Noel Morris Memorial 5K handicap race results for 5th September 2006
Damp underfoot, long grass, all gates closed, strong breeze, 23C.
The worst conditions for fast running since the snow in March!
All credit then to Paul B, who was by far the fastest on the night, with a time which almost matched his performance last month in much more favourable conditions (and which was also quick!). Everybody else tried hard and there must have been a dramatic finish at the front with Ann-Marie overhauling Captain Maureen, who herself only just caught Sarah. This is the sort of competition we need for the honour of being the club’s third counter in the League and Championship races this winter! Unfortunately, your correspondent was not able to view this as he was engaged in his own grim battle once again with Tracey. Cast your minds back to April and recall the tragedy of yours truly being outkicked by a woman!! Well, revenge is sweet! And beautifully executed with two separate kicks (or, to be honest, slight increases in tempo) over the last 600m at just the right psychological moments. Is this what the poet meant by railing at the dying of the light?
| COMPETITOR |
ACTUAL TIME
|
POINTS/RACES
(*best of 5 races)
|
| 01 Anne-Marie |
25.02 |
25/4 |
| 02 Maureen |
26.20 |
23/4 |
| 03 Sarah |
26.52 |
31/5* |
| 04 Geraint |
22.44 |
27/5* |
| 05 Keith |
24.25 |
27/5* |
| GUEST: Rob |
23.54 |
|
| 06 Roger |
24.59 |
29/4 |
| 07 Paul B |
21.31 |
76/5 |
| 08 Ken |
24.18 |
59/5* |
| 09 Arwel |
22.23 |
50/4 |
| 10 Chris |
23.55 |
56/4 |
| 11 Tracey |
24.52 |
29/3 |
| 12 Menai |
34.40 |
36/5 |
| 13 Steve |
26.26 |
42/3 |
 |
|
|
The handicap championship is still wide open as the effect of the “best of 5” rule comes into play. Menai, for instance gets a better handicap for October and has a 12th place which might be up for substitution – and a 1st would give her a final score of 25. Geraint gets a worse handicap, so is less likely to improve on (and therefore get rid of) his 8th place in May. Keith, on the other hand, gets the same start time and has a 9th place to lose. If he repeats his 5th place here he scores 23. Only Sarah, again off a worse start time, might beat this if she gets rid of her 12th in April for a 3rd or better.All very interesting, but this is just the prelude to the proper cross country to come:
- NW League starts 30th September at Colwyn Bay NB Senior Ladies start now at 2.05pm – Men still at 2.45pm
- 21st October at Lilleshall (north of Telford)
- 25th November at Bangor
- 20th January at Wrexham
- 10th February at Oswestry
Now the holidays are over don’t forget the club training nights at 6pm from the Leisure Centre and we can discuss tactics such as how to stuff Prestatyn!
Chris Bladwin
Noel Morris Memorial 5K handicap race results for 1st August 2006
Dry, overcast and breezy. 19C. Very firm going.
Sensational new record by Martin Cortvriend!! A tribute to the benefits of hill racing and strength translating into speed, methinks (can’t just be natural talent, obviously). But compare these results with previous months and the big difference is the improvement in the slower runners. Cindy improved by over 3 minutes on last month, making a total mockery of the extra 30 seconds on her handicap. This is her fastest time in the 4 years we have done this course, though she was a regular sub 28 minute performer in the late 90s on the similar “Goblin” track. The same goes for Menai, also 3 minutes better, but she has been resting on her laurels since the early 90s (don’t worry, I’m still dining out on the early 70s)! Maureen also improved by over 3 minutes and probably couldn’t believe she wasn’t closing the gap on 1st place, despite being pressurised by Sarah and paced by Rob. Budge set off in her own space for once and showed she can close the gaps without assistance, finishing just outside the women’s record and then dragging her portable fridge to the celebrations (thank you too, Peter).
All this suggests that the women can do well again in the North Wales League starting on 30th September. Regular readers will remember that the team won the Division 2 title last year, and need a higher placed third counter to be competitive in division one. Maureen, Anne-Marie, Sarah, Eleri and Cindy – this means you! 7 weeks is just long enough to build up the speed-endurance for the 5K league courses. Roger is the qualified coach. Should we have a conference? Similarly the men look likely to have the numbers to field a proper senior team. Okay, so most of us are veterans – and over 50 at that, but the training principles still apply. To improve on our 4th place in div. 2 last year we have to finish six counters in all five races and total less than 400 points in each race. That means everybody inside 90th, assuming Martin is well inside 50th. Just possible, given no more injuries (get back please, Duncan). Can do?
Chris Bladwin
| COMPETITOR |
ACTUAL TIME
|
POINTS/RACES
|
| 01 Cindy |
28.33 |
28/4 |
| 02 Maureen |
25.16 |
21/3 |
| GUEST: Rob J |
25.16 |
|
| 03 Menai |
30.33 |
24/4 |
| 04 Sarah |
26.06 |
41/5 |
| 05 Bob |
23.16 |
12/3 |
| 06 Geraint |
22.05 |
34/5 |
| 07 Keith |
23.41 |
41/5 |
| 08 Budge |
23.21 |
58/5 |
| 09 Ron |
26.25 |
52/5 |
| 10 Roger |
24.02 |
26/3 |
| 11 Anne-Marie |
25.36 |
24/3 |
| 12 Paul C |
22.11 |
25/2 |
| 13 Martin C |
20.12 |
61/4 |
| 14 Ken |
23.18 |
70/5 |
| 15 Martin F |
22.54 |
40/4 |
| 16 Paul B |
21.02 |
69/4 |
| 17 Alun |
21.13 |
48/4 |
| 18 Eleri |
27.55 |
61/4 |
| 19 Peter |
22.58 |
71/5 |
| 20 Chris |
22.45 |
46/3 |
| 21 Arwel |
21.48 |
41/3 |
|
|
|
Noel Morris Memorial 5K handicap race results for July 4th 2006
Tough conditions, 28C, dry and sunny with minimal breeze. The usual hilly 5K with gates and stiles made harder for some because of the lingering effects of the club 10K only two days before. Duncan put in a lot of effort on the 10K administration to make it a success, so officiating at the handicap was beyond the call of duty for an ex chairman. His reward will be a recovered calf muscle soon (we hope).
