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BA Athletics Club News Digest 27th April 2020

Events - see below:

Inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk.


Solo Events Calendar

Week of Monday… Midweek Challenge Weekend Challenge Weekend Solo Run
20th April Your-Street-O challenge London Marathon Day Marathon Relay # [ROM] Best weekend achievement (if not in the relay)
27th April what3words challenge [see below] none Best weekend exercise achievement
4th May Solo Mile none Best weekend exercise achievement
11th May Solo Pairs Scrabble Scramble none Best weekend exercise achievement
18th May Track-on-Field [T&F GP day]
1500/800/400/200/100 # [CIE]
Green Belt Relay solo
team run # [ROM]
Best weekend achievement (if not in the relay)
25th May tba* perhaps Street Name spelling none Best weekend exercise achievement

All face-to-face events are off until at least the end of May, but the club continues to operate with the Solo runs listed above - these ARE still permitted but see the Coronavirus footnote at the end of this digest.

* Please suggest formats for runs with the "tba" in the above table.

Roderick Hoffman


Midweek SOLO Your-Street-O Results

Harjit's postboxesWell, that was different and most of you said that you enjoyed it. Although not part of the instructions several of you took photographs of each postbox and I've included Harjit's collage as the best set.

The results are shown in the table below. Every course was different and everyone had different challenges to overcome so it isn't really fair to compare people's performances…but I have listed the table in extent completed order. Five of you visited ALL of the control points on your maps and got back to your front doors within the hour - well done to Bob, Gary, Janet, Mike and Simon. A special mention for Jacqui, in mid table, because whereas most of those at the top of the leader-board had a dead-flat floodplain to run around Jacqui had the hills of Knaphill to contend with. Others gave themselves the additional handicap of going out between midday and mid-afternoon in the hottest week of the year so far. Thank you to Ian who came out of retirement to act as tailrunner for this event. Though I suspect Ian is one of several who will contact me over the next couple of weeks to say that you've rerun the map and have really nailed it this time!

Some reported missing post-boxes. Obviously for 22 courses I couldn't drive around each area and spot the post-boxes myself - not an "essential journey" by the current definition. Instead I used an orienteering mapping tool, OOMAP, that includes a link to a database of post-boxes. However that database is not up-to-date, it is probably at least twenty years out of date if not many more. So for maps with more than 16 post-boxes to choose between I also used Google Earth, and Google Street View, to check that the post-boxes were still in the positions OOMAP suggested. But the satellite and street car photographs could be a year out of date. Harjit was the first to hit such a problem - she knew that she was in the right place and went round and round looking for the post-box but to no avail. But then she spied a postie, delivering letters, so she enquired about the box. The postie told her that it had been demolished by a car and hadn't yet been replaced.

Participant Controls Checked Home Total %age Comment
Bob Bannister 16 16 2 18 100% Back home in 0:52:49
Gary Rushmer 14 14 2 16 100% Home in 0:50:17 and distance of 10.9k
Janet Smith 11 11 2 13 100% Undertaken as walk, home in 1:25:00. One checkpoint was missing on the ground.
Mike Dennison 16 16 2 18 100% Back just in 0:59:47, 12.4k
Simon Turton 14 14 2 16 100% Back in 0:54:11
Sarah Gordon 9 8 2 10 91%
Chris Kelly 16 14 2 16 89% 11.84km
Neil Frediani 16 16 0 16 89% Managed to take a photo of Maarten (and Jacob) visiting a postbox!
Maarten Stenham 16 15 0 15 83% 59mins and 10.89 km to get round the 15 and back home.
Melanie Miller 16 13 2 15 83% [See report below]
Christine Munden 16 12 2 14 78% Spending nights in the sorting office and days visiting postboxes!
Jacqui Musselwhite 16 12 2 14 78% Exhausted (hilly) 9.11k
Michael Ball 16 14 0 14 78% Home in 1:05:54
Stephen Taylor 16 14 0 14 78% 9.7km
Jain Reid 16 11 2 13 72% Ran past the Gold Postbox for Pete Reed (not one of the controls)
Roderick Hoffman 16 13 0 13 72% 13 in 8.64km (then walked the rest - 12.36km total)
Alice Banks 16 10 2 12 67%
Harjit Jhooti 16 12 0 12 67% Including the postbox that had been knocked down in a recent week.
Keith Johnson 16 10 2 12 67%
Steve Hillier 16 10 2 12 67% 00:57:12
Marion Taylor 16 9 2 11 61% 00:53:15
Piers Keenleyside 16 11 0 11 61% Total distance for 15 controls 13.2km - excluding "42" which he knew was missing.
Maria Jovani 16 10 0 10 56% Included 2 valid controls she visited thinking she was on different roads
Petra Otto 16 10 0 10 56% It was the longest ‘run’ she had done for ages, and didn't notice that.
Ian Hudson 16 9 0 9 50% Very hot, with one box missing due to road works [see report below]

