March 2013 Newsletter for Desford Striders Running Club ...

Volume 14 Issue 3 Newsletter for Desford Striders Running Club March 2013

National Striders National XC Champs, Herrington Park,
Sunderland. Sat. 23rd Feb 2013

T o paraphrase a famous BBC reporting line from the Falklands confilct, “I counted them all out, I counted them all
in.” Yes folks! After starting and then withdrawing from both the County and Midlands Cross-country Champion-
ships, Paul Carnegie ensured that all Striders who started the National XC Championship race at Herrington Park,
Sunderland, finsihed it too! O.k. it was just the four running but that was a 100% success rate!

Sorry, I’m being a little mischievious but it’s all in the “Best possible taste!” (Anybody over the age of 35 has probably
just crossed their legs aka Kenny Everett!)

Anyway enough waffling! Six members of the wider Strider family made the 180 mile trip to Sunderland (yes that one
far away in the North) for the 126th running of the English National Cross-country Championships. This was the sec-
ond time that the location had hosted the event and the first time in 6 years.

The large distance may well have had an affect on numbers running because the
men’s race was 600 short of last year’s field in London, with 1085 finishing the
12K course.

We had four gents taking

part but sadly no ladies.

Unfortunately it wasn’t

enough for a scoring team

but that didn’t matter, we

were there to take part in

a prestigious event and all

enjoyed the experi-

The improvised start ence…….to a fashion.
line in the snow.
As I say, Paul C had a
chance to redeem his

somewhat battered reputation by completing the event and did

a wonderful job in doing so. But he and the other three, Gra-

ham Hobbs, Clint Carnegie-Dean and Steve Morris very nearly 5 of the shivering 6. Steve Morris, Graham and Marie
didn’t get the chance. Along with Ruth Carnegie and Marie Hobbs, Paul Carnegie and Clint Carnegie-Dean.

Hobbs they travelled in ‘convoy’ (two cars!), setting off from

SiD at 8.30 a.m…...loads of time! That’s if you don’t get stuck in traffic for an hour and a half!

The A1(M) was closed between junctions 44 and 45 causing tailbacks of enourmous proportions. It took an hour and
a half to cover just 1.5 miles. Just at the time that the crunch decision was to be made, “do we go on or turn back?”
the road opened. The Carnegie wagon realised this with about a second to spare and carried on up the A1M, where-

Men - (12K) 561 57:10
747 1:01:33
Graham Hobbs 1043 1:16:40
Clint Carnegie-Dean
Paul Carnegie 1084 1:42:17

Steve Morris

(1085finishers)

The mass start of the men’s race at
Herrington Park, Sunderland.

Page 2 THE NEWSTRIDER

as the Morris/Hobbs contingent lost sight of their compan-
ions. The Canegies shot off whilst the other dissappeared in
the wrong direction, still following the now defunct diversion
up the A64!

Well the language from Marie and Steve! Poor Graham blsu-
hed! (Sorry folks I write the newsletter, I’m allowed poetic licence! Ed.)

Anyway, we’ll brush over that part. A few frantic texts/’phone
calls and a plan was hatched and we all thankfully arrived at
the venue with time to spare. In the meantime though there
was more horror for Steve. He whimpered quitely as he
drove along. “Not snow! It’ll be Stafford all over again.” Yes
snow! Thankfull not much but still too much!

Paul Carnegie right in the mix of things in the early stages. On our arrival Steve sweet talked a steward into allowing us
to park the van pretty close to the tent drop off point and we

got oursellves set up. The ground was a little short of a very shallow mudbath. Not as deep as Stafford last month but
sloppy….very sloppy. We got the tent up, cooker, bacon and soup all sort-
ed and ready for the end of the race, whilst Ruth continued to snap away,
recording the event for Posterity...whoever he or she is.

Eventually we couldn’t avoid it any longer, we had to strip to our running
clobber and line up with the other 1000 plus shivering blokes. As we stood
there we suddenly heard a large amount of booing. Wondering what was
going on I stood on my tip toes, peered over the top of those in front and
saw a bloke from Liverpool Harriers running towards us! A voice shouted
over the tannoy, “Get off the course!” We jovially booed him, he lined up on
the front and we were off!

The course, like with these type of events, was a meandering one. It was
difficult to keep track of where we
were in relation to the start/finish
area. The main point of reference
was a large Ancient Greek style
‘folly’ on top of a hill within the
park. What wasn’t difficult to pin-
point was the sludge….12K of it.
To be fair there were a few steps
of almost solid ground but you
had to look hard for them.

Ruth and Marie provided some

brillaint support from the side- Clint looking strong on the second lap.
lines despite being almost frozen

to the bone. They cheered each of the gents on as they passed by for three

large loops of the park.

Steve with remarkably clean legs! Graham was the first to finish and even managed a wave of the arms and
smile as he passed the ladies for the last time beore heading for the finish

line. With the Ashby 5 the next day, there was no sprint to the finish this time. After crossing the line he looked to re-

move the timimg chip but couldn’t see it. There was so much mud on him that he had to scrape around his ankle look-

ing for it!

As Graham went to try and thaw out (getting clean was
out of the question!) Clint completed the race in just
over 61 minutes. A fine effort. Paul Carnegie got an
extra large cheer from the girls, who by now was joined
by Graham and Clint and looked strong as he pushed
up the final short incline.

We then all waited for Steve who continued to plough

through the Tyen and Wear mud. He came home in

just under an hour and three quarters and looked pretty
tired when he finished. But on hearing that he wasn’t

the last runner in (by 5 and a half minutes!) he

punched
the air in Paul smiling all the way around as he knows
delight! this is one he will finish!

Page 3 THE NEWSTRIDER

It doesn’t matter where we finish we can all have a great run.

