RUNNING

COMMENTS July 10

Our continuing mission: to boldly drivel where no running publication has drivelled before.

ODDS & SODS

Relay Competition

The North East Counties Athletic Association are sponsoring a relay competition at Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 8^th September. There will be races for all age groups (U13, U15, U17 and Senior – Men and Women). Hopefully, we may be able to enter teams in most events. If there is enough interest then we may be able to arrange some practice sessions. Any Juniors interested see Keith.

Summer Cup

In the first race of this year's Summer Cup series, a 4 km handicapped series of 4 races, a total of 56 runners started and finished the course, along the coastal cycle path.

First back was Andrea Scott.  Now becoming a bit of an expert at these handicapped start events!  A strong finishing Joseph McDonnell was second home, followed by Ian Baxter hotly pursued by the pack.

Special mention to the Lemin family who raced one day after participating in a very hot Edinburgh Marathon.

The second race of this year's Summer Cup series, saw 51 runners start and finish the slightly modified course (due to work on the footpath between the car park and the bandstand), along the coastal cycle path.

Joseph McDonnell was first back, showing a 40sec improvement from his second place finish in the first race. Second back was Joanne Straughan followed by Mark Nicholson (who was fourth in the first race). Although the overall results after the two races are not yet available, Joseph and Mark are obviously leading the way.

The team event saw a second consecutive win for 'Put The Kettle On' with 35 points, closely followed by 'The Personalities' with 52 points, the same position as they finished in race 1.

Officials

The sport could not function without officials and Blyth have to provide some at all the T&F events that we take part in. There will be a Level 2 Officials' Course at Gateshead Stadium on 21st November 2010 covering generic plus specific Track Judges, Timekeeping, Field Judges, Starter/Marksman. The Club will pay for the cost of the course.

JUNIORS

Young Athletes League

In the third fixture in the YAL, Blyth/Alnwick produced their highest total as they amassed over 500 points as they won by over 140 points from second placed Harrogate, with Scarborough in third place. The favourable conditions were near perfect for competing and many personal best times and distances were set.

Several Blyth athletes tried new events with varying degrees of success. In the field events, Scott Povey won the triple jump, Sam Bell the discuss, Tamsin Brown the shot, Kalvin Hurst , Rebecca Nail and Charlotte all won their long jumps. Sam Bell equalled the club high jump record, while Chris Lillico gained a grade 3 in the high jump (may have set a club record) and he also gained a grade 4 in the 400m hurdles. Another athlete who gained a grade 4 standard was Jacob Hall who finished second in the 1500M.

The closest race of the day was the 200m where Scott P just edged Kalvin into second place, although they were both given the same time. The highlight of the day for many was an unforgettable 1500m steeple chase won by Jake Jansen

Junior’s coach Keith said ‘That was a well deserved win.  Everyone who took part worked hard and contributed to a fantastic result and it was pleasing to see so many athletes try new events.  But we cannot afford to be complacent and we need as many club athletes to turn out as possible for the deciding match.’

After three matches, points standings are: Middlesbrough Mandale 1986.0pts, Blaydon & Elswick 1730.0pts, Morpeth 1136.0pts, Alnwick & Blyth 1116.5pts, Chester-le-St 1090.0pts, Harrogate 1009.5pts, Birtley 1003.0pts, Houghton 851pts, Scarborough 503pts.

The final Young Athletes League match takes place at Churchill Playing Fields on 18th July.

Anybody who can help out please let Keith know.

Junior Handicap

This year’s Junior Handicap will be on Monday 12th July. The format will be the same as last years, with the slowest runners of first. The distance will be approximately two miles and every runner will be given a handicap. The course is a two lap route using the promenade at the Mermaid Car Park. The first runners will be off at 19:15, so everybody needs to be there no later than 18:45. Again, anybody who can help will be very welcome.

