Archive for October 2009
AGM notice, Thurs 26th Nov 09
31/10/2009 by Ivan.
This year’s AGM will be on Thursday 26 November at 8pm in the Community Suite downstairs in the Leisure Centre, with a buffet available from 7.30. The training run that night will start at 6.30.
Motions for Debate and Nominations for Membership of the Committee must be given to the Secretary, Dick Finch, by 4 November.
Please find attached notice of AGM & information on committee roles.
The Special Week Ahead
26/10/2009 by Dick.
A double treat this Tuesday! The long forgotten Steep Street session has been revived by Coach of the Month Andy Meek-Welsh. Assemble by Merricks the chemist 100 metres above the Town Arch and prepare yourself for 6, 5 or 4 sets of the two hill lengths - alternately short and long.
THEN back to the Leis Ctre as quick as your tired legs will take you and get cleaned up for a specially arranged coaching workshop, featuring Arwyn Davis, a top South Wales endurance coach. Arwyn will start at 8.30 in the Community Suite and will share with us all the latest thinking in training, fitness. strength & conditioning, diet & nutrition. Tea and biscuits laid on.
The Boughspring runs on Thursday. Choose your distance - 6, 7 or 8 miles.
A busy weekend too. The final race in the Fell Series on Saturday and a Club favourite: the Sugar Loaf. 5 miles of scenic running with an exhilarating fast downhill finish. Starts at 2pm from the Crown Inn at Pantigelli, on the Old Hereford Road just north of Abergavenny. Entry on day, £2 I think, with usually nibbles in the pub afterwards.
And on Sunday the first LCL cross-country of the season at the Oasis Club, Cwmbran (near the station). Free entry, just wear your LCL number, or get one from Syd during the week if it’s your first ever LCL race.
Meet at the LC at 10 to share cars or see the Events page for directions. Either way we start running at 11. AND after the race soup & rolls while the Summer League trophies are handed out. Some Chepstow prizes to be collected so come and join in the celebrations.
Harriers Hob Nob with Cwmbran Elite
25/10/2009 by Dick.
Report from Gill Stott:
Chepstow were out in force on Sunday when 15 turned out to compete in the Tour of Torfaen half marathon, a race organised well by Torfaen County Borough Council. The linear race starts at Blaenavon (just over 300m above sea level) down to Cwmbran (50m). Runners were quick to point out, before you start thinking the obvious, that there were some uphills and they were significant and there was an adverse crosswind….. Photo link below.
This was a good race to spectate as it finishes with a lap of Cwmbran Stadium so it was easy for me to act as team photographer. Rob Avery was brilliant as he held up an umbrella for me, otherwise the photographs would have been littered with rain drops. Yes, the weather forecast was not as opitimistic as promised so I suspect this affected winning times which were several minutes down on previous years. Despite this, in the face of adversity, some amazingly fleet of foot Harriers ran personal best times. Some of them had given me target times and some people cheated with these, deliberately elevating them just so that they could get a pint out of me at the bar afterwards.
So well done Mark! PB of 1:16…and self doubting John – PB of 1:25, Rob was dead pleased with a PB of 1:43. and Chris O’Driscoll with a PB of 1.45. Judging by the faces of you all flashing past before my eyes (twice!) most Harriers seemed pleased with their runs. Lou moaned about her target of 1:33, only to make 1:32 AND 4th place, Brenda is coming back on form after injury, Luke made a guest appearance and got a good time, Laurie had a fast time, Matt Creed had a good run, Col waited for his lift from Eddie Stobart but they don’t work on Sundays, Bret stormed into the stadium, somehow keeping his cap on despite lashing wind and rain, Bill looked strong at the finish but my prize for the freshest looking face at the finish goes to Berta – who was so full of beans that she could trot over to the spectators at the finish for a chat immediately afterwards.
There were two other Chepstow ladies who I missed but spotted in the distance after the race – sorry not to have mentioned you. Lou was enjoying her beer so much that she forgot to attend prize giving which was a shame as she’d won 3rd lady – fantastic (1st lady was a vet).