Now it was time to repare to Camp Striders for hot bacon cobs and even hotter soup, provided to us by Marie Hobbs.
All I will say about her magic was that once Marie got going in the tent, it got very steamy! Enough said, otherwise I’ll
get belted! After satisfying ourselves with Marie’s wares we broke camp, loaded the wagons and made our way
home, all tired but having had a successful day. The journey home was a tad uncomfartable with mud slowly solidify-
ing around the hairs on ones legs! Move too suddenly and we found out what a waxed leg felt like!

My thanks to Paul, Clint, Steve, Ruth and Marie for sharing the experience. Yes it was along way but it was great day
out and a real shame we couldn’t share it with more of our mates from the Striders….perhaps next year? It should
either be the south-west or somewhere in the Midlands, so hopefully we’ll get a bigger contingent running.

I’ve had a quick look through the men’s results and only Charnwood AC and OWLS had more finishers than Desford
Striders and only two other Leicestershire clubs were represented, Harborough (3 men) and Nuneaton (1 man).
Something we can be proud of!

Above: Graham has fun trying Above: Clint pushing his way to the finish line.
to put his leggins back on with- Below: A typical section of the course. Sloppy!
out getting them muddy. Yeah
right! Left: Paul making his way up the final hill of
sludge.
Above right: Steve enjoying Below: The Striders encourage Steve in after his
every minute of it….well at wonderful effort.
least at that particular moment!

Left: Steve running in to the finish area
with the elevated section of the course
in the background.

Page 4 THE NEWSTRIDER

Tuesday Night is Quality Night!

Think that quality work is just for the few? Think again! The Ashby

5 saw a number of personal bests for Striders that regularly attend these
Tuesday night sessions, among these are Graham Hobbs, Kate Beau-
mont, Sarah Cottrell and Ruth Evans. So they can be beneficial for any-
body. Why not give them a go?

The sessions are designed to keep everybody included, something
which works remarkably well. Nobody gets left behind and each individual works as hard as they want to. If
you need a break then there is no pressure to keep going.

We regularly get 10-15 people, so you won’t be alone! And what have you got to lose? Nothing! And I know
we can all gain something from these sessions….see the Ashby 5 results!

Hopefully see you at SiD, 6.45 p.m. every Tuesday.

The sessions are:

Week 1: Measured mile - a serving of the fastest mile you can muster followed by a small helping of the
‘chain gang’ - a steady ‘in a line jog’, with the runner at the back sprinting to the front.

Week 2: Norfolk & Suffolk - a pairing of runners who then take it in turns to run laps of the aforementioned
roads. Unlike their County namesakes, this is not flat but has a fine undulating feel to them.
Week 3: Bridleway 400 - 2 helpings of 400m reps along the flat bridleway.

Week 4: Humber Hill Repeats - groups of short hill repeats on Forest Rise in Desford. A popular session
with our regulars :-)

Week 5: Breen Hill 1-2-3 - a testing combination short, medium and long hill repeats in Peckleton. However
if the portion is a little too much, then a shortened helping is available.

All the above are served with a generous portion of warm ups and warm downs.
* This menu is subject to change and please note, the measured mile is always served on the first Tuesday of the month.

Just a few words about the latest food night at the end of the last
month and what a rip roaring success it was. On the evening we
had a fantastic 43 Striders out for the club run and a wonderful 31
stay for the food.

28th March Pie night Those present tucked into 3 varieties of mouth watering pizza,
together with grated cheese, garlic bread, coleslaw and an excel-
25th April Curry night lent pasta made by Pam Lord. And it is to her that we owe our
thanks. She took on the task of taking the orders and money and
30th May Banger and mash we are most grateful to her for a very successful evening. I’m not
100% sure but I believe Emily Newton assisted in collecting the
27th June Cakes and dessert pizzas, so our thanks to her too.

25th July Barbeque burger If you weren’t there due to not certain whever or not to come
along, then hopefully you’ll be encouraged to take part in March’s
29th August Fish and chip pie night on the 28th! Keep an eye on the website and e-mail for
more details.
26th Sept Soup night
Striders texting
31st Oct Halloween night service

28th Nov Curry night

December No Thur food night

as we will have our Christmas do.

Thursday Night Club Running Some of you are already aware that
Winter Runs 2012/13 Sarah Cottrell sends out global texts
alerting people to various events/
All distances are rough estimates happenings going on within the club.
And I don’t know about you but I find
Date Name Dist Name them useful. If you aren’t on her list and want to be
please let her know by dropping an e-mail to the Strid-
21-03 Botcheston hill and pub 6.0 Botcheston 4.0 ers’ usual account (top of the page).
28-03 Back to summer running Likewise if want to be removed from her list, then
again, please drop her an e-mail.

Page 5 THE NEWSTRIDER

Leicestershire Road Running League.

Ashby - pb capital of the LRRL

A fter a modest turnout of Striders at the first road race of the season in Bar-
row, a fine 25 lads and lassies took on the Ashby 5 on the 24th February.
This was rather pleasing bearing in mind that it was the day after the Na-
tional Cross-country Championships and also the Belvoir Challenge, both of which,
especially the latter, had a good sprinkling of Striders running.

As you will see from Ruth Carnegie’s splendid pictures the weather conditions were
dry and bright and they seemed to suit our little band favourably, as we had a

number of people obtain personal bests! Some of these were achieved by folks run-
ning the distance for the first time and perfectly valid that is too! However, some

were improvements on past times and the first of these was a splendid debut run
for new boy Joe Henson. He is a recent addition to the Strider ranks and stormed

over the finish line in 42nd position and a stonking time of 29:29.

He was followed home by Graham Hobbs who

was more than delighted with his run as he’d

run in the Nationals in Sunderland the previous

day and broke his own 5 mile record by some Ruth Evans, one of a number of
way, collecting an official time of 30:13.
Striders who ran their way to a

Others also to run their way to personal bests pb at the Ashby 5.

were Kate Beaumont, who following a PB at

Barrow, ran the 5 mile race in 35:37. Sarah

Cottrell in 42:11 and pushing her all the way,

Ruth Evans in a time of 42:22. It’s no coinci-

dence that these people attend the Quality

Sessions on a regular basis and are reaping

the benefits! Well done to them. In fact if

memory serves me right (and there’s no

guarentee of that) I’m sure Laura Rossi also

ran her fastest time for the distance too, in

38:12.

