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THE HARRIERS HERALD No. 261, November 2014

Editor: Sue Francis Contents, features, reports, results Thursday night schedules for November and December Correspondence received Annual General Meeting – preliminary information about the Club’s AGM Christmas meal – an update from Martin London Marathon 2015 Club Entry – are you eligible? Race results: Bath Two Tunnels races – Philomena reports on a novel new event; Oxford Half – Philomena

represents the Harriers; Henley 10K – Stan enjoys a local race; Hanney 5 – A prize for Lucy as five Harriers race in the sun; Abingdon Marathon – All Harriers sub-4 on a warm and windy day; Beachy Head Marathon – Five Harriers complete the challenge; two races in one weekend – Pete H enjoys the Tough Mudder and the Great South Run

Handicap Race – Aaron reveals his secret, as he scores a fourth Handicap win and PB Webmaster’s article – Mo features: RunNow website; altering foot strike to improve your running; and

forthcoming races of interest Thanks to Pete H, Philomena and Mo for this month’s contributions to articles and photos Copy date for next Harriers Herald – 30th November

Thursday night schedule for November Thurs 6th Philomena to lead Thurs 13th Mo to lead Thurs 20th Pete O to lead Thurs 27th Handicap Race

Thursday night schedule for December Thurs 4th Martin to lead Thurs 11th Sue B to lead followed by Club AGM (see below for more information) Thurs 18th Richard D to lead Thurs 25th Christmas Day!

Correspondence received

Sender Subject matter Action BBO XC Committee Berks, Bucks & Oxon XC Champs (22-11-14, Slough) Info. Circulated to

members England Athletics England Athletics AGM, and reports File

Compton Harriers AGM 2014 Sue The AGM is scheduled for the evening of Thursday 11th December at 20:00 (after the Club run) at The Pickled Pig bar. All members are encouraged to attend. Further details and an agenda will be circulated nearer the time.

Compton Harriers Christmas Meal 2014 A message from Martin: Just thought I would give you some advance notice that the consensus at the moment appears to be centred on having a Harriers Christmas dinner on Saturday 20th December. My original plan was to try to book the Kingswell, Harwell, which had an annex with a large table that would have accommodated us all. However, following their recent refurbishment, this option is no longer available so plan B is to go to the White Hart in Hampstead Norreys, see Christmas menu here: http://www.goodfoodatthewhitehart.co.uk/christmas-menu Could folks start letting me know whether this would be suitable. If so, Lucy and I will get the ball rolling.

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London Marathon Club Entry 2015 Sue Each year every England Athletics-affiliated running club can apply for a / some 'guaranteed' entries to the London Marathon, the number of entries being dependent on the number of first claim club members. I have just applied on behalf of the Club for 2015 (we usually get 1 entry) and am awaiting confirmation. Although a guaranteed entry, it is not free - the recipient still has to pay the race entry fee. As in previous years, the Club will have a draw (if necessary) to decide who receives this guaranteed place in the Marathon. Those eligible to be in the draw are any first claim members of Compton Harriers who had posted an entry for the Marathon but had that entry rejected. If this applies to you, and you would like your name to go in to the draw, please let me know by Monday 17th November.

Race Results and Reports

Bath Two Tunnels Half Marathon and 10K, 28th September Philomena The races get their name from the renovation of two tunnels from The Somerset & Dorset Railway which closed in 1966. Until April 2013, the tunnels had been sealed and inaccessible, but over the last 7 years they have been given a new lease of life as a shared use path for the enjoyment of runners, walkers and cyclists. The first tunnel; The Devonshire Tunnel, is 408m long and the second, Combe Down Tunnel, is 1672m long. Both tunnels are well lit and well surfaced and if you listen carefully there is even music playing! I enjoyed running through the first tunnel but, by the time I got to the end of the second longer tunnel, my claustrophobia was beginning to kick in…I was glad to see light at the end of the tunnel literally! There is also a full marathon and Fun run and, for the 10K, there are several waves depending on ones speed. To avoid a crush in the tunnels with runners going in both directions, and also to allow for the general public to use the tunnels as normal, the races were started in waves, which worked nicely. All-in-all the races were well organized at least at the beginning, but at the end there were a few hiccups! A box of medals for the half marathon runners could not be found and, as a result, quite a few of the runners did not get their medal at the end although the organizer promised to post them. Also there seemed to be a hiccup with the results, leaving us waiting around for quite a long time! The races were not chipped which might have helped. The half marathon distance was somewhat out, as it turned out to be more like 14 miles which the organisers said was due to the Garmins losing signal in the tunnels. The half marathon course is beautiful (and mostly flat) with a lovely stretch along the river and also with lovely views of Bath, which I think is a beautiful city. Despite the few hiccups I would highly recommend the half marathon and I hope to do it again. Compton Harriers results: Half Marathon: Ryan: 1:38:12 - 11th overall; Meena: 1:57:06 10K: Sus: 58:34 - recovery run after a hard 17 miles on the Saturday before

