Strider Ladies crowned Div 2 Champs!

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1 Volume 10 Issue 2 Newsletter for Desford Striders Running Club F oremark Reservoir hosted the final league race of the crosscountry season and what a success it turned out to be for the Striders. Having topped the Division 2 table from day one our ladies secured the title and the mixed team finished as runners up in their division and therefore gaining promotion to Division 1. However it could all have been very different story. To score league points each side must field a complete team at the least, in the case of the ladies, it s four finishers. The day started fine with four ladies lining up at the start, but unfortunately we lost one along the way, leaving us one short of a team. But all wasn t lost! There is a rule stating that for one race in any season, a team finishing one runner short, is allowed the last placed runners score to be added to their own sides score, making them up to a full team once again and giving them league points. As this was the only race we were unable to field a full side this rule was applied to their score enabling the ladies to score 8 points and take the title by three points from Barrow. This of course made our third lady home a very important finisher and the title wasn t in the bag until June Morris finished in 76th position. Without one of the three ladies who ran on the day, we would have February 2009 Derby Runner Cross-country League Strider Ladies crowned Div 2 Champs! Whilst our mixed team also gains promotion scored 0 points and been overtaken by both Barrow and Huncote, leaving them in third place, which would have been disappointing after doing so well in the first four races. June s finish was also important to the mixed team as the first 7 men and 3 ladies make up their total. Again they would have been pushed into third place, this time by Sth. Derbyshire and by just one point. The men s team also had some success at Foremark. Whilst not quite in the same league as the other Strider team, the two points gained were enough to ensure they avoided the drop down into Division 2. So for 2009/10 we will Derby Runner League Tables Team - Div 2 Barrow 54 Striders 44 S. Derbyshire 39 OWLS 29 Huncote 25 Harborough 25 Derby Tri 19 Beaumont 7 Roadhoggs 6 Stilton 0 Rolls Royce 0 Men - Div 1 Hatton 41 Hinckley 37 Wreake 36 Shepshed 29 Hermitage 25 S. Derbyshire 23 Westend 14 Striders 11 Ivanhoe 9 Ladies - Div 2 Striders 50 Barrow 47 Huncote 43 Birstall 38 Derby Tri 18 Roadhoggs 14 S. Derbyshire 11 Beaumont 7 Harborough 6 Rolls Royce 0 Stilton 0 June Morris heads for the finish line at Foremark and the Striders Ladies win the Division 2 title! have all three teams in the top division. The challenge for next season will be to keep them there! Anyway many thanks and congratulations to everybody who has represented the club at the Derby Runner Cross-country races and well done to all three teams! There is one more cross-country event, The B-Final relays to be held on 8th March at Huncote Leisure Centre, The Pavilion). Turn over for more details.) Race reports from Grace Dieu and Foremark including results and the Junior Striders start on page 2!