Junior Beach Races

All the races were on the beach and the Under 6’s ran 200 metres, with Elivia Perchide of St. Andrews school winning the girls race and Evan Reid, alos of St. Andrews, winning the boys race. The under 9’s ran a distance of 400 metres and Carys Purvis was the first girl, while Calum Grey of Croftway won the boys race. In the under 11 categories the youngsters had to run 1000 metres and Rhian Purvis was the first girl, while Jed Russell was the first boy. The under 13’s ran a distance of one mile, with Jessica Thompson of Blyth Running Club winning the girls race, while Josh Robson of Meadowdale School, Bedlington took the boys prize. The Under 15’s ran a distance of 1.5 miles and the Girls race was won by Sarah Wilkes of Morpeth, the boys race provided the closest finish of the day with Blyth’s Chris Sheffer winning in the last few yards from club-mate Joseph Dungworth. Everybody who ran the race was given a medal and the race winners were presented with trophies.

Summer Training

Training will continue as usual on Monday evenings during the summer, i.e. meet at Sports Centre at 18:45 or beach car-park @19:05

QUADKIDS

Heaton Harriers arranged a QUADKIDS competition and six members of Blyth attended and all did well. Hannah, Georgina, Alice, Adam, Tom and Matthew will all receive their certificates at a Club session.

COMMITTEE MEETING

Minutes of meeting held 8^th June 2010

Apologies: Susanne Hunter, John Mallon & Mal Darbyshire

The meeting commenced at 7:35 p.m.

Minutes of meeting held 8^th May 2010 were read and approved. This was proposed by Iain Singer and seconded by Aynsley Herron.

Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

Chairman’s Report

No report

Secretary’s Report

Ralph reported the following correspondence and race entries had been received;

• Invite to Harrier League AGM - email sent to league advising of Blyth’s willingness to host a fixture and confirming our proposed race dates.
• Northumberland Athletics Network (NAN) advert received and forwarded to members.
• NECAA (North East Counties Athletics Association) AGM, Friday June 11^th at 7.00pm in Gateshead International Stadium.
• Great North Run places for St John Ambulance.
• A trip to the 2011 Virgin London Marathon has been arranged at the Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury.

We have had 3 new members since the last meeting; 2 seniors and 1 junior. There was 1 resignation.

Treasurer’s Report

Funds are looking good. The club made a profit of £161.58 on the Presentation Evening. A donation of £100.00 was made towards the coach trip to Doncaster for the Junior T&F meeting.

Mens Captain Report

Iain reported the following;

• The gentlemen participated in the following recent races - Les Allcorn 10 km, Snods Edge, Clive Cookson 10 km, Edinburgh Marathon, Druridge Bay 10 km,
  T & F Middlesbrough, Allendale 8 m, plus other track races.
• Particular mention as follows – Gareth Hope sub 40 mins for 10k and Ralph & Ken Turnbull for bettering the club record in Hammer at Middlesbrough.

Ladies Captain Report

Helen reported the following;

• Well done to all the ladies who have competed in local, national and championship road races over the past month
• Well done to those ladies who have recently competed in local senior and veteran track leagues. I was especially pleased to see the ladies trying new events in our club track and field league at Middlesbrough- which they seemed to enjoy.
• Phillippa Baxter set club records in both the 400m hurdles – 97.1 and the 100m hurdles - 29.4.
• I did have a particular request from a senior lady regarding specific training for the events we do in the league.
• A new lady came to training last Wednesday and I believe she would like to join the club.

Juniors

Keith reported the following;

• Young Athletes League – we finished third at Doncaster and we currently lie 7^th out of 9 in the league. Jacob Hall achieved a g4 grade in 1500m. The next meeting is Sunday 20^th June at Monkton stadium, where BRC have to produce the results.
• Druridge Bay 10k - Scott Povey was first Under 16.
• Junior Beach Races - will on Sunday 27^th June. Ralph will organise St John Ambulance.
• Junior Handicap - will be on Monday 12^th July. (amended after meeting)
• Quadkids Competition – James Buis of Heaton Harriers is organising quadkids on 1^st July. BRC will have a team.
• Step into Sport – Stephanie Ramsay is doing a step into sport volunteer programme, supported by BRC.
• School Champs: BRC members progressed into Northumberland Champs.
• Indoor Sessions/Training Indoor numbers increasing slightly, other coaches helping. Training continues and we have several new members.

