BA Athletics Club News Digest 4th May 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 |
27th April |
what3words challenge |
none |
Best weekend exercise achievement |
4th May |
Solo Mile [see below] |
none |
Best weekend exercise achievement |
11th May |
Solo Pairs Scrabble Scramble |
Green Belt Relay solo team run # [ROM] |
Best weekend achievement (if not in relay) |
18th May |
Track-on-Field [T&F GP day] 1500/800/400/200/100
# [CIE] |
none |
Best weekend exercise achievement |
25th May |
Virtually 5k |
none |
Best weekend exercise achievement |
1st June |
Solo Mile |
none |
Best weekend exercise achievement |
8th June |
tba Street Spelling? |
none |
Best weekend exercise achievement |
15th June |
Track-on-Field 1500/800/400/200/100 |
Run-of-the-Month #
(tba) |
Best weekend exercise achievement |
22nd June |
tba I Spy? |
none |
Best weekend exercise achievement |
This week was the week for the Speedbird Ladies race. The reason we are not
holding a solo 5k race this week is because the Speedbird Ladies is not cancelled,
just postponed. We remain optimistic that we will be able to safely and
officially operate the event before the end of August.
All face-to-face events are off until at least the end of May and probably
June, 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 Challenges
This week the challenge is simple - just run one mile and submit your time, for instance by filling in the table
below and forwarding to
News@barunner.org.uk, by the end of Friday. The mile could be measured by
GPS on your watch or by your phone and ideally should be a a straight or
circular route rather than an out and back due to recording issues at the
turnaround point. Run on tarmac unless you'd prefer a different surface or live
close enough to an underused track.
Participant |
Location |
Day |
Start Time |
Duration/Time |
Comment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Next week Steve Hillier is organising a Scrabble Scramble challenge:
Next week's midweek challenge involves running, or walking, and a bit
of word construction. I'll put you into teams of two, so you will
have plenty of moral support! Please sign up as soon as possible,
and enjoy!
Here are the details:
This midweek challenge is designed for runners and walkers. You
will be allocated into teams of two. Your team aim will be to
collect as many Scrabble tiles as possible, then turn them into the
highest scoring word or set of words. Here’s the plan:
- Tuesday 12th: Let me know you want to enter by 1700 at the
latest:
SteveH@barunner.org.uk. By midnight I will have let you
know who your partner is.
- Wednesday 13th: Each of you should run for 40 minutes, or
walk for an hour. As soon as you have finished your run, email
me your distance covered in kilometers. I will send you one
Scrabble tile for each km completed, together with a template board
to fill in.
- Thursday 14th: As a team, fill in the Scrabble board with
the highest scoring combination of words you can think of, and
return to me by midnight. Maximum individual word length is
seven letters.
I hope that makes sense!
Steve Hillier
|
Then on 18th May we will repeat the Track-on-Field exercise and the following
week we'll celebrate what would have been the Vitality 10k week with a Virtility
5k race, that Steve Taylor will be organising. Expect details for this next
week.
I've started to pencil in events for June also, but let's not worry about them
yet.
Roderick Hoffman
Green Belt Relay (virtual) 16th / 17th May #
The
photograph shows the start of stage 20 of the Green Belt Relay in 2014.
Paul Sinton-Hewett can be seen in the blue in center.
The GBR organisers say, "...a bit of a GBR legend having not only run every
race since 2006 but frequently doubled up on stages too, so he's run 30 stages,
and the gruesome stage 4 eight times. Ooof.", not of PSH but of Chris Kelly
our runner to the right of Paul.
Chris is our team captain and was firming up our team for this year's event
which was due to be held over the weekend of 16th and 17th of May.
Obviously that is now cancelled but we would still like to
take it on as a virtual team challenge [but "challenge" is the right word to
use]. It will be the Club Run-of-the-Month.
