Mounts Bay Harriers

Sunday morning and the weather was looking like near perfect conditions with blue sky’s………although after last year I decided to drive to the start via the north cliffs.

Imagine my excitement as I parked up got out my Chevy and felt a breeze coming from the east, which means it would be blowing us along this section of the coastal route Whoooo! I thought!

I must admit I have been a little nervous and excited for a couple of days before the marathon, now I haven’t done enough training due to injury last year, but my head was in a good place today, and as I parked up at PV, I could feel myself getting even more excited, as I told all of our lot about the wind conditions and plenty of others that it was going to be a P.B day today even tho it was a bit nippy.

Mind you, as we gathered outside for the club photo it was fricking freezing Nikki T was covered in goose bumps, Rachel T was violently shivering I had my thermals on, yet the mighty ‘Swiss Army’ Phil who turned up for his debut Marathon was wearing less than all of us put together even Jeremy had his ear warmers on!

Oh Swiss!

So, photo taken very brief warm up flapping arms jumping up and down on the spot as Dave Buzza announced over the loud speaker to take up our positions……………………..Yes, yes, yes I was at the front again, like I said I was feeling confident!

Bang went the gun and off we went, my race plan was to 7 minute mile for as long and hard as I could, and as we weaved our way through Camborne, Illogan, and the back roads towards Porthreath, I was bang on, even at the turn on the top of Portreath hill I could feel the wind blowing me along, I felt unstoppable as Andrew and Jeremy ran past me at the 9 mile point, Git’s but that didn’t matter I was feeling good!

As we turned off the coast road and headed towards Coombe, OH MY GOD the wind which was had blown us all along was now in our faces not as sheltered as I thought it was going to be and for the next 2 miles it was like running in a blast freezer. Mile 10 was 1.14.00 little bit slower than I would have liked but, it was ok!

Luckily at the top of the hill the high hedge and trees gave some shelter until we got back into Pool and it was back in our faces again. I was glad to turn off for my second lap, but a little concerned about going through that again!

At the half way point Nikki T ran past me followed by her mum, Super Susie, a mile later, again this didn’t bother me I was where I wanted to be as we turned on to the cliffs again, although my humour had now failed, I felt fine. At the next water stop they couldn’t find my drink, I was not happy yet Dean, Rachel’s hubby found my outburst quite amusing as I ran off swearing to myself I could hear him laughing at me, Git!

Oh and then I got worse, oh dear last year at the Cornish one of the St.Austell lot kept cycling past me back and forth taking the p*** which I wasn’t impressed with, and guess who was on his bike today. By mile 17 I had a bit of gut rot as he cycled past me taking the piddle Oh dear off I went f-fing and jeffing calling him names that I shall not repeat here! Yet he did quickly cycle off and I didn’t see him again which was probably a good a thing as he might have ended up in a hedge with his bike shoved up his …..!

Rachel T ran past me just after that, and then we turned back towards coombe oh it was worse than before I could feel it burning my face, this last section was going to be hard, but mile 20 and I was 2.51.00 which I was happy with, so I thought for sure I was going to come under 4hours even if I now plod.

Those of us who have done Duchy know that hill is a right nasty Git second time round and I don’t know why but I started to get a little dizzy here, so I walked up most of it and my friend Tracey B from Hayle runners was there with a load of water which I poured over myself which helped.

21 miles 3.01.00 I now had began to struggle yet I could still do under 4 hours I kept telling myself and mile 23 some chap who I’d caught up kept running on stopping walking and soooo on which is very annoying but I didn’t swear at him, honestly, I over took him just before the next mile marker.

24 miles and there was the last turn back to P.V but its was a hard old push from there especially with that biting cold wind and I was more than happy to see the 25 mile marker but I was knackered now, burnt out, 3.47.00 I could just break 4 hours I thought, but even the fumes ran out and I struggled home in 4.01.43…..Arse.

