Tewin Cross Country
Sunday, 15th January 2012
The temperature may have been close to freezing, but the sun shone on Garden City
Runners’ home fixture in the Sunday Cross-Country League. Before the start, the hard frost
made the ground dry as a bone, and many runners opted for flat road shoes. But by the
second lap, with the sun blinding eyes and with two hundred pairs of feet softening it up, a
top layer of greasy mud had formed, leaving those with spikes and studs the advantage, as
competitors slipped and slid.
First finisher was Dave Morgan of Serpentine – the huge London-based running club - in a
very fast time of 32:21 for the 5.8 miles. Pete Williams of Trent Park was second in 32:58,
with Steve Harrison of Team Trisports third in 33:51.
Andy Holt was first in for GCR – 14th in 35:44, followed by Bruce Judge; 23rd in 36:12. Russell Casey was 30th in 36:51 and Rob Casserley 37th in 37:33. Newcomer Paul Richardson, making his race debut for the club, surprised both himself and his clubmates with a splendid 44th in 38:09. Chris Eland was 55th in 38:53, Alan Routledge 65th in 39:28 and Patrick Bird 73rd in 40:23. The men’s A-team were 5th of 17 teams on the day and lie 5th overall. The vets lie 4th in their table.
Katherine Philp of GCR was first lady overall in 38:00 – convincingly ahead of 2nd placed Deb Rushman of Walden Tri in 38:32. Virginia Bird came 30th in 47:18, Nerida Cremer 39th in 48:41, Jo Matthews 42nd in 49:19 and Jackie Block 54th in 51:23. The GCR ladies’ A-team were 6th on the day and lie 7th of 17 in the table. The vet ladies could only manage 7th on the day but are still 2nd overall after four races with one to go.
Team Trisports of Hitchin and Letchworth top the league with one race to go. Trent Park lie
second, with newcomers Harpenden ARO in third.
Other GCR finishers : Richard Somerset 74 40:27, Andrew Ackrill; 83 - 40:54, Colin Ewin 106 - 42:29, John McDowall 110 - 42:41, Steve Rivett 124 - 43:53, Tim Saban 133 - 44:34, Dave Edwards 137 - 44:44, Sean Bowen 149 - 45:22, Neville Porteous 164 - 46:03, Rick Hole 172 - 46:38, Mick Wise 183 - 47:25, Johan Preis 190 - 47:54, Phil Jones 192 - 48:00, John M Davis 204 - 48:44, John R Davis 206 - 48:56, Wayne Aylott 225 - 50:58, Trevor Block 228 - 51:06, Martin Kaye 253 - 53:17, Clare Boutle 259 - 54:06, Gilly Holdsworth 260 - 54:10, Gary Henderson 262 - 54:30, Louise Smith 272 - 55:57, Sandra Richardson 278 - 56:42, Trace Allen 281 - 57:19, Lynette Stewart 292 - 60:02, Ruth Henderson 300 - 64:15, Nicola Stewart 301 - 68:41, and George Woods 303 - 71:33.
For Nicola Stewart, it was a particularly arduous battle – she had mislaid her inhaler, and friends & family were about to call out the search party, when she appeared on the horizon puffing and wheezing, but still smiling. George Woods put in yet another storming finish as the sole representative of the MV80 category ! But it was another seven minutes before the loudest cheers of the day – for young Simon Harris of Fairlands Valley Spartans - a colourful and much-loved local character. Despite his special needs, in his first season of cross country running with FVS, he remained determined right to the end, and crossed the line as the very last finisher - 304th of 304 in 1 hour, 8 mins 20 secs.
The GCR fixture is very popular with all the clubs in the league, but it has suffered for the last
three seasons with changes forced by the loss of the original start and finish area at Tewin
Water School. The current solution was only ever a stopgap, and both the course and the
venue struggle to cater for three hundred runners. There were issues with car parking, and
bottlenecks at two key gates, where impatient runners were standing around queuing to get
through.
Nevertheless, there was no faulting the service at Race HQ in Tewin Memorial Hall, where the GCR catering staff provided runners, helpers and supporters with tea and coffee, soup and bread, cakes and biscuits. Lynette Stewart’s rock cakes and Lauren Potters melt-in-the- mouth flapjacks went down a storm.
For several of the GCR men it was their second cross country race of the weekend – having run in the fourth London City Runner Metropolitan League fixture the previous day. On another icy cold but brilliantly sunny day at Trent Park, Cockfosters, there was no mud or standing water, just frozen, lumpy, uneven ankle-breaking tundra ! The ‘Met’ League is a whole different level above the Sunday competition. Ex-GCR graduate Kevin Skinner was running for Mo Farah’s old club Newham & Essex Beagles – and finished third in 25:04, behind winner Nick Torry of Serpentine in 24:30. Andy Holt was back to something like his old form, and again first GCR home – 76th in 28:26 for the undulating 4.75 mile course. Mike Bridge tried to go with him, but in the final 300 metres on a brutal uphill climb, he couldn’t hang on. He finished 80th in 28:34.
There were excellent runs from Russell Casey – 151st in 30:30, Rob Casserley - 175th in 31:05 and rapidly improving Chris Eland – 187th in 31:27. Steve Livingstone finished 217th in 32:36, Sean Bowen 244th in 33:38, Bernie Barnaby 262nd in 34:10, Wayne Aylott 318th in 39:51 and Trace Allen 321st of 335 in 40:16. The GCR men lie 7th in the vets’ table with one race to go.
Martha Hall was the lone GCR in the ladies’ race – but that didn’t prevent her from running one of her best performances in the league in several years. In a race won by Lizzy Hall of Herts Phoenix in 22:47, Martha finished just behind deadly rival Sally Onn of St Albans Striders covering the 6km course in 24:51 to finish in 11th place.
