baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club
BA Athletics Club News Digest 12th February 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. Monthly Mile - please submit your February Mile performance for publication in the first March digest (4th March):Run one mile and send me your time or add the details to the prompt in Facebook. The mile can be somebody else's formal event or even one mile within a longer run. I'll then produce a fancy graph showing your time this month compared to those of other people and previous runs over the last year:
Your Athletic Achievement of the Week (or use the prompt in the BAAC Facebook group):
Cross Country Surrey League Match 4 Results
MenThe Final Surrey League Cross Country of the season at Lloyd Park. As expected the course provided its normal delights and everyone taking part enjoyed the free mud treatment. The men had 8 entrants running and surprised guest Roderick cheering us on. Ed made his first BA appearance and finished in a credible 49th position and 2nd scorer. With the exception of John Taylor (running in Monaco) the usual suspects were in attendance. The team finished 11th on the day and overall mid-table for the season. Paul Knechtl Men Division 4 Provisional Result
The BA team came 11th of 14 A teams. Had any of our runners managed to finish one place higher, we would have been 10th. Had we had one more runner of Graham's standard, we would have finished 8th or 9th.
LadiesFive intrepid ladies travelled to Lloyd Park on Saturday for the final match of the season, hosted by Croydon Harriers, Striders of Croydon and Stragglers. The renowned course didn’t disappoint, mainly because of the mud! Recent rain made the 2-lap 8K course very challenging, and at the finish our shoes were swiftly exiled to carrier bags to be dealt with at a later date. We then enjoyed Felicity’s delicious home-made cakes! I am delighted that once again we fielded a full team (including Christine, not pictured), finishing 10th on the day. Our overall season’s standing is also a creditable 10th, out of 28 teams. Thank you to everyone who has run this season; it has been a pleasure coordinating the team, and it has been great to catch up with the gents at each fixture. Congratulations to Julie Barclay for once again achieving 1st V60, giving her the overall V60 title for the season. Congratulations also to Emma Moreton for achieving 2nd V40. Had there been a V40 overall category, I am certain she would have been in the top 5. Amanda Coombs Ladies Division 3 results
The BA team came 10th out of 22 teams, 9th out of 14 A teams. * The Division 2 match, with Fiona running for Woking, was run at the same time and on the same course. ** Julie was first V60 across the combined race, though as it happens behind the first V65 and V70. The two-lap course was the same as the men's races, although the ladies ran after the Division 2, 3 and 4 men had muddied the course.
Five Mile Handicap Run 4 "January" ResultsThe fourth round of the winter 5 mile handicap from the Bedfont FC carpark was held on Wednesday 7th February. The evening was dry with a chilly breeze but there some puddles to navigate round. The majority of runners beat their target times, but by varying amounts. Runners and helpers visited the Duke of Wellington across Hatton Road after the run and enjoyed some Indian cuisine. The Lamb Jalfrezi with Pilau Rice was a popular choice and thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to Paul Watt and Alan Anderson for assistance with the timing. Results:
Points table after four events:
The best four results count, so from now on Stephen, Steve and Chris will have to "drop" their poorest results from their score. The fifth and penultimate round will be held on Wednesday 28th February with the final run being on Wednesday 27th March. TCS London Marathon - 21st April 2024Recruitment for this year’s TCS London Marathon on Sunday 21 April has started in earnest with 100 already signed up for the x5 ‘Disley’ shuttle crossings that BAAC manage in the last 2 miles of the course…. but there’s room for another 50, so I’d encourage you to email me if you’re able to help. I’m particularly light on support for the x3 Birdcage Walk crossings, ably team led by Colin Bloomfield, Eddie Ketterick and Alastair Heslop. There were some problems at one crossing last year but behind the scenes we’ve been working with the organisers to ensure these problems are ironed out, so I’m confident it’ll be a return to a tiring but very rewarding stint of helping at the best marathon in the World; and you’ll have the best view as you’re amazed at just how fast the elites get round, and in awe at the 10s of 1000s raising millions for charity. Go on, you know you want to….. On behalf of BAAC Recent Activity Achievements17 members' achievements were communicated to me before this week's publication time.
