Sprint Issue 53 – Summer 2013

The Official Poole Runners Magazine sprint Issue 53 – Summer 2013

sprint IssueThe 59 Official– Summer Poole Runners Magazine

FREE! To Poole Runners members

Issue 62 – December 2017

Committee & Club Contacts

Chairman Paul Ingham [email protected] Vice Chairman Alan Lewis [email protected] Club Secretary Position Vacant Position Vacant Treasurer Peter Ferenczy [email protected] Membership Secretary Roger Cross [email protected] Male Captain Steve Yates [email protected] Female Captain Sarah Swift [email protected] Track & Field Secretary Annette Lewis [email protected] Committee Member Rob Brown [email protected] Committee Member Ian Edwards [email protected] Committee Member Dave Graham [email protected] Committee Member Khalil Ghabaee [email protected] Committee Member Emma Livermore [email protected] U18’s Working Gr’p Chairman Matt East [email protected] PFoR Committee Chairman James Skipworth [email protected]

Welfare Officer Esther [email protected] U18’s M’ship Sec’s Jo Brodie [email protected]

Club Champs Road Barry Trowbridge [email protected] Club Champs Off - Road Dave Graham [email protected] Senior’s Club Vests Miriam Gray [email protected] SPRINT Editor Roger Cross [email protected] Club public facebook Roger Cross [email protected] page & twitter

CHAIRMAN’S CHATTER

From the very start of Poole Runners back in 1981 the club has seen so many changes and inspirational times. This year I am so pleased to announce a prestigious trophy that will reflect this - The Dominey-Brown Shield.

Not only does this symbolise our club’s two founders, Alwyn Dominey and Graham Brown, it also highlights the importance of all the work behind the scenes. The amount of time that people put in, quite frankly, is huge and as chairman I have an advantage of seeing all this work going on, so now the committee and I have the opportunity to recognise this. The trophy will be perpetual and can go on each year to continue to recognise the hard work.

This year the vote was very close, and understandably so as there are so many deserving cases and it will be my pleasure to present this at the Christmas Dinner and Dance and Presentation evening on 2nd December. Speaking of which, this year’s party is one of the biggest for many years, a night where we can all celebrate, socialise and let our hair down. (Those who have hair of course)

Looking at our very special club and seeing it grow and move forward with many new members, I have decided that now will be a good opportunity for me to step down from the committee. I have been a committee member for over 10 years, having held most positions and serving as chairman for past four years. I feel the time is right to see new faces with fresh ideas to continue the good work. 3

Having joined Poole Runners in the last century and thoroughly enjoyed every moment with such a vibrant club, I would now like to stand back and see other people take part. The AGM is not until the end of February 2018 so this will give you time to think of standing on the committee, which I can honestly say can be rewarding and enlightening to say the least.

As a club we look back and remember those who are no longer with us and the ones who no longer run, the support to our charities continues which shows our commitment to helping others.

Raising money as club is so important and I am sure you agree keeps us all motivated to helping these good causes, which is at the heart of all our local running clubs.

Next year’s racing calendar is already well under way and I am sure many of you are looking forward to an exciting year ahead.

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Healthy 2018.

Paul Ingham – Chairman

In memory of Graham Beevers, our former member who sadly passed away in October aged 65. Poole Runners have donated £100 to Parkinson’s UK

Poole Festival of Running 2018

Well following last editions ‘ideas’ it seems that others like the master plan, mainly Borough of Poole! Having had a lot of meetings and twisted a few arms the new PFoR plans have been passed and we will be attempting to put on one of the largest ‘club organised event’ in the UK, yep, our little club! A 10k that takes in the quay and crosses both bridges and a half marathon that will head along the quay and out to Upton Country Park is already creating a lot of interest, as it should, they will be fantastic courses.

It is now time to turn a plan that is in paper format into a weekend of running, music, food, drink and fun for all. For that we need some help…

Firstly can I thank everyone who offered time to help us get this show on the road, a little help goes a long way and trust me there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. We could still do with people who fancy lending us a hand, sending and answering e mails, contacting clubs, looking for prospective sponsors or companies that want their product in goody bags and sourcing companies that would like to put a stand on West Field, or HQ for the weekend. That’s on top of the work that goes in to advertising and marketing, entries, route planning, marshal organisation and lots more that I

have wiped from my brain since June! This year we will need 150 volunteers on the Sunday alone!

This event is huge, huge for running, huge for Poole and huge for our club. This is the main event that keeps the club going, allows us to keep membership fees down and allows us to pay for coaching qualifications, creating Couch to 5k courses, pay for minibuses to events and more. With that in mind the club committee took the decision that no Poole Runner (not even teams) will be taking part in the Sunday events, you can enter the 5k or relays on the Saturday but we need all our members to help out for the Half Marathon and 10k. There are many clubs that stand by this rule in order to ensure the safety of runners and make sure the event goes without a hitch. Be part of the best event in Dorset; help OUR club to set the bench mark for amateur running clubs to follow in the putting on of events.

Club organised events are a necessity, to ensure the survival of small running clubs and they tend to be a lot cheaper to enter that events put on by profit making companies. If clubs follow our lead and put on awesome, well organised events with a good medal and a goody bag it will be great for the whole running community. So let’s all get together and put on the best running weekend in the South, go on, you know you want to!

Also, buy Rob Brown’s first novel ‘A Song for the Silence’… It’s flippin’ brilliant! (See page75 –Ed)

James Skipworth

POOLE RUNNERS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS REVIEW

Like most established running clubs Poole Runners has held its own Club Championships for many years. In 2017 we introduced a new format to the championships that we promised would be reviewed at the end of the year by the membership.

During October an electronic survey was created and shared on the club’s Facebook page, website and twice by email to ensure all members could participate and have their views considered.

The survey was open for just over two weeks and received 102 responses which was a fantastic uptake – thank you all!

The original format was a championship of 20 possible races incorporating both road and off road, ranging from one mile up to a marathon, in which you could complete any eight races to qualify.

The new format:  Separated the off-road and road races into two separate challenges, 10 and 15 races respectively  It introduced ‘distance bands’ in the road championships (Short - 1 to 5 miles, Medium - 10km to 10 miles, Long - half marathon and over)  It increased the opportunity to win a prize with a total of four prizes available in each age category across the two championships  And introduced the ‘Endeavour Award’ for anyone completing any 12 races across either championship. 7

The results of the survey follow with highlights of some of the comments made.

Q1 Was the introduction of both 'Road' and 'Off-Road' championships a good thing?

93% Yes 7% No

Twenty-two comments were made in response to this question, the vast majority of which reinforced the statistics reflected above. The following comment reflects an alternative view made by some - “Not for me as I like to do races from all areas of running and without running a lot more races won't qualify for either”. Whilst this is true and could be perceived as a negative it is clearly a minority view and there is still the opportunity to aim for an Endeavour Award incorporating races from both challenges. 8

Q2 The distance bands were introduced as there was some criticism that the old format allowed runners to compete for prizes without ever having raced each other.

For example, one runner could favour all the short and middle distance races, whilst another favoured the middle to long distance races. With the requirement to complete 8 out of 20 possible events to qualify you could have people competing for prizes having run quite different championships throughout the year.

It has already been agreed that ‘over-65s’ will not be required to complete a 'long' distance race in the future should the bands remain.

Would you like to see the 'distance bands' remain in future championships?

85% Yes 15% No Thirty-three written responses were received to this question. Again the majority were supportive and reflected the statistic.

The major concern raised seemed to be the perceived requirement to run a marathon, but as with the previous championship format the marathon is optional. The long distance ‘band’ requires completion of any distance between half marathon and marathon. It is also worth noting that the Off- Road championship doesn’t have distance bands and the longest race is a half-marathon which is again optional. You could qualify in the Off-Road championships without running more than 10 km’s, so this is always an option for those who don’t like to rung long.

Q3 The number of prizes increased from 3 to 4 in each age category, with a 1st and 2nd prize available in both Road and Off- Road championships, opposed to 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the previous single championship.

Was this change a good thing?

86% Yes 14% No

There were 24 written responses to this question, whilst supportive of change there was clearly a desire to have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize available in both championships. The committee have discussed this feedback and have agreed to this change for the 2018 challenge onwards.

Q4 We introduced the Endeavour Award which is available to all club members regardless of ability and can be achieved by running any 12 races across the two championships, regardless of time/position.Is the Endeavour Award a positive introduction?

97% Yes 3% No

There was overwhelming support for the introduction of the Endeavour Award and felt that this was a great incentive for club members of all abilities. 24 written reponses

Q5 Finally, were the changes made in 2017 a positive step overall?

92% Yes 8% No

Thirty-seven written responses were received that echoed the statistics. One suggestion made was to try and include as many of the Dorset Road Race League (DRRL) events into our own championships. This was discussed by the committee and viewed to be positive suggestion benefitting both individuals in getting to compete in both our own championships and the DRRL, and will hopefully improve the club’s participation and position in the DRRL. We are also taking this a step further and incorporating as much of the Purbeck Trail Series as possible within the Off-Road Club Championship for the same benefits.

