EXE-HAUSTED
The
newsletter of Exmouth Harriers
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Exe-hausted
May 2001 – No. 19
In all seriousness .....
Sorry to start off in a sombre (very
unlike me!) mood but this is a big month for the club. You should all have received notice of
the EGM to be held at the Sports Centre on Monday 21 May at 8.15pm - the
importance of this cannot be overstated.
The original proposals from the Focus group and committee certainly
sparked vigorous debate. Maurice
received 19 replies with widely varying views, the broad sweep of which were
incorporated into the revised proposals.
So it is now vital that as many of us as
possible attend the EGM and make a judgement on the future direction of the
club. If you can’t attend but want
to vote by post, please contact Maurice Ault (01395 567337) asap to
register. The ballot on the evening
will be secret and will be open to all members over the age of 18, whether
individual or family members.
Following lengthy discussions at the last committee meeting, this was
thought to be the fairest way.
Roland and Maurice will give statements
regarding the state of play with East Devon District Council and the Rugby
Club. There have been interesting
discussions involving both these organisations and full updates will be given
at the meeting.
With a General Election also with us,
it’s important that I remain impartial, but I’m sorry that Screaming Lord Sutch
is no longer with us!
Coming up in this issue is a word search
that Dave Stone formulated. Makes
you sick doesn’t it - someone with so much running ability has brains as
well. I was at the back of the
queue when both were given out, and when they said “noses” I thought they said
“roses” and asked for a big red one!
Adrian suggested we give a prize for the first person to complete the
word search. He also reckons it’s
so hard, he struggled to do it - and he had the answers! So, best of luck and get cracking - the
prize will be worth winning although I don’t know what it will be yet. Entries
to me by June 30 - first correct entry drawn out will win.
I have also included a form from Sarah
Allsopp regarding PBs. Please fill
it in and return it as she is putting together a list of club records. It doesn’t matter how far back these
are (for some members, eg Jan Moulton, that’s decades!) as long as it was while
you were with the Harriers. If you
don’t respond and a slower time than yours is posted on the web site, who’s to
blame?
There is also a further update of
Kellie’s exploits which are nearly over and she’s due back in Exmouth next
month. Ron Slope has also blessed
us with his thoughts and has taken it upon himself to be the club’s Agony
Uncle.
Mount Everest ... been there, done that!!!
A quick message to let you all know that
I made it up to Base Camp of Mt Everest and it was amazing!! The whole trek was the most wonderful
thing I have ever seen or done in my life. I can’t begin to describe it without taking up 300k’s. Had the time of my life. Met some great people along the way,
ended up being 7 or so of us trekking together for most of the time, 5 guys and
another girl. The countryside was
amazing, the views stunning and the people I met were lovely. Took our time on the way up, stopping
for several acclimatization days once we reached 3500m, 4500m and 5000m. Tough to breathe up this high and the
body needs time to adjust. Got to
Base Camp in about 2 weeks or so - getting back was really tough. I was exhausted, every step a
struggle. Climbed a peak at 5500m
to get a good view of Mt Everest - sat up there on top of the world for about
an hour,weather sensational, with the birds flying around us - we were in their
territory now.
The next few days were spent hiking over
to the Goyko Sacred Lake region.
Tried to climb a peak of 5800m but didn’t reach the top as had no ropes
etc. We took a GPS reading and
were at 5630m, highest I’d ever been. The entire region is stunning. Huge glaciers, ice, rock and snow everywhere - “like walking
on the moon baby, like walking on the moon” was how someone described it to me
and it truly is.
The next few weeks were spent hiking
back through Eastern Nepal along the Arun Khosi River. Complete contrast to what I’d just been
hiking through. Pretty hot and
monsoonal down through here and the best things were bananas (hadn’t had fresh
fruit for almost a month), no tourists and the locals were amazingly friendly.
All in all, it was 33 days of trekking
through one of the most beautiful regions in the world. It was the most rewarding, challenging
and exciting thing I have ever done.
Take care, love, hugs and sloppy kisses
Kelliexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Race Committee
Well, things are really starting to take
shape now and hopefully, you are seeing the benefits. The Chairman’s Charity has got off to a great start and the
Devon Air Ambulance account has begun to swell. Our target is a minimum £1000, but as a group we will be
disappointed if we don’t at least double that. We put £100 profit from the Fulfords Five in to start things
off. Nine of us collected at the
Great West run, while carrying a stretcher, courtesy of the Marine Camp and
Dave Woodley. Jonathon Baxter’s
rabbit donned a Harriers vest and was strapped to the stretcher - cries from
the crowd of, “ I like your bear” were met with, “it’s a wabbit!” Dave Stone pushed a wheel barrow the
entire distance, the last two miles with a severely cramped Neil Ferrady
hitching a lift. The sum raised
from all this effort was £375.90 collected during the race, reaching £400 at a
get-together at The Saddlers that evening. To be added to this is a donation of
£50 from Exeter Harriers in recognition of the effort of club members Sue
Bater, Jan, Sue Wilkin, Sarah Pares and Roland to name just a few at the drinks
station and Chris and Maurice at the finishing line. Graham Gunn has agreed to run the Palmers Ford Half Marathon
for sponsorship and with a further £1 from every entry to the Half also being
donated, we are well on our way.
