Archive for the Cross Country Category
Harriers at Hartridge
16/11/2008 by Dick.
Well done all the Harriers (and supporters) who turned out on a very slippery and tight course at Lliswerry’s hosting of the second LCL Cross Country this morn.
As first-timer Stuey says on the Bulletin Board, the Blue & Red were out in force - 19 men and 11 women.
Going by the PROVISIONAL results, now posted on the Cross Country page in Club Events & Results/Club League Events, it looks like the women were first on the day, and equal first with Griff after two races. The men were probably equal 2nd alongside Lliswerry, behind Fairwater. That should make us 4th after two races.
Please see the Bulletin Board for a bit more detail.
The Week Ahead
08/09/2008 by Dick.
So what’s in store for the Happy Harrier over the next 7 days?
Well Tuesday is the third of the 5k Severn Bridge runs. A good chance for a speedy thrash and a check on how your running’s going. Plus of course points towards your Club Champs tally.
Thursday brings a change to Plan B. Reports from the Wye Valley Walk say it’s a job to keep your feet there after all this rain. So we’re going to run across Piercefield Park, then up the road to Penterry Hill, followed by a nice fast descent through the wide track of Fedw Wood to The Cot - if the light holds good. If we think it’s too dark, we’ll go round by the road. We come out on the St Arvans/Devauden Road by ChepPk Wood for the downhill zip to St Arvans and home.
But Thursday’s not finished yet. Pausing only for a quick shower, there’s an important get together of the Social Committee to sort out the Dinner/Dance. This is your chance to have your say and vote for such decisions as how much the tickets will be, what’ll be on the menu, transport arrangements, entertainment, table arrangements and all the other things that make for a successful night. If you can’t spare an hour or so, then don’t whinge if it turns out not how you want it!
Saturday morning at 9.30 sees our first cross-country training session. Only three weeks to the opening fixture at the notoriously muddy Pontlanfraith course. Are you ready for it? Have you tried out your off-road shoes since last winter? Do you want to do well? If you answered no, no, yes, then you better be there. Meet at the top car park for the short jog to Piercefield Park.
Let’s see how many make all four!
Cross Country Calendar
31/08/2008 by Dick.
As the long hot summer (ha!) draws to an autumnal close, lovers of mud and loitering within tents will be dying to get hold of the 2008/9 league dates.
Newer members may not be aware that we belong to two XC leagues:
Firstly the Leisure Centre League which features the same eight Monmouthshire clubs that contested the recent LCL Road competition. The five races all start at 11.00 and all members are welcome to run. Men and women start together but for some historic reason the men run more laps -5/6 miles compared with about 4 miles for the weaker sex (can’t believe I wrote that). Just turn up in your Club vest and wear the same race number as always (Syd will allocate you one if it’s your first ever LCL race - XC or Road). We usually meet at Chepstow Leis Ctre steps at 9.45 to travel together.
The Gwent League rarely takes place in Gwent, and is a larger-scaled competition with clubs from South Wales and South West England. Men and women run separate race, the timing of which varies from about midday to 2.30, on a Saturday or Sunday. No race number to wear, just your Club vest. Meeting arrangements will be posted on our website and announced on Clubnights.
Sun 5 Oct - LCL Pontllanfraith nr Blackwood.
Sun 12 Oct - GL Bridgend. Incorporates E Wales XC Champs and selection for Welsh Champs, Wrexham 13 Dec.
Sun 9 Nov - GL Univ of Bath.
Sun 23 Nov - LCL Hartridge School Newport.
Sat 6 Dec - GL Blaise Castle, Bristol.
Sun 11 Jan - LCL Cwmbran.
Sun 1 Feb - LCL Chepstow.
Sat or Sun 14/15 Feb GL Brecon.
Sun 8 Mar - LCL Caerleon.
Sat 14 Mar - GL Carmarthen.
E Wales Cross Country Champs
18/08/2008 by Dick.
Well it’s cross-country weather, so lets start mapping out the new season.
The Gwent League schedule is taking shape on http://www.gwent-league.org.uk/
The first fixture on Sunday 12 October at Bridgend will also be the East Wales Championships. GL regulars will remember that we had some good results at the corresponding Champs last year at Bath. You just fill out the entry form and pay £1 and run the race as usual.