After nearly everybody had gone, with just a few Harriers left propping up the bar, we were deemed important looking enough to be given the equivalent of an airline upgrade – and ushered into a special room where a table groaning with food was waiting to be eaten. So we made polite conversation with the mayor – fantastic bling – and other important people from the Council whilst stuffing our faces. Lou and Rob filled doggy bags with left over food for some waifs and strays back home. Quote of the day “
Pity Col’s gone, he’d have enjoyed this”. My own highlight of the day? – being told by John that he could hear me hollering out his name on the other side of the stadium despite running past a rock band at the time. Sorry Rob Avery, for shocking you with the volume of my yelling – hope your ears aren’t ringing too much.
I think I might have a go at this one day!
Photo link: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/apgstott/TourOfTorfaen2009#
New York Marathon - 1st Nov
21/10/2009 by Ivan.
I’ve recieved an e-mail from fellow harrier Mike Gorshkov, he’s running the New York Marathon on 1st Nov for Children with Leukaemia. He’s pretty sure there are other Harriers going out ( i know of 2! ) - and would like to make contact beforehand to possibly meet up with in NYC.
If you are doing it, please send an e-mail to “web at chepstowharriers dot org dot uk” and i’ll forward it on.
Good luck to all those heading out there - enjoy - we’ll be watching out for those Chepstow Vests on the Telly!!
The 10,080 Minutes Ahead
19/10/2009 by Dick.
The ever-popular* Elm Road on Tuesday. Choose 4, 5 or 6 sets of two. Those who find it takes ages to get themselves up to Tutshill should leave the LC at 6.55.
It’s the ever-popular* Mathern run on Thursday.
Plenty of races this weekend including that OMM thing we’re getting fed up of hearing about on the Bulletin Board. Lavish prize for the best version of what those initials mean.
Downhill addicts can enter on the day the ever-popular* Torfaen Half on Sunday morning. Get yourself an easy PB. It’s certainly mine.
*Never trust a coach who tries to encourage runners to do sessions or races by using this tired old phrase (Your ever-popular Editor’s advice)
Cardiff Half Marathon 18th October 2009
19/10/2009 by Lou.
23 Chepstow Harriers ran the Cardiff Half Marathon yesterday with some fantastic results. Ivan was first Harrier – 40th SM (1:18), Kath Matthews first female harrier 4th SF (1:21).
Congratulations to all particularly the runners from the improvers group.
Some highlights from
Matt:·
Seeing the Harriers support crew at 9 and 12 miles - thanks all, the cheering helped massively·
Finally staggering over the finishing line - that is a loooong finishing straight.·
Seeing the impressive number of harriers running strongly in both directions along the barrage - it made we realise how good our club is.·
Just looked at the Power of 10 rankings, we now have two women (Kath and Marianne) ranked in the top 15 in Wales over the half marathon. Brilliant running ladies!
Paul L:
From the sidelines… it looked like a great race. Fantastic to see a steady stream of Chepstow Harriers throughout the race. And looked like a good few PBs (including Caroline by 8 minutes!!). Well done all.
Marianne:
It was a great event …. impressive running from everyone.·
A great performance from Caroline who came in well under 2 hours for the first time - a brilliant effort and a well-earned reward for lots of training. ·
An excellent race from Matt Creed, who came storming past me at about 9 miles and was pushing hard all of the way to the finish.·
My students handing me water at miles 3 and 7 (not embarrassing at all)·
The 30 minutes stood in the baggage queue, where the only entertainment was trying out all of the powerade flavours we were ‘testing’ for the powerade team!·
The brilliant support from ‘Team Chepstow’ - Sian, bump, Rich, Joseph, the Lidgetts, the Wrights. You were definitely the loudest bunch of cheerleaders out on the course and I could hear Gill Wright all of the way down the finish straight, just as my legs were starting to buckle.·
Lots of happy harriers waiting at the finish - making our day was Matt’s ‘I’m just going to enjoy it’ brilliant PB by over 6 minutes.·
The pride at being a Chepstow Harrier club member - it was a great feeling to show off our club for the day.
Also - the running was quite fun too!All raced out!
Ivan:
Brief report of my race:
Myself and chief cheerleaders (sian+bump) got up nice and early ( ) to have breakfast and rendez-vous with Matt & Marianne to get a lift there - thanks guys. What started as a dark cold morning, when reaching cardiff was still cold - didn’t remove my wooly hat until the last moment!! 20mins before the start it was time to don the vest and head for the start pens. A bit of dodging through and Matt and I eventually located ourselves near the front to be met by Kath looking ready! A quick introduction by organiser and a goodluck from Jamie Baulch and it was a couple of minutes to the start - everyone shuffled forward towards the line - GO!
