EXE-HAUSTED
The newsletter of Exmouth Harriers
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Thank you and so long …..
Well, an ambiguous title because I’m not actually going
anywhere! This is however my last
effort with Exe-hausted. Most of
you will be aware that I’ve been enticed back to Exmouth Boxing club. Despite
having turned down numerous offers over the last 11 years and always believing
that you can’t and shouldn’t go back in life, I’ve changed the habit of a
lifetime. Now, although I’ll still
be a Harrier and get to some training sessions, my involvement with the club
has been dramatically reduced. I am no longer Race Director of the Seymours
Bicton Blister or on the Race committee and will not write any more issues of
Exe-hausted. Maurice Ault (I could
always rely on him to be the first to write me an article when requested) has
penned two self-explanatory pieces on the newsletter, so I’ll leave you to read
and reply to them.
In a mood of nostalgia, I looked
through some old copies and think my favourite is issue 5, June 1998 (it’s all
been down hill since then!) as it reported one of the club’s greatest
successes. Yes, it’s four years ago that we won the senior men’s title at the
Westward Cross Country League. I
had hoped we would be celebrating again this year but it appears the title will
be going to RNAC, with us probably second and Bideford third. It’s been another magnificent effort
though and it’s great that we are going to celebrate anyway at one of our
popular disco and karaoke nights at the Rugby Club on Sunday 17 March from
7-10.30pm. The early start and
finish is to attract as many families as possible and because we all have to go
to work on Monday – and it’s free!
Before the evening, we will need as many people as possible at Rolle to
help set up the course and most importantly to run. We have to consolidate second place for the men and the
ladies have a good chance of third but Kellie and Steph can’t make it so
everyone is needed. If this sounds
desperate, it should because it is! This is a home race so everybody should be
able to get there but if you have a problem, Neil Ferreday has volunteered to
give you a lift on the cross bar of his bike!
Exe-hausted – the past by Maurice Ault
Usually, when I write pieces for Exe-hausted, I give our dear
editor (Phil) the opportunity to edit as he judges appropriate but, on this
occasion I have not given him any dispensation. This piece will either be published in full or you will not
even be aware of its existence.
Phil or Crooky as he is
affectionately called, could hardly be described as reticent. When he and I have run together he gets
in many more words per mile than me (and that’s not easy). His style as Editor for 23 issues of
Exe-hausted has been distinctive and flavoured with his own brand of humour. Although others often contribute
articles, there is always Crooky’s stamp on every edition. I cannot claim to have seen every
club’s newsletter, but of those I have seen, Exe-hausted is a winner by quite a
margin.
He has decided to spend more
time with his love of boxing and this Exe-hausted is the last under his
Editorship. At the last AGM, he
stepped down as Publicity Officer.
In this role, Crooky worked very hard and successfully to publicise the
Harriers both as a Club and also the performances of individual members
(irrespective of age, gender or ability).
On the day of the Half Marathon,
you could not help but hear his commentary and remarks or notice his blue
shirt.
Phil has made a great impact on
the club and its members and this short piece is just to say thanks and to
recognise his contribution (and I have not covered all the activities he has
been involved with) to the Harriers in its many exploits.
What style should Exe-hausted’s replacement be? Copying Phil’s style is really not
recognising its uniqueness.
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Should the style be funny
and how can one be sure that’s correct – humour whilst being universal takes
many forms?
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Should it be informative
and on what should it inform?
·
Should it report on
achievements individually or just reflect on club successes, or the lack of
them, as the case may be?
·
Should it have serious
running and training articles?
·
Should it have anecdotal
stories of a personal nature?
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Should it have some of the
zany humour that surfaces in the e-mail group?
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Do we want personal stories
about individual Harriers – the happy, the sad the interesting?
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How should Exe-hausted 2
relate to our web site and the press articles that Dave Stone does so well?
·
Should letters to the
Editor be published and if so, should the Editor be allowed to use their
discretion?
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How often should the
editions be published and when?
·
Should it carry advertising
and should it be restricted to our events, our sponsors and sports goods
suppliers?
·
What should the name be –
do we stick to Exe-hausted or have a new title?
My list of questions is not
exhaustive (no pun intended) so why not add to the list.
Are
there any potential Editors amongst our membership who just need the
opportunity to show their mettle?
PLEASE WRITE TO ME (or e-mail me at MauriceAult@aol.com) with
your views and ideas so I can submit them to the Harriers Committee. Every one
has a unique opportunity to state their views.
