2014 Fell Handicap Dec 14th

[Simon Harding]

Phil

Could you add Stefan Phillips to the list. He is a Macc Harrier but hasn't done the handicap before.

He hasn't raced much this year due to injury. He was 12 minutes behind Digby in last years Ennerdale fell race so could set Stef off with him.

Thanks
Simon

[markfmessenger]

Hi Phil,
(Un)Fortunatly I'm working on Sunday so won't be able to enjoy the iced water bogfest to the sweetie tree this year. Hope it goes well and everyone has a fun and safe time.
Cheers,
Mark Messenger

[phil cheek]

Simon,
Of course Stefan is welcome.He will start with a group at 10.05.make sure he knows the kit requirements please
Phil

[Ang]

Phil,
I have been in Mexico, injured and ill (in no particular order) and hence can't run on Sunday. I was supposed to be working, but have taken some annual leave so I can come to support everyone bravely confronting the snow and ice!
I can help with the start, so unless told otherwise will aim to be there before 9.

Is it just my computer, but the Macc web pages seem to be taking ages to load?
Angela

[mudskimmer]

...they're taking ages to load

[jimkelly]

Phil
I shall have to miss out unfortunately, I'm banjaxed with a sore-ish throat and general lethargy. Not wise methinks to venture out tomorrow.
The way is now clear for Tucker to sweep to victory!

I hope it turns out nice for everyone. Weather like this morning woiuld be brilliant

[phil cheek]

Thanks Ange,it will be good to see you & it will mean I can send Simon off to the Cat in good time.
Jim sorry you`re lurgied,
Blizzardy at times up at the sweetie tree yesterday & the amazing sight of bright low sun shining through a blizzard as I drove back down.
Phil

[Neil Gunn]

Big thanks to Phil and 'the team' for organising (especially clever to keep the rain away until we had all finished). As usual, great event!

New Year resolution for me (again) - learn to run faster downhill!

Thanks again...

[phil cheek]

Thanks all for turning out,& to Barry,Barry,Ange,Simon for helping today & to the Turner mobile catering company.And to Pete & Chris for helping with signs yesterday.Jo & Brian were also out on the fell today keeping an eye out for you.And of course thanks for their support to President Bob & his 1st Lady Pauline who stood around in the cold at the finish despite spending 6 hours out at the xcountry yesterday.
Tucker beat you all & above all beat the handicapper hands down & has now joined an elite band (Pete Redhead & Andy Addis) who have won twice & so must never win again!
Tucker spends so much time telling of his " moral victories" in the handicap that it`s easy to overlook the fact that 23 years have passed since his last win.He now get ready for 12 months of loafing till his next run at his proper pace,which remains scarily quick for a man of his extreme age.
Signs are in,Jules has volunteered to decipher results & I`ll get up to retrieve the sweeties during the week.
Phil

[Julian Brown]

Good to see so many fell runners out and about, weather turned out OK, although no shortage of ice on the track over to the Cat, and snow down to the sweetie tree (and a bit chilly on the feet, can it be flagged or tarmaced soon....)

We had 44 starters, a few down on last year (but still more than enough to shout down the football fans in the pub), and of them Trev succumbed to the delights of Kath's catering and the comforts of the cat campervan, and Digby was unfortunately forced to retire early on with a runny nose.
Everyone else seems to have made it back, before 1pm, more or less sound in wind and limb and in one piece.
We had doggy disagreements and canine capers at Clough Farm, and rowdy ramblers (about 50 of them) at the stile on the way down to Lamaload.
Not to mention a few tired legs on the climbs and a bit of mincing downhill, and one or two unplanned detours.

Tucker of course won, (by 16 minutes !) as everyone knew he would.
Well done Dave, (it shouldn't be forgotten he won the Polly Lander Orienteering in the summer which was NOT a handicap race !), but there were some excellent runs from Carl and Stefan who on any other year would probably have won it.
(Trouble is, you'll be starting later next year, so you'll have to run faster !!!!)

Phil had forgotten that we introduced chip timing this year (my record is about 4 minutes for a large portion) so thanks to the miracle of science the results are here..

http://www.macclesfield-harriers.co.uk/images/fell%20handicap%202014.xls

or in an almost illegible format below.

And finally - huge thanks to Phil, and to everyone who helped out.

And if you've still got the legs, it's street orienteering from the Vale Wednesday, 7pm, all welcome !

