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25 October 2008     Liddiard Trophy for Men [S & V] and Liddiard Women's Trophy, Kingsbury

Conditions were excellent for the Liddiard at Fryent Country Park on Saturday. It started as a beautiful sunny autumn day, although it did turn overcast by the time the races started. Conditions were fast and firm on this undulating course over the meadows at Kingsbury.

In the women’s race, Lisa da Silva, the only TVH entrant, made a good start and paced behind Emma Grant of Hillingdon throughout the race, the pair opening a wide lead to the next runners. Despite some confusion that meant the first lap they ran was the long one, rather than the short (a missing marshal at the crucial turning point), a concern that they might miss the turn again, and run both laps as long ones, and a bit of a kafuffle at the finish to reorganise the funnel before they arrived up the final stretch and the turn into the finish, Lisa pulled out the stops 200m before the end and surged past for a strong and confident sprint over the line for a well earned 1st position in 17.00, 2 seconds up on her rival.

There was a good turnout for the men’s race, and TVH fielded a full team and reserve (excluding yours truly who has a cold). Conditions were fast, with the first runner home finishing in 24.58. Manuel da Silva held a good pace throughout to finish in 10th, closely followed by a relaxed looking Calum Nicol, showing good form in his return to regular running with the club.

Phil Wetton was the first club vet home in 28th place, working hard around the course, with Matt Ponting coming in 17 second behind. Newcomer Matthieu Ribauld ran a good debut race to come in close behind at 34. Vet Bernie Robbins worked hard to come in at 45, with a very relaxed looking Peter Hill in 50th place, his last race prior to competing in the New York Marathon next week. The team was made up with Richard Bell at 58th. Mike Ingram, racing for the first time after injury, having been doing lots of cross training, at 67th. There were 102 finishers.

Despite having the first 4 finishers, Harrow still came in 3rd of the teams, beating us by a good margin into 4th place. 

18 October 2008     North West London YA League, Match 2: Alexandra Palace

Revenge for Eve Goodhart. Beaten by M. Bradbury in their two previous races, Eve changed her tactics and made her effort 300m from the finish to win the U11 girls race by 4 seconds in 4.57. Next home, Annabel Morgan was slightly down on match 1 but her 11th place in 5.42 was also a good run. After her Horsenden experience, Marie Bennett-Henry had a much better race for 18th place, 5.55 and will improve further with experience. Jude Lewis’s 25th place, 6.08 was a bit cautious and she had some running still in her at the finish. There were 29 girls in the race.

In the U13 girls race, Aneta Jaskulska finished 7th in 13.52. At one time she was 5th but lost some places in the second half of the race. Sophia Acquistapace, running on her birthday in her first cross country race acquitted herself well to finish 15th in 14.30. Not only did Sasha Tory win her U15 race, she also beat all the U17s who were running at the same time. She recorded 18.16 for the 4500m course.

Once again our under 11 boys won their team race. We were led home by our youngest runner, Sebastian Ekperigin in 5th position with 5.07. He changed his footwear for this race which gave him a better grip. Also benefiting from wearing spikes, Joe Cooper stormed through to 6th place with 5.09. Just losing out to the other two, Alex Hampshire was 7th with 5.14. The short race, 1400m, did not suit Matthew Piercy, 16th, 5.26 and Samuel Bernard, 20th, 5.37, even so they did well in a field of 30 runners. 

Rivalry with Ealing has always been an incentive for our athletes to be competitive. This season, Duncan Pinder from Ealing and our Archie St Aubyn seem to be tied together. Archie won their first race by 2 seconds, Duncan the second by 2 secs and Archie the third by 1 sec. Archie was 4th in 11.28 at Alexandra Park. Oliver Berg was also in the leading pack and finished 8th in 11.42. Jamie Edwards ran steadily to finish 13th in 12.14 and Samuel Cooper was 21st in 12.48.
In the under 15 boys race, which was run with the u17 men, u15 girls and u17 women all running together, Kyle Kenrick made a determined effort and finished 13th in 19.08. At the back of the field, Coslee Searles and Nabil Toumi ran together before Coslee finished faster to get 17th place in 21.20 to Nabil’s 18th in 21.25. 

11 October 2008     Metropolitan League, Match 1: Claybury, Woodford

Young Athletes: Only a few young athletes were at the first fixture of the season. Outstanding runs came from Sasha Tory and Archie St Aubyn. Sasha arrived just before her race and had little time to prepare. Even so, she was immediately in the leading group of her under 15/17 race. In 3rd place on the first lap, she improved to 2nd on the next lap. As one of the youngest girls in the race, this was a great result for her. Archie, also one of the youngest in his under 13 race, ran with great determination to finish 6th. Sam Cooper finished 29th and lack of experience saw him start too fast and then drop back.
In the under 13 girls race, Cassia Rowland showed that she is gaining her confidence again by finishing in 27th place. Kyle Kenrick and Nabil Toumi were in the under 15/17 boys race and although near the back of the race, finished in 80th and 85th places. 

Seniors: As in the past few years, the first Met League at Claybury was dry, but this year not only wonderfully sunny, but hot! With a beautiful Indian summer’s day, the temperature was up into the 20’s and this made it hard for many, if not all, running this course. There were several exhausted drop outs in the later stages of the race. At least the grass stretches out of the wood were firm and fortunately not dry and dusty, as they have been in some previous years. 

With well over 300 starters, the first fast descent into the narrow funnel past the first copse was lethal, and claimed John Husbands victim as he tripped in a bunny hole (ironically whilst passing another TVH runner – me) and put him out of the race. With only 8 starters, this put the Valley on an even weaker footing for this first race. 

Out of the first stretch of thankful shade, the course switched back up the slope to the woods, and into another funnel which again had runners bunched up and pushing each other past bush, bramble and nettle, into the open again before the far point of the course, a short, sharp climb into the woods, followed by a very fast descent and another sharp turn at the bottom, which saw several runners overshoot. Dry and fortunately shady through the woods, the trail opened out into blistering sunshine again for the last part of the course, with yet another climb up to the old hospital building at the top of the hill, before dropping down to the final gruelling climb back to the start. 

Manuel DaSilva ran an excellent race finishing in 81st. Callum Nicol, fresh back from university made a welcome return for the club, finishing just ahead of Phil Wetton, both suffering from the heat. Matt Ponting also ran well finishing at 123.

With such a shy turnout, and losing John Husbands at the start, TVH finished in 14th Place, just outside Division 1 rating, with the vets team in 15th. 

It is worth noting the ladies, with Lisa DaSilva turning in an outstanding run, to come in at 4th, with a welcome return from Kate Nunn, coming in at 28th.

4 October 2008     North West London YA League, Match 1: Perivale

Our young athletes got off to a good start to the season. In the opening race, Eve Goodhart led the field of 25 Under 11 Girls through the first lap but was passed near the end of the race to finish 2nd in 5.44 just two seconds behind the winner. Annabel Morgan, just 10-years old, had a battle with three other girls over the finish and lost out to one of them but still finished 5th in 6.12. New girl Marie Bennett-Henry just got to the start line in time and suffered by starting too fast. At one time she stopped but was persuaded to continue when there were still girls behind her. She finished 23rd in 7.23 helping the team to 3rd place.

Cassia Rowland was our only girl in the U13s and although she was back in 20th place in 10.44, enjoyed the race. Running at the same time were the U11 Boys. Here we had Sebastian Ekperigin racing off to lead the field as if he were his father Bertie, who was a 400m runner for the Valley. Eventually he dropped back to 6th place with 9.29. Just passing him before the finish was newcomer Alex Hampshire who was 5th in 9.27. Close behind was Matthew Piercy enjoying his run for 7th place with 9.42. Making up the winning team was Samuel Bernard in 11th place with 10.10.