The orienteering tool, oomap, was unavailable from Wednesday through to Friday, perhaps because of overuse during this lockdown period, but was back up on Saturday so may be available for you to have a go with it. On a PC or Laptop go to https://oomap.co.uk , click on the red "UK", click on the "x" to close the box, then either enter a postcode into the "Postcode:" box and click "Jump" or simply narrow down to the area you live using the mouse (or enter the code in the bottom right hand corner of your existing map into the "Map ID:" box and hit "Load"). Click once where you want the centre of your map to be - a blue dot will appear. This can be moved by clicking on it and then dragging it somewhere else). Click where you want the start/finish to be, click on "Start/Finish" then "OK". Now the clever bit. Click on "Add Postboxes" and the map will fill up with control points! If there are too many you can delete some using the table on the right. When you are happy with the map click on "Save & get PDF map" which will download the PDF to your machine. At this point you are invited to buy a coffee for the tool's creator. I did buy him several coffees for last week's exercise (from club funds) and if you make extensive use of the tool you might like to do the same.

Last week's exercise gave you a good flavour of Street-O events. Please note though that there are several differences between last week's event and the series that a few of us do each year:

  • Many of our runs are done in the dark, and when it is raining, but don't let that put you off. We do finish in a pub.
  • There are usually 30 to 40 controls and they vary in worth from 10pts to 50pts.
  • There is a question to be answered correctly for each control to prove that you had been to it - such as post-box postcodes, lamppost maintenance numbers, dates on plaques etc.
  • The maps don't (usually) cover the area within a mile of your front door.
  • We all run the same map at the same time - though setting off with gaps so that we can't follow one another.
  • You don't get a bonus point for getting back in time…you get time penalties if you don't!

Roderick Hoffman

I did not to study my map beforehand but as the area is split in two by a main road/railway line combo I knew crossing points were limited. In addition, post-boxes would not be clustered, and the task would be to find the best route around them with options.

I started my watch, sorted out a possible route, decided to start on the northern side of the map and as the first control is the box I use, it took 3 minutes. The next I run past regularly, but it had been removed for the new ringroad and without me noticing! Not to worry I knew a path along the river that was not marked. A dogleg to the next and then uphill which was when I questioned why I had started at 14:30 as the heat took its toll. Down through an estate on paths that I didn’t know existed, under the railway to my first decision point at 28 minutes. Left, or right? Time to shorten my proposed route, so right to a box outside the PO.

Over the main road to the southern side and thank goodness Chestnut Avenue lives up to its name with plenty of shade. My seventh control was reached at 36 minutes, another decision point. If I turn right, there is only one control between me and home; left it is then. Reading the map as I go, I choose my next control with a direct route using a path network. But I lose count of the path junctions and go too far, I reach the control at 46 minutes.

