Reading Joggers' Newsletter

No. 71 October 2008

Website: http://readingjoggers.org/

CLUB NOTES

The committee met on 26th October and their decisions are incorporated in the following sections.

WINTER SOCIAL

During the Summer a trial social at the Mansion House in Prospect park was very successful
The committee decided that the club runs on the first Tuesday of each month will start and finish
from the middle car park in Prospect Park, allowing runners to meet up for a social gathering
afterwards in the Mansion House. The first such evening will be the first Tuesday in December,
which is December 1st.
Reminders will be sent out nearer the time and also announced on the previous Tuesday and
Thursday.

MEETING PLACE AT THE READING HALF MARATHON

The committee agreed that Reading Joggers would like to have a meeting place at the 2010
Reading Half Marathon. There are difficulties in having our own tent as it has to be put up on
tarmac and weighted down as pegs cannot be used.
Adrian Lee had made contact with Chris Sumner of from Sweat Shop. A small tent provided by
the organisers would cost around £200. Adrian was asked to contact the Reading Roadrunners
to see if they would share their tent. Post meeting note Email from Chris Sumner stated that
Reading Roadrunners are provided with a free tent in return for 25 marshals. If they are prepared
share we might have to provide 5 to 10 marshals.

WEBSITE

Peter White gave a demonstration to the committee of a prototype website that his son and
daughter in law had produced. It has a layout similar to the current one, but has additional
features including a slide show of pictures. It is also significantly easier to administer and update
and would be under our own control. Peter offered to manage it and could arrange for it to
replace the current website. The committee thanked Peter for his efforts and asked him to make
the change. The website has a contact address for the Club. Emails would be forwarded to the
secretary and another and should meet the secretary’s problem with accepting emails at work.

ROUND READING RELAY

The Round Reading Relay took place on Sunday,13th September. 13 RJ’s took part on a warm
autumn day. All of us ran the 2 or 3 stages. However Ian and Brian ran 6 stages a total of 23
miles!!!! Everyone enjoyed the event as you can see in the pictures at the end.

PIE AND PINT OUTING

Ian Combellack has kindly offered to organise a Club Outing to Sweeney and Todd. It could be
on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday evening. Menu attached. He needs numbers to make a
booking. Please let me know who is interested, how many and which evening you prefer.

1
Footprint
CONSISTENCY LEAGUE

Peter White spoke to Jamie Smith, the manager of the Sweat Shop. He has agreed that, for the
this year the Sweatshop will be pleased to give two prizes for each existing category although the
values will be determined nearer to the date of the prize giving.

Brian Hay has brought the Consistency League results up to date and they are attached.

PUBLICITY

At the Committee Meeting Sarah Pupplett said she had recently been in the Sweatshop and
noticed that there were no contact details for Reading Joggers. Steve Green offered to update a
poster he had, and send it to Katy Warren who would print it and take it to the shop in Reading.

CHRISTMAS OUTRUN

Arthur Abbott said that he planned to organise the Christmas outrun on 13th December. Adrian
Lee offered to lead the running group on the day. Hopefully and barring incapacity the Toddy
Man will be there!!!!

SUNDAY RUNS

Arthur Abbott has proposed a series of steady social runs ending at local pubs. They may be run
jointly with Reading Walkers. Arthur will ask some Reading Joggers who are also members of
walking organisations. More details later.

HANDICAP

Here are the dates for the Winter Handicaps, courtesy of Arthur.

Sunday 4th October 2009

Sunday 8th November 2009
Sunday 29th November 2009
Sunday 20th December 2009

Sunday 3rd January 2010

Sunday 31st January 2010
Sunday 7th March 2010
Sunday 28th March 2010

If you know if any of the above dates clash with any of the popular local events that members are
likely to enter, could you please let me know.

Please note that only fully paid up members will be eligible for points but all are welcome to take
part.

Your best four results out of the eight will count towards the final result, but if you have not taken
part in the Winter Series before or did not run last season you will need to run 5 of the 8.