One of the best runs of the day came from Archie St Aubyn in the U13 Boys. He had a tussle with Sasha Tory, U15 Girls winner, and he finished in 4th place in a field of 27 boys. Sasha won her girls race by 25 seconds. Our Under 15 Boys were down the field but still managed 3rd team place with Kyle Kenrick 16th, 16.39 after playing rugby in the morning, Coslee Searles 17th, 16.57 and Nabil Toumi 20th, 17.55.

28 September 2008     South of England Women's 4-Stage Road Relay (3,851m / 2.4 miles), Aldershot

Women's 4-Stage Road Relay (3,851m / 2.4 miles) - For the first time in a number of years, TVH fielded not one ... but two women's teams at the road relay event!

A beautiful sunny day at the Rushmoor Arena began with Tracy Tory and myself running out on the first leg. Although a little bunged up, I managed to come home 11th in 13m42 (24th fastest overall), with Tracy Tory not far behind in a commendable 15m32 - the second fastest TVH leg of the day.

Next to take over for the A team was Tracy Barlow who ran strongly for the A team in 15m53 (21st), which was impressive considering she'd been working nights much of the week. Representing the B team, Jane Lambert had a good result running 19m01, and that was including a wrong turn 'en route'!

Third leg for the A team was run by 200m/400m specialist Amber Simukonda in a solid time of 17m07 (25th). Lee-Ann Higgs completed the final leg of our incomplete B Team in 18m40, looking bouncy over the last 800m.

Last but not least, was 400m/800m runner Karolin Tsarski (25th) who ran a credible 16m04, bringing the A team back home in fantastic 25th position overall (out of 46 complete teams).

Congratulations to all who ran, it was great to see so many of you out there - lets make it a regular thing! A special thanks must go to Phil Wetton and Manuel da Silva who provided transport and general assistance on the day of competition. 

Lisa da Silva
Women's Road Relays and Cross Country Manager
Full results: http://www.afd.org.uk/results/swomen08.doc 

Men's 6 Stage and 4 Stage Road Relays - A warm, sunny day and near perfect race conditions greeted the athletes at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot, for this years men’s Southern Road Relays.

A 6km 2 lap course around the surrounding rural roads and woodlands both started and finished inside the arena and provided a good challenge for the 6 man senior team and the 4 man vets teams earlier in the day.

The TVH men’s team fought tooth and nail in the senior 6 Stage Relay race to finish a creditable 25th place overall and in an effective 20th place after allowing for the B and C teams ahead of us.

Chris Smith lead the Valley team off on 1st leg and brought us home well in contention in 21st place.  It was a good run from Chris who had missed some training through injury and had only recently returned from honeymoon having been married just 5 weeks earlier, so a double congratulations to Chris!  Leg 2 saw Ali Hay blast round the course in a very fast time to move us up the field to 8th place.  Having travelled down from Scotland for the race Ali showed no signs of fatigue as he finished with the 20th overall fastest time of the day, (according to my watch, as the official timekeepers rounded his time up by 1 second to make him 21st fastest!) a fantastic run, well done Ali. On leg 3 James Sumpter produced an amazing run to take us up to 5th place.  I say amazing as James had been suffering from injury all summer and hadn’t raced for 3 months before the relay, yet he still managed to beat his previous best for this course by 6 seconds, whatever you’re on James can I have some?!!!  Steve Norris ran a solid 4th leg despite an ankle injury to place us in 16th spot.  A double thanks is owed to Steve, as not only did he run through the pain but he sacrificed his place in the vets team earlier in the day to run in the senior team (a thank you is also owed to Lee Benjamin, the vets team manager).  On leg 5 Manuel Da Silva fought hard to keep us in touch with the front end of the race and came back in 20th place.  Considering his lack of fitness due to a long-term injury it was a good performance from Manuel and it was good to see that his injury wasn’t aggravated any further on the day.  The enviable (or unenviable) job of final leg went to Matt Ponting who gave it everything he had.  He was determined to keep us in a qualifying place for the National Relay, which he successfully did by bringing the team home in 25th place out of a total of 74 finishing teams, well done Matt.

My thanks and congratulations go to everyone in the team as this performance now qualifies us to go forward to the National Road Relay championships in Birmingham on Saturday October 18th.

The Veterans 4 Stage Relay race was also run earlier in the day and it was pleasing to see such a strong turnout for TVH with 2 and a half teams competing.  

The vets A team comprising of Phil Wetton, Lee Benjamin, John Husbands and Bernie Robbins finished in 18th place overall and an impressive 13th in the Men’s 40 age group.  With the inclusion of Steve Norris in the team they would have effectively finished in 13th and 10th in both races respectively.

The vets B team comprising of Kevin Edmonds, Mike Wilson, Richard Bell and Richard Hooley did well to finish in 32nd place overall and 20th in the Men’s 40 age group.

The C team comprising of Dave Wilkinson and Simon Maddison came home in 48th place overall and 25th in the Men’s 40 age group.

Well done to everyone and thanks for making it such a good turnout, not forgetting the vets team manager Lee Benjamin, congratulations Lee on a job well done!

All that remains for me to do is to announce the results of the handicap competition which was open to all those competing on the day in both the senior and vets races.

In 1st place was James Sumpter in a time of 17 min 37 sec, 2nd was Richard Bell in 17 min 47 sec and 3rd was Manuel Da Silva in 17 min 56 sec.

My congratulations to the 3 winners, who each receive a new style Nike top bearing the TVH crest (on sale at the track on training nights from Tony Taylor if you didn‘t win!).

Once again a big thank you to everyone for coming out and supporting TVH on the day, including those who weren’t running such as Kathy Davidson and Barrie Saunders, and any other Valley supporters, friends and family.

I look forward to seeing you all out over the coming winter cross country season, the 12 Stage Road Relays in April next year and of course the National 6 Stage Road Relay in Birmingham on October 18th.

Up The Valley, Phil Wetton (Road Relay Manager).

TVH under 15 girls achieved their best-ever result in finishing 14th out of 61 complete teams. On the first lap, Sasha Tory became the fastest Valley girl to run in this race. She recorded 11.16 for the 3000m lap and her 14th position was also a club best. She handed over to Katherine Spooner who improved four places to 10th position with 11.38. This is the second best time recorded by a Valley girl. At the changeover to Rebecca Power-Ross there was some confusion as Rebecca wasn’t called to the line and valuable seconds were lost as she came out of the holding enclosure. Even so, Rebecca ran her best and finished in 14th place with 12.29. Maybe we would have finished 13th if Rebecca and Katherine had been able to changeover correctly.

The under 13 girls didn’t have a good race. Cassia Rowland ran the first lap and because of previous breathing problems, ran too cautiously and finished 59th on the first lap. Aneta Jaskulska picked up five places but Otti Hart, having a nervous first race, dropped back to 51st. Our only by runner, Archie St Aubyn ran 11.34 to come in 24th with energy to spare.

14 September 2008     Middlesex County Young Athletes Road Relays, Minet Park, Hayes

A great win for our under 15 girls. They won their 3 x 3000m race convincingly with Shaftesbury Barnet 2nd and Ealing 3rd. Kat Spooner ran very steadily in her first relay race for the club. Although Georgia Bell of Ealing was recording the fastest lap in front of her, Kat ran 11.55 for 2nd place, just over a minute down on the leader. On the second leg, Rebecca made up the gap and brought us home in the lead with 12.06. Then Sasha Tory increased the lead with 11.24 to record the second best time of the race. She has been training consistently throughout the summer holidays and the hard work is paying off.

Our under 13 girls also excelled themselves to win 3rd place medals. Lead off girl, Aneta Jaskulska was well placed with her 13.52. Second runner Sophia Acquistpace was having her first distance race (she started as a sprinter last year) and ran steadily with 15.28. Cassia Rowland on the last lap recorded 14.36 and the team result was a bonus.

