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BA Athletics Club News Digest 29th February 2016

Events:

  • Thursday 3rd March - Dream Mile*, Bath Road from 12:45
  • Sunday 6th March - Berkhamsted Half and Five Mile races from 10:00 - Tell Richard, email: richardhr@aol.com
  • Wed 16th March - "Mad March Twister" from 18:00 +Social at 20:00 at Heston Venue*

New members and potential 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.

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

Not for you, no longer interested?  remove me please.

Difficulty viewing this email?  Read it off the website instead - http://www.barunner.org.uk/News Latest.shtml. Running related gossip and chat: Facebook "BA Runner" (link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/636199849751546/).


Club Awards for 2015

Neither Adele nor DiCaprio won anything at the biggest awards ceremony held last week at Heston Venue.  OK, so perhaps it was the only awards ceremony held last week at Heston Venue but nevertheless the winners of the club awards for performances over the year 2015 were as follows:

Award 2015 Recipient Reason
Chairman’s Award Chris Kelly This year’s winner is an exceptional athlete, who has achieved great success in parkrun, cross country and marathons.  He has quietly encouraged others to improve their times, and he has put in the hard miles in all weathers to improve his own performances. And for his massive contribution to the well-being of the club as Treasurer.
Alamo Trophy Paul Knechtl For tripping over the curb in-between finishing 5th in the WARR 10k race race and finishing 12th the WARR 5k race - and then discovering that his ankle was actually fractured.
Brian Forrester 10K Trophy Julie Barclay Returning from a series of niggling injuries to win her age group at WARR, taking the third women’s masters trophy, and finishing second amongst all the BA competitors at the event (male and female!).
Round The Block Trophy Neil Frediani Winner by the clearest margin in years - he captained the Cross Country team during the autumn, and organised or took part almost all of our Club In House and Run of the Month events during 2015.  He sharpened his pace on the track, achieving several PBs.  He was our sole representative at the Epsom Rosenheim in June, with two great performances.  
Men’s Track and Field Gary Rushmer Our winner once again competed strongly in the Rosenheim League and in the Vets League.  He was a regular throughout the summer, representing BA in all events from 100m to 3000m, as well as the Long Jump and Triple Jump. 
Ladies' Track and Field Janet Smith Our former track and field captain returned to compete with us in the Veterans league, and set about out-distancing the opposition with some great performances.  She is the best hammer and weight thrower in her age group in the UK, and she also contributed some excellent performances in the other field events.
The Club parkrun Trophy Alan Anderson The receiver of the trophy in its first year has to be Alan Anderson who has continued to spread the parkrun word to everyone he meets and now in his 80th year continues to set parkrun records at parks he visits, that is on the odd occasion when he can be convinced that the Gunnersbury parkrun team can be relied upon to set their course themselves. For the record, at the time of writing, Alan has completed 399 parkruns (only 15 people in the whole world have run more) and his best time in his 80s has been 28:03.
Men’s Cross-Country Trophy Mark Taylor This trophy is presented to the man who had most success last year with our cross country team.  The calculation of this award winner takes account of age, appearances and placings, with this year’s result being close yet again.  Despite strong challenges from Barry Walters and twin brother Graham, our top male cross country runner is Mark Taylor.
Ladies Cross-Country Trophy Monica Alonso Our most consistent performer on the Cross Country courses , and the winner of the Ladies Cross country trophy is Monica Alonso
Most Improved Athlete Ian Cunningham Our winner has been running consistently for around ten years, but last year he stepped up to knock nearly half a minute off his 10K PB.  He came close to breaking a long held marathon PB, but the really big improvement came with his endurance running. In May, he completed the Weald Challenge Ultra 50k, based around Lewes, finishing in 6 hours 12 minutes.  In October, he ran the Downs Link Ultra, some 38miles, in 6 hours 57 minutes.   The improvement between the two events is that he ran 10K further and 30 seconds per kilometre faster!
Female Athlete of the Year Monica Alonso Our winner has proved herself to be a real all-rounder this year.  She performed well at WARR, she has run some great performances on the road during the year, and as we have seen she has been our top performer in the Cross Country League.
Male Athlete of the Year Colin Haylock This year’s award winner has achieved an exceptional mix of performances.  He run has run PBs over 5K and half marathon, and managed a nine minute improvement in his marathon time.  He has stepped up to ultra distance runs, completing 4 x 20 miles in training as part of his preparation.  Always a team player, he led the Cross country team home at Epsom.
Veteran’s Trophy Joe Nolan Our winner has made a running career out of helping others.  He has embraced parkrun, improving his own times consistently, and creating a large network of pacers who lead their charges to improved times every month.  He has taking on the difficult qualification of “Coach in Running Fitness”, giving up his own time to complete this training course, and passing on the fruits of his learning to club members.