Photos by Bernie Barnaby at runherts (from the top: Virginia Bird, Jo Matthews, Nerida Cremer)
More photos here
Garden City Runners Bronzed
Sunday, 8th January 2012
The Hertfordshire Senior Cross-Country Championships was a partial success for GCRs this year.
The course was four laps for men (7.2 miles) and three for women (5.4 miles) in Fairlands Valley
Park, Stevenage. That entailed much undulating grassland with some muddy sections through
woodlands to negotiate. The weather was conducive to a good turnout and 200 club runners took
part.
Top ten National Cross-Country finisher Neilson Hall of Herts Phoenix retained the men’s title. Ben Nagy of Enfield & Haringey AC was over a minute behind. These guys lapped half a dozen GCRs. The St Albans Striders won the men’s team prize. Barnet AC narrowly edging out the Garden City Runners for silver by seven points. The first six athletes in each team are scorers and the bronzed GCRs were:
8th David Vaughan 40.20 (good to see one of GCRs big guns firing)
16th Mark Dickinson 41.20 (brand new vet)
26th Andy Holt 43:06 (carved his way through the field as usual)
32nd Jaime Reed 44.12 (had a superb run)
36th Russell Casey 44:45 (paced it well, picked off Striders)
38th Peter Harvey 45.03 (assisted by his bicycle?)
(photo (right): Patrick Bird elegance in motion)
A minute after the sixth scorer Rob Casserley arrived in 47th
followed by Markus Allen in 58th. Markus had a cold but was
kept warm by figure hugging black spandex under garments
(the choice of cyclists). Chris Eland was 60th and Sean Bowen
(captain) 69th policed the midfield. Richard Somerset came 75th
and beat (up?) his rivals Steve Williams (a dnf) and Richard
Bloom of Herts Phoenix. Patrick Bird was 79th and pleased
with his performance just ahead of Colin Ewin placing 81st.
Dave Edwards (coach) was 93rd and Tim Saban 104th who is
making steady progress. Paul Gatens was 109th just head of half
marathon specialist Trace Allen in 113th and Craig Stephenson
115th all giving the field decent padding. Steve Williams aside, the
course also devoured two other GCRs, Tom Denbigh and Patrick
Pearce were forced to retire.
(photo (left): Marcus Allen sporting spandex)
Dave Desborough was there in support and Tracy Desborough,
Martha Hall and Caroline Hale were GCRs cheerleaders, Caroline
marshalling all day.
Ladies first, but not this time as there were only two GCRs running. Virginia Bird and Sandra Richardson came 38th and 75th respectively. Patrick and Virginia’s daughter Elizabeth won the under 17s. Victoria Webster from Shaftesbury Barnet was the ladies county champion pushed all the by Lizzy Hall of Herts Phoenix. The St Albans Striders won the team prize.
(photo (below): Most of the GCR Men’s Team)
(photo (right): Andy Holt unique style)
The senior men’s and women’s prize
presentation was held at the sailing club about a
mile and half away from the start/finish line. The
officials almost outnumbered the audience of four
runners including:
Ben Nagy (2nd man), Adrian Mason (Barnet AC
ever-present & WGC resident), Sean Bowen
(GCR lynchpin) and Peter Harvey (GCR roving
reporter). Peter knew he was the last GCR scorer
and sensing the steely whiff of county medals
turned up in hope to receive. He was not to be
disappointed.
(Photo: Team by Steve Williams, Individual Runners by Martha Hall)
More photos at:
http://imageshack.us/g/856/andyholt.jpg/
Race Report: Peter Harvey
The Buntingford Year End
The Buntingford Year End 10 has been a regular fixture on the Herts scene for many years. It is an officially certified 10 mile course. However my Garmin 305 watch has made it 9.91 miles each time each of the three times I have run it. At least my watch is consistently wrong.
In recent years this race has been very cold, including last year when it was cancelled due to ice. On this occasion it was comfortable enough waiting around in vest and shorts after a warm-up jog to the start. It begins in a housing estate and does some loops around it before setting off into the countryside. The route passes by Aspenden then onto Westmill. There it turns to the right for steepest part of the course but it soon levels out. Now a big loop is taken through the hills before returning to Westmill and back to Buntingford.
The first GCR home was Keith Mclellan in 1:06:32. Keith is a second claim Vet who turns out for us occasionally to add to the wealth of very good male V50s we have. I didn't see him there so I presume he was not wearing a GCR vest. Next home was yours truly, Rick Hole. Starting off I thought I would not push myself too hard in the first half and enjoy it. Things sped up after six miles because there was lot of downhill. All the way around I could see Tim Saban probably 100-200 metres in front until getting near Buntingford I saw the distance between us was shortening. I still had enough in the tank for an accelerated finish and passed him with half a mile to go finishing in 1:16:55, closely followed by Orville Archer (1:17:14) and Tim (1:17:17).
Mick Wise (1:23:48) & Craig Stephenson (1:25:10) were our middle order batsmen. Gilly Holdswoth (1:31:19) was our first lady, and Dave Brown (1:34:34) our first and only over sixty. Second Lady, Marie Byrne (1:50:50) completed the GCR contingent.
Peter Harvey was there supporting on his bike and taking photographs. It seemed like he was everywhere. It was like having half a dozen supporters.
I would recommend this race. It's a nice way to blow away some of the unnecessary calories we indulge in over Christmas. It's also good to have a 10 mile road run through pleasant countryside and villages.