The Nike Road Show – Tuesday 19 March
2002.
Yes, that’s the date that
the Nike Road Show hits town.
Until 1997, Nike were the undisputed kings of athletics footware. After that they lost their way as they
concentrated on the fashion market and Asics rose dramatically to the top above
them. Now as the fashion bubble of teenage footware has burst, Nike are again
making a concerted effort to regain lost ground. Andrew came to the Bicton
Blister and lent shoes to 6 or 7 runners for them to race in and then tell him
what they thought. Runners are
notorious for finding a style of shoe they like and sticking to them, so this
Road show will give you the opportunity to run in a pair of new Nike shoes and
see what you think. I must stress there is no pressure to buy – in fact Andrew
is not a salesman. If you fall in
love with a pair of shoes, then you will have to go Pete Ferlie at Ironbridge Runner
in Exeter to buy them. Andrew will
be at the track from about 6.15pm so lets make sure we have a good turnout to
make his trip from Reading worthwhile.
The
Fulfords Five
Another great success with the largest entry for many
years. The efforts that Adrian’s
Race committee has been putting in to revamping our races is now really paying
off. We had predicted a profit of
around £400 but now look close to making £600 on a race that has always been
the smallest of the four we stage.
Adrian has asked me to thank all those who marshalled or formed part of
Maurice’s finishing or results teams.
A big thank you also to all those Harriers who ran and didn’t collect a
medal on the day (the medals were superb and well worth running for) – I’ve
given out nearly all of the extra medals now, with the last few arriving with
this magazine.
Forthcoming
Races
It’s the time of year when a large part of the membership takes
on a long distance race. The
winter months have been taken up with punishing training schedules and now it’s
time for pay off. This weekend
(last weekend by the time you read this) it’s The Grizzly. Said to be the toughest off-road race
in Europe, it is once again full with 2000 entries received within a fortnight
of the opening date. Dave Stone
looks to be our biggest hope at the front of the field and Sue Wilkin is also
expected to have a good run after a winter dogged by illness and injury.
The Taunton Half and full Marathons soon follow and we often
have entrants in both races. The
Half in particular is a great race with a testing but fast course. The only trouble with the full Marathon
is that 90% of runners stop after one lap and you then have to go all the way
round again.
The race that the whole country focuses on is the Flora London
Marathon of course. I’m aware that
Bob Keast, Steve Hockings-Thompson, Nigel Dupain, Sue Wilkin, Steph French,
Dave Stone, Kellie Trollope and Trevor Cope are running but there may be more. I know Peter Hart, who lives in
Taunton, and his friend Dave Leach often run it, so good luck to everyone,
whether I have mentioned you or not.
Trevor and Kellie received the two club places having both had their
original entries rejected and now are both working hard to raise sponsorship
for the Chairman’s Charity, the Devon Air Ambulance. If they approach you with a sponsorship form, please be
generous – no, hang on, don’t be reactive, be proactive! Kellie can be contacted on 01395 270379
and Trevor on 01395 270128 so please give them a call.
While talking about our nominated charity, we are looking for
volunteers to carry collecting buckets at the Great West Run on May 5. Last year we raised £400 from this
event and we hope that if we can have more collectors, we can also call into a
few pubs on route as well which should boost the coffers. It’s great fun and ideal for people who
are not up to racing it but want to be part of a great day and enjoy the
carnival atmosphere. A word of
warning though – get your entry in soon as it’s filling up fast. Get your number and let Adrian know of
your willingness to run. We will
also be looking for volunteers to man the water station so you can all be
involved.
The Graham Sykes 10k on June 2 is the same weekend as the
Queen’s Golden Jubilee and should be a great day. Although there appears to be a lot of apathy surrounding
Liz’s 50 years on the throne, I’m sure the country will get behind it come the
day. Hopefully, we will get a
bumper entry, fine weather and will all enjoy a great day.
Finally, I have had details sent to me of the Welsh Castle to
Castle event, which is a relay race over 2 days from North to South Wales. I have spoken to a few people about it
and nobody seems to have time this year.
However, Pete Hart who has run it before would like to hear from anyone
who is interested, so give him a call on 01823 325771.
