NOTE TO ALL CLUB MEMBERS

Transcription

1 NOTE TO ALL CLUB MEMBERS January 2006 Issue 342 Visit us on our Web Site at your reports to me at or Franny at You can view or print this and previous editions from our website The end of the club s financial year, 31 st March, is fast approaching. I am not going to be around much during March and I am looking to get as much as possible tidied up by the end of February. I am hoping to get most, if not all, money owed to the club collected and banked by that date. It would, therefore, be appreciated if anyone owing race entry fees, etc. could forward the outstanding amounts within the next month. A further set of reminders will be going out at the beginning of February, if you have not already received one. Equally, if anyone has any legitimate expenses please let me have the details as soon as possible and definitely by the end of February. Many thanks, Mike Scoggins, Hon. Treasurer. FIXTURES FEBRUARY 2nd FOXDOWN HANDICAP 5th CHICHESTER PRIORY 10km 11th XC LEAGUE at WIMBOURNE 12th WOKINGHAM half marathon MEON VALLEY PLOD 10 th to 13th TRAINING WEEKEND at MARHAMCHURCH 26th BRAMLEY 10 miles, NAT XC CHAMPS PARLIAMENT HILL, WINCHESTER 10km MARCH 5th CHRISTCHURCH MAD MARCH 20 miles READING half marathon 9th FOXDOWN HANDICAP 19th EASTLEIGH 10km FLEET half marathon 25th COMPTON DOWNS 40 miles 26th COOMBE GIBBET RACE FRANNYS BITS. A busy month, with Cross-country and road race leagues coming together nicely for the club. Promotion for the men in both leagues looks likely while the ladies look to be doing the same on the roads with silverware a distinct possibility over the country. Congratulations to Rachel and Cath who both gained qualification for the County XC team following their fine runs at Staunton Park. Finally, a big thank-you to Dave Vosser for, finally, getting a full men s team out for the Southern Counties Cross Country Champs. This obviously took some organization and despite us not bringing back any silverware a great day was had by all. I know that all the runners in the men s team will join me in acknowledging Dave s commitment, which went a long way to boosting team spirit on the day. I have not seen such a happy bunch of Harriers in a pub following a race in over 30 years of running. Thanks Dave.

2 CONSISTENCY LEAGUE. Many thanks to Piers who is keeping the Consistency league updated, Greg has a clear lead in the men s table with little between the next four. Rachel was well clear before Christmas but missing the double pointer at Reading means that Nicky has closed the gap to only six points. Full tables are the notice board and Web site. 1st G.ENGLAND 274 R.KENCHINGTON 220 2nd D.VOSSER 182 N.CLARK 214 3rd M.FIROUZI 176 A.DENNISON 183 4th R.CLIFFORD 166 C.WHEELER 135 5th E.TILBURY 163 E.SANDALL BALL 111 COUNTY XC Champs at STAUNTON PARK. 7 th JANUARY. The first race of the new year saw a return to Staunton Park at Havant, the old lags had some idea of what to expect but for some of our newer members the discovery of what true cross-country is about came as something of a shock. The course was basically the same as in previous years though some fence building meant that only one gap was available in the hedge near the stream. This increased the risk of colliding with a runner (or runners) coming in the opposite direction. The course was as wet, if not wetter, than normal and vast areas rapidly turned into clinging mud as the junior races were taking place. The St. John s were kept busy as the course took it toll on youngsters who had never seen these conditions before and a new country pursuit was invented to replace Fox hunting.hunt the lost shoe. By the time the women s race started the course was a lovely shade of brown but it was apparent that there was more than mud and water in the mixture, any free standing water not turned into mud was orange and the smell of sewage was very strong. Good for the complexion but not so good if you had any open cuts etc. The Womens team had an excellent day with Rachel running a finely paced race to finish 5 th overall and 4 th Senior. Cath put in a great effort to finish one place behind which was easily enough to give her first place in her age group. Penny ran very well in the testing conditions, as did Liz who closed the senior team that finished 5 th, and also the Vets team that finished 2 nd. Moira was one of many who fell on the course and it was not surprising that her sprint finish not up to it s normal standard. I doubt if Madeline has run any course like this before but she was pleased to beat Hannah to the finishing line. 4th R.KENCHINGTON 34m 00sec 5th C.WHEELER 34m 36sec 23rd P.ABBOT 37m 55sec 48th E.SANDALL BALL 43m 48sec 60th M.WEST 48m 05sec 61st M.VOSSER 49m 02sec 74 Finished. Unfortunately we were unable to field a complete team in the men s race, Dave took the club honours to lead us home and also finish first Vet 45. Greg put in a fine run and picked up more valuable Consistency points, I think Maz found the course interesting, and certainly muddier than any he has encountered so far. I was quite pleased with my run despite a heavy fall with half a mile to run and stomach problems throughout the last lap. Piers made a blindingly fast start until he hit the mud, thinking he was last counter for the team made him determined not to drop out and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience despite several falls. 29th D.VOSSER 51m 37sec 44th G.ENGLAND 53m 31sec 57th M.FIROUZI 55m 25sec 101st R.FRANCIS 61m 37sec 111th P.PUNTAN 63m 36sec 153 Finished. Our only junior runner was Aaron whose race was run in conjunction with the seniors but only covered our first two laps. Being at the bottom of his age group he can feel reasonably happy with this run as he concentrates for his future triathlons. 12th A.HARRIS 35m 31sec 17 Finished.

