Captain's Rantings - October 2007

Hi All,

Welcome to the latest edition of captains rantings…….it’s been a while!     Lots of things have been happening since my last rant so I will try and cover as much as I can!
The Tees Forest Races have all finished now and in the last race of the season at Acklam it was down to the wire for the overall series win.   It was between me and Paul Lowe.   No easy task beating someone like Paul in an off road race.  Imagine my joy when I heard he had ran from Guisborough to get to the race!   Even better he almost looked tired when I saw him.  Then Rob Pollard delivered the good news – “You lucky ****ard – he’s marshalling!”  So with the Tees Forest Trail Race Series under my belt I kind of enjoyed my last race of the series and didn’t mind getting beaten by a couple of sprightly juniors!

Remember last report when it was revealed Neil had been using hair remover……It has been confirmed by Neil that he lost the bottle and didn’t use it so remained hairy in the leg department.   However rumour has it that someone else has been using the Immac in the club!   Any info please let me know and we will reveal all in this newsletter!

Onto races – too many to mention over the summer but we had a few do the Darlington 10km.    I finished in 34-52.   Rob Williamson, Paul Wildmore and Adele Thompson also took part.   The Ray Harrison 10km was well supported by L&W runners with Rob Williamson finishing in 37-50 with Tom Herbert close behind in 38-00.   Dave Horness (41-17), Nicola Kent (41-49) and Adele Thompson (48-11) were the L&W representatives.

One of the biggest races in the area – the Middlesbrough 10km - saw the Williamson – Herbert battle Part 2 take place with Tom taking the honours.   However the real story of the day was the battle of the Chips!   Rob managed to leave his on the kitchen table at home, Dave Parkin left his in his car and Steve Hepples got his caught in the laces of Alan Buckley for 9 and a half kilometres before it set free and he outsprinted Alan for a win!   Honestly Alan if you are reading this he really wasn’t just sheltering from the wind!  Rumour has it that Rob managed to win the Over 60’s women prize with a chip that he found near the start!  Try explaining that one when the vets rankings are produced!

The 6 stage has been reported elsewhere but the trip to Warrington was a successful outing with the team finishing a decent 37th place.

Onto the Cross Country!   The Senior men have had a fine start with two wins out of two. 

The opening fixture at Summerhill saw a fantastic turnout of Loftus and Whitby runners – 10 in total – with the top 6 counters finishing within the first 21 home!   All in all a great opening fixture with Alec 3rd, Dan (7th), Lewis (10th) Andy 13th, Dave Parkin (17th) and Tom (21st). 

All looking good and we have even managed to employ some Jose Mourinho style squad rotation with John Hunter missing the first fixture and Dan and Alec missing the second.   

The Barnard Castle race for me was a good opportunity for me to reflect on the last three seasons since my “comeback”.    Three years ago I finished 38th and was 6th counter having battled with Mark Melbourne for the 6th counter spot.   The race this season saw a similar battle for third counter spot with Dave Parkin who pushed me for two laps before I broke away on the penultimate lap!   The ever exciting Herbert – Williamson battle went to Herbert by a mere 10 seconds (2 – 1 to Herbert!).   The battle for the top 6 team spots is really hotting up.   Missing out on a counting place this fixture was Paul Wildmore who I am sure will be back with a vengeance once he has got his marathon (3-05 debut at the Loch Ness) out of his legs. 
  
Richmond and Zetland seem to be the team who are closest to us with second place in the first two fixtures.  The strength in depth of the Loftus and Whitby crew will take some beating at the moment.  Team Result Loftus and Whitby 77 points versus Richmond and Zetland’s 94.  

Special mention to John Hunter who led home the team with a fine 3rd place.   Lewis had an excellent run to finish 6th overall and is proving that the step up to senior level is not proving too difficult.  Backed up by Andy (12th),  Dave Parkin 14th, Tom 23rd and Rob 24th this was a great team performance over a testing course. 

Finally the next cross country is in two weeks at Flatts Lane so the battles will go on again……by the way lads I wont give up my 6th team spot easily!

Andy Pearson

Ps well done to the New Marske Harriers who had a great result in the National 6 stage – 34th out of 79 teams.  Fantastic achievement fellas!

Andy Pearson

You can contact me on
01642 4745482 (Home)
07899 687995 (Mobile)
or email me on  andy.pearson21@tesco.net
Andrew Pearson

Performance of the Month

Performance (s) of the month this month goes to Alec Duffield who has had a great summer.   Wins in the Northern 3k Junior Mens Champs (8-31 – a pb), selection for the World Fell Running Trials and a pb over 5000m in Stratford (14-49) as well as a fine performance in the 6 stage surely deserves recognition.   Alec is developing into a fine runner with a great future ahead of him.  Well done Al!

ANDY PEARSON