Normally we are a team of 11 and each member runs once on the Saturday and
once on the Sunday. Between us we cover a 220 mile circumference of Greater
London (usually just outside the M25, on country lanes and paths). That means
that the average leg is 10 miles long and start times are from 08:30 on the
Saturday to 17:07 on the Sunday - they are FIXED start times and daytime only.
This year in the virtual event we would like to do all of the legs with the
correct start times and distances but, obviously, around the local area of each team member. The priority would be to
complete the 22 stages, how long it takes us isn't
important. We'll miss out on the varied terrain, the driving logistics and the
constant company but we can't have everything. I've already raised this in
Facebook and I've already had enough interest to guarantee the first full team
and we are not far off being able to field a second - and I'll be happy to
include walkers (but not cyclists or rowers). Everyone will be given two
runs (other than those only available on one of the days). So, are you in?
Please select ONE of the following and if you have time constraints please
indicate that in a comment (e.g. "I can't do Sunday until 12:00").
- Able to run both days for a total of 15 miles.
- Able to run both days for a total of 19 miles.
- Able to run both days for a total of 23 miles.
- Only able to run on the Saturday but could do at least 10 miles.
- Only able to run on the Sunday but could do at least 9 miles.
Please let me know by the end of Tuesday because on Wednesday I'd like to put
names to stages so that everyone has ten days to make any swaps needed and to
plan routes of the right length for each of their two runs. I'll also set up the
appropriate WhatsApp group.
Roderick Hoffman
(email me or use Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/636199849751546/permalink/3019997478038426/
Midweek SOLO what3words Results
Well, that was an interesting diversion from serious running. But 24 of us
had sufficient computing skills to look up the what3word codes for three of the
locations on our midweek run and put together a new three-word phase from the
nine total words. (see
www.what3words.com )
Runner |
Home |
Point1 |
Point2 |
Answer |
Comment |
Location Near |
Distance (miles) |
Julie Barclay |
Racing.Harder. Wipes |
Daisy.Also. Rarely |
Sadly.Noisy. Jelly |
Sadly.Rarely. Racing |
SO TRUE |
La Canada Flintridge, LA, California, USA |
5440 |
Barry Walters |
Zoom.Branch. Ramp |
Friend.Slice. Losses |
Rabble.Rapid. Beside |
Friend. Beside. Branch |
|
Sacramento, California, USA |
5275 |
Simon Turton |
Skirt.Cobras. Fittingly |
Shortens. Oven. Comet |
Trustees. Entitles. Corrosive |
Cobras. Shortens. Trustees |
|
S.E. India |
5200 |
Amanda Coombs |
Probe.moves. drill |
Runner.rooms. lend |
Rises.labels. miles |
runner. moves. miles |
Ran in the rain, which was lovely – only saw two people. |
San Antonio, Texas, USA |
5000 |
Stephen Taylor |
Book.kept. cars |
Table.whites. blitz |
Belt. discrepancy. chill |
Whites.kept. discrepancy |
Not an easy set but maybe a reference to apartheid is in there |
Redmond, Seattle, Washington state, USA |
4780 |
Paul Watt |
Racing.Harder. Wipes |
Backup.Rots. Tune |
Park.Slim. Spring |
Racing.Rots. Park |
So said Little Stoke! |
Quincy, Washington state, USA |
4750 |
John & Benita Scaife |
Activates. overhead. radar |
Thread. fattening. explains |
Slower. tastes. dirt |
activates. slower. fattening. |
Let's hope so anyway |
Healy, Alaska, USA |
4280 |
Jacqui Musselwhite |
Slot.sleepy. locked |
Asleep.pint. fills |
Appeal. smashes. venue |