Grand Prix

All GP races have had over 30 entrants. Ralph will write a letter to Wallsend commenting on lack of water for their 5-mile race.

Social

The day out at the Fishing Boat Inn, Boulmer was another success. The social committee has other plans in hand for future events.

AOB:

Druridge Bay 10k - Alison Lowes expressed her thanks for all those from BRC who attended the race. Scott Povey was 1^st junior but didn’t receive a trophy. This has now been found and will be presented at the next Summer Cup.

Iain Singer had several comments –

• Thank you to all the Summer Cup helpers
• Thank you to all the T&F helpers
• Good comments had been received for the Flying Coach visits
• Susanne will supply details soon for her planned Monday evening sessions
• A few seniors seem to want to try hurdles. We need to set up a training session

Links 10k – this is confirmed as Tuesday 31^st August 2010. Due to the nature of the event it was agreed to ask for St John Ambulance to be in attendance. Ralph will organise St John, update the Risk Assessment, inform the Quay Pub and arrange the marshals. We will also email North Shields Poly for a list of their entrants in an effort to speed up the registration process.

Juniors available for Senior T&F –

• Males - Chris Lillico (HJ, Hurdles), Kalvin Hurst (LJ, Sprints), Scott Povey (400m, Javelin), Jake Jansen (1500m), Karl Findler (HJ), Scott Goodfellow.
• Females - Rebecca Nail (LJ, HJ, 800m), Hannah Dixon (LJ, TJ, 200m), Tamsin Brown (Sprints, Shot, Discus), Sarah Cavner (Shot, Discus), Stacey Robinson (1500m)

Flying Coach: Next throws session provisionally booked for 19^th June 2010 between 10:00-12:00 at Churchill.

Northumberland Athletics Network – Development Officer job advertised. There is a Development day at Solihull, which Keith will be attending. There is a possibility of summer athletic camps

NECAA - AGM Friday 11^th June, vacancies on council if anybody interested

Track & Field Records – Seven new male records and 4 new female records were set at Middlesbrough;

• 200m – Chris Lillico - 23:9
• 5000m – Andrew (ASH) Henderson - 17:06
• 110m hurdles – Craig Birch – 22:01
• Long jump - Kalvin Hurst – 5:50
• High jump – Chris Lillico – 1.75m
• Shot putt – Steve Walker – 6.94m
• Hammer – Ralph Dickinson – 13.96m
• 100m - Stephanie Ramsay – 13.5
• 100m hurdles – Phillippa Baxter – 29.4
• 400m hurdles – Phillippa Baxter – 97.1
• Discus – Stephanie Ramsey – 19.39m

Club Base – Ralph to write to the Rugby Club and thank them for their time but inform them that their facilities do not meet all the requirements required for the Running Club.

Wallsend 5-mile –Ralph to write a letter to Wallsend concerning the lack of water at their event.

The meeting closed at 8:21 p.m. Date of next meeting – Monday 5^th July 2010, 8:30pm start

Kevin A Freeman Ralph Dickinson

Chairman Secretary

Proposed Seconded

Coaching

England Athletics have reviewed their coaching structure (and cost) and come up with the following:

Leader

Length: One day (usually 9am – 5pm)

Cost: £95

Minimum age: 16 years

The course will teach Leaders to set up and monitor a group of standard sessions covering a range Athletics events. Crucially Leaders will be able to lead sessions unassisted but still under the supervision of a qualified Athletics Coach as long as they stick within the remit of the published, standard sessions and task cards.

Next course 11th September – Gateshead, 4th December Monkton Stadium, Jarrow

Coaching Assistant

Length: Two days

Cost: £130

Minimum age: 18 years

This qualification is for those who wish to move towards being a coach and begin to gather experience in the detail of making coaching decisions. The qualification begins the preparation to take a coaching role working under the supervision of a Coach (an existing UKA Level 2 coach or higher) or working from a UKA task card or session a plan written by the supervising Coach.
The basics of movement (biomechanics) will be taught and an introduction to some of the detail of Athletics events will be taught. This course can be taken without having to take a Leader award, although this progression is encouraged.

