baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club
BA Athletics Club News Digest 26th August 2019Events:
We meet at 18:00 at the Bedfont Club on most Wednesdays throughout the year BUT NOT this Wednesday (see below). New members and potential members of all fitness levels and abilities are welcome at most of our events. The full diary of club featured events is on the club website at: http://www.barunner.org.uk/Event Diary.shtml. Last updated: 29th July. * Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps] (parkrun details updated 12 August 2019) / # Club Points event. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BARunnerUK/ (formal "front window" club page), BA Runner Facebook Group (informal "back office" - ask to join). Inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk. 100km Relay for BA's 100th Celebration on Thursday 26th SeptemberNote the following. We need individuals linked to the running club to support this venture - by running, helping and/or recruiting other individuals or teams. Please contact me and/or use the email in the text to let me know what you could do to help us, or respond on Facebook. Note that this is also a private celebration of twenty years since the club organised an equivalent 100mile relay at the same location!
We don't know how this will work out! We may end up with one team of ten club runners doing the relay or ten teams and 500 runners involved. Whatever, it should be a great experience. This is NOT a race, slower participants are welcome, although the 100k distance will need to be covered in the 12 hours of the event. Wednesday - Club run on Harmondsworth MoorThe Bedfont Club has a revenue generating football match on on Wednesday so instead of meeting there we will run on Harmondsworth Moor instead. The map below shows key points in pink. It promises that it won't be as hot on Wednesday evening as it is at the front end of this week - there might even be some refreshing drizzle around 8pm!
Note that Steve Newell and I will be getting there early, from about 17:00, to check out the course to be used for the 100km relay event. Roderick Hoffman Approaching the sharp end of the track & field season…The Track & Field leagues may be over, but we still have a couple of Grand Prix events to complete. August’s event involved running the bend at Uxbridge track, followed by hurling the spear as far as possible. The first event saw Simon sweep to victory in the 200m, battling against a strong breeze in the finishing straight. Steve and Roderick kept him in their sights. We then moved to the infield. We started with much discussion about javelin weights, the appropriate grip on the binding (fork grip anyone?), and how best to bring the arm through when throwing. We then dispensed with the theory, concentrating on chucking the javelin as far as possible. The good news is that we improved across our six throws, so practice does seem to work!
There is one more Grand Prix to go: Sep 16th 100m + Long Jump Come and join us for this rare opportunity! Steve Hillier Club In-house Event – Wednesday 21st August – Street Orienteering - ReportIt's been a long time since I've planned a Street-O for BAAC but the resurgence of monthly mid-week events organised by South London Orienteers prompted me to set this one up. Technology has also improved and a base map is now a lot easier to generate, meaning more time can be spent selecting suitable 'control' sites. I wanted to cater for all abilities so ended up choosing 38 control sites of mainly post boxes, fire hydrant signs and lampposts (and Freddie Mercury's blue plaque; don't know where it is in Feltham? should have come orienteering!). Armed with maps and clue sheets, competitors set off to try and visit as many controls, worth varying points, as possible, wary of the fact that any time over 60 minutes would incur penalties. As with all orienteering events there were healthy debates on route choices taken, location of controls etc. at the finish but everyone seemed to enjoy the event and hopefully now have a better appreciation of the roads and footpaths that surround our new training ground at Bedfont.
Simon Turton This is the map, showing the route that Roderick took as a red line, and he ran anti-clockwise around this. If you want to get a copy of the map without the suggested route print this PDF for the Map and this for the Clue Sheet - but you'll have to assume that you have got all of the answers right!