locked. venue. pint |
We are having to have our pints at home! |
Florence, Huntsville, Alabama, USA |
4280 |
Maartin and Jacob Stenham |
couple.studio. steer |
stray.closes. smiled |
void.chefs. client |
couple. smiled. chefs |
When life returns to normal a Couple will have Smiled at the Chefs. |
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
4016 |
Keith Johnson |
coffee.leaned. limbs |
good.nights. bridge |
guard.retail. froze |
coffee.good. retail |
As a lover of coffee this suits me just fine. |
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
4010 |
Ian Hudson |
tummy.coast. taps |
guitar.lights. wipe |
desire.scars. puppy |
desire.tummy. wipe |
what I want at the end of each run. |
Seneca, Illinois, USA (Heritage Harbour parkrun) |
4000 |
Sarah Gordon |
bronze.beast. gravy |
arrow.wire. tells |
cars.found. purple |
beast.arrow. cars |
Horrible traffic even during lockdown! |
Watseka, Illinois, USA |
3950 |
Steve Hillier |
petal.liner. needed |
armed.drill. stop |
quite.cats. struck |
ARMED. CATS. NEEDED |
…for protection in case the PETAL DRILL STRUCK! |
Roxboro, North Caroline, USA |
3850 |
Trish McCabe |
stress.nurses. chin |
legend.chart. staple |
turned.deputy. rated |
nurses. turned. legend |
to all the NHS frontline workers making sacrifices every day thank
you |
Cleeveland, USA |
3750 |
Janet Smith |
Scam.Flap. Lake |
Fines.Crust. Butter |
Sweep.Knots. Decreased |
Lake.fines. ecreased |
Hopefully less people being fined for visiting the Lake District . |
Cleveland, Ohio, USA |
3730 |
Neil Frediani |
post.slang. string |
rather.hang. again |
forks.reap. remote |
rather.remote. post |
Describe our post on Saturdays since deliveries have been stopped. |
Fernway, Pennsylvania, USA |
3710 |
Piers Keenleyside |
healthier.deeper. daily |
winner.pills. sculpture |
basic.pasta. fried |
Healthier. pasta. winner |
Advice for us all |
Lake Shore, Balimore, Maryland, USA |
3630 |
Gary Rushmer |
Saving.silver. scout |
Intervals. solve. making |
Formal.looks. meal |
scout. making. meal |
Earning his cooking badge |
Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
3620 |
Chris Stockwell |
FAILS.INTRO. JUMPS |
ASLEEP. GOES. OFFICE |
SPLIT. EMAIL. DIRECT |
JUMPS. OFFICE. EMAIL |
|
Mill Hall, Pennsylvania, USA |
3600 |
Michael Ball |
fancy.dollar. plan |
deed. festivity. filler |
shop.tiles. keep |
Festivity. doller. shop |
Anticipating visiting the money exchange when lockdown is over |
Big Trout Lake, middle of nowhere in Canada |
3500 |
Chris Kelly |
boxer.oldest. skills |
backyards. popping. globe |
reclusive. slider. corals |
reclusive. backyards. boxer |
Not really appropriate, yet, but if this goes on.... who knows! |
Utsjoki, Lapland, Norway |
1570 |
Alice Banks |
Orange.snow. flesh |
Fetches. comforted. bell |
Soft.Destiny. slept |
soft.orange. bell |
|
Stepps, North Lanarkshire, UK |
330 |
Harjit Jhooti |
walks.anyone. glove |
desire.noted. rich |
broker.zeal. repay |
anyone.rich. repay |
|
Stocksbridge, Sheffield, UK |
146 |
Roderick Hoffman |
chase.gaps. vibes |
grow.chimp. thin |
suffer.album. secure |
suffer.chimp. chase |
Reminds me of parkrun. |
Capel in Suffolk, UK |
25 |
Now I had announced that the winner would be the person who posted the most
apt or amusing three-word phase. Trish McCabe
almost jumped the start, and posted "nurses.turned.legend"
which was clearly going to be almost impossible to beat and so it proved so
Trish is the first winner of this event.
Julie's "sadly.rarely.racing" was judged second best followed
by the almost as apt "runner.moves.miles" (Amanda) and "activities.slower.fattening"
(the Scaifes).