Archie St Aubyn came up against some good runners on the U13 Boys first lap. Although he ran a good 11.32 he was down in 4th place. Next runner, Jamie Edwards ran a good 12.25 but couldn’t make up any places. Likewise, Oliver Berg was our fastest runner of the day with 11.12 but couldn’t get the team into a medal position. William Morgan ran the first lap for the ‘B’ team and recorded 12.44 followed by Sam Cooper having his first race with 13.43.

It was good to see our under 11’s doing well in the 1500m road race. Eve Goodhart was second, only yards behind the winner with Annabel Morgan and Jude Lewis not far behind. In the boys race, Tommy Gould ran superbly to gain third place. He was followed home by Matthew Piercy and Joe Cooper. 

3 August 2008     UK Women's League Division 3, Wigan

Thames Valley Harrier’s Women’s team travelled north again for the third and last match in the National Women’s League on Sunday 3rd August - this time to Wigan. This match was the most exciting of the group. Three clubs including Thames Valley Harriers were battling for two promotion positions to Division 2 and four were facing relegation to Division 4. As a result the teams were all stronger than one would expect at the beginning of August. Despite a huge effort Thames Valley Harriers were unable to improve on their 3rd position prior to the match. Blackheath and Bromley who had faltered in the second match returned to winning form and Enfield and Haringey pipped Thames Valley Harriers by one point on the day. It was Blackheath and Bromley who needed to be caught as Enfield and Haringey were already assured of promotion. 

Angela Barrett won the triple jump completing a hat trick of wins. Ambwene Simukonda ran her first ever 400 metres hurdles followed later by her best time ever in the 400 metres (57.72 secs). Ellisha Dee continued to pile up points in the Hammer, Discus and Shot coming second in each event ably supported by 17 year old Abigail Moronkeji. As the three events took place one after the other the two were not seen for several hours. The two javelin throwers Natalie Spencer and Samantha Brewer travelled by train on the day and were rewarded by coming 2nd in the A string and 3rd in the B string .The 4 x 100 metres relay team came 3rd and the 4 x 400 metres team 2nd to end a successful summer. Having only just survived in Division 3 the previous year the team can be very pleased with itself.

20 July 2008       National Young Athletes League, Linford Christie

Quality but not quantity was the story of Thames Valley Harriers Young Athletes last fixture of the season. Unfortunately there were too many gaps in the team throughout the season and they will be relegated from Division One of the Young Athletes League.

Even without English Schools finalist Laurence Owen (he was away running at the Catholic Schools Championships in Malta), TVH had Terry Scott, 11.8 winning the 100m ‘A’ race and Myles Fisher, 12.0, the ‘B’. Terry also second in the 200m in 24.4. Myles also had a great high jump to win with 1.87m. Not to be outdone by the boys, Annie Tagoe won the women’s ‘A’ 100 in 13.0 and Rebekah Wiltshire the ‘B’ in 13.8. Annie also jumped 5.05m in the long jump for 2nd place and won the 200m in 26.3. Rebekah won her 300m hurdles, 51.6 and her ‘B’ 80m hurdles in 12.6. By not having any girl distance runners valuable points were lost. The boys were slightly better off, having Nazrawi Dewit winning the U17 1500m in 4.32.1 and even better, the 3000m in 9.36.8.

Javelin thrower Alex Probodziak had his first competition for over a year and won with 46.35m. He was disappointed because he threw over 50m in his warm-up. A new personal best was recorded by Adrian Assinor in the Triple Jump. He improved by 24cm to 13.32m, a grade 1 performance. Gotti Boateng won the ‘B’ event with his best of 12.35m. It’s almost expected that Mercedes McPherson would win the U17 Women’s High Jump and although only clearing 1.55m, she won comfortably.

Best performance by an under 15 came from Lucy Knott. She was 2nd in the javelin with a new best of 25.29m, second in the Discus, 16.10m and first in ‘B’ Shot, 6.02m. 

The Under 13 Boys had competitors in every event (almost a first) and also had several winners. The 100m and 200m were won by Reece Mitchell, 13.2 and 26.6. Elimo Smith also won the ‘B’ races with 14.7 and 29.9. Jamie Edwards and Sam Cooper were in the 800m. Sam had already done the charity run in Hyde Park in the morning. Perseverance paid off for Auszamen Searles who came good on the day to win his 80m Hurdles ‘B’ race. His time of 15.7 equalled that of Oliver Berg who was second in the ‘A’. Oliver went on to finish second in the 1500m with 5.20.0. Archie St Aubyn won the ‘B’ race with 5.29.1. In the Long Jump, Elimo Smith was second with 4.43m and Nathanial Wade won the ‘B’ with 4.31m. The relay team of Oliver, Nathanial, Elimo and Reece were easy winners.

Almost matching the boys, the U13 Girls had Grace Andam 1st in the 75m and 150m with 11.1 and 21.9. Sophie Morgan, 2nd 75m ‘B’ in 12.7 and Monae Minors-Gibbs 1st, 150m ‘B’. Hannah Wiltshire had a busy day with 3rd in 75m Hurdles, 4th in the Long jump and 3rd in the High Jump. They also won their 4 x 100m relay!

19 July 2008       BAL Cup Semi-final, Tamworth

The BAL Cup Semi-final proved a welcome morale booster for Thames Valley Harriers. Again the Club had to travel away to Tamworth, north of Birmingham, but this time a solid team performance saw the Valley narrowly miss out on qualifying for the BAL Cup Final. Division 1 TVH finished 2nd to the local Premiership team Birchfield. TVH dominated the track winning the 100, 200, 1500 and 3000m Steeplechase in the new 10 events in 100 minutes format.

On a windy day the sprinters benefit from the following wind with Jason Comissiong winning the 100m in 10.7 and Stuart Benson the 200 in 21.5. Both athletes set personal bests. Youngster Lloyd King finished a gallant 4th in the 400 in 50.8 a good time given the conditions. Lloyd is determined to record a sub 50 second time before his 17th birthday in mid August.

Ben Tickner dominated the 1500 running on his own at the front to record a win in 3.59.5 seconds, while Andrew Hennessy returning from injury waited until two laps out before winning the steeplechase in 9: 30.2. A gutsy performance given that he had been up all night on duty as a doctor and then had to drive 150 miles Tamworth. Ben, Stuart, Andrew and Lloyd then combined to finish 2nd in the medley relay, the last event of a very good team performance.

In the field Matt Morsia continued his good form with a person best in the long jump of 6.73, finishing 2nd to international John Moore of Birchfield. Alister Mortimore, 5th in the Hammer with 36.84 and Jason Comissiong completing an unusual 100m and Javelin double threw 43.73 also for 5th out of 8 competing clubs.

In a very weak women’s match Hayley-Jane Cone jumped 5.48 to take 2nd in the long jump.

Final team scores were:

1 Birchfield 86
2 Thames Valley Harriers 73
3 Rugby 61
4 Tamworth 53
5 Lincoln 47
6 Telford 33
7 Shrewsbury 17
8 Dudley 13

10/11 July 2008       English Schools Championships, Gateshead

With almost all our competing athletes having moved up an age group the results were not so good as last year. The weather was cold, wet and windy, conditions being terrible on the Friday. 

Senior Men - Triple Jump: Kerry Marturin came 8th with a jump of 13.44 metres

Under 17 Men - 100 metres: Laurence Owen did well to reach the final coming 7th in a time of 11.29 seconds

Under 17 Men - 80 metre hurdles: Dylan Demange came 5th in his heat (one of three) with a time of 14.26 secondss

Under 17 Men - Triple Jump: Adrian Assinor came 9th with a jump of 13.05 metres

Senior Women - Shot: Abigail Moronkeji came 9th with a put of 10.77 metres, missing getting into the final pool by a few centimetres which was a pity as she was beginning to find her range after a bad start. .