Brian Moran pushes it hard all the We also had 9 peeps taking part in their first
way to the line and it shows. Good LRRL race of the season, including (and those
effort Brian. not listed please doin’t take offence, I find it
difficult not to make it sound like a roll call!)

Andrew Hurd, making a first appearance after
his marathon effort leading up to Christmas. Mark Goodrich comes home in
Other first timers were, Brian Moran, Steve Hib- his first LRRL race of the year.

ben, Pam Lord and Mhairi Billington.

The results can be seen overleaf and
I’ll leave you to peruse these at your
leisure, along with the league tables
following the second race.

A few thank you before I leave the
Ashby 5, to Paddy for taking the mon-
ey and sorting the results. To Ruth
Carnegie for the photographs and also
a rare appearance from the lesser
spotted Richard McBean who came
over to lend his vocal support to the
Strider cause.

Two more first timers for 2013 ran at
Ashby, Mhairi Billington (left) and Pam
Lord (right).

Page 6 THE NEWSTRIDER

Ashby 5 The start of the Ashby 5 and Joe
Henson (far right) is up there
Joe Henson Pos Time with the early leaders.
42 29:29

Graham Hobbs 68 30:13

Ash Payne 109 31:54 Below: Anne Newbery chasing
Tony Woodward 114 32:07 after Paul Carnegie, who held in
Guy Dayman 115 32:10 to finish just one second ahead
Dave Lawrie 135 32:58 of her!
Andrew Hurd 139 33:01

Duncan Percy 153 33:34

Clint Carnegie-Dean 205 35:24

Kate Beaumont 21 35:37

Paul Faver 217 35:55

Brian Moran 238 37:07 Leicester Running Shop LRRL Tables
Paul Goddard 250 37:36

Laura Rossi 48 38:12

Mhairi Billington 56 38:51 LRRL 2012 LRRL 2012
Gary Grimsley 281 39:33 Ladies Vet Div 2 Ladies Div 3
Mark Goodrich 289 40:25
Paul Bradshaw 291 40:36 Pts Pts
Paul Carnegie 301 41:28 40
Anne Newbery 83 41:29 Roadhoggs 32 Wreake B 47
Sarah Cottrell 87 42:11 Wigston Phoenix 29
Ruth Evans 91 42:22 Desford 28 Roadhoggs B 39
Pam Lord 106 44:12 Hermitage 28
Steve Morris 341 50:27 West End 23 West End B 36
Steve Hibben 348 1:10:13 Stilton 13
Harborough 10 Wigston Phoenix B 36
South Derby
Desford B 33

Hermitage B 31

Stilton 28

Nuneaton 26

South Derby 26

Dave Lawrie and Andy Hurd no Charnwood AC B 25
doubt discussing the race. Fleckney B 22
Shepshed 22

Beaumont B 20

L. Tri B 17

Harborough 14

L Cort 11

Whetstone 8

Stilton B 7

Charnwood Tri 0

Harborough B 0

Leicester Uni 0

Nuneaton B 0

Fine support was given for the Strid- OWLS 0
ers still to finish from Guy Dayman, S. Derbys B 0
Ash payne, Tony Woodward and
LRRL 2012 Clint Carnegie-Dean.
Ladies Div 1

Pts Steve Hibben has a well earned drink after com-
pleting the race.
Barrow 37 LRRL 2012 LRRL 2012
Birstall Men Vet Div 2
Charnwood AC 32 Men Div 2
Huncote
Wreake 29 Pts Pts
Barrow B
Ivanhoe 29 Leicester Tri 37 Hinckley 37
Hinckley
Hermitage 25 Hinckley 32 Hermitage 35
Desford
24 Fleckney & Kib 30 Roadhoggs 29

23 Ivanhoe 29 West End 29

21 Wigston Phoenix 27 Ivanhoe 27

20 Desford 25 Desford 25

18 Birstall 24 Birstall 22

Page 7 THE NEWSTRIDER

Road Races Individual Club Standings

With two races in the LRRL now completed, the individual tables have a
little more ‘meat’ on them now and I mean that there are more people
populating the tables, not that we’re all larger!

In the Senior men’s category we’ve now had two different winners, with Joe
Henson taking maximum points following Tony Woodward doing the same at
Barrow. On this occasion Tony took third place behing Joe and Ash Payne and
leads the table on 8 points, 3 ahead of Clint Carnegie-Dean.

In the other three categories the same people won the second race as did the
first. Graham Hobbs sits on the top of the Men’s Vet’s table, cllosely followed
by Duncan Percy and Paul Faver.

Kate Beaumont’s form is still looking very
good as she picked up her second top
Senior Strider lady placing and currently
leads Sarah Cottrell, who has two second
places under her belt, by 2 points.

The final catagroy is the Vet. Ladies and
this is being led by Laura Rossi, who also
has two wins! She leads Anne Newbery by

Male Vets. three points with
Ruth Evans and
Graham Hobbs Pts Mhairi Billington Tony Woodward heads the Senior
26 Men’s Table after two races of the
22 currently sharing
Duncan Percy LRRL league.

