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BA Athletics Club News Digest 15th May 2017

Events:

  • Monday 22nd May - Track and Field Club Grand Prix events 1000m and triple jump Uxbridge Track * (see below)
  • Wednesday 24th May - Heston Venue "Traditional" Concorde Handicap Run (and last Concorde Centre Social) * (see below)
  • Monday 29th May (Bank Holiday) - Vitality 10,000 - Marshalling (see below and contact Clara)

New members and potential members of all fitness levels and abilities are welcome at all of these events.  The full diary of club featured events is on the club website at: http://www.barunner.org.uk/Event Diary.shtml. Updated May 5th.

*Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps]

Not for you, no longer interested?  remove me please.

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

Club Facebook Page "BARunner" https://www.facebook.com/BARunnerUK/


24th May: "Traditional" Concorde Handicap Run and last Concorde Centre Social (with food)

At the end of May we expect to lose access to the Heston Venue bar, lounge and meeting rooms.  The club has been using those facilities since its foundation, hence for over 35 years now.  We thought that it would be appropriate to mark the occasion with one final event and have chosen Wednesday 24th May for this.

In the mid to late 80s we used to get quite large numbers at the Concorde Centre most weeks.  We were all younger then and most of us would run the "10.3" up to Gillette Corner on the Great West Road.  If we were prompt then we'd have just turned onto the Great West Road as Concorde came into land for the 18:15 arrival from New York - an unforgettable sight (and sound!).  Some would run shorter distances and I've shown on the attached map all the courses run.  In those days we would write our names on a list on the noticeboard next to the changing rooms and the distance we expected to run and our planned departure time.  This evolved into a handicap event with the objective to return to the Concorde Centre for the same time - probably around 19:15.   Because all of the courses converged over the last two miles this meant that we would get to meet each other over that stretch.

Concorde Centre Courses

So for the special event on May 24th we'd like you to plan to set off from the Concorde Centre for one of the routes shown, and plan to complete your run at 19:15.  All courses start and end at alongside the door to the Pavilion. The table below shows some suggested departure times depending on your expected speed.  This won't be a race - but we'll probably have someone recording finishers for posterity.

Course >>> Round the Block Concorde Five Concorde Six The 6.6 Concorde Eight The 10.3
Distance (miles) >>>

3.7

4.82

5.9

6.37

7.85

9.85

Pace (Minute Miles) Departure time (for 19:15 finish) ˅˅˅

05:30

18:54

18:48

18:42

18:39

18:31

18:20

06:00

18:52

18:46

18:39

18:36

18:27

18:15

06:30

18:50

18:43

18:36

18:33

18:23

18:10

07:00

18:49

18:41

18:33

18:30

18:20

18:06

07:30

18:47

18:38

18:30

18:27

18:16

18:01

08:00

18:45

18:36

18:27

18:24

18:12

17:56

08:30

18:43

18:34

18:24

18:20

18:08

17:51

09:00

18:41

18:31

18:21

18:17

18:04

17:46

09:30

18:39

18:29

18:18

18:14

18:00

17:41

10:00

18:38

18:26

18:16

18:11

17:56

17:36

10:30

18:36

18:24

18:13

18:08

17:52

17:31

11:00

18:34

18:21

18:10

18:04

17:48

17:26

11:30

18:32

18:19

18:07

18:01

17:44

17:21

12:00

18:30

18:17

18:04

17:58

17:40

17:16

After showering we'll then meet in the Heston Venue where we'll have one of the meeting rooms reserved and the club will provide food - M&S sandwiches and snacks. 

We'll be having a clear out of the club cupboards that evening and we'll be keen to offload unwanted stuff before we have to move it to a new location - expect there to be some bargains available (and we may decide to donate any money raised to charity). More news on this in the next edition.

Be there, we do expect this to be the last time in those rooms. And if you can then let us know that you are coming, and suggest your distance and start time or pace so that we can pair you up if you wish.

Roderick Hoffman (roderick@rhoff.org.uk)


Volunteers for the Vitality 10k, Bank Holiday Monday 29 May 2017

Another ten volunteers are still needed for the Vitality 10k. Remember that a coach is provided from the Heston Venue to take us to the event, and drop us back afterwards, or you can make your own way.