Oh well! At least we had a nice medal for a change, which lets face it is the only reason I do it! All the marshals were friendly and supportive couple of problems on some of the water stops where people couldn’t find their drinks but hey ho! There was loads of support form Hayle runners, the St.Austell, lot especially Katie Bullock who scared the crap out of me around Tehidy, Tart! Some of the M.B.H crew (thanks to Steve, Nancy and Charlie) a few from Carn and Falmouth road runners Thank you for all the support a big thank you to Bethany Tresidder as every time Dean and her fine self drove past me she couldn’t resist the urge to call me a BIG GIRL.

You wait Beth!

Trannack
A great weekend for the club, firstly with the Junior section having a brilliant time at the Trannack School Cross Country Races at Helston, some very notable performances, thanks to Kev Carley for collating the paperwork and geeing up the parents.
Junior member Tom Wood has been selected to run in the Cornwall Schools XC Champs in Manchester at the end of March
Bideford Half Marathon
Woo hoo! Good day at Bideford although it was really cold (-2 when we arrived) perfect running conditions for this relatively flat and fast half – there were PBs all round and with over a 1000 runners Mark Omori had a blinder and was the first Harrier home in 1.24.11! a massive 7 minutes of his previous best time for a half, he also finished in 38th position, John Doyle 1.24.45 in 42nd and second in his age group, Don Hutchison 1.26.39 62nd, Me 1.26.55 63rd, and Paul Hooper 1.39.19 217th (at last after 3 years of trying I’ve made it under 1.30 now only the 10K 40 minutes and a 3.15 marathon to crack)
Although they only awarded prizes for 1st place (and of course Bideford AC won!) we worked out that we also had in fact come 2nd in the team category!
A well organised race and a great one to get a PB, timing chip which was good, as your time was texted to you and sitting on your phone as soon as you finished and nice technical T shirt for finishing – we must take a few more up next year.
Kyle Kearey also ran his first half marathon at Bath in a time of 1.23.01
Duchy Marathon
The weather was kinder than usual but that didn’t mean this was an easy race, temperatures again were very low and an icy, strong in places, wind battered the runners on the North Coast. Sam as usual found his way to the front of the start line (read his race report above) but did a dieing fly act at the finish He really must learn to pace himself. Tammy, who had taken training for this marathon so seriously had even given up alcohol in the run up, was rewarded with a new PB by over 13 minutes. Mother and daughter team Sue and Nicky Taylor decided to run together for support as both of them only last weekend had completed the 28 mile off road stage 4 of the Endurance Life marathon series up in Devon! Both ladies showing their strength by winning their age groups and along with the ever improving Rachel Tresidder, who picked up a 3rd in her age group, won the Ladies FIRST team – Well Done Girls.
A special mention to Phil McNevin who took on the challenge of his first ever marathon on very little training. This method is not recommended, but his longest run ever to date was a 14 miler the weekend before! Was he mad?!? When asked why he hadn’t done any longer runs, he replied ‘I meant to, but I didn’t get round to it!’ lesson learnt there I think and more preparation for when we take him over to Dublin at the end of October.
Sue Taylor 3:44:07 1st in AG
Nicky Taylor 3:44:07 1st in AG
Rachel Tresidder 3:44:29 3rd in AG
Sam Perkin 4:01:43
Tammy Rosewall 4:05:14 new PB
Phil McNevin 4:41:19 first marathon,

1st Women’s team
Duchy 20
In preparation for The Virgin London Marathon Andrew, Jer and Sue ran the 20. Clive who retires in a few weeks time just wanted to run it! I think Clive will be popping his marathon cherry when he becomes a professional full time athlete in the very near future! Sue struggled really bad with shoe / foot problems (I told her not to buy those from TK MAX)
Andrew Hickson 2:25:08 on target for 3.15 GFA at London
Jeremy Marston 2:33:28 on target for 3.15 GFA at London
Clive Hibbert 2:56:22 who retires in a month or so!
Sue Matthews 3:35:18 – you’ll be Ok by the day!
In true MBH style we celebrated with a Chinese!

