October 2024 Part II
Howdy Ranelights.
WOO HOO! Cross-country season has started - and my, it has started with a bang! Some fabulous performances from both our Women's and Men's Teams today; at Wimbledon Common and Reigate Priory respectively, in what was the first fixture of Surrey League.
Provisional results are live but it wouldn't be proper Surrey League without the odd descrepancy here and there (it is after all, all part of the fun!) so we won't look TOO closely at them right now. But we can applaud everyone who ran their hearts out for our club.
Next fixture will be on Saturday 9 November - at Beckenham Place for the Women and Oxted for the Men. If you missed out on today's race, there's time to sign up for the next installment of muddy fun - simply contact your Captains, or sign up via Teamer.
For those not able/or wanting to run - as always, please do come along to cheer & support your fellow club members. It makes a HUGE difference to those running.
A full race report will follow but for now, you can find the provisional results here:
💙 Women | Division 1 @ Wimbledon Common: https://surreyleague.org/sl/match/179/pdf/ 👈
💛 Men | Division 2 @ Reigate Priory: https://surreyleague.org/sl/match/183/pdf/ 👈
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🏃♀️ Upcoming fixtures 🏃♀️➡️
SEAA XC Relays | 19 Oct Wormwood Scrubs: There's mud and then there's Wormwood Scrubs, which is a whole 'nother level of mud. Teams of 3 with each running 3km for women & 4km for men. Registrations have opened, so please contact your captains or sign up on Teamer.
Surrey Masters | 26 Oct Nonsuch Park from 1.30pm: Back to beautiful Nonsuch Park, this time for a XC race for 'masters' athletes M35/W35 and older. The course is approx. 3.1km per lap, with women running 2 laps and men 3 laps. Note: this one is for those born or living in the historic county of Surrey eg: south of the river, Richmond, Kew etc. If you've moved house, you can still compete if you haven't competed in another county event. Any queries, please contact your captains or respond via Teamer if you would like to run.
Milocarian Invitational | 26 Oct Sandhurst from 2pm: For those not 'living' in Surrey, or not over 35 years, there's another race opportunity to enjoy. Milocarian AC have invited us to compete in their annual inter-club event; 5.5 miles of muddy fun in Sandhurst, finishing with a yummy tea after. If you would like to run, please email coordinator@ranelagh-harriers.co.uk ASAP to register beforehand (closing date 20 Oct)
You can find the full list of our 2024/2025 fixtures @ https://ranelagh-harriers.co.uk/fixtures-2024-2025/ 👈
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💧 Cabbage Patch 10 Water Station | Sunday 20 October @ 8am: Entries are SOLD OUT for the Cabbage Patch 10 but there's plenty of scope to volunteer as we flex our water station muscles, while cheering & supporting fellow members at the riverside exit from the Petersham Sea Scouts (https://maps.app.goo.gl/oqr97yrjL4J66NEY6). It's our turn to repay the favour after the Stragglers helped man a water station at our last half marathon. No experience required; just rock up, fill up cups with water and hand them out to runners from 8am to about 10am.
If you can volunteer - for however long - please email coordinator@ranelagh-harriers.co.uk or message Narissa Vox or Maia Rushby via the Ranelagh WhatsApp Community.
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💙 Weekend Highlights 💛
OMG SO MUCH RACING FROM ALL OF YOU. Here's some pics of what you've been up to. We've missed out a few of you, we know but we do SEE you all!
Shout out to everyone who raced in the past few weeks including:
💪 Nick Twomey (Tadley 10 mile), Rick Jenner (Trail des Aiguilles Rouge), James Stokes, Kathy Henry, Toni Borreda, Eirin McDaid & Jarryd Hillhouse plus Colette Doran & John Herriot marshalling (Ealing Half), Paul Scullion (Dorney Lake Half), Oli Hickson (Spartan Trifecta), Ian Keith & Ann Kearey (Cardiff Half), Simon & Victoria Martin (Lisbon Half), Mick & Thomas Lane (Sonning 10k) & Gareth Beavie (Thames Meander Half) to name a few.
