Captain's Update - August 2017
Have to start this month's Log with an apology. Mentioned Tony and Victor's efforts at the Wimbledon Trail Run in July's 'missive' but omitted their times unfortunately (rectified below).
Well, August is always a quiet month on the competitive front but this one was quieter than most with Rita's 'foreign foray' to the Stockholm 10k. on the 19th , as far as my research goes, our only venture away from the regular diet of Parkruns, and the final Summer League fixture at Battersea Park.
Starting with the Summer League, thirteen members made it 'South of the river' on the 20th to take on Serpentine's four lap 10k. with Tony leading our 'troops' home in a new MV60 club record of 43.16 (Yvonne also lowering our FV55 mark to 53.03), and Craig making his club debut, sensibly deciding that the full distance was just a little too far on this occasion. Good to get a mixed relay team out meanwhile, and our quartet of Sean, Angela, Hsiang-Ju and Liz produced our best result of the season, finishing fourth out of seven. in the B1 race. Regular (hopefully there are one or two!) readers of this 'column' will, I'm sure, not be surprised to learn that we finished seventh overall on the day, QPH taking the honours with Ealing Eagles second and Metros in third spot, and also seventh overall in the final league table as under (technically still provisional, though I can't see it changing at this late stage!).
1. Queens Park Harriers - 21,081
2 .Ealing Eagles - 20,259
3. Mornington Chasers - 19,611
4. Metros - 18,938
5. Serpentine - 17,750
6. Dulwich Park Runners - 14,872
7.Sudbury Court - 13,653
8. Hayes & Harlington - 3,108
Congratulations to the Harriers who ended Ealing Eagles recent domination to take the title for the first time. Proved to be something of a record breaking year for Sudbury meanwhile, with 73 starters in the this year's five races, way ahead of the previous highest figure of 61 (set in 2010), and, helped by the downsizing from six to four runners for this year's men's and mixed races, no fewer than nine relay teams toeing the line (the previous best I can find is five!).A big thank you to all twenty-six members who turned out for the club over the season, and especially to our three ever presents, Liz, David and Mark. Here's to 2018 (Dulwich, we're on your tail!). Individually, Liz (1st FV50), Yvonne (2nd FV55), and Tony (3rd MV60) finished in the medal positions. For the record, 95 different runners have now represented the club over the 17 years that we've been competing in the competition.
Moving on to Parkrun, members generally stayed 'local' in August, with Mark's runs at Buckingham and Seaton about as 'exotic' as it got. Gladstone's four events meanwhile saw an average turnout of 168.
On the home front, August saw the penultimate race in this year's club handicap series with Nick repeating his success of July to once again lead the field home ahead of James (running as Scratch), David Heathcote and Brian Thomas filling the other 'podium positions'. Means that, going into the last race, David (95) holds a five point lead over Victor (90) with Nick (82) the third candidate in contention to become the final recipient of the prestigious Docherty Shield (Molly's new job in the Midlands ruling her out of the running). From 2018, it will be our pleasure to present the winner of the handicap with a new trophy in honour of the late, much missed, Russ Elder.
Well, think that about wraps things up for this month, except to bid a very warm welcome to the club to our latest recruits, Patricia, Hansa, Fatema, Ruby, and James.
Next Month: the final handicap, Maidenhead, Harrow and Ealing half marathons, and much, much more.....