Next Course 6th November - Gateshead

Coach

Length: Three days with one additional day formal assessment
Cost£325

Minimum age: 18 years

The cornerstone of the proposed Coach Education programme is the Coach award. Offered across various areas of the sport, the qualification takes 3 days to complete and requires a 1 day formal assessment. Prospective coaches begin in one of three streams.

Children’s Coach courses will support prospective coaches to meet the needs of athletes under 14 years old, predominantly with a multi event focus and will address the issues of child development in a rigorous way.

The Athletics Coach award is targeted at coaches looking to work with athletes in the key disciplines of track and field, cross country and road running and will require all coaches to reach a required standard of competency across a variety of events covering running, hurdling, jumping and throwing.

The Off-track Endurance Coach award is for those who wish to work primarily with adult endurance athletes with a specific competition or performance target in mind.

Next Course 23rd October - Gateshead

FUTURE RACES

(Publisher holds no responsibilities if dates are wrong, so confirm them yourselves)

July 2010
Tynedale Pie & Peas 10K - Ovingham	Wed, 7 July 2010
Low Fell Angel View Run	Thu, 8 July 2010
NE Athletics League (Gateshead)	Wed, 14 July 2010
Northumberland Coastal Run	Sun, 18 July 2010
Veterans League (4) (Monkton)	Mon, 19 July 2010
Sunderland 5K - Silksworth	Wed, 21 July 2010
Jesmond Dene Handicap (4)	Mon, 26 July 2010
NE Athletics League (Monkton)	Wed, 28 July 2010
Northern Track & Field League (4) - Jarrow	Sat, 31 July 2010
August 2010
Veterans League (5) (Monkton)	Mon, 2 August 2010
Morpeth 10K	Tue, 3 August 2010
Darlington 10K	Sun, 8 August 2010
NE Athletics League (Gateshead)	Wed, 11 August 2010
Jarrow & Hebburn Robin Hood 10K - Provisional	Mon, 16 August 2010
Summer Cup 3	Wed, 18 August 2010
Gateshead Tartan Games	Sat, 21 August 2010
Links 10k	Tue, 31 August 2010
September 2010
Exhibition Park 5K	Wed, 1 September 2010
Tynedale 10M Road Race	Sun, 5 September 2010
Watergate 5K - VAANE Champs - Lobley Hill	Wed, 8 September 2010
Sunderland Open XC meet - Farringdon	Sat, 11 September 2010
Summer Cup (4)	Wed, 15 September 2010
Great North Run	Sun, 19 September 2010
Vets 10/5K Open track Champs	Wed, 22 September 2010
Norham 10k	Sun, 26 September 2010

BLYTH LINKS 10K.

TUESDAY. 31^st. August 2010.

START TIME: 7:15 P.M.

FROM: THE BEACH CAR PARK,

SOUTH BEACH, BLYTH.

Registration: Dave Stevens Building.

INVITATION EVENT.

FAST, FLAT COURSE TO SEATON SLUICE CLIFF TOPS AND RETURN.

NO ENTRY FEE. JUST TURN UP, COLLECT A NUMBER AND RUN.

CHANGING AND SHOWERS AVAILABLE AFTER RACE AT BLYTH SPORTS CENTRE.

Free after race buffet at ‘The Quay’ pub in Blyth Town Centre. Raffle.

IF YOU ARE NOT RUNNING, BUT CAN HELP OUT ON THE NIGHT WITH MARSHALLING, PLEASE CONTACT DAVE KITCHING.

Now it would be extremely helpful if Blyth runners entered in the week before the race, unless somebody else wants to sit there and enter 200+ runners details onto the computer

MISCELLANY

True Stories (or why you shouldn’t wear IPODS etc)

James Coleman, a jogger, has become the first man in Britain to suffer a "twinjury", an injury sustained while using Twitter. He was "tweeting" to his followers on his Blackberry while jogging to work when he cracked his head on a heavy low-hanging branch. The force of the impact sent the dazed runner crashing to the pavement and left him with a badly bruised black eye.