In summary, it is unfortunately not possible to satisfy the desires of every member. However, this survey clearly demonstrates that the changes made have been well received by the vast majority of the membership and this is further supported by the first increase in participation for a number of years which is fantastic and will hopefully continue with 2018’s challenge now looming.

Things to remember for 2018:

 You must wear a Poole Runners club vest

 Your Poole Runners membership and English Athletics (EA) subscription must be paid up to date

 You may compete in either, or both, road and off-road club championships

 Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each age category

 Every club member that completes any 12 races or more will receive an 'Endeavour' award

Dave Graham

Beware of Greeks Mitch Mason

Thanks to Dave Hayes for providing a copy of the original article published in a 1985 issue of Marathon and Distance Runner magazine.

Mitch Mason a Poole Runners Life Member, sadly collapsed & died while on a run in April 2005 (Ed)

It is probably because I am a tight fisted loner who prefers one lap country courses that I have an apathetic attitude towards the London Marathon.

The longest lasting memento I can expect to get out of Britain’s premier event is an overdraft from the bank caused by my hefty hotel bill. My disenchantment with the race even encompasses the television coverage. As soon as the winner crosses the line, the BBC aims its coverage at the masses of people whom look like they have just crawled out of one of the fountains in Trafalgar Square after the New Year’s Eve Celebrations and in-advertently staggered onto the marathon course.

Rather than watching Super-man run a sub 4:30 marathon, I would much far sooner get my Sunday shot of LSD and then pop down to the Old Harry for a Coke before finding out how many goals the pub’s football team had been stuffed that morning.

However, one of my workmates desperately wants to be part of this annual pageant. He accepted last year’s rejection with good grace, because he was only a 3:30 man and his recreational activities were split between football and running. During the past year he has hung up his football boots,

celebrated his 40th birthday and arrival in the veterans’ ranks with a lavish do and trained very hard in a bid to run a veteran’s qualifying time.

He missed this mark by two and a half minutes but he felt sure that the all- knowing computer would recognise his vast improvement and his vast age.

One day during December he turned up at work and handed me an envelope. He had been rejected gain. “Never mind Dave, you might get one of your clubs allocated places, “I said optimistically.

“I’ve got more chance of seeing Lord Luca riding Shergar, We’ve got three hundred members in our club and do you know how many places they’ve given us? Bloody three! I’ve got a hundred to one chance” grumbled the disgruntled Mr Hayes.

“Well that is probably as fair as they could be,” I reasoned.

“It is about as fair as Frank Bruno’s backside,” quipped the disconsolate vet.

Dave was just coming to terms with his rejection when a few days later one of our unattached running colleagues skipped into work singing, “I’m in, I am in”.

The old wounds quickly reopened but I could understand Dave’s bewilderment. Whereas both of us were very pleased for Mike Tew, neither of us could figure out how a man who has not heard of AAA Registration Scheme and only previous running experiences are two undistinguished outings in the Bournemouth Bay 10 could get ahead of a man who had done everything to appease the system.

“I thought it was a race for the dedicated runner” Dave was off again. “Tewiew’s about as dedicated as a Kamikaze pilot on his seventh mission,” screamed an irate Haysie.

Over the next few weeks, Dave’s constant, theoretical revamping of the entry procedure started to get Mike and myself down. Eventually we devised a plan that will be the envy of every rejectee in the country. Unfortunately, our plan meant I had to take advantage of my AAA qualifying time to secure a place for myself, but we all have to make sacrifices. Tewie’s part was to wait until his local amateur dramatic society had finished its Christmas run at the community centre, then he raided their costume store.

The plan means that all three will have to train together for this one, also we will have to do most of the work at the dead of night in the country lanes around Dave’s home so that Chris Brasher does not get wind of our little deception.

One of the benefits of our scheme is that our overnight costs will be slashed to nothing because we will be able to get our heads down at The Ministry of Defence’s property near the course. We have not yet decided who will set the pace for our trio, but Dave will definitely be in the middle out of sight and as it was my idea I am having all the Mars bars.

I can let you all in on our plan because by the time it gets into print you would not be able to stop us running even if you tied our laces together.

We are going to travel up to London on the Saturday morning by public transport (economy class of course). Once Mike and I have registered the three of us are going to slip into our racing gear and sneak into the stables

along Horse Guards Road where we will doss down for the night, incognito (It will soon become clear) Then we will get up early on the Sunday morning, before they much us out, and make our way to the start on Charlton Way where Tewie and me will smuggle Dave into the race as the midriff of our pantomime horse outfit.

Damn clever those Greeks.

Mitch Mason

Pic: courtesy of Dave Hayes – Mitch winning the 1984 New Forest Marathon.

IT WORKED FOR ME Dave Hayes

Just recently, and with the London Marathon very much a hot topic, I was actually asked (Yes me! the non-runner!) for advice on how to break the 3 hour barrier for mere mortals.

This set my mind back some 25years when, along with 10 or so other aspiring marathoners, all from local clubs and all being treated by local physio Richard Goldie, we were offered free treatment by him as long as we adhered strictly to a programme he had concocted. He was intrigued by the number of runners he was having to treat each year, mainly Feb/March ish, all of whom had similar ailments whilst London Marathon training. So he decided to do a proper clinical thesis on this problem and devised a treatment programme to address this.

To cut a short story long, as I am prone to do, after he pronounced us all injury free(ish) he then set out for us this programme that would get us back to peak fitness within a fortnight. It was as follows:-

Day 1, run 100 yards - Day 2, run 2 sets of 100yards (preferably one morning, one in the afternoon)

Day 3, run 200 yards - Day 4, run 2 sets of 200yards

Day 5, run 400 yards – Day6, run 2 sets of 400yards

Day 7, run 800 yards – Day8, run 2 sets of 800yards

Day 9, run 1600 yards – Day 10 run 2 sets of 1600yards

Day 11, run 2 miles. - Day 12 run 2 sets of 2 miles

Day 13, run 4 miles. - Day 14 run 2 sets of 4 miles

Day 15, run 8 miles. - Day 16 run 2 sets of 8 miles

As you can see, this doubling up every other day soon got you back on track with the miles you had lost through injury. I actually went on another couple of days on my own initiative that meant I ended the programme on 2 sets of 16 miles.

You will be surprised to hear I was the only one in this experiment who stuck rigidly to orders, the others got to 2 sets of 4 and maybe one of 8 miles (if that) before retiring.

Mr. Goldie also advocated running a marathon just under race pace 3 weeks before London.

I did 2 laps of the old Upton House half marathon, which passed the end of my road, making it easy to work out the distance. This I did on my own. I clocked 3hrs 8mins on this run. Three weeks later in the London Marathon I broke 3 hours easily(ish!) with plenty left in the tank.

My P.B’s prior to that had been 3hrs3mins and 3hrs7secs in the New Forest Marathon where I had to overtake Jimmy Saville twice!!! The cheating b*****d! After breaking that 3hr barrier I did at least 4 further marathons sub 3 hours.

None of the 30 marathons I ran were easy especially if, as usual there was another local runner to beat. A personal view I came up with is, if you want to do well in a marathon you should at least run 26 miles in training leading up

to the race otherwise your will definitely hit “THE WALL” at about the 20 mile mark which is the longest run most runners do in training.

Adrenaline alone won’t get you through the last 6 miles. Like everything in life, you get out whatever you put in. Whatever our elite runners may say about the training programme I adhered to – IT WORKED FOR ME!

Any comments that may come from some after they’ve read this, that I now have the contents of a plumbers scrap bag replacing my old right knee, you have to take into the equation that I played at least 1700 games of football at the highest local level until I retired at 40.

YES, my current physical state is self-inflicted and I wouldn’t change a thing that I’ve done sport wise!

David Hayes Age 72 Winton Boys School reading pornography, SORRY!!! Geography!

Trailwalker 2017 John Towner

Back in October 2016, while sitting round a pub table in the Albion, Verwood, the suggestion of doing the Oxfam Trailwalker 100km in July 2017 was suggested. The beer talking continued and all thought it would be a great idea......

Next weekend, while at Moors Valley Parkrun, a future team member informed me that he had entered the team to secure our place, and that we were set to go. I was not sure what he was talking about, until he reminded me of the conversation. The only trouble was, we had 5 people, for a 4 man team. A few phones calls later, and a bit of persuasion, and we had 2 teams of 4 walking together.

This gave us from November to July 2017 to get the team ready to walk 100km. The team I walked with were not runners, and certainly none of the team or I are ‘walkers’ we carried out a few training walks. The best by far was a 2-day jaunt from Portland Bill to the Banks Arms in Studland, along the stunning coastal path, with an overnight camp at Durdle Door. The logistics in this alone to get all 8 of us there with camping kit and transport arranged were huge, and opened our eyes for the real thing.

A few months before the event the final instructions were sent through from Oxfam, a team meeting one night confirmed that the logistics of the event were much harder than actually walking. How were we going to get 8 of us to the start of the event, camp the night before, all the camping kit packed up, cars left somewhere safe, walking kit on, kit in our 2 support vehicles, event food and spare clothing, and then transport to the hotel in Brighton, and home again the following morning. This proved a headache in itself.

Event day arrived, and unfortunately even though we had been watching the weather forecast all week with crossed fingers, the outlook was not really promising, rain and wind was on the cards.