Glorious Cross-Country at Watford
11th December 2011
If you love running through the woods make the Sunday League cross-country fixture at Watford a permanent date in your diary. The course starts in picturesque Cassiobury Park with an up- and downhill horseshoe before crossing the Grand Union Canal and traversing West Herts Golf Club. Then the fun really begins. The 5.65ish mile route snakes through Whippendell Wood diving down into boggy ravines filled with orange and brown leaves. Two laps in the forest means repeating some steep climbs, the last one a concave shaped hill that really tests the runners back up towards the golf course. There is a total of about 177m of climb with hardly any flat sections.
The runners set off in cool conditions the head of the field going off course at the first bend adding inadvertently adding 50 yards on. The winner of the race was V40 Hendrik Zietsman of Serpentine who ran a marathon in 2:25 three years ago. His time was 31 minutes 42 seconds and was over a minute ahead of the next man. Bruce Judge (who ran a 2:41 marathon last year) was the first GCR man home clocking 35 minutes 27 seconds good for 22nd place, his recovery from injury a fait accompli. Peter Harvey (who ran a 2:51 marathon 26 years ago) was the second GCR man who only just made the start having got lost in Watford’s one way system on his bicycle. Young Patrick Pearce was next and is on the mend. Chris Eland, Alan Routledge, Neville Porteous, Richard Somerset (erector of the tent) and Colin Ewin completed the first men’s senior team made up of all over 40 year olds apart from baby faced assassin Pearce. Patrick was an outstandingly good track runner some years ago and before getting injured could have bettered 2:45 for the marathon.
Coach Edwards was ever present and Captain ‘sensible’ Bowen ran within himself to protect a niggle. Steve Trice and Paul Gatens were next. Rick Hole, Tim Saban, Johan Preis and Perry Gear all finished close together. Andy Shadbolt, Wayne Aylott, John Davis and Trevor Block packed out the field too.
New find Celia Devereux (in her brand new clean WHITE road shoes) flew the GCR flag being 6th lady in 40 minutes 58 seconds. Veronica Shadbolt was two places behind and 2nd lady over 45. The fastest lady was also over 45: Deb Rushman from Walden Tri who finished in 38 minutes 6 seconds. Jackie Block was within a minute behind husband Trevor followed by Gilly Holdsworth and Clare Boutle the last scorer. Jo Magnusson and Louise Smith completed the GCR entry. Ladies Captain Caroline Hale cheered on the troops and did the paperwork.
The senior and vets ladies teams came 8th which is where the senior team is in the overall standings. The vets team is precariously in second place with many teams on their heels and a fair way behind the leaders Walden Tri. The senior mens team also came 8th and they are 7th in the overall series. The men’s masters team were 6th and place 4th overall. Garden City Runners would place much higher with more of its faster runners turning out even if they treated the outing as a tempo run.
The atmosphere at the Sunday League races is friendly and keen. The communal changing in the tent is fun and adds to the feel good factor of cross-country.
Race report by Peter Harvey
Brilliant photos by Bernie Barnaby of which there are many
more to download free and in very high resolution at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/berniebarnaby/
Chocolate Santas all round at the Festive 5
4th December 2011
The first-ever running of the ‘Festive 5’ was held over the Herts Phoenix AC division two midweek road racing league course. The two lap fast course was around Parkway, Russellcroft Road, Valley Road and Lemsford Lane, giving the runners good views of the fountain. A few local running clubs were invited and 75 runners set off from Stanborough Green on a cold morning.
Roy Scott was the first runner home in 26 minutes 43 seconds. Roy runs for Southend AC and is a sub-9:30 3000m track runner, but on this occasion he was in his GCR colours. He was over a minute ahead of second placer Steve Kemble, also of GCR. At 52, Steve is one of the best runners in the country in the MV50 category. Simon Jackson of Fairlands Spartans came third and was the first non-GCR finisher. The Spartans had their own club handicap on the same day but Simon found what GCR was offering more convenient. GCR won the men’s team prize with another supervet, Dave Desborough third scorer and fifth overall.
The first lady home was Sally Onn of the St Albans Striders in 31 minutes 40 seconds. Sally was recently first lady in the Stevenage Half Marathon. Virginia Bird was the second lady and first scorer for GCR. Carol Reid and Helen Paine joined Virginia to secure the ladies’ team prize for the Garden City club. The team winners won bufferers.
Fifty five minutes after finishing the Festive 5, GCR’s Rob Hughes and Peter Harvey ran the Jingle Bells & Bows 5km at Stanborough Lakes - organized by Herts Phoenix AC. Peter easily won the event for the second year in a row and Rob’s son Tom aged 8 ran all the way to be the first child home. Several newcomers made their race debut – including Caron MacLeod and Sarah Somerset. The improving Richard Somerset headed a gaggle of GCRs including Alan Routledge, Neville Porteous, Dave Edwards and Pat Bird. Dave Beasley of Herts Phoenix who also trains with GCR deserves a mention given the strength he has had to sport through relatively recent adversity. Kudos also goes to recent GCR member Cecile Diener and Jade Davis from the beginners group.
Each finisher earned a large medal and a delicious chocolate Santa (Sam’s idea). Each Santa was over 500kcal the equivalent of a couple of Mars bars, enough energy for a ten miler. There were also loads of free cakes, the millionaires shortbread was simply divine. Massive thanks go to Martha Hall and Sam Smith who organized the event. There were many marshals and helpers including Sean Bowen, Terry and Elaine Fowler ensuring the event ran very smoothly. Dennis Draper played cheerleader a few days after having an operation to restore his bionic man status. It is hoped that the Festive 5 will become a regular fixture and entries could be extended to be open to allcomers.