We meet in the Car Park at the top of Sulham Hill - Map Reference = SU 648 745 - I try to get the
first runners away at 09:30 - Yes you need to get up early on a Sunday morning !

The course could be wet, muddy and slippery and as a lot of it is in Sulham Woods there are tree
roots standing proud of the surface, SO PLEASE TAKE CARE.
2
Footprint
Although every effort has been made to make the course as safe as possible, please note :

THAT YOU TAKE PART AT YOUR OWN RISK

Arthur has also sent these results for the Winter Handicap.

SUNDAY 04 OCTOBER 2009 - RACE NUMBER 1

NAME PB H/CAP TIME %+- PSN

Simon Loseby PB 75.09 66.31 11.49% 1
Kathy Tytler PB 92.49 84.44 8.71% 2
Bob Brooks PB 74.15 68.15 8.08% 3
Dave Sayer PB 71.32 67.46 5.27% 4
Kate Jones 94.00 90.57 3.24% 5
Steve Green PB 69.39 67.26 3.18% 6
Simon Riviere 72.24 73.25 -1.40% 7
Judy Hicks 82.04 84.44 -3.25% 8
Adrian Lee 64.35 68.11 -5.57% 9
Katy Warren 73.41 80.51 -9.73% 10

Ian Combellack PB First Run 60.49

Andrew Herbert PB First Run 66.35
Eddie Johnson PB First Run 67.38
Tom Stagles PB First Run 80.51
Jas Taggar PB First Run 89.30
Kerry Dalling PB First Run 89.34

Andrea Vlasakova First Run 2 Laps

Peter White 87.54 2 Laps

John Starkey 85.04 2 Laps

RUNNING SHOW in LONDON

Simon Riviere asked for the following to be made known to the Club.
There is a Running Show at Olympia on 28th and 29th November. There are Trade Stands and
Seminars. Contact www.runningshow.co.uk for more details. Entry is £9 in advance or £12 on the
day.

LONDON MARATHON ENTRY

The secretary has confirmed that we should have one entry. Any Reading Jogger who is rejected
is eligible to enter a draw for it. Inform a committee member. The draw takes place at the
Christmas Outrun.

CLUB VESTS

Andy has unfortunately purchased a club vest size 42 that is too small for him. It is brand new
and has not been worn. If anyone is seeking a vest size 42 please contact Andy or me, Peter.

CLUB and COMMITTEE MATTERS

The provisional date for the next Annual General Meeting is 22nd February 2010. Do try to come
as it is where we decide the programme for the next year
.

3
Footprint
Peter Warner reported that our membership currently stands at 80 first claim members, and 4
second claim compared with approx. 100 at the end of the last year (March 2009).

We still lack a secretary to deal with social matters. However we appreciate that there might be a
problem as a continuing job for any individual. If anyone would like to organise a single event of
some sort it would be much appreciated by all of us. Just speak to a committee member of your
idea. We would be pleased to support you, so please consider it. As well as our current
programme new kinds of events would be welcome.

PROBLEMS SENDING OR RECEIVING EMAILS AND ATTACHMENTS

I wrote in the last Footprint about email problems which I hope you read. Could I just remind you
that if you want to contact me, then use peter.rjcap@virgin.net. I will keep my previous address
with the underscore for a while but intend to close it eventually.