AND the first six runners in each age category will then be selected for the Welsh Inter-Regional Champs at Wrexham on Saturday 13 December (travel up by Team bus).
Smartarses will have spotted that 12 October is also the Mendip Muddle, a Club Champs race. If that’s your preference, you can still be considered for E Wales selection by running well at a Leisure Centre XC or similar (LCL dates not fixed yet).
Or should you prefer to do the Gwent League/E Wales Champs and aim for automatic selection, then you still have two more Cat B Club Champs to come - the Sugar Loaf on 1 Nov and the Merthyr Mawr on 14 Dec.
Leisure Centre League XC Chepstow
09/03/2008 by Gerry.
A glorious day and a gret venue - Piercefield Park at its best. Both the Ladies and the men won their team races with the ladies the overall series winners and the men in second place.
Becky Merriman and Jane Bayliss are age group winners.
Mark Harvey 2nd Snr Male. Geoff Cram 2nd 60+, Geoff Bayliss 3rd. Syd Wheeler 4th.
Sam Mulligan, Lou Summers, Bill Savage, 4th in their categories.
Kevin McEntee 5th.
A message from Lou:
Thanks to all helpers, especially Phil & Esther who went on to their other commitments & Bev & Claire for helping & supporting and to Ivan & Geoff who helped me before & after.
The weather was fantastic, wasn’t it, I really enjoyed the whole thing - setting up & taking it down - the running was ok too!
Well done Sam, awesome running again- first, fantastic!
Congratulations Becky - third today and first in your group overall. very impressive.
I think the men did brilliantly - would be good if they are 2nd - obviously they’ve just got tougher oppositon.
Thanks too to Dick, Eric & Bram as they did help me a little in designing the course ( ok so it was the other way round !)
Gwent League Success
01/03/2008 by Gerry.
From Eric Bailey
Promotion for Ladies team.
Saint David’s day saw the final fixture in this seasons Gwent League at a sunny but windy Blaise Castle. Pride of place once again goes to the victorious Ladies team who again showed why they finished top of their division this season. With consistent runs from Sam Mulligan 12th Becky Merriman 20th and Lou Summers 37th backed up by Esther Barrett 58th and Sain Edwards 74th ( complete with daffodil) they consolidated their position at the top of Division 2.
On the individual front congratulations go to Sam Mulligan who finished 3rd overall in the Senior Ladies section and Becky Merriman who picked up the Silver Medal in the Vet 0/35 section by finishing 2nd overall. The ladies are really setting the standard for next year when they will be competing in the First Division once again.
One hour earlier the novice section saw both Paige and Darcy Wright start the day of with fine performances in the Novice section. With an earlier than normal start it was over to the Men’s team to carry on with some excellent runs from all concerned. After a fine performance in the Welsh Championships last week Philip Matthews was again in good form running with a group of runners fighting for top ten places. Unfortunately for Philip he lost a few places on the final sprint to the line but still finished with a fine 9th place. Men’s captain Mark Harvey ran well to finish in 58th place. The next five team places were a constant battle with positions swapping on each lap. At the finish it was Ivan Teed 73rd just leading home Steve Harris 75th closely followed by Matthew Lawson (minus buggy on this occasion) in 86th. Backing up the front five were Steve Caldwell 96th Calum Cheshire 111th Mark Jefferies 138th Nick Higgins 155th and improving with each race Dick Finch 193rd. Also present at the race was Kevin Mcentee who was ready to run but was called away just ten minutes before the start (work commitments). Overall a fine 3rd place for the men’s team in Division 2 just missing out on the promotion spot, still there’s always next year.
Again on the Individual front its congratulations to Phillip Matthews who finished a magnificent 3rd overall in the Senior Men’s section.
With promotion for the ladies and three individual category awards I think it confirms the committee’s decision to carry on with the club’s participation in the Gwent League which offers all club members the chance to test themselves against a much wider range of athlete’s at all levels. Well done to everyone who took part and if you missed out on the fun you can always join in next Season.
