The third running of the Madness took place on a lovely sunny evening which encouraged 120 runners to toe the start line. Phil England, Club Chairman, and the force behind the race, did the pre race briefing and count down and his daughter (who much to the delight of Phil's family had been practicing enthusiastically all day) got the runners underway with a blast on the hunting horn.
Maiden Newton Runners being a very small club, it was great to see such whole hearted support from all it's members, especially the non-running members of the Club who don't often get caught on (our) camera. Stuart Hargreaves and John Arscott, ex Chairman of the Club, formed part of the scarily efficient result recording team, together with another former Chairman, Guy Smith, the man with many watches, not to mention Charles Le Vay who supervised procedings with military precision.
Ian Habgood, from Egdon Heath Harriers was first across the line in 36.38, followed less than a minute later by Paul Rose of Yeovil Town Road Running Club who was the first vet 40. Third place went to Mark Pittaway from Royal Manor of Portland, also a vet 40.
Previous winner, Dave Caddy, another Egdon Heath Harrier finished in 5th place and 2nd senior man and
Egdon Heath's winning streak continued with Stephanie Slade storming across the line as first senior lady in 44.01.
It was the night for local Clubs with Yeovil Town also taking the first male super vet - Nick Brooke, closely followed by Richard Orme of Egdon to claim second prize. Yeovil's Donna Elliott took the first female vet trophy home, and a special mention for Joyce Rendell of Axe Valley Runners, who not only broke the Yeovil/Egdon stranglehold on prizes but as first female super vet finished in an excellent 3rd place overall.
As well as local runners (many will recognise ex Club member Brian Mountjoy-Row pictured above) there were entrants from further afield and the competitor who travelled furthest to start the race was Henry Vales from Germany of Schwarzbier Schwarzbach. Hopefully his excellent time of 43 minutes and 17th place made it worth the trip!
On an evening when Phil had found chores for most Club members, Dan Cantrell and Jackie Webb managed to escape his notice and fly the flag for Maiden Newton both having excellent runs.
Feedback so far has been positive and hopefully the Madness will become firmly entrenched in the local racing calendar. Although there were many people roped in to help on the night, the race wouldn't take place without the organisational skills and enthusiasm of Phil England......so any complaints, send them to him!
Special thanks to everyone who helped on the night, all the marshals, entry takers, tea and cake providers, John Stark Architects who provided sponsorship, Phil's family and many friends, St John's Ambulance and if I've forgotten to mention anyone it's due to my forgetfulness and not because of lack of appreciation!
Results have been despatched to http://www.runnerswebuk.com and will be published there shortly. If anyone really can't wait to see how they did feel free to e-mail me ( lincummins@hotmail.co.uk ) and I'll send a copy in rtf format.
If anyone has anything (preferably good!) to say about the race then please log on and leave a comment on the blog. We can take constructive criticism too. (Phil has broad shoulders - specially after all the swimming he's been doing lately!).
And if you're a local runner, join the club and become part of the MADNESS!
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5 comments:
Thanks to all the runners who turned out, otherwise the Westgates would have felt like sausage rolls at a Jewish Wedding, while we manned the half-way water station. Certainly an eye-opener watching all the different runners from juniors to supervets.
Richard said:
Sunday 12 August saw the Westgates at the Sidmouth 10K. Saturday evening we were on duty at the Maiden New”ten” Madness 10K and accepted an invitation to stay over at Martin and Lin’s. This involved yet another meal out and more Guinness. Back at Sydling we looked up last years Sidmouth results and had discussions about what sort of shoes to wear for the race. We were treated to Demons and Wizards by Uriah Heep on CD with bonus tracks and studied maps with regard to supporting Phil on his Ironman event. I wasn’t too sure if I would run in the morning as since Thursday I had spent much of my spare time resting up poorly suffering from blight or perhaps crop spray fallout. This was compounded by sleeping upstairs in the rarefied air at Sydling and I’m sure the temperature was at least 5 degrees warmer than our bungalow.
After an excellent breakfast we set off following Martin down an intricate web of side roads. Lesley phoned Lin to say if we suddenly pulled over it was because the petrol gauge was at the bottom of red. Anyway we pulled into a garage, Martin nicked our map as he was determined to use side roads to avoid Honiton. Lesley and I followed the main drag and we met up at the car park opposite race HQ.
After confirming with a Sidmouth runner I opted for ordinary road shoes as he said there would be no mud to speak of on this off road course. It was Lesley and my first visit here and we were a bit daunted by the first mile which went straight up. After that there were narrow bits and stiles. As I approached a small queue of runners at a stile by a gate I thought it would be a good idea to vault the gate as I usually do on off road cross country type runs; as I landed an angry marshal called out “that’s not allowed, that’s illegal”. Half expecting to be disqualified I tried to smile and ploughed on. Having gone past Lin near the top of the hill she had a good view as I stumbled over something and judging by the comment and barely disguised laughter it must have caused some amusement as I struggled to regain balance.
The route had been tweaked a bit from last year and apparently there were more undulations in the middle bit. It was very good running conditions, some good fast downhill bits and shady wooded areas. There were plenty of marshals and several water stations. On one steep downhill I nearly took out the eventual 3rd lady while attempting an overtaking manoeuvre as we jumped a fallen tree together. Went through the half way in about 27 mins. So my finish time of 48:47 shows there was lots of downhill in the second half including the original hill we had struggled up. Lin went past and proceeded to track eventual 3rd lady-the one I nearly clobbered. I wasn’t really sure whether Martin was in front or behind as I proceeded to track a SWRR who I usually finish very close to. Went past SWRR at 9K and tried to close the gap on 3rd lady who Lin had swept past. At the top of the grassy hill to the finish I groaned as Martin went past. However I was abreast of 3rd lady and although in recent years I have become a bit lazy toward the finish today I decided to really go for it and we both put on a good sprint for the line; happily I crossed the line two seconds ahead of her but two seconds behind Martin and five behind Lin. Well done to Lin who proceeded to collect two prizes, 2nd lady and vet 45 – has she been lying about her age all these years. Lesley put on a great finish, cheered on by her fan club as she held off a double challenge near the line.