RACE RESULTS

Highclere 10K, 27 September 2009 Henley 1/2M, 11 October 2009

Ian Combellack 00:43:38 Ian Combellack 01:33:15

Jonathan Hall 00:44:17 Jonathan Hall 01:33:32
Samantha Houston 00:45:11 Jane Davies 01:34:44
Brian Kirsopp 00:45:42 Brian Kirksopp 01:37:36
Adrian Lee 00:48:36 Clare Bird 01:45:06
Stephen Green 00:49:05 Bob Brookes 01:45:42
Samuel Bates 00:50:55 Adrian Lee 01:46:06
Gordon Manning 00:52:23 Salome Godwin 01:48:49
Simon Riviere 00:52:45 Philip Davies 01:50:10
David Sayer 00:53:07 Katherine Warren 01:51:35
Sarah Puplett 00:55:10 Susan Eames 01:55:54
Geoffrey Bird 00:56:20 Sarah Puplett 01:56:00
Sam Uphill 00:59:00 Gordon Manning 01:56:33
Judy Hicks 00:59:28 Judy Hicks 02:08:10
Kerri Dalling 00:59:54 Nicholette Sayer 02:16:17
Madeleine Wass 01:04:55
John Starkey 01:05:53
Rebecca Pond 01:08:35 Beachy Head Marathon, 24 October 2009
Maureen Sweeney 01:09:19
Katy Warren 5:17
Berlin Marathon 20 September 2009 Adrian Lee 5:17
Katy’s Mum 5:17 plus a bit
Ian Combellack 3:29:12 chip time See comments
Ian has promised an article for next time.

EVENT COMMENTS

From Adrian (and Katy) mainly on the Beachy Head Marathon

The run that never was

Curious name for an article, but you will understand later. Here’s the story of how I found my self
standing at the start line of a really tough off road marathon that I was not even entered for.

Personally I blame Peter White, and if it’s not Peter’s fault, then it must be Katy Warren’s fault, or
her mum’s I am not sure. Roughly 12 months ago I ventured on my first long run of 12 miles with
Peter, which was covered in a very respectable 2 and a bit hours, so maybe it’s Peter that has
4
Footprint
made me feel like running longer events. But then maybe I should blame Katy, I was foolish
enough to accompany her on some longer runs in her build up to the London Marathon, and
before I knew it, we had done 24 miles in around 4 hours. Or maybe I should blame a friend from
work who always enters a team for the Keswick to Barrow walk, all 40 miles of it. I decided I
should give it a go, and then I decided I should try running the flat bits (not much flat road in
Cumbria). We are now in May 2009, for those of you still hanging on my every word. Or maybe I
should stop slopping shoulders and admit I like events that go on, and on, and ….. a bit like me
really.

The K2B went well (very loose use of the word well). The organisers described it as having the
worst conditions they had experienced, 20 mph headwind and rain, other than that, perfect
conditions. At exactly 7hrs 26 mins after the 5:30 am start I crossed the finish line, shook the
mayor’s outstretched hand, and staggered into the social club for a well deserved collapse. It’s at
this point most people say ‘never again’ or ‘shoot me if I enter again’, or the more honest ‘all my
legs ache!!’ the ability to count having been severely affected by the run.

I soon forgot how I hobbled around after the event and started to think about doing the K2B
again, and even doing longer events. At this point I managed to persuade Katy to think about,
and then agree to take up the challenge of ultra running, and my future started to unfold. Katy
soon had a race programme mapped out for me. It included the Dunstable Downs 20 in
September, followed by the Beachy Head Marathon (October), the Doyen of the Downs 30
(December), and finally the finale, the Thames Trot 50 in early February. In the grand scale of
things writing some dates down on paper in late July was relatively easy, and you would think
entering would have been easy too….but no, I left it too late to enter Beachy Head so Katy and
her mum would have to do this without my constant encouragement (Katy describes this more
accurately as endless drivel).

I did run the Dunstable Downs 20, and got round, but only just, taking 3 hrs 26 mins. Many of the
entrants described the beautiful countryside and spectacular views. But because I am constantly
looking at where I am placing my feet on trail events, I think I saw 19 ½ miles of ground 5 metres
in front of me, and only occasionally looked up, when I was not sure if I was still on course.
Despite the fact that on the walk back from the finish I could not keep up with Katy, her mum, or
her daughter, I could now be sure I could run 40% of a 50 miler.

As the date of the Beachy Head event got closer I offered some race support to Katy and her
mum, and said I would see them on the course occasionally. Over a two day period, being a
hander out of jelly babies turned into running part of the course with them, and then that turned
into getting permission from the organiser to run the entire course provided I did not impede any
official entrants, or take any of the refreshments offered at the feeding stations. No turning back
now, and Friday afternoon saw me driving down to Eastbourne in my little mini in readiness for
the big day. As with K2B, the weather forecast was perfect for a tough event, strong winds and
rain.

