We are pleased to report that the Club has registered with the Brooks Westward League for the coming Cross Country Season.

There are a total of 6 races throughout the season scattered all over the South West. The first of these is at St. Austell on Sunday 12 October.

Full details can be seen on the league website www.westwardleague.co.uk

Please note that you can only compete for your First Claim Club unless your First Claim does not register for the league. For example you may be a member

5 MILE ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS SUNDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2008

Congratulations to Anne Luke who smashed the Club W50 Record with an excellent time of 31.13 at the Championships last weekend. The race run in conjunction with Littledown Harriers also produced records in categories that previously had none. These were achieved by Ron Trodd (M75) and Bruce Davidson (M85).

RECORDS AT THE NEW FOREST MARATHON

Some people just improve with age. Both Paul Rose (M40) and Jenny Moloney (W45) beat their own Club records at the New Forest Marathon last weekend. Paul was 3rd man home overall in a time of 2.51.00 whilst Jenny squeezed in the top 100 in 3.33.51. Both previous records were set last year.

Other category winners were Steve Haines (M50) 3.36.04, Les Turner (M65) 4.17.40 and Patricia Seabrook (W65) 5.51.26. Our thanks go again to Chris Potter and the marathon organising committee for their co-operation.

VETERANEWS - AUGUST 2008

The latest edition of Veteranews has been posted to members but a copy in colour (pdf format) is available by clicking here.

5k ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS Results of the 5k Road Championships held at Barton St. David are now available from the 'Results' page. We have also got quite a few photos of individual runners so if you are interested please contact us for a copy.

INTER AREA TRACK & FIELD - SUNDAY 10 AUGUST 2008

This popular Vet event will be held this year at Hemel Hempstead, hosted by Southern Counties Vets, and we would like to put in a strong team to represent the Souty West. A condition though is that we must supply some officials - at least one Field Team together with a track judge and timekeeper.

This has been a major hurdle for us in previous years and so we are putting out an appeal for volunteers to lend a hand. The first event starts at midday and the event finishes with the Presentation of Trophies at 5.00 p.m. so it is not too long a day.

We are also looking for athletes to compete in the different age categories which are different this year. Men categories are M35 - M49; M50 - M59 and M60+ whilst the ladies are more conventional with W35-W39; W40 - W49 and W50+

Anyone interested should contact Peter Fairbank, our Track & Field Secretary, on 01202-247076 oe e-mail p.fairbank@btinternet.com. Athletes will have to pay their own way but we can help out officials with some expenses.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Notice is hereby given that the 16th Annual General Meeting of the Club will be held at Exeter Arena at 5.30 p.m. upon the completion of the Club Track & Field Championships on Sunday 15 June, 2008.

The purpose of the meeting is to hear the reports of the Chairman and Treasurer for the year ended 31 March 2008 and to elect Officers and Committee Members for the current year.

Please make every effort to attend.

VETERANEWS APRIL 2008

The April edition of Veteranews is now on line. Click here to view. It can be read on your screen but note that there is also a 'pdf' button so that you can download to that format and then print it out if you find that easier or prefer a hard copy.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Just a quick reminder that Annual Subscriptions fall due again on 1st April. A reminder will be sent with the March edition of Veteranews and we have now arranged that these may be paid by Bank Standing Order. To download a Mandate Form please click here.

To view the latest edition of 'Veteranews' click here. 

The inaugural stand alone 10k Road Championships took place this weekend courtesy of the Royal Manor of Portland AC. The venue was chosen because of its position in our area but the support and hospitality from the local Club was outstanding. Coupled with glorious weather and a challenging but interesting course this made for a very successful and enjoyable event.

Run of the day came from Ian Barnes with a cracking 38.12 on this far from quick course to take 2nd place overall and first in his M60 category. This put Roger Rowe into an an unaccustomed second place in that age group but that is what happens as you move up the age category and 3rd overall is not to be sneezed at. Dennis Marchant just pipped Bill Valentine in the M55s. Having been overtaken at 8k he pulled back to take the lead again over that final 400m uphill to the finish with Nigel Arthur a little way back one place behind.

We were also delighted to see two runners well into their 75 age groups. Sean Dooner who likes to race most weekends but is usually running in the M60+ was rewarded with an M75 Gold this time and Betty Norrish as a guest from Welsh Masters did the dame for the Ladies. They inspire all of us.