HOWEVER, I announced that there would be another winner, and in truth I
always intended this, which would be to the individual who's new three-word
phase was for a location the furthest distance away. The table is ordered by this so
the second winner is Julie Barclay since her "sadly.rarely.racing"
is a location in Los Angelis, California, roughly 5440 miles from Woking. Now, I expected
that these locations would be scattered around the world but it is obvious that
they aren't - most of our locations are in the USA. It is obvious from this that
the distribution of words in the what3words algorithm concentrates certain words
to regions including the USA and the UK as one such region. Quite how Simon
Turton escaped to India I haven't worked out! You'll notice that the one person
who knew the criteria for this second winner failed to exploit his knowledge -
with my "suffer.chimp.chase" being just 25 miles from where I live. I note in
retrospect that "chase.chimp.suffer" is 4980 miles away near Albuquerque in New
Mexico.
For those pining for parkrun's return I found that "park.runs.return" is on
the apron of Louisville International Airport in Kentucky, USA, less than a
parkrun distance away from Joe Creason parkrun which would have had its second
birthday last Saturday. Hopefully we'll all be back there (and elsewhere) soon.
If it starts to rain you can spend hours on the what3word website - for instance
the reception desk at my mum's assisted living apartments is at
inspector.visit.hurray!
Roderick Hoffman
Round-the-Block Table update
Last month's two club points scoring events have now been processed in our
annual Round-the-Block table and I can announce that the first four club members
to exceed ten points in the table are Steve Hillier,
Gary Rushmer, Steve Newell and myself. Well done and
thank you to all four of them/us. Steve Hillier
has got points from taking part in 11 of the 13 points scoring events we have
held so far this year - and the only two he skipped were the ladies
cross-country events where he was elsewhere, running in the men's.
77 of us are listed in the table so expect many more of us to get the ten
points needed for recognition. The next two events are the Run-of-the-Month
Green Belt Relay (virtual) and the Solo Track-on-Field (Club In-house Event) on
20th May.
Roderick Hoffman
SOLO activity achievement weekend 1st to 4th May 2020
We are back up to 33 attendees and those of us who ran or walked did a
total of 248km (and that is only counting 6miles of Denis' 26).
Colleague |
Activity |
Distance |
Course |
Start Time |
Run Time |
Comments |
Alice Banks |
Running |
5.27miles |
Maidenhead Thicket |
Sun am |
00:51:03 |
Also yellow leg of the marathon rainbow. |
Amanda Coombs |
Triathlon |
|
garden and local |
Sun noon |
|
S&C circuit / 20km cycle / 5km run in 26:59 |
Andy Rayner |
Running |
4miles |
XC |
Sat am |
00:50:31 |
Conditions very difficult [earlier in the week I had done 49:03] |
Barry Walters |
Jog/Walk |
5k |
The Lookout, Bracknell |
Sat am |
00:33:10 |
Including 20 minutes steady running |
Benita Scaife |
Running |
5miles |
Bisham Woods / Cookham Dean Common |
Fri |
00:53:39 |
Chris Kelly |
Running |
5k |
Sonning parkrun |
Mon am |
00:40:18 |
Slower, later, enthusiasm under fire… |
Chris Stockwell |
Walking |
14.46miles |
Windsor Great Park |
Sat am |
04:10:00 |
A beautiful morning for a stroll in Windsor Park, hardly anyone
about. |
Clara Halket |
Running |
16.15km |
Looks like the ranges again |
Sat am |
Unknown |
Denis Foxley |
Running |
26miles |
26.2 Challenge |
Whole week |
04:30:00 |
