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Twenty committed Dulwich
Runners had an enjoyable but knackering weekend taking part in the Green Belt
Relay. There had been a few late dropouts, so there were late replacements and
several changes to the running order. John O'Byrne sprained an ankle on
Thursday, having trained specially for the event and Carolyn Southall and Lloyd
Collier were also unable to run, John Tymukas, Stephanie Burchill and Bernard
Imber were drafted in and Andrea Crisp and Sarah Hind agreed to do tougher legs
including the early morning leg in Essex. Sam Oyeyinka got the short straw,
having to pick them up at 6am on Sunday morning, having run a late leg on
Saturday afternoon. Sam's reward was a chat to Sonia O'Sullivan at the end of
the event! She thought she'd seen him training in Bushey Park, having mistook
him for a Kenyan International (must be your style Sam!). Alastair had 2 days
sick with a stomach virus, but refused to drop out. He was rather weak on the
Saturday, but had a really good run on Sunday morning. The middle legs on
Saturday were caught in torrential rain and floods, so Mark and Clare felt they
were running in the River Thames rather than on the towpath. Legs 4 and 5 which
are tough 'mountain' stages and were even more hazardous, with boulders and
stones washed into the road in many places, and the motorway underpasses on leg
6 were like swimming pools. The Vets team battled against a composite team of
runners from several clubs (Millennium Group), including Sonia O'Sullivan (F35).
We were only 7 minutes down on them after Day 1, but lost more ground on Day 2
to take the 2nd Vets’ Prize. It was probably the first time that we have had no
stage winners, although James had 2 excellent runs, and Clare was in sight of
the first woman on leg 18. The organisation went very well, with no problems at
all, although Mark arrived at Boveney an hour early – he wrote the wrong time
down, then arrived with only 5 minutes to spare on the Sunday! I was pleased
with my own runs, but it's difficult to comment on the others, as it is
impossible to see many of them, as it's such a big, complex, but very enjoyable
event. Thank you all for being part of it. Barry D
Some personal reflections from Mike Mann. This was my first GBR since 1996, so
it was effectively a novelty for me. I think I'll be up for doing it again. On
Saturday, having driven to the start of leg 4 at Little Marlow to collect John
Tymukas, we drove through downpours of biblical proportions to the start of leg
5 at Great Kingshill. Stefan and I sheltered in the car until the last minute
and joined the start adjacent to the flooded cricket pitch. Fortunately, the
worst of the rain eased off after the first 5 minutes, but thereafter we had to
put up with the aftermath in the form of mud, huge puddles and several impromptu
streams. Somewhat to my surprise I rather enjoyed the run, possibly because I
had decided, and was forced at times, to run it in a reasonably measured
fashion. Although it was long with no shortage of fairly sharp hills,
particularly later on, most of them were short. All but 4 miles was off-road,
parts of which were quite tricky with the combination of adverse cambers and
treacherous surfaces. Later on there was a long uphill slog to the village of
Flaunden on what was described as a road but which resembled Brighton beach with
large volumes of stones washed down from the Chilterns. I managed to keep going
quite strongly to the end with legs feeling in fairly good order. Stefan had a
good race despite a cold, keeping quite close behind me until well into the leg,
but found the final 2 miles something of a struggle. On Sunday I had rather
committed myself and others present to going for it on what I thought was a
reasonably straightforward run on leg 16 starting at Merstham. Last Sunday I had
walked the middle off-road section of the course. This paid good dividends
because with limited marshals and signs, there was plenty of scope for going
wrong. As a result I ended up as the navigator for the leading group over much
of the first 3 miles. This was possibly a mistake as there were plenty of cul de
sacs, large gardens and assorted wrong turns from which I could have gained an
advantage. What I hadn't realised from my earlier research was the extent of the
climb over the first 2.5 miles to take us to the top of the North Downs. The
reward was this effort was seeing the superb views from the top somewhat earlier
than planned. I managed to maintain some sort of equilibrium but faded a bit on
the undulating road section at the end. I would definitely recommend this leg to
other but it needs to be treated with a bit more respect than I gave it! Finally
a huge thank you is owed to Barry and Kirstin for their efforts in organising a
logistically challenging event. There were the inevitable hiccups here and there
but the organisation went remarkably smoothly, with the correct runners being
taken to and collected from each of their legs on time.