The full results can be found on the 'Results' page and our thanks go to Ken Ballam, Chris Potter and Nigel Stuart Thorn for their enterprise and hard work to get this event off the ground.

5k ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP 27 AUGUST 2007

It was nice to welcome some new faces to our Championships today and some useful times were posted. Checking on the age graded percentages the best perfomances of the day for our members came from Leslie Lock (M55) with 88.01 % and Anne Luke (W50) 87.28%. That is really hot stuff and in both cases that puts them close to the top of this year's rankings for the distance. Not to be outdone, Harry Matthews a guest from the North East, put himself at the top of the M60 rankings with a phenomenal 89.38 %. Further down the list there were plenty other performances that gave satisfaction to the runners concerned and there was much talk either of PB's or relatively minor declines since last year. Full results can be found on the 'Results' page.

Finally, someone left a S West Vets Sweat Shirt behind and I brought it home with me. If you want to claim it please drop me an e mail (southwestvets@talktalk.net) and I will arrange for it to get back to you.

ROAD RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007

Last year we held a successful 5k Road Championships on a stand alone basis at Yeovilton. This was instead of just running it on the back of another race. The advantage is that the people of your age group that you are running against can be easily seen and not lost amongst the flood of other runners.

This year we are holding that same event on the same day - Bank Holiday Monday 27 August 2007 over the same popular, fast course at Yeovilton. Entry forms are available here and Guest Veteran runners are welcome.

Following that we intend to use the same formula for 10 km but held on Sunday 14 October 2007 at the Weston Football Club, Portland. For an entry form please click this link.

Track & Field Championships 2007

Congratulations to Mike Feighan and Mary Wixey for breaking British Records at our Championships held at the Exeter Arena on 17 June. Mike set a new best of 17 495 metres (that's 43 nearly 44 laps) in the One Hour Time Trial. These One hour records are unusual in that instead of the 5 year age groups they are recorded for each year so that Mike can come back next year and do it again.

Mary improved on her own W85 (that's right W85!) record in the Triple Jump with leaps and bounds adding up to 3.4m. Both records have been submitted for ratification and for full results from the meeting can be found on our 'Results' page.

Thanks to Ken and Pat Ballam and all the officials and helpers who made the meeting so successful and enjoyable.l

ENGLAND ATHLETICS REGISTRATION SCHEME

The scheme

Many of you will no doubt be aware of the current controversy over the introduction of the England Athletics Affiliation and Member Registration Scheme which comes into effect on 1 April this year.In the past we have affiliated to UK Athletics through the South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) and that, on a sliding scale cost us, £120 a year.

The situation facing us now is that SEAA exists only as a race organising body and we are required to affiliate to a new body, England Athletics (EA), for an annual fee of £50 plus £3 for every competing member (£5 in 2008).

By competing member they mean only first claim members and those that compete in any competition organised under UKA Rules. Others such as non-competing officials, coaches, volunteers or even those who join for training only are not required to pay the registratioon fee, although they will receive a card displaying their status as a non competing member. This card will be posted direct to members by England Athletics and those who pay the registration fee will also get a card which will be their competition licence.

Any one without a competition licence will be required to pay the unattached levy (usually £2) if they enter any competition organised under UKA Rules. This will obviously be a nightmare for race organisers and initially at any rate this requirement can hardly be enforced when nobody has as yet been issued with a licence.

What it means though is that the Club cannot afford to pay the £3 for the affected members and those not required to pay it, should not do so. Consequently we must introduce a 2 tier Subscription structure. First Claim competing members will therefore be asked to pay £13 for the year starting on 1 April 2007 (£15 - 2008) whilst the rest of us will continue with £10 as before.

Subs in fact become due on 1 April so you will find a reminder form enclosed which we ask you to complete and return to us with your cheque. The form will also help us to up date our membership records so your early replies will be appreciated.

The controversy.

Following upon the recommendations of the Foster Report there has been a backlash from some Clubs that are primarily involved in Road Running. They felt that they were generating funds for the governing body through unattached levies on races but were getting nothing back in return. Furthermore they say that too many restrictions were put on them when organising races and the imposition of the Registration Scheme would increase the workload for their membership Secretaries. On top of that, paying the new £3 a head registration (£5 next year) was too much and so a breakaway group has been established – The Association of Running Clubs (ARC).