For those who are tempted to try one of the winter season events I thought it worth explaining my thought process for the route I ran. Before I saw the map I guessed that the reason Simon had moved the start away from the club house was so that we could run deep into Feltham as well as extending into both East and West Bedfont. I therefore had already decided to go west from the start and make it a circular route - I could have gone east but had I gone south I would find myself cutting the map in half and being in danger of returning the same way I went out - both bad news for visiting new controls. So I went out via control 20 to control 30 and note that I only collected control 10 on the way because I was running right past it - it isn't worth spending 30 seconds gathering a 10 point control! It was just about worth diverting to control 21 - in retrospect it took me two minutes to collect this control so perhaps I should have run past. 40 was a good control to get and I spotted that there was a path opposite, not marked on the map, that would be a shortcut to 36 - I had the experience and confidence to take this. 19 to 25 then taking great care to find 44 (I'd been in this group of houses before and so I deliberately walked some of this to avoid making a mistake). Whilst walking I planned to get 37, 52, 33, 14 and 29 in that order - all good points apart from 14 which was on the way and that sequence minimised the distance run (52 being the difficult one to fit into a route). In retrospect I should have diverted after 29 under the railway (I know that subway) to get 35 and 51 and return the same way to 43. I would have had to cut out control 41 later but would be 40 points up. I was on the home stretch now and was able to get 34, 38 then 41, and 18 on the way. I knew that I was very tight for time but I was just able to get 31 (quicker than 39) but didn't have the 30 seconds needed to stop by 11 - had it been worth 20 points OR an easy to find Red Postbox I might have tried and risked a few time penalties. I ran 5.39miles (8.7km) in 59:52. This year's winter Street-O series starts off at Hampton Wick on 10th September (details to be confirmed). It is worth trying to do this one because it can be run before it gets dark - yes, most of the Street-O series has the added complication of being done with streetlights and head torches! Roderick Hoffman Club parkrun results for Saturday 24th August 2019
Volunteers include...
The bank holiday weekend and more settled warm weather encouraged widespread tourism with our members turning up at no fewer than 24 different parkruns. Fresh ground was broken on a personal and in some cases a club level in various parts of the country. Several new club records were set. Mike Dennison
(20:17) and Maria Jovani (21:08) were “first-timers” at Cranleigh and improved
on the previous club records there. Denis Foxley
(29:55) ran at Darlington South for the first time. Ian and Caroline Cockram
had previously run there but long before they joined us. Andrew Jordan (23:31 at Bramhall) ran for the first time since Christmas Day last year. Chris Kelly holds the club record there with 19:57. Ben Chaytow (22:37) was at Brickfields in Dublin and came 9th out of 77 runners. His first parkrun in Ireland. Richard Ruffell (21:18) achieved a rare second place at Sunny Hill just a week after his fine Ironman finish in Sweden. It was Richard’s 88th different park. Roderick Hoffman (31:30) was there as well and moved onto 281. He is still clinging on to a slot in the worldwide top 20 (just) {Roderick adds - it is my parkrun ambition for this year TO drop out of the top twenty - I may succeed over the next two weeks with a run at Hanworth on Saturday and then missing a parkrun due to WARR}. Neil Frediani (29:17) ran at Leazes in Newcastle upon Tyne which only started up last week. His Wilson Index was 2 already and stays there! He needs multiples of three to extend his score - 3, 6 and 9. The BA Club total has moved up to 520 so reaching 600 at some stage cannot be ruled out. Steve's parkrun stats - club parkrun stats - UPDATED Full club parkrun database - {read access to new club parkrun database} - UP TO DATE - Download and explore. Steve Newell / Roderick Hoffman Position BingoOddly Position Bingo is less of a thing than the Wilson Index and Seconds Bingo. But it is worth a mention since by finishing in 2nd place for the first time ever Richard Ruffell has now finished in all finish positions from 2nd to 29th. I'm recommending to Richard Les Dougnes near Bordeaux in France. Saturday's first place time there was 23:18. Or an adventurous trip to Moberley in Montana, USA - any one of us would have been first finisher there on Saturday (sub 50 minutes) and Richard's Sunny Hill time would have been first finisher there in each of the last six weeks. Who else has impressive records? Including performances when not a member:
There is a lack of first finishers in the above list. We do have them in the club...but those that have finished first haven't finished in the "minor places" often enough! Gary Rushmer has finished in all places from first to 16th. Also David Bird has finished first once, twice two times, third three times, fourth four times and sixth six times. He needs to finish fifth another two times to add to this record. Roderick Hoffman Running Shorts:Back to basics, dear Ed. My cross country yesterday in 39.37. Andy Rayner.
P.S. My son, Ian, doing the Maidenhead Half next weekend. 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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