John Tymukas writes – I was drafted into the team on Friday as a result of
various withdrawals during the latter part of last week. I had run the Green
Belt four times, and obviously enjoyed it, but had not run it since 2000. Injury
to both my knees has been the main reason that has prevented me from attempting
running on that scale (i.e. two races on consecutive days) since then. Because
of my excuse, I was given two of the shortest legs to run – Kirstin and Sarah
kindly making way for me and being transferred to other legs. Leg 10 on Saturday
evening is 8.15miles (13km) and undulating on trails in farms for the first two
miles followed by quiet very shaded country lanes. I completed it in a moderate
time (OK for me these days) of 61:30. It was also great to be able to run in
late afternoon sunshine after having seen the earlier runners from Windsor to
the Chilterns running in heavy drenching and flooding rain, which also made life
difficult for those of us who had to drive at that time. Leg 19 on Sunday
afternoon is 6.9 miles (11km) and runs along three different paths next to
canals and then the riverside of the Thanes. It is dead flat except for about
five small bridges and it was quite stony under foot. I was expecting to run a
similar pace to the day before because of muscle stiffness and fatigue, so I
braced myself for discomfort up until 52 minutes on my watch. However, I was
pleasantly surprised to complete it in 47:40, which means I have at last
improved my 10K time below the 45:32 I did in Tallinn last September. It was
pleasing to all who ran that all 10 runners in both of our teams managed to run
and complete both their Saturday and Sunday legs. Everyone ran well although
some perhaps not quite as well as they would have hoped. But mostly it was the
team spirit and friendship between us that kept morale up. Special thanks must
go to Alastair and Sam (Vets team) and Sarah and Andrea who got up early to run
legs 11 and 12 at 8am and 9am respectively starting from Blackmore in a distant
corner of rural Essex on Sunday morning. We all owe Barry a big thanks for his
tireless organisation leading up to the weekend and also continually during it.
This included organising who was to travel where in which car and who was to
stop and man certain marshal point that had been allocated to Dulwich Runners.
He also managed to run well when his turn came up. Another thing that was great
about the weekend was how various people in other clubs pulled together to
provide support to each other. I received drinks en route while I was running
from people from Stragglers, Ranelagh and Serpentine clubs who had set up drinks
stations at strategic places that were not always easy to get to. There were
several reasons to remember this weekend including the fact that Sonia
O’Sullivan ran the Green Belt for Thames Hare and pounds vets team in preference
to doing the Great Manchester Run – and nearly missed being guided onto Walton
Bridge by our late-arriving group of marshals. I mean she got there early!
Sarah Hind adds – from the perspective of a first-time runner (of very slow
pace) who foolishly volunteered for the 2005 green belt relay a little while ago
and has been dreading the whole thing since, (Charlie Brown like symptoms of
butterfly stomach and ostrich like desire to bury head in nearest sand and not
look at the map displayed at the club…) it was a great weekend. Having run a
very slow and painful half marathon at Paddock Wood a few months ago I was
surprised to actually enjoy the Saturday leg and delighted to finish the Sunday
leg without my own legs actually turning to jelly. (Although the 5am start had
already mashed my brain). More importantly it was a great chance to see Dulwich
runners in action, and put names to faces. The highlight for me though was
turning round at the bar at the end to pass Sam a drink, only to see he'd picked
up Sonia O'Sullivan as his drinking companion…
The Green Belt Relay, this 210 mile two day, 20 stage event, 10 runner per team
is an event that every Dulwich Runner should try and do at least once. A
friendly, fun event over interesting courses and organisers Stragglers should be
congratulated on their organising, as should our own team, where the work in
getting runners cars, vans, marshals to the right places at the right time is a
logistical nightmare and there was great work form the likes of Barry, Kirstin,
James, John etc to make it go almost smoothly. Enjoyment seems to vary from
runner to runner and leg by leg, and sometimes as you go up the 15th muddy hill
in torrential rain and lightening, having missed the start, fallen over and got
lost a few times, why you are doing it is less easy to put your finger on! We
put more resources this year into the Vets team and even without some of our
best Vets such as Kofi, Colin, James and Chris, we were only beaten in that
section by a collection of runners that included a world champion, and someone
only 35. However, our relative success may have something to do with the fact
that 100 of the best Vet teams took part in the National Road Relays. Overall
James Godber was our most successful individual, finishing second on the first
day and fourth on a tough stage on day two.