The team met in the Verwood Italian on the Friday lunchtime, for the excuse of a final carb loading meal, and a few pints (we adopted a mantra of “beer got us into this, so beer can get us through it” approach). Then off to the registration at Queen Elizabeth Country Park (on the A3, Petersfield).

Looking at the sky when arriving at the start, showed that there was not much time, a quick run to the campsite, and tents were up before the rain started, this was that horrible light mist rain, that just seemed to make everything wet and damp, plus the cars had to be parked about 600m away from the tents, not ideal on long wet grass, when trying to keep kit and shoes dry. However, once the tents were set up, and registration paperwork complete, the Ghurkhas had constructed a massive marquee where we were well looked after with a free evening meal of pasta, mince, bread and teas and coffee. Our team finished the night by watching Bad Boys 2 on a portable DVD player in the car with a crate of Budweiser....again important to hydrate.

Event Day....

Ok, so I know we have a few members of the club who have done ultras, and 100km.... I was not sure what to think when I woke up knowing I had 100km (62miles) in front of me... I know many of you know I don’t really like long distance. I had been telling myself for months, that this was just walking, and therefore did not count as long distance, or hard work...

I was feeling apprehensive. The day started at 0 (OMG its Early) 500hrs. Tents were taken down, walking kit on, support crew vehicles packed (we had to make sure we had 2 lots of support kit, one in each car, so that they could leapfrog each other to the checkpoints), then off to the free cooked breakfast again supplied by the Ghurkhas. Then, it was getting serious, 0645 beckoned, and we were off to the start.

0700 – Event start, to be honest, I could write here how exciting the start was, and off on our adventure we went... but that’s not how I felt. It was not very dramatic and a bit of an odd feeling. When I race, even now after many years, I am still excited at the start line (even though I don’t admit it). But there was none of that. It was a slow start, very quiet and calculated. A feeling that I was going to be awake and moving for the next 24hrs plus with no sleep was what I was thinking about. I would be lying if the thought of “I can’t be arsed” didn’t pop into my head!

On average there is a checkpoint every 10k. In what felt like a blink of an eye we arrived at the first checkpoint, then the second, and I started to think, this is going to be easy. The team settled very well, and kept ticking through the miles along the South Downs way.

I think it would be very fair to say that our team were in it purely for fun, and not taking it seriously at all. When walking, we looked no different to the other teams. However, actions taken at the checkpoints showed a very different story. Teams around us arrived to find a gazebo erected, gas cooker going with pasta and ‘proper’ food. ... Whereas our team arrived to sit on the floor, cup of tea and a ‘rollie’ for a few smokers. A takeaway order of 16 double cheeseburgers at checkpoint 4…. washed down with a beer at checkpoint 6.... However, where other teams were losing members left right and centre, our team remained strong. 24

Our team were well supported by 2 support crews, 1 at every checkpoint and my parents making up a 3rd support crew popping up all over the place on the course with much needed sandwiches, biscuits and more wholesome food than chocolate which we had at checkpoints, this was very well received and probably saved a few of the team from ‘hitting the wall’ in the later stages of the daylight. As when planning the walk, we had just thought that we would walk to checkpoint 7, where we would get another cooked meal by the Ghurkhas, but had not really factored in that this was over 40 miles.... therefore, these unplanned sandwich and biscuit stops saved the day.

Night fell, and rain and wind kicked in even more.

Over 40 miles, 17hrs 22min of walking, at approx. 0100 we reached checkpoint 7, where the task of eating more pasta and mince was completed, although I had been looking forward to eating, it was a feeling of must eat rather wanting to eat at this time in the morning. This checkpoint is also where the team started to slow down. I am not sure that spending nearly an hour at this checkpoint was a good idea, but a change of clothes and shoes certainly was needed. Leg 7 – 8 was pretty uneventful, just was wet, and very cold. Even though it was July, I was wearing a thermal, all my spare t- shirts, a jumper, water proof and then a £1 poncho that we bought. I am not sure my teeth have ever ‘chattered’ in July before!

A long stay a checkpoint 8 was needed due to something that no member of the team had seen before. One of the team members had somehow managed to come into contact with ‘hogweed’ which had got beneath his trousers, and into his boots. For those that don’t know the sap of hogweed is acidic, and burnt very large patches on both his feet, and blistered up considerably. Even the first aiders were confused with what to do, just the usual bandages then ... and off we went. 25

The longest part of the walk is from checkpoint 8 to 9. This is along a very, very long ridge, starting to overlook Brighton to the right. In front of us, very early on after leaving checkpoint 8, we could see the floodlights of checkpoint 9. This was exactly like running between the piers on Bournemouth seafront, it just never got closer. Then as we reached the end of the ridge, it did a slight circle taking us away from the checkpoint and back again, before assaulting another hill to get to the top. This leg took over 4 hours to complete around 9 miles... it was like a twilight zone where time stood still. The sun slowly rose while moving along the ridge, which was very scenic, however it was still ridiculously early in the morning, but felt like it should at least of been 9 or 10am, where in fact it was only around 4 or 5am.

The last push from checkpoint 9 to the finish saw a controversial decision to be made by the team. What was the best course of action? We had about 6 miles left, and time was getting tight. Some of the team wanted to rest and sit down regularly for 10 minutes, and then ‘crack on’ for a bit, and then rest again. While others just wanted to just keep a continuous slow moving pace. In the end we did a mixture. Both saying that their way was the quickest to get the final distance covered.

It was at this checkpoint I was chatting to a Ghurkha who told us that they had a busy night removing people from the course due to hypothermia, and people just not wanting to continue in then weather. I think ‘smug’ is the best word to describe how we felt by getting all 8 of us through the night, we all knew we would finish as a team.

The last 3 or so miles.

It amazing the difference the sun makes, by now it was mid-morning, and the sun was strong (ending up with a bit of sunburn in the end), sprits of all the

team lifted, as we could literally see the race course where the finish was. The route crossed over a road, and we hit a long stretch of tarmac for the first time since the start of the walk. The route to the finish was behind a housing estate on an exceptionally long, straight path (much like the Castleman trail way) that we could not see the end of….

The finish

The final cruel twist is the route brings you onto Brighton race course on the other side to the finish line, and then makes you walk the half lap or so to finish. It does not look far... but knowing that the crowd is watching, the support crews are there, we were trying our best to ‘look good’ Obviously the event is well spread out, so we had the finish and the crowd to ourselves. The atmosphere and encouragement was incredible, and really gave that sense of achievement, in a way on par with the crowd at London marathon (only much smaller).

We crossed the line in 28hrs 18 min, at about 11:20 the next day, after being awake for just over 30 hours.

What can I say, it was emotional.

At the time I said never again. It was tiring, but looking back I don’t think we actually really physically struggled to finish it. It really was just mind over matter. I would love to do it again (my team don’t agree). But next time (hopefully) I would want to do what I saw lots of others do, and that’s run a bit and walk a bit, to reduce the event time, as 28hrs is a long time to be on your feet!

So, if anyone’s interested in something slightly different. I can’t speak highly enough of this event. It is £40 to enter, and then each team member needs to raise just £340. Which when you think of it is hardly anything compared to what you need to raise for a charity marathon place! John Towner

Hogweed blisters

Nourishment at 1am

Finish!

Couch to 5k Paul Viney

So the bosses (ie Esther and Kirsty) have asked me to write a piece for the Sprint magazine about the Couch to 5km program that we do.

So here goes! I, like Esther (the big boss), Kirsty (the next boss) and Dave, have been involved from the first Couch group. Lots of things have changed since then, including the fact that we are now all officially EA Run Leaders – I know, even me!! The girls have without a doubt been the backbone of the whole thing and do so much behind the scenes to make everything run smoothly. I cannot tell you how much effort they put into it all. I would also like to say that everyone that has helped with the Couch group has played an enormous part in making it work. There are so many that I would be here ages writing them down and would be so embarrassed if I missed anyone out!

This time, due to the overwhelming success of the last group when well over 100 (yes 100!) people turned up, the Bosses decided to cap it to 75 people, giving the six main leaders this time around (myself, Dave Leabourne, Louise Burridge, Mel Langer, Kirsty Cooper and the Boss Esther Downes) 15 in each group and allowing Esther to float in between the groups to shout at them (and us) if either weren’t doing it right! I would also like to point out at this stage that we also had help from so many others, without whom it would not have made this possible, including our lovely “Hotsteppers”, a group formed from a previous Couch group.

With the numbers more controlled this time, we were able to get the new intakes into groups of similar ability quicker, which I think helped them ad us get going on our journey quicker. This Couch group seemed to settle into 30

their task quicker than previous groups; I think because we were better prepared this time. Each leader has run their group differently depending on ability and experience and the runners all seemed to respond quicker to this. We noticed they were much quieter on social media compared to previous groups but, just like the others, they made new friends and joined up together often to do their homework!

We had a few dropouts along the way for various reasons, but we always kept a healthy number coming each week, including on the Bank Holiday, which shows their amazing level of commitment. This group was timed to finish with the Bournemouth Marathon Festival of Running and it was great to see so many there running the Supernova 5km. Me and Kirsty, plus our respective kids, all ran with them and had a great time.

