Kenilworth Runners

AAA Mem. No:

M2402AWA

Race Results - for October 2000

Sunday 1st October	Winsdor Half Marathon
Sunday 1st October	London to Brighton
Sunday 15th October	Rugby 10 mile

01/10/2000 - Windsor Half Marathon Challenge

In the aid of charity, Roland Smythe, John Jones and Stan Alexander completed in the Windsor Half marathon on Sunday by helping to push Judy Woolfenden round the 13.1 mile circuit in her wheelchair. (See last weeks Kenilworth Weekly News, page 3). Taking it in turns to push her around the course they completed the race in a time of 1 hour and 53 minutes. Not only did they manage to beat a lot of other runners, they also raised £50 as they ran round and a further £100 which was the prize for the 1st pushed wheel chair home. Judy enjoyed the race tremendously - but she did have the easy option - whilst her "3 helpers" pushed and pulled her wheelchair along. The most encouraging part of the race was the support not only from the crowds, but also from all of the runners going past us. It really made it seem a lot easier.


The magnificent view from the start of the race.		The magnificent view from the start of the race.


Judy Woolfenden and her team of "pushers" being presented with the 1st prize		Just after the mile mark and all's going well

At 9 miles, Stan comes over all camera shy - and has Roland pushed the chair yet?		Making it look oh so easy, Julius Kimtai, No 2, (winner of this years Hilly Challenge) at 9 miles

01/10/2000 - London to Brighton - only 55 miles

London – To Brighton - 2000 - NO 22.
Early one Sunday morning after 10 weeks of reasonably consistent training we were gathered under Big Ben waiting for the first ‘bong’ of 7am. The start was laid back with everyone being very relaxed and friendly. The weather was perfect, cool and dry with no wind. We set off into the eerie empty streets looking more like a Sunday morning club run than a race ( from the back at least). We settled down to our planned 9 minute mile pace getting to know other runners around us. The whole event is very low key with most support coming from the “seconds” and the tables with drinks set out at each 5 miles. The training had been focused on completing in just under the limit of 10 hours for this 55 mile event. It consisted of 4 runs per week of around 2 hours per run. In the last month the 35 mile Two Bridges Race around the Firth of Forth was used as a training run and confidence builder to bridge the gap from a marathon distance to more than a double marathon. This I completed in 5 hr 29 which was well inside the 5 hr 50 limit used as a prediction for the 55 mile event. I had a really good run and managed to speed up for the last two miles but when crossing the Firth of Forth bridge I did realise that on the big day I still had 20 miles left to the end. A sobering thought at the time. On sharing my “doubts” with my training buddies the following week I was told in no uncertain terms that the only option was to do the big one. In retrospect and from more research I should have been doing 10 hours per week and weight training for my “gammy” right leg. I had met Ray Kerridge during this event and we agreed as we seemed to have similar pace to do the big one together. His partner Annette teamed up with Gwyn to provide our support.


Only fools horses?		Looking good in the early stages

How do you describe 9 hours and 54 minutes and virtually constant running ? It is a bit like condensing all your past first running experiences into one day. Like any long run some bits went very easily and were soon forgotten but other parts will be remembered in more detail. When I finished and crossed the line the feeling was something very special. I did not get there on my own. At the end of the day it had taken a great team effort to deal with the problems that cropped up during the event. The initial stages went very smoothly and Ray and I ran easily, taking pace from Sandy Moolman, a very experienced ultra runner. We had to ease off her pace at 20 miles. I kept up a regular intake of Lucozade and solids supported by Gwyn Davies in the “Little Red Devil”. It felt just like the hilly Hundred Relay with all competitors and seconds talking to and helping each other. We had mist until midday and I really enjoyed both the town and country route. Once we left Croydon on the B roads the scenery was varied. The course is quite hilly almost all the way as opposed to Two Bridges which I had found virtually flat. As I came round a bend in a pretty winding lane I heard a voice and looking up saw Martin and Karen Carter who had come to lend their support. At this stage did not realise how important the arrival of some extra support was going to be. The day wore on and the 5 mile intervals went past. The half way mark came and went and all was well. It was a bit short of the Two Bridges distance when I noticed that I was taking strain in my right leg. The thigh started locking up on the down hill sections and the knee and foot was difficult to control. By this time I had about an hour in hand and was calculating how I could use speed walking on the hills to try to ease the leg. It got rapidly worse and time started draining away at a horrible rate. By this time Ray had vanished into the distance and I fell back around 15 minutes on his position. This made the support much more difficult. It really helped to have two cars at this stage. Lessons learnt for the future ! Martin and Gwyn took turns in giving me pacing and encouragement every couple of miles. I used an old army technique and broke up the distance into short sections running each mile as a separate mental target and not thinking on the remaining distance too much, keeping my mind totally involved in positive thoughts. Many times I recalled the words on a card given to me “Never doubt that you can make it” and the words "You can do it " said to me on the last Tuesday training session. This was reinforced by Martin who started each pace section with the words “Only positive thoughts” and Gwyn who frequently reminded me of my “ Never give up” advice I am forever giving others. I knew I would finish eventually but realised we had to do something drastic or I was never going to make the 10 hour limit. Unknowing to me the support team were rapidly coming to the same conclusion though they kept up their soothing comments of “ take it easy we have plenty of time”. We started doing a massage and “force feeding” of a Mars bar, chocolate biscuits and a whole 500 ml Lucozade every 5 miles in about 2 minutes or less. I had found water was just making me ill and the Power bars too difficult to chew. Things started improving. I was overtaken many times by a runner who faithfully went back each time to drag up his partner, would go on ahead and then have to go back. Once when going past me he said he was really impressed by our “pit stops” . By the time I got to the lower slopes of Ditchling Beacon (have to see it to know it ) I had settled back into a reasonable pace and had fought back about a 15 minute cushion. Gwyn and Martin each did half of Ditchling helping me to keep a steady pace on the lower reaches and really to push the speed walk up the main incline. It paid off and I overtook about 18 “runners” going up Ditchling lower and upper part ( including Ray) and only ever gave one place back later on. Feeling much chirpier I gave a rendition of a well know African song to spur me on. Coming over the top into a cool headwind was a weird sensation. I could see the sea and suddenly knew I could make the limit and stumbled back into a sort of a run The pace built up a little. I managed the flat and uphill but still struggled on the downhill. There was no more time for pit stops as the cushion was down to 6 minutes. The amazing thing during the whole run was at every stage no matter how everybody was coping or struggling the race never became silent. Anyone coming past always had words of encouragement. Every bit helped. The last few miles were all downhill and every step now either jarred the injury in my left foot or the right leg which could no longer bend properly. I had to carefully pick my route as I could no longer get on and off kerb edges. The countryside gave way to the town and the route wound down past a church and along the parks toward the sea front. At one point a marshal said “Not far only about a mile left” to go. I contemplated speeding up. It made no sense as this meant I was suddenly around 15 minutes ahead of cut off. My running had got a bit quicker but not that much. After around another 9 minutes of steady running I came to another marshal who said “Not far only about a mile left” I later found out the marshals were confused as the previous year’s course had been 54 miles. Too tired to get mad I just had to hang in and get to the end. Back to reality with around a 6 minute cushion left. As I approached the last corner at the seafront I felt someone touch my arm. It was Ray who had caught up with me. Last kick and I somehow found I was able to sprint the last 100 yards or so. A cup of champagne from our very efficient support team was waiting but no medal. Although I did qualify for the Bronze they had run out so I got an IOU