The Ladies
Handicap series
Chris Ault has asked me to pass on details of this series, which
is held on the last Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm, starting on 24 April
and running for 6 months. The
route of approximately 3 miles remains unchanged each month so you can measure
your improvement. The ladies then enjoy an after run drink at The Grove. For further information, call Chris on
01395 567337. This event is mainly
supported by the Wednesday night ladies but is open to all our lady members.
The ‘handicap’ isn’t having a husband and two children either girls!
Track News
I’m aware that Bob Keast and Dawn Teed have taken their Grade 2
coaching course and have now joined Maurice in gaining experience at Exeter
Club nights at the Arena on Tuesdays.
There are other members taking Grade 1 so a hearty well done to you
all. With the lighter nights now
heading our way, we get the chance to use the track. Please put our coaches knowledge to good use by taking
advantage of the new skills they have learned. We don’t know how much longer we will have the track, it may
be years yet but on the other hand it could be our last season if things
suddenly develop.
The Track League will be starting in early April as will our
monthly trips to Exeter so please give Peter, Bob, Dawn and the other helpers
your full support.
The
Website
We are now very close to 8000 hits which is a real tribute to
Sarah Allsopp. People only keep
coming back to a site if it has
fresh information for them – well, Sarah is obviously the freshest of all web
mistresses! She had the Fulfords
Five results on the site by 5pm that day and had updated the club’s records
section the day after the Bideford Half.
Roger Cowd’s 15 year V45 time fell to Derek Donaghy but Roger’s name is
now there for his V60 time. There
really is something on the web site for everyone, including the juniors, so if
you haven’t visited yet, please take a look, put it in your favourites list and
keep going back.
Ron Slope
writes
Lot of talk around the club about percentages. Here’s Ron’s guide to rating your run
using the famous bath tap test.
(1) You can’t
turn on the bath taps AT ALL after your run: 100%
(2) You can
turn the taps ON but you can’t turn them off again : 50% and you need to try harder
(3) You can
turn the taps on AND off : 0%. You are probably female, or, even worse, (excuse
the language) you are a ‘jogger’.
If it’s the second, please LEAVE THE CLUB NOW. If it’s the first, get out of that bath and make us a cup of
tea love would you!
(4) The tap is
dripping : 5%. Yes, that’s right, Ron Slope Spurts Plumbing will offer you a 5%
discount on all bath tap services and that’s in addition to your 10% club
discount. Like Ron, that’s
unbeatable!
Lukim yu!
Club House
nonsense
Roger Cowd rang the incontinence clinic to ask for an emergency
supply of incontinence pads. “certainly sir, where are you ringing from?” asked
the lady. “from just below my waist,” said roger!
Steve merry was training in Phear Park when he saw two policemen
sitting under a see-saw. Naturally, he asked why they were there. “we’ve been
tipped off,” came the reply!
Jan and sue were going to a race when they got stuck behind a
lorry that was losing its load onto the road. The girls overtook
and forced the lorry to stop.
An angry Jan told the driver that he was useless because he had been
losing his load for over 3 miles and didn’t realise. “Of course I know”, he said, “this is a gritting lorry!”
Hello and Goodbye
We’ve had some new faces at the club
lately. Two ladies, one of whom is
a policewoman, have started along with Malcolm Bayer, who has just moved to the
area and was part of our victorious vet team at the Bideford Half. Also hello to Frances Ansom, a friend
of Dawn’s who lives at Crediton and also did very well (2nd vet 45) on her debut for the club at
Bideford. I’m sure there are
others who I’m not aware of, so a warm welcome to the Harriers ‘family’ as
Roland likes it to be known.
On the reverse of the coin though, Vic
Johnston has moved back to Northern Ireland to join their postal service. Best of luck to him, although I’m sure
he doesn’t need it.
Claire Baxter has had an eventful
couple of months in Dubai. She
missed her first scheduled race because a Pepsi lorry smashed into the back of
her car and she suffered whiplash injuries. When she had recovered from that,
she ran in a race for her new club who were holding a party at a posh hotel
which was going really well until a female guest drowned in the nearby sea
along with a lifeguard who tried to save her. The place was then surrounded by
police and ambulances which brought the party to an abrupt end.
Right, that’s it then
Well, I hope that over the last five
years you’ve enjoyed reading Exe-hausted as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it
(that won’t be much then!) and I look forward to the new magazine, whatever
form it takes. A big thank you to
everyone for their kind wishes and I’ll be seeing you.
Crooky
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Copyright©
1998, Exmouth Harriers. |
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Last update: 22nd
March 2002 |
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