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BA Athletics Club News Digest 23rd November 2015

Events:

  • Wednesday 25th November - Club In-house Event, 5 mile handicap, at Heston Venue from 18:00 followed by social from 20:00.*
  • Thursday 3rd December - Dream Mile on the Bath Road from 12:45*. With mince pies and mulled wine promised!
  • Sunday 6th December - Run of the Month - Perivale Five* 10:00 (book now to avoid sell out, fewer than 50 places left).

New members and non-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 11th November.

Running related gossip and chat: Facebook "BA Runner" (link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/636199849751546/).

*Club Event Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z31P-sSECWno.kIIgdFzUuZAo&usp=sharing

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BA Clubs Communications meeting and survey

BA Clubs [the parent organisation for the BA Athletics Club] held a members' Communications Meeting last week which a number of us were able to attend. Chris Byron spoke openly, with both optimism but also realism, for the future of the club.  So for instance the optimism includes that the club is in a much sounder financial state than it was a few years ago but the realism is that the expected improvement of the site by Imperial Collage isn't planned nor expected in the near future.

The slides he spoke to are available on the Internet: http://www.baclubs.com/sites/default/files/contentimages/Trustees%20Communication%20Nov%2015%20v2.pptx

Chris recognises that the club has to get much better at communication and that will include the BA Clubs website being re-designed and modernised. It would be helpful to get feedback and comments on what you would like to see on the new website. You are therefore invited to complete a short survey and have the chance to win a pair of BA return tickets to New York!  Please click on this link to complete the survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/baclubs The closing date is 18 December.

Roderick Hoffman

Reminder:5 Mile Handicap Wednesday 25th November

It is time for the second of this year's series - and it doesn't matter if like me you missed the first because only your best five of six performances count. Be ready for six o'clock though start times will vary so that we all finish at around the same time, about seven o'clock.  Please run without checking your watch or timing/tracking device.  And not only is there a social in the club house afterwards BUT the diary says that there is free food!

Roderick Hoffman

Club parkrun results for Saturday 21st November 2015

21st Nov 2015

Family, Friends,+

Time

parkrun

Comment

Grade
Alan Anderson 32:39 Gunnersbury run #385 64%
Gregory Bailey 29:32 Hatfield Forest run #114, park #114 50%
Alice Banks 26:59 Maidenhead run #40 70%
Julie Barclay 22:53 Frimley Lodge run #55, F-4 75%
Ben Chaytow 22:02 Crane Park run #115, 25th/115 62%
Caroline Cockram 29:06 Southampton run #203, F-90 55%
John Coffey 25:33 Bushy Park run #190 72%
Scott Davison 22:44 Bedfont Lakes run #138 62%
David Duggan 35:30 Bracknell first run at Bracknell 43%
Paul Fielding 24:51 Aldenham 1st, UK park #255 62%
Denis Foxley 25:37 Harrow run #22 66%
Joan Foxley 34:04 Harrow run #15 61%
Neil Frediani 41:04 Bedfont Lakes run #130, very slow dog? 38%
Sarah Gordon 41:11 Hatfield Forest run #86 46%
Alastair Heslop volunteer Guildford timekeeper
Roderick Hoffman 29:14 Hatfield Forest BA park #209 53%
Sharon Kassemzadeh 24:32 Cassiobury run #12 79%
Chris Kelly 24:14 Reading run #262 61%
Kerstin Luksch 21:24 Gunnersbury F-3 70%
Steve Newell volunteer Gunnersbury pre-event set-up, funnel
Joe Nolan 28:49 Black Park run #242 56%
Natalie Ruffell 21:32 Fulham Palace run #37, F-9 69%
Richard Ruffell 20:25 Fulham Palace course pb 75%
Sreeram Sethuraman 29:57 Upton Court run #64 44%
Jeremy Short 23:47 Crane Park run #73 64%
Mark Turner 27:33 Chichester run #4, all at Chichester 54%
Barry Walters 20:49 Upton Court 7th/72 77%
Caroline Yarnell 23:03 Curl Curl run #10 78%

The weather continued to make November Saturday mornings rather unpleasant in the London area with freezing temperatures adding to the wet conditions.  The best run on the radar this week was by Caroline Yarnell (23:03, 77.57%) enjoying some early summer sunshine in Sydney.

Richard (20:25) and Natalie Ruffell (21:32) were at Fulham Palace.  That was a course pb for Richard.  Julie Barclay (22:53) at Frimley and Sharon Kassemzadeh (24:32) at Cassiobury also had good runs.  