To all that have done our Couch to 5km programs, I would like to say how amazing you have all been and have well you have done. We now have graduates doing regular 10 mile races and Half Marathons. The pleasure it gives me to see them doing that is unbelievable. It is quite emotional to be honest – I am so proud of them all (apart from the ones that are now doing better than me regularly at races!!). That, to me, has been what it is all about.

I think I speak for everyone on the team when I say it makes us all so proud and I guess that’s why we do it? I like to think it’s my way of giving something back. We are lucky to have gained some new members to the Club that have come from the Couch groups and what fun some of them are!! Hope the Couch program goes on to encourage many more people to prove to themselves that they can do it. I hope to be able to be a part of that for further groups.

Like I said before, the Couch group are a team and I personally would like to thank you all for allowing me to be a part of that team. There are so many people who have helped and I would like to thank you all. But I think we all agree that without the drive and ‘get up and go’ that the Boss Esther has, and the writing skills that Kirsty has (eg I’m hoping she is editing this for me so you might be able to read it!), this team would be nowhere like the success that it has been. I would also like to say to all Club members that so many of the Couch group who have joined Poole Runners are so pleased they have, especially as everyone has been so helpful and friendly. So thank you all!

Paul Viney (PS – you’ve got to keep me and Kirsty – we are Team Token Gingers!)

My Top 10 Running Songs Robert Brown

I first had the idea to do this article a couple of years ago but have, up until now, never got around to it. However, I was discussing music with a couple of other runners on club night recently and it reminded me, along with Roger’s Facebook post asking for items for this publication. These days, it’s not very often that I run alone but when I do, these are some of the songs that I’ve enjoyed running to. I’m hoping that other Poole Runners will share their choices too in subsequent issues, it doesn’t have to be 10 songs, it could be five, or even just the one, especially if there’s a good story to go along with it.

10. Sally MacLennane – The Pogues

Reminds me of my first ever marathon, Dublin 2007. I had decided, that in light of where I was going, I would put some Irish music on my iPod. I had planned to take in the atmosphere of the race and only use the music player when I started to struggle. After about 23 miles I was beginning to flounder, I was by now stopping at alternate lampposts to stretch out my calves which were cramping up badly. I put on the player and this was the first song that I heard. The energetic nature of this song couple with the atmosphere created by the many cheering supporters got me through the last 3 miles. The music obviously suited the occasion and the city perfectly.

9. What Doesn’t Kill You – Jake Bugg

I first heard of this guy via my son, and we went to see him at the BIC on his first solo tour. What doesn’t kill you indeed! At two minutes long, this song flies by in a flash, I find it inspiring for running intervals, but blink and you’ll miss it! Jake Bugg, if you’ve never heard him, has shades of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash with a little Oasis and Dr Feelgood thrown in, a strange blend

but it works. One of his songs even reminds me of Lonnie Donegan’s 1950’s Skiffle. Suffice to say that it’s fairly retro.

8. Black Swan Song – Athlete

This was a regular on my playlist a few years ago and a song that I still love hearing to this day. Although it’s actually a song about a bereavement, I was going through a divorce at the time, and something about the lyrics, I found strangely optimistic and encouraging. It helped me a lot at the time. As you can imagine, it’s not a loud, party song with a strong beat but it’s thoughtful and uplifting. Excellent for an easy, relaxed plod. I suppose the band’s name is fairly apt too.

7. Waterfront – Simple Minds

A favourite song from my youth! This has been a firm favourite over the years, I particularly enjoy running to this by then harbour and along the seafront, especially in adverse weather conditions. There’s something about Mel Gaynor’s huge drum sound that seems to emulate waves, crashing onto the beach on a stormy day. It’s hard to believe that this track is over 30 years old, actually, the band were the first live gig that I ever went to, at The Hammersmith Odeon in 1984. It makes me feel ancient!

6. Private Universe – Crowded House

I’m not sure why I associate this song with running, although the chorus does contain the word ‘run’. It’s a great song to stick on your music player and just drift off into a trance. Sometimes, if you’re struggling with your running, it helps to disassociate with the task in hand. This song always helps me to relax and enjoy the run, quickly disappearing into my own ‘Private Universe’.

The song contains some pretty hypnotic drumming which sounds almost tribal, like some of the drumming troupes that you pass during a race.

5. Fake Tales Of San Francisco – The Arctic Monkeys

My 2nd Marathon was London in 2008, I had yet to join the club so was running this race for the charity ‘Prostate Research’. My Father had undergone surgery a couple of years previously and I wanted to raise a bit of money. I got down to Blackheath for the start early and my enduring memory is waiting for the race to start whilst listening to this. The Artic Monkey’s 1st album ‘Whatever People Say I am, That Is What I’m Not’, is a work of genius and album that I frequently revisit.

4. Mr Brightside – The Killers

I began running in 2004, my first race being the Poole 10k, that June. I set my sights on running further and soon entered the Great South Run in October 2004. I remember The Killers had released their album ‘Hot Fuss’ at about the same time and I did much of my training listening to it. ‘Mr Brightside’ is probably my favourite track from it, anyone who has been to a Curveball gig will know it well! I have even been known to dance to this! Well, maybe after a couple of halves of Shandy.

3. Above the Clouds – Paul Weller

Paul Weller was a teenage hero of mine, being brought up in the Thames Valley, he was a fairly local hero too. He’s probably the only man alive to have mentioned Slough in a song! This is another one of those tracks that I enjoy ‘Zoning Out’ to. It’s particularly good on a slow run on a Summer’s day, after a stressful day at work. Taken from his debut, eponymous solo album, it’s definitely one of his more mellow recordings. 35

2. Slide Away – Oasis

Another song to listen to on a clear sunny day whilst running along our beautiful coastline. This is an extremely uplifting tune, I’m in good company because apparently, it’s Sir Paul McCartney’s favourite Oasis song, high praise indeed! Taken from their debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’ when Oasis were a breath of fresh air, before they got too stodgy!

1. Tonight the Streets Are Ours – Richard Hawley

Not just a favourite running song, but a favourite all time song. Something about the lyrics of this tune remind me of running, or more specifically, runners. The sentiment is that maybe as runners, we are reclaiming the streets in some way, especially on Wednesday evenings! It’s always great to watch loads of us heading off from The Junction, and happily membership of our great club seems to be on the up! Richard Hawley was at one time, the guitarist for 90’s Britpop act Pulp. He soon reinvented himself as a solo artist and in a weird sort of way, is like a modern-day Roy Orbison. His 2005, ‘Lady’s Bridge’ album, is well worth checking out.

Rob Brown

What are your top 10/5 Running Tunes? As Rob mentioned it would be great for this to become a regular SPRINT item… please email your top 10 or 5 Running Tunes, for inclusion in next issue to: [email protected]

Thanks, Ed

Nosehill parkrun #44 Calgary, Alberta, Canada Maria Ozanne

Saturday 8th July 2017

Whilst most of us enjoy our travels – the advent of parkrun has brought a new dimension to holiday planning. On a dark and gloomy day back in January I glimpsed a parkrun news update ‘3 parkruns commenced in Canada 2016’. 37

Normally this item of news would pass me by; however, Dave and I had just booked our summer tour through the Canadian Rockies, and a quick glance on ‘Google Map’ and a check on our schedule confirmed that we would indeed be in Calgary for the sacred Saturday morning parkrun!

So seven months later on a hot and sunny morning we find ourselves at the start line for the Nosehill parkrun #44. Whilst it looked easy on paper the logistics were not quite so simple. Calgary is a city and it transpired the parkrun was on the outskirts of the city centre. Public transport was poorly connected to the venue and it involved a taxi from our Hotel in downtown Calgary. Our taxi driver – in keeping with the very friendly characteristic of the Canadian people – was keen to hear about parkrun and shared his personal goal of preparing for the New York Marathon. Runners are everywhere! The run itself was a two lap course on a mixture of tarmac, gavel and grass trails with a steep hill at the end. A mixture of hills, heat and altitude (over 1000m above sea level) meant no PBs for us but Dave managed to finish in 4th position and myself 41st out of 55 finishers. We were also recovering from a very full and exciting previous day at the annual Calgary Stampede.

It was fun to be part of the #parkruntribe a long way from home. The familiar drill and welcome to ‘parkrun tourists’ definitely added to the holiday experience. It‘s a great way to meet local people, participate in their community, and appreciate their environment. It certainly set us up well as we continued on our journey through the magnificent Canadian Rockies.

The Nosehill parkrun has now celebrated its first Birthday – 626 participants have completed, average no of finishers 36, biggest attendance 118, coldest temperature -27C. The numbers seem to pale into insignificance compared to

the mighty Poole parkrun. However there are now 10 different parkruns across Canada so the parkrun success story continues.

Happy parkruns fellow runners!