Until 1999 there was a 5 mile event in Welwyn Garden City over the almost exact same course. The Puma 5 as it was known was won by Sammy Kipketer in 22 minutes and 30 seconds which was unofficially a world record for a 5 mile road race.
photos by Martha Hall
The Sunday League, Trent Park
A damp foggy grey blanket shrouded Trent Park for the Sunday League fixture on 20th November 2011. Garden City Runners set up shop erecting a dinky marquee come oversize novelty tent. The atmosphere was social without the air carnality found at Met League fixtures. Over 300 runners including 33 GCRs herded off into the leafy parts of the park. The 5.2 mile two lap course is more a multi-terrain extravaganza than cross-country. The country parts were so well mown that ordinary road trainers sufficed. Unusually for cross-country there was plenty of tarmac which wore the pimples down on everyone’s studs. Trent Park is hilly and there was about 150m each of climbing and descending. The scenery is great, although the runners did not see that as the fog never lifted. The golden autumnal shades were on display and made the sections through the forest beautiful.
Race reports have recently been beginning with one man. The man of the moment, and that’s a very long moment, is Dave Desborough. Dave was the first GCR man home finishing 19th and second over 50. Jaime Reed had a great run finishing 30th with Rob Casserley and Markus Allen not far behind. Markus was modelling ballet dancer tight like bottoms over the top of compression calflettes. Captain Bowen, Peter Harvey, Steve Livingston and Keith McLellan packed out positions in the 50s and completed the men’s first team. It was good to see Patrick Pearce coming back after an injury. Neville Porteous and Alan Routledge followed for the men. Richard Somerset ran very well and got his revenge over Steve Williams who beat him at Fairlands last week. However, Steve did cycle to the event whilst Richard, a top class club rider, went by car. Peter Harvey can confirm that Steve had tried very hard because Steve had absolutely nothing left for the up hills on the way back. A few nights before Steve had out bid Peter at auction night for a cycling top, which did not fit Steve unless deemed compression gear. Peter made sure they went the steepest route home.
Dave Edwards, Tim Saban, Rick Hole and Johan Preis, Andy Shadbolt, Perry Gear, Wayne Aylott and John Davies finished in that order. The GCRs that finished before Mick Wise were treated to a real treat. Mick was being overtaken by young lady from Serpentine sprinting 50 yards before the finish. Like a giant steam train Mick pressured his pistons to full bore and his very tall and elegant body steamed forward. His strident motion was magnificent. GCRs cheered for joy as Mick out breasted the beauty right on the line. Trace Allen and Mick Bowe were also in action.
The ladies were brought home by Ladies Captain Caroline Hale in 11th place (119th including the men) showing off more strategically placed tape over various muscles. Veronica Shadbolt was the 2nd woman home over 45. Yvonne Jones and Cath Harris followed with Clare Boutle and Gilly Holdsworth coming in together, one of which was the last scorer for the women’s team. Clare has come along way since winning the inaugural GCR two mile fun run. Angela Scholtzova and Vice Ladies Captain Maureen Steed completed the ladies GCR entry.
Big thanks go to Bernie Barnaby for more great high resolution photos which are available free at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/berniebarnaby/ Currently there is a lovely picture of Angela Scholtzova on the first page of his Flickr website. Bernie also runs and did the Met League fixture at Fairlands last week.
The men’s team finished 3rd and vets 4th. The ladies were 7th and their vets 3rd. In the combined table GCR is 7th out of 17 clubs. We are miles behind our local rivals the St Albans Striders and even Harpenden Aro (the Aro recently going out of business, so lets all pop down to Well Run in WGC run by GCR member Orville Archer) are giving us a spanking. We need more of our faster runners to turn out even if that is just for a scenic and social tempo run.
The day was done, runners had run and it was time to go. But GCR were one man down and just as a search party was being organized slowly out of the gloom a figure emerged. Each step was carefully placed. Everyone stopped what they were doing humbled by what was happening. This soldier had had the longest battle, the hardest run and instantly captured the hearts of those who had not seen him before. Like a mighty colossus his old weary body visibly rose to deliver all he had left in last strength sapping yards. The crowds erupted willing the champ on and he responded. Arms pumping legs burning, the spirit of eternal youth blazed away in his heart. Thank you George Woods, may we all be inspired by your bravery.
George is GCRs over 80 secret weapon and 2010 clubman of the year. He did not finish last at Trent Park and being the first over 70 home reiterates he’s an absolute winner.
Race Report by Peter Harvey
The Met League Experience – Fairlands
12th November 2011
The second Met League fixture was at Fairlands Valley Park in Stevenage on 12th November. The ladies and gentleman do not race each other although they do share the same changing rooms and toilet facilities: a field with a few bushes. That makes for a happy atmosphere especially afterwards when it all gets rather Roman.
The GCR turnout for the ladies was rather thin with only Martha Hall, Caroline Hale and Angela Scholtzova running with 118 women from other clubs. Angela was worried about coming last but she was too racy for that to happen. Caroline sported special tape over one of her Achilles and put in a good performance not being 100% fit. Martha finished 17th and was 3rd vet home showing just how good the standard is of the league. The ladies field looked so young and a few GCRs wondered if it was the big girl’s race.
Mike Bridge was the first GCR man home in 115th. David Desborough was half a minute behind and the fastest over 55 man on the day. Dave is on a very rich vein of form. Thanks go to Dave’s wife Tracy who was the GCR results collator. Slow starting but fast finishing Andy Holt was next followed by Neil Hume who ran an even paced race. Markus Allen sporting a very tight pair of compression calf leggings was not as fast as he normally is but then he did cycle 55 miles in a scorchingly fast 20mph earlier on in the day. He was just ahead of Peter Harvey who cycled to the event with Richard Somerset who both ran well. Peter had his long ride, 75 miles (at a gentle pace) the day after. Rob Casserley came in next and then Chris Eland by which time the organizers at the funnel had completely got their knickers in a twist, which is probably why the results took a couple days to publish. Steve Williams finished with Bernie Barnaby. Bernie is the happy snapper who often provides quality photos for GCRs. Colin Ewin and Patrick Bird were close together. Team Captain Sean Bowen was not quite on peak form so policed his troops from the rear with Richard Somerset and the ever present Dave ‘coach’ Edwards. Rick Hole and Wayne Aylott completed GCRs men’s squadron.
