baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club

BA Athletics Club News Digest 9th November 2020

 For future weeks: inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk.

Unrestricted races are currently off so the club continues to operate with Solo and Shared runs as listed above - for restrictions and advice see the Coronavirus footnote at the end of this digest.

Roderick Hoffman

This Week's Events

Please help me by sending me your results, for instance by filling in the tables below and forwarding to News@barunner.org.uk. New: Some events, such as the weekend achievement, 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. 

Street Sentences (see below, Submit by end of Sunday 15th November):

Solo / Shared Mile (submit by end of Friday 13th November):

Run one mile and send me your time or add the details to the Facebook prompt. I'll then produce a fancy graph showing your time this month compared to those of other people and previous runs this year. There is no shared run option this month. 

Weekend Achievement (by 5pm on the Monday) or use the Facebook prompt that will be added on Friday:

Roderick Hoffman

Reminder Lockdown Challenge - Street Sentences - Submit by end of Sunday 15th November

Perform an exercise outside, of length either 30 minutes running, 40 minutes power walking or 50 minutes normal walking and returning to where you started from. During your exercise visit as many different street name signs as you can, then form an amusing or meaningful sentence or phase from the initial letters of those street names. You don't need to use all of the letters that you collect but each can be used just once, except for vowels that can be used twice each. If you visit two or more streets with the same initial letter you can of course use each one in your solution. But two or more street name signs in the same street don't count. Full Instructions and a worked example: http://ww.barunner.org.uk/Event_Street_Sentences.shtml including how you can use a Zebra Crossing for an "X" or a "Z".

Some of you may be able to construct a phase from a set of letters without any assistance but others may like to use websites such as this one to assist: https://www.thewordfinder.com/anagram-solver/ . This website takes 14 letters at a time and suggests the words that can be made from that selection of letters.

The winner will be determined from the number of letters collected and how amusing or apt the judge finds your phase or sentence. I'm the judge...but therefore I'm barred from entering. Note that length or cleverness of the words won't necessarily determine the winner - from the streets near me I can collect and construct "Knightsbridge wealth walk example" but I'd hope to get some shorter and more apt phases from yourselves.

Send me your solution using the form above - I don't need photographs of every street sign (I trust you) but you are welcome to send me a GPS or phone map of your route.

Roderick Hoffman

Virtual Recent Race Results for October #

We had two events as October's run-of-the-month, the Vitality 10000 and the Marlow Half-Marathon and Seven Mile road races. Records are sparse but suggest that I was the only runner in the Vitality, finishing my A40 course in 58:07 and Alice and John Banks were the only participants in the Marlow Seven - respectively finishing in 101st place in 1:12:47 and 185th in 1:59:45, out of 192 finishers. 231 ran the half-marathon but no one from our club. Let me know if you know better.

Due to the lockdown and the lack of interest in virtual races there is no Run-of-the-Month for November and currently no Club In-house Event either. Suggestions are always welcome.

Photo: It is nice to get a shirt and bling for one's efforts, but as editor I'd have preferred a published set of results.  The Vitality 10000 chose not to publish results which in my view extends the feeling of isolation of participants so I won't in future be recommending such events to club runners. I have fed back to the event on this point (and had no reply).

Roderick Hoffman

Track & Field Vets League 2021

SOLO Activity Achievements, Weekend 6th November to 9th November 2020

This week 29 members and friends reported activities - this is the highest number since the end of May!  Please try to make future submissions by Monday 5pm, or 6pm at the latest, either by email to me or using the prompt in Facebook.

Roderick Hoffman

Triathlon News

Just as the winter closes in on the northern hemisphere, thoughts are already racing ahead to 2021 and the rearranged Tokyo Olympics (23rd July - 8th August 2021). Four GB triathletes have already been preselected for the individual events - Men - Jonathan Brownlee (Bronze in London 2012 and Silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016) and women - Vicky Holland (Bronze 2016), Georgia Taylor-Brown (world champion 2020) and Jess Learmonth.

Alistair Brownlee (champion 2012 and 2016) has not been selected so far but could still be later on.  He has been concentrating on longer distances including the Ironman recently.  As a result he is well down the world rankings over the Olympic Distance.  He has mentioned an ambition to clinch a hat trick of Olympic Gold Medals.

Steve Newell

parkrun Update

My World Tourist parkrun friends made it to two different parkruns last Saturday, each for their first parkrun since March. Tony Jennings, who lives in Queensland where parkrun isn't due to return until 28th November, flew to Darwin in The Northern Territories and ran at Nightcliff parkrun and Keith Bennett took time off from his army role to run at Cape Pembroke Lighthouse in the Falklands. Keith has hinted that there will soon be a second parkrun in the Falklands (not something he knew when he signed up) but I can't confirm that. In recent weeks I have been able to confirm several new to be parkruns in Queensland and Japan - my full map of current and future parkruns is here.

Roderick Hoffman

Coronavirus Warning Footnote [changes from last week underlined or struck-through]

In the UK exercise outside is permitted because it will boost physical and mental health and because the risk of catching Coronavirus outdoors is very low provided social distancing advice is kept to:

• Do not exercise outside the house if you have been asked to isolate or you are unwell, particularly if you have symptoms of the coronavirus such as a fever, or if you share a house with someone who has these symptoms, or if you consider yourself to be vulnerable, such as being elderly or with pre-existing health conditions,
• You may drive to outdoor publicly accessible open spaces irrespective of distance, but you should follow social distancing guidance whilst you are there. Advice is to reduce public transport and shared car journeys,
• In England you may normally meet with up to five other persons for your exercise outside the home. Club organised events, in COVID secure circumstances, can include more. Do not share athletics equipment and continue to maintain the social distancing with anyone you do meet up with. You are recommended to minimise the total number of different people you meet with over the days and weeks,
• The current English lockdown restrictions allow you to run on your own, with people in your linked household (or "bubble"), as part of child care or with one other person
• As you exercise, keep 2m away from all others including those you run with as well as those you meet on the run, by default diverting around those you meet (don't leave it up to them to avoid you),
• Do not push yourself too far, this may weaken your defences against the virus and/or increase the probability of requiring assistance. We all have different limits so you need to judge what would be too far for you,
• If government instructions are updated to limit or prevent exercising outside your homes, or to meet with fewer people, please respect such instructions - we should be fighting the virus, not authority.

If you are unwell yourself, especially if you have symptoms of the virus:

• Put your needs first...
• but please let me (Roderick Hoffman) or Steve Hillier know of your condition/status, but we will keep it to ourselves unless you ask us to pass information on.

During the England lockdown the club is not allowed to organise any club shared activities. When the "Tiers" are reintroduced Club members will be asked not to cross the third tier ("Very High") boundary (in either direction) to attend a club organised event.

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.

Difficulty viewing this? Read it from the website:- http://www.barunner.org.uk/News Latest.shtml.Club website: www.barunner.org.uk.