The immediate start was a bit of a blur - i missed seeing the first 2 mile marks, but heard some friendly cheering - thanks Sian, first marker i spotted was mile 3 - not sure how accurate it was - but i was about 1minute up on my target time at the point - slightly worrying (in fact this was probably also close to my 5k PB!!!). After winding around the docks a bit, the course leaves all the fantastic supporters behind and heads out onto the barrage - I started to have a rougher patch around here, and people seemed to start streaming past me. 5 miles, 6 miles time for a gel, water (struggled to drink that today) was now steadily loosing that minute that i had gained but the gel started to kick in and i felt a bit better. 8 miles - not far now. Whoop whoop the sound of friendly harrier voices - Paul.L, Sian & Rich M - closely followed by Rob Jones. 9 miles - water station soon - time for last gel. 10 miles - great only 3 miles (don’t forget that 0.1) to go - feeling better - time to push on try and gain some extra time back, clawed back a few places and could see a fairwater chap ahead, finally I’ve started to gain on him again.
Out of the bottom of the park - can’t be far now - 12mile marker - how good does that look - Sian & Rich again - thanks guys. Out onto the main road, now all i have to to is push this last mile - time seems ok. This year they had a short dogleg section - slightly demoralising seeing the runners ahead heading back down the dog leg and turning off towards the finish - just try and block it out. Focus. Starting to get hard again now - running alongside the fairwater chap - we’ve been taking it in turns to lead for the last couple of miles - it’s going to be all down to the finish…. aargh!
Back up the dog-leg - there’s Matt coming the otherway - come on!
Turn off the dog-leg - i can see tha last corner, move past fairwater, turn corner into the last street - OMG how far away does that finish look, AAARGH fairwater has moved back past me and is pushing hard - i can’t do it anymore…. manage to hang on to him - 150m to go - COME ON - crowds are brilliant - i can hear the tannoy - push, push - manage to get back past fairwater - come on it’s all about the time now - pushpushpush - i gan hear Gill, Darcy & Paige calling from somewhere - thanks guys wihout that i would probably have just stopped there 20m from the finish - where is the clock i can see it - come on last push…… Whooop whoop.
I’ve done it - PB great - wander through the finish, medal goody bag, water powerade - marvellous. I can hear sian again - where is that voice aha! Shortly after - Matt arrives - followed by Kath, and then a whole stream of harriers. Well done all
IVAN TEED MSEN 01:18:55
MATT LEATHARD MSEN 01:20:42
KATHERINE MATTHEWS FSEN 01:21:25 5th Female!
GARY DAVIES M50-54 01:25:09
MATT CREED MSEN 01:25:14
MARIANNE GITTOES FSEN 01:26:02
JOHN WRIGHT M40-44 01:28:01
PETER HUTTON M50-54 01:28:40
BEN BROOKSHAW M40-44 01:32:51
MICHAEL GORSHKOV M40-44 01:49:01
IAN ROGERS MSEN 01:51:06
CAROLINE LIDGETT F40-44 01:54:51
CHRISTOPHER O’DRISCOLL MSEN 01:54:26
GLENDA JACKSON F55+ 01:53:19
CHRISTOPHER FOSTER MSEN 01:57:22
CRAIG DUN MSEN 02:08:43
KATHRYN THOMAS F40-44 02:11:41
TANYA FOREHEAD F35-39 02:11:41
SARAH JENKINS FSEN 02:06:31
CLAIRE MUNDY FSEN 02:11:06
ANNE MASTERS F55+ 02:15:17
REBEKAH LANE FSEN 02:23:10
JACQUELINE WEBB F45-49 02:24:19
5k Severn Bridge Time Trial - 13th Oct
15/10/2009 by Ivan.
A good turnout at the 5k time trial on thursday - check out the results on the training page of the website : http://www.chepstowharriers.org.uk/training.htm
All those who ran - please take a look - there are a few queries on the results, so if you can shed light on any of it please send an e-mail to web@chepstowharriers.org.uk . Your help on this is much appreciated.
