Sport Relief – Mile of Smiles – 15 March 2008

WAC coach Steve Henderson organised the ‘Mile of Smiles’ to tie in with the Sport Relief Mile. Many of us rose to the challenge on Saturday 15 March at QE. There was a terrific turnout which included athletes of all ages, and all disciplines, from sprinters through to the middle distance runners and all the other track & field athletes too, plus a few game parents and coaches. For some of us it was a preparatory run for the official ‘Sport Relief Mile’ which was set to take place at many locations all over the country the following day.

The mile was covered by doing 8 laps on the running track at QE. Once we had all done our individual miles we then split into teams and pushed for a really fast mile in relay teams. There was a great ambience about the occasion as can be seen from the broad smiles on display in the pictures taken by Steve Snook.

Click here to see the photographs of the ‘Mile of Smiles’.

WAC Presentation Evening - 2007

Cross-country manager Ian Kennedy showed a whole new side to his talent by entertaining WAC members at the Presentation Evening at the Allendale Centre on Friday 30^th November. Part time dee-jay Ian brought plenty of exercise to the dance floor.

The main business of the evening however was the presentation of the clubs trophies for the year.  Club chairman Peter Impett summed the year up as ‘The Long and Short of It’.  At the long end was the successful culmination by Tim Harris of his Seven Marathons on Seven Continents in Seven Weeks in the early part of the year.  Unsurprisingly Tim won the club’s Marathon trophy.  In the middle was the club’s sprinting success in taking two sprinters and a long jumper to the English Schools. Karyn Light won the Senior Women’s and the Sprints trophy.  Abby Sandford won the Carol Hollins Long Jump trophy and best female performance of the year for her 5m41 long jump while Kyle Wilson won the best Male performance for making the final of the 100 metres at the English Schools and also took home the under 15 boys trophy. Sprints coach Ed Arnold was honoured as coach of the year for his work with these athletes and the largest track squad in the club.

The year finished with another ‘long’ milestone when the club organised its tenth anniversary Wimborne 10 mile race which was upgraded to become the South West Championship on this occasion.  Conditions on the day were dreadful with cold strong winds and driving rain and in recognition the club’s team award went to the logistics crew who set the race up and successfully took it all apart again at the end of the day’s events.

Hannah Winton took home two trophies as the leading under 13 girl and the Jonathan Edwards trophy for triple jump and her brother Liam retained the best Under 11 boy title.  The Snook family had a good evening with Jack taking the under 13 boys award and dad Steve lifting the Senior Men’s and Male Throwers awards.  Kelly O’Mahoney was the under 11 girls winner with Kieran Finn winning the Under 17 Men’s award.

The under 15 girls age group has been very competitive this year and Ellis Marples took home the closely fought trophy in this age group and the High Jump cup.  A local coach was so impressed by Maddy Vaughan-Johncey’s novice performances over 300 metres hurdles that he donated a trophy  for the purpose. Maddy added this to the under 17 women’s title.  Speedster Rachel Welch was the best Junior and Letitia ‘TC’ Hardy was the best Newcomer.  Kirsty Harvey won the Middle Distance Cup with sister Laura taking the Clare Bailey trophy.  Becky Light who rarely misses a training session and who travelled to most of the far-flung matches despite not being a very good traveller won the Robin Blackburn award and Ros Alexander took the best Female Thrower Shield.

Bob Caines, a very senior competitor, won the club’s Roadmaster trophy for competing over a huge number of miles for the club and Wendy Kennedy and Jerry Shield were the best Roadrunners female and male respectively.

The clubs all round service award, the Les Phillips Trophy, went to Glyn Davies who is working up the Club Mark bid, is Minutes Secretary and Welfare Officer and has competed in senior men’s competition and the Wimborne 10 amongst other activities.  Glyn’s award highlights the need to bring more volunteers into the club to join a very hard working crew.  The quality of help at the club however is such that coach Dave Pearson has won a South West Regional award as ‘Coach of the Year’ and starter Dick Edwards has similarly been honoured with the ‘Official of the Year’ having acted as starter at over 60 events during the year.  The club extended the honour by making Dick an honorary patron of the club.

