Entries are now open for the Donut 10. That's 10 miles not 10km as the residents of Mirdif are still in the Dark Ages and have not embraced the metric system. Anyway, its a chance to stroll through the picturesque Mushrif Park on 19th November 2010.  Entries are limited so register early to avoid disappointment.

You can enter at the Premier Marathons using the following link:

"http://www.premiermarathons.com/event/Donut_2010"

We are now running on Wednesdays at Mizhar Park. You are welcome to join us for a couple of laps of the 3km flat spongy track or our club interval session.

I would highly recommend intervals for anyone who has aspirations for PB's this season.  I can vouch for these being an essential part of your training and general fitness.  We start at 7pm (warmed up, please bring water to quench that thirst). But don't just take my word for the benefits of intervals, here are some quoted from our Milers:

“Pyramids, aren’t they those big buildings in Egypt?”

“I never knew the joy of running until I chased Jacko around Mizhar”

“Just remind me do I vomit after the seventh or eighth repetition?”

“Is it me or are the recoveries getting shorter”

Sproggo

Dubai Road Runners 10k Race Report

Saturday 27^th March saw the inaugural run at the Dubai Autodrome. Rumors were rife of a hilly course not unlike the undulations of Mushrif Park. As I waited on the “grid” reports reached me of a nasty hill at 4k/9k. Unfazed by this and remembering some of the hills at Khalwaneej I decided the training would pay off and made the decision not to find a hamstring twinge and complete a late pull-out.

We set off and found the course was a little faster than I imagined. The two 5k laps of the smoothest tarmac I have ever run on were very pleasant. The views were great and not a racing car in sight. The only issue was trying to work out the quickest line and that maybe contributed to my Garmin clocking 10,170 meters for the run. I need to get a better sense of direction.

Despite the lower Miler numbers there were some great performances with Milers securing a number of high finishes in their age categories. The full results are shown below.

Even though he was suffering from a “chesty cough” and severe depression over the recent run of Celtic, Chris managed to pull himself around to a very respectable 4^th. I have re-aged Chris several times recently and this time he was placed in his rightful category and took 1^st place 40-45 section and 4^th overall.

The Forsythe pairing did not disappoint and although times were slower than normal the course and heat did play their part. As Elaine commented after the race “sport was the winner”.

Bruno and Hassan managed to negotiate the twists of the course and showed that those laps of Mushrif and Mizhar do pay off in the end.

Neil went off like a man on a mission and realized the pace was hot after negotiating the first km in around 3:30. Good sense prevailed, he settled into a more acceptable pace and he took home the honors as 1^st in his age grade an 13tth overall.

Our winning International athlete Anne, fresh from her victory in Bahrain, had high hopes of more silverware but revealed after the race her meticulous pre race diet had been somewhat hampered by not quite getting the coke/merlot balance quite right in the lead up to the event.

For myself a respectable 3^rd place in my category and not to shabby as I have been very lazy over the last few weeks but now Dave is back I need to step it up again as I know he is on a mission to get back to full fitness.

All comments, complaints and debates on accuracy or bias should be posted to Graham at graham.spriggs@hct.ac.ae

We have a number of runs to cater for all abilities and tastes.

 Monday: Our Monday run is at Mushrif Park on the Al Khawaneej Road. The turning for the park is about 500m after the Petrol station as you are heading out of Dubai past Mirdif. We meet outside the main gates at around 18:50 for a 19:00 start. The usual run is a circuit of the park which is 4.4km of traffic free and scenic open space. The circuit is slightly undulating. After a break for drinks runners can opt for a second lap. Please bring 5AED as we will provide drinks and 3AED for entrance to the park. The total distance is around 9km.

For those wanting a longer run then an extra lap of the park before the 19:00 start is an option. It is not unusual to find fellow runners to keep you company if you fancy this. 

Wednesday: There will be a relaxed social run starting at 1900 from Uptown School car park, through Shurooq and Mirdif East! Somewhere between 8-10km. Please bring some coins for a drink stop along the way as drinks on route are not provided.