Leg 1
This was the special Guinness section, though it seemed unfair on the Irish
distribution front – our rivals got former World 5,000m champion and Great North
Run winner Sonia O'Sullivan and we got Tiarnan... This was the only time of the
weekend that Tiarnan failed to successfully stalk Sonia, and the 8 minutes he
trailed her (despite the best efforts of our marshals to send her the wrong way)
were the 8 minutes we trailed them at the end of Day one! However Tiarnan ran
well, as did Andrea Crisp who shot past the Serpentine woman's B team runner,
just metres before the finish with a very spirited kick finish.
Stage 2
Alastair Young wasn't feeling very well having been ill for much of the last few
days, and he did well to make the top 12 and hold our 8th place overall. Sarah
Hind also held position well with a well paced effort.
Stage 3
Mark Chapman had an excellent run for the Vets, finishing 6th, only 2 minutes
down on the winner and close to third, and that moved us to 5th. Clare Wyngard
had a very strong run for the mixed team and that moved the team up two places.
Stage 4
On the first of the mountain stages, a hilly multi-terrainer over flooded roads
and ground, held during torrential rain and thunderstorms, Steve Smythe gave the
impression he would have probably preferred to have been back at home watching
the cup final, by missing his start, having the wrong footwear and doing more
dives than Ronaldo, and going off course a few times due to turned signs, and
doing half mile more than the advertised distance. Joe Brady coped well with
Steve continually overtaking him and ran a very well paced effort to move the
mixed team up 2 more places, as the Vets held their position despite the wasted
time, though the 19 minutes we took off the Millennium Group took us into the
Vets overall lead.
Stage 5
Another mountain stage and we held our position of fifth overall and first Vets
team on another leg that was muddy and hard. Mike finished 10th, and not too far
back came Stefan Schwarz who was a fine 13th and that held positions for the
mixed team.
Stage 6
Now on the second half of day one, Green Belt veteran Kev Wood had an average
run but he held fifth overall though it was close as Brighton men and Millennium
Vets were now just 2 minutes back, and we had probably fielded our stronger vets
on the earlier legs. Stephanie Burchill ran solidly and our mixed team held 25th
place.
Stage 7
Watford supporter James was happy to be back in Herts and he made a good effort
to win the leg though couldn't quite maintain the pace over the closing miles as
the overall winning team Serpentine proved too strong. It did move the mixed
team up 6 whole places. Andy Murray ran much better than of late (he was the
first M50) and though only 14th (the longer legs are often more competitive), he
kept the Vets in fifth, but now our two rival teams who finished ahead were less
than a minute behind.
Stage 8
Both our teams dropped a couple of places though that was just more
circumstances as both ran well enough. Sam ran 12th in a good relay debut for us
and Kirstin was the second women on the leg, our highest women's position of the
weekend though a hip problem slightly hampered in the closing miles.
Stage 9
Barry Dabrowski, a former 2:33 marathoner at his peak and former Vets club
champion has been slowly getting his form back this year and this was one of his
best recent runs as he made the top 10 and he got us back into the Vets lead as
he took a few minutes off The Millennium team, and not only was the first M55,
he was the first Vet! Bernard Imber, the former M50 10K club record holder
before Mike Mann got to work on it, ran his usual steady race, but couldn't help
seeing the rise caused by James, receded as we lost another two places.
Stage 10
According to Barry this was the Baby's leg, however unfortunately our Vets lead
was lost here as Martin Morley, clearly not well, really suffered, and lost 8
minutes on the Millennium Group. John Tymukas was surprised to find himself just
ahead of Martin, and he ran well considering his current fitness levels and he
picked the Mixed team up a couple of places.