Dick’s wife Jan was presented with a small bouquet for all her trackside work and there were also bouquets for Claire Gladden and Ros Alexander for all their hard work in creating such a successful evening.

Peter Impett

Award Winners

Best Newcomer                                                     Letitia ‘TC’ Hardy
Best Junior                                                              Rachel Welch
Under-11 Boy’s Trophy                                         Liam Winton
Under-11 Girl’s Trophy                                          Kelly O’Mahoney
Under-13 Boy’s Trophy                                         Jack Snook
Under-13 Girl’s Trophy                                          Hannah Winton
Under-15 Boy’s Trophy                                         Kyle Wilson
Under-15 Girl’s Trophy                                          Ellis Marples
Under-17 Men’s Trophy                                         Kieran Finn
Under-17 Women’s Trophy                                   Maddy Vaughan-Johncey
Senior Man’s Trophy                                             Steve Snook
Senior Woman’s Trophy                                       Karyn Light 

High Jump Cup                                                      Ellis Marples
Hurdles Trophy                                                       Maddy Vaughan-Johncey
Carol Hollins Long Jump Trophy                          Abby Sandford
Middle Distance Cup                                             Kirsty Harvey
Sprints Trophy                                                        Karyn Light
Male Thrower’s Trophy                                          Steve Snook
Female Thrower’s Trophy                                     Ros Alexander
Jonathan Edwards Triple Jump Trophy               Hannah Winton 

Marathon Runner                                                    Tim Harris
Male Roadrunner                                                   Jerry Shield
Female Roadrunner                                               Wendy Kennedy
Roadmaster                                                            Bob Caines 

Male Performance of the Year                              Kyle Wilson
Female Performance of the Year                         Abby Sandford 

Clare Bailey Trophy                                               Laura Harvey
Robin Blackburn Trophy                                        Becky Light
Les Phillips Trophy                                                Glyn Davies 

Coach of the Year                                                  Ed Arnold
Team of the Year                                                    Wimborne 10 Logistics Team

The Long and the Short of it - Chairman’s Report (from the AGM December 2007)

This is a short report on the club’s year. The long of the title refers to the start of the club year and the incredible achievement of Tim Harris in completing his seven marathons on seven continents in seven weeks and ends with the highly successful Wimborne 10 in its tenth year with Regional event status.

The short refers to the very successful sprint group operated in the club under the tutelage of Ed Arnold and which produced two English Schools competitors Kyle Wilson and Karyn Light and gave speed to the other – Abby Sandford for her Long Jump.

In team competitions there was success for our Sportshall girls and as our part of Team Dorset, Divisional winners in the Young Athletes League with our partners Poole AC and Dorchester AC. The Southern Men’s League team maintained their league position but the Southern Women’s team struggled mainly because of the heavy travelling programme. This should reduce in 2008.

On the roads and across the country our teams gave good accounts of themselves and perhaps, more importantly, they enjoyed themselves. It is gratifying to see the growth of interest in cross-country and the time that the road runners are prepared to put into Saturday morning cross-country sessions.

Dick Edwards and Dave Pearson have been honoured with South West Regional awards for their work as official and coach. They represent a whole clubfull of coaches, officials and administrators who put heart and soul into keeping the club moving forward (applaud now).  Our thanks to Howard Gladden who has decided to step down as Coaching Secretary.

The new website is a major step forward and needs your input to keep it up to date.

The club always needs help. Perhaps you could volunteer to help us. You will be made most welcome.

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who has given something to the club this year.

Peter Impett
Club Chairman

WAC Cross-Country Star - Ian Cardy - for epic 1500km Charity Bike Ride

Cycle to Cannes 2008 - 5 days, 140 riders, 1500km, £500,000

As some of you may already know, I’ve done the odd marathon and cycle event in aid of charity in my time, and of late have been looking at a new event to challenge me physically as well as providing the obvious benefit of raising money for charity. So combining my enjoyment of cycling and masochistic streak in pushing myself endurance-wise I’ve decided to enrol myself in the Cycle to Cannes next March.

At the bottom of the précis is a link to the main event website; providing in depth details of the event, of what I’m letting myself in for, as well as details of the superb charities that I’m aiming personally to raise at least £3,500 for (although C2C itself aims to raise over £500,000).