Full website awards page: http://www.barunner.org.uk/News_Trophies.shtml

Photographs from the night: https://onedrive.live.com/?id=35356C69FF3A308E%2121905&cid=35356C69FF3A308E  [NEW format for photograph sets - please feedback to me if this does or doesn't work for you - Roderick Hoffman ]

Some snippets overheard at the after-awards party...

  • "That was John Williams, club president, handing out the trophies"
  • "I particularly liked his 'rabbit in headlights' pose with Joe Nolan"
  • "They should of mentioned that it was Paul Brandon who took the photographs"
  • "Two first time club trophy winners - Ian and Colin!"
  • "Did anyone tell Alan that he'd have to give it back in a year's time?"
  • "That's OK, he can always cycle back and get it"
  • "It's a pity that Julie Barclay and Monica Alonso weren't their to pick up their trophies"
  • "Nice shirt Ian. Where did you say you run?"
  • "It's the worst aspect of WARR - having to lug this heavy trophy around"

Roderick Hoffman


Results: Five Mile Handicap 24th February 2016

24-Feb-16 Handicap run time Time gap from handicap Rank this month Points this month Total points Next Start time
Alan Anderson 50:30 58:06 07:36 1 8 77 58:00
Scott Davidson 37:30 37:47 00:17 12 19 65 38:00
Dennis Foxley 42:00 44:28 02:28 3 10 33 44:30
Neil Frediani 40:00 41:27 01:27 5 12 42 41:30
Alan Friar 45:00 45:23 00:23 11 18 86 45:30
Steve Hillier 49:30 49:31 00:01 15 25 71 49:30
Roderick Hoffman 47:00 46:01 00:59 8 15 38 46:00
Piers Keenleyside 37:00 37:13 00:13 13 20 97 37:00
Chris Kelly 34:00 33:02 00:58 9 16 35 33:00
Paul Knechtl 35:00 35:05 00:05 14 22 22 35:00
Christine Munden 46:30 47:46 01:16 6 13 56 48:00
Steve Newell 50:30 53:58 03:28 2 9 50 54:00
Steve Norris 31:30 32:44 01:14 7 14 14 32:30
John Taylor 35:00 33:30 01:30 4 11 11 33:30
Harry Wild 41:30 42:07 00:37 10 17 95 42:00

There is one event left in this season's six event series although each participant only totals their five best results. The leading three runners in the total points table have all already run five events so there is a real chance of someone who has only so far done four events overhauling them at the final event on Wednesday 30th March. Be there, or miss it.

Roderick Hoffman for Paul Brandon


Green Belt Relay 2016 - Corporate Trophy Recapture Challenge

GBR Trophy

Last year we lost this Trophy. This year we need to get it back. Anyone willing to assist - this may involve running quite long and hard, twice in two days, 21/22 May 2016, around a green and pleasant land, please let me know. Or perhaps you fancy a fast drive round London supporting us?

Chris Kelly (christkelly@yahoo.com).


Club parkrun results for Saturday 27th February 2016

27th Feb parkrun family & friends time parkrun commentary grade
Chris Evans 24:27 Bedfont Lakes run #137, 134th at Bedfont 60%
John Lennon 27:30 Bedfont Lakes run #197 56%
Joe Nolan 28:40 Black Park 56%
Caroline Cockram 25:55 Bois de Boulougne F-1, course record, park #41 63%
Jonathan Cox 21:31 Bushy Park 71%
Ian Cunningham 24:20 Bushy Park 199th run at Bushy Park 62%
Julie Barclay 22:11 Clermont W'front F-2, BA park #231 77%
Paul Watt 23:44 Clermont W'front run #8 63%
Ben Chaytow 24:56 Crane Park 54%
Scott Davison 25:36 Crane Park 55%
Steve Dodsworth 25:01 East Coast Park first run at East Coast Park 60%
Linda Dodsworth 28:30 East Coast Park course pb 55%
Kevin Holland 29:36 Guildford 58%
Kerstin Luksch 20:19 Gunnersbury F-3, run #174 74%
Bill Byrne 20:39 Gunnersbury run #100 74%
Mike Lawrence 22:29 Gunnersbury run #17 70%
Eddie Giles 26:51 Gunnersbury 64%
David Duggan 30:06 Gunnersbury run #138 52%
Alan Anderson 31:16 Gunnersbury run #400 67%
Piers Keenleyside 31:17 Gunnersbury run #127 50%
Steve Newell 31:54 Gunnersbury run #210 56%
Kathryn Keenleyside 39:25 Gunnersbury run #6 48%
Alice Banks 26:03 Maidenhead run #52 73%
Benita Scaife 30:40 Panania Inaugural, BA park #230 62%
John Scaife 30:41 Panania Inaugural 53%
Chris Kelly 20:26 Reading 220th run at "Reading" 72%
John Coffey 26:01 Woking 72%
Alan Friar 27:44 Woodley 48th run at Woodley 64%
Alastair Heslop volunteer Guildford timekeeper
Denis Foxley volunteer Harrow volunteer coordinator
Steve Taylor volunteer Northala Fields lead bike
Tom Rowley volunteer Woking marshal