My only option now is head for home, quickly, but my route is in full sun. I manage my last control at 58 minutes and turn the corner for the straight run home. I can see my gate post all the way, but I am really flagging now, and I reach home just over the hour…...drat.

A Lapsed Member (Ian Hudson)

On Wednesday Roderick came up with this challenge to run or walk capturing letterboxes on the way without use of technology or over studying the carefully crafted map we were given.  We were allowed to use our ‘paper map’ so this was a useful ‘aid’ from time to time.  Our maps pin-pointed a triangle from which was our starting point...I have to admit so bad am I at coordinating places that I did a brief “study” of direction I was gonna take to save the embarrassment of getting ‘holy lost!’ I needn’t of bothered 'cos as soon as I got to Burgoyne Road I turned left and went the opposite route to the one I had ‘planned’ anyways......most of the streets I encountered I had run anyway but not the entire length of Manor Lane, anyway as time wos of the essence I had to decide at the crossroads of Manor and The Ave whether to turn left or carry straight on to hit ‘a row’ of three letterboxes of three on Manor, which, I’m pleased to say I did! I even caught the penultimate one which on my photo looks like I ‘kissed’ the box in the selfie but actually I wouldn’t be so stupid ....lol...I next tirelessly ran to ‘the front’ of the map thru the underpass where my pride and joy greeted me in the form of the Post Office and my final letterbox two-for-the-price-of-one and then I just had to take the clock delighted with myself that I had completed the ‘daunting’ challenge but no...wait I still had to run back to base which I managed albeit only just: Completion time 1:48secs inside the hour, not bad given I ran ‘the route’ stopped only to take snaps all the more made difficult given the scorching temperatures.

Unfortunately I missed out 3 letter boxes at the top end of Vicarage Road...oh well you can’t win ‘em all not that I’m at a loss!

Cheers Melanie Miller


This week's Midweek Challenge - What3Words

This week's BAAC Midweek Challenge is based on what3words. This requires a simple run…and then a bit of imagination including the use of the website: https://what3words.com .  The concept of what3words is to provide a system for locating anywhere on the earth's surface through easier to remember words, rather than postcodes or coordinates.  Every 3m square in the world has been given a unique 3 word address that will never change.

This challenge is to use, or perhaps misuse, the what3words for a bit of fun following your exercise. If you go to the website above and type your postcode into the Search box it will locate the postcode on the map and tell you the what3words location of that postcode. Now do your run:

  •  run a mile in any direction. Remember where you ran to,
  • Then run a mile or so to somewhere else about a mile from your house,
  • and then run home.

Then use the map of the website to locate the other two points on the triangle and look up their what3words. Finally use the three sets of three words, selecting ONE word from EACH set, and make an apt, humorous or meaningful phase.  Tell me what that is by the end of Friday.

So, the run isn't important, about three miles but speed isn't necessary. AND for those stuck at home I'm happy for you to do a workout equivalent to where you would have run to. But give me those three word expressions. I may judge everyone to be a winner…but may highlight the phases that made me smile most!

As an example my postcode looks up noisy.decide.brief. I could plan my running triangle to two local points whose what3words are free.strut.than and dinner.swift.cubes.  So I could submit my answer as "Brief swift strut" to describe what I've just done or perhaps "Noisy free dinner" for what I want to do when the lockdown finishes.

Over to you. 

Send me the results, for instance by filling in this table and forwarding to mailto:News@barunner.org.uk, by the end of Friday:
Participant Home what3words First point run to what3words Second point run to what3words Three word phase Description / Comment

