Summer and Winter Handicap Series

The Handicap Organisers are -

1st Oct    Rachel Badham
5th Nov    Keith Simpson
3rd Dec    Rachel Badham
7th Jan    Gary Robinson
4th Feb    Susan Cargill
4th Mar    tbc

Summer Handicap 2010

The Handicaps & Results to date are here

May Handicap

Thursday 6th May 2010

There was a dead heat for first place as Andrew Orchard and Jake Burns crossed the line together.

Thanks to all who helped marshal this months race, namely Megan, Shelley, Greg and Andy B. Also special thanks to Megan and Gary who sorted out the timing and enabled the results to be issued so quickly.

April Handicap

Thursday 8th April 2010

Thursday saw the start of the summer handicap series. Due to the works on the towpath we had to use the winter handicap course trimmed down to three miles.

With only 6 runners at start line at 7:20 it looked like there would be as many helpers as runners but a late influx of runners from Scott's session boosted the turnout. Unfortunately for the late arrivals the race had already started with only Anna C left to go.

Congratulations to winner David Brooks who also ran a summer handicap PB!

Thanks to Burkhard, Andy B, Rachel, James and Pete for helping out.

Winter Handicap 2009-2010

The Handicaps & Results to date are here

Download the Results for the Winter Handicap 2008/2009 series here

March Handicap 2010

Sadly Thursday was the last of the Winter Handicaps...  There were a lucky 13 x W4H runners who took on the chilly challenge. 
 
Thursday 4th March 10 - Handicap Results
 
Congratulations to Jen on winning her first Handicap and to our other top 2 finishers who also ran PBs that night.
 
1.  Jen Kingwell  33.22 PB!
2.  Shelley Martin  32.31 PB!
3.  Dave Brooks   25.38  PB!
4.  Ali Brownhill   27.14
5.  Tom Hartley  26.01  PB!
6.  Cliff Mills  27.00
7.  Andrew Orchard  26.06
8.  Megan Ratcliffe  29.06
9.  Isobel Rea 25.25
10. Gary Robinson  26.31
11. Roy Kew  34.34
12. John Blake  27.00
13. Fiona Hopwood  32.01
 
Thanks to Anna B for being Official, Pete for timing correctly, Lou for providing the BEST (and only) handicap snacks ever, Greg for shining brightly, Keith for parading his legs for the ladies & commuters going home, Jon for shouting helpful abuse and me for typing this up.
 
The first Summer Handicap will be Thursday 1st April (no joke..) where we will announce this year's Winter Winner...
Note the 3 mile Summer course will be different for the start of this season because of the works on the Towpath. Details of the temporary route will be emailed round nearer the time.

December Handicap 2009

As it was a little chiller than normal on the Bridge, it was decided the runners would go off on a mass start. This didn't prevent newbie to the Winter handicap, Rich Berry from navigating his way to an impressive first time of 24.38. Last month's winner Keith Hodgson knocked an almight 62 seconds off his previous time, with Dave "och I'm in the Marathon" Brooks taking nearly half a minute of his time too.

The best competitor on the night goes to winner Laura Pawsey who was so nervous before the start of the handicap and then proceeded to run her little socks off and win the event!
The best torch display goes to Bethan. We'll forgive her the fact she didn't realise she needed to wait for the runners to return for a second lap, as we made her stand on her own, in a dark, secluded spot with only a large beam for protection.
And it was two-times unlucky for Patricia and her sat-nav, but she has promised she won't make the same mistake next time. Or will she??

As next month Keith, Shelley and I will be making our debut appearance at the Winter Handicap, a few more volunteers will be needed to help Gary & Pete on the bridge.

See you all Thursday 7th Jan 2010!

November Handicap 2009

November's Handicap saw another new member storming to the winning position. Keith Hodgson ran an impressive 26.55 for his first ever handicap. As a newbie, he was set off with Rose and being a gentleman asked her what the etiquette was for these handicaps races, should they run together all the way? Rose politely replied, "No, this is a race" at which point the penny dropped and Keith sped off!

Thursday saw a handful of PBs too.

Greg Reichmann - New PB 34 secs [note last month's prediction]
Dave Larkam - New PB by 16 secs
Rose Lewis - New PB by 6 secs.
Burkhard Fehsenfeld - New PB by 4 secs

Two out of six handicaps have been completed and already it's neck and neck at the top of the table with Greg and Steve (Winter Handicap Champion 07/08) joint top of the leader board. Antony and Roy are battling it out for 3rd and 4th place. [For details see the Points tab on the Overall Results table]

Next Handicap: Thursday 3rd December.

October Handicap 2009

There's a new kid in town..

A select eleven of West 4's finest ran in the first of 09/10 Winter Handicap's last night.

We underestimated the state of Greg "man of few words" Reichmann's legs post his Berlin Marathon efforts two weeks ago. He ran just under 2 minutes quicker than his calculated Winter time and as this was his first attempt at the route, he will surely go quicker next time with fresher legs and better tactics on route!

If it hadn't been for the pesky new boy, Antony would have been our most spectacular winner last night. Antony has been putting in some serious leg work in preparation for this season's XC and my word it's working! He flew round the figure of 8 route, taking no prisoners..