They have arranged insurance similar to England Athletics and intend to issue permits for races broadly based on UKA rules but less demanding. Most importantly they intend to let the organising clubs retain 60% of the unattached levies. This has an obvious appeal but my fear is that the move is divisive and I have no wish to see our sport split down the middle. Rather than breakaway let us work together to sort out any genuine problems.

We did think of affiliating to both bodies to hedge our bets but decided against that. Your committee will follow developments as they arise during the year but in the meantime, particularly as a multi-discipline Club, we will be sticking with the new, England Athletics regime.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.

The 15 th Annual General Meeting of the Club will be held as usual at Exeter Arena at the end of the Track and Field Championships on Sunday 17 June 2007 at 5.15pm. After confirming the minutes of the previous AGM and listening to the reports from the Chairman and Treasurer we come to the election of Officers and Committee Members.

Ron and Doreen Paine, having emigrated, will not be available for re-election but Dennis and Zina Marchant were co-opted as replacements and are both prepared to stand for election in the coming year. The role of Membership Secretary has been taken over by Ken Ballam as it fits in with his collection of the money from subscriptions and he will in addition take over the administration of the Membership Database. No problems there, then.

Julian Kennedy, however, is standing down from the committee after more years than we can remember and so that leaves vacancies for Chairman and Track & Field Secretary. John Ratcliff has been proposed as Chairman but we are still looking for candidates to take over Track & Field. New blood is vital for any organisation. We have some this year but a Volunteer coming forward for this post will be made very welcome. Please give it some thought. All other current members of the Management Committee have already been nominated and have indicated their willingness to stand again. Further nomination though may be accepted from the floor.

It is thought that some members might want to discuss affiliation and the emergence of the breakaway Association of Running Clubs. If so, this will be dealt with under the Treasurer’s Report. Attendance at the AGM is traditionally poor but it would be nice to see more members this year and after the Meeting we will be presenting the Grand Prix Shields to the winning Male and Female Runners as well as the new Pentathlete of the Year Shield. We hope you can make it.

Cross Country Championships 2007

On a cold and windy January morning at Pinn Barton Farm, Peak Hill Sidmouth, in sight of the recent shipwreck of the Good Ship Napoli, the field set off for the start of the 2007 South West Vets Cross Country Championships, held again together with Sidmouth Running Club.

For the first lap Mike Feighan, the eventual winner, was pressed by two seventeen year olds taking part in their two lap age-group race. John Duncan was second overall taking the Over 50 prize running away from the two locals and closely followed by Les Lock, second Over 50 and Terry Timms first vet 45. Bronze in the Over 50’s went to Steve Lang.

Bob Minting stretching his distance as a build up to adding the 1500m to his repertoire was pipped into 2 nd place in the M55’s by a strong running Jim Jennings with Bill Valentine on a course made to his liking – he laid it out – having his best race for a long time to pick up 3 rd spot. He was quite bucked to have beaten Dave King for the first time in a long while and new member George Chalstrey, slowly coming back from injury.

In line with BMAF guidelines the M 65’s plus now run with the Ladies over 6 km and this added interest to the race. Setting the pace was current BMAF W40 XC Champion Caroline Hewitt with Marilyn Blair and Viv McConnell 2 nd and 3 rd but winners in their W45 and W50 age groups respectively. Next came a couple of M65’s with Chris Barretto well ahead of Ray Elston. We don’t see much of Chris but when we do he certainly makes his presence felt. Ray is also developing a habit of beating John Perratt, his Exmouth Club partner, over Cross Country. John was well back and was in fact beaten on the line by Anne Darby, the 2 nd W50.

Tracey Halliday (W40) and Linda New (W45) were not far behind whilst Kay Fanklin in taking W60 Gold beat both 70 year olds, Harry Moore and David Bedford (not that one, another one). It is interesting to note that none of the M65’s complained about the shorter distance especially as they were crawling up “That Hill” for the 3 rd time watching their younger colleagues gearing themselves up for another lap.

After the race everyone adjourned to the local Sailing Club used by the local running club for showers, a bite to eat and a few drinks in a very congenial atmosphere. Entries however from South West Vets were very poor and it was only the support from the local club that made it worthwhile. Perhaps it is the course that some find a bit tough, maybe the distance involved is too far. Clashes with other events are a problem but that applies to any weekend date we choose. We intend to carry on with these Championships but if anyone can come up with ideas or suggestions as to how they could be better supported, we will listen and act accordingly. These races are put on for your benefit, not ours.