Roderick Hoffman


BAAC 2020 Virtual Relay Marathon – Sunday 26th April - Results and report #

Team Mile Name planned start time predicted running time actual start time run time Difference
Team 1 1 Clara Halket 08:00:00 09:00 7:59:00 08:31 00:29
Team 1 2 Barry Walters 08:09:00 10:00 comms issue 09:50 00:10
Team 1 3 Melanie Miller 08:19:00 11:00 8:19:00 10:50 00:10
Team 1 4 Lynn Stevens 08:30:00 09:00 8:30:00 08:53 00:07
Team 1 5 Maria Jovani 08:39:00 06:20 8:39:00 06:11 00:09
Team 1 6 Murray Hogge 08:45:20 07:00 8:46:00 06:19 00:41
Team 1 7 Frankie Hogge 08:52:20 07:00 8:53:00 06:25 00:35
Team 1 8 David Williams 08:59:20 08:30 8:59:00 07:34 00:56
Team 1 9 Sarah Freeman-Smith 09:07:50 10:45 9:07:00 09:20 01:25
Team 1 10 Harjit Jhooti 09:18:35 10:00 9:17:00 09:10 00:50
Team 1 11 SJ 09:28:35 08:00 9:27:00 07:30 00:30
Team 1 12 Simon Turton 09:36:35 07:00 9:35:00 06:38 00:22
Team 1 13 Keith Johnson 09:43:35 07:45 9:42:00 07:24 00:21
Team 1 14 Piers Keenleyside 09:51:20 10:00 9:50:00 09:01 00:59
Team 1 15 Jacqui Musselwhite 10:01:20 07:15 10:00:00 07:33 -00:18
Team 1 16 Alice Banks 10:08:35 08:45 10:08:00 07:58 00:47
Team 1 17 Jain Reid 10:17:20 09:00 10:18:00 08:48 00:12
Team 1 18 Janet Smith 10:26:20 10:30 10:27:00 10:20 00:10
Team 1 19 Christine Munden 10:36:50 08:00 comms issue 08:11 -00:11
Team 1 20 Gary Rushmer 10:44:50 06:15 10:58:00 06:01 00:14
Team 1 21 Debbie Helsdon 10:51:05 08:30 11:05:00 07:43 00:47
Team 1 22 Amanda Coombs 10:59:35 10:00 11:13:00 08:21 01:39
Team 1 23 Roderick Hoffman 11:09:35 08:30 11:22:00 08:15 00:15
Team 1 24 Duncan Wright 11:18:05 06:20 11:31:00 05:56 00:24
Team 1 25 Neil Frediani 11:24:25 09:00 11:36:00 07:29 01:31
Team 1 26 Steve Hillier (1.2 miles) 11:33:25 11:00 comms issue 10:53 00:07
Team 1 Team 1 Total 11:44:25 3:44:25 3:31:04 13:21
               
Team 8 2 Marion Taylor 08:09:45 10:00 08:09:00 09:28 00:32
Team 8 4 Steve Taylor 08:33:45 08:00 08:33:00 08:00 00:00
Team 8 19 Trish McCabe 10:49:20 09:00 10:35:00 08:42 00:18
Team 8 20 Kelly Davis 10:58:20 11:30 10:44:00 10:32 00:58
Team 8 21 Monica Alonso 11:09:50 10:00 10:55:00 09:10 00:50
Team 8 22 Tamara Alonso 11:19:50 08:30 11:05:00 07:56 00:34
Team 8 23 Angus Galton 11:28:20 06:30 11:13:00 05:50 00:40
Team 8 26 Petra Otto (1.2 miles) 11:53:50 14:24 11:37:00 12:54 01:30
Team 8 Team 8 Total   4:08:14 3:45:16 22:58
Team Posn Team Composition predicted time actual time improvement
Team 2 1st Datchet Dashers 3:51:35 3:26:09 00:25:26
Team 7 2 All Stars A 3:51:41 3:28:57 00:22:44
Team 1 3 BAAC 3:44:25 3:31:04 00:13:21
Team 6 4 Black Park pacers 4:15:01 3:38:57 00:36:04  
Team 8 5 All Stars B (incl BAAC) 4:08:14 3:45:16 00:22:58
Team 5 6 Run & Fitness 3:58:50 3:48:46 00:10:04  
Team 4 7 Run & Fitness 4:29:06 4:05:19 00:23:47  
Team 3 8 Prysbet/H & H 5:03:18 4:12:50 00:50:28

I received a huge number of emails, in fact from the majority of yesterday's runners direct, and more via Team Managers thanking both me and all the Team Managers for such a great job done, a great idea, and how much they enjoyed it which has given them all such a motivational boost in these troubled times and so lovely to get back 'together' with so many friends they have been missing for a long while now.