Maria Ozanne

Poole Runners ‘100 Club’

The ‘100 Club’ is an alternative way of paying your full club membership fees, inc affiliation to EA. You choose to pay a monthly direct debit of £4 for full club membership, instead of the standard annual membership. However, your name is entered into a monthly draw where you stand to win monthly prizes of £50, £35, £20, £15 & since April this year 3 x £10

June 2017 Winners July 2017 Winners £50 Khalil Ghabaee £50 Angela Brown £35 Andy Warren £35 David Ozanne £20 Rob Brown £20 Helen Guerrier £15 John Marriner £15 Alan Lewis £10 Alan Clasby £10 Anne Towner £10 Mark Tiller £10 Pete Couch £10 Adrian Clark £10 Martin Thomas

Aug 2017 Winners Sept 2017 Winners £50 Kate Towner £50 Lynn Coates £35 Rex Bale £35 Bob Frampton £20 Kelly Amos £20 Amanda Dennison £15 Jill Daish £15 Fiona Ferenczy £10 Angie Alexander £10 Gemma Oliver £10 Steve Amos £10 Mark Tiller £10 Steve Crockford £10 ?

Poole 10k – Race Times Mike Towner

Just for comparison we publish the first twenty runners × in the 1991, 1996 and 2016 Poole 10k.

The 1991 and 1996 races were recorded manually with Pete Couch and the late John Roden at the front of four funnels (A, B, C, and D) each with their own set of number recorders. These fed the recording sheets to Richard Dean who then produced the results for us. He was a quick inputter and the system simultaneously printed the results on an A3 dot matrix printer as he inputted. After every fifty runners we were able to tear off a results sheet and display it in the marquee.

The results were stored on floppy disks, most of which are now stuck through lack of use. An Apricot PC, was then in use which was “non-IBM compatible”. This means that the floppy disks can’t be read on modern PCs. Richard obtained the 1991 and 1996 ones for us be downloading some software which is supposed to read data from Apricot floppies. This had then to be downloaded via an old Windows 95 PC and converted. Thanks to Richard for suppling me the data a couple of years back.

For the 1991 and 1996 the full results of all the Poole Races (including the Marathon, Minithons, and Round the Lakes) are available in Excel from Mike Towner. Some of the then Minithon runners are now in the 35 and 40 age categories and members of local clubs.

As can be seen the finishing times of the top twenty runners have dropped over the years. Below are related comments from four of our club members regarding this.

Dave Cartwright’s opinion:

The reasons for the decline in standards are:-

“Amount of training undertaken - In the 80's and 90's, a normal training week would be between 60-70 miles for me, increasing when doing specific marathon training. Speed training was included but for me in particular, strength training, i.e. miles were more important.

Amount of races on the calendar - Nowadays it seems that for most weekends there are 2 or three races plus parkruns every weekend (of which I am a fan). I feel that I have done too many races this year and that my performances have diminished over the past few months.

Attitude towards racing - In the 80's and 90's we seemed to be pretty obsessed with improving our PB's whenever racing but that may not be the case for many of the competitors now - they want to enjoy the race rather than the result, which is fair enough. I would prefer people to enjoy their racing rather than not race at all.”

Does it matter as more people running and our membership is going up:-“I don't think so! Yes our membership is going up (at all levels of ability) and this is undoubtedly a good thing. We are in the top 3 or 4 clubs in Dorset and with the recent influx of new members; I can see us doing even better next year, especially if we can encourage enough runners to compete for the club 44

in such competitions as the Dorset Road Race League. Nowadays, many people are encompassing the need to be fitter and healthier - we only need to look at the success of the parkruns and the Couch to 5k, which is one of the reasons that our membership numbers are increasing -

Geoff Robberts opinion:

The reasons for the decline in standards are.

“The decline in standards occurs across every distance and every race, not just our own Poole 10k. The reasons for this are complex but start with people’s unwillingness to commit the time and effort to the tough training regimes of the 80s. Running seems to have evolved into more of a social activity with the emphasis more on the taking part than the out and out competitive side. “

Does it matter as more people running and our membership is going up.

“I used to think so but I realised after a while that there is no point continually looking back and lamenting past performances.

Most clubs have seen a resurgence in membership and those new members seem to be having just as much enjoyment as we used to albeit without killing themselves in training or competition! Of course, a side effect of this lightweight (and I don’t mean that as a derogatory term) running means that our national and international results have also fallen markedly.”

David Ozanne’s opinion:

The reasons for the decline in standards are:

I was not with Poole Runners in 1991 or 1996 so cannot recall either race. I think we have to assume that the course in 1991 was accurately measured. I would be frightened of suggesting otherwise. The finishing times were excellent. I think we could hazard a guess that local running standards were particularly high at the time. However, I would imagine that in 1991 there were relatively few 10k races around the country, and an event on the south coast would be appealing if you wanted to do something shorter than a marathon or half marathon.

I am afraid, though, that the truth lies in the national trends we have seen in the past 4 decades. Admittedly there were more sub 31 minute 10ks in the UK in 2016 than in any year since Power of 10 ratings began in 2006, so it was certainly not an especially bad year. In the past decade you will also see some marvellous win times in the Poole 10k (including 29:06 and 29:59 by our very own Williard Chinhanhu in 2007 and 2008 for example).

However, if you look at the list of the top 49 All-Time Fastest 10ks in the UK, you will find only 4 of them run since the year 2000 (Mo Farah, Chris Thompson, Dewi Griffiths and Andrew Butchart). 7 were run in the 1990s, and a massive 38 – yes, 38! – in the 1980s. So I would suggest that in 1991 the nation was at the tail end of a marvellous, productive period for distance running, and standards have since tailed off in not only Poole, but also in the UK overall. I would suggest that is to do with the professionalisation of sport, and the relatively high wages in football in particular, which attracts the lion’s share of naturally gifted athletes.

Does it matter as more people running and our membership is going up?

No, it really does not. At a local level, we want as many amateur athletes as possible to be in the sport, enjoying their leisure time, staying healthy and making friends. If that yields healthy competition, good-natured inter-club rivalry, and in turn rising standards, then that is great.

It is a bit of a stretch to imagine that will positively affect national trends in terms of achievement. That would require much improved management of UK Athletics and genuine financial incentives for top-quality athletes (i.e. more than just Lottery Funding). But if the Poole 10k is selling all its places and making money for the club, and the club membership is growing and people are enthusiastic about their running, why should we be concerned? Let’s get honest about this!

Mike Towner‘s opinion:

The reasons for the decline in standards are.

“In many ways the decline in times across all running Clubs is due to fragmentation of training groups. In the 80’s most Clubs had a big attendance at Sunday long runs. In Poole Runner’s case sometimes up to fifty runners on Sunday. This large attendance meant we could split into a number of groups. If you wanted improve you had the opportunity to start with a faster group then usual and hang on as long as possible, and then wait for the following group in the full and certain knowledge that there was a group behind running the same route and just a few minutes behind. Until the start of the 2000s all Clubs had much bigger attendance at a single training venue.

The fragmentation started with the advent of social media when it became possible for individual members to offer multiple alternatives at short notice. The upshot is that, whilst enjoying their run, people are running “in their comfort zone” and not running with a group that is “go to drag them along”

Does it matter as more people running and our membership is going up.

Personally am sorry to see the decline in “competiveness” and seeming less interest in League tables etc. However, I am often reminded that running is a voluntary social activity and as a club we must offer that which our members want. It’s fantastic to see the large number of new members being attracted to running clubs. This bodes well for the future. As Geoff Robberts says there is no point continually looking back and lamenting past performances.

The Jungfrau Marathon 9th September 2017

Or Mountain, what Mountain? Alan Lewis

For twenty years or more I had harboured the ambition of taking part in this renowned event. The last time I had been in the area I was 14 and now I have been collecting my Pension for two years. We flew from Luton to Zurich and travelled on by train to Interlaken in pleasant sunny weather and the scenery became more impressive as we neared Interlaken. Found the Hotel Beausite 400m from Interlaken West train station. From the bedroom window we could look right up the valley towards the Eiger-Monch-Jungfrau Mountains although they were masked in cloud at the peaks. Walked around the town and found the Expo for registration on the Friday morning. The skies were alive with paragliders that jumped off the surrounding mountains and landing on the Green next to the Expo.

A good night’s sleep followed by nice breakfast and off to register. Runner 3397 gets his goodies and toured the exhibition, not the biggest but very informative. The town was decorated with pictures of all the previous winners, male and female. Planned out my supporters route for the following day from Intrelaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen , Wengen and off to the finish at Kleine Scheidegg. In the afternoon we took a trip up by the funicular railway (two trains on the end of a single cable) to the “little” Hill behind the Hotel called Harder Kulm which has a beautiful cafe with views over Interlake and Lake Thun to the West and Lake Brienz to the East and whilst we were there the cloud lifted to show the whole of the Jungfrau range in all its glory. A ten minute return trip down the hill and a walk along the river that flows between the two Lakes then the standard Pasta Meal before bed. 49

I have one of the best night’s sleep I’ve had before a marathon but wake to a grey morning and the forecast is not good. We were serenaded by a group of Alpine horn players before the start then it was off in the damp as the rain started. Off to a steady start as I’m more than aware the nature of the course that will unfold particularly after 25K. The first 3-4 miles are relatively flat before we start to climb up the valley to Lauterbrunnen where the “Fun” will begin. I had decided to carry my phone and take as many photos’ on route as the area is beautiful to get the max out of the experience. The further we climbed towards half way the more the rain descends. Most of the underfoot surface to this point was Tarmac with odd stretches of trail way and the occasional grass. Support was good with bands ranging from “Rock” to “Cow Bells” and these cow bells were huge and very noisy. On arrival at Lauterbrunnen just before half way there was quite a crowd which included Maralyn at her first of many stops. A climb of 244 metres (800feet) thus far from the start.