We all ate pasta on the Friday night just like you’re supposed to, and it was early to bed ready for
a 7:30 breakfast. I was now nervous, although the only outward sign of this is that I talk non stop,
only occasionally remembering to eat, or breathe. By 8:30 we three heroes were all walking from
the hotel along the seafront to the start at St Bedes School. The weather was getting its act
together with light rain and a breeze building. Finally we were on the start line, with a large
inflatable arch to run under. This is no small time event, this must be a serious challenge. Katy
was doing her best to unnerve me by saying that the hard bit didn’t start until 19 miles, and the
course takes no prisoners going straight up a long hill which has steps carved into it.

5
Footprint
I remember cracking a hilarious joke about the local constabulary spotting that I did not have a
number and a number of bobbies then chasing me around the whole course until they finally
caught up with me. As ever I wore this joke paper thin, and then we were off. Thankfully a
number of runners had their numbers covered so I got away from the start without raising any
suspicions.

We had talked about getting round in less than 6 hours, so the first few miles would be taken
steadily, but when you throw in the fact that the route seems to go up endlessly, I doubt we were
doing much better than 12 minute miles. We had started well to the back so after a few miles we
started to pass a few other runners, something I find motivating. The wind and rain were by now
well into their stride, however the temperature was exceptionally mild so I decided to take my rain
top off. This involved removing my ruksack, which, by the way, contained four bottles of energy
drink, three bananas, two packets of chocolate covered raisins, and one packet of jelly babies.
By the time I had packed everything away, Katy had reappeared (I had forgotten the running
together bit). She also decided to take her waterproof off, so I was temporarily carrying two
ruksacks, as we tried to continue our relentless plod.

Finally we were running again, but Katy was now running in a short sleeved top and noticing (I
dare not say complaining) that it was a lot colder. From this point on we were running together,
and generally moving well, steadily overtaking other runners and some walkers who had started
much earlier. Katy has written her recollections of the race on Fetch so I won’t do a mile by mile
description of the remainder of the route but here are some highlights

o endless muddy trails

o endless hills we had to walk up followed by descents we had to slow ourselves down on
o a muddy footbridge with a marshal sweeping mud away and telling us to be careful
o endless fog that only cleared briefly around half way
o vicious winds coming over the top of Beachy Head
o fog so bad at one point that we could not see anyone ahead of us, or the correct trail to
follow
o being unable to keep up with Katy as she force marched her way up the steep hills
o then being told by Katy she could not get up any more hills (!)
o endlessly cheerful marshals
o great camaraderie between the participants
o actually running the last mile at a decent pace
o fantastic organisation.

As Katy ran through the finish I ran down the side of it, so as to not cause confusion, but we had
both finished, together, and we had survived. We walked back up the hill a little to cheer Katy’s
mum in, who was only a few minutes behind. In many ways her run was more exceptional than
ours.
As I look back now, I know this is what I really want to do more of. Running events that take
hours is more of an adventure than a race. It’s not just about times, but also the highs and lows,
really is one of the toughest marathons on the calendar, but it’s an event I will remember for the
rest of my life….despite the fact that officially I was never there

From Ian Combellack

BERLIN MARATHON 2009

Back in April I was exited at the thought of being registered to run the Berlin Marathon. Come
early to mid August I was a worried runner (or a fairly non active runner at the time) following an

6
Footprint
injury that stopped me running for some 5 weeks from the early part of July. I had run 3 10k’s
races within 10 days at the end of June / early July and paid the price of pushing myself too hard.
Hopefully I have learnt something from this!? Perhaps I might not have done enough recovery
from Edinburgh either.

However, with the support of you other Joggers I got back into running (rather gingerly at first it
has to be said) to complete the last two Summer Handicaps (thanks Arthur!) with the real test
being the Bristol Half. Thankfully the Bristol Half, which took place two weeks prior to Berlin gave
me the confidence that at least I could have a good stab at the 26.2 miles.