1 DAVE TUCKER 11:56:10 09:20:00 11:56:10 02:36:10 22
2 CARL HANAGHAN 12:12:01 10:00:00 12:12:01 02:12:01 6
3 STEFAN PHILLIPS 12:12:26 10:05:00 12:12:26 02:07:26 4
4 ED GAMBLE 12:14:38 10:10:00 12:14:38 02:04:38 2
5 JULIAN BROWN 12:15:04 10:00:00 12:15:04 02:15:04 8
6 MATT LEWIS 12:16:12 10:00:00 12:16:12 02:16:12 10
7 DAN CROFT 12:16:28 10:10:00 12:16:28 02:06:28 3
8 MARK WHEELTON 12:17:08 09:10:00 12:17:08 03:07:08 36
9 KIRSTY HEWITSON 12:17:14 09:40:00 12:17:14 02:37:14 24
10 STEVE SWALLOW 12:17:53 09:50:00 12:17:53 02:27:53 15
11 MARTIN RANDS 12:19:00 09:30:00 12:19:00 02:49:00 31
12 DAVE WHITFIELD 12:19:05 09:55:00 12:19:05 02:24:05 12
13 ANDY SKELHORN + Lilly 12:19:25 09:20:00 12:19:25 02:59:25 35
14 IAN HUGHES 12:19:39 10:00:00 12:19:39 02:19:39 11
15 MIKE NELSON 12:19:48 10:05:00 12:19:48 02:14:48 7
16 JOHN MCINTOSH 12:21:38 09:40:00 12:21:38 02:41:38 28
17 BARRY BLYTH 12:21:41 09:55:00 12:21:41 02:26:41 14
18 PHIL BARNES 12:21:56 09:45:00 12:21:56 02:36:56 23
19 SIMON HARDING + Rosie 12:22:59 10:25:00 12:22:59 01:57:59 1
20 NEIL GUNN 12:23:25 09:45:00 12:23:25 02:38:25 26
21 ANDREW ADDIS 12:24:27 09:30:00 12:24:27 02:54:27 32
22 CLARE GRIFFIN + Kirby 12:24:28 09:40:00 12:24:28 02:44:28 29
23 RICHARD AINLEY 12:25:00 09:10:00 12:25:00 03:15:00 38
24 STEPHEN WATTS 12:25:06 10:15:00 12:25:06 02:10:06 5
25 DAVE FOLLETT 12:25:16 09:50:00 12:25:16 02:35:16 21
26 CHRIS BENTLEY 12:25:36 10:10:00 12:25:36 02:15:36 9
27 DAVE WALKER 12:25:40 09:10:00 12:05:40 02:55:40 00:20:00 33
28 ANDREA FROST 12:26:15 09:45:00 12:26:15 02:41:15 27
29 MATT YARDLEY 12:28:56 09:55:00 12:28:56 02:33:56 20
30 ANDREW OLIVER 12:32:25 10:00:00 12:32:25 02:32:25 17
31 JUDE WHITEHALL 12:34:22 09:00:00 12:34:22 03:34:22 39
32 GEOFF PETTENGELL 12:34:38 09:50:00 12:34:38 02:44:38 30
33 JAMES NOAKES 12:35:53 10:10:00 12:35:53 02:25:53 13
34 ROB GITTINS 12:38:10 10:00:00 12:38:10 02:38:10 25
35 NANCY BUNYAN 12:39:22 09:00:00 12:39:22 03:39:22 40
36 RAY O'KEEFE 12:43:00 09:35:00 12:43:00 03:08:00 37
37 JACOB ROBERTS 12:43:13 10:10:00 12:43:13 02:33:13 18
38 ALISTAIR THORNTON 12:43:13 10:10:00 12:43:13 02:33:13 19
39 STEVE MILLER 12:43:30 09:55:00 12:23:30 02:28:30 00:20:00 16
40 DAMIAN RIDGE 12:44:04 09:45:00 12:44:04 02:59:04 34
41 DON BULLOUGH 12:55:43 09:00:00 12:55:43 03:55:43 41
42 NICKY MOWAT 12:55:43 09:00:00 12:55:43 03:55:43 42
TREVOR LONGMAN dnf 09:45:00
DIGBY HARRIS dnf 10:10:00

[BARRY BLYTH]

Re the handicapping it's interesting to see how individuals did against predicted times based on race data. The more races and range of races the more accurate it's likely to be. For those that did several then here's how they did:

predicted actual difference
Simon Harding 1.17 1.17 0 with Rosie too
Dan Croft 2.09 2.06 -3
Matt Lewis 2.18 2.16 -2
Julian Brown 2.23 2.15 -8 and he did cross country the day before passed me whilst I was having a tea break at Greg & Cath's caf
Barry Blyth 2.24 2.26 2 minus how long to get served and drink a tea about 2 mins?
Phil Barnes 2.34 2.36 2
Andrea Frost 2.34 2.41 7
Mark Wheelton 2.54 3.07 13
Chris Bentley 2.07 2.15 8

Dave T only did 2 races Mow Cop and Rainow 5; reluctantly as he was hoping just to go for a club but everone was racing! It's not surpising that he beat his predicted time of 2.56 and did 2.36.
I expected him to do 2.40 so well done for beating that.

Sports massage for me before wed's frenetic running round the streets of Bollington. I think I need to borrow Andy's Labrador on the grounds that they make good "dogs for the blind".

Barry
me

[mhlewis]

Thanks Phil, Barry, and team.
It was great fun as always. I especially love the inevitability that someone is going to overtake me (usually on the grassy slopes leading to the Setter Dog). O Lucky Tucker to escape that fate!

[BARRY BLYTH]

This was the final race of our club champs. I've attached the final based on handicap and this shows Matt Lewis 1st with 6662 followed by Mark Messenger 6579 and Rachael Lawrance 6489. Matt has consistently run above his par this year. Julian was running well in his last few races but left it too effect the top of the table.

A big surprise was that Jacob Roberts in doing this race although he struggled managed to get a "long" in and went 1st in the overall championship.

Barry

[Brian J]

Congratulations Tucker! Your cunning plan was exceedingly well conceived and executed. I hope that you looked appropriately sheepish at the prizegiving and will not be totally insufferable for the next 12 months.

I hope to make it next year when I trust that the handicapping will not be based on evidence such as race results and statistical analysis but reverts to the tried and tested methods of "hunch and prejudice". Sounds like the usual excellent event - all down to the good work of Phil, his helpers on the day and St. Dunstan's.

[phil cheek]

I`m intrigued by Julian`s reference to dogs at Clough House Farm.
What was that about?One of the reasons for going round & through the car park is to avoid the farm dogs in case they are not chained up(the other is to avoid the risk of the gate being left open)
Phil