Oxford Half, 12th October Philomena finished in 1:40:13.

Henley 10K, 12th October Stan enjoyed the race, but didn’t quite achieve his 50-minute target. Next time, Stan!

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Hanney 5, 5th October Sue This long-standing local race, organised by Oxford City AC, is popular with several Harriers, but I had only ever run it once before – in 1997. Back then I ran 32:05 so, 17 years later, decided I would try to break 33 minutes. The single-lap course is very well marked and marshalled, and all on fairly flat quiet roads around the countryside between East Hanney and West Hanney. It was a lovely mild and sunny day with no wind but, had it been windy, I can imagine the race would be quite tough as much of the route is very exposed. Martin had a good run to finish 38th (31:04). I was next home in 74th (33:14), with Jonathan close behind in 79th (33:41). Lucy was 117th (36:57) and Colin 138th (38:46). There were 196 finishers. The presentation was delayed and slightly disorganised but was worth the wait, as Lucy collected a bottle of wine and a tenner as a category prize. Race winners were Darrell Bellinger (Oxford) in 25:27 and Diane Moore (Headington) in 29:19.

Abingdon Marathon, 19thOctober The Abingdon Marathon took place on a mild, dry and sunny day, but there was a brisk southerly wind which was tough for the runners on the more exposed stretches of the route. Martin paced himself very well, and was clearly still enjoying himself (see photo!) in the last few miles as he remained strong and reeled in a lot of other runners to finish in 3:19:03 (168th). Jonathan had a good first half of the race but, suffering from a cold, found the last 13 miles tough. Nevertheless, he was still over half-an-hour faster than last year, with a very respectable 3:58:52 (447th). Lucy ran a sensible first half and maintained her form, looking strong and relaxed at 21 miles, and passing lots of runners including Jonathan. Lucy finished in 3:53:27 (413th). Race winners were Chris Jordan (Leicester) in 2:32:35 and Sophie Carter (Belgrave) in 2:50:21, and the last finisher (638th) ran 5:50.

Top L: Harriers at the Hanney 5

Martin, Lucy and Jonathan at 21M in Abingdon Marathon

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Beachy Head Marathon, 25th October Five Club members completed this tough multi-terrain marathon. Ryan was first Harrier home, finishing 164th in 4:01:49. The other Harriers, despite having run their ‘own races’, found themselves all finishing close together: Martin (420th, 4:33:34), Lucy (421st, 4:33:35), Philomena (432nd, 4:34:16) and Jonathan (494th, 4:38:53). They also caught up with former Harrier, Neil Fitzgerald, who now lives up North, and finished in 4:33:47 (424th). The race winners were Stephan Wenk (2:55:38) and Jo Singer (3:32:42).

Two races in one weekend - Tough Mudder & Great South Run, 25th & 26th October Pete H I somehow got persuaded to enter the most expensive event of my life, aka the Tough Mudder (London South) and, along with eight colleagues from the office, we set off for Winchester on Saturday 25th October. Yes, I know the organiser’s geography is a bit suspect. The promoters adopt a Ryanair style pricing structure – the nearer to the event you enter the more it costs, in our case £100 including the compulsory insurance. Extras include £3 for the bag drop, £10 for parking and a further £10 for premium parking – none of which feature on the website when you book. As luck had it one of the team, Dale, has his family farm down the road so his dad gave us a lift to the start. He did think about spectating until he discovered that would also cost £10. You’ll not be surprised to learn that the two guys who set up the company are millionaires. The Mudder consists of a 12 mile run on hilly terrain interspersed by 20 army assault course style obstacles, many of which involve mud or water. Strictly speaking it’s a challenge rather than a race as no finish times are given. All the obstacles have quirky names such as balls to the wall which consists of climbing a high wall using a rope and electric eel in which you crawl through dangling electrified wires.