As it turned out I appeared to have fully recovered by the day of the Marathon and had a great
time before, during and after the race. On the way to the start I was privileged to see the world
record holder himself, Haile Gebreselassie who gave us a wave whilst he was warming up. The
world record was set in Berlin the year before at 2 hours, 3 minutes and 59 seconds.

At the start line I met quite a few fellow runners and we had a good banter together. I especially
hit it off with two guys from France where we seem to have the same slightly odd humour. It was
great fun! During the race itself I conversed with quite a few people from various nationalities,
including Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, USA and Germany of course. I very much enjoyed being
part of such an international occasion. Some 100 plus countries were represented.

Considering the temperature during the race which reached 26 to 27 degrees Celsius, I was well
pleased to complete the run in 3 hours, 29 minutes and 12 seconds. This was assisted in part by
bumping into a fellow Reading (Road) runner Dean Allaway at around the 30k plus mark. We
were both fairly tired at this point but managed to keep it going with some reciprocal
encouragement!

After the run we (my wife and I) spent time further exploring Berlin. This was our first visit and
we very much enjoyed exploring such land marks as Check Point Charlie and the Reichstag as
well as going on a city cycle tour.

I would highly recommend the Berlin Marathon and / or a visit to the city.

The Round Reading Relay from Brian Kirsop

Reading Round Relay for me was one of the best days running I've ever done, and the most
miles in a day. We all met at Peter's house and ran collectively to Circuit Lane. I was in the A
group with Gordon and Steve and we set off for the Basingstoke Road, via the Pingewood Lakes
around which we got fairly lost. Eventually we joined up with the minibus that John was driving
for the day to be driven to the next stage on the Wokingham Road. Whilst waiting for the B group
to arrive I asked if I could run with the C group on the next stage to Sonning, this was agreed and
so off I went again. What I hadn't accounted for was Ian's enthusiasm, so by the time we had
arrived at Sonning he had persuaded me to run the next leg to Chazey Heath, this was a very
scenic leg and we stopped for photo's with Reading in the distant background. Ian was in his
element and I joined him for yet another leg led by Peter to Pangbourne, this was run at an
easier pace which I was grateful for as I was starting to tire. At Pangbourne Ian carried on to
Sainsbury's in Calcot (madness (in my opinion) considering he was doing the Berlin Marathon
the week after)), but I took the minibus option then ran from Calcot to Circuit Lane and then
collectively back to Peter's house where we enjoyed his and Margaret’s hospitality with welcome
drinks and food laid on. A most enjoyable day.

7
Footprint
Here are just a few of the pictures.

8
Footprint
 Reading Joggers - Consistency League 2008/2009

Supported by:

Race
First name Surname Category Shinfield 10K Woodley 10K Tadley 10K Highclere 10K Henley 1/2M Marlow 1/2M Tadley XC Woodcote 10K Bramley 10 Bramley 20 Reading 1/2M Maidenhead 10M TOTAL
PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB
Jane Davies V50 10 10 10 1 31
Sarah Puplett S 7 7 9 5 28
Clare Bird S 9 8 9 26
Judy Hicks V50 8 3 7 4 22
Samantha Houston V40 10 1 10 1 22
Salome Godwin S 9 1 8 18
Katy Warren S 8 1 7 16
Caroline White V60 7 5 12
Su Eames V40 6 6 12
Samantha Uphill S 1 1 8 1 11
Lindsay Mapley V40 9 1 10
Nicky Sayer V60 6 3 9
Kerri Dalling S 1 1 6 1 9
Julie Low V40 6 1 1 8
Madeline Wass S 1 1 5 7
Joanna Leach S 5 1 6
Barbara Evans V50 4 1 5
Sue Murphy V50 1 4 5
Rebecca Pond S 4 1 5
Jaskarran Taggar S 2 1 3
Maureen Sweeney V50 3 3