Paul Faver 20 third place on 4
Paul Bradshaw 14 points.
Dave Lawrie II 12

Andrew Hurd 11 By the time you read this the Kibworth 6 will have been
Paul Carnegie 10 run, so I’m out of date already! I can’t
Lee Barber 9 keep up! Female Vets.
Steve Morris 8 Male Seniors
Clive Coulson 8 Pts
Brian Moran 8 Female Snrs. Pts
Paul Goddard 8 Laura Rossi 10
Gary Grimsley Pts Tony Woodward
Mark Goodrich Anne Newbery 7
Steve Hibben 7 Kate Beaumont 8 Clint Carnegie-Dean 5 Ruth Evans
Kate Beaumont finishng at Ashby 4
and picking up another set of maxi- 6 Sarah Cottrell 6 Joe Henson 5 Mhairi Billington 4
mum points. 5 Nadine Skinner 2 Ash Payne 4 Jill Sharpe
1 Guy Dayman 2 Pam Lord 3

1 Sandi Punia 1

Leicestershire Road Running League. Markfield 10K

2013 LRRL fixtures Winter Summer 2013 LRRL fixtures Date: 14th April 2013
Venue: Not found any
14 Apr Markfield 10K 2 Jun Swithland 6
19 May West End 8 30 Jun Prestwold 10K details but assume
it’s the usual at
(Entry fee £?, payable on the day?) 10 Jul Hungarton 7 Sth. Charnwood
31 Jul Huncote 5 school.
11 Aug Hermitage 10K Time: 10.30 a.m.
Dist: 10K, 1 lap course
1 Sep John Fraser 10M Cost: £3.50 (I think)
Parking: Please car share.
(For individual entry fees, check race details.)

See the club’s Facebook page for Got anything for the newsletter?
chat, information and pictures of
Articles, photos, etc??
running events and much more! Please forward to:
Graham Hobbs

[email protected]

April’s deadline:
11th April

Page 8 THE NEWSTRIDER

I t’s that time of year again when we are starting to think of the club’s handi-
cap trophy series. This, for the newcomers, is a trophy which can be won by
anyone in the club and invariably goes to somebody who would never describe
themselves as being fast (I think that was diplomatic enough!)

The way it works is that every runner is given a handicap time for each mile
they run in a race, with the faster runners getting a larger handicap. The idea
is that it’s a level playing field for everybody and we all have a chance.

An attempt to explain…...Jenny runs at 7 min miling; Harry runs at 10 mins miling. They run a 5 mile race.
Jenny is given a handicap of 3 minutes for every mile. After the race her actuall race time is added to her
handicap time. In theory both Jenny and Harry should have the same combined time but if she ran at 7 mi-
nute miling and Harry had a good run and completed the course in 9:55 miling, his time would be lower and
he would therefore win. I hope that’s clear, if not come to a Club run on a Thursday night, stay for a drink
and I’ll get my pen and paper out and try again. Its straight forward in practice but difficult to put in writing.

Moving on…..the folks looking after the handicap, Francis Breen, Richard McBean and Chris Minto are busy
sorting things out for us but they already have the races to be used in the series and they are here for you
to put in your diaries. As can be seen we will have 11 races and the rules on how many will count for the se-
ries in gemeral will be issued once we have the individual times calculated for everyone. However we want-

ed to give you early notice of what races Sun 5th May Club run
are included so that you can make a note Sun 19th May West End 8M
Sun 2nd Jun Swithland 6M
Handicapof them in your diaries. As usual we will

publish the list throughout the year as a
Trophyreminder, just on case they slip you mind. Thu 13 Jun Club run
FixturesPlease note that we are scheduling the
Sun 30th Jun Prestwold 10K
club runs earlier in the season to try and Wed 3rd Jul Hungarton 7M
give them greater importance. In fact we have put the first race at Wed 31st Jul Huncote 5M
the beginning so that it can be used as a training race for the Sun 11th Aug Hermitage 10K

summer league. Hope to see you all there. Sun 1st Sep John Fraser 10M

The first 2 cross countrys are to be notified when the league con- Tbc 1st xc league race
firms the dates. Tbc 2nd xc league race

AGM Thursday Livingston Relays
14th
March ‘13 Sunday 28th April 2013 - 10.30 a.m.

Your Running Club (Braunstone Park, Leicester)
Needs You!!!!
T his year’s Livingston Relays are again being staged at
You are cordially invited to attend Desford Strid- Braunstone Park, Leicester and once again is nowhere
ers Annual General Meeting being held on the near Easter!
above date. It will start at around 8.00 p.m. after
the club run, which just for one week will start at We’ll again be looking to get out as may teams as possible
6.30 p.m and we currently have around 14 men and 6 ladies either
committing to it or showing an interest. But we want more
Please make the effort to come along to air your names, so if you fancy it and we get enough names to
views, especially as the club will this year be make up full teams then you’re in!
providing some nibbles……...the food variety!
Each leg is three miles long and we need four men per
Please remember! This is your club, please team and three ladies.
come along and take the chance to have your
say in what happens to it over the next year and You don’t have to be quick just want to have a go at a dif-
celebrate our achievements over the last 12
months. Hopefully see you there. ferent event and want to enjoy a good morning’s
‘crack’ (not the drug!), with your mates.

If you can run, you’ll do just fine! And just because you

won’t be one of the fastest on the day you won’t be letting

anybody down, so please give it a go!

If I’ve convinved to have a go then let me know either let-
ting me know verbally or at [email protected].

The entry fee is £3 each but as with all our relays the club
will pay half if you enter and run. However, the usual rule
applies, commit to take part, but don’t run, you’ll have to
pay the full amount. Fair?

Hope to see you there. Keep an eye out for e-mails!

Page 9 THE NEWSTRIDER

Two more Striders for you to get to know a little more about.
On the left we have Nigel Trotman who joined in March 1994!
And he hasn’t changed a bit! Take a look at the team photo

on the club’s picture website from 1995...and you’ll agree!
Then we have Sara Baker, who has just ‘celelbrated’ 12
months of being a member of this very illustrious group of
people known as Desford Striders RC.
My thanks to both for providing an interesting insight into
their characters.

Consultant for a Fleet Management Company What do you do for a living? Learning support assistant, Kirby Muxloe Primary
School.

Since the early 1980s - saw the first London Mar- How long have you been running About 5 years. Started running with the other Sarah to

athon on TV and thought "I want to do that" and how did you get into it? fight middle age spread !!