But in summary, the event is a unique 5-day, 1500km, cycling endurance event from London to Cannes principally run as a relay made up of three pelotons; each of which will ride around 60 miles a day over two sessions. More ambitious riders (such as myself) can join more than one peloton and ‘Go the Whole Distance’; in theory riding up to 200 miles in the day, 940 miles over the 5 days, and up to 14 hours a day in the saddle (something which only a handful of riders from the 140 strong peloton are psyching themselves up to do). Bear in mind that the ‘pros’ on 2008’s Tour de France will ride, at most, 140 miles in a day and 2200 miles over the 23 days of Le Tour (generally during warmer and drier months of the year as well – France in March can be wet and cold!), it puts into perspective the challenge being faced by the ‘amateur’ riders.

C2C will involve 6 cycling stages;

March 6^th - Stage 1: London - Folkestone 119km
March 7^th - Stage 2: Calais - Reims 320.9km
March 8^th - Stage 3: Reims - Dijon 316.5km
March 9^th - Stage 4: Dijon - Chanas 275.4km
March 10^th - Stage 5: Chanas - Aix en Provence 301.0km
March 11^th - Stage 6: Aix en Provence - Cannes 176.4km

A baton will be carried continuously by the relay the entire distance and presented to Ken Livingstone on the C2C podium in Cannes along with a cheque for the money raised for charity.

Which leads onto the principle objective of the ride – the raising of serious money for charity.

C2C’s fundraising target is £500,000 (each rider having a personal target to raise at least £3,500) for four important charities:

LandAid - LandAid is the charity of the UK property sector from which its support is drawn.  As a Charitable Trust, LandAid makes grants to other charities to support a variety of projects usually connected with homelessness.

The Tom ap Rhys Pryce Memorial Trust - Tom was killed as he walked home on 12 January 2006. Tom’s family and fiancée, supported by Tom’s firm Linklaters, decided that a lasting memorial would be a charitable trust to assist disadvantaged children to achieve their potential by gaining access to appropriate educational facilities and opportunities.

Sarah Matheson Trust - The Sarah Matheson Trust is a vital support charity helping people live with, and caring for, the progressive neurological disorder Multiple System Atrophy. The trust actively sponsors and promotes research into the diagnosis and management of MSA.

Architects for Aid (A4A) - A4A is a charity committed to working with partner NGOs worldwide to build homes and shelter after disaster, or wherever there is poverty and need. Since registration in January 2006 A4A, has already put 5 years of professional man-hours into the field, creating added value of £1,000,000 benefit in the field with for its partners.

There are two methods of providing sponsorship;

Personal Sponsorship

This is the very important bit!

C2C has set up a web based sponsorship page. All you need to do is to direct yourself to the page (www.justgiving.com/cycletocannes) and you can make a donation online. You can see your donation entered on the page and can remain anonymous if you wish. Each donator receives an email confirmation and thanks for their contribution. If you decide to use the site to make a donation, then please ensure you mention my name (Ian Cardy) so that my personal sponsorship target can be assessed. Alternatively, individual sponsorship forms can be sought from me direct via email (iancardy@v2net.co.uk).

Corporate Sponsorship

This is very much a long shot, but on the off chance that any of you ladies and gentleman out there are involved with construction firms which have an interest in MIPIM, then maybe you could persuade them (or pass their details onto me and I’ll try and persuade them!) to enter into some corporate sponsorship.

C2C are inviting companies who are going to (or have an interest in) MIPIM 2008 to contribute at three levels of sponsorship; Titanium (Event Sponsor), Carbon Fibre (Team Sponsor), Alloy (Key Sponsor).

In recognition of the various levels of sponsorship, C2C will raise your company’s Cannes’ profile by displaying your logo on the C2C executive coaches that will lap The Croisette daily and remain at MIPIM during the week. We will also screen a list of supporting companies on the Pipers, London Stand. We will be announcing your generosity throughout our PR campaign and C2C advertisements with our media sponsor Estates Gazette and the property press. Building online will be running a daily blog for the duration of C2C ride. Our forthcoming web banner on the MIPIM 2008 home page will also have a link to our website listing our 2008 sponsors. This is a fantastic opportunity for making a significant contribution to charity and to raise your company profile at MIPIM 2008. Details of what each level of sponsorship provides in addition to the obvious effect of publicity are detailed on the C2C website.