The “Wengen Wall” greets you at just beyond the 25K mark and the next 5K up steep zigzag paths brings you to Wengen which is one of the premier Ski World Cup Downhill Venues. This little stint is 471Metres (1544feet) climb to

the 30K marker. Total so far 715Metres (2,344Feet). Throughout this climb the visibility worsened and it is said the temperature drops one degree for every 500feet so the event has taken on a new feel as we ascend the rain descends. Meet Maralyn again in Wengen after receiving a call from her concerned she had missed me, fat chance, as the predicted times from the Expo were not realistic.

I am still snapping away with the camera at this point. Abruptly we lose the very last of the tarmac and take to forest roads which rise and fall (there is an awful lot more rise than fall though). The next 8.4K to Abzweigung Wixi rises by 572Meters, another 1,876Feet.Total so far 1,287Metres (4,220Feet). And the second half includes boulder fields and narrow path (streams). Somewhere in this part I “Don” the light plastic cagoule to try and act like a wetsuit and I also lose the ability to use the camera as the hands are like ten frozen sausages. Maralyn even managed to get to Wixi which is a very obscure place and the supporters were applauded for their efforts and persistence on finding the runners. Am I down hearted? Onward, and as ever, upward. From this point at 38.4K to 40.8K at the highest point you climb a ridge from which you are able to see the glorious views of the Jungfrau Range with the Eiger, Monch, Silberhorn and the Jungfrau, but not on this occasion as we are cocooned in cloud and rain with visibility of no more than 15Metres. Eigergletcher at 40.8K is at 2,320Metres 7,609feet above sea level and a mere 1,752Metres (5,746Feet) climb from the start.

Now for the for the fun bit as off comes the cagoule for the descent to 42K and Kleine Scheidegg dropping 220Metres (720Feet) in 1.2K. I couldn’t see the finish but I knew it was there somewhere and the increasing numbers of supporters was a clue. It was a bit like the Tour De France where the crowds close in and leave just a narrow path and through the finish. But no Wife!! . She made it to the station but was unable to find the Finish (Like Gorillas in 51

the Mist). We were both wet and very cold so decided to get back to “base”. There was a crush getting on the train as everyone tried to exit Kleine Scheidegg at the same time it was standing room only. It was a great shame that conditions were so appalling because on a different day the finish area and facilities would be beautiful but that’s weather in the mountains for you.

Eventually two frozen, exhausted people got back to the Hotel and after the hot showers the order of the day was Pizza ordered to the room and lots of hot drinks and “chill” in a manner of speaking.

In the morning the bad weather had blown through but not from the peaks so my initial hopes of taken for a romantic trip to the Jungfraujoch “Top of Europe” had to be shelved as the CCTV from the top was like a blizzard and we had had enough of that the day before. Plan “B”. A bus ride to Lake Thun and then a swim in the beautiful Lake with a backdrop of the mountains and a hot drink in the lakeside Hotel. After the return bus-ride to Interlaken a bit of souvenir shopping and a snack is followed by a somewhat warmer swim in the indoor pool in the local sports centre.

At around 35k >

View from Hotel on last day

Finish!

On our last day in Interlaken we wake to another wonderful day and can see in beautiful detail the top of all the Jungfrau mountains from some 14 miles away so that’s the way the cookie crumbles. We choose to take a different train route back to Zurich via Lucerne and what a good choice. It takes an hour more but is well worth it with stunning views of the mountains and Lakes. Just the flight and drive to home left.

In summary, 5 days in Switzerland. 4 Lovely and the marathon day. I’m glad I did it and even I am proud I did it even in the conditions. My only regret is that I missed out on the awesome views that were behind the veil of mist and cloud.

Alan Lewis

The written material and information published in SPRINT express the views & opinions of the individual contributors & do not necessarily represent the official views of Poole Runners.

Poole Runners cannot be held responsible for possible violations of copyright resulting from the publishing of any written material in this ‘magazine’

All rights including those in copyright in the content of this publication are owned by or controlled for these purposes by Poole Runners.

Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law the content of SPRINT magazine may not be copied, reproduced, republished, downloaded, posted, broadcast or transmitted in any way without first obtaining Poole Runners written permission via the editor.

SPRINT Q & A

Question 1. What was your favourite race/event of 2017 & why?

Question 2. What is your main running/athletics target goal for 2018?

Question 3. What is top of your Christmas list to send Santa this year?

Jenni Ayres 1. Favourite race of 2017 for me was Lulworth 10k...not because I did it in a fantastic time or because I secretly loved that first hill that finished me off for the rest of the race (a few expletives were used on that incline), but because of the landscape. Being allowed to run on the Lulworth Estate and see the stunning scenery it was surrounded by was a real treat. Being a slower runner I have time to appreciate the scenery more you see and this race for me won hands down.

2. My goals for 2018 are to run all the races I did this year but to be stronger, look better and post better times (hopefully). Oh and also to organise my shifts at work so I do all 6 of the summer series.

3. Top of my Christmas list is a better watch. I love my Garmin forerunner 10 but now I am doing more half marathons - something I never thought I'd hear myself say when I struggled on week 1 of couch to 5k in April 2016 - I need a watch that holds charge for 3 hours plus.

Les Turner

1. The men’s' 4 x 100 relay gold at World Champs in London. Usain's last run but missed him hitting the deck as I and most of the crowd were blowing the relay team over the line, We'd gotten the baton (insert Michael Johnson's word) and won. Then we checked to see where Jamaica had finished and Mr Sprinting was doing a Phil Brown and crossing the line.

2. To be able to finish a race or two and not be last, some hopes but I'll have finished! To see those I coach stay fit and healthy and achieve what they deserve.

3. Simple a cure.

Alan Lewis 1. Even with the poor weather as stated elsewhere The Jungfrau Marathon has to be my favourite because of the beautiful setting the organisation and I feel like I passed a big test of mind and body.

2. Find a fast flat Autumn Marathon after above answer.

3. Perhaps Santa should bring every member a Head-torch to help discover a new side to running.

Amanda Dennison 1. Lytchett 10 - nice temperature, nice course although I think I’ve blanked out the hills and best of all there is Cake at the end  2. To get back to running post baby and getting a sub 25 min 5K would be nice. 3. Some new trainers would be nice.

Graham Moyse 1. Sturminster Newton Half. It had a nice atmosphere, friendly marshals and organisers. I had a well-paced run, for the first time at this event. Plus lots of yummy cakes at the finish!

2. Not fully decided. Wavering between an off road fun marathon or a new PB in the Poole park run (I was only 9 seconds adrift this year).

3. To send Santa? That'll have to be a late spring marathon entry and a structured training programme. Look at him, he's too fat. He'll be developing type 2 diabetes if he doesn't get healthier!!

James Skipworth

1. Melbourne Half, as it was nice to be barracked by people other than my own club! It was also warm, well run and finished in the MCG!!

2. To make it to April without injury.

3. Calendar for Roger Cross to show exactly when Christmas starts and finishes (not in October)

Sarah Swift

1. Hardway Half - I had never been to Portland before, super friendly off road race with very mixed terrains throughout, stunning scenery, fabulous weather and really well organised

2. To keep running and maybe have a go at a 24 hour race

3. A new pair of slippers would be nice, not that I’m indoors much to wear them

Jason Mumford

1. I didn't race that much in 2017 but the Wimborne 10 just gone had a great turnout and atmosphere.

2. Marathon Good for Age time (in my dreams!)

3. A new laptop so I can actually download my runs from my Garmin again!

David Ozanne

1. Fleet Half Marathon: it is a very well-organised, inexpensive half marathon, well-timed as preparation for a spring marathon like London. I was full of hope, ran well and Maria and I had a nice day out.

2. To run the North Dorset Village Marathon in May, and get a Good for Age qualifying time for VLM 2020.

3. I hope Santa gives me a new desktop PC. My current Dell PC has been incredibly good, but is starting to slow down (like me!!!)

Joanne Cleall

1. Bournemouth Half because it was my first half and I had Laura dragging me round. We were greeted by a smiling happy Sarah before the race and all the other commentators and marshals who were all cheering us on as we were Poole Runners! Even those taking some dodgy photos of us were supporting us too. Great seeing loads of other Poole Runners completing it too.

2. Complete at least two more half marathons and improve my PB.

3. Santa please can I have some trail shoes which won’t hurt my feet.

Colin Somers

1. PFoR of course, the PR team spirit over the weekend was fantastic! OK, so as James keeps reminding me, I had a minor melt down involving sticking my fingers in my ears so I didn't have to listen to someone complaining (repeatedly) about the road closures... But other than that, all good.

For races I've run in, then that would be the Lytchett Relays. I loved running for both the Poole Runners and the family team, and it was great to be running against/with the (triumphant) family junior team too. It's a great fun event, with a really friendly atmosphere and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't done it before.