Other impressive times came from Isobel with a new PB on the 4-miler course, beating her predicted Winter time by 8 seconds. Stevie J, sporting this season's Virgin Marathon-wear, also beat his by 18 seconds!! Our other newbie to the Winter race series, David Brooks, ran a very fine time for his first efforts but wasn't satisfied... He has my course PB of 26.08 that he's gunning for and like Greg, now he knows his way it won't be long before he gets there. With my Winter season over before it's started, I will have to get him next year!!

Our reigning Summer Handicap God has stumbled at the first Winter hurdle (I'm sure it's only temporary..) Later at the bar Rory was overheard mumbling into his gambo, "I've let myself down, I've let number 27 down, I've let West 4 Harriers down..
On a more happier note for our sorry runner, we were able to cheer him up with more beers and a presentation of his well deserved, shiny Summer Handicap shield!

Thank you to Pete & Mark as always and to Jon, Rose & Shelley who helped with the recordings at the Finish. Next time, we promise to have a torch team in place by the dark alley turning.

See you all for Thursday 5th November.

03/09/2009 Summer Handicap September 2009

Congratulations to Rachael on winning the September handicap and in only her second race on the course.  The other noteable fanfare of course goes to the Overall Winner of the Summer Series... Rory Ferguson! Rory has improved with every handicap run and finished the season with another impressive PB of 17.48!

1.  Rachael Rowlands         24.00
2.  Helen Lovett                 24.50
3.  Louise Ferguson           19.31
4.  Dave Brooks                 19.01
5.  Rory Ferguson              17.48
6.  Chris Twiselton             17.01
7.  Simon Smith (Guest)     20.52
8.  Cliff Mills                     19.50
9.  Tom Pocock                 19.41
10. Megan Ratcliffe           21.43
11. Andy Bowen               19.14
12. Rose Lewis                 20.19
13. John De Castro            18.18
14. Burkhard Fehensfeld    18.28
15. Antony Diangelo          17.19
16. Ian Carson                  20.58
17. Matt Holden                17.49
18. Steve Jessop              21.52
19. Isobel Rea                 19.48
20. Anna Beausire            22.00

Next Race: Winter Handicap, Thursday 1st October.

06/08/2009 Summer Handicap August 2009

Well done to Greg in his first appearance at the Club handicap, he ran an impressive time for 3 miles and won the event!

1.  Greg Reichmann         20:21  *WINNER*
2.  Roy Kew                   24:41
3.  Rory Ferguson           18:00
4.  Dave Brooks              19:16
5.  Gary Robinson            18:08
6.  Adam Rathbone          17:45
7.  Charlie Cooper (G)      18:13
8.  Michael (G)               19:19
9.  John Blake                18:22
10. Ali Brownhill              19:45
11. Cliff Mills                  19:59
12. James Eatwell           20:53
13. Judith  Sinfield          22:55
14. Rose Lewis               20:31
15. Burkhard Fehsenfeld  18:27
16. Scott Mitchell          18:03
17. Rachel Badham         19:37
18. John Scott-Francis   19:59
19. Matt Holden            17:38
20. Fiona Hopwood        23:11

Lots of Thank Yous to...

Susan "The Voice" Cargill for being Chief Organiser & Line-up Bellower.

To her team of helpers; Pete "the stopwatch" Brown, Mark "the clipboard" Critchlow, Catherine "Kit Monitor" Stephens, Shelley "Kit Monitor's Assistant" Martin, Keith "the Driver" Simpson and Andy "What did you do??" Bowen.

Finally to Steve "Biri" Jessop for a fantastic meal for our Post-run social which was to celebrate Pete's new beard, August's fine weather and 20 years of West 4. 

Last Summer Handicap: Thursday 3rd September

04/07/2009 Summer Handicap July 2009

HANDICAP RESULTS

1. KEITH SIMPSON               19.18

2. DAVID BROOKS (GUEST) 19.51

3. CHRIS TWISTLETON        17.12

4. JOHN BLAKE                     18.23

5. RORY FERGUSON             18.47

6. LOUISE FERGUSON          20.03

7. RACHEL BADHAM             19.25

8. BURKHARD FEHENSELD   18.34

9. CLIFF MILLS                      20.26

10. JOHN DE CASTRO             18.53

11. GARY ROBINSON              18.55

12. STEVE JESSOP                  21.56

13. JAMES EATWELL               21.53

14. JON SCOTT-FRANCIS       20.52

15. ANTHONY DIANGELO        18.46

16. ROSE LEWIS                      22.23

17. KRISTA POZNIKOFF          25.18

18. RACHEL (GUEST)              26.32

19. TOM (GUEST)                    28.42

20. MATT HOLDEN                  DNF

The fourth race of the series saw a large turnout with Keith recording his first victory in the series.

Thank s to all who volunteered to help : Anna B Head girl

Mark, Shelley and Susan Timing/Recording

Next Race 6^th August

04/06/2009   Summer Handicap June 2009

Many thanks to Anna B, Mark C, Andy B, Rose and Justin who organised and timed tonight.    13 runners turned out to race with Judith winning her second handicap of this years summer series.

09/05/2009          Summer Handicap May 2009

It was a chilly May night for the 2nd Summer Handicap, which saw some of our Marathoners still managing to produce good times, only 2 weeks after running London and Zurich.