I would like to add that all of the monies raised go to C2C. C2C is unlike some events I have come across whereby people wishing to participate in aid of a charity are asked by that charity to raise a minimum target, and that some of that money goes on the entry to the event, travel and accommodation relating to the event and other ‘expenses’. With C2C, my travelling expenses, accommodation expenses, food expenses, everything down to the cost of my bananas en route and any replacement parts needed for my cycle are all met personally by myself (likewise for the other riders of course).

Some of you may think of better ways to get to the south of France (using my Blackbird did come to mind but I think the other riders might notice), but it is for charity. All that is left for me to say is please consider donating to the event in support of both the charities and in recognition of the personal effort that I’m going to be making in undertaking the event; not to mention the hours, no, days, of hard long training on the road in England during its traditional wet, cold, icy, windy, snowy winters (and Dorset is hardly flat!). Hyperlinks for more information (and to enable you to donate!) are as follows;

www.cycle2cannes.org

www.justgiving.com/cycletocannes

www.mipim.com

Thank-you in advance for your support.

Ian Cardy

Triumph and Despair at Salisbury - 25 November 2007

Race report from Wessex Cross-Country League Race 2

In near perfect conditions at Old Sarum, Ian Cardy showed ruthless efficiency to claim his second win of the season in the senior men’s race. The men’s race was the only one in which we fielded significant numbers. Daryl Davies is starting to show the form that he is capable of and Steve Snook also made significant progress. There were cross-country debuts from Craig Dixon and Jeff Hinsley. The race results should also have shown Stewart Little as a debutant too. Stewart has had a long injury lay-off and this was to be his comeback race. Stewart was well placed on the second lap when, on a short sharp grassy descent, his Achilles went. Stewart is likely to be out of action for some time – we wish him all the best with his recovery.

After the senior ladies’ success at Langport in race 1 – where our ladies team finished first – Salisbury was a setback. Lynda Faulkner who led the way last time was unwell, so was unable to compete, and Kim Jolliffe was stuck in Cheltenham with car trouble. This meant we only had two runners, we needed three to count. We shall need to make sure we have a full team for all the remaining races as a team needs to register scores in five of the six races and after Salisbury we have used up our one and only ‘life’. Our two ladies both ran well with it being ‘one a piece’ now with Julie just getting the better of Jill this time out.

It was fantastic to see Alex Vaughan-Johncey back in a red shirt once again. Alex has been out with injury all summer and she ran a gutsy and intelligent race. All those lost months of fitness can now be steadily worked on and we look forward to watching Alex’s return to her true form. Big sister, Maddy, had another decent run in the under-17s race, a category she will still be in next year – expect her to get stronger and stronger. Lauren Sutton was running in only her second XC race for WAC and Lauren is also making progress with a more consistent race than last time out on what is a tougher course.

Jack Snook led the way for the under-13 boys and for the first time this season he had Callum Kennedy in support.

RESULTS FROM WESSEX LEAGUE RACE 2 – SALISBURY – 25 NOVEMBER

Seniors – male                                           Seniors - female

1st – Ian Cardy                                            19^th – Julie Mead
19^th – Daryl Davies                                    20^th – Jill Harsent
20th – Graham Whiffen                                    
23rd – Richard Atkins
27th – Craig Dixon
36^th – Jeff Hinsley
41st – Steve Snook
47^th – Ian Kennedy    

Under-17 female                                         Under-15 – female                     Under 13 – female         

15^th – Maddy Vaughan-Johncey                17th – Lauren Sutton                  20^th – Alexandra Vaughan-Johncey

Under-13 male

13^th – Jack Snook
17^th – Callum Kennedy

Next Meeting is at Millfield School (near Glastonbury) on 16^th December  – on what is a cracking course –  use streetmap.co.uk or www.multimap.com to obtain a map – the postcode for the school is BA6 8LD. First race will be at 12.45, last race around 2.00pm.