3 STUBBINGTON GREEN 10km. 8 th JANUARY. PB s a plenty on a cool but dry morning by the seaside and with starters it was surprising that all the clubs contingent made good starts and were soon into their running. For the second day running Voss was first over the finishing line with another classy performance. Dave Bush made a rare outing on the roads and found it more to his liking than cross-country as he ducked under the 39-minute barrier. Andy was close behind and seemed happy with his run, Audra was first Overton lady and ran a fine race to beat 40 minutes and finish 4 th W35 and 13 th overall in a quality women s field. I still had the day before in my legs and took it steady during the early stages. Over the second half I ran with Martin who was looking for a PB and we swapped places several with only 4 seconds between us at the end as I closed the men s team which was 17 th overall and 8 th in our road race league division. Martin never gave up and his time was a 3-minute PB that was a fine reward for all the training he has put in this winter. Breathing down his neck was Nicky with yet another PB though she would have been happier if she had bettered 41 minutes as she finished 16 th lady. Dave Titcomb put in a strong run and also recorded a PB and was chased every inch of the way by Eric who finished 6 th V60. Dorothy rounded off a good day for the club with yet another PB, she also anchored home the team that finished 5 th overall but more importantly sealed yet another league team victory to maintain their lead in Road Race League Division 2. Overall positions for the ladies are unavailable. 40 th D.VOSSER 36m 45sec 75 th D.BUSH 38m 49sec 85 th A.HARTLEY 39m 00sec 13 th A.DENNISON 39m 59sec 125 th R.FRANCIS 40m 44sec 126 th M.ALLEN 40m 48sec 16 th N.CLARK 41m 08sec 141 st D.TITCOMB 41m 31sec 143 rd E.TILBURY 41m 35sec 63 rd D.WICKE 46m 37sec 996 Finished XC LEAGUE at READING. 14 th JANUARY. Another excellent set of results in the penultimate league race of the season. With Rachel not running and both the Reading clubs turning out in force the women s team did extremely well to finish fourth overall with the Vets taking another fine second place. Cath made a good start and seemed to have no problems with the greasy surface. Her fourth place (2 nd Vet.) gave the team an ideal start. Penny ran as a non-scorer and ran strongly to finish in the top ten. Nicky continues to surprise everyone and put in another outstanding performance that was easily her highest ever placing in the league. Audra closed the senior team that currently lie 4 th overall in the league. Liz ran well to close the Vets. team that tops a tightly contested table by one point. Moira and Madeline both found the conditions much easier this weekend and rounded off a good day for the team. 4th C.WHEELER 21m 50sec 9th P.ABBOT 22m 41sec 14th N.CLARK 22m 58sec 23rd A.DENNISON 24m 26sec 50th E.SANDALLBALL 27m 26sec 58th M.WEST 28m 44sec 59th M.VOSSER 29m 12sec 72 Finished. The men recorded their lowest points total of the year and won the match by a country mile. Aaron put in a super performance to beat Jamie across the line by 8 seconds; Chris made a very impressive debut to make the top 30 ahead of Ian who had no doggie problems this month. You wait an hour for a bus, then four come along, Dave had not been beaten by a club mate (unless Madeline wants to tell us something) all year but this time had to make do with being last counter for the team. Greg ran his highest placing of the season and had to make do with anchoring the Vets to 2 nd place on the day. They still top their division by 3 points but, because of the training weekend will need to watch their backs in the final fixture. Maz found the conditions more to his liking after the previous weeks mud bath and despite working night shifts I had one of those races where everything clicks and worked my way through the field to record my highest ever position. Dave, once again, paid for