2 Page 2 Grace Dieu proves to be an excellent event. The penultimate round of the Derby Runner League was hosted by Shepshed at their usual haunt of Grace Dieu School and what an absolutely superb course they served up for the senior event. It had just about everything you could wish for from a cross country race. Starting on a steady incline the 5.2 mile route took us around a number Emma Marvin is to the fore at the start of the ladies race at Grace Dieu. of fields before heading towards a excellent mix of hills, woodland, water and even a wooden walk way, carpeted with varying condition underfoot, including boggy mud and rocky trail paths. Concentrations levels had to be kept to a maximum to ensure that a tumble wasn t taken (which unfortunately caught one of our illustrious band, but more of that in a moment). Seventeen Striders were amongst the 312 club runners, who it must be said braved some pretty cold conditions at the start before warming themselves up over the next five miles or so. Richard Billington was the first Strider over the finish line, followed, and a lot closer than he expected, by Graham Hobbs, just 36 seconds behind. He had been having one heck of a run with both Andrew Cole and Dave Cox, who returned to running after a heavy cold. All three were within seconds of each other and it was mounting up to what should have been a very interesting finish. Unfortunately the conditions underfoot were to play a significant part in the proceedings when Andrew took a heavy fall around a mile from the end. This allowed Graham and Dave to put a bit of distance between them (having made sure Andrew was all right of course!). With the gap decreasing by the step Graham was thankful that the finish came into sight as he edged over the line a mere 6 seconds ahead of Dave. Brian Moran ran his first off-road race of the season and finished in 48:31, whilst Steve Boorman also made a very welcome return to the race circuit. The only blemish from the day, in terms of the adults was that unfortunately there appears to have been a mix up with the times towards the back of the field, meaning we haven t got an Grace Dieu results Men Pos Time R. Billington 33 36:55 G. Hobbs 43 37:31 D. A. Cox 46 37:37 A. Cole 54 38:14 T. Bassnett :16 A. Brine :32 B. Moran :31 S. Boorman :44 H. Long :10 G. Grimsley :12 S. Tebbutt 201? N. Trotman 203? Ladies Pos Time E. Marvin 11 42:41 M. Billington 14 43:08 C. Smith 41 48:34 J. Messenger 47 49:57 M. Hobbs 67 53:39 official time for either Sean or Nigel. Looking at the official results I thing that a number of runners have been missed and these gents have been allocated incorrect times. Apart from that it was an excellent event! e had a large turnout of Junior W Striders for this event, with eight of them making it to the start line. It proved to be the hardest course for the youngsters so far this season. Normally the shorter race is around 3/4 mile long, with the Year 7-12 being roughly a mile and a half. On this occasion one lap was the best part of a mile and there was a lot of uphill running within it. Unfortunately two laps a little too much for Emily Hobbs. However Andrew Brine and Alex Percy both put in exhausting efforts to complete the two lap course, with Andrew coming a superb fourth and Alex 15th. In the younger race the two Billington boys, Kieran and Matty were the first Striders to finish, with Emma Brine being our only girl to complete the course followed by Edward Percy and Connor Tebbutt. Just a quick mention and a well done for Molly Grimsley who started on the one lap run and when she passed me looked as though she was going well. However according to the results she didn t finish, but no matter, she mad e the effort and hopefully we ll see her again. Grace Dieu Junior results Years 1-6 Pos Time Kieran Billington 5 Matty Billington 8 Emma Brine 14 Edward Percy 24 Connor Tebbutt runners Years 7-12 Andrew Brine 4 Alex Percy runners Just one footnote, we have no times for the Juniors as the starter had unfortunately gone ill and it wasn t realised until it was too late.