As someone who has never been on a diving board because I’m not keen on going under water, partly due to fear of losing my contact lenses, there were two obstacles I wasn’t particularly looking forward to. Firstly walk the plank which involves climbing a ladder then jumping into water five metres below [pictured left, yes I’m the one with orange hair!]. Secondly Arctic Enema in which you wade through ice cold water (there is plenty of ice floating on the surface) before going under water and under a row of tyres which hang from a plank of wood at surface level. The cold water caused my quads to seize up and we’d only gone a mile so a bit of brisk running was called for to overcome that problem. This set the pattern for the event as the blokes ran ahead to the next obstacle and waited in order to warm up after the various water splashes whilst the five women in the team, whose fitness was shall we say suspect, did a lot of walking. But we had all agreed to go round as a team so we stuck to plan A – bar one guy who as a consultant was strictly not staff and

he morphed into another team with some of his mates. A number of the obstacles would be impossible to tackle as an individual. The high walls being a prime example where a leg-up / pull up was required. Likewise Everest (pictured at top of slope) a progressively steeper metal slope which required a short fast sprint and then just as you are about to slide back reaching out to grab the arm of someone at the top. There was a lot of camaraderie and people were always willing to help total strangers.

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More water followed with the Cage Crawl in which competitors adopted the backstroke position but instead of swimming pulled themselves along the wire mesh positioned a few centimetres above the water. On the positive side, the water features washed off a lot of the mud from the various quagmire ditches. The last mile and a half was a straight run allowing us to dry out before the Electric Shock Therapy hurdle immediately before the finish line. As the three of us had stepped up the pace on this section we figured it would be a long wait for the ladies. I thus suggested we try the two extra obstacles which were reserved for runners who had completed at least one Mudder before. We side-stepped the marshals policing this (previous competitors wore orange headbands to distinguish them) and scrambled through some drain pipes which terminated in yet more mud. The finale consisted of climbing a tower and getting onto a slide. No ordinary slide of course, for you passed through flames before falling into yet more water. With no more ground to cover there was no opportunity to warm up before the finish. It took about 3 hours 50 minutes to get round although, if we hadn’t hung around at each obstacle, we could have easily cut an hour off the time. The toughest challenge however was yet to come, a 40 minute queue at the bag-drop. This was without a doubt

the most disorganised and botched baggage collection I’ve ever encountered and not helped by the guy on the loudspeaker saying we could post out suggestions for improvement when we completed the online questionnaire. At the last two London Marathons I’ve run, the helpers spotted my number as I walked toward them and had my bag ready before I reached them. Not here, the bags were piled high in random order in a tiny tent and to obfuscate matters further the “helpers” moved the bags around. If that was not bad enough I was shaking with the cold from my wet clothing which the organisers belatedly realised as they randomly threw towels into the crowd before hypothermia set in. Bag collection and cost apart it was an enjoyable afternoon and an interesting adventure.

We’d agreed that Dale’s dad would park a couple of miles away to avoid the traffic leaving the site which was a good move with the walk acting as a warm down and preventing stiffness setting in. It was at this point that Dale mentioned he and his brother had entered the Great South Run the next day but that the latter had pulled out. The offer of a place was too good to pass up so, having only once run more than eight miles this year, I set myself the task of running 22 in two days. With the time change I had an extra hour in bed before returning to deepest Hampshire and assuming the guise of Guy Lush. The start was staggered into three waves, with Guy’s number allocated to the last one. The pre-race blurb suggested arriving at 8.30am for the 11.05 start. I used that as my time for setting off from home. It seemed that everyone else took the organiser’s advice for when I got there the pens were pretty full and I found myself standing next to sailors who adopted a novel twist on the pantomime horse by running inside a “submarine”. Starting so near the back, and with most of the 25,000 entrants ahead of me, meant there was little chance of finding open road to set a decent time. For the first three miles I weaved in and out, speeding up to get through gaps before slowing when I encountered the next impenetrable wall of runners. Fartlek training in the middle of a race is all well and good but it does add a lot of extra distance. I thus decided to just enjoy the rest of the race and not worry about my time - high fives with the kiddies at the road side, clapping the bands, chatting to the squaddies running with 20kg back packs and throwing in an extra loop to read the blue plaques on the Mayfair Chinese Restaurant were the order of the day. I should add that the eatery is better known for being the birthplace of Peter Sellers than for its chow mein. As Dale mentioned his brother is not that fast, he may well be happy to have a 1:22:12 and 3,151st against his name on the result sheet. Having seen the video highlights, there was an exciting finish as Kenya’s James Rungaru looked beaten coming onto the seafront but dug in to take the lead some 300 metres from the finish to win in 46:31. Ethiopia’s Belaynesh Oljira was the stronger in a sprint finish as she beat Britain’s Gemma Steel by two seconds in a time of 52:40 to take the women’s race.