Thank you,

Clara  mail to: Clarapn@aol.com


BAAC Committee 2017/18.

We are rapidly approaching the Annual General Meeting of the Athletics Club, currently scheduled for June 28th.  Now is the time for you to consider putting yourself forward for a committee role, or nominating someone else to join the new committee.  All posts are up for grabs, and there are unfilled and "without portfolio" roles available for anyone who is keen to see the club grow and thrive.  Please contact me before June 14th if you would like to put forward yourself or a colleague.

Thanks,

Steve Hillier (stevehillier@msn.com) (Club Secretary)

Current roles and committee members are listed on this page on the website (www.barunner.org.uk/Club_Committee.shtml).

Roderick Hoffman (Acting Chair) adds:

The Committee meets once a month.  This is currently at Heston Venue on a Wednesday from 20:00 (but this is subject to change, for obvious reasons).  An increasing amount of business is conducted electronically.

The objective of the committee is to steer the club so that it better provide for its members.  Membership of the club has changed significantly over the last few years so we are particularly keen to get new committee members who would represent the more recent joiners. 

Specific committee roles have specific responsibilities but the "without portfolio" roles are for those who don't see themselves undertaking specific activities but believe they can help more generally.  Don't worry about people in existing roles - if you are keen to help in a specific role we would expect to be able to make changes to accommodate you.


Track & Field Results (Vets League 8th May) and Fixtures

Monday 8th May saw the first Vets League meeting, at a cold and windy Battersea track.  BA were one of eight teams involved, with ladies and men competing in V35, V50 and V60 events.  Amazingly, some clubs managed to cover every event in every age category!  The BA team was pretty small, but still managed to pick up some prizes.

Janet Smith left everyone way behind in winning the discus, while narrowly losing out in the shot with a second place. Steve Hillier found the going somewhat tougher, with three 4th places: competitive in the shot, midfield in the 100m, and distant from the field with sore shins in the 2K walk!

Janet Smith Discus 26.99 Shot 8.57  
Steve Hillier 2K walk 15:35 Shot 7.21 100m 16.7

The Vets League is a fun night out: it is a very social and relaxed evening.  Be sure to join us at Uxbridge track for the next match on June 5th.  Helpers would be welcome that night, too. 

Don't forget two other important Track & field dates in May:

  • Mon 22nd, Uxbridge, our own in house event competing over the rarely run 1000m and the Triple Jump.  Do you have PBs in these two events?  Here's a chance to create one! The venue is Hillingdon Athletics Stadium in Gatting Way (UB8 1ES)
  • Wed 31st, Ewell.  The next Rosenheim League meeting.  All are welcome.

Steve Hillier


Run Together Session – Wednesday 10 May - Report

A good turnout of regulars Steve Hillier, Steve Newell, Alan Friar, Graham Taylor, Alan Anderson, Denis Foxley, Roderick Hoffman, Clara Halket, and newcomer Jackie were to be treated (or subjected!) to a ‘speedwork session’ with Gary Rushmer arriving a little late from work but providing valuable observational support.

The session started with the traditional 1k steady jog around the field before forming up for a briefing of the speed session to follow – it was remarked that with the retirement of Usain Bolt in the summer that there was an urgent world-wide call for a replacement character of his ability and stature hence the emphasis on speed development to see if someone from BAAC could fill his trainers !

I may have foolishly took for granted that all the runners were fluent in the ‘Running Better, from Head to Toe’ set of notes (see http://www.barunner.org.uk/News_Digest_14Mar2016.shtml and the subsequent two digests) and coaching from last year, and assumed that this had been daily bedtime reading and exercises since then ….but this seemed to draw muddled and confused looks so everyone were reminded of the key points. These guidelines set out the most efficient use of our bodies to run from point A to B in pretty much any circumstances.

After a further warm up comprising some knees up, heel flicks and sideways running the runners were asked to first run a demonstration of freshness at the beginning of a run incorporating all the guidelines above and then a short run demonstrating how they felt at the end of a long and hard session when on their last legs – this provided amusement as to the ‘near death’ exhibitions but they were quickly reprimanded that even when whacked out they should still be demonstrating the same ‘perfect posture’ for effectiveness – this was emphasised to be the main message to take away from the evening.