Junior Girls - 80 metres hurdles: Krystina Francis came 4th in her heat with a time of 12.21 seconds

6 July 2008       British Athletics League National 1, Carlisle

Another long trip North! For the second successive time Thames Valley Harriers had to travel to the North of England for their British Athletics League match. Travelling the 300 miles to Carlisle put considerable strain on the Club and athletes, not only the £3,000 cost but also the time off from work required by the athletes. A depleted squad met up at Sheepmount Stadium, but with great team spirit we managed to cover a lot of the gaps as athletes agreed to do 2, 3 or even 4 events. As a result the Club managed to finish in 7th place beating local rivals Harrow, who also had to make the trip. 
TVH showed why it has a great history in the sprints. 

Toby Sandeman (21.79) and Stuart Benson (21.83) achieved the Club’s best result with victories in both the A & B string 200m. With Andre Williams (10.97) 2nd and James Christie (11.14) 3rd in the 100m good points were scored in the unpleasant wet and windy conditions. Brought in at the last minute, 16 year old Lloyd King ran a personal best of 50.51 in the 400m, while Alistair Hay for the second successive match achieved a personal best in the 800m with 3rd in 1:53.25. He went on to a fine 4th in the 1500 with 3:54.46. Chris Smith promoted to the A string 500m finished a creditable 5th in 15.09.34 having earlier competed in the 800m. Meanwhile in the Jumps Nav Childs was 2nd in the Triple Jump (14.45) before trying his hand at the Pole Vault and High Jump. With Matt Morsia (13.27) 2nd in the B triple Jump this was the clubs best result in the field. Veteran Steve Whyte made the best of the difficult conditions in the throws, his experience gaining him 3rd in the Hammer and Discus as part of a busy afternoon where he also threw the Shot and Javelin. Stuart Benson supplemented his 200m win by picking up places in the B string Shot, Discuss and Hammer. It was this team spirit, with all competitors doing more than one event which allowed the Club to edge ahead of Harrow. Despite lying at the foot of the table, the team is confident that with athletes recovering from injury and the shorter distance to Liverpool that the next fixture will help stave off the threat of relegation.

5 July 2008       UK Women's League Division 3, Wakefield

Thames Valley Harriers’ Women’s team had another successful day coming 2nd. The conditions were bad with showers, a wind and a thunderstorm in the middle of the afternoon which caused the Meeting to be suspended for 20 minutes. 

The day started badly with two athletes intending to run at the National Championships in Birmingham next week-end withdrawing as a result of niggles after warming up. Ron Roddan assisted in re-organising the remaining sprinters. 

Karolin Tsarski bravely agreed to run the B string 400metres only 40 minutes after her A String 800 metres in which she ran a PB of 2 min 13.6 secs. She then went over and jumped one triple jump coming 3rd in the B string . Her arrival at the Triple Jump coincided with the rain which developed into the thunderstorm. Angela Barrett also took her first jump in the rain and later returned to win the event with a fine jump of 12.22 metres almost a metre ahead of women who were close behind her in the first match. Rene Robson having given up her spot as the A string 400 metre runner took over the A string 100 metres and 200 metres coming 4th and 3rd in 12.4 secs and 25.1 secs. Fresh from leading the Great Britain Team to 5th place in the European Cup of Combined Events Phyllis Agbo won the High Jump in the pouring rain (1.65 metres) the 100m hurdles (14.1 secs) and came 2nd in the javelin (40.55 metres) during which she ran both relays in quick succession. Phyllis first appeared for Thames Valley Harriers as a 12 year old while at Grey Coat Hospital School and has competed regularly for the Club ever since. Emma Grant just back from injury came 3rd in the1500 metres (4 mins 42.7 secs) and Heather Timmins recovering from illness won the B String 800 metres (2 mins 18.7 secs). Ellisha Dee won the discus (39.07 metres), was 2nd in the shot (11.13 metres) and 3rd in the hammer (40.77 metres) confirming the Club’s strength in the throws and jumps. Only in the B String Javelin did any of the jumpers and throwers come lower than 4th.

30 June 2008       National Preparatory Schools Championships, Birmingham

Claire Morgan, having qualified through her area, reached the final of the 100 metres coming 7th in a time of 14.9 seconds (14.7 secondss in her heat).

28/29 June 2008       Combined Events, Hengelo, Holland

Phyllis Agbo led the Great Britain team into 5th place in the Super league of the European Cup of Combined Events. She was only just outside her personal best score and improved her Javelin PB and the Club record throwing 44.33 metres.

22 June 2008       National Young Athletes League, Ashford

Another small team but of good quality came third!  An almost gale force wind in the face of the sprinters and hurdlers made life difficult.  The long and triple jumpers were favoured by jumping with the wind behind them and Adrian Assinor (U17) did a Grade 1 triple jump of 12.98m and a Grade 2 long jump of 5.99m.  Peter Ahenda did a PB of 1.75m in the High Jump.

In the U13 Boys Sebastian Chichizola long jumped 4.41m - Grade 2.

Making rare appearances Mercedes McPherson (U17) won her high jump with 1.55m and Katherine Spooner (U15) won the 800m in 2:31.4.

14/15 June 2008       South of England Senior and Under 20 Championships, Crystal Palace

TVH's senior men and women were well represented, but mainly in the sprints and jumps. The competition was particularly fierce in the sprints!

Best men's performances came from Nick Leavey - 4th in the 400m with a time of 47.95secs and Toby Sandeman - 4th in the 200m with a time of 21.12 in the heats.

Angie Broadbelt came 4th in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.18secs. Yvette Henry and Renee Robson reached their respective finals in the 100m and 400m again in high quality fields. In the final Renee ran 55.60secs coming 7th behind a string of well known names and beating the longest standing senior women's club record set by Dyanna Clarke back in 1994.

Haley-Jane Cone came 2nd in the long jump with 5.48m.

17 June 2008 

A report on the Middlesex Schools and London schools will follow when the results have been published and the first wave of invitations to take part in the English Schools Championships have been sent out.  As a taster 13 year old Sasha Tory broke the Club under 15 record 1500 metres record with a time of 4:56:2.

8 June 2008       Dorney Dash 10k, Windsor

A busy weekend started early with the Dorney Dash 10k at Windsor. New member - Abderrahim Jalal, from Morocco set a new course record winning in 31 minutes 55seconds. It had been a close race Jalal only towards the end pulling away from team mate James Sumpter who was 2nd in 32 minutes 11 seconds.

8 June 2008        UK Women's Athletic League - Division 3, Stevenage

The Senior Women had their first match in Division 3 of the National Women’s League on Sunday the 8th June at Stevenage . Despite illness and injury striking down our main distance runners we had our most successful day ever coming 3rd.  

Star of the show was Ellisha Dee. Benefiting from her rugby training with Saracens Ladies Ellisha won the hammer with a throw of 44.15 metres. In the discus she was leading the Blackheath thrower selected for the World Junior Championships until the last round when she had to settle for second place with a throw of 42.01 metres, her best for several years. She also won the B string shot with a put of 11.24 metres.  

Renee Robson won the 400 metres in a time of 56.3 secs, while  Hayley–Jane Cone came 2nd in the A String Long Jump with a jump of 5.63 metres and Yvette Henry came 3rd in the 100 meters with a time of 11.8 secs (w + 4.8 secs).  

Personal bests were recorded by Angie Broadbelt in the 100 metres hurdles  (13.9 secs 9 – w + 3.8 secs), Ambwene Simukonda in the 400 metres (58.7 secs), Karolin Tsarski in the 800 metres (2 min 13.9 secs) and Lisa Blackman in the 3000 metres (10 mins 15.5 secs).    