We'll begin this week at Gunnersbury where all was set for Alan Anderson to run his 400th parkrun and become only the 16th person in the world to reach that unrecognised milestone.  At 0850 the sun was shining, the cake was baked but Alan was nowhere to be seen.  Alan normally plants the km markers round the course on his bike before the run on a Saturday and last week he took them home with him but only remembered that when he was almost at the park.  Let us not enter a debate about what would have been sensible at that stage.  Alan rode back home, picked up the signs then headed for the park once again.  By the time he arrived he realised he only had time to lay the 1km and 4km marks before making his way to the start to be introduced to the large crowd at the run briefing.  You'll see from the table that there were many to wish him well and curiously there were exactly 400 finishers.  Among them was Bill Byrne who took the opportunity to complete his 100th run.  Another report on Alan's achievement: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/gunnersbury/news/ [scroll to Event 223]. [Also Roderick posted a photograph of the Club parkrun Trophy and Alan's achievement on Facebook and it quickly gathered "likes" - at the last count 157 "Likes", 18 "Loves" and 6 "Wows"].

As with some other runs Gunnersbury is beginning to get a little crowded.

Away from the crowds Caroline Cockram (25:55) was the first woman to finish and 4th of only 13 runners at Bois de Boulougne in Paris and set a new club record.

Benita (30:40) and John Scaife (30:41) were at the inaugural Panania parkrun in Sydney where the appetite for parkrun seems to be insatiable.  There were 269 runners there with the fastest being a woman, Belinda Martin (18:10) coming in first by quite a distance.  That took the BA park total on to 230.

Julie Barclay (22:11, 77.46%) was in Florida and became the first current member to run at Clermont Waterfront near Orlando.  That time places Julie 3rd out of 125 in the WV50 list at Clermont.  She is still 2nd out of 36 at Crissy Field in San Francisco.  Her friend and colleague, Paul Watt (23:44) was also there.  Paul has a pb of 22:54 at Frimley.  The club total has moved on to 231 different parkruns.

Steve Taylor was a volunteer (for the second week) at Northala Fields as lead cyclist which must need careful gear selection through the mountain section.  He had the satisfaction providing guidance to a first time parkrunner (Ben Greene, Ware Joggers) who was unsure of both the route and the barcode procedures at the finish.  To Fly, to Serve.

Steve Newell (steve-newell@blueyonder.co.uk)

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

PS The club parkrun map now shows the parkruns done by the club with the colour indicating how many different club runners have done each. White is none, gray is up to nine of us, then Red, Black, Gold and Green for the most popular (Bedfont and Bushy). What does this reveal? Perhaps we ought to have a club outing to Gladstone?

PS Steve's report includes club family members who are in a parkrun produced report of parkrunners whose club is recorded as "British Airways AC" (which you should only put if you are a paid up member) OR for second claim club members Steve has to look each up individually each week. Volunteer efforts also have to be found manually - there is no helpful table for these. So apologies to anyone whose achievements are missed but please drop Steve a line with the update for the next edition and, if you think a miss is likely, let him know by the end of Sunday before his report is generated.

Roderick

Parkrun Tourism

As a club we were very well travelled this weekend - participants in Paris, Orlando, Singapore and Sydney as well as the usual London and SE England venues. I failed to travel out of bed - missing my Saturday parkrun fix due to a very bad cold.  I must have caught it on a brief visit to Poland last Tuesday which included passing right next to the Krakow parkrun course but too far from a Saturday to make a stay over feasible, even before I caught the bug. 

Sad to report that for two weeks running the police have been asked to investigate a body found near the start of a UK parkrun by attendees at the events.  These things do happen.  Which makes you take a double take of John Scaife's report from the inaugural Panania parkrun - "Goody bags at the end including bottle of water sponsored by a local funeral director". Sorry - I felt I just had to report this.


Running Shorts

Please note that The Heston Venue will be closed to BA Clubs members throughout Saturday 19th March due to Imperial College needing the whole venue for their annual Varsity match.


Next Digest?

Results, news, pictures, feedback, jokes, stories - send it to us at news@barunner.org.uk.

NEXT WEEK'S digest needs to have a print deadline of Sunday night.


Club website:

www.barunner.org.uk.


 

      

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