2x6miles, 2x5miles and 1x4mile. Very pleased as a year ago I
couldn’t run more than 3 miles and then needed 3 days recovery. |
Gary Rushmer |
Running |
8.42miles |
Cooper's Hill |
Sat am |
01:13:01 |
Hill work 5x1mile. 1,084ft elevation gain. Forgot how hard hills
are! |
Harjit Jhooti |
Treadmill |
21.34km |
Home |
Sat am |
02:12:58 |
Whilst watching Military Wives |
Jain Reid |
Running |
14.16km |
Richmond Park |
Sun 11am |
01:32:25 |
Amended route due to increased in weekend crowd numbers. |
Jan Jones |
Running |
5k |
Beddington Park |
Fri 01May |
0:32:02 |
Janet Smith |
Running |
5.2miles |
Eton |
Sat am |
00:57:07 |
Beautiful Saturday morning run |
John Scaife |
Running |
5miles |
Bisham Woods / Cookham Dean Common |
Fri |
00:53:40 |
Still muddy in the woods after recent rainy days. |
Julie Barclay |
Freedom Run |
5k |
Crane Park |
Sat 02May |
0:21:59 |
Equal course Pb but had to open the gate! |
Keith Johnson |
Running |
5k |
Non ParkRun Course Around Highfield In St Albans |
Sat |
00:24:30 |
On my same Saturday route just so I have a level of consistency like
a ParkRun. |
Maria Jovani |
Running |
10miles |
Three parkrun venues |
Sat am |
01:17:49 |
Visits to Bedfont, Hanworth and Crane parkrun courses |
Michael Ball |
Running |
5miles |
|
Sun am |
|
Run and Circuit training |
Mike Dennison |
Running |
12.16km |
To, around and from Hanworth parkrun course. |
Sat pm |
|
parkrun in 21:12 |
Mike Dennison |
Cycling |
24.83km |
post to post (box) |
Sun |
01:24:56 |
Searching for different monarch's pillar boxes. |
Neil Frediani |
Running |
9miles |
Towards Chertsey |
Sun am |
01:29:41 |
Olivia Jones |
Running |
7.5k |
Beddington Park |
Fri 01May |
0:42:06 |
[Jan's daughter] |
Paul Brandon |
Turbo Cycling |
15.2m/24.3k |
My garage |
Sat PM |
59:21:00 |
Steady ride while watching TV |
Paul Watt |
Freedom Run |
5k |
Crane Park |
Sat 02May |
0:21:01 |
Course Pb but No marshal to keep gate open |
Piers Keenleyside |
Cycling |
8miles |
Ealing Post Boxes |
Sun |
01:02:52 |
Recce for forthcoming Ealing Eagles Solo Lockdown Post Box Street-O |
Roderick Hoffman |
Running |
13.16km |
Wings for Life (Virtual) Hillingdon |
Sun 12:00 |
01:24:40 |
See below |
Scott Davison |
Cycling |
21miles |
Hampton Court |
Sat am |
00:01:52 |
Via Bedfont/Hanworth/Crane Park. Never seen so many cyclists at
Hampton Court. Next time I'll use racer not mountain bike!!! |
Simon Turton |
Running |
7.39miles |
Henley to Twyford |
Sat pm |
01:02:55 |
Kept it steady with a couple of good hills (for those that know the
area, White Hill (A4130) and Bowsey Hill). Good workout in the afternoon
sun |
Stephen Taylor |
Running |
13.14km |
Perivale and Sudbury |
Sat am |
02:10:43 |
The usual Saturday distance and not a particularly scenic route but
one I know well so a good time to switch off and think of nothing in
particular. |
Steve Hillier |
Cycling |
2x10miles |
Local |
Sat/Sun |
2x1hour |
The first in windy conditions, the second in dead calm. |
Steve Newell |
Indoor Rowing |
6800m |
Equivalent to Boat Race distance |
Sat am |
28:17.7 |
Big improvement (or the tide?) |
Trish McCabe |
Running |
8miles |
To Long Wood via Grand Union Canal |
Sun |
|
Inspired by Roderick’s photos I took a trip to see the beautiful
bluebells. Well worth a visit! |
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}
parkrun Update
Several new parkruns have also been announced since the worldwide lockdown
started. I think I've added about 40 to my map,
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RsYfKv3kzSsH4jDk6NSIzZDxRT1LbwsA&usp=sharing
showing parkrun by region, including five in the UK.
