January Notices
Howdy Ranelights.
Wow, what a month it’s been…
Barely 3 weeks into 2026, and there’s been a TON of racing already. Our club has had a sterling start to the new year, with outstanding performances recently at the 3rd match of Surrey League.
Our women’s team are ON FIRE and at the final Surrey League fixture on 7 February, will be looking to wrap up a successful season at Wimbledon Common, while our men will be raring to settle scores with Woking AC at Lloyd Park and move up to Division 1!
There’s still time to enter; either respond on Teamer or get in touch with your captains.
We’ve also had a fab result at our 2nd mob against Blackheath in Richmond Park. If you’re thirsty for more mob match muddiness, look ahead to March where we have not one but TWO away mobs.
So come along to help us continue our winning streak and nail that clean sweep!
There are two upcoming socials to get in your diary too - the Pizza Night (& tales from the Spine Race) next Tuesday 27 Jan after training, and book now for the Baker Cup Awards Night. More info below on both.
PRIORITY dates
FIXTURES
▪️Sat 7 Feb Surrey XC League #4 @ Wimbledon Common (Women) and lloyd Park (Men). Teamer/Captains for entries.
▪️Sat 7 Mar Mob Match vs South London Harriers @ Farthing Downs. Sign up on the day.
▪️Sat 14 Mar Mob Match vs Orion Harriers @ Epping Forest. Sign up on the day.
SOCIALS
▪️Sun 24 Jan Ranelagh Sunday Coffee Club 8 - 11am. Enjoy your Sunday long runs with free coffee, warm croissants & great company. All welcome.
▪️Tue 27 Jan Ranelagh Tuesday Social 8.15pm. It’s pizza night at the clubhouse! Order by 26 Jan @ https://forms.gle/5b3oSm28S9d4g6qB7 ⬅️
▪️Fri 13 Mar Baker Cup Awards 2026 @ Winchester Room, Turks Head. Details & booking below ⬇️
REMINDERS
▪️Volunteer: We need volunteers to keep our monthly Sunday Coffee Club going. See below for more details.
Please also save the following dates to volunteer (or run - or both!):
▪️10 May Ranelagh Half
▪️21 June Ranelagh 10K
▪️3 July Sunset Sprint
COMING UP
FIXTURES
▪️Sat 24 Jan South of England XC Champs @ Beckenham Park
▪️Sat 7 Feb Surrey XC League #4 @ Wimbledon (Women) and Lloyd Park (Men)
▪️Sat 15 Feb Valentines 10K @ Chessington
▪️Sat 21 Feb English National XC Champs @ County Durham
▪️Sat 7 Mar Mob Match vs South London Harriers @ Farthing Downs
For the latest updates, go to https://ranelagh-harriers.co.uk/fixtures ⬅️
SOcial / community
▪️Fri 13 Mar Baker Cup Awards 2026 @ Winchester Room, Turks Head. Details & booking below ⬇️
▪️Friday/Saturday Spring TBC: Ranelagh Quiz Night. We’ll get there eventually! Promise.
▪️Sun 26 Apr: Medal Sunday Club Social 7pm @ TBC (a pub). Celebrate Ranelagh’s spring marathon achievements with our London Marathon finishers!
baker cup awards 2026
Friday 13 March in the Winchester Room at the Turks Head, St Margarets
Our annual trophy prize-giving night is an evening dedicated to celebrating our club’s history, this year’s trophy winners, and the club spirit that brings us all together.
Drinks from 7.00pm, food at 7.30pm - buffet dinner with dessert, awards presentations, and entertainment. Partners are welcome, and whether you’re collecting a trophy or simply joining in the fun, it’s a relaxed celebratory evening for all the club.
Tickets: £35 per person, spaces are limited to 75 and we expect to sell out, so early booking is recommended!
performance Roundup
Despite the freezing conditions at the start of the year, there have been many stand out achievements and amazing performances across our club.
▪️Latest roundup of the Women’s achievements @ The Blue Wave >
▪️Latest roundup of the Men’s achievements @ The Blue & Amber >
Sun 4 Jan: Suzy Whatmough (Women’s Vice Captain) writes: A slightly undersized but fully committed team went to Denbies Vineyard for the Surrey Championship Cross Country race, where the hills were pretty relentless, the ground was icy and at times a bit dicey, and the temperature hovered around a character-building –1°C. I was pleased to finish in 10th place, Natalie Haarer claimed 26th place, and Aoife Kilpatrick powered through jet lag to finish 63rd. Morale (mostly) never dipped thanks to Narissa Vox and Andy Bickerstaff, who kept us smiling by marshalling the course and, along with Phil Aiken, provided top-class cheering from the sidelines.
Meanwhile our men put in a strong showing tackling the challenging course with determination and grit. Leading the way was Marc Leyshon finishing 45th (2nd in age category), followed by Jonathan Smith in 69th (3rd in age category), Shaun Griffith in 109th, Mick Lane in 173rd (1st in age category), and Neil Rae in 218th.