Club Records : Syd has pointed out that he is pretty sure that a number of club records that have been taken with these results - please use the link at the top of the records pages to submit your record claim and you’ll get your name in the history books (for a while at least!!).
Ladies Records : http://www.chepstowharriers.org.uk/recordsl.htm
Mens Records : http://www.chepstowharriers.org.uk/recordsm.htm
Bridgend Gwent League Cross Country
13/10/2009 by Lou.
Congratulations to all Harriers who ran in the Gwent League cross country on Sunday. Despite the rain most had really good runs. Stuart Penny led the men’s race with a fantastic performance and Marianne was first female harrier with her consistently excellent running – thanks and congratulations to you both.
A first cross country race for many of our juniors who all ran confidently and well – congratulations to you all.
Novice Boys Rob George 32
Scott Richards 39
Joe Summers 40
Novice Girls
Polly Summers 34
U13 boys
Will George
Danny Kennedy DNF
U13 Girls
Beth Rymer 55
U15 Boys
Will Leaney 36 - 6th for East Wales
U15 Girls
Kayley Kennedy 14 - 3rd for East Wales
Paige Wright 36 - 5th for East Wales Second G U15 Team
Darcy Wright 45 8th for East Wales
A Report From Matt
Left Chepstow: sunny. Got to Bridgend: raining.
Marianne led the women’s team home with a very good 24th place, and won the East Wales championship. Becky Merriman showed that Australian sun is good preparation for muddy cross county as she was not far behind Marianne. Followed by Lou, Vanessa, Sue A, Jan, Brenda, Caroline L, Jane H, and Berta. All finished well in a strong field and looked to have good runs. Especially well done to those running their first cross country. The women won the East Wales team prize, and some of them took individual Silvers/Bronzes. Then the ladies eat cake, mostly gloatingly in front of the men.
Kayley Kennedy, a junior , won silver in the East Wales in her age group.
By the time the men’s race came around the sun had come out, and the course had got nicely churned up. Beforehand discussion tended to focus on which shoes would be best, and who had the shiniest new shoes. High quality race with some very quick boys at the front, and good depth all the way down.
Stuart had an excellent run, finishing top 60. Then Rich Matthews used his new spikes to good effect to take a top 100 place. Followed by myself, Ivan (coming back from injury nicely), Mark, Steve Harris, Paul L, Laurie, Steven Horler, John W, John T, Rob S, Dick and Syd . A very strong team run and everyone looked to enjoy the mud, I certainly did when I suddenly had no grip and plunged face first into it! The conclusion at the finish was that spikes were definitely the way to go.
Finally a prize for the person who can identify the club coach who didn’t bring off-road shoes, so borrowed Marianne’s rather fetching pink trail shoes?
Senior results now available here: http://www.gwent-league.org.uk/2009/res091.htm
Mens A-team were equal 13th (out of 59), which puts us 10th in division 1.
Mens B-team were 46th, which leaves us 8th in the B-team division
Ladies A were 10th (of 40), which puts them 8th in division 1.
Ladies B-team were 34th, putting them 6th in the B-team division
Well done everyone, some excellent results, and a great turn out to have A and B teams for both men and women.
East Wales XC Championships (also held at the event)
Results can be found here : http://www.eastwales-rab.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14:cross-country-championship-results
The Coming 168 Hours
12/10/2009 by Dick.
All you keen Harriers who are always looking to improve your running will be delighted to resume your monthly thrash on the Severn Bridge. You appreciate that a regular short flat(tish) speed time trial is beneficial in so many ways. It tells you how fit you really are; how your training is progressing; how to judge your sustainable pace for future races; how to race and experiment with racing but in a low-key environment; and of course it’s a marvellous training session.
So be ready to leave the Leis Ctre at 7 for a warm-up jog down to the Severn Bridge, and line up at 7.30 on the up-stream (left-hand) side of the Severn Bridge for an accurately measured 5k time trial.
Coach of the Month Andy Meek-Welsh has devised a new long run for Thursday. It takes us on a tour to Shirenewton with a trip round the village - about 8 miles in total.
And don’t forget the cross-country training on Sunday morning under Ivan’s tutelage. Results at Sunday’s Gwent League show how well our Club is progressing on the country. Meet at 9.55 in the top car park by the field.