First - Leicester Half 1983. Best experience - First race ever run in/best running Leicester half marathon (with the other Sarah obvious-
running through Paris at dawn
experience? ly!). The sense of achievement was awesome.

That's tough - probably the old Derby Ramathon Favourite race Hungarton. Although I moaned all the way the scenery
as I did some of my best times there was lovely.

Steve Morris stopped me when I was out for a How did you get involved with Des- A friend recommended the club, we came one dark
run on Lindridge Lane - he was very persuasive ford Striders snowy February evening to give it a go and the rest as
they say is history…..

Didn't have anything specific - just a good job What job ambitions did you have at To be some high flying multi lingual business woman.
with lots of money school? Or a vet. Achieved neither. I blame the arrival of chil-
dren.

History Favourite subject at school. French

Anywhere with sunshine and lots of history (and Favourite holiday destination Anywhere hot with family, friends, beer and a pool ( in
good seafood) that order!)

Never excelled at any sport - if I didn't run I If not running which sport would Nothing!
would probably play golf you excel in?

Wide range - from folk to heavy rock. Current What music do you like most/ I have a quite varied music taste - recently been to see
favourites are Frank Turner, Amy MacDonald, favourite groups? Gary Barlow, Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Killers, Olly
Biffy Clyro and the Foo Fighters Murs & McFly (with my daughters!), Stereophonics,
Coldplay.

Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel First record/cd bought? Abba, Dancing queen.

Don't really have one What's your favourite film? Dirty Dancing (I'm an 80's girl)

Seafood with a nice local wine - and cider of I'll eat almost anything and usually enjoy it. Lager, wine
course! What is your favourite food/drink? or am particularly fond of a Long Island Iced Tea

(potent cocktail) but again generally give anything a go!

I Claudius by Robert Graves Best book read? Jenny Éclair, Camberwell Beauty.
First childhood memory?
Helping my Dad around the farm where we lived Refusing to take my shoes off on the beach in Cornwall
till I was 4 at about 3 years of age. Still not keen on wet sand be-
tween my toes.

The Roman Emperor Claudius, James Hunt, Hel- What 5 people from history (dead My Mum, Florence Nightingale, Freddie Mercury, Gary
en Mirren, Cleopatra and Alfie Biggs (my boy- or alive) would you invite to a din- Barlow, Hugh Jackson. (I'm so shallow)
hood soccer hero)
ner party?

Being part of such a sociable club with so many The chat, camarderie and knowing there's no pressure
nice people Best thing about being a Strider? to be the fastest, just to enjoy being with others that

love running.

Birth of my children Best experience outside of running? Doing a parachute jump on my own and surviving.
To stop running slower every year
Remaining ambitions, personal or To stop talking while I run and maybe then I would be a

within the club? lot faster!!

More creative ways of rewarding people for If you could change/improve one
performance/progress - not sure how but while thing about Striders, what would it I truly can't think of anything negative about Striders.
the Handicap series in part does this are there be? (And don't say you can't think Always a pleasure to run with !!
other ways?
of anything!)

Page 10 THE NEWSTRIDER

Derby Runner Cross-country League

Emma Marvin

takes league title
E mma Marvin has been crowned the Derby Runner
Cross-country Senior Ladies Champion for 2012/13.
She clinched the title with her fourth win in four races
when she completed the fifth event of the league season at

Fosse Meadows, Sharnford. She finished the year with another

comfortable victory over her closest rival Mel Evans of Hun- Emma Marvin challenging andy Ball of Huncote as she heads

cote and was a clear winner of the title.
The race itself was hosted by Hinckley RC and as they have toward the ladies league title at Fosse Meadows.

around five courses they can use for the cross-country events, it’s the first time that they’ve used this one since 2008 and follow-

ing the hills and mud of Foremark Reservoir the runners had a very different course to contend with. It was pretty much flat with

only a few gentle inclines but they were muddy and being Hinckley, there was water! And plenty of it! Not just a river crossing

but a rather large mini pond that they found in the middle of a field and

through which they took the unsuspecting field of runners. It was deceptively

deep and reached the shorts (and other parts!) of many a surprised competitor.

A fine 24 Striders turned out for the run and were met by very favourable
weather conditions. Very little wind and a touch of warm sunshine. Amongst
these we had five ladies and one individual making his Strider debut. Ian
Mansell has recently moved to the area and was looking for a second claim
club. I’m pleased to say he has joined our ranks and what a fine young pro-
spect he looks! Especially the way he dissappeared into the distance at the
start of the race, leaving his new running mates (and nearly all of the other
runners) in his wake. He was briefly in second place before a little mishap
with the course’s direction, before coming home in a fantastic 8th place. The
highest finish by a Strider in an xc race probably since Nigel Stirk ran in our
colours. So a very well done to Ian!

New Strider Ian Mansell crosses the river and Some distance behind him but still happy Fosse Meadows Res
moves on to finish a splendid 8th place. with his run was Graham Hobbs who came
home in 32nd place and was followed by the Pos Time

Champ herself, Emma Marvin. She was a good few minutes ahead of Ashley Payne, Tony Ian Mansell 8 35:25