FOR FULL RESULTS AND TIMINGS FOR THE WESSEX LEAGUE RACES VISIT
www.wessexleague.com

Well done to both Dick Edwards and Dave Pearson who have been recognised for all the hard work and commitment they have put in working to enable others to take their opportunities in athletics and make the most of their ability.

Dick Edwards has been named Track and Field Club Official of the Year for 2007, and Dave Pearson is Coach of the Year for his tireless work with pole vaulters. The Club offers its hearty congratulations to them both, their awards are richly deserved.

The English Athletics South West award ceremony is to take place in March 2008.

We had a brand new venue – Langport – for the first race of the Wessex League season. There was not a breathe of wind and the unseasonably warm and humid weather contributed to make this a tough work out. The course itself was as flat as any we are likely to encounter over the season in low-lying fields alongside the river - at first site a relatively easy course. However, the field had a cattle in it (which paid us no attention on the day), alongside the river they had churned up the field, and with the lack of recent rainfall this left us with a very tricky section of ruts and ridges which was rock hard and would need to be traversed with care if we were to stay out of trouble. Many of us opted to run in multi-terrain running shoes rather than studs or spikes as it appeared that stability would be a bigger issue than grip.  

It was good to see that two-thirds of the core of the ladies XC team from last season were out there in the thick of it once again. They were able to welcome back Lynda Faulkner who didn’t compete for us last season and Lynda managed an excellent third place. Maddy Vaughan-Johncey had a tough race but her dogged determination saw her through. She has moved up an age group so now will be contending with longer distances this season.

For the under-15s Laura Harvey looked confident and we were delighted to see Lauren Sutton competing in that age group for the first time. Lauren has been training with us for only a very short time and she will have learnt quite a bit from the experience. We had only one junior boy racing – Jack Snook. Jack ran a steady untroubled race.

Wimborne had a terrific turnout in the senior men’s race, where we recorded our first race winner of the season. Ian Cardy forced the pace from the start and was a comfortable winner – superb stuff. Ian missed the 2006/7 season but we hope to see much more of him this time around. Tim Harris also had a terrific run. Tim has been struggling to recuperate since suffering a head injury in August and has found the fight to regain fitness a frustrating one. He ran a very intelligent race, the first two laps were run very cautiously, he felt good so he pushed in the later laps of the race making up around 15 places. Well done Tim.

The tricky terrain claimed a victim in the form of Steve Snook. Steve went over badly on his ankle. A determined and defiant final two laps saw him through to the finish line. From there it was straight off to the first-aiders who got an ice pack on the bruised and swollen ankle and then strapped it up securely. Steve was unable to drive home but fortunately as a number of us had car-shared we had enough drivers available to get Steve’s car back to Dorset.

A memorable and eventful first race, well done all those involved. The next race is at Salisbury (details below).

RESULTS FROM WESSEX LEAGUE RACE 1 – LANGPORT – 7 OCTOBER

Seniors – male                                                   Seniors - female
1st – Ian Cardy                                                   3^rd – Lynda Faulkner
11^th – Chris Hillier                                              10^th – Jill Harsent
21^st – Tim Harris                                                11^th – Julie Mead
24^th – Richard Atkins
25^th – Phil Burgess
26^th – Graham Whiffen
28^th – Daryl Davies
33^rd – Ian Kennedy
34^th – Steve Snook                                                                                                                             

Under-17 female                                    Under-15 – female                       Under 13 – male 

15^th – Maddy Vaughan-Johncey           10th – Laura Harvey                      9^th – Jack Snook
                                                                   12th – Lauren Sutton

Next Race is at Salisbury (Hudson’s Field) on 25^th November – first race 12.45, last race around 2.00. Hudson Field is easily found – it is large grassy area with a number of rugby pitches in the centre of it, which lies immediately below ‘Old Sarum’. It is approached from the Salisbury ring road, which you turn off and onto the A345 road towards Amesbury. Hudson’s Field can be seen on the left after approx. one mile as the road gently climbs towards Old Sarum. I look forward to a bumper turnout at Salisbury.

FOR FULL RESULTS AND TIMINGS FOR THE WESSEX LEAGUE RACES VISIT
www.wessexleague.com

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