3 Page 3 Tales from a Riverbank (or at least a Reservoir Bank) Just fourteen Striders made the journey into South Derbyshire for the final league race of the season held at the picturesque Foremark Reservoir. Unlike last year were the course was more frozen than anything, this year was a lot more sloppy. Particularly the two long climbs up the embankments tested the runners footwear as it was difficult to get any sort of real grip. These the led on to a long path, part of an old railway line, which seemed to go on for an eternity, especially of the second time around when I was trying to catch Mr. Cole! Conditions were dry and once we got running not too cold, although before the start we were cursing the cold breeze coming across the reservoir itself. As usual Richard Billington was our first Strider home, with myself and Andrew Cole having one heck of a dingdong for the bragging rights of second Strider in. It was so close as we came over the line that it couldn t have been more than a vest depth between us. Whilst I m on the subject I m going to indulge myself. I want to than Andrew for an excellent season. We ve had some excellent runs against each other and I have thoroughly enjoyed our races, which have been conducted in a very competitive but sporting manner. Cheers Andrew! Sorry about that, back to business! Emma Marvin Cross country Individual Club Standings fter having four new names as 2008 s Champions, A we again have a situation where nobody retained their title, although there is one familiar name. After missing out last year Emma Marvin has got her hands on the Senior Ladies title once again, making it five wins in seven years. Having won the first four rounds she had already secured the title before the Foremark race, Male Vets. R. Billington 85 G. Hobbs 76 A. Cole 74 H. Long 47 D. A. Cox 47 A. Brine 38 T. Trotman 35 G. Grimsley 33 S. Bailey 27 P. Goddard 26 D. Lawrie 26 B. Moran 26 J. Shade 24 S. Morris 16 R. McBean 12 S. Tebbutt 11 K. Turner 11 D. Playford 10 P. Lord 9 A. Holmes 9 S. Pandit 8 S. Hibben 5 with her nearest challengers being Jules Toone on 8 points. Michelle Auckland, in her first season with the club, finished third. Not content with one title in the family Pete Marvin won the men s senior title at his first attempt. Going into the last race he was in second place behind last year s winner Tom Bassnett. However Tom didn t run at Foremark giving Pete the opportunity to leap frog him and take the title. Both vets categories also new winners, with Richard Billington making a clean sweep with five wins out of five and easily finishing top. A closer battle was for Female Vets. C. Smith 20 M. Billington 18 J. Messenger 16 M. Hobbs 9 J. Morris 9 N. Glover 4 P. Lord 4 V. Holmes 1 capped an excellent crosscountry season by finishing as first lady Strider and fourth overall. Included in her five results have been two thirds and two fourth places. Well done Emma and congratulations on achieving a 100% attendance! Mhairi Billington was our next lady in and as you will know by now June Morris our only other female finisher. Along with the other three men already mentioned, Henry Long also competed in all five league races an excellent achievement. Richard Billington at Grace Dieu and on his way to a first cross-country title. second spot between Graham Hobbs and Andrew Cole, with the former edging out the latter by just two points. Clare Smith topped the ladies vets by just two points from Julie Messenger and won her first title with the club. Mhairi Billington put in a spurt towards the end of the season but wasn t able to catch either Clare or Julie and eventually finished third. Many congratulations to all our winners and many thanks to everybody who took part in the Derby Runner Cross-Country League races. Foremark results Men Pos Time R. Billington 36 37:08 G. Hobbs 62 39:33 A. Cole 63 39:34 P. Marvin :55 B. Moran :28 A. Brine :30 N. Trotman :26 H. Long :07 G. Grimsley :18 S. Morris 187 1:14:04 Ladies E. Marvin 4 39:45 M. Billington 11 43:07 J. Morris 76 1:01:50 I would like to thank those who offered verbal support during the race. Also to Paddy Crowe sorting out the entry fees and Strider results and Marie Hobbs for her excellent home made energy bars! At the time of going to print I didn t have the junior results. I ll include these in next month s newsletter. Male Seniors P. Marvin 13 T. Bassnett 10 O. Cox 4 M. Burder 4 A. Richards 3 S. Boorman 3 Female Seniors E. Marvin 25 J. Toone 8 M. Auckland 7 E. Crowe 2 J. Densley 1