Rachel Christie came second in the A String High Jump with 1.55 metres and Kizzi Barazetti  won the B string High Jump with 1.50 metres. Abigail Moronkeji came 2nd in the A String shot with 11.67 metres.

 The League allows the use of a limited number of athletes from other clubs as higher competition athletes. Angela Barrett of Harrow , the one such athlete representing TVH on the day, arrived with concern about a troublesome achilles tendon. After long jumping successfully her competitive instincts took over in the triple jump which, after a long battle, she eventually won with a fine jump of 12.33 metres. She then made up the 4 x 400 metres relay team.  

8 June 2008        British Athletic League - Division 1, Gateshead

The Senior track team travelled up to Gateshead for the first British Athletic League Division 1 fixture. With the 3 of the 4 fixtures in the North of England this was always going to be a difficult season trying to co-ordinate travel arrangements for a 25 strong team.

In the first track event, the 400m hurdles, Wayne Taylor set a personal best of 54.30 quickly followed by Alistair Hay whose time of 1m53.4 in the 800 was also a personal best. This was probably the best event of the afternoon with the winner running sub 1minute 50 seconds. Daniel Davis, in his first race for the club ran 14.40 for the 110 hurdles, while Andre Williams (10.70 )and Chris Smith (15.03.42) were both winners in their ‘B’ string 200m and 5000m.

Nick Leavey, who was selected for the UK World Championships 4 x 400 relay squad during the winter, was the only A string winner taking the 400m in 47.18. Robert Russel rounded off the track performances with a hard working double in the 1500 m and 5000m, the ev3nts less than 30 minutes apart. Running a good 3.54.63 in teh 1500 he still had enough strength to finish 2nd in the 5000m with 14:45.78.

In the field there was a series of steady performances in the heavy throws. Steve Whyte and Ben Kelsey, another new member, competed in the Hammer , Discuss and Shot. Steve a world veterans champion finishing 3rd in both the Hammer and Discuss.

In the jumps the notable performance was from Nav Childs with 3rd in the triple Jump in 14:48. Though the two Matt’s, Hulyer & Morsia, provided good back up.

Unfortunately not enough made the journey to Gateshead and TVH eventually finished in 8th place on 198 points. The good performances of those who were there meant this was still a better start than the corresponding match last year. 

7 June 2008        Southern Men's League - Division 1, Oxford

The Club’s 2nd Team competed in the Southern League division 1 and had a better day finishing 3rd in a strong field. Another new Moroccan - Nabil Souida had a good day winning the 1500m and 3000m steeple chase.

1 June 2008          Young Athletes League - Southern 1 East, Lewes

Lewes and Medway and Maidstone produced massive boys teams (in numbers). TVH’s girls held their own!

Laurence Owen again dominated the Under 17 men’s sprints with 11.4 secs for the 100m (Grade 2) and 22.6 secs for the 200m (Grade 2) while Adrian Assinor triple jumped 12.61 metres (Grade 2). 

In the Under 17 Women Annie Tagoe ran 26.3 secs for the 200m (Grade 2)

In the Under 15 Girls Roushell Campbell ran 26.8 secs for the 200m (Grade2) 

Both our Under 13 Boys and girls teams performed well. Reece Mitchell ran 27.0 secs for the 200m (Grade 1) and 13.3 secs for the 100m (Grade 2). In the Long Jump Sebastian Chichizola jumped 4.36m (Grade 2). The best of the girls performances was Jhane Ormsby’s run of 20.8 secs in the 200m (Grade 2).

Ella Julien (Under 15) was the only young girl who came both days cheerfully doing three events and the relay each day - a total of eight events - for which she deserved a medal.

31 May 2008        Southern Women's Track & Field League - Division 1, Uxbridge

With the help of our top sprinters and a good team performance we produced a respectable result despite some glaring gaps in the team

Seniors
Our senior sprinters were too good for the opposition and competed against each other (A and B strings running together). Yvette Henry ran 12.2 sec for the 100m and Hayley Cone 12.6 secs. In the 200m Yvette and Rene Robson went over the line together in 24.8 secs. 

Personal bests were recorded by Ambwene Simukonda in the 400m (59.1 secs) in the 1500m by Lisa Blackman (4 min 51.1 secs) and in the Under 17 80m hurdles by Rebekah Wiltshire (12.2 secs ). 

Under 15 Girls
Sasha Tory ran a PB of 5 min 1.8 secs in the 1500m setting a new Club record with Rebecca Power- Ross also running a PB of 5 min 19.1.secs 

The small Under 15 team (including two newcomers) covered themselves with glory doing unusual events as well as their main event. Phoebe Norton won the high jump with 1.40m . On her debut 13 year old Lisa Knott threw 22.89m in the javelin.

24/25 May 2008      SoEAA U17 & U15 Championships, Ashford Kent

Moving up from the Under 15 age group, Laurence Owen ran a wind assisted time of 10.8 seconds to win bronze medal in the Under 17 Men's 100m.  Eight others competed in the Championships, the majority recording personal bests or getting to finals or the top eight in the field events.

18 May 2008          Young Athletes League - Southern 1 East, St Albans

Some very good performances were recorded.  For final points and team placing see Results

4 May 2008          Young Athletes League - Southern 1 East, Erith

Some very good performances were recorded but we lacked the numbers necessary to be competitive as a team!  Apart from the established athletes the star of the show was Hannah Wiltshire (just turned 11) high jumping 1.25 metres in her first ever  high jump competition.  For final points and team placing see Results

3 May 2008          Southern Men's Track & Field League - Division 1,  Perivale

Congratulations to K Mathurin and G Boateng who won the A and B string triple jump respectively with jumps of 13.03m and 12.38m and also to A Mortimore who won the A string discus with a throw of 33.40m and also won the B string hammer with a throw of 37.45m. Congratulations also go to A Williams who won the A string 100m in a time of 10.7secs.

27 April 2008        National Junior League - Brent Division, Wycombe.

We have a small team in the Brent Division of the National Junior League (Under 20s Men and Women)

In the first match at Wycombe we came 3rd, with the TVH points were evenly split between the men and the women.

Making their debut Moses Bawo won the 100m in 11.5 seconds and the 200m in 23.2 seconds and Lunar Sylvester won the B string 200m in 23.8 seconds. Lloyd King came 2nd in the 400m with a PB of 51.0 seconds and the men won the 4 x 100m and were 2nd in the 4 x 400m relays.

On the women's side Abigail Moronkeji won the shot with a put of 11.83m and Mercedes Mcpherson won the high jump with 1.55m. Georgia Clark ran a solo 3000m in 13 minutes 41.6 seconds and Abigail also threw the hammer 27.99m and was supported by Shanai Bogle who threw 22.88m.

26 April 2008        Southern Women's Track & Field League - Division 1, Eton.

Our Senior Ladies and Under 15 Girls opened their season in Division 1 with a team much weakened by unavailability and last minute injuries and illness so the final result was commendable. We were also afftected by the Junior League scheduled for the following day which took some key individuals so although we came 4th our points score was respectable.  Good performances came in the following events:

Senior Women
400m - Karolin Tsarski winning in 58:5 secs with Chrissie Foster winning the B string while still recovering from illness.
3000m - won by Lisa Blackman in 10 min 31:8 secs with Joanna Mobed (U17) winning the B string in a time of 11 mins 3:3 secs. Joanna's time beat our previousUnder 17 Club record.
Long Jump - won by Hayley-Jayne Cone with a jump of 5.39m with Rebekah Wiltshire (U17) winning the B string with a jump of 5.14m.

Under 17 Girls
In the hurdles Krystina Francis and Rebekah Wiltshire swept the borad, running these distances for the first time:
300m Hurdles - Rebekah Wiltshire won in 49:9 secs
80m Hurdles - Krystina Francis won the A string in 12:8 secs and Rebekah Wiltshire won the B string in 13:0 secs.

