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BA Athletics Club News Digest 18th October 2021For future weeks: inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk.
Events marked "*" are points scoring for the club's participation trophy. Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps] This Week's EventsPlease 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. Track-on-Field (by end of Sunday 31st October, to be reported on in the following digest):
Weekly Athletic Achievement (by late Sunday) or use the Facebook group prompt:
New Concorde Event?Throughout the '90s and '00s the club organised a Concorde 10k event run around the streets of Cranford and Harlington. The last Concorde 10 was held in 2012. From 2013 to 2017 we organised the Concorde Five on a slightly reduced course. We have not organised an event since 2017. The reason we stopped was the difficulty in getting enough club volunteers to marshal an event around the streets. We always managed to get just enough marshals - but often at the expense of not having many club runners in the event itself. The course also had various other problems - not the least being the pollution around the finish area under the M4.
There is a recognised one-hour running world record of 13.25miles (21.330km) held by Mo Farah and for women 11.76miles (18.930km) held by Sifan Hassan. Those two runs were held on a track (over 50 laps for Mo) whereas the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit doesn't have a running friendly surface and has some tight curves and some undulations…but being significantly longer it would be more interesting to run multiple laps of. Mo would still need to run 14 laps of the circuit and Sifan would be on her 13th. Those of us with more normal levels of fitness and ability might see six and a half laps being a good target to have run 10k in the hour. From an organisers point of view there are various big advantages for this event - primarily we won't need many marshals on or around the course and when the fastest runner reaches the finish line then so does the slowest so we don't need to leave the marshals on the course for another hour! We don't yet have all the answers - clearly there are options for how we count each participants laps and about what we do to record part laps when the clock strikes the hour. So, who's in for helping organise this event? Please let me know your thoughts and whether you can help this become a reality. Contact me or add to the Facebook post on this topic. Nothing will happen without a team. Club Featured parkrun - Maidenhead 23rd October #We are set to go ahead on 23rd at Maidenhead. A few things to note: The M4 smart motorway closures should not affect us as the Highways Agency says closure that weekend is overnight only and the motorway will be fully open from 6am on Saturday. There is plenty of parking in front of the new Braywick leisure centre. Postcode SL6 1BN. There is a charge of £1.20 per hour. Cash, card or RingGo. Post-run refreshment at The Avenue cafe in the leisure centre. Note also for the past two weeks an alternative course has been run because there is a large wasp nest on a section of the standard course which is considered potentially hazardous. We may have returned to the usual course by 23rd but this is difficult to predict. Please aim to arrive early, before 08:45, so that we can get a quick team photograph. John and Benita Scaife For details of the parkrun see: > Maidenhead parkrun Surrey League Cross-Country Matches Results and Reports #Ladies Match 1 Richmond Park 16th October 2021 [five to score]
Warm sunny weather greeted us at Richmond Park, after an earlier downpour had softened the ground and made for good running conditions underfoot. The 6.5km course consisted of two identical laps each with a couple of relentless hills, but we all finished with a smile and then enjoyed Monica’s delicious post-race bread pudding back at camp! It was good to be at a league match after such a long hiatus, and equally good to field a full team of five runners to kick off the season. The team finished in 29th place in a very competitive division. Thank you to all lady runners and to the excellent male support crew!
Men's Match 1 Epsom Downs 16th October 2021 [ten to score]
Men's XC at Epsom - was unexpectedly pleasant weather-wise - clear views of the Grandstand, and lovely Langley Vale. No promises for next time. An "almost quorate" team turnout put the pressure on those present to perform well. Everyone did their best, resulting in a creditable 8th out of 14 teams. From Adam and Paul in the top third, some good clustering in the mid-section, all the way to Mike's much-appreciated run - by the team, for avoiding picking up another penalty, and also by Graham for some reason... If we can get a few more runners for the next races, we will be ready to climb the table! Chris Kelly (for Paul Knechtl) PS If you look closely you'll note that one of our men is missing a leg - please blame the photographer for this, not the editor! London Marathon ReportsSeveral of our runners have submitted reports and more may be added this week. The following is a mishmash report of how the day went - to find out who said what see the full reports on the website here. London Marathon 2021 - 3rd October 2021I just didn’t do enough training partly due to lack of motivation and partly due to my fall from height in July which set my training back a month. Running Brighton marathon 3 weeks earlier didn’t help either! My day began at 2am when I woke up hungry and sat and ate two thirds of a tin of rice pudding – an extra bit of nutrition