baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club
BA Athletics Club News Digest 4th March 2024
Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps] [parkrun run by club members updated January 2024] For future weeks: inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk. Results for Next WeekPlease help me by sending in your results, for instance by filling in the tables below and forwarding to News@barunner.org.uk. Some events will have "Prompts" set up in Facebook. These allow the posting of a single image and some text and make it easy to flip through everyone's entries. Your Athletic Achievement of the Week (or use the prompt in the BAAC Facebook group):
Winter 5 Mile Handicap Wednesday 28th FebruaryThe penultimate run of this winter's five-mile handicap went ahead in damp conditions on Wednesday 28th February. There was a fresh southwest breeze and so aircraft were coming into land across Hatton Road, seemingly only inches above the rooftops. Paul Watt made a tentative return after a couple of months out injured, Scott Davison was significantly faster than previously. Mike Dennison made his first appearance of the winter. London Marathon entrant Stephen Taylor maintained a good steady pace, Fiona Bishop is getting familiar with the route and gaining confidence. Several runners have now run four or more times and will be able to discard their worst scores (best four of six to count). The final run will be on Wednesday 27th March with sunset due at 6.30 pm so runners will start in daylight and finish after dusk as summertime won't start until Easter Sunday. Those finishing on the podium will be presented with something from the Fullers Brewery shop at a later date with individual allergies taken into account. With a colourful darts competition going on in the Bedfont club room runners and timekeepers headed over the road to the Duke of Wellington for another excellent India "eat-in". Results Round 5 Wednesday 28th February 2024
* times adjusted / late starter ** adjusted / injury recovery Points table after five events (best four to count)
Club Featured parkrun - Saturday 2nd March at Osterley
For details see below. BAAC / Harry Wild Cross Country Sunday 3rd March 2024, Cranford ParkIt rained all the way through February, and on to March 2nd. Parks flooded and runners were soaked. Then on Sunday 3rd March, the temperature dropped, the frost returned, and the mud froze! A great introduction to a Cross Country race. Fortunately, with some tweaks to the Cranford Park course and some determined runners, the event could take place. We were able to celebrate Harry Wild’s memorable contribution to BAAC and Hillingdon AC, alongside Harry’s family.
Nearly fifty runners tackled the sticky conditions. It would be hard to say that the runners enjoyed the task, it was tough going, but there were many smiling faces of achievement at the finish line. 26 women finished the two-lap course, with 19 men going on to complete three laps. Many thanks to the marshals and timing team for their hard work in allowing this race to happen. Full results are available on Webscorer: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=344528 The British Airways finishers were: BA ladies result (2 laps)
27 started, 26 finishers BA men's result (3 laps)
20 started, 19 finishers. Helpers included Steve Taylor, Paul Brandon, David Duggan, Steve Newell, Marion Woodhouse, Helen Smith and Steve Hillier. Other photos below - by various photographers. February Club Miles |
| Colleague | Activity | Distance | Course | When | Duration | Comments |
| Andy Rayner | Fast walk | Local | Participation in another week of precipitation! Wed Fast walk in the Park for 30m 56s / Thurs Fast walk Estate in 10m 16s / Sun Fast walk Estate in 9m 35s. | |||
| Barry Walters | Running | 11.5km | To, round and from Lilyhill Park | Sun am | 01:06:36 | Ran over to Lilyhill Park last week and did one circuit in cool bright conditions. I began to tire towards the end of the run but was pleased overall. Followed this with a 45 minute cycling workout varying the pace and intensity of the training. |
| Chris Kelly | Running | 19.3miles | Cranford Park to Reading | Sun am | 03:16:20 | Ran home from the XC for Manchester training - 19.3 in 3:16:20 - such a beaut of a day! |
| Emma Moreton | Race | BAAC Cross Country Cranford Park | Sun am | 00:23:18 | Surviving the Harry Wild XC with bib number 13!!!! 23:18. Well done to the men who completed the third lap | |
| Janet Smith | parkrun | 5km | Amsterdamse Bos | Sat am | A weekend in Amsterdam meant I could get another country under my belt. It was too far to Zuderpark so went for Amsterdamse Bos. It was their 4th birthday so Brooks shoes came along and were offering various shoes to try. It was a beautiful course and very friendly people. | |
| Julie Barclay | Running | 11km | Glasgow | Sun am | Early morning start at 06:30 from hotel. Ran through city centre, along the River Clyde towpath, around Glasgow Green Park and back to the hotel… | |
| Paul Watt | Running | 11km | Glasgow | Sun am | ...A quick shower before heading off to The World Athletics Indoor Championships. | |
| Paul Timms | Race | 10km | Bourton 10k | Sun am | 00:46:09 | [previous week] |
| Petra Otto | Gym | 3x hard gym sessions. Ultrasound last Monday, results tomorrow when I have an appointment with the physio. After six whole months of having had my hamstring problem I really need a resolve!!! | ||||
| Piers Keenleyside | Race | Half-M | Berkhamstead Half | Sun am | 01:50:29 | 17th MV60-69 of 54. Jasvir Singh in the results as the only other BA A.C. member running - finishing in 2:39:28. A few years ago half a dozen or more from BA used to run this race - it is well worth doing! [Ed: That's when Richard Ruffell used to offer us all lunch at his! But he moved] |
| Jasvir Singh Modaher | Race | Half-M | Berkhamstead Half | Sun am | 02:39:28 | Not seen by Piers and didn't see Piers. |
| Roderick Hoffman | Race | 7.26km | BAAC Cross Country Cranford Park | Sun am | 00:48:58 | As I passed Helen for the third time my watch read "5km". I asked her if I could stop now. She said "No!" |
| Stephen Taylor | Running | 20miles | Kingston and back | Sat | 03:42:33 | More long running, 20 to Kingston and back. 3:42:33. Missed most of the showers. [Ed: But did you find the pot of gold?] |
| Steve Hillier | Various | Various | Friday 11km cycle through the showers in Ruislip in 50:00 / Sat Osterley parkrun "BAC 1-11", first run there, eleven overall / Sun walking/wading for 7km over 2hrs in Cranford Park incl. setting and unsetting the course. |
29 activities are recorded below. Please get in touch if your activity is missing.