Woodward and Clint Carnegie-Dean who also had a fine race, beating Duncan Percy in a sprint Graham Hobbs 32 38:55

to the finish. Emma Marvin 1 39:08

Anne Newbery was our second lady home finishing in 56:30, whilst she was followed by the Ashley Payne 66 41:31
42:41
three Sarahs. Sarah Baker was six places behind Anne, whilst Sarah Cottrell who finished in Tony Woodward 78 43:23
59:18 was next. Sarah Mazuryk was our final lady and did really well just to get around, as she Clint Carnegie-Dean 90 43:25
Duncan Percy 91 44:17
was not feeling too well at all. 44:40
Pete Marvin 110 47:19
We were also pleased to welcome three of our colleagues running just their second race of the 47:27
Dave Lawrie 112 48:00
season and that was Sean Tebbutt, Dave Lawrie, Brian Moran and Chas Harding, who only got Paul Goddard 140 52:41
Sean Tebbutt 143 52:42
in from the USA the day before and did extremely well to complete the course without mishap, Brian Moran 148 52:58
Paul Carnegie 176 52:59
Sean Tebbutt battles it out with a competitor in the as he hasn’t had a chance to get any Gary Grimsley 177 54:12
water. off road footwear and was in road 178 54:31
shoes. Another fine performance from 54:38
56:30
a Strider! Andy Richardson 56:46
58:06
Not only did we have a good turnout Chas Harding 179 59:18
of runners we also had some fine sup- Nigel Trotman 1:00:31
port too. Paddy Crowe and Ruth Car- 184 1:10:48
negie doing their usual ‘jobs’ of sort- Paul Bradshaw 185
ing the results and taking ‘photos. As Henry Long 186
well as Marie Hobbs and Derek and Anne Newbery 62
Sue Cox on their bikes and position- John Shade 194
ing themselves close to the river sec- Sara Baker 68
tion. I also saw Karen Percy lending Sarah Cottrell 71
77
her support and helping with the kid’s Sarah Mazuryk
race, so a large thank you to her! Steve Morris 209

Page 11 THE NEWSTRIDER

The crossing at the stream was
a big feature of the race and
that, of course, is where Ruth
positioned herself for some fine
action shots. Here are a selec-
tion including a splendid se-
quence involving our Henry,
who’s philosophy is, “The quick-
er you get into cold water, the
quicker you can get out.” To
the consternation of the ladies
around him!

Above: Steve Morris seems to be praying for the water to
warm up quickly!
Above right: Chas Harding heads into the stream.
Right: “Get out the way dad!” Alex Percy (running for
Wreake) attempts to force his way past Duncan.

Left: Sara Baker
shows no sign on
her face about how
cold the water is!

Right: Anne New-
bery charges into
the stream in im-
pressive fashion!

Henry
makes a
Splash!

Photos coutesy of
Ruth Carnegie

Page 12 THE NEWSTRIDER

Full teams in every race!

T he Derby Runner cross-country season drew to a close on the first Sunday in
March with the staging of a brand new race at Holly Hayes Wood, Coalville. And
it was rather a momentous occasion in the Striders’ recent history. Over the last
few years we’ve struggled to get full teams out for every race, especially the ladies. But
with 15 men and 5 ladies running this race, we managed to get full teams out in every race
for the first time since 2009! So well done to everybody who represented the club during
this season. A fine achievement!

The event itself, which was put on by Hermitage Harri-
ers, was attended, as you’ve no doubt calculated, by a
fine group of 20 running Striders and a sprinkling of
supporters, inlcuding Ruth Carnegie, Paddy Crowe and
Pete Marvin, who unfortunately is once again suffering
with injury problems. He cycled over to lend his support
which along with our regular ‘cheer leaders’ was most
welcome.

The course itself was pretty flat with only one brief in- Gary Root heading out during his
cline worth speaking of and consisted of one short and first race for the Striders.
two larger laps but only comprised of around 4.3 miles,

making it the shortest course in the league fixtures. It

was a pleasant route through wooded areas, a playing field, a strech of ‘meadow’ ground and

three river crossings, which were not much more than ankle deep at most. However the final

one included four large boulders and competitors had the choice of water or ‘skipping’ across

the rocks. It all depended on

the bravery/crazyness of

each runner. The only real

Ash Payne give the ‘thumbs up’ gripe most of the field had
for the new Holly Hayes course. was the bottle neck within a

hundred yard or so of the

start. Unless you were right at the front, you were likely to be

brought to an abrupt standstill for a little too long. Having said

that there were plenty of passing places on the course but tim-

ing when you passed opponents was sometimes tricky, making

it a real challenge…..and fun!

Even though it was the last race of the season we still had a

number of people making their season’s debut and even had a

couple of new members running their very first race in Strider

colours. Of our more ‘established’ members we saw for the

first time in 2012/13, June Morris and Dave Lea, both of whom Steve and June Morris at the start of the race.
seemed to enjoy themselves. A couple of other who enjoyed

themselves but his time running their first race for the club were Lucy Ward and Gary Root. They

Holly Hayes Res are another couple from the ‘Tony Woodward Stable of New
Pos Pts Runners’ and joined the club after just one club run with us.

Graham Hobbs 49 29:47 We must have made a favourable impression on them!
Ashley Payne
Tony Woodward 61 30:14

66 30:34 They both said afterwards that they enjoyed the race but Gary

Duncan Percy 103 32:54 had rather a bruising debut when he took a tumble over an ex-
posed root or rock. It’s something many of us do at some stage
Clint Carnegie-Dean 119 33:54 of our running life and despite being a little winded, he got up
and completed the run. Lucy and Sarah Cottrell kept eachother
Paul Goddard 147 36:24

Andy Richardson 178 39:38

Paul Carnegie 180 39:54

David Lea 181 40:08 company on the way around, as did Steve and June Morris.
Henry Long 185 40:58
Jill Sharpe 55 41:01 Were they running together or was one slip streaming the oth-
Nigel Trotman 186 41:08 er?

Lucy Ward 56 41:13 After a slow start and getting caught in the bottle neck, Gra-
Sarah Cottrell 57 41:14 ham Hobbs pushed himself on the second and third laps and
John Shade 188 41:22
Sarah Baker 59 41:28 was able to finish

Gary Root 191 41:44 as first Strider with Right: Dave Lea left it until the final
Steve Bailey 192 41:46 Ash Payne and
Steve Morris 205 53:54 Tony Woodcock race of the season to make his first ap-
June Morris 92 53:58 pearance of the cross-country cam-
coming in just be- paign.
hind him.

Page 13 THE NEWSTRIDER

Jill Sharpe was our first lady to complete the course but was just a few seconds ahead of Lucy and Sarah Cottrell who in turn
was in the sight of Sara Baker. In fact there was just 27 seconds covering these four ladies.