I would love to hear from you – my contact details are on the back page.

Bill Valentine.

Cross Country Championships 2007

The Championships in 2007 will again be held at the popular Sidmouth Course in conjunction with Sidmouth Running Club. The race will start a little bit earlier at 11:15 on Sunday the 28th of January 2007. Changing facilities and showers after the race will be available at the Sidmouth Sailing Club where the prize giving will be held. Light snacks will be available at the same time.

As before the ladies and mens races will start together although the ladies will only do 3 laps (6 km) and the men 4 laps (8 km). One change will be that the mens 65 age group will run with the ladies and the men 70+. This in line with the new international masters practice.

For entry forms please click here.

OFFICERS

Ron and Doreen Paine are shortly off to pastures new and so have to relinquish their positions on the committee. We wish them every success in their new venture and thank them for their contribution to the club over many years.

Until the next AGM Ken Ballam will be standing in as membership secretary and Dennis Marchant has been co-opted onto the committee and will take over responsibility for the club kit.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to all those members selected for the International Cross Country in November. The venue is Falkirk, Scotland and we expect them to come home with all the cups and medals.

SWVAC 5k Road Championships 2006

For an entry form for this event please go to "Fixtures" and click on the link to the entry form. Please note that this event is an Open one in addition to our Championships and so guests are welcome.

BMAF X COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006.

 The highlight of the year for the Club will almost certainly be the BMAF Cross Country at Bournemouth . Entries were the highest for some years with a total of 477 runners. Some of the big names were missing and unfortunately snow in the North and Midlands prevented some travelling but in all age groups there was plenty of quality in depth.

Come the day the weather was still nippy, especially for the officials, but it remained dry with conditions firm underfoot. The course itself, utilising a 2km lap, was fast but a couple of rises and bends made it interesting enough for both runners and spectators.

Competition was fierce because the top runners had eyes on selection for the International in November as well as individual and team medals. National Titles for Caroline Hewitt (W40), Mark Hargreaves (M45), Malcolm Renyard (M60) and Mary Anstey (W70) and a Bronze for Kathryn Bailey (W35) put SW Vets into the medals. That’s a well deserved first for Caroline although the others are all previous winners albeit in lower age groups.

Daniel Moore was only 8 seconds off Bronze position, coming 5 th in a very fast and competitive M40 race and we had 3 Fourth places amongst the girls. New member Alison Barnes had a great struggle running with Kath Bailey all the way only to finish seconds away. Sue Ogilvie (W50) from Cornwall also showed her class and had a cracking race but like Zina Marchant (W55) was just out of the medals.

Gordon Wiltshire and Eric Barber clock up three score and ten shortly and their performances at M65 in this event will stand them in good stead when the M70s are selected later on in the year. All of our Club runners are given in the following result sheet, listed in order of their times over the 8 or 6 km distances

The Cross Country is the biggest single event promoted by BMAF and most of the responsibility fell on Ken Ballam’s shoulders. It took months of pre-planning as well as the organisation on the day but Ken and his team rose to the occasion and gave us a Championship of which we can be proud. Thank you to everyone that helped.

WORLD MASTERS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005

First of all I would like to thank all those who sent in details of our members who took part in the Championships in San Sebastian.  The following list is certainly not complete and I will happily update the list if further details come in.

Pride of place must though go to our own new World Champion, Bob Minting. Bob is an 800m specialist and did well four years ago in Australia but this year he moved up to the M55s and took a comfortable Gold in a time of 2.07.99. Not content with that success he took Silver in both the individual 400m (55.23s) and the 4 x 400 relay.

He comfortably made the finals of the 1500 also which were held about 2 and a half hours after the 400 final. This race was won easily by the Russian World Record holder but Bob in second place, inexplicably relaxed on the line and two opponents swept past to take the medals. Bob’s time was 4.30.77 and the Silver went for 4.30.55 and Bronze 4.30.65. How careless is that!  

Other results in no particular order –

Any more out there that we have missed – let us know.