Surprising or surprising not (?) ...many reported being very nervous before the start, worrying about 'dropping' the baton (and not getting their start/finish/times thro) and about not letting their team mates down ! This was equally shared between experienced marathon runners and total newcomers to this 'special marathon'.  I told my team after, that this distraction probably played a vital role in overcoming any struggle running fast, such that not only bettering all their predicted times but also to new PBs for a mile. Not bad since many confessed to little running in the last month !

In my team final briefing at 07:55 before the start countdown, I told them all to 'run like hell, as if they were escaping from robbing a bank, and to wear Kipchoge's smile every step of the way' !

I would like to thank every runner, all the Team Managers, and the 'Guardian Angel BA Team' in the backroom that helped advise, formulate and carry out the event plan. It was a true joy to do my bit towards what became 'a marathon festival' from the days leading up, the incredible day itself, and indeed the partying seems to be continuing today on my WhatsApp race channel !

One other question that kept getting asked was ….when is the next one ?…

Thanks so much all, Joe Nolan

BA marathon runners"Thanks to every member of the team from the first mile to the last for all being ready to go a few minutes early, reporting starting and finishing and then sending your times promptly.  Every credit to Joe for burning the midnight oil last week in preparation and involving so many teams. I sensed that it was all just so much fun and now we have tested the model we can look forward to the scaled up version next time - or would everyone just prefer to slog out the 26 miles in October from Greenwich to The Mall?   I hope Gary was able to get to work in time, it is reassuring to know that there are still some jobs left at LHR.  It is very quiet these days living under the flight path!"

Steve Newell [team captain and coordinator of Team 1]

Ed adds: Steve had a very frustrating morning because his WhatsApp service for some reason batched up messages and delivered them to and/or from him up to twenty minutes late. His team ran faultlessly except for the occasions where Steve needed to submit starts for the few team members without access to WhatsApp. Our time, above, excludes any lost time. PS. Perhaps Sue has now been banned from downloading the complete series of "Game of Thrones" (or whatever) on Sunday mornings.

Photo Montage - thanks to Maria and myself, but don't ask us to name everybody, and apologies to the many missing!

We have raised £279, representing more than £10 per mile, for White Lodge through the 2.6 challenge initiative, with more promised.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/2020-baac-virtual-relay-london-marathon

Roderick Hoffman


SOLO activity achievement weekend 24th to 27th April 2020

Fewer to report on this week due to the focus on the Virtual Marathon Relay.