4 Page 4 Derby Runner Cross-country 2008/09 Fixtures 8 Mar - Roadhoggs - Huncote (relays) Mar/Apr - National & Plate Final (tba) Event: B-Final (Relay Race) Date: 8th March 2009 Club: Roadhoggs Venue: Huncote Leisure Centre (The Pavilion) Time: 1030 (juniors) 1100 (adult) Dist: 2.25M approx Cost: 1 - kids; 2 - adults Info: Men s and mixed teams of 4 and ladies team of 3 The next Derby Runner fixture is the B-Final Relay race being held on Sunday 8th March at Huncote Leisure Centre (The Pavilion). The event is for teams of four men or mixed teams and women s teams of 3. At the moment gray Grimsley, Nigel Trotman and Henry Long have said they will be there. It s a fairly relaxed event, with individuals making up full sides with other clubs if they can t get a full tam out themselves. It would be nice if we could get a few teams out, although it does clash with The grizzly. There is no need to enter before the day, but it would be a great help to know who is running beforehand. If you want to run let us know at dsrc.inform@googl .com a.s.a.p. Either that turn up on the day, but don t leave it until the last minute! Thursday Night Club Running Winter Runs Date Name Dist Name Dist 19/02 Kirkby Mallory + Track 6.6 Kirkby Mallory /02 Desford & Brown Horse 7.0 Desford /03 Botcheston hill & pub 6.0 Botcheston /03 2 laps Desford lap Desford /03 K. Mallory + Desford 8.7 Kirkby Mallory /03 Botcheston hill and pub 6.0 Botcheston /04 Back to summer running (All distances are rough estimates) Midlands Cross-country Championships Berry Hill Park, Mansfield Sat 24th January 2009 Got anything for the newsletter? Tell us your experiences, tips, jokes (clean), pictures, recipes..anything! I ll publish it! (Within reason!) Please forward to: Graham Hobbs at dsrc.inform@googl .com or 146 Kirkby Road, Barwell, Leicestershire. Monday Mkt. Bosworth village centre. Meet at 6.30 p.m. for 6.45 p.m. Running Last month I told you about the intrepid trio of Graham Hobbs, Andrew Cole and Alan Brine who braved the cold of Brooksby College to compete in the County cross-country Championships. Well I didn t have the results to hand at the time, now I have and should you be interested, they are listed below. County xc Champs Time Pos Graham Hobbs 36:52 45 Andrew Cole 37:04 46 Not content with this event Alan travelled to Mansfield s Berry Hill park where he ran the Midlands version and finished 271st amongst the 309 finishers in a time of 56:20. No idea of he weather on the day or the conditions of the course.

5 Page 5 Leicestershire Road Running League. Snow and ice hit the Ashby 5 W ith the County suffering some of the heaviest snowfall for the best part of two decades, it came as no surprise to hear of the postponement of the third Winter road race, the Ashby 5. In the ten years I ve been running the league races, it s the first time I ve known of one being cancelled. However, with large amounts of ice and snow on the footpaths, the organisers, South Derbyshire RC, had little choice other than to take the decision that they did. At the time of writing this they hadn t given up the possibility of staging it at a later date. We ll keep you informed. No such weather problems with the Markfield 10K where there was a marked increase in the number of Striders taking part. Following the disappointing turnout at the Barrow 6, the second LRRL league race saw 22 Striders take on the undulating and challenging course, run from South Charnwood School. This number thankfully included 6 ladies, meaning we had at least one full scoring team out. Conditions for race itself were relatively good. Whilst pretty cold, there was very little breeze to trouble the 519 strong field and thankfully it remained dry. As usual we had a few interesting battles between members, including Ady Cave, Paul Goddard and Lee Barber who all finished within 28 seconds of each other. Graham Hobbs continued his recent good form finishing as second Strider, just 9 seconds behind Richard Billington. Markfield 10K Men Time Pos R. Billington 39:25 67 G. Hobbs 39:34 70 D. A. Cox 39:54 76 A. Cole 42: A. Cave 43: P. Goddard 43: L. Barber 43: B. Moran 44: D. McCartney 45: S. Boorman 49: N. Trotman 52: S. Bailey 52: H. Long 53: S. Tebbutt 55: S. Wittering 57: S. Morris 1:06: Ladies Time Pos M. Billington 43:45 18 L. Cave 47:00 40 M. Hobbs 53:22 99 P. Lord 53: J. Morris 1:01: V. Holmes 1:03: Brian Moran made his first appearance of the Leicester Running Shop LRRL Tables Men Vet Div. 2 Leics Cori 40 Nuneaton 34 West End 29 Hermitage 28 Desford 25 Fleckney 24 Hinckley 24 road race season, finishing 180th in a time of 44:01 and was the eighth counter for the men s senior team. Ladies Vet Div. 1 Barrow 50 Huncote 41 Birstall 40 Leics Tri 36 Wreake 32 OWLS 32 Ivanhoe 32 Hinckley 31 Fleckney 28 Charnwood 