 We also plan club socials which are open to all runners following the first Wednesday run of the Month at a Mirdif residence. A charge of AED 20 will be made for Pizza to all who attend, bring your own beverages. Watch the website or email list for further details. (if you are not on our contact list then email graham.spriggs@hct.ac.ae)

 Saturday:  Meet at 0600 in the car park adjacent to the Lafi, Al Khawaneej. From Mirdif go up Al Khawaneej Road past Mushrif park, straight across the roundabout at Academic City Road, until you come to Al Khawaneej roundabout, go straight across the roundabout and take the first right after about 200 meters, follow the road around past the Health Centre and the car park is on the right.

 Distance is usually about 20km in total but we do cater for shorter distances by returning to the Lafi for drinks around half-way. This is a very scenic area of Dubai, largely traffic free and covering road, tracks and some sandy desert tracks. Camels, goats and local wildlife usually are in evidence.

For further details or questions about any of the runs please contact graham.spriggs@hct.ac.ae

Following a cabinet reshuffle the milers will hopefully go on to bigger and better things. New positions are

Life President: Martin Scadden

Chairman: Dave Jackson

Technical Director / Minister without portfolio: Chris McCann

Web Site Director: Graham Spriggs, if you have something you want put on the website contact Graham. graham.spriggs@hct.ac.ae Don’t forget anyone can post on the Micro Blog at www.mirdifmilers.com

Social Secretary and Club Kit: Malcolm Gatenby

Treasurer: Chris Little

Secretary: Amelia Varley

Club Mum: Elaine Forsythe……… If your new to the Milers Elaine will take you under her wing!

Club Socials: Will return to the Villas of Mirdif following the first Wednesday run of the Month, A charge of AED 20 will be made for Pizza to all who attend, bring your own beverages. More details later

Club Kit: Malcolm will be ordering some new kit soon and will be send out a email on what is available for order shortly.

Wednesday Runs: There will from this week onwards be a “unofficial” Milers run starting at 1900 from Uptown school car park, through Shurooq and Mirdif East! Somewhere between 8 -10K, bring some coins for a drink stop along the way.

Monday Runs: Will continue to be at Mushriff park 1900.

Saturday Runs: Will as from this week officially start at 0600 at car park adjacent to the Lafi, Al Khawaneej. From Mirdif go up Al Khawaneej road past Mushriff park, straight across the roundabout at Academic city road, until you come to Al Khawaneej roundabout, go straight across the roundabout and take the first right after about 200 metres, follow the road around past the Health centre and the car park is on the right. The official run will be 20K or so but there is a 8 – 10K option. Mr Spriggs will be leading the way, I may well take the 8K option!

The Cheeky 5 –  April 23^rd. We are waiting on park permission at the moment, once that is received, entries will be opened on Premier marathons. This will be held at Mizhar track and being the Milers we are going to throw in 20% extra free and have a 2 lap race which will be 6K in distance. PB’s guaranteed for the 6K distance!

RAK via Bahrain

Ok Milers this time you get two race reports for the price of one.

Before we get the RAK results dissected we need to pay homage to another international Milers winner. Following in the footsteps of the UK’s number one Tri-athlete and party girl Sara Connor, Anne Danson-Scaddon swept all aside by winning overseas. No onlty did she triumph in her age category but also won the overall ladies title in the Bahrain Marathon. The running conditions were against her, very hot and 4 times over a new bridge !!  At the time of writing I am not aware what prize was won but hope that Anne will share with all the Milers who have supported her in training.

Turning to more domestic matters the RAK Marathon again provided a well organized and enjoyable event. Unfortunately injury still persists in the club. Rumor has it the Charlie Fairhead will be in the asked to join the Milers next year.

13 Milers made the starting line in excellent conditions in anticipation of a flat, fast course.

First Miler home was Chris McCann in 01:19:48, over 7 minutes quicker than in 2009. Chris was placed 7^th in the UAE Residents category. Chris’s 27^th Male on the day was a fantastic achievement when you bear in mind most of the guys in front of him were “professional” athletes who had pacemakers, their own toilets and changing facilities. Frankly though they look like they could do with a good meal and a few beers. Maybe they need to come on a Milers social.

Closest battle of the day was surely between Dave and Elaine Forsythe. At the finish the clock could not separate them, both achieving a time of 02:07:17.

Two blasts from the past registered as Milers. Nick Gould and Julio Sanchez finished in 1:29:13 and 2:08:31 respectively. I am sure Nick will be pleased as his time was nearly 2 minutes quicker than his effort in the Creek Striders Half in December.

