baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club
BA Athletics Club News Digest 23rd January 2023
Events marked "#" are points scoring for the club's participation trophy - for the 2023 title. Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps] For future weeks: inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk. 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. Weekly Athletic Achievement (by Sunday evening) or use the Facebook group prompt:
Wednesday's Handicap RunJoin us at the Bedfont Club for the January 5 mile handicap run (2.5mile walk also possible). Our aim will be to start our runs so that we finish at 7pm. Changing rooms, showers and the bar will be available afterwards. Cross-Country Matches Chobham Common Report
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| Colleague | Activity | Distance | Course | When | Duration | Comments |
| Andy Rayner | Walking | Local Park and Cox Green | Fri | 00:34:30 | Just two fast walk reports. Both to local park (half mile) around park and then Cox Green per se. Fri 20 Jan and Sat 21 Jan in 34m 30s and 34m 44s. P.S. It ain't 'alf 'ot Mum! | |
| Barry Walters | Running | 8km | Bracknell | Wed am | 00:51:04 | Ran a steady effort from home in the morning to Martins Heron railway bridge and back in cold conditions. In the evening did 40 minutes in the gym followed by a one hour body balance (tai chai, pilates and yoga) session at my local leisure centre. |
| Benita Scaife | Running | 3.8miles | Corona Park, Flushing Meadows, New York | Tue | 00:41:20 | A big park with two lakes but surrounded by huge infrastructure including LaGuardia Airport, the Billie Jean King Tennis Arena site of the US Open, the New York Mets baseball stadium, and… |
| John Scaife | Running | 3.8miles | Corona Park, Flushing Meadows, New York | Tue | 00:41:20 | ...the sad remains of the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Coffee kiosk in the middle of the park staffed by a lady who spoke not a single word of English. |
| Clara Halket | Running | 8.07km | Country Park | Sun am | 00:45:34 | Post night shift freezing morning run and ice crunchy underfoot at the country park. It was lovely to go stretch the legs. Now to enjoy the first day of Chinese New Year |
| Emma Moreton | parkrun | 5km | Bushy Park | Sat am | 00:21:56 | 5k PB / parkrun PB / Bushy PB of 21:56. So happy to get an official sub 22 and beat my overall parkrun PB set in 2019! |
| Jain Reid | Running | 25km | Thames and Richmond Park | 02:48:00 | 25k run trying to avoid slippy bits along towpath. Richmond Park stunning as ever | |
| James Edwards | Running | 31.8km | Vale coastal path from Llantwit Major through to Bridgend | Sun am | 03:49:00 | Event I was due to run today was cancelled so had to get out and go for an explore. Found a 400yr old coastal lookout with tight 15m spiral staircase which was cool. Started in the dark 6:30 and temp was -6 throughout. |
| Janet Smith | parkrun | 5km | Wendover Woods | Sat am | First parkrun at Wendover Woods. The uphills were hard but the views were good . Still trying to get fit after the Christmas bugs. Baby steps ♀️. | |
| Julie Barclay | Running | 5km | Rushmoor | Sun | 00:29:00 | Slow freedom run [Ed: 'Slow' by Julie's standards] around Rushmoor whilst watching the Farnborough Half-Marathon runners. |
| Michael Ball | Running | Lee Valley Indoor Stadium | This week's activity indoor training session plyometrics and circuit training also went to Lee Valley London athletics Competition | |||
| Paul Watt | Running | 9miles | Farnborough | Sun | 01:20:00 | From Queen’s Parade Junior parkrun through Farnborough and Frimley home. |
| Piers Keenleyside | Race | 10Miles | Fred Hughes 10 miler, St Albans | Sun | 01:21:44 | See below |
| Roderick Hoffman | Running | 11.57 | Grand Union Yeading to Perivale | Sun pm | 01:22:13 | With great difficulty got myself out to do a longer run despite the cold and icy conditions. |
| Simon Turton | Orienteering | 10.06km | Inter Club competition in the New Forest | Sun am | 01:16:55 | Real orienteering today, first proper O in almost a year due to injury so good to get out although a tad cold on Sunday morning . Most marshy areas were crossable due to the frozen ground but got my feet wet in a few places. |
| Stephen Taylor | Running | 8miles | Ealing | Weekend | 01:24:43 | This weekend's long run, just a local run and no chance of avoiding the frosty pavements. |
| Steve Newell | Indoor Rowing | 2000m | Back on dry land | 09:26.9 | 2000m Indoor Rowing 9:26.9 | |
| Steve Waite | Orienteering | Trosley Country Park | Thur eve | 01:00:00 | Night Orienteering, Trosley Country Park, Thursday eve, 60 min score event, Kent Night Cup week 12, North Downs hillside, bit chilly! |
Piers reports, "I did the Fred Hughes 10 miler in St. Albans today with a bunch of Ealing Eagles and finished in 1:21:44. Very frosty for most of the run and we had to watch out for icy patches all the way round. I was 21st of 57 in the V60 - 69 age group. The overall winner broke the course record in a time of 49:40 - under 5 minute miles all the way! I saw Jasvir Singh at the start, he finished in 1:55:11. And just spotted Keith Johnson in the results - 1:12:43."