Afterwards in the tearoom gardens an unpleasant rumpus ensued. Parents gathered their offspring to safety and a few old ladies in deckchairs had turns. The source soon became apparent as Martin appeared and at 106 decibels bellowed out “LIN, I’M AT THE FRONT OF THE QUEUE, AND I HAVEN’T GOT ANY MONEY!” Lin, who had been idly gossiping with Lesley, rolled her eyes as if to say, “What do you expect me to do about it? Just as well she quickly remembered it was her coffee that Martin had been patiently queuing for, and scuttled over to give him the funds. A tentative peace was restored to the normally tranquil gardens as smelling salts were administered to a few old dears.
Hot off the press! A large decked viewing platform is being constructed at Sydling to enable pilgrims to come and gaze in awe at the vast collection of trophies, plaques, medals, T shirts and other running memorabilia that has been lovingly put together over the years. Firm bookings have been received from as far afield as Ashby-de-la Zouche and Canterbury.
Lesley says it was extraordinary to meet Sue Lambert, a lady whom we often met in races in the Home Counties area, and did the race while she was on holiday in Sidmouth. She is now 65 plus but regularly used to beat Richard back then.
I only have two things to say, I'm NOT 45 and yes, Martin & I did have a slight domestic after the race. Make that three things: I BEAT HIM AGAIN!
After a lucky break in the weather for the Madness, the night chosen for the monthly pub run saw a return to winter. Martin and I arrived at the Saxon, half hoping that no-one else would show up so that we could bin the run and go straight to the pub. Unfortunately we weren’t the only hardy souls out – Dan and Phil were already limbering up and Dave soon arrived too. Steve and Donna had called Phil to say they were on their way but that they were in “Yeovil time”. Martin suggested a loop round the village whilst we were waiting, I told him to carry on if he felt the urge and remained huddled in the car until forced to brave the weather.
Eventually we set off out onto the A37 before cutting across the fields to Bradford Peverell, where Donna almost called the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Slugs, as Martin and Dan made good use of their large feet to decrease the population considerably.
We turned up through the New Barn Field Centre where the trees provided some welcome shelter from the rain, but the hills meant that those wimps amongst us (Martin & I) who had started out wearing waterproof jackets soon became grossly overheated.
There was much discussion of the Madness – Phil was worried that his head had grown due to the compliments and praise which he had received - which might hamper his progress through the water on Sunday and could also cause problems with his cycle helmet. Dan regaled us with the tale of his last minute sprint to beat his work colleague and Dave said Jackie’s friend, who had run the race with her, has been persuaded to swell the numbers of the running club.
We emerged from the woods onto the A35, a short distance on the main road and then back onto tracks for the return. We crossed some very damp fields and encountered some rather lively cows before starting to descend back towards Stratton, and just when Steve was really looking forward to the pub we turned off to include another steep climb which caused him to question why we were running away from the pub when we had already done 4 or 5 miles.
At this point we became aware that Martin and Dan were having a lively debate about the limits which should or shouldn’t be placed on people taking risks with their own lives. The run became a bit strung out at that point - as their conversation heated up we all felt the need to distance ourselves a little. I know from experience you can’t win an argument with Martin, although I suspect that Dan probably could……….
We arrived back at the pub having completed just over 6 miles. Steve and Donna complained a bit that they had been promised “a leisurely outing” by Phil and tried to point the finger of blame at Martin and I. As Dave had already left we shifted the blame firmly onto his shoulders – I was dripping from trying to keep up with him, and not from the rain.
Phil, Steve, Donna, Martin and I retired to the bar to refuel and discuss Phil’s prospects for the Ironman, the lunacy of 3 day events, Steve’s inability to paddle more than 10 yards in a kayak without passing out and various other topics (not including the risks involved in tombstoning……………).
It may not have been idyllic summer weather but it was still an enjoyable evening and hopefully we can fit in at least one more before darkness descends.
Nothing to do with Maiden Newton really, but having written this account I thought I'd post it.
On Friday we set off to start exploring the Coleridge Way. Excellent weather for running, but due to various delays we didn’t start until 11.30am, and by then it was getting a bit warm. The start is in Nether Stowey and although the walk officially starts at Coleridge’s Cottage, the car park which has toilets is an ideal place to start the run. The first half-mile leaves the village along lanes before starting to follow the signs along various bridleways etc. The signs are fairly easy to follow once you get used to them. There was only one place where we deviated slightly from the route, where two or three paths diverged but met up again later. One of the paths had some really colourful gorse and heather. The route description describes it as “undulating, with some short sharp descents and climbs in and out of small combes”. This is probably an understatement if you are trying to run it! The long drop down into Holford was quite hard on the knees and seemed never-ending on the return journey. There are other sections of tarmac lane at Holford, Alfoxton Hotel and Weacombe. We did it as an out and back, doubling the distance estimate to about 19 miles. Excellent views most of the way including Hinckley Point, and Butlins at Minehead. Saw lots of deer (in a park) and the remains of two dead sheep. Counting the contours made it about 345m of ascent on the way out and 370m on the way back. There is a car park and small shop, but no toilets at Bicknoller where we will be starting the next leg.
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