| Club parkrunner | parkrun | Run# | Pos | Time | Age Grade | Comment |
| Janet Smith | Amsterdamse Bos | 123 | 149 | 0:35:38 | 52.95% | BA Fastest Lady and best Age Grade (from Melanie) |
| Kevin HOLLAND | Brooklands | 181 | 394 | 0:39:14 | 49.15% | Brooklands back in operation after three weeks off |
| Ian Haylock | Bushy Park | 974 | 418 | 0:28:43 | 52.64% | Only 911 finishers at Bushy Park. |
| Maria JOVANI | Crane Park | 548 | 18 | 0:22:14 | 73.61% | F2 |
| Melanie Miller | Dartford Heath | 229 | 51 | 1:07:40 | 26.75% | volunteer parkwalker |
| Harjit Jhooti | Dartford Heath | 229 | 52 | 1:07:42 | 26.74% | volunteer parkwalker |
| Alastair HESLOP | Guildford | 508 | Barcode Scanning at Guildford. 122 finishers - lowest number for over ten years! | |||
| David John BIRD | Hanworth | 173 | 6 | 0:24:46 | 64.20% | first run at Hanworth. Note that Hanworth is already cancelled for next week. |
| Joan FOXLEY | Harrow | 389 | 121 | 0:40:50 | 59.39% | |
| Piers KEENLEYSIDE | Hastings | 391 | 127 | 0:28:47 | 58.83% | first run at Hastings. |
| Alice BANKS | Henley-on-Thames | 269 | 44 | 0:42:28 | 49.96% | seventh run at Henley. parkrun course is well above the Thames! |
| Barry WALTERS | Moors Valley | 350 | 278 | 0:29:05 | 59.31% | meteorological Spring is here, first parkrun for six months |
| Elise LAWRENSON | Nonsuch | 573 | 130 | 0:29:20 | 55.80% | Note that Nonsuch already cancelled for next week. |
| David Cowell | Osterley | 466 | 5 | 0:19:19 | 73.94% | PB by nearly four minutes. |
| Mike DENNISON | Osterley | 466 | 12 | 0:21:08 | 80.13% | run #548, 20th at Osterley, P-Index is 9 |
| Bob BANNISTER | Osterley | 466 | 93 | 0:26:55 | 63.47% | 499th parkrun. |
| Ian CUNNINGHAM | Osterley | 466 | 109 | 0:27:43 | 58.39% | run #543, first Osterley run since the inaugural run in August 2013. |
| Christopher T KELLY | Osterley | 466 | 110 | 0:27:48 | 56.71% | 600th parkrun, first Osterley run since the inaugural run in August 2013. |
| Trish MCCABE | Osterley | 466 | 119 | 0:28:19 | 57.21% | 65th run at Osterley (and pre-event set-up). |
| Roderick HOFFMAN | Osterley | 466 | 149 | 0:29:54 | 55.07% | plus course set-up at Stockley Country |
| Steve HILLIER | Osterley | 466 | 232 | 0:38:57 | 44.76% | 11th parkrun |
| Alan ANDERSON | Osterley | 466 | 249 | 0:47:37 | 57.23% | 701st parkrun |
| Diana Smith | Osterley | 466 | 250 | 0:47:47 | 49.84% | First non-Bushy parkrun. |
| Steve NEWELL | Osterley | 466 | 252 | 0:48:14 | 42.57% | 500th parkrun. |
| Neil FREDIANI | Prudhoe Riverside | 300 | 100 | 0:32:35 | 52.43% | |
| Paul WATT | Queen’s, Glasgow | 143 | 33 | 0:22:53 | 69.48% | Club record. Not a new parkrun for the club! Roderick was there just before Covid. |
| Julie BARCLAY | Queen’s, Glasgow | 143 | 71 | 0:25:11 | 75.98% | Club record (F) & best age grade. |
| Denis FOXLEY | Upton Court | 512 | 50 | 0:35:15 | 52.86% | first run at Upton Court |
| Fiona Bishop | Zuiderpark | 119 | 36 | 0:25:15 | 80.26% | ZZZZZ - alphabet challenge complete |
parkrun has been awash with statistics from Day 1 and there is plenty of data still available to browse on what was known as the worldwide web back in the pioneering days at Bushy in 2004. Memories fade over time and the latest withdrawal of general access to some facts doesn’t make research any easier. I am appealing for help from anyone reading this. Nobody will deny that Alan Anderson (700+ runs) has completed more parkruns than any of our current club members but who was actually the first and was he or she a member at the time? Alan started his parkrun career at Bushy on 7th July 2007. [Ed: The difficulty here is knowing who was a member at the time and what was their parkrun number - everything known should be in my database]
Erstwhile ladies club captain, Helen Smith, ran for the first time at Bushy
on 12th May 2007 (pb 26:25), eight weeks before Alan.