Steve Bailey completed his first cross-country race since our own Bagworth event, finishing in 41:46, whilst Mr. and Mrs. Mor-
ris brought the Striders home.

Throughout this season we had 50 different runners take part in at least one race, with the largest turnout (30) being the very first
race at Sth. Charnwood High School, Markfield and with the final race having finished we now know who has taken all four
individual trophies. You can find a report of these on the following page and a resume of the team results and final league tables
are below. Enjoy!

2
13

5 1. Lucy Ward and Sarah Cot-

trell take the dry route across 4

the final stream crossing.

2. As did Nigel Trotman.

3. Andy Richardson battling his
way towards the finish.

4. Steve Bailey leaps into the
river.

5. Steve and June Morris push-
ing eachother to the finish.

Team - Div 2 Ladies - Div 2 Derby Runner W ell what a season it’s been! Full
League Tables
Pts. Pts. teams in every race for the first time in
four years! Well done every one of the 50
Hermitage 90 Shelton 86 Striders who ran in one of the races.

Barrow 84 Derby Tri 77 Both the ladies and combined team were
in their respective Division 2 and whilst
Huncote 75 Hermitage 76 they gave a good account of themselves
they were bot a little way off the pace in
Desford 70 R.Hoggs 76 Men - Div 1 respect of gaining promotion.

Birstall 64 Desford 64 Pts. Meanwhile the men’s team finished just
one place from the bottom of Division
Wigston 53 Wigston 37 Hermitage 57 one, exactly the same position as last
year! Hopefully the same rules apply and
Beaumont 13 Fleckney 34 Hatton 50 only one team will be relegated, leaving
West End the unlucky team.
S.Derbyshire 8 Beaumont 9 Leicester Tri 45
Next year will be just as tough but hope-
Derbyshire Dyn 0 Derbyshire Dyn 8 Hinckley 42 fully we will gain enough points for all
teams to climb upwards!
Fleckney 0 Harborough 0 Barrow 35

Harborough 0 Owls 0 Shepshed 28

Owls 0 R.Royce 0 Derby Tri 27

R.Royce 0 S.Derbyshire 0 Wreake 21

Stilton 0 Stilton 0 Desford 14

Team Derby Runner 0 Team Derby Runner 0 Westend 10

Page 14 THE NEWSTRIDER

Unfortunately the turnout of Junior
Striders has been thin on the
ground this year, however Ed Percy made
an appearance at the last two races of the
season during the events at Fosse Mead-
ows and Holly Hayes. He ran both races
in the Year 1-6 category and finished in a time of 6:50 at Fosse Meadows and was 10th out
of 43 runners.

Holly Hayes was a little longer as a course and he completed this in 13th position with a
time of 8:27. On this occasion there were 42 runners. He took part in three of the races and
as can be seen from this picture taken at the final event, he always puts some real work
into his running! Well done Ed!

BELVOIR CHALLENGE 2013

It’s sometime since we’ve had a ‘Strider on Tour’ article, so my thanks to Nigel Trotman for this piece about the recent Belvoir
Challenge, which was attended by a good smarttering of Striders.

A round 8.55 on a Saturday morning in Leicestershire, hundreds of people milling around
on a village street – yes, it must be the Belvoir Challenge again! So there we were
again, no less than 12 intrepid Striders ready to face this annual trek around the countryside.
11 of us were about to do the shorter route while Clive Coulson was about to tackle the full 26
mile distance – and he did look a bit nervous I have to say! For two of our number – Sara Baker
and Sarah Mazuryk – this was going to be an entirely new experience, and it wasn’t too clear whether they were
happy to be there.

However, come 9 o’clock, off we went out of Harby village and into the fields. It was a cool dry morning, almost
ideal for running, and the ground under foot was not particularly muddy as it hadn’t rained for a week or more.
As the morning wore on I think we were all extremely grateful for that.

The shorter course this year was rather different from any of the previous times I have done this (this was my 6th

time). There was a bit more road (boring) and we didn’t go via the lake in the grounds of Belvoir Castle (good

news for me – I hate the long hill just after it). You could also see the benefits of the logging that has been going

on over parts of the course, as it has allowed the ground to dry out and resulted in more hardcore paths to run on.

It also means the views from the highest points of the course are now fantastic. The quality of the refreshments at

the control points was as good as ever – really liked the chocolate rice krispie

cakes – and the temptation to stop great. Pos Time

Julie Messenger 111 2:24:53

However, all good things come to an end, and having crossed the last few fields – Gary Grimsley 112 2:24:57

and navigated one of the few incredibly muddy gateways – Harby village came Anne Robertson 136 2:30:26

back into sight. Personally I was suffering from cramp in my calves by this point Garry Birch 137 2:30:30

– which is why Steve Bailey managed to catch me on the line (that’s my story and Paul Bradshaw 191 2:41:24
Henry Long 199 2:41:55
I’m sticking to it!). I measured the course at 14.68 miles, which was one of the
Steve Bailey 226 2:47:43
shorter distances in my experience – it can be up to 17. We all successfully com- Nigel Trotman 227 2:47:45

pleted, and the results are listed here. I know that Sara and Sarah (I know we call Jill Sharpe 276 2:57:42

them the two Sara(h)s Sara Baker 289 3:01:21
but I want to be accu- Sarah Mazuryk 290 3:01:26

rate here for the record!) actually enjoyed the experi-

ence and are talking about doing it again.

Gary Grimsley also claimed to have been reluctantly

dragged to an excellent time by Julie Messenger. I

think we all felt quite pleased with our times – even if

the going was “good to firm”. The only person I didn’t

see was Clive, so I don’t know how his race went

A typical scene from the start of though he finished in
the Belvoir Challenge. 161st place in 5:58:34 –

respect Clive!