Onto next weekend (13 & 14 March)
With less than 7 weeks to go before London Saturday morning sees marathon training continue with an 18 -22 miler leaving the school at 9am, there will be opt out points for those not wanting to ‘go the distance’ and who maybe already tapering for Paris.
Sunday morning, due to the cancellation of the Triathlon Training Day we are going to do a recce of the Penzance Triathlon Bike route, leaving the Leisure centre at 9.30 sharp – we will not be going at any great pace but will follow the route exactly. Those who may want to also run the route after the cycle please bring a cycle lock to secure your bicycle following the ride
Sunday 21 March – Sport Relief
We are still a few marshals short – if you can help out on the morning please see or e mail Sue
Sunday 28 March – An Resek
We have a good number of Harriers entered, the club entry has gone off to Ceri, race organiser, if you wish to enter and didn’t put your name on the list you will now have to do so ‘under your own steam’For those on the club entry please forward your race entry fees to Sue please
Those marathon training, the plan is to do 2 laps!! Now that is going to be hard!! Anyone joining me?
Easter Sunday April 4th – MBH Penzance Triathlon
The event has been full for a while now and we are sending back entry forms on a daily basis – we could still do with about 10 more marshals to help on the day (Yvonne will make it worth your while!) Don’t forget we have also booked an Indian at Little India at 6pm if you fancy coming along! List at club to get your name down

Sunday April 18 – swim tri technique and pointer training afternoon
A swim training day has been booked in with Lee Standury, Cornwall Swimming and Tri coach at St Ives pool – places are very limited, please get your name down on the list at the club – the cost of the 2 hour session will be about £7

Sunday April 25 – VIRGIN LONDON MARATHON!!
For those going with us – train leaves Penzance on Friday morning at 8.44 – don’t be late Mark! When we arrive the plan is to check into the hotel in Covent Garden and shoot off to the expo to register – remember you will need photo ID to collect your number and chip. This means we have the whole day free on Saturday to chill and relax - Some may want to see a show Fri / Sat?
My gosh it’s busy!
TESCOs vouchers for schools promotion has started again for this year and in addition to the shopping / fuel vouchers we have the opportunity to also collect old ink cartridges. Please help by donating any vouchers or old ink cartridges to the club to help us swap for new equipment.
Very soon we will be reverting back to our summer run routes and leaving the astro park for the grass track – keep your ears and eyes open for details!
Your new 2010 / 11 membership cards will be falling through your letter boxes very soon along with a brief news letter (probably most of the above!)

This event filled up within six weeks of the entry forms being available!

Sorry to everyone who is still sending in entries or enquiring about spaces.

If you are at a loose end on Easter Sunday you could always marshal!! I need about another 10 to cover the course safely -  goody bag to all helpers!

Club PB’s have been updated at all distances - the overall rankings will be revised ‘dreckly. Direct any moans re inaccuracies towards Ian.

Cheers,

Don

Now that’s what cross country is all about…………..wet & soggy underfoot, lots of mud and a nice clear sky.

Kev had been planning this for a couple of weeks, the entries were slow coming forward but 40 Junior MBHers turned out for what was the clubs first Junior Cross Country race. It was intended to be a ‘practice run’ for next weeks Coose Trannack races. Each junior had to register and collect their race number - to get that ‘race day’ feeling, I think the morning served it’s purpose as many children had never raced before and nerves were apparent.
First off on their 500 wet and muddy metres were years 1 & 2 - 10 little people sped off down the course with much vocal support (mixed with ah how cute)

Years 1 & 2

1st - Arianna Caddy

2nd - Owen Ringwood

3rd - Holly Prodger

Years 4 & 5

1st - Phoebe Lagor

2nd - Mawgan Kewn

3rd - Josh May

Years 5 & 6

1st - Arielle Fitkin

2nd - Pheobe Gartside

3rd - Katie Gusterson

Years 7, 8 9 & 10

1st - Jake Carley

2nd - Olivia Barnes

3rd - Myah Harrison

Each competitior was given a finishers medal and there were shields presented for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each race. It is hoped this won’t be a one off as we have plans to invite all other clubs next time (which we did but Hayle declined)

On the day thanks also must go to the help from some of the other Friday night coaches who helped setting out the course, marshalling and registration duties and to the parents who turned up to support (and do all the washing of kit afterwards)

Friday Junior club is back to normal this week (6-7pm primary school age, 7 - 8pm secondary)