couldn’t do any harm could it? Having dozed off again I was up at 6.30 ready for breakfast – a giant pot of Oats-so-Simple porridge with half a tin of cream. This would have to be ‘breakfast round one’ as during training I’d be out running within half an hour of eating and my start time for today was very late. I had it all planned; I made up another pot of porridge AND took the remains of the rice pudding AND cream to the Blue Start where I made myself eat the whole lot half an hour before my allotted start time. I have to say I felt rather ‘full’ but rather that than not have the energy to get round. I started well in great conditions and maintained a good pace. The atmosphere was fantastic and a refreshing change to numerous other marathons I have run that have little or no support outside the towns. I planned to run at a comfortable pace and not be consumed by any targets as I wanted to soak up the atmosphere and sights of the capital. The weather was ideal and the first 10k flew by. I knew I was going a bit too fast but the crowds were spurring me on, especially by the Cutty Sark. It wasn't long before Tower Bridge was approaching where I would see my family but I didn't spot them and felt really disappointed and deflated. Once we hit Narrow Street things began to get a little more difficult. Let’s just say the second half was my slowest half marathon ever. I had to bear the brunt of all weathers starting in the sunshine finishing in the pelting rain (it could not have rained harder) still got the job done. I plodded on and meandered around Canary Wharf – which played havoc with the GPS tracks and added over half a mile to the recorded final distance! At mile 23 I tried to up my pace. A ‘Clif’ double espresso gel helped up my energy levels but just allowed me to maintain my pace rather than increase it. The crowds were amazing and a fabulous atmosphere. Wearing my name on my vest was a definite ‘plus’ with the spectators encouraging me every step of the way and with all the yells of ‘well done’ and ‘you can do this’ from the crowds my ‘grown up’ niece turned to my sister and shouted ‘I didn’t know Auntie had that many friends!! It was a shame about the lack of Prosecco stations on the course, something that should be addressed to the race organisers. I did have brief walks at 2 or 3 water stations towards the end, in order to be able to drink more comfortably, and I'd planned to do this ahead of time. The last few miles, were fairly tough and not as flat as I thought it might be, by the time I got to the embankment, I was ready for the finish. I was delighted to see the friendly faces of the BA marshals and I soon turned the coveted corner to The Mall. The clouds had parted, the sky was blue. I looked up at the flags and felt a sense of relief, accomplishment and gratitude. I had a sense of huge pride and achievement coming down The Mall knowing I had finally achieved something that had alluded me for a few attempts. I crossed the line with a PB which I didn't think I would ever achieve. As I staggered along to find my bag a medic noticed I was a bit off colour and guided my into one of their tents. After a few sips of water I was promptly sick! It seems I was dehydrated having not taken on enough water. I was then plied with an electrolyte drink and stayed with them under observation for the next 45 minutes. As luck would have it I was still in the tent when there was a sudden sharp shower at about 3pm which I was quite glad about! Submit additional reports to >Steve Hillier Cabbage Patch Ten #
Piers Keenleyside reports "I ran the Cabbage Patch 10 (miles) this morning. A great local race that loops around the Thames between Kingston Bridge and Richmond Bridge. I think I first ran this in 1985 as part of my training for the New York Marathon (my first ever marathon) when I went round the course twice. Today started off at my target pace of sub-9 minute miles but after just 3 miles my groin pain suddenly recurred! Agony and a slower pace for the next 7 miles! Finished in 1:30:59" And Mike Dennison adds "Cabbage Patch 10 for me too, and a new 10 mile PB of 68:11, over 90 seconds faster than my previous best time from 2018.... The conditions were pretty good, and it's a very well organised affair, helped for me by there being so many people I knew either running or marshalling round the course. My wife Sue also ran (although that's not her in the picture!) - her longest ever race (having only done the Wedding Day 7k, and a couple of 10k ones before, apart from parkrun). She was very pleased to finish slightly quicker than she expected in 1:51:15." [the photo is in the montage below, and the other women is Maria].
NOW, Aldershot: from 12:00 on Wednesday 20th OctoberReminder (details last week). Location of start - The event starts close to the entrance of the car park. If using SATNAV, the nearest postcode is: GU11 2NZ on Camp Farm Road. Turn into Camp Farm Road from Government Road by Ash Lock. Follow for 300m and by the first speed hump there is a small free carpark on the righthand side. We will grab a post run coffee at The Lake House, Goldvalley Lakes GU11 2PT - please come and join us! Nine of us are believed to be heading that way - RH, SH, BW, STu, JM, KT, VS, PW & JB. Anyone else let us know to look out for you. >Roderick Hoffman obo Paul Watt & Julie Barclay Activity Achievements over the week 11th October to 17th October 2021Although there are only 18 listed here if you added in our cross-country runners, parkrunners and Paul and Julie from below you'd have an impressive list of active participants (but you should then deduct Julie twice!).