A 38-year-old father of two was jogging and listening to his iPod when he was hit from behind and killed by a small plane making an emergency landing on a South Carolina beach, officials said Tuesday.

Web_site

Most people should be aware of the club web-site, which is updated regularly with articles and information and links to other sites of interest. The Junior web-site no longer gets updated and everything will be on the main site.

The address is: www.blythrunningclub.org.uk

We also have a facebook group “Blyth Running Club” and this is where I post most of my photos

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=35285583934&ref=ts

Another web-site of interest is the “Power of 10” which records all results for registered athletes and shows their ranking

http://www.thepowerof10.info/

The marathon man who cut a few corners

Anthony Gaskell, the 69-year-old who was the fastest ever pensioner in the London marathon, reveals the shortcut that lopped 10 miles off the course

The marathon is surely the most draining of all sports: Pheidippides, the ancient Greek soldier who originally completed the distance, collapsed and died on the spot after racing to Athens to give news of the battle of Marathon. With this in mind, it is perhaps a tribute to the marathon's Corinthian purity of heart that, in an age of mass participation, more people don't simply cheat. Because cutting the odd corner seems to be easier than you'd think.

This week, 69-year-old Anthony Gaskell was due to receive a plaque after running the fastest-ever time by a pensioner in April's London marathon. Gaskell will not now be honoured after it emerged he had taken a shortcut during the race, climbing over a barrier where the course doubles back on itself at Tower Bridge and cutting out 10 miles.

How could this have happened? This year the 26-mile London marathon course was policed by 120 stewards, a small platoon of race referees and, of course, one million spectating tourists, family members and Lycra fetishists. Despite which, Gaskell's very visible form of urban distance-shrinkage – leaping over a fence – seems to have passed without comment.

Other corner-cutters have planned more meticulously. In January, almost a third of the top 100 finishers in the Xiamen marathon in China were disqualified for, among other things, travelling sections of the race by car and hiring imposters to race in their place. Famously, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman across the line in the 1980 Boston marathon and gave a triumphant interview on national television, despite having caught a subway train to the finish and run only the last mile. In 1999, Sergio Motsoeneng finished ninth in South Africa's 90km Comrades marathon after running in tandem with his doppelganger younger brother (they swapped places during toilet stops and were caught after post-race photos showed the pair in different watches).

It is open to speculation how much of this kind of thing goes undetected. Gaskell denies cheating, saying he took the shortcut simply because of an injury and never claimed to have finished. His act of course-shortening (which would have meant he had run the second half of the race at better than world record pace) only emerged because he was about to be given an award. For the amateur marathon-shrinker, the temptation would clearly be there; although with nothing more than kudos on offer, it is hard to think of a more apposite definition of only cheating yourself.

Harrier League 2010/11

Blyth Running Club have opted to host the opening fixture at Cramlington in October, hoping for better fortune than last year, when their December date fell foul of the weather.

Regulars Sunderland Harriers will look after the second meeting at Farringdon, then it’s up to Alnwick in November, with the town’s athletics club promoting a fixture for the first time.

After the turn of the year, Elswick Harriers, after hosting a successful fixture on a snow-bound course in January, will return to the Town Moor, before the league crosses back into Gateshead for the Saltwell Harriers date at Wrekenton in February.

South Shields, who will promote the North Eastern Cross-Country Championships at Temple Park in December, will combine with Jarrow and Hebburn and Sunderland Strollers to host the Sherman Cup/Davison Shield event at the same venue in March, before Tynedale Harriers bring down the curtain once again with the final fixture two weeks later.

The NEAL fixtures for 2010/2011 are: Oct 23, Cramlington (Blyth); Oct 30, Farringdon (Sunderland); Nov 27, TBA; Jan 8, Town Moor (Elswick); Feb 12, Wrekenton (Saltwell); March 12, Sherman Cup/Davison Shield, Temple Park (South Shields, Jarrow and Hebburn, Sunderland Strollers); March 26, Prudhoe (Tynedale).