Longhaul Captain
Robert Brown (A1850), the subject of a recent ITV documentary which included
footage of his running in a contemporary BA club vest in Windsor Great Park at
least 13 years ago, ran three times in 2006 (pb 18:01 starting on 21/10/2006.
He’s been stuck on three runs for a while.
David Tyas, a BAAC member in the heyday of the Munchman in the 1990’s, ran his first parkrun at Bushy on 14th October 2006. He is now up to 726 runs (pb 18:45). Janet Smith ran at Bushy for the first time on 11 November 2006.
John Coffey (A1018, pb 20:17) ran at Bushy for the first time on 24/12/2005 and has now declared his innings closed after 420 parkrun, the majority at Bushy and Hazelwood. He ran again the following week (New Years Eve) and on that occasion the last finisher (no tailwalkers in those days) was Tom Rowley (A2183) (35:32) who had also run on 26 November 2005. Tom may have had as many as three different “parkrun id tokens” during his long lifetime! He certainly re-registered for his 90th birthday run at Woking.
Ian Haylock (A831, pb 18:52) ran for the first time at Bushy on 12th November 2005. By then parkrun was a year old so did anyone else dip their toe in in those really early days? Onetime member Jane Davies first ran at Bushy on 14th May 2005.
Enough of the ancient history.
We had an extraordinary club run at Osterley this week with an accumulated experience just from our members alone running into the thousands. On a day when 100 parkruns were called off because of waterlogged courses, etc., some at very short notice [incl. Bedfont Lakes], there were more than just a few puddles. Steve Newell, supported by a son and a grandson, completed his 500th, Chris Kelly (Reading cancelled) completed his 600th, Alan Anderson moved up to 701, Bob Bannister moved up to 499, Mike Dennison (21:08, 80.15%) is now up to 548, Ian Cunningham is on 543. Former staff member Geoff Miles, a key man behind the scenes at Osterley is on 549. Di Smith, whose rivalry with Steve Newell dates from the 1980’s, came away from Bushy for the first time (travelling by public transport) [Ed: Di overtook Steve Newell towards the end, but her smile was cut short when Alan Anderson sprinted past her on the line]. Trish McCabe was running at Osterley for the 65th time, David Cowell (19:19) was our fastest runner anywhere this week, chopping 4 minutes off his previous time at Osterley. Very occasional parkrunner Steve Hillier consolidated his move into double figures with his debut run at Osterley taking his parkrun total to 11, slightly fewer than one a year. Roderick Hoffman set up the Stockley Country course before hurrying over to Osterley to run. With his favourite course at Frimley Lodge falling a victim of the weather Darren Wood (885 runs) who started at Bushy on week 2 in 2004 visited Osterley for the first time.
Two members travelled to the Netherlands this weekend. Fiona Bishop (25:15, 80.26%) was bagging her “Z” at Zuiderpark (Den Haag). Her alphabet is complete. Janet Smith was at Amsterdam Bos, she still needs a “V” and a “Z”.
Steve Newell
As well as those featured in the table above, finishers also included:
And perhaps a few others that I ought to have mentioned also.
Trivia fact - Both Ian Haylock and John Coffey achieved what, many years later, would be called a Groundhog Day at Bushy on the same day 8th July 2006 (though note that Ian probably wasn't a member at that time). That was Ian's 18th parkrun and John's 6th. That was before any other club members are known to have run a single parkrun, let alone two in the same time.
Full club parkrun database - {read access to club parkrun database} - Download or save a copy, and explore at your leisure.
Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps]
Roderick Hoffman
|
Next Digest - Results, news, pictures, feedback, jokes, stories - send them to the editor, Roderick Hoffman, at news@barunner.org.uk.
Not for you, no longer interested? remove me please. Please mention older email addresses I may have you registered under.
Difficulty viewing this? Read it from the website:- http://www.barunner.org.uk/News Latest.shtml. Club website: www.barunner.org.uk.
| Full Index |
[picture
on the left from the Osterley parkrun news - photo by Susan Hunt; picture
on the right is a composite]
Glasgow