Photos:
Roderick Hoffman
33 activities are recorded below. Please get in touch if your activity is missing.
| Club parkrunner | parkrun | Run# | Pos | Time | Age Grade | Comment |
| Joe NOLAN | Black Park | 643 | 323 | 0:31:17 | 54.61% | |
| Emma Moreton | Bushy Park | 914 | 206 | 0:21:56 | 70.67% | All parkrun PB by 30s and best grade by 2.5%. Bushy PB by 101seconds. |
| Ian CUNNINGHAM | Bushy Park | 914 | 353 | 0:24:02 | 66.71% | run #491 |
| Diana Smith | Bushy Park | 914 | 1392 | 1:07:21 | 34.77% | Tail Walker at Bushy (one of seven, must have been a battle to be last over the line, but the published results show Diana as the 'last' winner) |
| Ben CHAYTOW | Crane Park | 489 | 30 | 0:23:46 | 60.10% | |
| Christopher T KELLY | Dinton Pastures | 170 | 308 | 0:39:50 | 39.25% | Reading flooded! 10th run at Dinton Pastures |
| David Cowell | Eastville | 191 | 13 | 0:19:28 | 72.86% | New BA parkrun #701. On their 'B' course due to ice. |
| Roderick HOFFMAN | Great Dunmow | 168 | 45 | 0:31:32 | 51.74% | Unexpected day off to do another 'Great' parkrun (my 5th Great). park #348, New BA parkrun #702. |
| Piers KEENLEYSIDE | Gunnersbury | 506 | 226 | 0:27:21 | 61.30% | |
| Joan FOXLEY | Harrow | 331 | 217 | 0:59:50 | 39.81% | |
| Denis FOXLEY | Harrow | 331 | Run Director at Harrow | |||
| Harjit Jhooti | Langebaan | 291 | 130 | 0:42:27 | 42.09% | 2nd week at Langebaan. Daniela is the other club member to have run there, and she also ran two consecutive weeks. |
| Sarah GORDON | Leicester Victoria | 300 | 297 | 0:38:06 | 54.86% | 321st parkrun at L.Victoria's 300th (her 34th there). |
| Paul WATT | Mote Park | 31 | 6 | 0:21:44 | 71.93% | Setting BA men's record. Park #120 |
| Julie BARCLAY | Mote Park | 31 | 19 | 0:23:41 | 79.66% | Breaking Melanie's BA Ladies' record and Grade record, park #124. |
| Mike DENNISON | Osterley | 407 | 14 | 0:20:12 | 82.26% | run #488 |
| Maria JOVANI | Osterley | 407 | 35 | 0:23:14 | 69.73% | |
| Bob BANNISTER | Osterley | 407 | 84 | 0:25:42 | 65.89% | run #445 |
| Scott DAVISON | Osterley | 407 | 120 | 0:27:34 | 53.93% | |
| Trish MCCABE | Osterley | 407 | 142 | 0:28:25 | 56.42% | run #399 |
| Jeremy SHORT | Osterley | 407 | 170 | 0:30:04 | 53.82% | run #131, 37th at Osterley |
| Anne Bannister | Osterley | 407 | 211 | 0:33:22 | 62.64% | |
| David DUGGAN | Osterley | 407 | 218 | 0:33:38 | 48.51% | run #443, 6th at Osterley, P-Index is still 6 |
| Steve NEWELL | Osterley | 407 | 282 | 0:47:14 | 42.52% | run #449, 11th at Osterley |
| Alan ANDERSON | Osterley | 407 | 284 | 0:48:28 | 53.95% | 98th run at Osterley, Still finishing in the top ten of BA runners at Osterley. |
| Neil FREDIANI | South Shields | 426 | 135 | 0:30:46 | 54.50% | First run at South Shields. The Doddsworths hold all the BA records. |
| Paul TIMMS | Tetbury Goods Shed | 117 | 19 | 0:23:00 | 69.13% | |
| Janet SMITH | Wendover Woods | 156 | 192 | 0:40:10 | 46.31% | first run at Wendover Woods |
| Jacqueline MUSSELWHITE | Woking | 350 | 169 | 0:27:50 | 63.35% | |
| Melanie Miller | Woodgate Valley Country Park | 73 | 185 | 0:39:55 | 44.76% | Setting BA ladies' record. Run #125, park #99 |
| Benita SCAIFE | Wycombe Rye | 469 | 289 | 0:33:28 | 63.40% | |
| John SCAIFE | Wycombe Rye | 469 | 290 | 0:33:29 | 51.52% | |
| Fiona Bishop | York | 444 | 201 | 0:24:49 | 80.46% | 1st run at York, run #221, park #62, still needs an "E" and a "Q" |
This week the weather was calling all the shots but before we get into that I just wanted to report on significant progress which crept under the radar next last week. Melanie Miller has been chasing down the Fibonacci sequence for a while and was the latest of several club members to try the fast and flat Edinburgh course along the promenade at Cramond, enjoy views of the Forth bridges and nail run number 610. The other parkruns in her Fibonacci collection are: Great Salterns(1), Southall(2), Bartley Park(3), Dallas Burston Polo club(5), Bury Field(8), Broadwater(13), Church Mead(21), Kagerzoom(34), Chasewater(55), Hazelwood(89), 144 not yet done, Seaton(233), Alice Holt(377) and Edinburgh (610). So just one more to do until Bushy run 987 becomes the must have experience sometime in 2024. If anyone has actually got a full house please let the editor know.
