Wow, what a record breaking week it’s been. Not just in terms of the weather but also for our amazing GB & NI athletes running their hearts out in the World Athletics Championship in Eugene, Oregon. There’s certainly been some astonishing performances to entertain those struggling to sleep in the humidity so before we go any further, let’s pause to appreciate the efforts of:
💙 Jake Wightman: who stormed home to win gold in an epic, and brilliantly run, Men’s 1500m, clocking a PB of 3 mins 29:23 secs
💛 Laura Muir: who ran her heart out in the Women’s 1500m, taking bronze in what was a gruelling and fast-paced race, clocking her 2nd fastest time ever (3 mins 55:28 secs)
💙 Dina Asher-Smith: who took bronze in the Women’s 200m in 22.02 secs, against an incredibly fast international field
💛 Matthew Hudson-Smith: our 400m British record holder, who held his form and nerve, to claim bronze in the 400m, in an astonishing 44.66 secs
💙 GBR Men’s 4 x 100m relay team: where the newly formed quartet of Jona Efoloko, Zharnel Hughes, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Reece Prescod took bronze in 37.83 secs
* STOP PRESS: Since the time of writing, Keely Hodgkinson took silver in the Women’s 800m, with her 2nd fastest time ever of 1 min 56.38 secs, narrowly missing out on 1st place. And the British women’s 4x400m relay team – Laviai Nielsen, Ama Pipi, Emily Diamond and Jessie Knight – clinched third spot in 3 mins 29.27 secs 👏
Utterly inspirational. And it seems many of you have been inspired too, as we’ve had some amazing efforts this week, reflected in a respectable (especially given the heatwave) club total of 5,479 km over 632 activities!
So, onwards and upwards to the week’s rundown…
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🔷 The week started insanely hot, with temperatures forecasted to reach 40 degrees by Tuesday. Nationwide red warnings were issued, travel was discouraged unless vital or necessary and shock horror, shock horror, even official Ranelagh training was cancelled!
But some of you persevered and a new kind of ‘club’ began to form over Monday & Tuesday. There was the 5am club, the 6am club, the 7am club, the 8am club and even a 9am club as some set out earlier to avoid the worst of the high temperatures. First out of the blocks was Hadi Khatamizadeh with his run @ 5:29am, pipping Chris Lepine on his run @ 5:41am, followed by James Riley at 5:50am, who stated ‘dunno what all the fuss is about 😉’. Yeah right, James.
There was a more leisurely start for Gordon Whitson @ 6:25am plus a few others but Liam Joyce came out boldly to ask, ‘heatwave? what heatwave?’ in his ’race against the sun’. Monday was the milder of the days but even so, there were only 3 people nutty enough to run in the afternoon, Andy Griffin who stated it was his ‘hottest ever 5k’ (no s&^t Sherlock), Cordy Parker and Toni Borreda. Andy Freeman opted for a 5.20pm run but admitted to having ‘a long sit down and chill out in the middle’, while Owen Delaney was obviously too hot to speak, with his 🦌 🌳 🦟🦟🦟 🌳 🐇 run @ 8.10pm.
🔶 By Tuesday, the 5am club saw Ed Perry first out @ 5.16am, stating ‘Not like I was asleep anyway. No-one about. Plenty warm enough though’. Marianne Malam was 1 minute behind with her ‘sunrise run’ cause she ‘couldn’t sleep’. At 6.59am Carole Aikin was ‘trying to find the shade 😎’, while in the 8am club, James Whistler ran ‘in the Savannah aka Bushy Park’, Gary Armstrong had a ‘morning shake out’, then quickly ‘back inside to hide from the heat’, as Vierka Leaf, ran straight from her morning run and ‘into the cold shower’.
9am club member Shaun Griffith mused, ‘Is it hot??….. asking for a friend 🌞🥵’ as he ‘tried to find shade along the river but only found sun’. Then by lunchtime, it was clear that the heat had really affected some: Ed Forbes actually went for a 3.24km run @ 11.02am. Yup. He did. Clare Fowler went one better, she managed 5.23km @ 12.39pm, then proclaimed, ‘F**k me it’s hot!’. Yes Clare love, it is! Kathy Allison Henry was slightly more prudent but had to admit it was ‘hot even on the treadmill’.
As official training was cancelled, there was no official training. However, it was Rundown’s very own Hadi Khatamizadeh’s birthday so there was ‘unofficial training with a pub visit after’. There was also a crew that Tristian Thornhill was part of, forming the inaugural ‘Ranelagh aquathon’, which was a ‘social run with a swim in the Thames near Hammerton’s ferry’. But Richard Gurd summed it up for most of us with his 1 sec Strava post, stating simply, ‘Not running today! 🥵’
🔷 By mid-week the temperatures had cooled somewhat, but it was still pretty humid. Slowly but surely though, the Ranelagh running machine whirred back up to near normal levels: Vaughan Ramsey and Ted Mockett took on the Arethusa Mile, ahead of a much needed deluge; Liam Joyce ‘ran home from le pub’, noting that ‘Camden Hells is a surprisingly good jogging fuel’; James Ritchie ran up Glastonbury Tor against a bike & a car (car won); Carol Aikin found her ‘heavenly shade 😎’ during her 18.5km LSR; Claire Warner & Alex Ring had a ‘Nice run’ in Nice, France, while Mark Byatt ran up Polzeath Hill in Cornwall TEN times 🤷 The things one does while on holiday.