▪️Surrey Cross Country Championships results (Women) >
▪️Surrey Cross Country Championships results (Men) >
Sat 10 Jan: For the 3rd fixture of the Surrey League, our Women’s team were running strong at Mitcham Common with a fantastic turnout of 16 runners. There were excellent results across all three teams, including the A and B teams finishing 6th. Leading the way was Suzy Whatmough (23rd), followed by Cecily Day (32nd), newcomer Betsy Griffiths (35th), Sarah Palmer (37th), Natalie Haarer (66th), Lizzie Broughton (85th), Edel McKeever (118th), Clare Fowler (129th), Aoife Kilpatrick (141st), Robyn Smith (146th), Fiona Smith (157th), Rebecca Bissell (167th), Claire Warner (185th), Ann Kearey (190th), Clare Day (206th), and Carol Aikin (207th).
▪️Match 3A Mitcham Common full results >
Meanwhile, over at Oxshott Woods, our men put in a strong showing at Division 2, narrowly missing out on the top spot to a well-packed Woking AC. Leading the charge was Peter Cook, who finished strongly in 2nd place overall, closely followed by Joe Killip in 6th and Jack Eggington in 15th. Gareth Hopkins (21st), Marc Leyshon (22nd), Chris Davidson (33rd), Jonny Smith (39th), Ted Mockett (46th), Ross Macdonald (49th) and Nick Twomey (59th) rounded out our A team scorers. Our B Team scorers were Sam Roberts (70th), Graham Weller (75th), Graham Brook (88th), Sam Davies (96th), Peter Haarer (98th), Stewart Stanton (102nd), Ed Forbes (119th), Richard Beavington (124th), Rick Jenner (131st) and Mike Morris (132nd). Huge congratulations to everyone — brilliant running, determination and team spirit all round!
▪️Match 3B Oxshott Woods full results >
Sat 11 Jan - Fri 26 Jan: James Riley writes: The Pennine Way is the UK’s first National Trail, running 268 miles (true distance still subject to debate) from Edale to Kirk Yetholm. It’s also the site of the Kinder Trespass, a sacred moment for those of us who love England’s wild places.
Ranelagh has a long and storied Pennine Way connection, having twice held the Relay record, while Bill Bird once held the solo record at 4 days, 8 hours.
The Pennine Way is also the route of the Spine Race, self-styled as Britain’s most brutal ultramarathon, and on 11 January 2026 I lined up for the winter edition.
What can I say? It was everything I’d hoped for and everything I’d been warned about: a classic mix of snow, icy slabs and typical Pennine slop. But it wasn’t all bleakness and misery. The volunteers, staff and runners create a uniquely supportive and uplifting atmosphere, and the Spine’s traditions and shared hardship make it a genuinely special race. We wouldn’t do it if it were easy, right.
The ice was particularly bad this year. Spine legend Damien Hall described it as the worst he’d ever seen, and there were many DNFs due to broken wrists and ankle injuries. In my case, a right tib ante strain led to a long, dark night of the soul (and a whingy call to Sally) on the Cam High Road, where every step hurt. Some consolation that the tib post, after months of pain, held up fine.
I fully expected to retire after reaching Hawes, especially when I struggled to walk downstairs after sleeping. However, after treatment from the medical team (strapping and codeine), the pain settled. Sally’s reminder that quitting would likely mean doing the whole training and race again helped focus the mind.
From that point on, it became a hike rather than a run. Cross Fell was a beautiful, snowy, almost alpine crossing, albeit with a real sense of jeopardy. Benkinsopp Common was as boggy and miserable as its reputation, and hallucinating your way across the Cheviots is an overrated and extremely long experience. But while there were bleak and uncomfortable moments, I knew I was there for the long haul.
The Pennine Way chipped away, and my body just about held together to reach Kirk Yetholm in 119 hours, 22 minutes and 9 seconds, finishing 11th overall and 8th male, one of 87 finishers from 194 starters.
It was everything I’d hoped for, and a privilege to experience the Spine in full winter conditions.
Sat 17 Jan: We brought the numbers, the noise and the blue-and-amber power to Richmond Park for the 105th Blackheath Mob Match – and came away victorious! With 45 runners taking on 18 “Heathens,” our depth, grit and go-faster stripes shone through. Our ladies dominated the top spots, our vets proved age is just a number, and our mob secured our sixth mob win in a row!
▪️ Read the full race report here >
Sat 17 Jan: Sally Minchella writes: The Box Hill fell race is the only fell race in South East England, and is a popular and a long standing event run by South London orienteers (SLOW). Entries open at 12:01 on Boxing Day and sell out within around 30 minutes!
It is held on the third Saturday in January, clashing with the mob match scheduled for the same date, though some hardier folk take this as an opportunity to run a "double" (or even a triple with parkrun!). The course involves 13k and 600m of ascent, made up of three different ascents and descents of box hill plus two slightly smaller ones.
Ranelagh usually field some strong teams of hill loving folk and this year was a particularly strong result with Suzy Whatmough taking the female win, and Ranelagh taking the team wins for both women's and men's teams (made up of Suzy, Lizzie Broughton, Sally Minchella and Peter Cook, Joe Killip, Nick Impey and Mark Herbert respectively).