To be included in our Weekend Highlights, join the ‘General Club Chat’ group to share your celebrations & achievements with a pic, a result and perhaps a short 5-word review. Join via WhatsApp Community or this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/EOXovU5nMK00H9faojuPOm 👈
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🏆 Race Reports 🏆
🏔️ Chiltern 50 Challenge | 28 Sept 2024 | Report by Alberto Esguevillas:
After the deluge of the last 10 days, Saturday woke up to a lovely sunny crisp morning. Perfect for running. Did I say perfect? It was way too cold for my taste. But fear not, my gloves, base layer, mid layer 1, mid layer 2 and wind stopper were ready for the occasion, no worries then! The Chiltern 50 started at 8.30 for me and despite the rain there were fewer pools of cold, sticky mud than I expected and the legs did respond well, very well indeed.
The rain forced a change of course and I wasn’t too chuffed about the late addition of a new hill to avoid the flooded Thames Path in the last 5 km. With a finishing time (Garmin) of 5:59:59 this was about 1hr 10mins faster than my previous (and first) 50km last year and about 30mins ahead of my target time. So I am sitting here writing this happy with the leg pain and the result!
🏙️ Berlin Marathon | 28 Sept 2024 | Report by James Whistler:
Ich bin ein Berliner! The Berlin Marathon has been on my bucket list for a number of years. Flat, fast and home to numerous world records, this is the place to go for PBs and post-race drinking like no other world marathon major. And even more special for this year, the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of this spectacular race.
Berlin may not have the colour and costumes of London, the patriotism and skyscrapers of new York, the tradition and beauty of Boston, the organisation and culture of Tokyo or the scenery and wind of Chicago. But it does have… a very unique expo, inline skating and a LOT of beer!
Race pack collection takes place at the Tempelhof Airport. In the past, Tempelhof has been used to test some of the world's first aircrafts, house World War II prisoners, and gave West Berliners a vital lifeline to the outside world during the Cold War. It's also been used to film movies such as 'The Hunger Games', 'The Bourne Supremacy' and 'Bridge of Spies'. And also hosting the occasional illegal rave. Today it provided a fascinating backdrop to picking up your number, checking out the latest carbon super shoes, skating down a runway and generally spending far too much time on feet.
To kick off the weekend’s racing, Rebecca Bissell, Jon Lear and Alun Thomas took part in the 5km run, enjoying the last few miles of the marathon course considerably more than they would the day after. Next up, Pete Vox donned his inline skates to compete for the second year in the largest inline skating marathon in the world. Won by the aptly-named, Bart Swings (who covered the course in 1 hour dead at an average speed of 42km/h!), our Blue and Amber ninja was in his own personal race against the clock, namely the ruthlessly enforced cut-off time.
Coming into the final lap, cruising on empty after eating his only energy gel an hour before the start, Ranelagh Rollers’ second most famous member (after his wife), couldn’t believe his eyes to see a steel barrier freshly laid across his path. After minutes of pleading with the no-nonsense officials, the German defence finally gave way and Vox sprinted under the Brandenburg Gate to claim his much-deserved medal. His story was to be later re-told countless times over drinks, with the protagonist feeling more wronged after each telling, rather than taking personal responsibility for not going quicker in the first place. That said, he did finish in just over 2 hours, which is still the speed of Kipchoge going at full pelt.
Following an evening of carbo loading, the big day approached. The weather forecast looked perfect – 8 degrees, clear skies and no wind. Some say the hardest part of a marathon is the last few miles. In the case of a few unfortunate members of the Blue and Amber contingent, just making the start line was an adventure in itself. Thanks to British Airways cancellations, Claire Warner and Alex Ring took an unexpected detour via Vienna, whilst Gareth Williams found himself going the scenic route through Helsinki.
All that was forgotten by 9.15am on Sunday when ten Ranelagh Harriers set off from the Tiergarten on an epic jaunt around Germany’s capital with a world record field. The crowds were magnificent, the techno was deafening and the organisation at the start was absolute chaos. This author may or may not have shamelessly hurdled a fence to enter the start area only meters behind the elite runners, which he will maintain was done ultimately for his own safety.