Roderick Hoffman
parkrun is in lockdown for at least the next five weeks but it is still
possible to register and get a barcode. Last week Bedfont Lakes gained
three more registrations even though there is no prospect of being able to use
that brand new barcode at the end of Saturday morning 5km anytime soon.
Parkrun calendar bingo
I have written on this topic briefly before and my advice is that unless you
are blessed by exceptional patience, bloody minded persistence and most
important of all perpetual youth then don’t get involved.
Around the time I reached 365 parkruns and getting close to the middle of
no-mans-land halfway between 250 and 500 I idly sorted my runs by month and day
to see if there were any months for which I already had a complete set of dates
1-30 or 31. No, I hadn’t. I had duplicates on numerous dates throughout
the year and several dates missing in every month of the year, even after
including volunteer mornings.
I knew I’d never done a parkrun on a 29th February but that there would be
leap day Saturday in 2020. Then I realised that the next one wouldn’t be
until 2048 so looking back now with parkrun suspended since the middle of March
I’m very pleased that I managed to get a tailwalker slot at Bedfont Lakes on
Saturday 29th February 2020.
Saturdays in 2020 last appeared in 2014 (January and February) and 2015
(March to December) when I was doing a parkrun most Saturdays so I wasn’t short
of too many of the dates coming up in 2020. The next one I need is 30th
May and with parkrun suspended everywhere until at least the end of May that one
will have to wait now until 2026. Dates generally come round every five or
six years governed by the leap year cycle, but sometimes it can eleven years.
Dates from 2010 haven’t come up again since then but are due next year (2021).
Dates you missed in 2019 won’t crop up again until 2030.
Christmas Day (25th December), hasn’t been on a Saturday since 2010 when
parkrun was really still in its early development. While many venues have
staged extra Christmas Day parkruns in recent years it will be interesting to
see how many will take place when it is a normal parkrunday (aka Saturday).
Inevitably some landowners and local authorities will withhold permission.
Maybe the briefing could be replaced by a blessing from the chaplain and a
reminder that the gravest sin of all is to forget to bring your barcode. Or,
maybe, just maybe, parkrunners won’t be allowed to start unless they are
carrying a virus tracking device from start to finish. Download the NHS app and
chip timing is a thing of the past as long as you are virus free and the
timekeeper with blue teeth is oozing antibodies(?) This could be the beginning
of the end.
Steve Newell
|
Running Shorts
- This link: attachments/2020 Colour Quiz Answers.docx should take you to a file with the
answers to Linda's Colours Quiz that we have documented so far. I've asked Linda for the remaining
answers and I'll fill them in when I get them.
- Our Virtual Relay team ended up raising £388 for White Lodge through the
2.6 challenge initative.
Triathlon News - Tokyo Olympics
The Games of the XXXII Olympiad (or maybe 699th for Ancient Greeks) have been
rescheduled to take place in Tokyo from 23rd July to 8th August 2021.
According to the original timetable we would probably have known by now which
triathletes we could expect to see lining up on the starting pontoon but
everything is on hold due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
We are probably all familiar with the way Track & Field athletes gain Olympic
selection with three slots being available for each country in each event
subject to individuals meeting a minimum standard (e.g. for the Marathon 2:11:30
for men and 2:29:30 for women). To encourage everyone, each country may
often be able to enter one athlete even if the qualifying standard hasn't been
reached.
As with the Marathon, the Olympic triathlon competitions are straight finals
and numbers are limited to the width of the pontoon used for the dive in start
for the swim. The men's and women's individual races (1500m swim, 40km
bike and 10km run),are held separately but in Tokyo there will also be, for the
first time, a mixed team relay with two males and two females each completing a
swim (300m), bike (8km) and run (2km) before handing over to the next teammate.
Triathlon will also feature in the Paralympics with races over 750m swim, 20km
bike and 5km run. The bike and run sections will feature handcycles and
wheelchairs for some categories. The open water swim will be held in the
Odaiba Marine Park for all the events.