I also had an amazing time at the XC Southerns and Nationals - can't wait for Parliament Hill next year!

2. To get closer to a sub-3 marathon... And to finally memorise all the Wednesday night winter running routes! Sorry to everyone I've led down the wrong route so far this year...

3. Lots and lots of mud at the XC Nationals next year. Want to get my 15mm spikes out again... Oh, and if Santa could provide a minibus that doesn't break down and a coach driver who can navigate in London, that would be good (I think that might be on Annette's Christmas list too).

Annette Lewis

1. HellRunner 10miles. Changed my fitness levels and made me and others reassess OUR capabilities in running. Proved it could be done!

2. Faster time and more skin on my feet by the end of HellRunner 2018, with an even bigger crazie crew team.

3. Even bigger and happier crazie crew!

Dan Adams

1. Bournemouth Half marathon - Lovely scenery, flat, fast, fresh sea breeze, lots of supporters for the last few miles. As this was my first half marathon as well, the sense of achievement when finally crossing the finish line, was certainly overwhelming. All the previous training paid off!

2. Training for my first marathon, after experiencing my first half marathon, I know it will be a long journey before I encounter 26 miles in one go! I will be keeping a mileage diary and tally my total 2018 mileage, to reach 500+ would be amazing for my second year. Perhaps achieve some 5km and 10km PB's as well, just for good measure.

3. A pair of running shoes, that will further support my over pronation issues? If not a bottle of 15 year scotch whiskey.

Help race organisers to get correct results. Mike Towner

Tip One - Check the entry list

Up to 60% of so called “results errors” can be due to incorrect information in the data base before the race starts. To help eliminate race day problems most races now publish an entry list prior to their race. Therefore its good practice for all entrants to:-

Look for duplicate names, correct Club and gender etc. Whilst the race organiser may have incorrectly inputted, it’s surprising how may runners “tick” the wrong gender box, leave the “Club” box blank and (it has been done) put in their child’s DoB instead of their own as it was their child’s birthday when the entry form was being filled out! If, before race day, problems are spotted and corrected many “errors” can be avoided.

Tip Two – Wear the correct number

Runners can assist the race organiser on race day by “wearing the number /chip correctly.” Whilst this might appear basic and simple below are true occurrences in recent races we have organised:-

1. Wear the correct number! It not unusual for running couples to inadvertently transpose their allocated number/chips. If not already done so write your name on the number when it arrives.

2. If chip timed its good practice to check that the race number matches any number on the chip.

3. Wear the race number the correct way up! Sounds simple but inverted numbers have been worn recently at some of our races. 62

The number recorders at funnel ends are under pressure to move runners on quickly and are concentrating just on the number. Race number 18 transposed to 81 will NOT be spotted. Thus there is likely to be a missing runner and a duplicate in the listed results!

4. Wear the race number/ chip for the race you are in! Sound obvious! On three known recent occasions at one of our events runners have used a number sent to them for the next race they have entered! Again the number recorders will be looking at only at the number.

5. At last year’s Upton Series we had a couple of runners who inadvertency wore a number they had kept from the preceding year’s series. Throwing old numbers out and not keeping them in kit bags would have solved this problem.

Should there be a results problem the organisers will be keen to resolve the problem quickly. Its good practice to e-mail them first with race number, date of birth and guide time. Facebook/social media may not be the best way to inform the race organiser. It could be seen as criticising the volunteers producing the results when statistically the error is more likely down to incorrect information supplied to them.

Mike Towner

In addition to Mike’s excellent points, I borrowed below from this year’s Wimborne 10 pre-race info: (ED) 1. Enter the race just once. 2. If you are thinking about entering twice, think again. 3. If after entering you move house, let the organisers know! 4. If having entered you decide to pass your number to someone else tell the race organisers in good time & before the entry transfer deadline 5. From next year, anyone who enters the same race twice will be made to run it twice! Also, taken from the UKA & IAAF Rule Book: Race bibs (numbers) must be worn as issued and may not be cut, folded or obscured in any way. That includes not folding or removing sponsors name/logo details etc. Also with my EA Race Adjudicator hat on: numbers to be securely fixed to front of race/club vest (& back if applicable in some events) in all four corners to avoid them becoming dislodged to ensure number is clearly visible to event officials and finish line recorders. Roger Cross (Ed)

Weymouth 10 - 56 years running Ian Edwards

Pete Clarke’s 50 not out

I recently watched the latest edition of the Weymouth 10, a race now in its remarkable 56th year making it probably the oldest race in Dorset or even the region.

Whilst at the prize giving it came to my attention of the phenomenal achievement of local runner Pete Clark of Weymouth St Paul's running club. Pete had just completed his 50th Weymouth 10. Now in his 70’s Pete’s times have slowed over the years but he's still broken the hour 15 times on not the flattest of course’s, in fact he's still quicker now than a lot of people half his age. Ian Edwards

Pete's own record is shown opposite > & his recollections as follows.

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The Weymouth 10 was first staged in 1962 by Weymouth St. Paul’s Harriers, and continued from 2007 by Egdon Heath Harriers.

Early events used various courses, estimated by car to be close enough for the purposes of racing against the top clubs in the South-West. From 1968 to 1975 the two laps via Radipole and Southill resulted in a shortfall of about 200 metres. From 1979 to 1995 the three lap route around Westham was accurately measured by track wheel, and the current two lap course from the Pavilion is checked by bike every few years. Accurately measured by track

wheel, and the current two lap course from the Pavilion is checked by bike every few years. Conditions have varied, with blinding rain in 1983 and 2004, so please always remember to thank the marshals and officials whenever they provide races for you.

Finally, thanks to all the runners who have made the races so memorable over the years, and to the organisers for keeping the event on the calendar.

Pete Clarke (Weymouth St Pauls Harriers)

Hell Down South 2017 – HellRunner 18th November 2017 - Long Moor Camp, Hampshire

What an absolutely amazing day! All coming about, due to a couple of us feeling a bit down with the cross country season coming to a close at the beginning of next year. What began with a couple of us entering the 10miles, finished up having Poole Runners in every event. Our main focus was always to get the squad together and have a wicked time! Positions and times was secondary. A no pressure event!

Poole Runners Crazie Crew Bandanas, for all competing, were initially for team spirit but turned out to be the only way of spotting our team members.

So in the Little Devils race we had three athletes, Millie Small, Fletcher Brodie and Billy ‘Bob’ East (written in the order that they finished) Millie was an amazing team member and when Fletcher got stuck armpit deep in mud she literally hauled him out, going on to finish strongly and with a massive grin on her face.

Fletcher who is somewhat titchy but mega fast was at the disadvantage that the mud tried to eat him but also was able to show his speed at the end, whilst weight training due to mud coverage.

Billy Bob who is not much bigger came in next having adapted to the mud by the theory of spreading his weight out across the mud. The grin on their faces was well worth it!

The next race was 6.66km. This was run whilst the 10 miles were also out on the course though some of our 10 mile runners did briefly see those running. First in the race was William Brodie, well-practised in laying down in mud, he was not fazed by this race. Then Lita Short and Sarah Swift ran together with Lita finishing 1st and Sarah in 2nd place.

Then our special band of merry men came in. They ran in white, as this apparently had to be done. Every photo has a smile or them laughing and them sticking together as a team. They did what they set out to do which was to have a brilliant time with club friends and to enjoy their running.

Now for the 10 miles. Never tell someone you’re sad that cross country season is done, as pure madness happens. So we decided to go for a team, more the merrier. A group of crazie people that love mud and miss cross- country. Our team was diminished slightly in the two weeks before with Dan Mulryan and Sam Brown being asked to represent Oxford University at Cross Country - Well done boys!).

Even so we went out for fun and a challenge. This was a massive personal challenge so lots of thanks to Dave Hayes for coming up with a training plan to get me back from injury and Dom for his laughter/ encouragement. Our team consisted of Dom Willmore (1st overall) Tom East (7th Overall) Matt East (maimed! so sorry it didn’t work out for Matt) Olive Sargent, Steven Short, Alan Lewis (1st in age category) and myself, Annette.

To sum it up there were lots and lots of hills to cause varying amounts of pain, down hills that were just plain terrifying at times. Especially loved the times you got to the top of the hills only for the ground to appear to drop away somewhat like a cliff (Tom East will have been great at these times!) At times scared, to think what those that were at the front were doing when approaching this at high speed. The ditch of mud with hidden obstacles which was like running through mud slush puppy! The Bog of Doom was very cold but had nothing on the mud filled ditch. Dom and Tom learnt that their entries to these ditches needed more practice, as they both decided to belly flop in!

I learnt not to disagree in the mud ditch with the marshals standing by in dry suits. You ended up looking like you swam through it.

The ‘Tent of Angels’ was truly a god send with marshals dressed as angels handing out energy blocks was much appreciated. All marshals were amazing! The shell shocked look of all athletes when they crossed the line was brilliant, I don’t think I have ever double checked that I can stop running before.

Finally I must thank all those that came and supported. The faces when you realised that people were getting back in your cars covered from head to toe

in mud was great. The fact that some of our supporters were covered in as much as runners, at a normal cross country was just great!