Particularly pleasing this year was that the organisers actually had a women's trophy to present to Suzy, having failed in a prior year (to much complaints from Ranelagh folk!). It is a unique wooden trophy with a model of a gate complex featuring a working gate, dog gate and style!
Shout out to those who came on to cheer and support our teams: Rebecca Bissell, Mike Morris and Carol Aikin. Kudos to those who did the double (Box Hill & Mob Match): Joe Killip and Nick Impey; and BIGGER kudos to those who did the triple (parkrun, Box Hill & Mob Match): James Ritchie and Mike Thomas.
Social Roundup
We were thrilled to welcome Bearcats’ runners to our clubhouse on Sunday 11th January for a morning that was all about running, friendship, and community.
A total of 62 runners – 47 from Bearcats and 15 from Ranelagh – set off in seven groups to enjoy the park together, returning after an hour or so to the clubhouse filled with the smells of fresh coffee, tea, and pastries. It was a real delight to see the space buzzing, to hear laughter and chatter filling every corner, and to watch people of all abilities enjoy the morning at their own pace.
The atmosphere reminded us why these social runs are such an important part of club life, and we’re already thinking about running a repeat session in the summer.
A huge thank you goes to everyone who helped make the morning run so smoothly: Ruth Gledhill, Clare Slater-Gallon, Tamsin Burland, Clare & Jeremy Day, Eleanor Broughton, Ryan Sutton, John, Oli Olgen (despite being hungover!), Sue Camp, Wiebke Kortum, Ann Kearey, John Tovell – plus Rick Jenner, who helped with serving, and Felix von Schubert, Ted Mockett and Lloyd Camp, who popped in for a chat.
Your energy, support, and smiles made the morning truly special, and it’s moments like these that show just how welcoming and vibrant our club community is.
CAN YOU HELP?
Already in its second running, the Ranelagh Sunday Coffee Club has been very well received but in order for it to continue, we need volunteers to help out this Sunday 24 January any time from 8-11am.
We’re also hoping to grow a team to take on producing a schedule/rota for future weeks - ideally a team of two - or more - per Sunday.
Duties are relatively straightforward, once per month get pastries, checking tea/coffee, open the clubhouse, put the heating on then clear up and close. All expenses will be reimbursed & full support given.
If you can help (even for one Sunday), please email coordinator@ranelagh-harriers.co.uk >
ranelagh half marathon
Early bird prices will end 31 January 2026!
A reminder to make the most of the early bird prices for the Ranelagh Half (and the 10K) while you can. Although there are still a few months of cross country to enjoy, the Surrey Road League will be here before we know it.
For those unfamiliar, the Road League is a season-long race series with men’s and women’s competitions across senior and age-group categories — a brilliant way to race regularly, score points for your club, and enjoy some friendly competition across the county.
This year’s series includes nine races, with your best five results counting. As always, our key events — the Ranelagh Half (Sunday 10 May) and the Ranelagh 10K (Sunday 21 June) — are part of the series, so why not make the most of our early-bird prices and secure your entries now.
Training
Although the winter solstice had passed, it’s still pretty dark both in the mornings and in the evenings. Plus it’s also much colder.
So a reminder to please wear appropriate clothing - hi-vis/reflective, warm clothing — not just during training, but also when travelling to and from the clubhouse or track. Plus don’t forget your lights or head/chest torches - staying visible is key to staying safe.
Tuesdays’ sessions have resumed. Please meet at our clubhouse for 7pm. Find the latest training schedules here >
Thursdays’ track sessions have resumed. Please meet at Osterley track for 7.30pm. Find the latest training schedule here >
Notices
Club
1️⃣ Share: Your running related celebrations & achievements in our ‘General Club Chat’ group. We love seeing what you get up to!
2️⃣ Shout out: Well done to Liam Esguevillas helped his school team win the Sevenoaks Senior Knole Run, with a blistering 19:04 to place 7th (U15) in the 5km race.
3️⃣ Club Subs: 2025/2026 subs are due. Payments to Ranelagh Harriers | HSBC | 40-23-29 | 81109847. For other payment options, head to www.ranelagh-harriers.co.uk/join-info
3️⃣ Kit: If you’ve previously ordered kit, please message our Kit Secretary Agnes Nagy via WhatsApp Community to arrange collection.
Community
1️⃣ Thames Towpath 10: This 10 miler will return on Sunday 12 April, following the same fast, flat and scenic Thames-side route. Entries @ https://www.west4harriers.com/thames-towpath-10-mile-2026/
2️⃣ Pacing opportunities: Xempo are looking for pacers for races in Feb, March & April. Details @ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScyqVNU1UVOnzjh6-rLsRvDVtHt7WBTPCyEeEJGCzcMGWBgfQ/viewform >
3️⃣ Aged 18–35? Joe from Advanced 1 is looking for athletes to take part in a 2-week study at St Mary’s University on indoor vs outdoor testing and receive gold-standard performance data. Details @ https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/stmarys/comparing-indoor-vs-outdoor-lactate-threshold-testing-protocols
