No. 125
The Trusty Servant
OWTC:
Anthony Doolitttle reports: The annual cross-country Alumni Race on 16 th December, ably organised by David Jenkins, gets every more popular and competitive each year. Over the traditional, and typically muddy, course on Wimbledon Common, a strong OWTC open squad ran well but was unable to defend its title, coming second to an even stronger Sherborne squad. The team organiser had thought that his new( fatherhood-induced) lack of fitness had torpedoed the team’ s result. But it turns out- to my great relief- that I was quite a long way outside the scoring four. Congratulations instead go to James Hoad( Coll, 05-10)( 5 th), Simon Baines( G, 84-89)( 11 th), Harry Scriven( K, 97- 02)( 12 th) and John Loveday( G, 94-99)( 28 th) for their strong runs. The OWTC senior squad was a long way ahead of 3 rd place, but we need to up our game by 11 points next year! In the individual standings, many congratulations to Simon Baines for being the quickest V40 by almost a minute and also for winning( by 0.11 %, whatever that means) the age-graded individual competition.
Sadly, our annual fixture against the school fell victim to the snow and ice of March, when skis and polls, rather than rubber studs, would have been required to navigate Hills Valley and Twyford Down. That has not prevented OWs from putting in some impressive performances in races elsewhere. In particular, James Hoad continues to run strongly, notably winning the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October 2017 and coming 80 th at the National Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships. Simon Baines also continues to remind us of his running pedigree, most recently winning an individual gold medal in the V45 British Masters( BMAF) Cross Country Championships.
If you would like to be included on the mailing list for the OWTC, please contact Anthony Doolittle at tony _ doolittle @ hotmail. com. New runners of all ages and speeds are always very welcome.
Obiter dicta NAWM Garthwaite( C, 65-69) organised another small OW reunion at a wine bar in Central London on Monday 8 th January. No hot or singing of‘ Domum’. Present were: RBP Jennings( C, 62-67) and two of his friends( from the Balham area apparently), JRM Noble( I, 65-70), TM Verity( K, 61-65), RG Chaplin( G, 65-70), PR Taylor( G, 65-69), DE Levett( A, 97-02) and FA Kershaw( A, 97-02).
JE Ramsay( K, 97-02) writes: I wondered whether you might be interested in a social enterprise I set up to help people living with dementia and adults with learning disabilities. We were featured on Sky News and had nearly 25 million views in total across all networks. The feature is at 5mins 30secs at www. youtube. com / watch? v = dz8F8mF78mA and tells you all about this life changing technology.
This April, TJH Towler( G, 00-05) took part in the Marathon des Sables( six marathons in six days in the Sahara Desert) with two friends to raise money for the NSPCC. The perfect way to spend post operational leave... N Entwistle( H, 83-88) also took part in this gruelling competition.
George Oborne’ s( E, 02-07) wedding to Laura Amaya took place at Villa de Leyva, Colombia. l-r: Dan Risch( H, 02-07), Teddy Pybus( I, 02-07), John Wilson( E, 01-06), George Harwood( K, 02-07), Jack Howard( E, 02-07), George Oborne( E, 02-07), Laura Amaya, James Harrison-Allen( C, 02-05), Joe Saumarez Smith( B, 84-89), Tom Davenport( E, 02-07), Tristan Wooton( F, 03-08), Patrick Halling( E, 01-06), Jonny Hargreaves( E, 00-05)
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