Under 15 Girls
100m and 200m - won by Roushell Campbell in 13:0 secs and 26:8 respectively
1500m - Sasha Cory was 2nd in 5 mins 13:7 secs with Rebecca Power-Ross winning the B string and also the B string Discus (an unusual combination!)
High Jump - Alice Harman (aged 13), making her debut, increased her PB from 1.32m to 1.45m making brave attempts at 1.50m.

19 April 2008        Alpha/Beta Trophy Meeting, Lee Valley.

Our Senior Women and Under 15 Girls competed in the Beta section of this friendly opening match of the summer season and came a creditable 5th. Congratulations to everyone who took part, with some excellent placings. Well done to Rebekah Wiltshire who ran her first 300m with an excellent time of 43:7s!

6 April 2008        Southern 12 Stage Road Relays, Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot.

The Southern 12 Stage Road Relays broke with tradition this year, with the race moving from the usual Open University course at Milton Keynes to the Rushmoor Arena 6 Stage Relays course at Aldershot. This new course was made up of a single lap of approx 4.2km, over which were run 6 short legs of a single lap and 6 long legs of 2 laps.

Out of a field of 36 finishing teams the TVH men’s team put in an excellent performance to finish in 13th place in a time of 4 hours 23 minutes and 35 seconds, a position which achieves entry to the National 12 Stage Road Relays in Birmingham on Saturday April 26th.

The weather proved to be anything but predictable on race day as we awoke on Sunday morning to April showers, not rain but snow! This prompted the inevitable phone calls of, "Is the race still on?", but the confusion was soon cleared up after a quick phone call to the race organiser, whose wife answered the phone saying, " Yes, the race is still on, my husband's out sweeping the course now". Sweeping over a 4.2km course is what I call true dedication, there were now no excuses to miss the race!

Driving to the race the snow turned to sleet and amazingly had stopped on arrival, leaving a blanket of snow in the woods around the course, but the roads around the course although slightly slippery were free of snow and ok to run on thanks to the sweepers.

As the starting gun went off at midday we were down to business and with Rob Russell going straight into the lead on 1st leg he certainly meant business! Despite the slippery conditions and having raced the Scottish Relays the day before (winning the team race and fastest leg) Rob ran a fantastic leg, pulling away from the rest of the field on the 2nd lap to bring us home in the lead and half a minute ahead of the field. His time of 25 minutes 44 seconds also proved to be the fastest long leg of the race, with the next best time a full 25 seconds behind even with the sun coming out and drying the course up later in the day.

Manuel da Silva took over on leg 2 (1st short leg) and showed no signs of cracking under the pressure as the rest of the field were chasing him, finishing in 2nd place overall in a time of 14 minutes 2 seconds, a strong run and Valley's fastest short leg of the day.

Alastair Hay took over on leg 3 (2nd long leg) and ran an excellent leg to keep us in 2nd and close the gap on the leaders in a time of 26 minutes 46 seconds, also gaining him the 13th fastest long leg of the race. His run was made all the more impressive by the fact he'd travelled down with Rob after having starred in the same winning team in the Scottish Relays on the Saturday, I don't know how they both managed so well, maybe it was the snow that made them feel at home!

Next up on Leg 4 was Ash Khan who ran a good short leg in 15 minutes 14 seconds which put us in 5th place, a good performance as he has only recently started training again after injury.

Chris Smith showed a return to form on Leg 5, having missed most of the winter season through injury it was good to see him running well again as he moved us up to 3rd in a time of 27 minutes 27 seconds.

Louis Phiri stepped up to make his road relay debut on Leg 6, more used to running 400m than 4km he did the Valley sprinters proud finishing in a time of 15 minutes 33 seconds which placed us in 7th spot at the halfway mark.

James Sumpter on Leg 7 put in another fine performance after a heavy training schedule for the London Marathon (good luck James!) and his time of 28 minutes 39 seconds saw him home in 8th place.

Having been greatly missed over the past few seasons Bernie Robbins made a welcome return to the road relays on Leg 8 and showed he'd lost none of his competitive spirit by running 16 minutes 6 seconds to finish in 9th.

Leg 9 saw the introduction of team manager Phil Wetton, who tried to lead by example but his time of 32 minutes 9 seconds saw us move out of the top 10 into 13th place (the less said about this the better!).

Going to the race as a team manager and a reserve John Husbands had to step in as a last minute replacement for Leg 10 and ran well to record a time of 16 minutes 4 seconds to put us in 15th place.

Steve Norris then kept us in contention on Leg 11 with another strong run and a time of 30 minutes 43 seconds which kept us in 15th place.

The final leg (or the glory leg) was left to Lee Benjamin, and he nearly was left out when the starter suddenly decided to call a mass start (whereby all the remaining runners start together and their overall finishing positions worked out later) with just 2 minutes warning while Lee was still warming-up! But Lee's years of experience meant he wasn't going to miss the start and he rolled back the years to run the 2nd fastest short leg for the Valley in a time of 15 minutes 8 seconds and move us up to a final finishing place of 13th.

The final result was very pleasing and makes all the effort that the whole team put into the relays worthwhile, not forgetting those who didn't run but still played an important role for the team. They included the ever present Peter Hill who travelled as a reserve, Mike Wilson and others who came out to support the team on the day.

A special mention must also be given to Lisa Blackman, who took part in her first relay in a Valley vest as well as taking over as the women's team manager. She gave an impressive performance to finish in 5th place on 1st leg in a time of 15 minutes 43 seconds, which also gave her the 18th fastest leg of the women's 6 Stage Relay race. Unfortunately there wasn't anyone available to takeover for the rest of the race, so we are going to see if we can transfer Lisa to the men's team for the next relay race!

My thanks to everyone who turned out for a great day and a great performance, I'm already looking forward to the next race.

17-22 March 2008       World Masters Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Congratulations! 
Trevor Wade wins Gold at the World Masters Championships!
 Trevor took first place in the 50m Long Jump competition at the World Masters Championships. In an nail biting finish Trevor jumped 5m76 in his first jump then had 4 no jumps.  With one last chance he leapt to victory with a jump of 6m01!  A stunning win for the TVH Jumps Coach and an inspiration to all his protégés!  Congratulations to two other TVH coaches: Rez Cameron, who managed a very creditable 4th in the 45m Triple Jump with 13m31 and Jan Schuler who finished 6th in the 35m Pentathlon (competing for Germany) with 3386 points.

17 March 2008       Middlesex Inter-Counties Championships at Nottingham.

Three Valley girls represented Middlesex in the Inter-Counties Championships at Nottingham. In the Senior Women's race Lisa Blackman was 132nd in 32.47; in the Under 13 Girls, Sasha Tory was 38th in 14.10 and in the Under 15 Girls, Joanna Mobed was 45th in 16.06.

At the English Schools championships, Joanna Mobed had a fantastic run to finish 42nd in the Intermediate Girls race in 14.48.  In the Junior Girls race Sasha Tory finished 136th in 14.46.  Both girls will be in the same age groups next year.

Over 70 guests attended a dinner to celebrate Ron Hopcroft's 90th Birthday.  Unfortunately, Eileen was unable to be there as she is in hospital with a broken hip.  We wish her a speedy recovery!

9 March 2008       Middlesex Indoor Championships, Pickets Lock. 

Congratulations to our three County Champions and especially to Abigail for throwing over 12 meters for the first time!  See Middlesex Indoor Championships: 9 Mar 2008 for the full results.

 4 March 2008       UK Indoor Championships

Laurence Owen was 2nd in U17 60m sprint with a personal best time of 7.04.  

Nick Leavey has been selected for the 4 x 400m relay at IAAF World Indoor Championships due to take place in Valencia on the 7-9 March.

