 +0:09 +0:10 +0:16 New Runner +8:55 0:00 -0:42
Handicap Championship – the scores after race 1 Pos.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11= 11= 11= 11= 11=
Name
Ryan John Mike Darren Philomena Aaron Sue Colin Mo Susanne Ben Lucy Martin Kristie Tim
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Race 1 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1
Race 2 -
Race 3 -
4
Race 4 -
Race points Race Race 5 6 -
Race 7 -
Race 8 -
Race 9 -
Total of best 5 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1
Website update‌ http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk Mo Compton 20 entries are gradually building up (55 on 31st Jan) so I will continue with regular tweets and Facebook reminders which are helping to keep the event in the public eye. Thanks to Abingdon Amblers and Didcot Runners who regularly re-tweet our posts. Links of interest this month: https://twitter.com/ComptonHarriers to keep up with training posts and Darren's training night selfies! How should you treat a swelling injury? (part 2) Last month's article on treatment of a swelling turned out to be rather prophetic in my case as I managed to twist my ankle on a pothole whilst on a club-night run, so I had to follow the procedure to reduce the swelling ... and it has worked well! Of course, the next consideration is to determine when it is advisable to start running again so, with this in mind, I carried out a little research to see what expert opinion dictates! The general consensus is that it usually takes 5 to 14 days to recover from a Grade 1 ankle sprain. This is when slight stretching and damage occurs to the ligaments and there is slight instability, pain, swelling, joint stiffness, and trouble walking. Grade 2 sprains can take 4 to 6 weeks to heal. This involves partial tearing of the ligaments which includes instability, moderate to severe pain, swelling, stiffness and bruising. Finally, a Grade 3 sprain can take 8 to 12 weeks to heal. This is a complete tear of the ligament with a lot of instability within the joint, severe pain when the injury occurs, severe swelling and excessive bruising. Having carefully considered the above I have decided that it is probably a Grade 2 sprain, so it could take 4 to 6 weeks to heal completely. At the time of writing, it is just 5 days since I injured myself and the swelling has gone down considerably, but it's still a bit 'black & blue' in the area so, although I can jog on the spot indoors without too much pain, I think I'll try the mountain bike first so I'm off out now! Sods law ... leave the bike in the garage for a while and just when you want to use it ... the rear tyre is completely flat! After fitting a new tube, the mountain bike ride was fine, however as the ankle is still swollen and looks a funny colour, I'll refrain from running on it for a bit longer and stick to the bike for now! My research also came up with the following advice on maintaining general flexibility and motion: It is very important to stretch after the swelling decreases. When this type of injury occurs, your body will lose range of motion in the affected joint very quickly which in turn can lead to other injuries if the optimal range of motion is not restored. Key muscles to stretch include the calf muscles, the muscles in the front of your thigh (quadriceps), the muscles in the back of your thigh (hamstrings), as well as the muscles in the front and the back of the hips. It is very common for individuals who sprain their ankles to alter their movement patterns to compensate for the injured ankle. This forces other muscles to do more than they are used to doing, causing them to become tight. When stretching these muscles, hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds and repeat as needed. Strangely enough, the last couple of sentences explains why my left calf muscle became very tight a few days after the injury to my right ankle! So, I'll be cycling and stretching instead of jogging and staggering for the next couple of weeks!
After 1 day
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Events of Interest – see Website Training & Events Calendar for more details: February 2017 Sat, 04 : 08:30 Thames Trot 50 Sun, 05 : Oxford Mail XC Round 4 - Harwell • 10:30 Gloucester Marathon & 50K • Lungbuster 9 ml off-road Sun, 12 : 10:00 Wokingham ½ Mthn Sun, 19 : 10:30 Bramley 20/10 • 11:00 Hardwick X-Stream ~6ml X-Country Sun, 26 : 09:00 Winchester 10K • 10:30 The Terminator • Bourton-on-the-Water 10k • 11:00 Goring 10K March 2017 Sun, 05 : Oxford Mail XC Round 5 - Farmoor Sun, 12 : 09:30 The Ridge Off Roader ½ Mthn & 10k • 11:00 Bath ½ Mthn • 12:00 Silverstone ½ Mthn Sun, 19 : 10:15 Reading Half Marathon • 10:30 Banbury 15 • 10:30 Hastings ½ Mthn Sun, 26: 10:00 Woking 5 • 10:30 Oxford Mail OX5RUN April 2017 Sun, 02 : 9:30 Wokingham 5K & 10K • 10:00 Treehouse 10K • 14:00 Combe Gibbet to Overton 16 Sat, 08 : 10:00 Compton 20 mile Challenge Sun, 09 : 08:30 Fuller's Thames Towpath 10 • 9:30 White Horse ½ Mthn Fri, 14 : 09:30 Maidenhead Easter 10 Sun, 23 : Virgin Money London Marathon 2017 Sat, 29 : 11:00 Hurstbourne 5 Multi-Terrain Race Sun, 30 : 08:30 North Dorset Village Marathon & Relay • 10:00 Danesfield Dash 10K May 2017 Mon, 01 : 12:00 Chalgrove Festival 10K Tues, 02 : 19:30 Silverstone 10K Sun, 07 : Welford and Wickham 10K • 09:00 Bracknell ½ Mthn • 09:30 Woodley 10k; Marlow 5 Sat, 13 : 10:30 Chieveley Chase 5.7miles Sun, 14: 10:00 Oxford Town & Gown 10k • 11:00 Hairy Legs X-Country Run (~12k) Sun, 21: 10:00 Wallingford Thames Run 5k & 10k 1 • 10:30 Green Park Royal Berkshire 10K Sun, 28: 10:00 Bayer Newbury 10k June 2017 Sun, 04: 10:00 Chiltern Chase 15.4K, 10K, 5.4K Sat, 10: 10:00 Run The Rock 5K and 10K Sun, 11: 10:00 Heyford Park Airbase Half/10K/5K • 10:00 Wargrave 10K Sun, 18: 07:30 Ridgeway Relay • 10:00 Hampshire Hoppit Trail Mthn & ½ Mthn Sat, 24: 10:00 Ridgeway Revenge - Mthn, ½Mthn & 10k Sun, 25: 10:00 Downlands Dash 10k • 10:30 Gibbet Challenge ... remember, if you want to search for more events, especially those further afield, just follow our page link for other sources: http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk/linkindex.htm#Event Finder:
Weekend training run round Compton Challenge route
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