Tony McGuire ran a race looking very much like Malcolm Gatenby and came in a respectable 1:44:27. (a time that MG would have been happy with…2 years ago)

The injury curse and the ghosts of Wadhi Bih came back to haunt Jim Harlock who was flying and went through 15km miles in 1 hour. Jim was nervous before the race as he was coming back from injury. Disaster struck in the late stages with a muscle strain but being a true Miler he carried on and still recorded a time of 1:33:08.

Stefan Schell continued on from his excellent marathon debut with a solid 1:49:55 and I saw him finish and he looked very comfortable, I swear he was actually enjoying the experience in the finishing straight.

Chris Little was just slower than last year at 1:43:12 but recovering from injury is going to take some time and Chris will be back soon to full fitness.

Graham Spriggs, without the motivating factors of Malcolm and Dave, had to make do with finding someone else to play with. It did him no harm knocking 4 minutes off last year’s time and recording 1:30:21. This earned him a 9^th Male Master spot.

Another massive improvement came from Nico Kruger who was 5 minutes quicker than his 2009 Striders run in 1:54:51.

Last word goes to Graham Rafferty who is listed as a Miler on the results and we are proud to have him. 2:03.

Well done to all Milers. If you ran but you did not get a mention then please let us know so we can share your experience.

Ann Scadden comes 1st in the F40 in a time of 3:54;16 in very hot conditions

Congratulations to her from the Milers.

Full report to follow

Report by Graham Spriggs

On 5^th February under fairly dark skies 9 Milers gathered to run three picturesque laps of the Mina Seyahi in the Abra’s 10K. The event was taken over by various Nickelback Road Crew and this runner was disappointed that it was not Status Quo gracing the event. Apparently the Quo crew could not run as they were having trouble with Zimmer frames cornering on the tight turns. Anyway I will not stoop to the level of the Abra’s correspondent and put in as many Nickelback song titles as I can research on Wikipedia.

It is hard to pick out a single performance of the day as all the Milers had great runs and had their own personal triumphs. The start was again congested but Dominic got a quicker start than he imagined he would and found he had run the first 1km in 4:10. Knowing this was going to be his day he pushed on and got a PB. His time of 44:34 surpassing his previous best by a full 4 minutes.

Elaine (55:38) was quoted as “being very happy to be back” as she exited the finishing tunnel. I will not quote her exact words at the finish but her smile said it all.

Craig followed up a  solid Dubai Marathon 10km with another quick run in 43:37 and also finished 2^nd in his age category.

Good finishes in age categories became the order of the day with Chris McCann (35:16) finishing second (much like Celtic will do this season) in his as well as grabbing overall 2^nd place. Andrew Gregory (46:34) claimed 4^th spot in his category as did Graham Spriggs in a very fast PB of 40:46. Neil Smith also picked up third place in his age group with a time of 39:26.

Anne Scaddon  picked up some very nice silverware, a 200 AED gift voucher and some very dubious looking powered milk drink for her 2^nd place in the FV45 group.

Dave Moran produced a solid run with a very creditable 46:52.

On the team front, despite the low Milers turnout we bagged third spot in the Open category and the Vets Team of Chris, Neil and Graham showed that there is life in the old dogs by finishing 2^nd.

So next big event is almost “back to back” with the Abra’s race “down Down” in Rak. So if you want to get on the ”wild side of life” and you have no injuries from being “accident prone” then start “dreamin” about a quick time, find a friend called “Caroline” to drive you, “don’t stop” during the race, keep “rocking all over the world” and remember that with the Milers “the party ain’t over yet” even if you are Neil Smith and you’re “in the army now”. Sorry, couldn’t resist it!

Dubai Marathon January 22^nd 2010

14 Mirdif Milers ran in the 42k Race. (MM finish the 4th Male team out of 22)

4 Milers ran the 10K race

Well done to the 3 runners who all “enjoyed” there 1^st Marathon

Special mention to Chris McCann 6^th overall M40, Ian Clarke 6^th overall M55, Ann Scadden 7^th overall F45

PB’s for Graham Spriggs, Ian Clarke & Dave Forsythe

Special mention to Neil Smith who came 4^th overall M45 in the 10K running a very fast 39:17

And our youngest runner Michael Spriggs who ran 10K in an impressive 1:04:36

All the results below Marathon