The Met League is team affair and both GCR senior teams are mid-table in the second division. The ladies vets team leads division two. Our strongest team are the men’s vets who are currently 7th out of 10 teams in the top (first) division. There are a few GCR ‘B’ teams too and there are three divisions in total for the seniors and vets.
The course at Fairlands is a mix of grass and woodland footpath. Conditions were so easy that ordinary road trainers sufficed. There were a few relatively small hills and no dangerous sections although some runners trampled over some brambles to avoid the first obligatory bottleneck. The ladies ran 6km and men 8km both doing multiple laps. The weather was warm for November and so we all stripped down to our singlets. The close proximity to WGC and easy course makes this fixture worth doing. The après run at the Waggoners afterwards is an added bonus. There are plenty of cross-country fixtures to come and the ones in the Sunday League are the most local.
Photo taken by Sean Bowen
Stevenage Half Marathon Heroes: Dave, Gen & Eleanor
The 25th Stevenage Half Marathon took place on 6th November 2011. Almost 700 runners started and the event served as the Hertfordshire Veterans County Championships. Two dozen GCRs toed the line whilst Orville Archer froze his socks off setting up the Well Run merchandise stand. The runners headed off uphill into a stiff breeze. Orville was rooted to the moorings of his marquee which never stopped trying to make a bid for freedom. The November gloom was certainly refreshing especially for those in a just a singlet. Thankfully the rain held off. The two lap course is rather like the GC10 with numerous underpasses and more than a whiff of street life. The course has some scenic stretches through Fairlands Valley Park and an encounter with a dog or three is guaranteed. The finish is great being round a track although the strengthening wind down the back straight somewhat blunted many a sprint.
Ladies first, and the big success story of the day was Genevieve Helsby who was the fourth lady home and second 35-44 year old. Therefore she was 3rd in the open competition (you work it out) and got a big cup. Genevieve would have won the vets county title (assumes residence or birth in Herts) if she had ticked the box on the entry form. Gen PBed and will surely go faster than 93.37 being under the tutelage of club coach Dave Edwards who was a few minutes behind. Dave passes on the glory to his flock in his track sessions and is an invaluable asset for the club. Carol Reid picked up third Herts vet in the 45-54s to add to her Kent county medals. Some of our fast women are recovering from injury and had we had another lady high up the field GCR would have won the team prize, which went to St Albans Striders and the Herts vets team was won by the David Lloyd Pacers. However, GCR did have their big gun firing in the over 65s. Eleanor Draper is now the Herts Half Marathon County Champion. Eleanor said, ‘the undulations were tough’ but that did not stop her beating much younger competition. Well done to Sandra Richardson, Ravinder Heer, Lucy Paul, Laura Simmonds, Angela Scholtzova and Rebecca O’Shea many of whom did PBs, Angela by eight minutes. Laura Simmonds has also come on leaps and bounds. Jo Matthews gave support looking very space age riding a swish bicycle and Dennis Draper was also en velo. Tracy Desborough had cheerleading duties and her man did something very special this year.
GCR finishers were again headed by Dave Desborough who was described on the day as an old warhorse by a fellow chum. And Dave did declare war on the rest of the vets field. In fact he not only beat all the over 50s but also blew every Herts over 40s year old to smithereens. So warrior Dave is the Herts Half Marathon County Champion! and retained the 50-59 year old category title. Dave ran 80.21 just beating his time from last year. After the finish he stood without wearing trainers his feet still sizzling in the cold.
Second GCR finisher Peter Harvey was racing his first half marathon in a quarter of a century. He raced with and against Mark Pidduck who has recently returned to form. They went man to man in ‘the duel on the cycle ways’, as witnessed by Sean Bowen and Jaime Reed who both finished within a minute behind. Each man had their strengths which made for a fascinating battle. Mark’s raw torque saw him pull away on every up hill slope. Peter kept catching up and over taking on the down hills because his featherweight body was able to let gravity do the work without any jarring of his legs. But the cruel north wind saw Peter cowering behind Mark for shelter. After ten miles Mark was 30 yards in front at the highest point of the course but Peter increased his cadence (the ability to ‘open his legs’ as he puts it) to get back. The two never ran side by side, always one pushing the other: great hardcore action which is what racing is all about. Peter knew he had to pull away before the last kilometre as that was all uphill so he did his trade mark release of chi (it’s a martial arts thing) for all to hear with ten minutes left to run and got a gap. Mark could not make the deficit up in the stadium and earned a big hug from Peter at the finish with Sean joining in too finishing just behind. Mark ran a PB and Peter was ecstatic with his first individual county medal, 3rd 40-49 (crusty from the neck up category) giving the Mayor of Stevenage a damn good squeeze. Dave, Peter, Sean (the trio who won the Ware 10 team prize for GCR two weeks earlier) and Chris Eland collected the Herts vets team prize for GCR. Chris started running after attending Steve Livingston’s circuit training classes which are on Mondays 8.00pm and Wednesdays 8.30pm at Homerswood School.