Ed: I ran out of time to display any of the submitted photographs. Perhaps they
will be included next week if the digest is light. parkrun Results for Saturday 10th February 202435 activities are recorded below. Please get in touch if your activity is missing.
parkrun Review Saturday 10th February 2024The next county to go under the parkrun microscope will be Kent. Some runs are close to the London boundary while from others you can gaze over towards France. Those who have run at least one or perhaps several and have a favourite are invited to drop a line to > Steve Newell who will be nominating Lullingstone. Will any parkrun get two votes? This week’s parkrun program was affected by the weather again with dozens of events cancelled and others forced to use temporary course adaptations to keep the show on the road and out of the worst of the flooded areas. As a club we didn’t add any new parkruns to our ever growing list but some members found runs operating that enabled them to keep the scoreboard ticking against some challenge or other. Maria Jovani (20:59) and Elise Lawrenson (24:35) were attracted to the bottom end of the alphabet and visited Zuiderpark (Den Haag) where they have a centuries of experience of controlling flood waters. David Cowell (18:47) took the opportunity to collect a “Y” at Yarborough Leisure Centre and set a new club record there. Frankie Hogge (19:35) improved her pb at Mile End. Several of our runners treated their parkrun as a warm-up for the Surrey League cross country fixtures at Lloyd Park in Croydon later in the day. The parkrun there on a Saturday morning can be a sheer delight on a dry day after a dry week in the summer! Oliver Mathai (27:09, 64.95%) has been doing parkruns “on-and-off” since the early days at Bushy in 2007. This week he returned to Bushy to polish off his century, the last runs having been achieved in less than a single year. The message from parkrun HQ is “don’t stop now!” Persistence is far more important than speed. With one exception (at Ally Pally last Autumn) all his runs have been between 20 and 30 minutes. Did you know ……….? Wimbledon Common parkrun has been run 829 times, Banstead Woods 803 times, Richmond 796 times and Woodhouse Moor (Leeds) 793 times - and each of them (and Bushy and five others) were originally promoted as "Time Trials" not parkruns. Steve Newell Matters Arising - Records at parkrunYou may have heard (it has made the national press) that parkrun has removed records and other statistical reports from its public websites. The reaction against this is in part because of the way that this was done (no consultation, no pre-announcement, no opportunity to make a copy of the reports before they were removed) and parkrun has apologised for their clumsiness. However, the reports have still been removed. That makes no difference whatsoever to the way that parkruns are run on the day and the event results that are produced. However, functionality has been lost in the background and, as one of those who isn't happy about this, I am encouraging anyone who feels that they have lost out to raise a concern with parkrun (using this link: Submit a request – parkrun Support). BAAC's reporting capability has been protected since I maintain a database of all club results but, as an example, it is now difficult for Steve to know how many different parkruns each of us have done and it is effectively impossible to say whether anyone has been or has approached the fastest or best age-grade performance in their age-group. The changes are to make parkrun appear less like a race, particularly to first time attendees...I fear that if this doesn't achieve the desired results of attracting more slower attendees then the age groups themselves could be removed, or even parkruns could stop being timed. Slowest parkrunsMy time (1:09:52) at Stockley Country was as a parkwalker - keeping a recovering runner company. But I can't claim that I've run the slowest parkrun by a member. Diana Smith claimed that record in November with a tailwalking time over ten minutes slower than mine - 1:20:42 (but that was the first time as a member that Diana had got a top 1,000 finish!). Prior to Diana we had a tailwalking time by Ben Kelly in February 2022 of 1:08:32. However, a couple of weeks before joining the club back in 2011, now former member, Jonathan Cox was awarded a time of 1:59:59 when they had a timing problem at Richmond. The person who finished behind Jonathon submitted their own time as 0:21:45 so we can be confident that Jonathon hadn't earned the slowest parkrunner badge by walking around ever so slowly. It had been my 100th Volunteering Occasion (only counting the dates volunteered for, not the number of activities undertaken). V100 isn't very high - we forgot to mention Denis Foxley reaching V150 last week (though 150 is one of those "arbitrary" totals that doesn't qualify for a new shirt). ZZZZZZZYou'd have thought that Zuiderpark in The Netherlands was the only "Z" option given that eight club members have run there. However five have run at Zandvlei in South Africa and I have run at Zielona Góra in Poland. There are another 11 "Z" parkruns in the world (and three more that have closed) - including two more in Holland that started in January and one that started in February, albeit not so easy to get to in Tasmania, Australia. Three of the nine parkruns that have started this year start with the letter "Z" so it is becoming much less of a rarity these days. Now, a few more "Y"s and "Q"s could be useful. Club Featured parkrunI've added Osterley as a Club Featured parkrun on 2nd March. Try to make it - there may be something to celebrate!
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 Letters to the EditorEntries are now open for The Marlow 5 race which is organised by Handy Cross Runners. This fast, flat 5 mile course has been run around Marlow for many years on closed roads, starting and finishing in the riverside area of Higginson Park. The race on Sunday 12th May, costs just £23 for affiliated runners and there is a finisher's medal for all. There are prizes for the first three men and the first three women as well as prizes for the winners of various age categories and team prizes. Profits from the race are donated to a local charity, and this year Hearing Dogs for Deaf People are the recipients. Last year we donated £11500 to a local playgroup for children with special educational needs. Runners can enter via this link. Simon Adams Handy Cross Runners Chairman 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.
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