baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club
BA Athletics Club News Digest 17th September 2018Events:
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. Last updated: First week of August. * Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps] / # Club Points event 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. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BARunnerUK/ (formal club page), BA Runner Facebook Group (informal - ask to join) Inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk. Digests over the next three weeksI'm in the USA and Canada over the next three weeks and others are away also for some of that time. Although I will endeavor to get a digest out each week don't be concerned if the digest is late or brief. You can help by submitting some complete items for inclusion. Roderick Hoffman (news@barunner.org.uk)
Club VestsPaul Knechtl has recently restocked on BAAC Club Vests and as well as holding some stock himself he has also arranged for Neil Frediani to hold some. So if you need a fresh club shirt please contact one or other. The technical T-Shirts (BA on front only) cost £10.50 and the vests (BA on both sides) cost £12.00 . Available in most common gender styles and sizes. Club parkrun results for Saturday 15th September 2018
There are a lot of races on offer at this time of year and John Taylor (19:40) used the Rickmansworth parkrun this week as a warm-up for WARR in Victoria, British Columbia at the end of the month and set a new club record. His wife Marion (32:02) will be in a different team when they get there as she competes for Air France! Sorry, sometimes I forget we are not a corporate club anymore. Piers Keenleyside (25:48) was one of several hundred who couldn’t resist the Hasenheide parkrun in Berlin on the eve of the marathon there. The attendance of 512 was over twice the previous record. In the marathon itself which saw the men’s world record broken by over a minute, Piers maintained his parkrun pace for the first half before slowing down somewhat. It happens! Chris Kelly (20:24 at Reading) is closing in on his 400th parkrun but is thinking more about his upcoming run in the Chicago Marathon next month. Roderick Hoffman had such respect for the Hamburg Airport 10 mile race on Sunday that he settled for timekeeper duties at Northala Fields. Alastair Heslop (36:55) has fulfilled just about every volunteer role available at Guildford over the years but this week ran at Lincoln parkrun- now approaching its fifth anniversary and regularly attracting 400-500 runners. Next week we have a club featured parkrun (cfp) at Homewood (Ottershaw Memorial Fields). This is cross country in nature so this is probably a good time of year to give it a try. This parkrun started a couple of years ago and moved location slightly after a few weeks. It has recently celebrated run #100. Attendances are usually between 100 and 150 so not too crowded. After that, the next cfp is scheduled for 20th October at Upton Court – requested by Barry Walters at the AGM. Steve Newell Updated parkrun stats - club parkrun stats Records and InauguralsSteve mentions above the record number at the Berlin Hasenheide parkrun. There were 19 with no barcode and 18 were doing their first ever parkrun. Of the others 55 had previously run that parkrun but the other 420 were doing their first parkrun at the venue and would have mostly been Brits over for the Marathon. Note that the previous record, 218 was set five weeks ago during the World Athletics Championships so again was boosted by UK visitors. The average attendance at Hasenheide is from 80 to 90. But also note that there was also a new parkrun in Germany on Saturday - at Seewoog, SE of Frankfurt. The inaugural attendance was 104 and 91 of them were doing their first ever parkrun (including those without barcodes). Only 13 had previous experience of parkrun and apart from Jakub Fedorowicz (the Polish parkrun manager, and heavily involved in setting up parkrun Germany) the others had only 122 previous parkruns between them! There were three inaugurals in the UK - one near Leeds attracted 453 mainly Bradford and Skipton locals, one near Dover attracting 248 and one at Wendover Woods, near High Wycombe, that attracted 198. Be aware that Wendover Woods promises to be scenic and hilly - but like nearby Tring offers a single lap parkrun. I expect club runners to run there very soon. Ruimsig was another inaugural on Saturday - in South Africa - and it attracted 1,100 attendees BUT things are different there - fewer influential dog walkers to upset for a start. Jack Nisbet writes in about Henstridge Airfield parkrun from last week "It was an enjoyable run. I was on holiday in the area. It was my first time at an inaugural run which was interesting. I would not call it a scenic course, but the added opportunity of seeing a plane take off as you are running around makes it more interesting." Roderick Hoffman World Masters MedalistsClub runners have been running and throwing competitively at the World Masters in Malaga over the previous fortnight. I've been promised a report for next week's digest. Hamburg International Airport Run
The day was lovely - sunny but not too warm and with a little headwind in places. The course is ten miles or 16Km around the outside of the airport parameter. The footing varies including roads and pavements and some tracks through pleasant woodlands. It is mainly flat but includes an interesting upwards circular spiral ramp in one of the carparks and later a downwards cycle ramp to take one down to a tunnel under the end of one of the runways. The organisation was excellent with plenty of marshals, three over-manned water stations and excellent facilities at the Lufthansa Sports Club at the start/finish. In the race Petra started ahead of me - with 2,000 runners it was over two and a half minutes before I crossed the start line…but with chip timing that was no issue and ensured that the field was well spread long before any narrow sections of the course. Petra has selected a faster start position and so I found myself catching up with her and passing her at the 1km gone point. I then led her for 14Km until at the 1km to go point she speed past me as I was fading. I considered trying to finish just behind her and beating her on chip timing…but I doubted I had the energy so didn't try. All in all a highly worthwhile event so look out for a similar offer from Ralph next year.
I note that I was seven minutes ahead of Kipchochge's time in Germany on Sunday, albeit he ran 26 miles to my ten! Roderick Hoffman Another finisher in the Berlin Marathon
I found the course very crowded for the whole of the first half and the wave starts meant that there were faster runners pushing through the slower runners (like me) the whole way round. I suppose I could have started at the back but I had earned a pen nearer the front with a 3:23 qualifying time from London 2017 and I wanted to use it! Great to say I ran with the new world record holder (I think that time will remain for quite a while) and the medal has his image on the back as the current Olympic Champion. On the Saturday I had gone to the Hasenheide parkrun where they had a turnout of over 500 as compared with an average of under 100. Finished in 25:48 - a mildly undulating course with a small loop up quite a hill near the end! Piers Keenleyside Running Shorts...
Next Digest - Results, news, pictures, feedback, jokes, stories - send it to the editor, Roderick Hoffman, at news@barunner.org.uk. Club website: www.barunner.org.uk.
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Every year for the last 35 years there has been a Hamburg International
Airport Race. This year Petra Otto and I decided to enter…encouraged
by the organiser, Lufthansa's Ralph Behrens, offering us free entries!
As
you may have seen I did my 2nd Berlin Marathon yesterday. Due to my ongoing injury I
could only manage a time of 4:50:57 - two years ago I did 3:27:21. I seem to be
on the mend though so if things progress I may bag another sub-3:30 come April
and the London Marathon. I was very unfit yesterday having only been back
running for 5 weeks and had only managed 2 'long' runs of 13 miles - my longest
runs since the London Marathon back in April.