Alan Routledge had a good one and looked super cool in shades. Perry Gear did a PB by five minutes and other finishers male included Tim Saban, Steve Trice, Wayne Aylott and Craig Stevenson. John Davis and John Davis were not only both running but finished together which might have confused the organizers. Certainly perplexed me but that was mainly due to ‘the taller’ not being listed as a GCR finisher in the FVS results. The best results are at: http://www.sportsystems.co.uk/ss/results/Half%20Marathon/776
Incidentally the winner of the men’s race, Paolo Natali had no club listed. He was the guy that caused a furore at the Norwich Half Marathon winning under another man’s number. Paolo was disqualified and the incident was splashed all over Athletics Weekly. The Stevenage Half Marathon has the facility to transfer numbers. Sally Onn from St Albans Striders won the women’s race but there was some confusion as Kimberley Mangelshot was listed as the first lady in Sports Systems results. A relative did a Paolo Natali and ran in under her number.
Fairlands Valley Spartans put on a jolly decent show and every finisher got a solid metal 3D mini running shoe to commemorate the events silver jubilee. In previous years the finishers got a T-shirt. The Herts vets medals were also very nice with the individual ones engraved with the big cups were the ones to win. The Herts Vets Championship makes the event more attractive for those who qualify and tick the box. The close proximity to Welwyn Garden City is another bonus. Parking looked substantial and there was a great place for bicycles too. The post race cakes were homemade and tasty. But the Pièce de résistance were the deluxe portaloos with half descent air conditioning, for the chosen few of which I was gratefully one.
| Dave Desborough | 80.21 1st Herts overall vet, 1st 50-59, 1st vets scorer |
| Peter Harvey | 84.40 3rd Herts 40-49, 2nd vets scorer |
| Mark Pidduck | 85.02 |
| Sean Bowen | 85.30 3rd vets scorer and club captain |
| Jaime Reed | 85.52 |
| Chris Eland | 89.14 4th vets scorer |
| Alan Routledge | 92.32 |
| Genevieve Helsby | 93.37 3rd lady |
| Dave Edwards | 97.47 club coach |
| Perry Gear | 1.41.58 |
| Tim Saban | 1.43.24 |
| Carol Reid | 1.44.07 3rd Herts 45-5 |
| John Davis | 1.45.58 |
| John Davis | 1:46:06 |
| Steve Trice | 1.52.47 |
| Wayne Aylott | 1.43.24 |
| Craig Stevenson | 1.53.41 |
| Sandra Richardson | 2.02.59 |
| Ravinder Heer | 2.04.55 |
| Lucy Paul | 2.05.35 |
| Laura Simmonds | 2.07.04 |
| Angela Scholtzova | 2.11.47 |
| Rebecca O’Shea | 2.12.24 |
| Eleanor Draper | 2.14.57 1st Herts 65+ |
Race report: Peter Harvey
Photos:
Dave Desborough Mens Herts Vets Champion
Eleanor Draper Ladies Herts Vets Champion 65+
Genevieve Helsby
Garden City Runners Herts Vets Team Champions
Sean Bowen, Peter Harvey & Dave Desborough (+Chris Eland not present)
Rick's Ricky Road Run
Rick & Perry took on the hills around Rickmansworth, Chorley Wood, and Little Chalfont otherwise known as the Ricky Road Run. Neither of them had tried this course before. Rick finished in 90th place with a time of 1:13:57 and Perry finished in 121st place with a time of 1:16:59. There were 320 finishers. The winner was Matthew Woodman of Stafford Harriers in 53 minutes and 14 seconds.
The Ricky Road Run is now a 9.5 mile race it having been necessary to change the course. It seems many races are being forced to change otherwise they would no longer go ahead. Will there be any road races in twenty years time?
The hills were alive with the sound of runners breathing heavily! Statistics show that the total ascent was 209 metres. It was difficult to make up time on the downhills because some of them were very steep. All good practice for the coming cross country races no doubt. The last mile or so is a downhill blast. That on its own is worth coming back for.
Ware 10 Miler
The third running of the ‘new’ Ware 10 Miler took place on 16th October 2011. After a chilly and foggy start, it cleared up and there was even some pleasant autumnal sunshine. Ware Joggers organized the event very well and profits were donated to the Herts Air Ambulance. The course is multi-terrain and over two laps. The start is on a field near GlaxoSmithKline with plenty of space. There are a couple of short steep up hill sections and sweeping down hills deliver the runners into the River Lea Valley. Much of the course is pan flat and run along side a river/canal. The scenery is pleasant and support around the course adequate. Every finisher gets a T-shirt and there were a few prizes too. The post race cakes were particularly tasty. The Ware 10 Miler is a super race, well organized and definitely worth doing.
Twenty four (possibly more) Garden City Runners lined up at the start in a field of 349 runners. Dave Desborough was at the sharp end and ran alone for practically all of the race. That did not prevent an excellent performance winning the over fifty category (by half a mile) and also beating all the 40-50 men! Peter Harvey had a surprisingly good race given he wanted to do it as a training run having sore arches and a 100 mile cycle ride two days before. He blamed his zeal on starting with Sean Bowen who finished not far behind. Dave, Peter and Sean won the men’s team prize, the Butcher Shield, for Garden City Runners. Alan Routledge dipped under seventy minutes and Richard Somerset a tad over. Kudos goes to Rich as he is more of a cyclist than runner as the chafing of his thighs confirm. Ever present Dave Edwards was ahead of the improving Tim Saban. Orville Archer (Well Run Sports owner in WGC) improved by over two minutes on his GC10 time. Stuart Mann who trains with GCRs won the over 60 vets. Carol Reid was our first lady home and incidentally the leading lady pulled up in agony just before the end of the first lap. Credit goes to Laura Simmonds and Angela Scholtzova in only their second 10 milers. Both set PBs, Angela by a long way, probably because she has recently been burning rubber in Dave Edward’s track sessions.