The next in the series will be on Tuesday 9th November in Hampstead, running from (and back to) the Roebuck Pub at NW3 2PN. See: Hampstead StreetO Tuesday 9 November 2021 | London Orienteering Klubb . parkrun results for Saturday 16th October 202136 runners and volunteers listed below - get in touch if your activity is missing.
Not the usual commentary here because Steve Newell is "just rounding the corner at Cape Saint Vincent". He should be back next week. Last Saturday parkrun celebrated (quietly) the 1,000th day on which you could have run a parkrun - the first being on Saturday 2nd October 2004, then most Saturdays since but also many special days such as Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Of those 1,000 days club members have run at 726 of them from John Coffey's first run at Bushy on 24th December 2005 (Bushy's 65th run). Also last Saturday Paul Fielding ran his 500th different UK events (including some that have since closed). Paul Freyne is leading with the most different parkruns worldwide - he is now on 576. We, as a club, have exceeded Paul Freyne's count since we've run at 594 different parkruns worldwide but we are behind Paul Fielding since we have 'only' run at 449 different UK events. WWhen will we get to 600 worldwide? Probably not this Saturday because many of us will be running at Maidenhead parkrun for the first club featured parkrun since the restart (see above). But how about on Saturday 30th October? Between us could we clock up six new parkruns? The club map shows the parkruns no one has run at, indicated with red trees. I expect to be running a newish East Midlands parkrun. The nearest five to Heathrow are Horspath this side of Oxford, Henlow Bridge Lakes near Letchworth, Great Dunmow near Stansted Airport, Swanley (inside the M25, on their 2nd run), Kingdom this side of Tunbridge Wells. Any offers to do any of these or other new (to us) parkruns on the 30th? Closer to home, and hence not new for the club, Steve Newell points out that "Those who like to celebrate landmark parkruns at a venue level might like to try the Gunnersbury 10th anniversary on 30th October or Old Deer Park #500 on 6th November. The car park at Gunnersbury is still free but may cost £1 an hour from November." Comments by/to >Roderick Hoffman Full club parkrun database - {read access to club parkrun database} - Download and explore (this is where I get most of my club stats from). King and Queen of Clubs...and a Joker
Another week and we have run to two more football league grounds within London boroughs. We started with Brentford F.C. on Thursday morning and ran from Trafalgar Square to the new Brentford Community Stadium near to Kew Bridge. We parked the car near to Hatton Cross and took the train to Leicester Square, a small warm-up jog to Trafalgar and we were off again. Along the Mall, past Buckingham Palace, the Royal Albert Hall and Olympia. We carried on through Hammersmith to Turnham Green and then on to Kew. We had planned for a 7.4 mile run but 8.5 was run in 1:22. I decided to include a visit to the old Griffin Park ground for old-times sake having been a long-term season ticket holder in my teens: Julie would say that I had missed the Lionel Road turning to the Community Stadium and that Griffin Park was an unplanned visit! On Sunday we embarked on our first run outside of the Premier League and decided on a journey to A.F.C. Wimbledon at Plough Lane. We parked the car near to Tooting Station, took the Northern Line to Charing Cross and from Trafalgar Square, we set off again. A different route took us past Westminster, Downing Street and through the commons of Clapham and Wandsworth. A slightly shorter run of 6.9 miles took 1:08 along quiet London streets: a complete transformation from the busy midweek morning when the number of bicycles made London rather Amsterdamesque. A lovely pair of runs which took in so many of London’s landmarks. Six grounds done and a Charlton and Millwall doubleheader next in two weeks' time. Paul Watt and Julie Barclay And as for the joker...me, athletic? 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.
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We
now have a new proposal for a Concorde event, one that has a much lower
volunteer requirement. This is based on the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit in Hayes
[see photo of a recent running event there]. The circuit is just under one mile
in length (not exact) although there is also an alternative smaller loop of just
over 1km (again, not exact). The idea is that we would hire the circuit
for three hours on a Sunday morning next June and hold a "one hour" race.
Just
three of us reported mile results this month.
* This was the first of this winter's Street-O series organised by SLOW
(South London Orienteers). On the night I collected 13 controls scoring
370 positive points but then had the 30 penalty points for being over
time by up to one minute. I came 21st (out of 47) and
scored 81 points for the series table. I'm expecting there to be fewer BAAC runners in this
series this year because of other Street-O options, particularly for
members no longer working at Heathrow. And also the use of the RunMap
app for recording progress and results may put some off. From the
organisers' point of view there were big advantages in insisting that
runners use the app including that they could tuck into their food,
drink and conversations in the pub without having to process lots of
answer sheets. They did however have to deal with more than a few
technical problems.