Ladies Page 1 of 2
 Reading Joggers - Consistency League 2008/2009

Supported by:

Race
First name Surname Category Shinfield 10K Woodley 10K Tadley 10K Highclere 10K Henley 1/2M Marlow 1/2M Tadley XC Woodcote 10K Bramley 10 Bramley 20 Reading 1/2M Maidenhead 10M TOTAL
PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB PB
Ian Combellack V50 10 1 10 10 10 10 51
Brian Kirsopp V40 7 1 4 7 1 8 8 1 37
Jonathan Hall V40 8 1 8 1 9 9 1 37
Adrian Lee V40 6 1 5 7 6 25
Simon Plevey S 9 1 9 19
Justin King S 7 9 1 17
Samuel Bates S 4 1 6 5 16
Phil Davies V50 5 1 3 5 14
Stephen Green V50 3 1 2 6 12
Bob Brookes V50 5 7 12
Gordon Manning V40 1 1 1 4 4 11
Neil Woodroof V40 8 1 9
Tom Gordon S 2 1 6 9
Geoff Bird V60 1 4 1 6
Simon Riviere V40 3 3
David Sayer V60 2 1 3
Peter White V60 1 1
Lee Crawford V40 1 1
John Starkey V50 1 1

Men Page 2 of 2
 Sweeny & Todd

MENU
Starters
Soup of the Day, Roll and Butter £3.40
Pate Garni £3.90
Smoked Oyters, with French Bread and Salad £4.50
Tomato and Garlic Quiche and Garnish £3.60
Egg and Bacon Quiche £3.60
Special Quiche £3.60

Farmhouse Lunches
All served with French Bread, Pickles and Garnished with Salad
Your choice of our own cooked meats:
Ham £6.00
Honey Roast Ham £6.00
Beef £6.00
Pork £6.00
Turkey £6.00
Quarter Chicken £6.00
2 Sauage Rolls £5.00
1 Pastie £5.00
or:
Cheddar £4.70
Stilton £4.70
German Brie £4.70

Hot Roast Lunches

These dishes include Potato and 2 Vegetables of the day
Roast Pork with Crackling £7.40
Rare Roast Beef £7.40
Roast Lamb £7.40
Roast Turkey Breast £7.40
Casseroles
Venison £7.50
Country £7.50
Poachers £7.50
Sweeney’s £7.50
Sweet and Sour Pork £7.50
Veal and Venison £7.50

All served with Jacket Potatoes. Please ask the Waitress for the Daily Speciality

Hot Pies
Please ask the Waitress for the Daily Selection from:
Steak £5.20
Steak and Oyster £5.20
Steak and Mushroom £5.20
Steak and Kidney £5.20
Minced Beef and Onion £5.20
Turkey and Mushroom £5.20
Chicken and Sweet Corn £5.20
Lamb and Mint £5.20
Pork and Apple £5.20
Poachers £5.20
Venison £5.20
Country £5.20
Various Curries £5.20
Minced Beef and Tomato £5.20
Chicken and Leek £5.20
Hare and Cherry £5.20
Spicy Turkey £5.20
Vicars £5.20
Pigeon £5.20
Chicken Cajun £5.20
Chicken Honey and Mustard £5.20
Turkey and Bacon £5.20

PLUS VARIOUS OTHERS

Optional Extras

Ratatouille £2.00
Portion of Vegetables £2.00
Salad £2.55
Potatoes £2.30
Roll or French Bread and Butter 95p

Sweets
Our Home-made puddings are:
Treacle Tart £3.70
Various Fruit Crumbles £3.70
Fruit Pies £3.70
or:
Selection of Gateaux £3.70
Cheesecake £3.70
Ice Cream £2.75

The above can be served with Fresh Cream, Custard, Ice Cream, at no extra
charge.

Cheese and Biscuits £2.65

Coffee £1.35
Tea £1.35
We have a selection of Liqueurs and Cigars

All prices include VAT. Gratuities to Waitresses at Customers’ Discretion