With all this activity and the publicity
it is generating, we genuinely believe we can top 500 entries for the first
time in the history of the Half.
Unbelievably, Adrian has already received 9 entries for this
September’s race, so things are
looking good. It’s important that
if you are going to races that you take some entry forms to spread about. With the racing calendar still severely
curtailed, it’s vital that the few races we do attend feel the benefit of our
marketing campaign!
A race that is almost upon us is the
Graham Sykes 10k on June 3.
Although anyone not intending to run will be welcomed with open arms as
helpers on the day, this is a race where Harriers are encouraged to run. The entries are already well ahead of
our record year 1999 so another great turnout seems assured. The memento for all finishers is a high
quality drinks bottle in club colours - well worth the entry fee I can assure you. Right, that’s the sales pitch out of
the way, so if you are interested, get your entry to Adrian asap. Don’t leave it until the day because it
will cost an extra £2 and we might have to close the entries.
Finally, the Bicton Blister is green for
go on December 9 (assuming the Common is open by then of course) and I’m going
to be the Race Director for my sins.
I had hoped to unveil a sponsor for the race, but negotiations have been
protracted. I’m currently talking
to two companies, so an announcement is due in the next 10 days.
Clubhouse nonsense
I asked Roger Cowd if he’s got a
cordless phone yet. “No way,” said
Roger, “I’ve only just got my first pair of cordless pyjamas!”
Hugh Marsden told me he can teach me to
run marathons in under three hours in ten easy sessions. “Great, when do we start?” I said. “After five years of very difficult
ones” was his reply!
At the World Vets Championships in
Newcastle a couple of years ago, Phil Bater was asked, “and where are you
from?” “Devon”, he replied. “Oh,
which part?” “All of me,” said a proud Phil!
The National Vets 8 Stage relays.
The team of Dave Eveleigh, Phil Bater,
Francis Whitley, Steve Merry, Rich Selby, Bob Keast, Hugh Marsden and Derek
Donaghy came a very creditable 39th out of the 58 teams who started the
race. Having won the GWR vets
prize the week before, the team was the only one from the South West to inhale
the rarefied air of this prestigious competition. There was disappointment that we didn’t finish higher, but
as this was our first time at this
level, lessons have been learnt and everybody has to start somewhere. To this end, Bob Keast’s piece this
time lists the other major events this year, giving us plenty of time to
prepare. Don’t worry that he
hasn’t mentioned the Club Championship this time, it hasn’t been
forgotten. Obviously, the foot and
mouth outbreak has meant a change of plans and Bob will update you next time.
UP AND
COMING EVENTS
NATIONAL
AND REGIONAL EVENTS THIS AUTUMN
SEPT 9
- NATIONAL 10K ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS
CHELTENHAM
SEPT 23 - NATIONAL
VETS MARATHON
MANCHESTER
SEPT
29-30 - SOUTHERN AREA ROAD RELAYS
ALDERSHOT
OCT 27
- NATIONAL ROAD RELAYS
SUTTON
PARK
NOT
FORGETTING THE GRIZZLY - OCT 21
IF YOU
ARE INTERESTED, CONTACT CLAIRE OR BOB SO WE CAN CO-ORDINATE ANY INTEREST
Ron Slope writes
First of all
this month I need to say that while I am, it is true, a bit of an alter ego to
a lot of people and young Dave Eveleigh has always looked up to me it is a bit
embarrassing for me to be too closely associated with him. The thing is, well meaning he may be,
but the term ‘track fairy’ comes to mind.
You know the sort, desperate last minute sprints to overhaul the good
honest sloggers right in front of the women at the finish line. People have said that they have never
seen the two of us together. Now
you know why. I mean, three ‘K’?
K? What sort of distance is that?
It’s not worth lacing up your racing flats for anything less than 10
miles to be honest. I think that
Phil Crook may be confusing me with Alf Tupper, who is, of course, an entirely
fictional character.
This month’s questions then ..........
SM writes: Dear Ron, I’ve
been trying to fit in a bit of extra training by incorporating interval runs
into my early morning milk round.
