As many of you know, Judy has handed over the reigns as Waffle Editor to Jess Hall.  Jess is currently re-designing the Waffle and is inviting inputs from members for the next edition.  

So, If you have any race reports or stories, interesting (safe!) photos from races or social evens, or letters, coaching questions, training advice, or anything else that you think your fellow Windmilers may find interesting then please send them to
windmilerswaffle@googlemail.com by May 20th.

Many thanks!  Jess Hall, Waffle Editor

John Brame from Tri & Run in Wimbledon has set up an open water swimming venue, which opens this weekend on a limited basis. Details are shown below, but this Saturday there will be a limited number allowed to swim (25). This is open to Windmilers, but you do need to email John in advance (rgactive@mac.com) to book a slot.

The cost is £15, but this does include some coaching (bearing in mind there will be up to 25 of you, so not one-to-one), which is pretty cheap compared to anywhere else. John did suggest that this week it would be better suited to the more novice swimmers amongst us.  Anyway, a great opportunity, and a lake which I believe will be fully open from next Saturday.  I'm away this weekend, but if anyone does go, would be great if you could let us know what you thought of it.  Nick Wood, Chairman

On Wednesday 14th May, the annual Richmond Park relays take place. The event is a small fun event, and we always get around 6 teams racing.  The format is 4 x 3 miles for male and mixed teams, and 3 x 3 miles for all-female teams.  The race starts at 7pm sharp from near Robin Hood Gate car park, so you should be able to get there by 6:50pm latest if you wish to run. If you have not yet signed up but are interested, please let Nick Wood (Nickwoodrunner@yahoo.co.uk) or Jess Anstee (jessanstee@hotmail.com) know by Sunday 11th.This race will also count towards the criteria for the marathon entry ballot at the end of the year. So far the following runners have signed up:

Male: Nick Wood, Martin Snodgras, Paul Leonard, Charlie Wallace, Jim Whitworth, Patrick Sayer, Dan Mathews, Phil Mcelhinney, Mike Daniels, Tom O'Donoghue, Craig Nicol, Mark Rabbetts, Graham Ball, Mike Forder, David Wood, Steve Chandler, Jamie Wardell.  Female: Jess Anstee, Charlotte East, Emma Dews, Denise Harris, Zoe Dale, Claire Morgan.

Our annual quiz took place at Wilton Tennis Club - map (28 Wilton Grove, Wimbledon, SW19 3QX) on Friday 2nd May.

Original article text:  The cost will be £5 which includes prizes for the first two teams and a light cheese platter supper, which will be served during the interval.

Please arrive at 7.30pm because we will start promptly. Teams will be a maximum of six - you can either organise your own team or we will do it for you. Juliet and Joanne will be selling tickets at the rugby club, the track and the windmill.  Alternatively email us. Everyone is very welcome and we would especially love to see new members.   juliet_walshe@yahoo.co.uk joanne@clarkson.com

On a very wet Tuesday evening it was frankly amazing that 99 Windmilers decided to speed around Wimbledon Common's 3 mile handicap circuit.   Well done to Emlyn who came first in a first of season time of 17:11.  First lady back was Denise Harris in 20:10.  A big well done to the new Events Coordinators together who managed to persuade volunteers to marshall - i'm sure getting splashed with mud wasn't in the job description!   And also thanks to the time-keepers (both on the course and in the pub afterwards).  

The full set of results are now available to download as an Excel Spreadsheet - or just read below for a list.

If you are planning on running the club tow-path run this Sunday please be aware that there will be around 2,400 cyclists using the tow-path at the same time.  This is the annual Stroke Association Thames Bridges bike ride.   This takes place on Sunday 11th May.

It's not been too bad in past years but will definitely slow you down - and you might want to leave your iPod behind on this occasion!