At Upton Court, Barry Walters (20:49, 77.02%) came 7th out of 72 and is now third in the all time MV60 list there.  Eddie Giles is 13th.  Numbers at Upton Court were quite low in the first year but it now has a healthy following.  Maybe the large free car park helps. [Ed: also parkrun tourists frequent it as the only "U" in the list!]

At Aldenham Country Park near Elstree there is a pleasant course but they are struggling to attract runners and the £4.50 car parking fee has been mentioned as a drawback.  parkrun proudly boasts that it encourages persistence.  Paul Fielding has run at more different UK parkruns than anyone else, like twice as many as Roderick Hoffman if you can imagine that.  This week he turned up at Aldenham to run at his 255th UK venue and with a time of 24:55 came in before all of the other nine runners for the first time in his parkrun career.  Every dog has his day, as they say. He hadn't previously finished in the top five at any of his 282 parkruns runs.

Roderick Hoffman (29:14) was at Hatfield Forest for his 131st event where the conditions were rather difficult.  That moves the club total on to 209.  Another parkrun tourist Gregory Bailey was there as well and made it 114 different runs with no repeats which continues to set the record. Both were out touristed by Rosemary Egbe running her 151st different event.

Alan Anderson (32:39) battled against the weather on his bike to reach Gunnersbury and then cycled round the course planting arrows and km marks.  It was nearly all too much for him and he was spotted walking at times towards the end of the run.  One of his worst ever times.

Updated club parkrun stats: www.barunner.org.uk/results/ba_parkrun_park_totals.xls 

Steve Newell

Parkrun Tourism

Yes, so the weather wasn't too good for most of us on Saturday. But the volunteers were there to make our start and finish possible (and thanks to those of us who were such volunteers). Not everyone who started a parkrun on Saturday was able to finish it.  At my home parkrun of Pymmes [I know that I don't live near North Tottenham but Pymmes became and stays my nominated home] between the leaders passing a point on the course on the second of three laps and the pack getting to the same point a tree came down falling upon a local out walking.  The arriving parkrunners rallied to the rescue and once enough were there they managed to lift the tree and pull out the injured person beneath. The emergency services were called and the local taken to hospital where it was later reported that he was not seriously injured.  The parkrun was of course abandoned but they all had a story to talk about afterwards - though I feel sorry for "Harry" (let us call him/her), the marshal on the far side of the park who probably knew nothing of what happened other than only seeing the leaders through on their third lap and then no others. Perhaps they stood by in the wind and rain for several hours?

Roderick Hoffman

Meet the Committee - Alan Friar, Membership Secretary

Alan Friar 

I have been running at British Airways since 1979 when one the BAAC founding members, David Barnard, organised a race around the Hayes running track to see how far members of our department could run in 12 minutes. After many enjoyable races and training sessions, I still manage to do the Reading Parkrun most weekends and attend the club’s training runs and in-house events on a Wednesday night. My best time out of the six New York, one Frankfurt and two London marathons in the 1980’s  was 2:58:37 in the 1982 New York Marathon.

I have been on the BAAC committee since 2005 when I did the hard working job of treasurer for 3 years and I am now the membership secretary where I keep members records up to date and try and encourage new members to join.

Alan Friar

Running Shorts

The Rowley Report

From Freezing Frimley and Windy Woking: The change in weather conditions seemed to have lowered the local park runs figures. The entries of 308 were below par but still a good turn out. Considering the previous day's rain the surface was quite firm and the only mud was along the canal path where puddles had formed.  And the wind only seemed to affect the open spaces (though Julie said it was worse in the wooded area ???). 

This being Julies 5th appearance at Frimley she has now picked out female runners in her time zone.  Today she ran 10 seconds faster than the previous week and was pleased to finish (beat) two in her little group and become friends with them and other runners.   Julie was 1st 0/50 (58th o/a) in 22.53; her age grade of 75.09% was the 2nd best female - the best being our BA friend Paula Fudge who ran 26.01 in 76.75%. Paula often runs at Frimley as it her nearest Park 5k. After the event Julie then ran 7k along the canal path relaxed to home (and against the wind I bet!) 

Tom Rowley

I'm going to have low availability throughout December so please send me digest submissions in plenty and early - preferably on the Sunday.  I will continue to generate weekly digests provided there is material to include.

Roderick Hoffman

Next Digest?

 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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