Photos from RunHerts.com taken by Bernie Barnaby.
Markus & Martha Lead the GCRs at Claybury
For Garden City Runners, the first race of the cross-country league season was in the familiar grounds of Claybury Park in northeast London – between Chingford and Chigwell. The London City Runner Metropolitan League (LCRML) is a series of five races, with some of the top clubs in the London and South Herts area taking part. As usual, the rain had not yet done its work on the bone-dry ground. Most runners wore their road shoes – and the main difficulty was avoiding turning an ankle on the hard, uneven surfaces.
The GCR men’s team was boosted by the unexpected and welcome return of young Markus Allen after missing the summer races. And he was first finisher for the club – 90th out of 355, in a time of 29 mins 23 secs for just short of 8km. Way up ahead, the race was won by Mohamud Aadan of Thames Valley Harriers in a very impressive 24:54. Andy Holt was 100th in 29:45, with Dave Desborough 118th (and first over-55) in 30:09.
Neil Hume, on his first appearance in the league, was 138th in 30:44, and then there was a big gap before next man Steve Livingstone, on his way back to form, 181st in 32:05. Neill Hughes lost the pace in the middle lap, but rallied late on to finish 191st in 32:27, ahead of Sean Bowen 197th in 32:37. Chris Eland was making his own Met League debut – 216th in 33:20.
Dave Edwards was 278th in 35:50, with two more , LCRML first-timers - Colin Ewin 285th in 36:17, and Paul Gatens 314th in 38:22. Wayne Aylott was 329th in 40:15, and Markus’ father Trace Allen was 351st in 44:55. The overall team result sees the GCR men only 5th in the second division, but for the male vets, it was an excellent 6th place in Division 1 – not far behind giants Woodford and Highgate.
Earlier in the afternoon, in the ladies’ race over 6km, Martha Hall came 17th out of 130 in 23 mins 12 secs, with Caroline Hale 40th in 24:56, and Angela Scholtzova in her first-ever Met League appearance, a courageous 128th in 36:46. Becky Penty of Highgate Harriers won in a very fast 20:23. The Claybury parkland is pleasant, calm and scenic, with a mix of grass, woods, and trails - even a short downhill section on road. It includes a fearsome steep uphill slog followed by an equally formidable steep drop, in the middle of each of three laps. But the biggest hazard is the narrow start, where overgrowth forms a bottleneck, as hundreds of runners queue up to get through, and if you miss your step you can trip and get trampled on. For the ladies, a sharp left-hand bend after 200 metres only adds to the frustration.
‘The Met League’ as it’s colloquially known, is one of two competitions which the club take part in from October to February – and it’s the highest standard. The likes of Serpentine, Highgate, Hillingdon and Ealing compete for the top places. The host club, Woodford Green, were very strong on home turf – their A-team topping the table, with their B-team fifth ! Garden City only joined the league a few years ago when they gained some quicker runners from the demise of the old Verlea AC – who actually used to come top of the Met League some years. In contrast to the Sunday series which GCR also run – where the largely veteran club composition is the norm, the ‘Met’ has a much younger age profile – with only 3 over-40s in the first 30 places.
Standalone
Sun 2nd Oct 2011
Garden City Runners used the Standalone 10K at Letchworth as their own club championship 10km road race for the year, and a total of 27 club runners completed it. When the organisers announced that they were moving the start time forward to 09:30am, it sounded way too early in the morning for a dull chilly Sunday in October. Little were they, or the entrants, to know that this was going to be the hottest October weekend since records began – and that the main enemy for runners would be dehydration!
Neil Hume was GCR’s first finisher – 19th overall out of 1062 – in a time of 36 mins 54 secs. He’s been the club’s find of the season, but had been out of race action for a few busy weeks, and was very pleased to be back competing in pretty good form, but knows he can go even better. Dave Desborough came 23rd in 37:15 – and in the process won the prize for the first over-50.
Jaime Reed was 42nd in 38:57, with Sean Bowen 43rd in 39:04 and Neville Porteous battling illness and injury 49th in 39:25. Rob Hughes brought his young family for a day at the farm, and they watched Dad come home in 41:30.
Caroline Hale, GCR’s new ladies’ team captain, was first lady for the club in 41:50. Richard Somerset bust a gut to finish ahead of rival Dave Edwards – 42:48 to Dave’s 42:54, while Richard’s bike team-mate John McDowall ran 43:34.
Rick Hole finished in 49:06 – three minutes down on his target time – but that was after almost passing out in the heat, and being helped across the line by a marshal. Rick commented afterwards that his GPS watch recorded a 30-second hiatus during which he was stuck in one spot – of which he had no memory!
Peter Westlake ran a splendid 52:14 – and in so doing took the prize for first over-70 – a tremendous result for the 78-year-old, who won the same title six years ago! Eleanor Draper took the first over-65 ladies’ title in 1:01:39. There was also a great run from young Nicola Stewart – the last GCR to beat the 60-minute mark, which she did comfortably in 57:53. It capped a very successful summer of personal improvement in which she took the GCR 5km handicap title.
Other GCR finishers : Veronica Shadbolt 44:22 (3rd lady over-45), Tim Saban 46:07, Wayne Aylott 49:28, Andy Shadbolt 49:34, Johan Preis 49:54, Liam Eplett 49:45, Martin Kaye 52:44, Craig Stephenson 53:21, Gilly Holdsworth 53:09, Dave Brown 54:54, Lynette Stewart 1:01:18, Gary Henderson 1:07:10 and Ruth Henderson 1:07:14.