23 February 2008        English National Cross Country Championships, Alton Towers

Alton Towers provided a beautiful, fast and challenging venue for the English National Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

An undulating course on the top and side of a hill, with many loop backs to make up the distance, provided a superb venue for spectators and runners alike. The weather was kind, and although overcast was warm and bright for most of the afternoon. A stiff wind did provide some impediment on a few stretches, but was otherwise irrelevant in the dips and climbs.

The race started into a funnel, with a short sharp climb at the end, through some mud, which caused some pushing and shoving as the field closed up. It then did a double loop back over the top, mostly on firm but rough pasture, making for a clean and fast run. The course then looped back towards the start undulating up and down, before a sharp, long muddy descent to the bottom of the valley. A dogleg along the bottom started a muddy stretch before a brutal long climb, which got steeper towards the top, necessitating steps to be cut into the turf. This was followed by a long sticky slog with a modest climb along back to the start/finish area.

The men's race, starting last at 3.00 pm, took in 3 laps of 4 km each over this course, by which time the muddy sections were well churned up to sticky clay. The field stretched out, but closed up on the climb, with many runners slowing to a walk on the steepest part, resulting in some elbow work fighting through the field, to make up places, even on the last lap.

Chris Smith made a very welcome return from injury, finishing  at 125th, followed by Gordon Irvine just over a minute later at 199. Manuel da Silva showed a good return to form, finishing at 289, despite risk of injury with all the descents. Steven Norris came in at 381, with Phil Wetton definitely not running at his best at 422. Simon Maddison came in as 6th man at 1021. Regrettably Richard Bell arrived too late to get a number and chip, having been stuck in traffic on the M1. He ran round anyway, working hard to try and make up the 2 minute starting deficiency, otherwise he would have pulled us up the team results!

The club finished 36th overall, out of 99 teams.

In the women's race, Lisa Blackman ran an excellent race to finish 83rd out of 495, feeling that she could have probably done better still.

15 February 2008       RON HOPCROFT 90 on 27th February - congratulations from everyone at the Valley.

Ron Hopcroft has been a member of the Valley for over 60 years, and involved in athletics for well over 70 years, he is now approaching a very special celebration - his 90th  Birthday.  Perhaps there are some of you who may not know Ron, or what he has achieved over the years and indeed what he has done for the Club and for our sport in general.  It is therefore appropriate that we acknowledge some of his work and achievements, although to list them all would take up far more space than our editor will allow.  So let us begin in his early participation.

Ron’s first recorded event was a Novice Junior three mile race at Chiswick in 1935, which he won in 15mins. 41secs. At that time he had started work and had run a few races for his work’s team, winning a two mile race he was persuaded to join Ashcombe AC.  In 1939, just before he was called up, he won the first of many Middlesex medals in the Junior Cross Country Race.

On returning from Military Service he found his old club had disbanded and fortunately for us joined TVH.  However, due to studies he was not able to train and compete regularly, but found the time to take up his first post in the club as Press Officer.  By 1949 he began his long association with Road Running, competing in the many races about then; the Wigmore 15, Finchley 20 and SLH 30 mile.  In 1950 he ran his first marathon, the Poly Marathon, finishing 29th in what many consider these days as a good time, 2hrs 57m 20sec eventually improving in 1953 to 2hr 35m 40sec, and to a fine 1hr 55m 40sec for the Finchley 20.

By upping his training mileage he began to improve his times, taking his marathon down to 2hr 33m 43secs for the Poly.  But then in 1956 came one of his best moments, resuming his rivalry with Internationals Bill Keilly and Tom Richards, he won the prestigious London to Brighton, winning by nearly eight minutes in what was a new record of 5hr 36m 25secs.  In the ensuing years Ron went on to hold the English Native record for the Track 50 mile, 5hr 23m 30secs, and then to complete the ultra distance race 100 miles from London to Bath but the target to break the English 100 miles record was never in doubt, it was the world best that Ron was after!  It stood at 12 hr 20m 28secs and he chose to do it the hard way with all the hills at the finishing end.  He achieved his goal with two minutes to spare his time 12hr 18m 16secs, a truly fantastic feat. 

During the decade between the 1950s and 1960s the Valley had a very exceptional Road and Cross Country team, winning many National and Area titles and one constant member was Ron.

He continued to run well into his 60s, but also found the time to take on the rolls of Club Secretary, Winter Captain, Chairman and many other jobs, often not appreciated by some members of the Club.

During all this time he has been supported by his wife Eileen who for many years ran the “tea bar” at Cranford winter HQ. Following his retirement from active running Ron took on the roll of an Official and with the same dedication shown to his running he soon became one of our top officials, being selected for International meetings on the track as well as fitting in major Road and Cross Country meetings.

Things did not stop there, he was and still is ever present at our own Club matches.  Added to all this Ron holds the distinction of holding the position of Club President on two occasions, the first from 1970 and then being called back for our Centenary year in 1987.  However age will inevitably catch up, and with Eileen’s health not being what is was, Ron has started curtailing his activities particularly over the winter period.  But this does not stop him from checking up on all the performances of the Club, be it from the results in Athletics Weekly, or from speaking to members.

One must not overlook the other activities Ron has been involved with over the years, his association with the London Business Houses, where he has held the posts of Treasurer, Chairman and President over a period of over 40 years.  Since his own retirement from work he has also run the Gas Boards Club, arranging regular outings for the pensioners and ensuring they are well looked after.

The foregoing is just the tip of the iceberg, as over the years many great performances were made by Ron and they could not all be listed here, but it is hoped that this brief rundown of his achievements have given you some idea as to what he has done and hopefully will inspire the up and coming Valley runners.  So it must be acknowledged that Ron has been a great servant to the Valley and we wish him a very Happy Birthday with many more to come.

9 February 2008       METROPOLITAN CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE, St Albans

The final Metropolitan League fixture of the season at St Albans saw the Valley just avoid relegation by one place. Thanks to the return of Chris Smith from injury and finishing 13th in 27.19 and good back-up from other regulars we remain in Division One for next season. Steve Norris finished 64th in 29.13 for his best run of the season and Phil Wetton who ran in all five fixtures and was 93rd in 30.06. Also running in all the races was Bernie Robbins and was inside the first 100 for the first time with 95th in 30.14. Veteran Lee Benjamin had his only race this winter and finished 108th, 30.41. The rest of the team were 153 Matt Ponting 32.42;  164 Richard Bell  33.05; 168 Peter Hill 33.10 and 190 Andy Emberson 34.24.  The Veteran's fared respectably, finishing 12th overall, holding a steady position throughout the season.

In the Under 17 Women’s race Joanna Mobed had her best result of the season, finishing third in 15.49. She is still under 15 but was beaten by two other u15s. Joanna Thom, u17 finished 25th in 20.27. We only had three boys in the u13 race and they were led home by Kyle Kenrick in 19th place, 13.09. Coslee Searles was 23rd, 13.52 and Nabil Toumi 27th, 15.01.

Many thanks to all who turned out over the season. And particular thanks to Barrie Saunders who has provided unstinting support, and turned out without fail to sort out numbers before and after the race.  Apart from those going to the Nationals in two weeks time, this is pretty much it for the season. Look forward to seeing you again in the Autumn!

2 February 2008       SoEAA & MIDDLESEX VETERANS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

It was a fine bright cold day yesterday for the SoEAA and Middlesex Veterans championships. This was a very mixed course with some muddy stretches, particularly on the long hill, and along the top, but with many long gravelly paths. It was a race for short spikes or studs. The cold wind was largely irrelevant in the woods.

The Men's race was split into an early 50+ race, and a later 40+ race, following the women.  Andy Emberson and Simon Maddison were the sole representatives in the 50+ race, with Phil Wetton on his debut veterans race in the 40+. Phil started well, but misjudged the long hill, and coupled with the exertions of the week before at Parliament Hill did not finish as well as he would have liked in 39th. John Husbands was not far behind at 50th, and Mike Wilson making a welcome return running a strong and relaxed looking race to finish 82nd. Gerard O'Connell also ran strongly coming in at 105th, while Tony Smith came sweating energetically in 114th.

