Hardley Runners News
Hardley Runners News
The current (Christmas 2009) newsletter is published here. John is working on the next one and would welcome news, pix, articles, etc. The webmaster also has back numbers from Summer 2006 onwards. If you would like to see one please email the webmaster (see Contact us button).
Athletics weekly have just posted tables showing the British veterans road rankings for 2009. Congratulations to Malcolm Renyard who is ranked as follows
M60, 5km - ranked 1 in the UK with a time of 17.49
M60 5mile - ranked 2 in the UK with a time of 29.28
M60 10km - ranked 5 in the UK with a time of 37.11
The AGM is on Monday 25 January at 7.30pm at the Waterside (Esso) Club at Holbury. It's your club. Please come to the AGM, hear what's been happening in the last year and volunteer to do your bit in the year to come.
This year the traditional Brockenhurst Chapter Dinner Dance was expanded and around 50 members dined and danced the evening away. Thanks very much to Dave for all the work liaising with the Forest Park. You can see some pictures here.
Despite the poor weather a great weekend was had by all at Telscombe Youth Hostel.
Paul Blundell writes, "21 of us turned up at various times on the Friday, Nicky and Tony Musson just pipped myself, Sue, Barb, Dennis and Marilyn to meet the warden and receive instructions. The Youth Hostel is quite small but situated in a delightful but remote village. We soon settled in and had a quiet but sociable evening, as more people arrived.
Saturday dawned windy and wet, but we are Hardley runners so our running group set off at 9am. There was also a walking and a fast running group. It was bitter over the tops of the hills with strong winds and hail storms but these abated as the day went on. Running was at an easy pace and the views were amazing, down in the valleys out of the wind was a good place to get your breath back. A pub was found for sustenance where quite by chance we found the walking group.
We left the walkers ordering lunch and soon picked up a path alongside the river Ouse where we found a sheltered hollow for lunch. We got back around 2pm and some of us took advantage of the warmer conditions and abated wind for a walk to the coast.
The evening meal was an American supper and everyone coped with the compact kitchen admirably to produce some truly outstanding dishes.
Sunday morning dawned windy and wet once again, a walking and running group emerged not put off by the rain and I joined the running group to do a circular route ending with a bracing run along the coast at Peacehaven. We were back by 11am to pack up and had an interesting drive home in the ferocious weather conditions.
A great weekend enjoyed by all! My pictures are here. If you have some more please email them to Jeremy and he'll add them to the album.
The next Youth Hostel weekend is at Westward Ho North Devon in February and there are still a few places left (see Social tab for details)."
Malc Renyard came 4th, just outside the medals in the Home Counties Internationals held at Perry Park, Birmingham, on Saturday 14th November. The atrocious conditions, with gale force winds and heavy rain, turned the bland grassland park into a challenging course. The Men's Vet 60 age group, of which Malc is in his last year, was very competitive. The first four locked together on the 4 lap course, before the final positions were decided in the last 500 metres. Malc led the England team home in 2nd place.
Once you have got totally soaked through there's nothing finer than jumping in puddles. Getting totally wet was easy on Saturday 1 November as conditions were atrocious when members assembled at the Beaulieu Road Hotel for the Forest Run. Three groups of runners and some walkers set off at varying speeds and with varying degrees of navigational success. The bracing exercise was followed by a swim at the hotel and then an excellent lunch. Your webmaster lost count but reckons there were wll over sixty people there. Thanks very much to Ray and Linda for making the arrangements. If you have any pictures please email them to me and I'll make an album. I didn't dare take the camera on the run as it was a tad damp so the best I have are
Annie ran the Great South Run for Alzheimer's One of our most regular competitors, Annie Bruce-Low ran the Great South Run on Sunday October 25 and raised over £300 for Alzheimer's. She collected quite a lot of loose change in a bucket on the way round which weighed her down somewhat! If you haven't paid up yet please contact her on 02380 AB-L 848188 or email her at flipper1 AT talktalk.net
Hardley member Kevin King won gold in his age group at the National Sprint Traithlon Championships at Milton Keynes. He has also qualified for the Half Ironman Worlds to be held in Florida later in the year. You can read more in this Echo article from 19 June 2009.
It was a Hardley One Two in the Cambridge Duathlon which is a World Duathlon Championships qualifying event. Congratulations to Hardley's Stuart McGowan and Mick Anglim who were first and second in the M60 category. You can see the full results here.
It was a lovely Spring day when over 80 members gathered for the 25th Anniversary Hardley Hill Half. Runners and walkers set off from the Forest Park for anything from a short six miler to a 15 mile run or a 3 hour walk. Then there was a chance for a drink and a chat in the sunshine followed by an excellent meal.
Secretary Ray Noke then spoke about the Club's history. It all began when Ray, at the tender age of 33 was encouraged to run by fellow Esso worker Bob Wanstall. He and Dave Lawrence were among the founder members when the club started in true Hardley fashion by meeting at a pub, the John Barleycorn. There was a great debate on names. Fawley Flyers and Solent Striders were rejected and Hardley Runners came into being with about 30-40 members. Currently the number stands at around 200.
Right from the start the club has been active in organising events. The Hilly Half began in 1985, the Handicap in 1986 and the Blackfield Autumnal Half (now the Solent half and previously Hardley a Half) in 1987. In 1988 the club joined the RR6, now increased to RR10. We have hosted the Hants Cross Country Championships, organise the Test Way Relay and a new event, the Exbury 10K is proving a great success.There have been all sorts of fund raising events to help other people. In the first 25 years Ray has done 20 road marathons including 10 Londons (PB 2.46), 94 marathon or longer events and over 44,000 miles and he's still running. That's given him lots of happy times, especially since bag lady Linda started to run as well. But the best thing is the privilege of making so many friends.
Ray then went on the give the awards which went to
| RR10 most improved woman | Jane Hodge |
| RR10 Most improved man | Ian Hawker |
| Handicap Lanterne Rouge | David Seaman |
| Handicap winner | Mark Stileman |
| Age related Women | Chris Harris |
| Age related Men | Mick Anglim |
| Open Women | Laura bentley |
| Open Men | Paul Pallister |
| Famous getting lost hat | Annie Bruce-Low |
Here's a small album of pictures which record a very special day. They include a short movie which will take a while to load as it is a 3 MB file.
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Last updated 23-Jan-2010.
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