26 S. Derbys 23 Desford 22 Harborough 21 Beaumont 20 Hermitage 19 Roadhoggs 17 Nuneaton 15 West End 9 Stilton 9 Whetstone 5 Shepshed 3 For the ladies Mhairi Billington was again first Strider home and gave Lee Barber a run for his money, finishing just 9 seconds behind him. Marie Hobbs was able to just hold off Pam Lord, but was some way behind second lady Strider Liz Cave, who completed the course in 47:00. With the increased number of Striders came an improvement in the teams race results, allowing the two men s and senior ladies teams to move themselves off the foot of their respective divisions. Although the teams scores from the race itself suggest that the club is going to find it at tough challenge to stave off relegation. Luckily the Ladies Vets. only have one division! Over the years I ve not been in the habit of actually publishing the teams scores in the newsletter as they can usually be found via our website, However should anybody not have access to the internet and would be interested in seeing these, let me know and I ll see what I can do. You can get in touch via the usual contact details, see page 4. Mhairi Billington was once again the first lady Strider to cross the finish line. Ladies Div. 1 Barrow 37 Birstall 37 Huncote 29 Wreake 28 Fleckney 27 Barrow B 24 OWLS 21 Hinckley 20 Desford 18 Beaumont 17 Men Div. 2 Huncote 40 Fleckney 34 Roadhoggs 28 Hinckley 27 Beaumont 27 Desford 24 Shepshed LRRL fixtures Winter 22 Feb Kibworth 6 15 Mar Desford 10K (Presume entry fee is still 2.50, payable on the day.) Summer 10 May Hinckley 1/2 7 Jun Swithland 6 28 Jun Prestwold 10k 8 Jul Hungarton 7 12 Aug Huncote 5 6 Sep Owls 10 (Entry fees vary between races, see individual club websites for details) Photo courtesy of Huncote Harriers website

6 Page 6 LRRL Individual Club Standings Early days but familiar faces at the top Female Vets. Mhairi Billington 12 Marie Hobbs 9 Liz Cave 5 Pam Lord 3 June Morris 2 Valda Holmes 1 W ith just the two leagues races completed so far, there s a long way to go before we know who will be crowned as the club s road champions next September. However I thought you might like an indication of the early front runners and things don t seem to have changed much at the present time, as last year s men s and vet. ladies winners are all heading the tables at the moment. Male Seniors Lee Barber 5 Adrian Cave 3 Steve Boorman 2 Kieran Smith 2 Two wins in two races for Mr. and Mrs. Billington have given them open water between themselves and those in second. Whilst in the men s senior category, we have had two winners. Lee Barber took the honours at the Markfield 10K, but was pushed into second place by Ady cave at the Barrow 6 Male Vets. Richard Billington 26 Andrew Cole 22 Paul Goddard 20 Henry Long 13 Steve Bailey 12 Nigel Trotman 12 Graham Hobbs 12 Dave Cox 11 Dave Playford 10 John Shade 8 Brian Moran 8 Dave McCartney 7 Steve Morris 6 Steve Hibben 4 Sean Tebbutt 3 Steff Wittering 2 You may have noticed a complete absence of a Senior Ladies table. Surprisingly and unfortunately it s not an editorial error, it just that so far we ve not had any senior ladies run yet. just never know who s turn it could be this year. Although as I never man- due to work commitments, don t put your shirt on me! As I said though, a long way to go and you age to make that many races Your Help Needed Date: 22nd February 2009 Time: 1030 hrs Dist: 6M Cost: 2.50 Club: Roadhoggs Venue: Kibworth Sports Centre, adjoining Kibworth High School, Smeeton Rd, Kibworth Beauchamp Info: Parking v. limited, please car share if poss. The fifth and final Winter League race is our own 10K being held on 15th March from Caterpillar, Peckleton lane, Desford. As usual we are looking for volunteers to assist with the marshalling, setting up of the venue and refreshments. We will also need donations of cakes etc. Last year we put on an excellent event for our fellow LRRL club members and we hope this year will be no different. The majority of us prefer to run in these races, that s why we run! However there are plenty of Striders who won t be running for one reason or another. Not into racing, injury etc. If this applies to yourself how about giving up a few hours on the morning of the race to help your club out? You can put yourself forward by getting in touch with us at dsrc.inform@googl .com or letting a committee member know. Please let us know as soon as you can and we look forward to a successful event!