The Small family thought it would be a great to collect IKEA furniture on their way home, was absolutely classic! People must have turned when they smelt you coming! Lea’s amazing photos as always for proof of lasting memories.

So whilst we stood defrosting, attempting to remove some mud and get changed, we all agreed that this event is a must for next year! So if Hell Runner will have us back, we WILL be back along with additional parents keen to enter.

Don’t get me wrong this race hurts, melts your mind, can make you want to cry.

I have learnt the importance of testing out socks and that my feet will be wrecked for days! Entry methods into water/mud filled pits needs to be added into squad training schedule.

Alternatively, just having fun and remembering why we are such a great team makes you forget the rest!

Amazing!!!!

Nett (Coach no wheels, they would have got stuck in the mud!)

Sue Goodship Memorial Walk

On November 5th, a truly lovely lady, Sue Goodship, was remembered with laughter and tears, which in themselves were happy and sad!!

5 years ago, Sue lost her short battle with the silent killer, pancreatic cancer. Sue had just climbed Welsh mountains and enjoyed a Welsh training weekend BUT came home unwell and we lost her oh so quickly and it left us, her nearest and dearest, asking why? I even emailed a specialist but to no avail...

And then where have 5 years gone? But what a day!! We met at 10 am and Geoff Scott lead a lovely walk that got us all talking , remembering , laughing and crying !! Driving test and then NEVER turning right, the trip to Amsterdam with the girls in their MAIDS outfits!! Sue doing the steeplechase or drinking country wine!!

Sue was our glue..... and it was lovely to spend a wonderful day with her besties and we shared memories as if she were still with us.

Love and laughter Sue Goodship xxx

Daveena Tweed

REFLECTION BY A NEW MEMBER Leah Evans

When I first moved to Poole in 2013, I remember hearing about Poole Runners and thinking one day I would love to be fit enough to run with them. Back then the only time I had ever run was once at a school cross country race. I was the last reserve for the team and didn’t do very well. Running wasn’t my thing.

It was early 2014 and my boyfriend (now husband) decided he was going to do the 10K for sport relief at the end of March. It was a year to the day he broke his back in a skiing accident so it would be a great achievement for him. I decided that to support him and mark the day I would also commit to doing the 5k. I remember the first time I went out I couldn’t even run 1k! So I downloaded the couch to 5k app and somehow managed to train myself up and successfully completed the race.

After the race I stopped running as I’d achieved the 5k. I was very proud of myself and was happy to have reached my goal. A few months later I tried to run again but my fitness had rapidly declined and I couldn’t do it so I gave up deciding once again running wasn’t for me! But thanks to Poole Runners, in April 2017 that all changed for good!

It was early 2017 and something popped up on my Facebook page advertising a couch to 5k programme run my Poole Runners. I saved the date in my calendar (no way would I remember by the time April arrived) and was determined that once again I would run 5k and get fit for my wedding at the end of July. April arrived and I was super excited to attend the first session run by Esther and the couch coaches. I couldn’t believe how many people turned up that night! As the weeks progressed, I really looked forward to my Monday night training sessions and began to make some new friends. It was amazing how supportive everyone was and I was so pleased with the progress I made. 73

At the end of our 10 week course, we were all entered in the Poole Festival of Running 5k. This just so happened to be the day after I got back from my hen do in Barcelona so I wasn’t convinced I would make it. However, I was determined to complete the race and I turned up wondering how on earth I would make it round the course. The couch coaches were all there to support us and they even had pacers to help us achieve a time we wanted. I decided to run with Dave Leabourne who was aiming for a sub 30 for his group. We absolutely smashed it! We ran it in 28.17 (I collapsed over the line with a massive stitch though!)And to this day I have not managed to beat this PB!

This time I was not going to give up after the event. The next week I attended the progression group which followed Monday night’s plod. Again with the help of Dave, I managed to run the whole 5miles that night in 28 degree heat! I continued to run with the plod on Monday nights and my fitness kept improving.

Just before my wedding at the end of July, I finally decided it was time for me to join Poole Runners. I now regularly run on both Monday and Wednesday nights and love it. I have my first 10K race at Boscombe coming up at the end of November which I never thought I would ever be able to achieve (let’s hope I manage it!)

I am so grateful to Poole Runners for setting up the couch groups, for helping us to not only run 5k but to learn to love running and support us to continue progress. I couldn’t wish to be part of a better running group.

Leah Evans

A Song for the Silence Book Author: Robert Brown

As some of you will know, I started writing a novel, titled ‘A Song for The Silence’ a couple of years ago. I completed it in May 2016, and at the end of last year, I found a publisher. It will be released on the 30th of November, and I’m both very excited, and completely terrified at the same time!

The story revolves around Tommy, a disgraced and now rather forgotten, 1980s Pop Idol. His outrageous behaviour on a TV chat show, alienates him from his adoring fans, and he soon disappears from the public eye.

Nearly 30 years later, he lives in South London with his elderly Mum, acting as her full-time carer, whilst scraping a living on the after-dinner speaking circuit. Everything changes when he meets Natalie, a PR guru, who had his poster on her wall as a teenager. Along with Max, a forty-something, amateur songwriter with a leaky roof! They set about trying to revive Tommy’s career. This is the story of the revival of a fallen hero, as he tries to win back the hearts of a once adoring public. Will they succeed? Well, you’ll just have to read it to find out!

I originally had the idea about 10 or so years ago, but as I hadn’t written a thing since I took ‘O’ Level English, I didn’t have a clue where to start. Writing my first article for Sprint, back in about 2011, made me realise that I quite enjoyed the process, but I was still a long way of writing a book! How would I structure it? How many words would I have to write? How long would it have to be? I really had no idea.

It took a long run with a fellow Poole Runner, to convince me that I should take on the project and see it through. Emma Livermore had told me that she was designing a website for somebody who had just written a book, at which point I remarked that I had an idea for a novel. She asked about the story and I started to tell her, in some depth, the plot which had been whizzing around my mind for the last decade. She told me that I should write it, and of course, I did nothing about it! Three months or so later, I was enjoying a nice lazy week off work, like you do, and Emma asked if I had started writing yet. When I replied that no, I hadn’t, I think she told me to get on with it! Anyway, to cut a long story short, for once in my life, I obeyed, and I set to work. Once I had written a couple of chapters, creating a character or two in the process, I was well on my way. The rest of the story unfolded fairly easily, but with a full-time job, family commitments and running to fit in, it was quite a slow process.

Should you be interested in having a read, there are various ways you can obtain a copy. I have created a Facebook page, which you can find by searching the book title. > www.facebook.com/RobertBrown30.11.17 here I will be putting up links to various websites like Amazon & Waterstones, where it will be available. Alternatively, you can ask me or message me and I will make copies available at £7.99 each. I’m happy to sign a copy too, should you so wish. Robert Brown

www.poolerunners.com

Public group: facebook.com/PooleRunners Members only group: facebook.com/groups/279100532132960/ Couch 2 5k Group: facebook.com/pooleparkcouch25k Monday Plod Group: facebook.com/Park-to-Poole-Runners Poole Festival of Running: facebook.com/runpoole/

Twitter: @poolerunners

THANK YOU & NEXT ISSUE...

Thank you as always to everyone who has contributed to this issue.

SPRINT wouldn’t exist without you.

The next issue of SPRINT will be published during spring 2018

Deadline details will be posted on the Poole Runners web site, facebook page & twitter nearer the time. But, please don’t wait until then, contributions welcome anytime!

Send to Roger via email: [email protected]

Upton Summer Series 2018

Please help your club organisers by pre-entering

Enter Now! It is possible for seniors to enter the whole series online and pay just £10 for all six races. Collect your race number at race one (no additional form to fill up). At subsequent races just go straight to the start line, no need to register etc. With Upton Park introducing car parking charges pre-registration may save you money as it gives you the opportunity to park at Broadstone and warm up by jogging to Upton and returning for a shower and refreshments. Upton Summer Series 2018 - Race Dates: 1. Wednesday 2nd May 2. Wednesday 23rd May 3. Wednesday 20th June 4. Wednesday 4th July 5. Wednesday 25th July 6. Wednesday 8th August (followed by prize-giving at “The Junction”)

To book all six races and pay for five (£10 total) just visit our website:- Click “events” then “on-line entries” www.poolerunningevents.co.uk 78

Poole Runners Off-Road Club Championships

All six races are in the Club Championship. You can run as many or few as you wish. Your best time from any race will count. It’s a UKA licensed event, therefore club vests must be worn please. New for 2018

We are looking at introducing an “Inter-Club” perpetual team trophy. It not finalised yet. However it will probably be along the lines of the DRRL Club competition. Probably be akin to combined scores of first five men and first three ladies. Full details will be circulated to all Clubs after Christmas. Car Parking at Upton Park

The main Upton car park is now fully hard surfaced and extra lanes put in. It’s anticipated that on –day registration will again be on a grass area top left of the main carpark. It’s a smaller area than we would have liked so again pre-registration will save queues. Parking Charges are currently 80p for one hour and £1.50 for two hours. Arrangements will be made to reimburse charges to event helpers.

The Course

Both the seniors and junior routes will remain the same as 2017

Mike Towner

Dates of races listed may change – some races will need to be entered well in advance.