After 42.2km of blood blisters, sweat and tears, special mentions as follows:
💙 Rebecca Bissell with a wonderfully paced 3.35 despite limited training
💛 Alex Chandler with a debut(?) recorded marathon of 3.45
💙 Mark Herbert with a remarkable negative split to finish in 2.53 and his final 2km being the quickest of the race
💛 Jon Lear with a heroic 5.24, battling injury to bag his fourth Marathon Major
💙 Agnes Nagy with possibly the run of the weekend, not only completing getting her Six Star but smashing her PB in 3.11
💛 Alex Ring also with an injury-affected build-up finishing 30 second short of a PB in 3.16
💙 Melanie Thomas with a very solid 4.13 and 336th in her age category
💛 Claire Warner with a long-overdue PB and amazing pacing in 3.39, surely earning a London GFA time
💙 Gareth Williams conquering an 'unhappy' groin to finish in 2.48 and being swiftly turned away from the post-race massage area for obvious reasons.
This correspondent paid for his 'go hard or go home' approach to racing, inevitably hitting the wall, ending up in a medical tent (against his will) but still coming home in 2.45.
However, the biggest shout-out must go to Narissa Vox, who despite being injured and agonisingly having to withdraw from the inline skating, smashed back a year’s worth of ibuprofen to dash around the course on one functioning leg, supporting all our runners. And amazingly she managed to get video footage of everything!
Here’s to celebrating this fantastic race with an amazing bunch of Berliners! Prost!
🌲 Surrey XC Relays | 5 Oct 2024 | Report by Suzy Whatmough:
We had three women’s teams represent the club at last weekend’s Surrey Cross Country Relays. These have replaced the previous Surrey Road Relay competition, upgrading to a cross country course with all seniors and vets running 4.8km relay loops around the fields and woods of Nonsuch Park. The ground was still fairly hard on this mostly flat course, with just the odd mud patch. Welcome news for some, though it did make it unrelenting, and created more of a conundrum about which shoes to wear.
In the W45 category, we had a team of Maia Rushby (22:48), Rebecca Bissell (22:45) and Wiebke Kortum (23:16), finishing in 6th place with a combined time of 1:08:51. In the W35 category we had two teams (with thanks to Suzy and Agnes for doubling up). Surrey gold medals were earned by our winning W35 team of Suzy Whatmough (18:12), Agnes Nagy (20:49) and Aoife Kilpatrick (20:53), with a combined time of 59:56, and Suzy claimed another gold medal for the fastest individual W35 lap time.
We also finished 5th place in the same category with a team of Claire Warner (22:52, despite being thwarted by shoe laces), Suzy Whatmough (22:40), and Agnes Nagy (23:18) with a total time of 1:08:51. Hopefully I speak for everyone when I say that we all enjoyed this new event, and it was even better with bonus October sun and (mostly) homemade snacks afterwards. Well done everyone!
Full results here: https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=20246&RId=15140&EId=3&dt=0 👈
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📢 Notices:
Ranelagh Half Marathon | Sunday 11 May @ 8.30am: Early Bird prices are LIVE! Entries for our 10k will open very soon but you can enter the 2025 Ranelagh Half Marathon (11 May @ 8.30am) NOW for only £32 UKA/£34 non. For instant entry, head to https://bit.ly/ranelagh-half 👈
🍺🍕 ‘Ranelagh Tuesday Social’ | Tuesday 5 Nov @ 8.15pm: Slight change to the name but still the same brilliant social many of us are starting to enjoy. At the moment the thinking is to order in fish & chips (with suitable vegetarian option TBC), further details to follow but ALL ARE WELCOME to join in straight after training. Plus our fridge is FULLY STOCKED with all sorts of lovely drinks for everyone to purchase & enjoy. Join us at the clubhouse as we chill, chat and to get to know friends old and new. SEE YOU THERE!
🎄SAVE THE DATE: Ranelagh Christmas Party | 7 Dec @ One Kew Road, Richmond: The planning continues, so please save the date in your diaries and we will send through further details, including how to book, menu etc. for the BEST Xmas party ever.
💷 Race discounts: Still time to enjoy 15% off both the River Thames Half (27 October) with the code RANELAGH15 (all caps). Valid EA members can also enjoy an additional £2 on top of that. To book, simply use the code at:
River Thames Half: https://riverthamesrunning.co.uk/events/river-thames-half-marathon/ 👈🏻