The route started in Wilbury Road, just outside the farm, leading to the village of Norton, along the busy A507 for a mile to Stotfold, and back along the Hitchin road to finish inside the farm. The event is one of the most popular road races in the Hertfordshire calendar, and doubles as the Herts County senior championship. The winner, for the sixth year in succession was Neilson Hall of Bedford and County AC in 30:48, ahead of Woodford Green’s David Wardle in 31:24. First lady was 20-year-old Hannah Walker of Birchfield Harriers in 34:29 – only the top four men were ahead of her !
All finishers received a smart technical T-shirt, and the weather compensated for the primitive facilities at the farm. The race seems to galvanise support from other local organisations in Letchworth, and both the townsfolk and the police seem to get behind it with an enthusiasm which is the envy of other race organisers. But much credit is also due to the host club, North Herts Road Runners, who put on a top-class show, and still managed to field winning teams of four in both men’s and ladies’ categories.
The GARDEN CITY TEN
Sunday 25th September 2011
The runners and supporters who took part in this year’s Garden City 10 were treated to a lovely bright morning and a delightful early autumn atmosphere. The no. 1 road race in the WGC calendar may have moved from the 1st to the 4th Sunday in September, but it certainly hasn’t lost its astonishing luck in enjoying good weather every single time.
And once again, the first ten runners home all beat the ‘magic hour’. The winner was Paul Molyneux of Springfield Striders from Chelmsford, in an impressive time of 53:44. The thirty-year-old - who came 31st in this year’s London marathon in 2:22:16 – led from early on and had a convincing margin ahead of runner-up Jonathan Stead of Herne Hill in 54:26. Third place went - for the second consecutive year - to Molyneux’ Springfield clubmate Mark Newton in 54:58.
The first placed lady – and 11th overall - was Vicky Webster of Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, in 1:00:33. It was her first race at the distance since having a child last year, and she said that she was yet to get her endurance back to her standards over those last few miles. Sharon Morris of Bedford & County AC was second lady in 1:03:48, with Barnet’s Nicola Froud third in 1:09:02.
In the team competition, it was a double victory for St Albans Striders. Their men’s quartet of Simon Riley (8th), Jonathan Scott (9th), John Ockenden (16th) and Colin Braybrook (25th) were easy winners, while the ladies’ trio of Heather Blamire-Brown (56th), Helen Cartlidge (68th) and Gill Jubb (82nd) were also well clear.
The race incorporated the Herts County vets’ 10-mile championships. Guy Woollett of Gade Valley Harriers took gold in the MV40 category in 59:59, with Adrian Sherwood and Nick Malpeli of North Herts Road Runners silver and bronze. First over-50 was David Green of Harpenden AROs in 1:01:55. The over-60 winner was Morris Dempster of Bedfor Harriers in 1:10:31 and the top over-70 Dave Tearle in 1:16:37.
The ladies’ county vets gold went to Sharon Morris – the ex-GCR 2nd-claimer in her first competitive race for a couple of years - with Barnet’s Karen Murphy taking silver and Gill Jubb bronze. Nicola Froud took first FV45.
County vets’ team champions were St Albans Striders – Colin Braybrook, Stephen Smith, Martin Halling and John Hope. Barnet & District took the team silver and Fairlands Valley Spartans bronze. Herts Vet Ladies team gold went to Barnet’s Nicola Froud, Sharon Crowley and Heather Dawson. St Albans Striders took the silver and Fairlands the bronze.
Craig Halsey of Spartans won the Reg Newman trophy for the first local runner (AL7 or AL8 postcode) in 1:00:48.
For the host club Garden City Runners, most members were needed for vital marshalling and organisational jobs, so only a few were actually running. Orville Archer was first GCR man home, finishing 120th in 1:20:49. First GCR lady was Emma Stewart in 1:21:51
Grant Shapps, MP for Welwyn Hatfield, once again acted as the race starter. Prizes were presented afterwards in the school hall by the Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield, Carl Storer. GCR vice-Chair Bruce Judge acted as the MC. Prize winners received vouchers for sports gear from top Hertfordshire running shop Fast Feet.
Like so many road races up and down the country, the GC10 has been forced to make compromises and change the route on several occasions. The current course makes ingenious use of pavements, subways and cycle paths, to eliminate road crossings and maximise safety. From race HQ at Sir Fred Osborn’s school in Herns Lane, it heads out along Black Fan Road,via Mundells and Knightsfield, enters Shire Park, then through to Swallowfields, Knella Road, Ridgeway and Moors Walk. The course markers and marshals did a wonderful job of keeping all 254 runners on the right track.
While the adult athletes were out on the ten mile course, the children’s fun run took place on the school field. Around 35 children took part in one of two distances. The one mile run went all the way around the field, and the short run was just 400 metres. All finishers received a medal for their efforts.
This year’s race charity is Isabel Hospice, which will receive 75% of the race profits.
As always, the caterers worked miracles in the school kitchen, supplying runners and supporters with tea, coffee, bacon sandwiches and an extensive selection of cakes supplied by GCR members. There were minor concerns such as footballers demanding to be let in through the gates, but otherwise everything went smoothly. The electronic timing now enables the presentations to be completed and the school vacated by 1:45pm. Race Director Sue Fletcher was still smiling as she left – no doubt relieved it’s all over – until it all starts again for the 2012 race !
The organisers would like to extend warm thanks to the main race sponsors - Roche Healthcare Products for their generous support. Other sponsors included Fast Feet Sports, Buff Sportswear, Gosling Sports Park and Pratt’s Bananas. They are also grateful for the excellent assistance received from Mid Herts Raynet, who provided on course communications, and to Panshanger Football Club who manned the water stations.