The cold and wet weather caused more than 100 cancellations this week including several near LHR such as Bedfont Lakes, Southall, Stockley Country and Northala Fields so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that the biggest group of members headed for Osterley Park and the popular two lap flat course with a free parkrun carpark and good café. Former BA staff member Geoff Miles was there sporting his blue “500” vest for the first time. Mike Dennison (20:12, 82:26%) scored the best age grade of the week. Local MP Ruth Cadbury (Lab) was on barcode scanning duty.
David Cowell (19:28) was our fastest runner this week. He broke new ground at Eastville (Bristol). Roderick Hoffman (31:32) also went to where no member has run before, not for the first time, and took the club total to 702 at Great Dunmow (Essex). The others in his “Great” collection are Great Denham, Great Lines, Great Notley and Great Salterns.
Recent joiner Fiona Bishop (24:49, 80.46%) was also over 80%, a reward for travelling to York and securing the only “Y” currently on offer in UK. Emma Morton (21:56) ran her fastest ever parkrun, at Bushy (course pb by 101 seconds!). Paul Watt (21:44) and Julie Barclay (23:41) set new club records at Mote Park (Maidstone).
Steve Newell
I was pleased to discover that by checking the Stockley Country course on Friday morning and realising that we couldn't host a safe parkrun on the Saturday we had cancelled early enough to enable people to make other plans. Not only did I make it to Great Dunmow but I discovered at the breakfast table a group from Hadleigh parkrun who had also been planning on attending Stockley Country. We currently expect to operate this Saturday, since the forecast says that the ice will have gone.
Quiz question - which country had the most parkrunners last weekend? The answer depends on your definition of 'most'. Whilst there are more parkrunners in the UK than any other country, when you work out the parkrunners per million heads of population the UK has 1,550, Ireland has 2,020 and Australia has the most with 2,341 - 50% more than the UK. On the same scale the USA has just 7. I think I know them personally.
Roderick Hoffman
And Eddie reported "Salisbury parkrun is cancelled for the 3rd week in a row due to the Churchill Gardens being under water from the river next to it. Maybe there should be a wild river park swim starting up!!" Eddie Giles
Full club parkrun database - {read access to club parkrun database} - Download and explore.
Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps]
Letters
to the Editor - some good newsDorothy has happily reported that she is now Mrs. Dorothy Cook Harding, having married Frederick Harding.
"I have good happy memories to remind me of Martin who was well known to Fred, since Martin and I met Fred and Joyce in 1991 in Ashford. Martin will always be part of my life. My faith in Jesus Christ reassures me that Martin is no longer in my past but is part of my future. Jesus came to take Martin home, so I see Martin, and my friend Joyce who was the wife of Fred, having gone on ahead. Fred and I will follow and join them one day. After two years of such sorrow it is good to be happy again. Fred is a real Londoner.
All the very best to you, and greetings to all those who knew and remember Martin and me."
Dorothy
Next Digest - Results, news, pictures, feedback, jokes, stories - send them to the editor, Roderick Hoffman, at news@barunner.org.uk.
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