Colleague Activity Distance Course Start Time Run Time Comments
Andy Rayner Running 4miles XC Sat 00:48:23 Having had a 'sniffer' I decided to do my extended XC today and I was really pleased to do it in reverse pattern in a PB
Barry Walters Walking 5k The Lookout, Bracknell Sat early 0:36:21 Included 15 minutes easy running
Benita Scaife Running 5m Bisham Woods / Cookham Dean Common Sun 00:53:18 Usual 5 miler plus stop to view Early Purple Orchid
Chris Kelly Running 5k Solo Sunning parkrun Sat am 00:39:54 Warmer, busier and not a PB
Eddie Giles Running 6k Up to the top of Figsbury Ring hill and back. Sun lunch 00:34:30 1.5 mins faster than 3 weeks ago.
John Scaife Running 5m Bisham Woods / Cookham Dean Common Sun 00:53:19 Usual 5 miler plus stop to view Early Purple Orchid
Julie Barclay Running 5k Frimley Lodge freedom run Sat 00:21:54 Frimley course record too and first sub-22 in 38 attempts. Furlough must help
Keith Johnson Running 5k Sun 00:23:36 First mile for the virtual marathon event so was a quick start!
Maria Jovani Running HalfM To, from and around Heathrow Airport Sat am 01:41:54 Anticlockwise and helped by the tailwind on the North Perimeter Road.
Mike Dennison Cycling 26.2k Round Heathrow and local roads Sun 01:52:02 Cycled the London Marathon distance on quiet roads for my 2nd longest cycle ever. Could have done without the puncture before I even started!
Paul Brandon Turbo Cycle 22.4k My Garage Sun lunch 00:51:50 Turbo, Cycling 4* (5mins hard, 3 min recovery)
Paul Watt  Running 5k Frimley Lodge freedom run Sat 00:20:58 Course record and first sub-21 5k in three years.  Must be the furlough and absence of shift work
Petra Otto Running 5.8k Whittlesey Manor Sat untimed In addition to the 1.2miles (plus) at the relay.
Roderick Hoffman Running 5k Rectory Park (alternative Northala Fields parkrun) Sat am 00:29:03 plus 3k war-up/warm-down positioning
Scott Davison Running 5.2m Stanwell / Cargo centre Sun pm 00:43:36 First 5k sub 25mins
Stephen Taylor Running 13.1m Earling to Thames and back Sat 02:13:04 Including through "Long Wood" to see the bluebells.
Steve Newell Indoor Rowing 6800m Equivalent to Boat Race distance Sat am 29:10.3 One second slower than last week - must have been a headwind?

Mike reminds us of views of Heathrow...

Concorde at Heathrow

Same again next weekend. Submit your best performance of the weekend by filling in the following form and sending it to me OR replying to the message on Facebook (or any other messaging format to me).

Your Name Event Distance Location Day/Start Time or Duration Details or comment, and other achievements
e.g. Running

Roderick Hoffman {submit by 5pm on Monday}


1981 London Marathon (shown on BBC on Sunday afternoon, still available on iPlayer)

Many years ago I remember telling Des Lynam in the bar at Pissarros (he used to be neighbour at the time) about standing in the rain in Parliament Square to watch the first London Marathon.  He said he didn't remember any rain so it was good (for me!) to see him on the 1981 re-run this afternoon doing his bit on Tower Bridge and even offering the shelter of his umbrella to bedraggled runners.

Good to see the BA sweeper bus coming through as well.

Steve Newell

Ed: I also watched the rerun and thought to myself how uncontrolled the crowds of spectators were in Parliament Square (our crossing points were introduced a few years later for that reason) and also that the two finishers, finishing hand in hand, would be disqualified today for not competing against each other.

Simon Turton notes (from Facebook):

  • One of the race founders, Chris Brasher, actually ran the race and recorded a sub-3 hr time.
  • Dave Bedford, former 10000m World record holder, was rubbish when it came to the marathon distance!
  • The Isle of Dogs was bleak.
  • The finish looked a complete shambles; I think the finish funnel at club runs is wider!
  • There was very little crowd control and the roads appeared to open quite early to traffic.
  • Thank goodness we've had the advent of tech. clothing; some of the runners kit looked decidedly dodgy.
  • It looked like a vast majority of the field were male.
  • If you were in trouble the chances of getting any help from fellow runners was virtually nil.

BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000hrf7/the-1981-london-marathon-an-historical-first


NEW Colours Quiz - answers next week

Here is Linda Hillier's numbers quiz. For those people who have an aversion to numerical problems and who prefer to visualise the issue, try this one! Some clues are obvious, some are tough, and it's just a bit of fun! Enjoy.

Colours Quiz

On Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/636199849751546/permalink/2981530825218425/) many of us have had a go but none of us have managed to get the following two. Have you? Let us know. The Facebook item will have our answers added later on this week.