Your correspondent was obliged to drop out of this one, but a better view of the race was some compensation. This club is lucky to have several tall, slim physios on the books and generally the taller the faster. I wonder if this is a general rule or particular to physios?
Both Cindy and Maureen have been looking meaner and fitter, and as they were dramatically faster here has anybody checked to see if they are getting taller?? Ed led the following charge, demonstrating better technique on dry, short grass than he did in the snow back in March. As predicted last month, the queue in the finishing straight did happen, only 75 seconds separating 2nd from 17th, so we will tighten things a little more for the next race on 1st August.
We are at the halfway point in the series with three to go and no clear leader – which is unusual as somebody usually manages to pay me the going rate by now. Sarah seems well placed as she is scoring in single figures every time and also looking taller, while Geraint and Keith need another leap forward to keep their current advantages.
Chris Bladwin
| COMPETITOR |
ACTUAL TIME
|
POINTS
|
| 01 Cindy |
31.40 |
27/3 |
| 02 Maureen |
28.33 |
19/2 |
| 03 Ed |
22.09 |
3/1 |
| 04 Martin F |
23.43 |
25/3 |
| 05 Ron |
27.23 |
43/4 |
| 06 Bob |
24.59 |
7/2 |
| 07 Sarah |
28.30 |
37/4 |
| 08 Alun |
21.31 |
31/3 |
| 09 Keith |
25.06 |
34/4 |
| 10 Arwel |
21.41 |
20/2 |
| 11 Geraint |
23.46 |
28/4 |
| 12 Menai |
33.31 |
21/3 |
| 13 Peter |
23.56 |
52/4 |
| 14 Rachel |
34.15 |
29/2 |
| 15 Roger |
25.48 |
16/2 |
| 16 Martin C |
21.21 |
48/3 |
| 17 Budge |
24.59 |
50/4 |
| 18 Ken |
24.48 |
56/4 |
| 19 Steve |
24.56 |
29/2 |
| 20 Angela |
38.06 |
22/2 |
| N/A Chris |
DNF |
26/2 |
|
|
|
Noel Morris Memorial 5K handicap race results for June 6th 2006
Sunny and dry, 21C
Many thanks to Bob for these results, compiled in my absence. It looks to have been a close finish outside the first three – and the first three get an extra 30s next month, so the final straight might be quite crowded on the 4th July at about 7.03pm! Interesting times from Paul, Alun, Arwel and Duncan, who were all quite quick, while everybody else found it hard to improve on their times in May (but I presume there were no TV cameras this time?).
Don’t forget to enlist on the Safari Walk now rearranged for the 29th July – contact Cindy, Menai, or Tracey for this.
Chris Bladwin
| COMPETITOR |
ACTUAL TIME
|
POINTS
|
| 01 Roger |
24.24 |
1/1 |
| 02 Keith |
24.38 |
25/3 |
| 03 Geraint |
22.57 |
17/3 |
| 04 Angela |
32.12 |
6/2 |
| 05 Cindy |
32.41 |
26/2 |
| 06 Duncan |
22.13 |
11/2 |
| 07 Alun |
21.17 |
23/2 |
| 08 Ken |
23.31 |
38/3 |
| 09 Ron |
27.21 |
38/3 |
| 10 Arwel |
21.35 |
10/1 |
| 11 Peter |
23.11 |
39/3 |
| 12 Budge |
24.14 |
33/3 |
| 13 Sarah |
28.49 |
30/3 |
| 14 Paul B |
21.07 |
53/3 |
| 15 Rachel |
34.14 |
15/1 |
| 16 Eleri |
28.40 |
43/3 |
| 17 Maureen |
30.11 |
17/1 |
| 18 Ruth |
30.51 |
19/2 |
| 19 Dally |
26.41 |
39/2 |
|
|
|
Noel Morris Memorial 5K handicap race results for May 2nd 2006
A drier course and warmer temperatures (13C) would normally bode well for fast times, but on the night there was a stiff breeze blowing straight into us for the first half of the race. A slight compensation was that two of the gates were open but the main interest was the TV crew intent on filming Tracey for her own chat show on S4C. This had an inhibitory effect on some of us who hesitated to take on Tracey in front of the cameras for the sprint finish (I learnt my lesson last month and kept well back), but Budge and Ron very nearly got there! Otherwise there were some very interesting performances throughout the field.
Most worthy of mention was Martin C with his time of 20.37, which is actually the second fastest ever, but Alun too at 21.45 was remarkable, remembering he finished the London marathon only 9 days beforehand.
Welcome to supervet John L who needs a more severe handicap! On the move up the rankings are Sarah, Martin F, and Geraint, with a comeback by Angela. Ruth reappeared to win for the first time since winning the Johnson’s Monument handicap – but now needs to cross my palm with more silver to have any future chance!
Remember to check the club web