A speedwork course comprising 50m jog / 50m speed run / 50m recovery jog / 100m speed run / 50m recovery jog / 50m speed run / 50m recovery jog, and return/repeat for 20 minutes, with the speed run pace similar to a fast 5k/parkrun.  And then, when everyone ‘thought it was all over’ we did a 250m speed run with the instruction to observe another runner and comment on what they thought was good or bad at the end – to which we shared and discussed things such as arm movement/posture and footwork with homework on this recommended.

A warm down of a further slow jog around the field and some stretching exercises completed the session.  It was clear however that we are all a bit vague on correct stretching such that we need to provide better instruction on this - we'll start this next week.

My thanks to Clara who looked after newcomer Jackie through the session, who appeared very keen to join the club and attend further training.

Joe Nolan


Club parkrun results for Saturday 13th May

13th May family & friends time parkrun commentary grade
Alan Anderson 32:06 Gunnersbury run #457 67%
David Barnard 41:41:20 Tring age cat rec (MV80) 51%
Tony Barnwell 34:09 Wycombe Rye run #137, 65th at Wycombe 55%
Ben Chaytow 21:53 Crane Park run #167, 144th at Crane Park 62%
Caroline Cockram 30:09 Bedfont Lakes and photographer 54%
John Coffey 26:07 Bushy Park run #238, 206th at Bushy 73%
Jonathan Cox 22:29 Crane Park run #311, 27th at Crane Park 69%
Ian Cunningham 22:12 Whitstable 1st at Whitstable, BApark 334 69%
Scott Davison 23:56 Bedfont Lakes run #203, 178th at Bedfont 59%
David Duggan 31:23 Bedfont Lakes run #200 and report writer 50%
Denis Foxley 25:46 Harrow run #72, 66th at Harrow 67%
Joan Foxley 37:18 Harrow run #61, 60th at Harrow 58%
Alan Friar 27:19 Reading run #230, 154th at Reading 66%
Eddie Giles 25:41 Salisbury course pb 67%
Sarah Gordon 37:56 Trelissick park #82, BApark #335 50%
Adrian Haines 18:18:33 Tilgate M-2, 1st run at Tilgate as 50-y-o 80%
Roderick Hoffman 26:27 Kettering 1st run at Kettering 59%
Janice Jones 26:51 Woking course pb 62%
Andrew Jordan 22:18 Bushy Park run #133, 120 th at Bushy 67%
Chris Kelly 19:57 Reading run #336, 288th at Reading 75%
John Lennon 26:50 Bedfont Lakes and new runners briefing 58%
Kerstin Luksch 21:07 Gunnersbury F-3, run #224 71%
Trish McCabe 30:26 Osterley run #189, 3rd at Osterley 50%
Steve Newell 36:55 Bedfont Lakes run #264, 3rd at Bedfont 50%
Joe Nolan 29:32 Black Park run #276, 258th at Black Park 55%
Richard Ruffell 21:11 Knowsley park #64, BApark #333 73%
Benita Scaife 31:43 Maidenhead run #73, 36th at Maidenhead 62%
John Scaife 31:44 Maidenhead run #86, 38th at Maidenhead 52%
Grant Strydom 28:14 Bushy Park run #31, 2nd run of 2017 53%
Ian Cockram volunteer Bedfont Lakes race director
Chris Evans volvolunteer Bedfont Lakes finish tokens
Paul Westbrook volunteer Bedfont Lakes marshal
Tom Rowley volvolunteer Woking marshal
Alastair Heslop volunteer Guildford barcode scanning

David Barnard (41:20), one of the founding fathers and original committee members of BAAC when the newly merged airline was still a nationalised industry, completed his third parkrun over the widely acknowledged challenging course at Tring.  Although the parkrun at Tring has been going for over two and a half years David is the first 80-year-old to complete the course there.  I’m assuming of course that no previous pioneer has reached the finish funnel only to realise he has left his barcode at home.  Could the system be so heartless?  Well, yes, I think it could.

Adrian Haines (18:33) turned 50 only recently and ran at Tilgate where he has done most of his parkruns.  That time puts him 6th in his new age group at Tilgate out of 496.  He remains 2nd out 668 in the MV45-49 with his November '14 best of 17:52 but of course now has no further opportunities to improve on that.  Parkrun wide club age group records are not a subject we have studied so far but Dave Dixon has run at the fast and flat Hackney Marshes in 17:10 as an MV50 and that only puts him 4th out of 241 there.  But every parkrun is different.