7: Green F; P S I
24: Blue R M in V

Roderick Hoffman


2020 BAAC Solo Exercise Survey Results

23 people have responded so far and I'm summarising their answers below. The survey remains open so please fill it in, particularly if your activities contrast with those of these first 23. The survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FBQRXTW and is open to all digest readers whether you are members of the club or not.

Results so far...

Q1: Over half of responders reported that they were doing about the same level of exercise as before, but a different mix. 26% are doing more than before whilst 18% are doing less.

Q2Q2: over 90% were still running outside the home. More than half were also walking and nearly half were cycling. Nothing else makes more than 20%.

Learning from this - We are probably doing things about right, the weekend activity achievement is open to walking and cycling as well as running. The midweek challenge will sometimes be open to walking as well as running but none have been designed for cycling. Had 30% or more of you ticked one of the other categories we would have had to consider what we were doing to support you.

Q3: The Average frequency of exercise was a healthy 5.7 times a week and the average duration was just over 50 minutes. The "how far from home do you go" question was mainly to check that you had thought this through. The runners amongst us had an average maximum distance away of about 45 minutes - which would still be a long walk with a twisted ankle. The cyclists however were answering "two hours". I'm not a cyclist, but I wouldn't want to walk a bike with a broken chain for two hours.

Q4 Q5Q4: Of the five options presented it was "Providing twice weekly challenges" that got the highest score. "At home training tips" got the lowest score - which is a bit of a relief since we've yet to publish any. But there is some demand for these so I may try to source something for next week.

Q5: Noted the popularity of the "Weekend exercise achievement" and the Midweek challenges of fixed distance events. The Track-on-field was a marmite subject, you either loved it or had no interest in it. I didn't ask about the Your-Street-O because it was too new but it does seem to have gone down well.

Q6: This was about the tools that you use and 100% of you said that you read the digest, I hope that you've read this far this week. Other tools with high percentages were the website, WhatsApp (and on Sunday we saw the good and the bad of relying on WhatsApp), Email and Facebook. 50% of us use phone messaging, nearly 40% of us use Strava and one third use Video Conferencing (and I bet that that has gone up since the start of May). We are due to have an AGM in July and we need to decide at our next committee meeting (which will probably be via video conference) how to plan the AGM - including an option to delay it by up to three months.

Q8: This was about what was keeping you busy. 50% of you said that you were neither working nor child-minding so sounding like you had time on your hands (with many mentions of the word "furloughed"). 23% were working from home, slightly more than the 18% who were working outside the home.

We'll continue to monitor the survey and judge whether our communications and activities remain appropriate for what you need and want.

Any concerns or queries - email me: Roderick Hoffman


Coronavirus Warning Footnote

In the UK exercise outside is still permitted because it will boost physical and mental health. The relevant law in England states, "No person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse...a reasonable excuse includes the need...to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household". The word "need" is not defined, and you could be challenged on your interpretation. In line with government guidance; whose purpose is your health, the health of those around you and reducing demand on NHS and other services; we advise you as follows:

  • Do not conduct a solo run if 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,
  • Do not conduct a solo run if you consider yourself to be, or others consider you to be, vulnerable, such as being elderly OR with pre-existing health conditions,
  • Do not travel unnecessarily far to a location for a run - use a local or nearby park or leisure route. Your judgment is needed on this point, for instance it could be that your nearest park is busy with other people, but you live a short drive away from empty open countryside,
  • Do not meet up with others to conduct a solo run,
  • As you run keep 2m away from all others - by default diverting around them (don't leave it up to them to avoid you),
  • Do not push yourself too far, this may weaken your defenses 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. For club solo relays events we will not include distances of more than half marathon length (21km),
  • If government instructions are updated to limit or prevent exercising outside your homes please respect such instructions - we should be fighting the virus, not authority.

If you are unwell yourself, potentially with 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.

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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