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Handicap Race

Sue On an unseasonably warm late October evening, ten Harriers contested the first of the dark winter Handicap Races around the Village Lap route. The handicapping was good, with a very close finish at the front, and everyone else finishing in close succession. Aaron continued his excellent form to pass Lucy just before the finish and win for the fourth successive race. He set a PB, smashing the 13-minute barrier for the first time since his return to the Club three years ago, and beating his Dad’s best time by 30 seconds. Aaron puts his success down to running only once a week, and having an egg and tomato sandwich mid-afternoon! Lucy’s performance was also amazing, since she had run two marathons in the previous 6 days. Stan had a good run to take 3rd spot in his first Village Lap race, with Dick and Philomena running well for 4th and 5th. Colin pushed on at the end to hold off a challenge from Jonathan, who had also just done the ‘marathon-double’. Sue managed to stay ahead of the other double-marathoner, Martin, while Mo completed the field not far behind. Well done Aaron, and thanks to Jan and Tom for timing. The next Handicap Race, around the Village Lap route, is scheduled for Thursday 27th November.

Finish Position

Position on handicap

Name Start time Finish time Actual time Handicap Beaten?

1 1 Aaron 6:47 19:33 12:46 -0:27 2 2 Lucy 6:24 19:35 13:11 -0:25 3 3 Stan 5:35 19:37 14:02 -0:23 4 4 Dick 6:25 19:45 13:20 -0:15 5 5 Philomena 5:51 19:52 14:01 -0:08 6 6 Colin 5:30 20:04 14:43 +0:04 7 7 Jonathan 7:26 20:05 12:39 +0:05 8 8 Sue 7:56 20:11 12:15 +0:11 9 9 Martin 8:06 20:16 12:10 +0:16

10 10 Mo 0:26 20:43 20:17 +0:43

Handicap Championship: Aaron’s four successive wins have secured him victory in the Handicap Championship. But there is still a challenge Aaron – can you win a fifth race to score maximum points? That would be a first! There are a number of contenders who could clinch 2nd or 3rd place with a good performance in the final race, so there’s still all to run for.

Race points Pos. Name Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 Total of

best 5 1 Aaron (6) - 8 12 12 12 12 - 56 2 Mo (2) 6 12 10 10 6 (2) - 44 3 Jonathan 7 10 - (5) 8 9 5 - 39

4= Dick - 5 (4) 4 9 10 8 - 36 4= Lucy 8 7 5 - 6 (3) 10 - 36 6 Martin 9 12 3 - 3 8 (3) - 35

7= Sue 5 9 6 7 7 (4) (4) - 34 7= Colin (4) 8 7 8 (4) 5 6 - 34 9 Richard D 4 - 12 9 - 7 - - 32 10 Philomena - - 9 - - - 7 - 16 11 Mags 10 - - 3 - - - - 13 12 Dave 12 - - - - - - - 12 13 Stan - - - - - 1 9 - 10 14 Mark - - 1 6 - - - - 7 15 Pete O - - - - 5 - - - 5

16= Jacqueline 1 - - - - - - - 1 16= George - 1 - - - - - - 1 16= Helen - - - - 1 - - - 1

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Website update… http://www.comptonharriers.org.uk Mo

Links of interest this month

RunNow seems to be another very useful running resource with plenty of topics to interest most runners. Many of the usual topics are there such as training techniques, nutrition, avoiding and dealing with injury, as well as a string of articles on every running subject that comes to mind. Well worth a browse at http://runnow.eu

Webmaster’s article this month: Improving Running Technique – Foot Strike

My first in a series of three articles on running technique looks at foot strike and how changing your action could improve performance and reduce injury risk. An important note: If you’ve been running for years without problems with injury or recurring aches and pains, you probably don’t need to alter your action, so ‘if it’s not broken, there’s no need to fix it!’