Page 15 THE NEWSTRIDER

GCross-country Individual Club Standings Male Seniors

oing into the final two races which counted towards the xc individual standings, The Na- Pts
tionals and Holly Hayes, we still didn’t have clear winners of any of the four categories.
Clint Carnegie-Dean 38

Guy Dayman 21

However the race in Sunderland settled that for both senior titles. As a result of being the only Tony Woodward 20
Ashley Payne 17
senior male there, Clint Carnegie-Dean grabbed himself maximum points to give him an unasail- Pete Marvin 10
able lead and therefore his first club title, in his first year with the club. As it was he also ran the Ian Mansell 6
Holly Hayes event and became the only Strider to compete in all 9 cross-country race this year. Chas Harding 4

Two achievements he can rightly be proud of. Two other gents also in their early Strider careers Neil Ackland 4
took the next two places, with Guy Dayman taking second position from Tony Woodward by just Gary Root 3

one point.
Female Snrs.

Pts Emma Marvin has picked up her 8th cross-country
Emma Marvin 20 title despite not running either of the last two races.
Sarah Cottrell 14 Kate Beaumont could have gone past her but she too
Kate Beaumont 12
was absent in the final events, leaving Emma with
Lucy Ward 5 yet another win. Kate’s absence at Holly Hayes also

Cat Perkins 3
Nadine Skinner 2 allowed Sarah Cottrell the chance to leapfrog her into
Sandy Punia 1 the runners-up spot and she took it with both hands,
finishing with a two point gap between

herself and Kate.

So both of these categories were techni-
cally settled in the snow of Sunderland,
not so the veterans titles. With two races
to go Duncan Percy and Anne Newbery
were in their respective pole positions.
However as Graham Hobbs ran the Na- Senior Men’s winner: Clint Carnegie-Dean
tionals and no ladies took part, it came
down to the very last race. In the case of the men’s title, Graham was able to secure
enough points to give him his third successive title, leaving Duncan with second place,
as in 2011/12. Going into these final two race Paul Carnegie was lying in 6th position in
the table but with all his rivals around him not competing, he was able to slide into third
position for his first ever top three finish.

In respect of the ladies verterans title Anne Newbery missed the Holly Hayes race as she
was successfully taking part in the Silverstone half-marathon. This allowed Jill Sharpe
Senior Ladies winner: the opportunity to get the two points she needed to take her first
Emma Marvin Strider title in 11 years, when she last won the ladies vets. road ti-

tle. Despite missing out on the top position Anne can still be very pleased with her first season Graham Hobbs Pts
Duncan Percy
with the Striders as she easily held on to second place. The final race also had a bearing on third Paul Carnegie 133
position, Laura Rossi occupied that spot but by being the second vet. Strider lady to finish at the 124
Coalville event, Sara Baker secured 4 points. This gave her the Andrew Cole 82
same overall points as Laura but is awarde r third place due to John Shade 56
having finished one more race. Paul Bradshaw 54
Paul Goddard 52
50

So well done to everybody who ran a race this season but in Nigel Trotman 46
particular to those who have finished in the top three places Paul Faver 43
Henry Long 38

and an extra well done to our four winners! Andy Richardson 38

Steve Morris 36

Dave Laurie 35

Female Vets. Phil Lord 34

Pts Gary Grimsley 34
Clive Coulson 33
Jill Sharpe 25 Chris Minto 29
Brian Moran 28
Anne Newbury 21 Sean Tebbutt 28
Steve Bailey 27
Sarah Baker 10 Nicky Singh-Barmi 17
Garry Birch 17
Laura Rossi 10 Dave Lawrie 16
Dave Lea 14
June Morris 7

Pam Lord 7

Sara Mazuryk 4

Francis Breen 12

Mark Foley 11

Veteran Ladies winner: Veteran Men’s winner: Malcolm Hill 8

Jill Sharpe Graham Hobbs Male Vets.

Page 16 THE NEWSTRIDER

Kate Beaumont’s husband and
brother are running the London
Marathon in aid of Clic Sargent
Children’s Cancer.

Botchy Fun Fest is their way of
raising money for this cause.

There will be Live Bands,
Bar ,BBQ, Charity Auction,
Bouncy Castle, Pony Rides and
much more.

Tickets available £10 Adult £5
Children (3-14 Years). Please
contact Kate Beaumont on
07711596689 if you would like
tickets.

T his year myself and Marie will be celebrating 25 incredible years of
marriage or incredibly we’ll be celebrating 25 years of mar-
riage…..not sure which……….and we would like to include as many
family and friends as we can. We scratched our heads as to how we
could do this and we have a plan of sorts.

We have both entered the Bosworth half-marathon on the 12th May (five days
after the big date) and whilst Marie isn’t running these sort of distances nowa-
days, we have arranged with the organisers that she can cycle most of the route, whilst I do most of the hard
work, i.e. run (after 24+ years I’ve got use to it! Hopefully Marie won’t read this bit!).

Anyway the idea is that once we’ve completed the race we’ll being holding a ‘shared table’ style bbq up at
Bosworth Water Park. We’ll look to provide sausages, burgers, sauses, relishes and such like, along with a
limited selection of alcohol, larger, bitters and some wine. If folks would like to bring some ‘extras’ such as
salads, pastas and your own alcohol, then please feel free.

We’ll be asking to borrow the Strider marquee and bbq and hopefully as many of you as possible will be
able to make it. Even if you can’t/won’t/aren’t able to run the race then your support would be great and
seeing you at the bbq afterwards would be fantastic.

I’ll be sending out more details via e-mail and if you are able to come along please let us know via the de-
tails I’ll put in the e-mail. That’ll give us an idea of number to expect.

Hoping to see you all there.

Found on the Striders’ table at the recent Ashby 5,
one pair of black ‘Karimor Run’ running gloves,
that look just like this…..except there were two of
them and the are a little more worn!

Are they yours? If so let us know by the usual
methods and we’ll bring them along to the miriad
of events we attend and reunite your hands with
them!