Photos from Saturday can be found on the Flicker Web site.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23777992@N04/sets/72157604025641372/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24303361@N07/sets/72157604026434601/
Eric Bailey
Lliswerry LCL Cross Country - 24th Feb
20/02/2008 by Andy.
Meet at the Leisure Centre, ready to leave at 10am on Sunday, for the next round in the Leisure Centre League cross country series.
Alternatively, get yourself to Hartridge School Link to Map - just off the Coldra Roundabout (M4 J24).
The race starts at 11am.
For those of you unfamiliar with the leisure centre league, this is a competition that runs throughout the year between local running clubs. It’s a friendly environment with a range of standards represented. For the cross country, the men typically run around 5-6 miles, with the women doing slightly less. These are proper cross country, rather than multi-terrain or fell, races - so studs or spikes are recommended.
If you’ve never tried one, why not come along and give it a go? Be prepared to get a bit muddy, but it’s all good fun!
This is the penultimate one in the series - the final race will be in Chepstow (so no excuses!) on Sunday 9th March, also at 11am. Further details will be available nearer the time.
Gwent League Brecon 9th Feb (Eric Bailey)
09/02/2008 by Gerry.
On a beautiful sunny day at Brecon, Chepstow again showed their potential with some excellent performances in the fourth Gwent League fixture of the season. Let’s start with our ladies team. Not only did they maintain their lead in Div Two they increased it to 338pts, over nearest rivals Bridgend. With only one race to go they are almost certain of promotion to the top division. Well done to everyone who turned out. Leading home the team was Sam Mulligan with a 9th place finish, closely followed by Becky Merriman in 14th. Team Captain Lou Summers in 32nd and Sain Edwards in 60th place completed the team who ended up 5th overall out of all the teams on the day.
Following on from the excellent women’s effort the Men’s team showed the same spirit, led home by Philip Matthews. Phil was 10th on lap one and slowly worked his way up the field and finished an amazing 5th place, the highest placing by any Chepstow Harrier ever in this League .Behind him we some storming runs by Martin Pengilly 31st Steve Harris 77th and Ivan Teed in 96th place. Behind them came the battle to be our 5th scorer with Bill Savage just easing out Mark Jefferies on the last lap with positions of 123 &135 respectively. Ably backing up the front runners was Syd Wheeler and ever improving returnee Dick Finch in positions 190 and 191. With an overall 10th placing on the day the Men’s team hold on to 3rd place in their division.
On the individual front both Phil and Sam are in fourth place and only a couple of points behind the first 3 runners in their categories, with an excellent chance of a Top Three Finish at the end of the season. Already in line for a Top Three Finish is Becky Merriman who currently holds 3rd spot in her age group.
With only one fixture to go it looks like a good season in the Gwent League for Chepstow but we still need as many as possible to turn out at Bristol in March.
Eric Bailey
Chepstow girls win Islwyn Cross Country!
18/01/2008 by Andy.
Our team of Sam Mulligan, Becky Merriman, Lou Summers, Sue Ashton, Sian Griffith, Jane Bayliss and Sue Ost beat Griffithstown by 10 points, and are now in second place over all, with two races to go.
Our men were second to Club 69 by only two points, 508 to 506, and are also 2nd over all. This race saw the return to team racing of head coach Dick Finch - it was great to see him back racing again after so long out injured.
Jane and Geoff Bayliss and Becky are leading their age group categories. Also in their top five are Sue Ost, Lou Summers, Sue Ashton, Mark Harvey, Kevin McEntee, Geoff Cram, Syd Wheeler and Eric Bayliss.
Next race is at Hartridge School, Newport on 24 February (leave Chep LC at 10am).
The next race in the Gwent League Series is at Brecon on 9 Feb (leave LC 11am). Our women are currently leading their league, while the men are third.
Cross Country - Pontllanfraith
13/01/2008 by Gerry.
Another Leisure Centre League with threatening weather but a good turnout. I find this a good course, with 4 laps equating to 5 miles. We had some good teams out and the weather held off. Of course it didn’t stop us getting muddy. It will be interesting to see the results - I would expect we did well as a club.
The next 2 events in this league are Liswerry on 24th February and then Chepstow on 9th March.
Edit: Here’s a link to Lou Summer’s photos (copied in from comment so more people take a look!).