4 his fast start but held off Keith who was gradually pulling him in. Eric ran well to get revenge over Martin whose final sprint was good enough to see him out kick Steve. (Yes! GrumpyRunner-FiveBellies in a sprint finish). Piers would have been pressing these two but had to stop a couple of times to re-tie his laces, he finally has decided to invest in some spikes after being out-sprinted by ex Harrier Mike Dunham who now runs for Andover. 24th A.HARRIS 30m 36sec 104th R.FRANCIS 35m 50sec 26th J.JONES 30m 44sec 114th D.BUSH 36m 18sec 31st C.MINTER 30m 59sec 115th K.CLARK 36m 33sec 35th I.FORD 32m 23sec 124th E.TILBURY 37m 04sec 40th D.VOSSER 31m 34sec 135th M.ALLEN 37m 34sec 53rd G.ENGLAND 32m 25sec 136th S.McNAIR 37m 36sec 72nd M.FIROUZI 33m 34sec 151st P.PUNTAN 38m 53sec 176 Finished. FOXDOWN HANDICAP. 19 th JANUARY. Another good turnout on a very dark night, 5 PB s were recorded with the biggest improvement being Chris Woods, who had not run this event for several years, taking 2mins 03secs from his best. The others, who filled four of the top six places, were Dorothy 33sec, Nicky 25sec, Piers 11sec and Martin who equaled his best. The race was a bit closer this month with the handicaps starting to bite on this seasons big improvers. Dave Maughan was first to finish ahead of Dorothy who continues to improve. Third was Nicky who cannot seem to do anything wrong at the moment. Madeline just missed her PB in fourth spot. Fastest runner was Jamie who had not run a handicap for some time, Voss took second with Greg in third. The leagues are hotting up with Lee leading the handicap table though it looks as if the handicapper has caught up with him. Dorothy lies second and continues to hoodwink the handicapper by running a PB in every race. Greg and Eric are tied for third with yours truly chasing a medal in fourth. The time league looks as if it could be going back to Winchester as the club captain has now opened a gap ahead of Greg who moved into second following Keith s fifth place on the night. There are two more races to go and anything could change, especially if someone misses a race. Pos. Runner Time H'cap Act Time Time Pos. 1 D.Maughan D.Wicke N.Clark M.Vosser P.Puntan M.Allen E.Tilbury D.Vosser G.England I.Vosser J.Jones C.Woods E.Sandall-Ball M.West L.Tolhurst K.Vallis J.Green S.Cook B.Harvey M.Woods G.Cloke

5 HANDICAP LEAGUE Runner OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR TOTAL L.TOLHURST D.WICKE G.ENGLAND E.TILBURY R.FRANCIS J.GREEN T.HARRIS P.PUNTAN M.VOSSER M.WEST K.CLARK D.VOSSER S.COOK H.VOSSER I.VOSSER M.WOODS K.VALLIS E.SANDALL-BALL G.CLOKE TIME LEAGUE Runner OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR TOTAL D.VOSSER G.ENGLAND K.VALLIS T.HARRIS L.TOLHURST D.MAUGHN R.FRANCIS P.PUNTAN I.VOSSER H.VOSSER E.TILBURY D.WICKE J.GREEN E.SANDALL-BALL M.WEST M.WOODS G.CLOKE M.VOSSER S.COOK Hampshire Cross Country League 2005/6 League Update After a fantastic season so far it looks like we will win Division 2 and gain promotion back to Division 1 after an absence of 3 years. It was as recent as 2001/2 that we finished 3 rd in Div 1, but we were relegated in 2002/3 so it will be good to get back in the premier league. Final match is at Wimborne on the 11 th Feb if you are not going to the training weekend please try and make it to this match. Obviously we want to finish the season unbeaten!