The problem is the intervals between houses is a bit short really. Do
you think it would be morally acceptable to leave out a few houses?
Ron replies : Look mate, what’s a pint
of semi-skimmed and a quarter of cream compared to a half marathon PB? Just get on with it will you.
HM writes : I sometimes find it
difficult to convince people of the value of my performances overseas. Everybody at the club seems to think if
Maurice Ault hasn’t measured it, it’s probably too short. What can I do about this?
Ron replies : I find it very easy to be
psychopathic with you on this point.
People come out with very similar comments about my record in the Zeal
Monachorum Fun Run. As you may
know I have won this very prestigious event 30 years running. While the Mid Devon Gazetter has twice
nominated me for its Zeal Sportsman of the Year award, I’ve always found it
difficult to convince the wider running world of this truly remarkable record. What I say, is come and take me on you
doubters. Second left off the A30
after Okehampton, every year 31 June.
You can’t say fairer than that can you. Talking about fun runs, did I ever tell you about
...........................
(continued page 94)
Track News
Dawn Teed has been working wonders with the track team,
inspiring people to attend meetings and to try new events. A report from the junior section
follows and I hope others will be suitably impressed to give it a try.
Great West Open Meeting -
Juniors’ Report
The Exmouth Harriers Junior section had
a lot of fun at the meeting on Sunday 22 April. We all got soaked, but enjoyed the opportunity to ‘have a
go’ at new events. I asked the
children to summarise in one sentence their thoughts about the day.
“I could have done better if I had more
practise. Even though I enjoyed
it, I would want to do more next time.” Harry Symes, age 10.
“I am proud of my results and pleased
there are more similar things in the summer. I could have done better with more practise.” Richard Bright, age 11.
“I think I did good, but I think I could
have done better if I had worn shorts.
I also think that if I practised more around the track I could have done
better.” Iain Horlock, age 10.
“I found it really fun to try out some
of the stuff and next time I won’t be so worried”. Danny Teed, age 13.
“I want to go again and try some more
events. It would be good if more
grown ups went.” Nathan Teed, age
11.
We are hoping to attend the four Devon
League meetings this summer, as well as the Exeter Harriers’ Open Meetings on
the last Tuesday of the month. If
you would like to find out more, please contact Dawn Teed on 270624.
The Club name.
With nearly all race results calculated
by computer, it’s vital that everybody enters as an Exmouth Harrier. At the recent GWR, new member David
Leach entered his club as Exmouth AC and sadly missed out on a team prize. In the days of manual calculation, this
would have been spotted but the computer just assumes it’s another club. That’s progress!
Club Records.
Please fill in and return to Sarah
Allsopp at Flat 2, 10 Fair View Terrace, Exmouth, EX8 2JX
Name:
.................................................
Track Date Venue Age
100m ................... ..................................... .................
200m ................... ..................................... .................
400m ................... ..................................... .................
800m ................... ..................................... .................
1500m ................... ..................................... .................
3000m .................... ..................................... ..................
5000m ................... ..................................... ...................
Road Date Venue Age
1 mile ................... ...................................... ..................
3k ................... ...................................... .................
5 miles .................. ...................................... ..................
10k .................. ...................................... ..................
10 miles ................... ...................................... .................
1/2 marathon .................. ...................................... ..................
Marathon .................... ...................................... ...................
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Please make a copy of the above if you
don’t want to cut up the magazine.
Budleigh Fun Run
Just a quick plug for the race that I
help organise for the Budleigh Chamber of Commerce. It takes place on Sunday 27
May, 11am from the Lime Kiln Car park.
Just under a mile in distance, registration from about 10am with a medal
for all finishers. Cost: £1 adult, 50p for kids. Hope to see you there.
And finally ......
It’s good to announce that Mike Mears
has been back to the club after tearing ankle ligaments at the Tough Ten at
Weston-Super-Mare. Sadly, Andy
Kennedy is still struggling with a similar injury that he sustained at the
Luppitt Lollop. Get fit soon Andy
because I need your race reports!
That goes for everybody else, lets have
your reports and articles please.
Well done to everyone who took part in
the London Marathon. On a re-run
of the video, I did manage to spot
Dave Stone’s yellow gloves waving at the start, I assume Dave was somewhere
close by!
It’s also well done to Sarah Allsopp for
her efforts with the web site, www.exmouth-harriers.co.uk, which has now had
over 3400 hits. If you haven’t
looked at it lately, there are some new photos and, with some new software on
order, it is set to get even better.
Right, that’s it from me, I’ll see you
all on Monday. The club’s future
is in your hands.
Phil Crook
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Copyright©
1998, Exmouth Harriers. |
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Last update:
17th November 2001 |
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