The 55 slots in the individual events are eagerly sought after and the max
three per country rule still applies. There is no qualification time as
such as each course is unique so the system relies on world ranking positions on
the close off date (now moved, we don't know for how long). Some athletes
qualified by doing well in a test event held in Japan in 2019. Generally
you need to be the world top 140 to stand a chance of being considered.
Possibly the top 180 because the Olympic movement falls over backwards to be as
inclusive as possible and would like to see at least one competitor from each
continent. As usual, anyone failing a dope test, in or out of
competition, can forget about it. The slots for the mixed relay will also
depend on world relay rankings as there have been enough races over the last few
years for these to become established. We are likely to see the same
athletes in the individual and relay races although I suspect there will be
travelling reserves.
Alistair Brownlee (GB) won the triathlon in London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro
(2016) and was certainly considering trying to achieve the hat trick. He
has ambitions to win the Ironman in Hawaii as well and has already qualified for
the 2020 race scheduled for mid October, just a couple of weeks before WARR (not
on the same island). I wonder how the Yorkshire police treat him. It
must be difficult to differentiate between cycling to work and cycling at work.
Steve Newell
Wings for Life (virtual race)
So on Sunday I had entered the annual Wings for Life race. This is the one
where David Coulthard gives the runners a thirty-minute head start before
chasing after them in a racing car, initially at a slow speed but building up to
30km/h. The event takes place at dozens of venues around the world all starting at 12:00
UK time and raising money for research into spinal injuries.
Obviously
this year the physical races were cancelled, all around the world, but the event
was still held but as a virtual event. I worked out that if I pushed myself I
was capable of achieving 13km before being caught but, clearly, I needed a
course that would be relatively clear of family groups and dog walkers. I
planned to start across the far side of the retail estate I live by and head out
to the A40 at the Polish War Memorial (over a hill to get to it) and then have the
flat length of the A40 alongside RAF Northolt. This would take me about 6k out,
I could then spend 1k in a convenient loop around North Hillingdon (but give the
CoOp a wide berth) and have the 6k home to
make up the 13k. This worked perfectly and I achieved the 13k with the APP on my
phone announcing that I had been caught just after I'd passed my starting post.
The only pedestrian congestion I'd encountered was at that finish point where
there were two family groups passing as I approached but I did manage to avoid
them. I was encouraged on the A40 by the sight, a literal mile away, of a bright
yellow shirt identical to my own coming towards me. It was clearly someone who
lived in Uxbridge who was doing the same event but in the opposite direction to
me. We were able to exchange waves both on the way out and on the way back - and
I've been able to find him on LinkedIn and send him the photo of himself as he
approached me. It is really good when things like that work out.
In the overall event there were 77,103 registered of which at least 66,239
achieved times. These came from 104 different countries and ran 924,960km
between them and raised at least 2.8 million euro for the spinal cord injuries
research. The leading lady ran 54.2k before being caught, the leading man was
Ultra Runner Michael Taylor running near Cambridge who ran 69.9km in 4hrs
11minutes.
Dilemma
There is a dilemma here in that I've previously suggested that nobody should
be running to extremes and that the most I'd be willing to report on by a club
runner would be 15 miles, and 69.9km is clearly in excess of this. Now, I've got
no problem with a club member doing a once a week four hour walk around the more
sparsely frequented areas of Windsor Great Park (i.e. Chris). That puts the NHS
under less pressure than a lockdown breaker visiting a friend's home for five
minutes. But running
for four hours, with tripping hazards and crossing roads when tired, is a much
higher risk. I've also previously hinted at a concern over cyclists over two
hours' walk away from home - but I'm happy to include them in our weekend
exercise list on the unchecked assumption that they do have a contingency rescue
plan from within their household. Hopefully the lockdown will start to be
relaxed before the end of May and any apparent contradictions can be put aside.
Roderick Hoffman
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
events we will not include running distances of more than 15 mile
length (25km),
- 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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