6 Division 2 08/10/05 05/11/05 03/12/05 14/01/06 11/02/06 Aggregate 1 Overton Harriers New Forest Runners Eastleigh RC Poole Runners Hamworthy Harriers Farnham Runners Fleet & Crookham Hardley Runners Havant Reading Roadrunners Similarly it looks like the Vets could also win their league however Reading Vets are really flying at the moment and will be looking to steal the league title. Vets we need your support! Our best recent performance in this league was 2 nd in 2001/2 to Portsmouth. Veteran Men - Team Aggregate Division 1 08/10/05 05/11/05 03/12/05 14/01/06 11/02/06 Aggregate 1 Overton Harriers Reading AC Stubbington Green Runners Bournemouth Poole Runners Southampton RC Hamworthy Harriers City of Portsmouth Fleet & Crookham Reading Roadrunners Veteran Women - Team Aggregate 08/10/05 05/11/05 03/12/05 14/01/06 11/02/06 Total 1 Overton Harriers Reading Roadrunners Winchester & District Farnham Runners Poole Runners Victory Senior Women - Team Aggregate 1 Aldershot, Farnham & District 08/10/05 05/11/05 03/12/05 14/01/06 11/02/06 Total

7 2 Winchester & District Reading AC Overton Harriers Reading Roadrunners Team Southampton Havant Farnham Runners Fleet & Crookham Poole Runners Victory Hants Road Race League Update The success story here is the ladies two more victories plus a good result at Brading will guarantee promotion as champions! TOTAL Overton 5 Hardly 1/2 Lordshill 10 Hayling 10 Stubb 10km Ladies A-Division 2 LG RC LG RC LG RC LG RC LG RC LG RC 1 Victory AC Overton Harriers Stubbington Green Farnham Runners Totton RC New Forest Runners Basingstoke & MH Havant AC Ryde Harriers On the men s side we still have some work to do to ensure another year in Division 1. A couple more good results should keep us safe. Please take a look at the remaining fixtures and try and make it along. n s League Div 1 TOTAL Overton 5 Hardley 1/2 Lordshill 10m Hayling 10 Stubb 10k s Teams LG RC LG RC LG RC LG RC LG RC LG RC Southampton RC Winchester AC Stubbington Green Victory AC Overton Harriers Farnham Runners Denmead Striders Eastleigh RC Hardley Runners City Of Salisbury AC

8 Remaining Hants Road Race League fixtures. Mad March 20m (5th Mar 2006) Eastleigh 10k (19th Mar 2006) Totton 10k (2nd Apr 2006) Alton 10m (14th May 2006) Brading 10k (18th Jun 2006) Entry forms are available via the web or just put your name up on the notice board. Mad March and Eastleigh club entries have already gone off so you will need to enter direct. The club always makes a day of the Brading race on the Isle of Wight with a pub meal after and then a swim in the sea we can celebrate the ladies promotion to division 1. Any questions please contact David Vosser FIXTURE LIST FOR THE SOUTHERN LEAGUE April 29th at Bournemouth - Double fixture with Div 1 v. Bournemouth, Basingstoke, Newquay & Par May 20th at Tilsley Park - Probable double with Womens Southern League V. Radley, Haslemere, Plymouth June 3rd at Swindon - Double Fixture with Div 1 v. Kennet, Oxford, Newton Abbot July 8th at Guildford - Double Fixture with Div 1 v. Met Police, Stubbington, Chichester August 5th at Basingstoke (Home Fixture) - Double with Div 3W v. Southampton, Wimborne/Poole, Wessex/Salisbury

9 Overton Harriers Southern Men s Cross Country Team ready for action Eric Tilbury was there but he just disappeared before the team photo. Congratulations to everyone who raced on Saturday down at Bicton Gardens. You created a little bit of history, it was the first time that the club has finished a complete team of 12 runners and so qualified for the Hampshire Cup. Unfortunately Stubbington Green beat us, but there is always next year. Thanks to Eric for choosing the Nog Inn at Wincanton for the a much needed refreshment stop on the way home.