In the Ladies race, Allie Norris finished a good race in 49th, with Jane Lambert taking it steady to come in at 95th.

26 January 2008       SOUTH of ENGLAND CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
                                Parliament Hill

The Parliament Hill cross country course is notorious for being one of the hardest courses to race on. The start is up hill for over 800m and terrifies even the most experienced athletes. Thames Valley Harriers runners mostly got it wrong and only three or four felt that they had performed well. The best of these was Olivia Bryant in the Under 17 Women’s Race. She started steadily and moved through the field to finish 29th in 22.52. She passed Mel Newbery half way round the 5000m course. Mel stopped several times and by her standards had a bad run for 36th in 23.15. Looking at the final result, Mel would have expected to finish in the top 20. Another Valley girl judging it right was Stephanie Ainley - she had a good run to finish 87th in 25.51. Stephanie is at St Paul's Girls' School a nd doesn’t get many chances to run for the club. Our fourth scorer thought she liked Parliament Hill until Saturday, but Georgia Clark has now changed her mind after finishing 115th in 28.49 bringing the team home in 7th position. Of the clubs in front of Thames Valley, two had two teams. So we are proud to be fifth club finishing in that race.

Once again Joanna Mobed had a cold last week but came out and ran with great determination to finish the Under 15 Girls race in 33rd position, 19.33. Considering that this is her first season, she has had some remarkable results. She is now looking forward to running in the London Schools Championships. Florence Armstrong didn’t enjoy the hill and her 155th place in 23.48 was a disappointment for her. The Under 13 Girls found the first hill very tough and only Sasha Tory attempted to race up it. She didn’t get it quite right and had to fight all the way round the 3000m course to stay in 30th position with 13.42. The other members of the team did the opposite and went up the hill too slowly and therefore were unable to make up places on the way round. Rebecca Power-Ross was 131st, 15.22, Cassia Rowland 189th, 16.58 and Ella Julien 206th, 18.32. Their team finished 22nd out of 29.

Our only boys team at the event also fared badly. Led home by Kyle Kenrick in 163rd place, 14.23 he was the only one to attempt the hill. Oliver Berg started racing over the hill and nearly caught him but his 172nd, 14.29 just didn’t make it. Further back, Coslee Searles finished 191st in 15.07 and Nabil Toumi still with a smile on his face finished last but one at 215th in 16.27. Although the team were last, there were many clubs who couldn’t finish a team. As for the Senior Men? Many times in the past we have won the team trophy. This year we only finished 31st out of 62 teams. With several leading runners injured it was almost unbelievable that our first man home was in 88th place. Gordon Irvine had a tussle most of the race with Calum Nicol and his 54.15 just got him home to Calum’s 54.28 for 93rd. A long way back, Phil Wetton finished 216th, 58.26. Although he shouldn’t have been running, Manuel DaSilva struggled round in 423rd place, 64.44 and just held of John Husbands 424th, 64.45. Other Valley finishers were Richard Bell, 475, 66.14; Peter Hill, 526, 67.36 and Simon Maddison 656, 71.54.    

19/20 January 2008       SOUTH of ENGLAND INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, Lee Valley
                                      METROPOLITAN CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE, Perivale

A busy weekend saw Thames Valley Harriers competing in the South of England Indoor Championships at Lee Valley and the cross country runners out in the mud at Perivale. Indoors, Greg Conlon won the senior men’s Pole Vault title with a clearance of 4m.50. New member Edmond Amaning was second in the final of the under 15 boys 60m sprint. His final time of 7.45 was an improvement on his heat times of 7.53 and 7.47. Along with Laurence Owen, who won this title last winter and is now an under 17 this season, TVH have some very good sprinters on board. Laurence came third in his final in 7.12, slightly slower than his semi-final personal best win of 7.10. Also, Kerry Mathurin grabbed third place in the under 20 men’s triple jump. Lloyd King and William de Torvy both qualified for the semi-finals of the U20 60m sprint but were then knocked out even though they did personal bests of 7.25 and 7.27.

TVH women were also well represented and Angie Broadbelt won bronze in the 60m hurdles. Her fastest time was in her heat which she won in 8.55. Sprinter Yvette Henry won her heat of the 60m in 7.77 but was only 5th in her semi in 7.90. For the second time Abigail Moronkeji won bronze with her shot putt of 11.09 in the under 17 age group. Rebekah Wiltshire, also U17 came second in her heat of the 60m in a personal best of 8.15 but failed to make the final.

Although mild and thankfully free from rain, Saturday was overcast and windy at Perivale for the fourth Metropolitan Cross Country League over the notorious Horsenden Hill course. It's been known to be significantly wetter, and it was free from the waterlogging that has occasionally turned the lower stretch by the canal into a large pond, but it was soft and muddy all the way around the 3 laps of the race. This was tough, a hard slog that kept the pace relatively slow. Still, this is what cross country is really about.

It was the young athletes who had the best results; Sasha Tory, 12.27, again won the U13 Girls race quite comfortably by 29 seconds. After having Mumps recently, Cassia Rowland ran bravely to finish 19th in 15.07. In the under 15/17 women’s race, Mel Newbery had her best run of the season to finish second to Martha Reynolds of Ealing, Southall and Middlesex AC. The last time they raced each other, Martha won by over a minute and a half. Yet another great run and finishing sixth, Joanna Mobed, 15.45 was third under 15 to finish.

The boys were led home by Oliver Berg in 13th place. Once again there were a few missing men in the senior race. First home, Gordon Irvine was back in 23rd position, 33.59 and it wasn’t until 42nd that Calum Nicol finished, 35.04. There was an even bigger gap before Manuel DaSilva, 37.16 was 96th followed by Bernie Robbins, 37.30, 102nd and Phil Wetton 37.42, 106th.

For the senior men there were 266 finishers  and TVH finished 12th team out of 15 first division teams. Too bad we were missing both Chris Smith and James Sumpter through injury. Best wishes to you both, and speedy recovery.

5 January 2008        MIDDLESEX CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, Trent Park

The Senior Men's team turned out an excellent performance yesterday in the Middlesex County Championships at Trent Park, finishing 3rd in a very competitive field. Only 7 points separated the 2nd 3rd and 4th teams, so every place really counted.

Trent Park is a course well known to 'old timers' - Ken Norris won here 6 times in the '50's. It is a beautiful undulating course of, if not mountains, then certainly hills, and also plenty of molehills. The courses were carefully measured out so that each race was slightly different. The men's arduous 12km started with a flat but squidgy loop before switching back to 3 laps over an hour-glass shaped route with two major descents and climbs. Interspersed with soft molehills ready to catch the unwary. The weather was kind, only lightly overcast albeit with a crisp little wind to run into on a couple of stretches. The descents were long and slippery, as were the climbs, but a long gravel path along the top after the monument kept those with spikes light on the toes.

Two weeks of carbo-loading may have helped, but for me was probably more than offset by an additional couple of kg accumulated over the Christmas period. The first couple of laps were fine, but by the third the legs began to feel the burn, not helped by getting cold in the wet and the mud. It was however a close fought race throughout the field with place changes taking place up to the last few metres.

James finished very well at 6th, and good to see Calum and Steve again turning in crucial points. Newly minted Vet Phil Wetton also finished well and slugged it out once again in his grudge match with Manuel, only 1 place behind, followed closely by Bernie Robbins, bringing in the 6 team finishers in the first 50. A further 4 club runners finished the field, well supported by John Husbands (wisely not running through sickness), Lee Benjamin, Paul Oppe, Ken Norris and of course stalwart Barrie, to whom we are all most grateful.

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