Ouch, it begins to hurt!	Pit manMartin Carterapplying the massage, whilst Karen keeps an eye on the seconds!		Wot no medal

and was able to get the T shirt. How sweet the finish – the time itself or race order was of no real importance, only sharing the event and finishing ! The finish was just like the start. Everybody was really interested in how others had done and was very laid back and matter of fact ( why can’t other events learn from this ).

When you run with Kenilworth Runners you never run alone !

We used the event to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Relief as a joint fund raiser with Gwyn (alias Tom) Davies and his New York 2000 Marathon Appeal and received generous support. The fund is still open until the end of November. Please contact Gwyn on 02476 304059 if you wish to support this. A race report will be published after the event.

15/10/2000 - Kenilworth take three prizes at todays Rugby 10 - but have they got the ones they really wanted?

Kenilworth Runners fielded one of their strongest sides for todays finally fixture in this seasons inaugural Warwickshire Road Race Series. But for some inexplicable reason, nobody from the organisers was there at the finish to confirm the final positions. Having put so much effort into the league, it was a huge disappointment for it to end up in the way it did. Teams may think twice before entering next year if this is the kind of commitment they are going to get form the organisers. Kenilworth themselves were in with a shout in both the Seniors and Vets categories, not to mention the individuals. That aside, the team still managed a very good result packing 6 in the first 20 places and 4 vets inside the first 35. A total of 14 runners started the race, and a warm welcome goes to Bob Griffiths on his first outing in the Club colours. Whilst he wasn't expecting to be up with the leaders, he was still content in just finishing the undulating course - coming in with Debbie Brookes.

Our three prize winners were; Lisa Rodda, 2nd lady; Richard Elliot 2nd home in the V50 category and the team itself - 4 to count - coming 3rd overall. Wayne Oakes led the team home closely followed by Lou Frondella. Simon Vine completed the trio in finishing under the hour, whilst 4th placed man, Richard Steele just missed out by 29 seconds. Roger Holmes came in fifth just ahead of Mick Williams (although Mick said he let him beat him - mind you see the photograph!). Roland Smythe managed to overturn the Nuneaton 10 result by beating fellow club runner John McNally and sandwiched in-between them was Martin Dorrill - who is coming back after a long lay off.

The full results are as follows:

Runner	Time	Position
Wayne Oakes	58:22	11th
Lou Frondella	58:06	13th
Simon Vine	59:21	15th
Richard Steele	60:29	17th
Roger Homes	60:39	19th
Mick Williams	60:40	20th
Richard Elliot - 2nd V50	62:31	34th
Roland Smythe	65:13	43rd
Martin Dorrill	65:40	46th
John McNally	66:10	49th
Martin Carter	71:30	87th
Lisa Rodda - 2nd Lady	72:21	96th
Debbie Brookes	85:53	159th
Bob Griffiths	85:54	160th
Total runners in field - 179


Mick Williams struggles to catch Roger Holmes on the line		Richard Elliot suffering from a blister for most of the race, getting first aid afterwards.


Waiting for the off - isn't that that man again, Roger Homes - no 66?		Have they or haven't they?