BMAF CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Organising Club:           South West Veterans’ Athletics Club

Venue:                          Kings Park Athletics Stadium, Bournemouth, BH7 6JD          
           
Course                          The course will be white-lined and marshalled. It is a fairly typical cross country course. Flat with 2 very small climbs to give it some interest but a good grass running surface and not likely to be very muddy unless we have very heavy rains just before the race. The races are run over a 2 lap course and times are expected to be quite fast because of the nature of the course. Spikes will be a good choice of shoe but studded multi's will also be fine and you will also get away with ordinary road shoes.

Directions:                    By Car: Kings Park is approximately 17 miles from Junction 1 of the M27 followed by the A31 and then the A338. The park is sign posted on the main roads leading into Bournemouth.

By Rail: The nearest railway station is Pokesdown, which is within walking distance. Fast trains from London, Southampton Central, Southampton
Airport Parkway, the Midlands and the North of England stop at Bournemouth Station.

By Air: Bournemouth (Hurn) Airport is 3.5 miles from the town.
Southampton Airport is also convenient as the rail connections are good.

By Coach/Bus: The coach interchange is adjacent to the Bournemouth Rail Station.

Please note that there are no bus services from Bournemouth Rail Station or coach interchange to Kings Park on a Sunday.

Accommodation:          This can be arranged through the Bournemouth Tourism Centre

                                    Phone:   01202 451700
                                    Fax:       01202 454795
                                    Email/Web Site: info@bournemouth.co.uk/www.bournemouth.co.uk

Parking:                        There is limited free parking available adjacent to the stadium. The main car park is pay and display.

Registration:                On arrival you must register at the race information desk where you will be given your number and age card. Numbers must be pinned to the front  of your running vest with the age category on the back of it.

Changing Facilities:       Showers, toilets and changing rooms are available in the stadium.

Refreshments:              Refreshments will be on sale in the stadium cafe.

Start Times:              Women (All Ages)                            12.00 Noon
                                    Men 70+                                             12.00 Noon
                                    Men 50-69                                            12.45 p.m.
                                    Men 35-49                                             1.45 p.m.

Awards:                        Awards will be presented in the Athletics Stadium at 2.30pm

First Aid:                       First Aid will be provided by British Red Cross.

SWVAC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

It has been decided that we should once again stage a Club Cross Country Championship Race. Over recent years there has either been no championship or it has been run anonymously on the back of a race in the Westward League. It is therefore something of a financial risk and so will be deliberately low key but in the old tradition of cross country. That means a proper course and not a race around the local rugby field.

Such a course has been discovered and with a lap distance of just under 2 km there will be 4 laps for men up to 69 and 3 for the ladies and M70+. We will also accept entries from M35's to show how progressive we are. The date is set for Sunday 30 January 2005 to avoid a clash with any of the numerous Cross Country Leagues in our area.

The course has two hills in it - one up and one down - and is situated on farmland close to the Coastal Path on the outskirts of Sidmouth in East Devon.

Put the date in your diaries and further information can be obtained from

Bill Valentine on 01395 516763

BRITISH AND IRISH MASTERS CROSS COUNTRY INTERNATIONAL

Saturday 12 November 2005

Once again the time has arrived to start the process of selecting the England Teams for the Cross Country International. Any English member of SW Vets wishing to be considered for selection should in the first instance send a Stamped and Addressed Envelope to me, Bill Valentine, for further information. My address is 16 Manstone Avenue, SIDMOUTH, Devon EX10 9TF.

The selection meeting will take place in October and top consideration is given to National BMAF events especially Cross Country, 5 mile and 10k road and track races (5k also for ladies). Teams are selected for each of the 5 year age groups, male and female.

I look forward to hearing from some of you classy runners.

Yours in Sport,

Bill

BMAF Decathlon Championships 2004

These Champioships were held in Sheffield over the weekend 11-12 September. South West Vets came away with three medals. Andy Waddington took Gold amongst the M40s as did Brian Loten M60. Julian Kennedy M50 took Silver.

For a full set of results click here.

August 2004 Edition of Veteranews

This newsletter is sent free to all members of South West Veterans AC and the August edition will be sent out very shortly

TRACK AND FIELD GRAND PRIX 2004

Any member wanting to be considered for the SWVAC Grand Prix prizes should send their best four performances in any Track or Field events this summer to Julian Kennedy. The best performances based on age adjusted percentages will be the winner.