We saw more ground breaking tourism this week with three new venues added to the club map.  I’m assuming that Everton’s last home premier league game (v Watford, won 1-0) of the season on Friday evening may have contributed to Richard Ruffell (21:11) being at Knowsley – his 64th different parkrun.  Ian Cunningham (22:12) was at Whitstable and was a few seconds quicker than on his last venture in Kent at Canterbury three years ago.  Sarah Gordon (37:56) was almost as far to the southwest as it is possible to go to find a parkrun (her 82nd) at Trelissick near Truro.  The BA score has moved on to 335. 

Roderick Hoffman (26:27) ran at Kettering for the first time and Trish McCabe (30:26) was at Osterley for the first time. Roderick adds: "At Kettering I took the club record off my sister, Sarah Gordon, but I was checking on her cats for her whilst she was exploring new territories in Cornwall."

There were course pbs for Eddie Giles(25:41) at Salisbury and Janice Jones (26:51) at Woking.

The 8th anniversary run at Bedfont Lakes attracted 222 runners, the seventh highest attendance of the 408 runs they have held.   David Duggan (31:23) reached his 200 run landmark and would have been a bit faster if he hadn’t stopped to help a young runner who was distressed after stumbling after completing less than 1km.  Much cake was consumed beyond the finish line.  Oh, and not a puddle to be seen anywhere for a change.

It is believed that the parkrun servers were not victims to a cyber attack over the weekend but the Foxleys report from Harrow that the weekly result emails have dried up.  Has anyone else been affected?

Finally, a warning.  Anyone thinking of giving the new parkrun at Rickmansworth a try should avoid next Saturday (20th May) as the Aquadrome will be taken over by the Rickmansworth Festival, now in its 24th year.  20,000 visitors are expected over the weekend.  All things canal will be on view. Roderick adds: "My advice, as a tourist of 193 venues, is to always double check that an event is on before you travel.  Check on the parkrun site for any news announcement of a cancellation AND check the "Future Roster" page that there is at least a Run Director assigned for the day you intend to visit.  Having done that check also on their Facebook site (almost all parkruns now have one of these).  If there is any doubt then mention on their Facebook page that you'll be visiting."

Steve Newell

Updated club parkrun stats

The club map shows all parkruns and indicates in green those that are yet to be run by club members. Clicking on a red "Done" parkrun will reveal who ran the parkrun first and what the best times are. This map is updated monthly and is currently up-to-date [Clickable link to Google Maps].

If you want to promote a special parkrun then let Steve or I know.

Roderick Hoffman

My return to running after about 9 months out, even though I'm still not fully repaired is having it's woes - last Saturday parkrunning at Black Park I was puffed out before 2k and from there included 16 walks amongst the struggle to the end, getting there in 29m32s ...however did I ever go faster in the (distant) past ???? 

But on the positive side I did finish ahead of over 300 others! [plus all those still in bed].

Joe Nolan


The air that we breath

Polution map exampleI reported in December that I was trialing a device that measured the levels of pollution where we run.  I have continued with this so I thought an update was appropriate.  On the whole I've been disappointed with the results from the trial.  The air we run in is classified as good (green), average (amber) or bad (red).  The amber band covers a considerable range of pollution particle levels.  Often the runs I've done are displayed  solely green or solely amber whereas it would be more useful if more detail was available.  The image right for a run from the Heston Venue to Osterley and back is about as useful as the recordings can get.

However even at this level I struggle to see consistency - what is green one day may be amber the next and v.v. .  So as a consequence I can't say that the air tends to be cleaner on the road next to the M4 (green in this example) rather than in Jersey Road (amber).  My only suggestion is to be weary of underpasses - heavier polluted air does appear to sink down to these so you might like to take a deep breath before running under the M4 in Cranford Park and at Harmondsworth.

Roderick


Next Digest?

Is it your turn to send something in this week?

Results, news, pictures, feedback, jokes, stories - send it to us at news@barunner.org.uk.


Club website:

www.barunner.org.uk.


 

      

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