🔶 On Saturday, in parkrun land, Jonny Smith placed 1st at Old Deer Park (17:44), Ted Mockett came 5th at Kingston (18:04), while James Whistler ran a parkrun PB for his 350th parkrun at Cardiff. Over in Singapore, Nick Impey took 1st place as well as the age record in 15:47, James Ritchie placed 2nd at Sharpham parkrun (20:19), Paul Negri ran sub 21min (20: 47 – 80.54% age grading!) in Edinburgh, while Hadi Khatamizadeh dipped under 20mins (19:44) at Dulwich. But a HUGE shout out must go to Chris Camacho who completed 500 parkruns at Kingston, taking his overall parkrun total to 619. Utterly amazing!
🔷 On Sunday, saw 3 more than a bakers dozen worth of Ranelagh Harriers (that’s 16 in normal money) take on the Elmbridge 10k. Mark Herbert (00:37:45), Stewart Stanton (00:39:27), Shaun Griffith (00:39:51), Philip Andrews (00:45:45), William Griffin (00:46:44), Rebecca Bissell (00:47:14), Paul Wapshott (00:48:02), Rachel Revett (00:50:18), Chris Read (00:53:50), Carol Aikin (00:54:28), Sally Bamford (00:55:38), Mick Lane (00:56:33), Janet Turnes (01:08:34), Candice Goddard (01:09:14), Sue Lear (01:12:41) and Stacey Mills (01:15:34) all flew yellow & blue to make us all proud! Fab work everyone.
In closing, here are a few shout outs to:
💙 9-year old Laura, Thea & Lyla who are cycling from Dieppe to Paris to raise money for their favourite charities. Their epic journey will involve 250km in 5 days with at least 5 hours cycling per day. Accompanied by their doting dads, Ranelagh’s very own James Graham & Rick Jenner plus friend David Kaye, they’ve already smashed the first leg Dieppe to Neufchâtel-en-Bray (approx.. 44km). Keep going girls! 🥰 Learn more about their efforts & support them here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lytpari2022?utm_term=R5rpmNa5K
💛 Cordy Parker who smashed her PB by 10 whole secs in the 3km (10:04) at the Thames Valley Harriers Open. Fab work Cordy! 💥
💙 Jarryd Hillhouse who ran over 60km – in the local area – in preparation for the Comrades race in August. Well done Jarryd! 💪
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Reminders:
📢 There’s space for three teams of five runners in the popular River Relay, taking place on Sunday 4th September. The race starts at 9am from the Chapel of St Mary Magdalene on Lock Path at Boveney, and finishes at the Hawker Centre, Kingston. This distance is approximately 26.5 miles and the stage distances are 5.6 + 4.4 + 6.5 + 4.9 + 5.2.
It’s a mixed team event – there must be at least one woman, the others can be a woman, a Veteran (over 40) but not more than 3 Senior Men. Entries are £17.50 (this includes petrol money etc). This is a fun day – think Green Belt Relay but smaller! If you’d like to be part of a team (or help on the day), please email Fionaldn@gmail.com or message Fiona on 07930399534
📢 Don’t forget to register (if you haven’t already) for the event of the summer: Dave’s cRaZy Track Meet! Open to all members + their family and friends, this great event takes place on Sunday 21st August @ Osterley track between 1 – 5pm. There’s something for everyone: music, picnics (BYO), and a mix of traditional, unusual, and novel events including 400m, beer mile, backwards 100m and many more. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/gdtt8WNrGdQ4DN9r8
📢 Registration is open for the Henty Relay on 2nd August @ 7pm. Join in as teams of 3 take on 6 laps of approx.. 1.3 miles per lap. Entry is free but you must register in advance before 11pm on Saturday 30th July. This event is open to all ages & all speeds. Friends, family & guests may also enter but everyone will need to register in advance. Kindly note that on the day registration is NOT possible.
REGISTER HERE @ https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/henty-relay-tickets-390041413367
The Leaderboards
Distance:
🔹 Joji Mori 126.8km
🥇 Jonathan Moore 119.5km
🔸 Tom Middleton 114.4km
🥈 James Riley 111.3km
🥉 Jarryd Hillhouse 103.8km
🔹 Ellen Clague 69.1km
🥇 Neha Rani 67.7km
🥈 Jo Moore 67.0km
🥉 Cordy Parker 64.6km
Climbers:
🥇 Toby Cooper 2,208m
🔹 Joji Mori 2,009m
🥈 Ralph Street 1,697m
🥉 James Ritchie 1,530m
🥇 Sally Minchella 1,680m (2nd overall)
🥈 Ria Woodfield 1,275m
🥉 Kathy Allison Henry 346m
Get Involved:
1. Join the Strava group: https://www.strava.com/clubs/ranelagh-harriers
2. Log your run and give it a catchy title.
3. Give our segments a shot!
4. Check back here every week for highlights
5. Note that Activity and Profile Privacy settings will need to be set to Everyone if you want the rundown team to be able to see your individual runs
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