Running technique tends to be developed naturally during childhood and teenage years and will feel absolutely normal to you, so unless you have been professionally coached during this development period, the biomechanics of your running action can most likely be changed to improve performance and reduce injury risk.

Foot strike plays a very important part in running technique as it can lead to both injury and loss of performance depending on your own particular action. Should you therefore try adjusting your foot strike to improve your technique? The various types of foot strike and their effects are as follows:

• Heel-strike is the most common type of foot strike in runners, but it tends to put the brakes on momentum and renders the runner more prone to pain or injury. (Shin splints in particular) • Mid-foot strike is the preferred action as most of the impact is handled by the ball of the foot (forefoot) with the heel barely touching the ground, so avoiding braking action and jarring through the body. • Forefoot / Toe-strike action is also preferred over heel-strike but overdoing it by solely relying on the forefoot for support can over-stress the calf muscles and Achilles tendon. • Natural running action combines the mid-foot / forefoot strike, which ensures that by landing mainly on the forefoot / mid-foot rather than the heels, transmission of shock up the leg through the knee and hip is greatly reduced along with the inevitable injury and pain.

Foot strike illustrations: Heel Mid-foot Fore-foot Ideally, irrespective of foot strike action, your foot should make contact with the ground directly underneath your body, rather than far out in front of it. A straight line from your hips to where your foot lands should be at right angles to the ground with no reaching or stretching of the leg in front of your body. This action reduces impact through your legs and lowers injury risk by creating a more fluid, efficient stride. (Next month – Running Posture).

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Events of Interest – see Website Events Calendar for more details:

NOVEMBER 2014 Sunday 09 Grand Union Canal ½

Marathon

Saturday 15 The Ridgeway Revenge 10 & 5 Mile

Sunday 16 Avebury 8 Herbert's Hole 10k (MT) Rugged Radnage 10k (MT)

Swindon 10k

Saturday 22 BBO X-C Championships Sunday 23 6th Wickstead Wander 5

miles MT Chilly 10k Bath Hilly ½ & Bath Hilly

Ultra-10k Sandown Gallops 5k & 10k

Sunday 30 Maylarch Eynsham 10k DECEMBER 2014

Sunday 07 Oxford Mail XC - Round 2 Tadley Xmas X-C 5.2 Mile

Sunday 14 Andy Reading 10k Muddy Welly Run 10K & 5K

Sunday 21 Hooky Xmas Canter Winter Solstice Run 5, 10 & 13km

Friday 26 Aylesbury Boxing Day 5k Road Race

Sunday 28 The Gut Buster 10k & 10 Mile

JANUARY 2015 Sunday 04 Oxford Mail XC - Culham

Park Clivedon XC 10k

Sunday 11 Goring, Woodcote & District 10K

Rough 'n' Tumble 10

Sunday 18 Lakeside Canal Run 8 Miles Sunday 25 Oxford 10K (MT)

FEBRUARY 2015 Sunday 01 Oxford Mail XC -

Cirencester

Sunday 08 Dursley Dozen The 6th Reading 5M Wokingham ½ Marathon

Sunday 15 Bramley 20/10 Road Race Sunday 22 The Terminator (11 miles)

MARCH 2015 Sunday 01 Oxford Mail XC - RAL

Harwell Goring 10K The Grizzly 2015 - Dash

to Delirium

Sunday 08 City of Salisbury 10 Mile Sunday 15 Meon Valley Plod 20 miles Silverstone ½ Marathon Sunday 22 Banbury 15 Fleet ½ Marathon Sunday 29 Combe Gibbet to Overton

16 White Horse ½ Marathon

APRIL 2015 Friday 03 Maidenhead Easter 10m Saturday 04 Downland Challenge 40/20 Sunday 12 Brighton Marathon & 10k Sunday 19 Danesfield Dash 10k MT Bungay Half Marathon Sunday 26 Virgin Money London

Marathon