baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club

BA Athletics Club News Digest 25th January 2021

 For future weeks: inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk.

Unrestricted races are currently off so the club continues to operate with Solo and Shared runs as listed above - for restrictions and advice see the Coronavirus footnote at the end of this digest.  Due to the Tier 4 lockdown all shared runs are off the agenda until March or April.

Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps]

Roderick Hoffman

This week's Events

Please help me by sending in your results, for instance by filling in the tables below and forwarding to News@barunner.org.uk. Some events, such as the weekend achievement, 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 and Ross Barkley exercises are both due at the end of this week:

Track-on-Field (by 5pm on the last Friday of the month, to be reported on next Monday):

Ross Barkley 5k (by the end of the month, will probably be reported on the week after):

Weekend Achievement (by 5pm on the Monday) or use the Facebook prompt that will be added on Friday:

Roderick Hoffman

This Week's Midweek Challenge - The Cooper Test Analysis

The Cooper test was designed in the 1960s to provide a guide to an individual's aerobic capacity and thereby suitability for military service in the infantry or, for our purposes, for endurance distance running rather than sprinting.

The weather yesterday was totally unsuitable to almost everybody without access to an indoor track so with better conditions expected later this week, Steve Newell will still welcome any late results up to the end of the month.  Michael Ball did his stint at the height of the blizzard. When allowed we will arrange a session at a track and make a group attempt at the exercise.  All you have to do is run as far as you can in 12 minutes.

The "standard" column shows the VO2 max for an average member of the population of the same age.

There is different calculator for those doing the test on a rowing machine and bodyweight is an extra factor in the equation.

The units for VO2 max are millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (mL/kg/min).

Steve Newell

The results are plotted in the graph shown here. I haven't identified the individual runners but it is easy to see who is who from the results above. Now, it may look like it is downhill all the way from the age of 19 onwards but when you think about it it should be easier to run downhill than uphill.

No entries from the ladies so I haven't had to calculate a ladies graph - but if you want to check out your own result, and work out either how much further you need to be able to run...or how much older you need to be...see the website calculator: ExRx.net : 12 Minute Run.

Roderick Hoffman

2021 Virtual Relay London Marathon !

The whole running community seems in the doldrums now, the springtime marathon season with it's numerous training events not happening now.  More and more seem to have lost the motivation to run sadly.

Well, I never intended or expected to repeat last years' event, but after a number of requests have decided to go ahead again - the time is right to give everyone a boost and try to repeat the success of last year - it was fun and so many continue to talk about it.  There are lessons learnt from last time  and some extra support this time should make it bigger and better and easier (fingers crossed !).  I believe it will conform with the Covid guidelines in the previous format.

This will be organised under the BAAC banner and I hope that as many members and friends will take part.

Plan to put more detailed information in the digest next week, entries open through February and the event held on Sunday 14 March.

Take care all, keep warm and be safe

Joe Nolan

SOLO Activity Achievements, Weekend 22nd to 25th January 2021

26 members and friends reported activities for this week.  Please try to make future submissions by Monday 5pm, or 6pm at the latest, either by email to me or using the "Prompt" in Facebook, and I'll try to include them all.

 If you were thinking about slipping down to Singapore to try one the parkruns there, make sure you have plenty of time, plenty of money, don't start from here (UK) and read this first...

Travel to Singapore is subject to entry restrictions:

• Travellers who have been in the UK 14 days prior to travel, including for transit, will not be permitted to enter or transit Singapore. This includes all long-term and short-term Singapore pass holders and those with previous permission to travel to Singapore,
• Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents are able to enter Singapore, but must undergo 21 days of quarantine upon arrival (14 days in a government- designated facility, followed by 7 days at their place of residence), have a COVID-19 test upon arrival in Singapore and at the end of their quarantine period,
• From 11:59pm on 24 January all arrivals in Singapore, from all locations, will be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival,
• all three parkruns in Singapore are still suspended so sticking on the plane down to Sydney could be an option but you won't find yourself any more welcome there and the quarantine fee for a compulsory two week stay in a government hostel is 3000 Australian Dollars.

So, to borrow an expression from parkrunner Ronnie O'Sullivan (pb 18:08 at Hackney Marshes), you're snookered !

BAAC will continue to provide lockdown virtual challenges for as long as necessary

Steve Newell

Central Line Street-O

Since none of us live in that "part of the city" we may not yet be able to take part in the Central Line Street-O series recently announced, with initial events from Bethnal Green and Loughton Underground Stations, but all events in the series will be open for running up to 30th April 2021 so provided there is a partial release by then we will be able to catch-up.

See: Central Line Virtual StreetO 2021 – Chigwell & Epping Forest Orienteering Club for details.

Roderick Hoffman

Coronavirus Warning Footnote [changes from last week underlined or struck-through] (no changes)

In the UK exercise outside is permitted because it will boost physical and mental health and because the risk of catching Coronavirus outdoors is very low provided social distancing advice is kept to.

• Do not exercise outside the house if you have been asked to isolate or you are unwell, particularly if you have symptoms of the coronavirus such as a fever, or if you share a house with someone who has these symptoms, or if you consider yourself to be vulnerable, such as being elderly or with pre-existing health conditions,
• You may drive to outdoor publicly accessible open spaces but you are advised to stay 'local' (defined as "in the village, town, or part of the city where you live."), you are also advised to minimise the amount of time spent outside your home and you should follow social distancing guidance whilst you are out. Further advice is to reduce public transport and shared car journeys and do not cross the "Tier 3" boundary (in either direction).
• Tier 4 rules only allow you to exercise on your own, with people in your linked household (bubble), as part of child-care or with one other person. You are advised to exercise just once per day and to minimise the variety of people you meet over the weeks of lockdown. Exercising your pet is allowed in addition, but only on your own.
• As you exercise, keep 2m away from all others including those you run with as well as those you meet on the run, by default diverting around those you meet (don't leave it up to them to avoid you),
• Do not push yourself too far, this may weaken your defences against the virus and/or increase the probability of requiring assistance. We all have different limits so you need to judge what would be too far for you,
• If government instructions are updated to limit or prevent exercising outside your homes, or to meet with fewer people, please respect such instructions - we should be fighting the virus, not authority.

If you are unwell yourself, especially if you have symptoms of the virus:

• Put your needs first...
• but please let me (Roderick Hoffman) or Steve Hillier know of your condition/status, but we will keep it to ourselves unless you ask us to pass information on.

Shared club activities are not permitted in Tier 4.  For when the situation changes any club member may be permitted to organise a shared activity. We recommend the social distancing gap of 2metres although "1meter+" can be followed during the activity itself.  To legitimize a run with more than six participants:

• The chairman (Roderick) or the secretary (Steve Hillier) must be notified in advance that the event is taking place,
• One of the participants must be a paid-up member of the BA Athletics Club and must be prepared to perform the duties of a "Covid-19 Coordinator", if more than six attend we recommend that that member wears a BAAC top or distinctive clothing,
• Participants, and the activity, should not cross the "Tier 3" boundary or the "Tier 4" boundary (in either directions).
• A risk assessment has to be raised based on this template,
• The considerations within the risk assessment must be followed,
• After the activity perform a review of the risk assessment and log and pass on any issues or lessons learned.

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.

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