baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club
BA Athletics Club News Digest 29th December 2014Forthcoming Events:
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. Running related gossip and chat: Facebook "BA Runner" (link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/636199849751546/). This news digest is being sent to you because you are on the BA Athletics Club email list. To be removed please email us at news@barunner.org.uk. Difficulty viewing this email? Read it off the website instead - http://www.barunner.org.uk/News Latest.shtml. Heathrow Loop - (The Ice Cracker)On an absolutely glorious day 5 people gathered for the first (hopefully of many) Heathrow Loop, Waterside to Waterside or whatever you like to call it, runs. We met at the metal gates by the community learning centre but had to climb the fence due to the pedestrian gate being locked, to start on the outside. After a bit of refinement I had got the original route down to 12.15 miles according to www.walkrunjog.net having initially suggested it would be just over 10 to generate interest. Roderick Hoffman decided to run the opposite (clockwise) direction to everyone else and said that we would meet/pass in Hatton Road. Myself (slowest of the main group), Piers Keenleyside, Dave Bird and Jeremy Short headed off across parkland to Stanwell Moor and within a mile were finding it very warm. Care had to be taken due to some frosty shady sections as we went through Stanwell Moor, past the reservoirs into Stanwell and then past the Quarantine centre on the way to Hatton Road and on up towards Hatton Cross where lo and behold we saw Roderick. He was just in Hatton Road, ready as always with the camera but he wanted us to stop too. This was to warn us of flooding in the parkland by Cranebank and to suggest detours. I am not sure which way he went around it but 3 of us said we didn’t care about a bit of water. Jeremy had departed by then to take a shorter way back because he needed to be at work by a particular time. Quite convenient because he doesn’t like getting wet feet when running. Anyway we negotiated Hatton Cross in various ways and headed up the short section of Eastern perimeter track and then towards Cranebank before turning left into the aforementioned park. Roderick was right, there was about 100 metres or more of over the ankle freezing water due to the burst banks of the river. We ploughed through, feet numb with cold after a few steps and then onto a section of ice breaking on the surface of the water. Once through I found that my feet quickly warmed up as we went through the little bit of Cranford park by the A4 and onto the familiar back roads where the pace increased. Strangely I was leading most of the way then and kept accelerating whenever someone came up to my shoulder but it couldn’t last, could it? Just before Harmondsworth Dave and Piers were in front but then due to choosing the correct crossing points I was in the lead through the village and then Piers came past and asked if we were finishing by the metal gates where we started. I said yes and then on the final section of Accommodation Lane I timed my run perfectly to overtake Piers at the line but he dived over the fence to finish on the inside of the gate by which time of course I had gone past and won!! Dave was nowhere to be seen but had turned into Waterside at the earlier open gate to finish on the inside too. Oh, it wasn't a race! it was to me and will probably be the only time I ever win one, and 2 vastly superior runner scalps were taken, it wasn't my fault that they deviated at the end and Dave was knackered from the previous days run and Roderick added a mile to the course. Our route was 11.9 miles in approx 1:45 subject to confirmation as me or my watch malfunctioned [Piers has confirmed both]. Oh and Roderick, we didn't see him at the end because of his extra mile and some of us had work to do! Maybe we could do it as a club run one summer evening meeting towards the end with others doing shorter routes. Neil Frediani Roderick adds - the most difficult step in a long run is the first and having to step over the fence to get to the start was most difficult. My watch functioned throughout and gave me a distance of 12.61 miles (just over 20k) in 2:11 so I clearly took a more leasurely route and performance - averaging over 10 min miles whereas Neil and the others averaged nine. Club parkrun results for Xmas Day and Saturday 27th December
The festive season brings with it extra parkrun opportunities and ten of the runners we follow closely were out running celebrating Christmas Day. All ten then ran again on Saturday and were joined by several more. The first results made public were from Crane Park where Neil Frediani ran for his fourth time. Notably Alan Anderson ran at Bushy for the sixth time on a Christmas Day and Ian Cunningham was there too for the fifth year in a row. There were over 1100 runners at Bushy Park. Richard Ruffell was included in a turnout of 148 at the recently inaugurated Panshanger (Hertfordshire) event and took the parkruns completed by our members to 147. Joe Nolan, Roderick Hoffman and Piers Keenleyside were part of a record turnout of 197 at Northala Fields. Santa Hats and Antlers were the order of the day and at the end the two loaves and fish provided had become a banquet that would have fed the hordes at Bushy . On Saturday Tony Barnwell along with his daughter Lisa met up with Steve Newell at Fulham Palace. Tony had the better of the sprint for the line and both improved on the times run there previously in 2014. Richard Ruffell had moved on to take in another comparatively new run at Ellesmere Port (BA park #148). Roderick Hoffman refused to be put off by warnings of nasty wintry weather and made his way to Daventry in Northamptonshire to run his 100th different parkrun (and BA park #149) of a worldwide tour which has included Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Denmark, Poland, Singapore and Australia. It was a double celebration for the Hoffman family as Roderick's sister Sarah Gordon ran her 50th and will qualify for a red vest when the supply situation has been sorted out. That leaves the opportunity to notch up the 150th venue on New Year's Day when two runs are allowed if you choose two close together with different start times. Don't be surprised to find Alan Anderson running at Bushy Park at 0900 and cycling over to Crane Park for the 1030 start there. It is on his way home anyway! But there are other opportunities - Joe Nolan suggests Black Park 9am, Upton Court 10.30am and you could even add the 4mile run between! [cycling being another option]. Consider New Years Day parkruns (click on the "Jan 1"): Seasonal bonus parkrun map Updated parkrun stats: www.barunner.org.uk/results/ba_parkrun_park_totals.xls Steve Newell (mainly) Roderick celebrated becoming the 31st member of the parkrun "Cowell" club with a specially printed All-Cow Cowell Towel. He is looking forward to running again at several venues he has particularly enjoyed running at...but with hundreds of parkruns still to be visited including 49 that other club members have done - perhaps his repeat running won't start on January 1st.
BA parkrun map: http://www.barunner.org.uk/attachments/BA-Parkruns-2014.jpg {some parkruns may have been missed}. "Normal" parkruns resume on Saturday 3rd January and that includes at Black Park Joe Nolan providing his 'pacing team' again - every minute from 20 to 32 (first Saturday of every month). New Year, New Runs to consider...Sunday 15th February - Harrow Hill Race 10k - Hilly road circuit. An achievement to finish let alone run all the way - has additional "King of the Hill" awards but only if you are the first to climb the hill AND finish the full distance. http://www.metros.org.uk/ Saturday 28th February - ASCA Cross Country in Iceland! Sunday April 12th - Hillingdon Half Marathon - step up the race distance two week's before the London Marathon. http://www.hillingdonhalf.co.uk/ Sunday 26th April - London Marathon - this will be my 28th consecutive year not-running the London Marathon HOWEVER twenty to thirty of you will be running the event and another 120 (possibly including myself) will be volunteers on the usual five crossing points the club manage each year. Sunday 3rd May - Wings For Life - the race from Silverstone (and other locations around the world) to race away from a chasing car - the fitter you are the further you can run. I managed 10.7 miles (and got caught just before a downhill section!). The worldwide winner managed almost 49 miles. http://www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com/gb/en/ 16th/17th May - Green Belt Relay - A team of eleven attempt to circumnavigate London each running two average ten mile length legs - hopefully to retain the Corporate Shield we won in 2014! Roderick Hoffman News for the next BAAC News Digest?Please send items for inclusion in the next Digest. Results, news, pictures, feedback, jokes, stories - send it to us at news@barunner.org.uk. Club website:
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