Stage 11
Alastair Young, feeling slightly better (a lot lighter!) had an excellent run
and only just missed out on 4th place in a sprint finish, though we failed to
make up any ground on the Vets leaders. Sarah Hind had another steady run,
though the Godber effect (running so much quicker than the average) meant we
dropped another 3 places.
Stage 12
Whether it was the early start, he had to be up at 6am to pick some team-mates
up, Sam Oyeyinka had a troubled leg, going off course and failing to do himself
justice and the 13 minutes we lost here to the Millennium Group meant they were
now a long way clear and we were an isolated 7th overall and stuck in that
position for the rest of the event. Andrea Crisp held the team's position with a
steady well judged run.
Stage 13
A relatively easy leg along the Darent Valley, that took on parts of the
Dartford 1/2 M, Dartford 10 and Darent Valley 10K, saw Steve Smythe finish
third, and 1st Vet, more through lack of opposition, as he ran moderately though
he least stayed on course and on his feet and didn't miss the start this time.
However, Barry did drive off with his trousers, which meant chasing them for a
few hours into Surrey rather than going straight home on the train! Stephanie
Burchill ran well and finished stronger than Steve, but though finishing 24th,
the mixed team temporarily dropped to 25th.
Stage 14
Another tough mountain stage, saw a big rise in standard on the previous leg and
a tired James came home fourth, and with gaps starting to appear in the overall
standings, that could raise the team a place this time. Tiernan did well to keep
the gap to James down to four minutes
Stage 15
Joe Brady was twice as effective as James in the moving up stakes as he advanced
us two places with a fine 7th place. For the Vets, Kev Wood didn't run at his
best and was just outside the top 20.
Stage 16
A tough finish, climbing Box Hill, but relatively short saw us gain two top ten
placings with Mike Mann, a fine sixth less than two minutes down on the winner.
Stefan Schwarz, also ran an excellent leg (a place down on Andy Clarke of Thrift
Green) and that moved the mixed up a further 2 places
Stage 17
The final 'mountain' stage saw Mark Chapman not quite match his form of the day
before but still gain a top 10 place. Kirstin also didn't run as well on the
second day but held onto 20th place.
Stage 18
A shorter, fast leg and Barry completed an excellent weekend of organisation and
running with another top 10 place. Clare Wyngard was only 28 seconds away from
being the first woman though despite an excellent run couldn't stop British
Airways form flying past us, as we dropped to 21st.
Stage 19
The shortest leg of the weekend saw Martin and John back in action and this time
Martin won the battle, and ran better than the day before but was still well
below what his training form was indicating a few weeks ago. John also made the
top half of the field easy enough and maintained our 21st place.
Stage 20
Sonia O'Sullivan put the men in their place by easily winning and breaking the
men's course record with a classy 49:55. Andy Murray did well to break the hour
and finish 14th Our mixed team had a nine minute advantage on the team behind us
at the start of the last leg but the Grange Farm Trotter didn't trot much and
took 18 minutes out of us so we finished 22nd of the 34 teams in the mixed and
our Vets finished seventh overall and 2nd Vets team as they had been throughout
the second day, but we finished 35 minute down on the winners.
Stage wins and Records
James 2nd place (and for Kirstin and Clare) meant no more stage winners though
Simon Loach (47:48 stage 10), Louise Cramer (57:53 stage 16) Gill Johnson (53:18
stage 18) retained their course stage records. Over the years, Gill is our most
successful Belter with 6 wins, while Clive Sentance, Jane Pope, Mary Loftus,
Pauline Virgo have four, Ros Tabor, Paul Roche both 3 and Louise Cramer, Simon
Loach and Steve Smythe each have 2.
Footnote: With the splendid precision organisation of what almost seemed more
support vehicles than runners at some time getting everyone to legs well in
time, one thing that a few old timers noticed was the relative lack of support
out on the course. Additionally, the fact that many of the leg runners don't get
to see their club-mates in action as much as in the past, when with less support
vehicles, it was cut more fine, though I suppose that's better than people
missing the start through being stuck in jams watching earlier legs, as some
missed starts even when they arrived well on time! |
