baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club

BA Athletics Club News Digest 10th Apr 2017

Events:

• Wednesday 12th April - Watersplash 10k at 18:00 followed by Member's Meeting with food at 20:00 at the Heston Venue* (see below)
• Wednesday 19th April - London Marathon marshals briefing - 19:00 Heston Venue [previously advertised for the Thursday]* (see below)
• Wednesday 3rd May - Speedbird Ladies Race - Harmondsworth start time 19:00.* (see below)

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: [Clickable link to Google Maps]

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. 

Club Facebook Page "BARunner" https://www.facebook.com/BARunnerUK/

WARR World Airline Road Race 2017, 4th through 8th October in Singapore - registration is now open

Registration is in US Dollars and is $50 for either or both the 5k and 10k Races and $60 for the Awards Banquet.  Prices will raise from July 1st. There is also a processing fee which for me was $7.30.

http://worldairlineroadrace.org/the-run/registration/

The Race Head Quarters Hotel is the Pan Pacific Hotel.  This is not cheap though the WARR rate, including breakfast, does appear to be a good discount off the price on other websites. The map below (detail from the club map) shows that the Pan Pacific is well sited both for the start/finish area for the races (the GP Pits) and also for the Awards Banquet AND currently appears to be the location for all other WARR events.

As WARR Team Captain please let me know your plans for WARR - including where you are staying and any other locations you think could be added to the club map - Roderick Hoffman <roderick@rhoff.org.uk>. 

There will also be a race on the Sunday - a charity race to celebrate Singapore Airline's 70th year.  And if that isn't enough running opportunity for you then carry on past Singapore after the event and come to Melbourne for Sunday 15th October for the Melbourne Marathon - I'll be doing the half and Piers is doing the full http://melbournemarathon.com.au/.

Roderick Hoffman

London Marathon Marshals update

It’s just under 2 weeks to go until the London Marathon on St George’s Day, 23rd April 2017. I currently have 125 helpers (which is excellent) but if you do have someone you know who'd be keen to help do drop me a line (simon.turton@ba.com). As a reminder they'll be a pre-brief at Imperial College - Heston, Crane Lodge Road, Cranford, Middlesex TW5 9PQ, on Wednesday 19th April at 7:00pm in the Main Clubhouse. Final details have already been circulated and I’ll be confirming the names of marshals at each of the five crossing points on Tues 18th April.

Simon Turton <simon.turton@ba.com> (BAAC VMLM coordinator)

BAAC Equinox 10K, 5k and Social with food and Members' Meeting - Wednesday 12th April

Entries are now invited for the 5km and 10km events starting and finishing at the Field of Hope (M4/jct 3) pedestrian area.

• The 5km event will have a mass start at 6.35 p.m.
• The 10km event will have wave starts intended to bring every one to the finish by 7.15 pm.
• The elite start will be at 6.33 p.m.  All other starts will be "on the minute" of the runners choice.
• Figure of eight course same as last year, 5km 1 lap, 10km 2 laps.  Non-runners can help.

Everyone is welcome to come for the meal at the Heston Venue at 8 p.m.  Following the airline's example, catering will be by M&S.

There will also be a members' meeting after the meal during which we'll discuss the changes happening to BA Clubs and options for the Athletics Section. This could be an important meeting for the future of the club so please attend if you can.

Steve Newell and Roderick Hoffman (acting Chair)

Westminster LBH Bridges Relay - interest invited

This is an event in which BA has taken part over a number of years. Last year we couldn’t raise a team. I've already had one club member express interest so should we enter a team this year?  It takes place on a Wednesday evening in the second half of June and consists of teams of four, running 2.6 mile legs starting on the original section of Embankment opposite Parliament, running west along the embankment to the second bridge (Vauxhall), crossing over and back up to Lambeth bridge crossing over again and back to the start/finish.  Up to 180 teams take part, it is quite chaotic but fun and we usually end up going for some refreshment afterwards. This year's date has yet to be announced but June 21st is probably a good bet.

Let me know if you are interested at neil.frediani@ba.com .

Neil Frediani

Dream Mile April 2017 results

In lovely weather conditions we ran the race in the normal East to West direction, there was a slight headwind so times were mostly a little slower than in March when there was a following gale. The exceptions were Chris Kelly and Dave Bird no doubt benefiting from the extra strength that they have gained from Marathon training.

06-Apr-17	Chris Kelly	00:05:58	Marathon training assisted!
06-Apr-17	Matthew Stratful	00:06:06
06-Apr-17	Ian Cunningham	00:06:18
06-Apr-17	Jeremy Short	00:06:37
06-Apr-17	Dave Bird	00:06:37	Marathon training assisted!
06-Apr-17	Deby Helsdon	00:06:41
06-Apr-17	Simon Ashford	00:07:30

Neil Frediani

Speedbird Ladies 3rd May Entries

The 2017 Speedbird Ladies race will be held on Wednesday 3rd May on Harmondsworth Moor with a start time of 19:00.  The 2017 entry form: Entry Form and entries can be posted (or handed) to Steve Taylor. 

Alternatively you can enter online via: https://www.activetrainingworld.co.uk/event_details.aspx?id=4304

The event is organised by British Airways Athletics Club and run under UKA rules with UKA Permit: 2017-28290.  The course is a single 5km lap, it is traffic free and gently undulating. Please note this course is not suitable for wheelchair users or pushchairs.  There is free parking and toilets nearby.  There are no changing facilities - please come ready to run.  There is a memento to every finisher and prizes for Open and Veteran runners and Team prizes with three to count.

Please pass on these details to any individuals or groups who you think may be interested in this event.

The website details are at: http://www.barunner.org.uk/Event_Ladies.shtml

Male members of the club are also welcome on the evening, both to marshal and also for an informal check of the course from 18:00.

Roderick Hoffman

Club parkrun results for Saturday 8th April

Richard Ruffell (21:11), who lives in Hertfordshire anyway, didn’t need much encouragement to try the new parkrun at Rickmansworth Aquadrome that some members ran last week.  He is also a bit of a tourist and this was his 62nd different park and one of several where he now holds the club course record.

Andrew Jordan (21:26) was at Clermont Waterfront in Florida beat the club record previously held by Julie Barclay.  Andrew had run there once three years ago before he joined us so, as a curiosity, his p.b. is even faster.

Roderick Hoffman (27:06), Sarah Gordon (32:53) and Steve Newell (36:17) found the start line of the newish Roding Valley parkrun in Essex where the park was covered in thick fog and on the instructions of the run director just followed the runner in front round the two laps.  Very flat and much of it on newly mown grass.  That is about as much as we could see.  BA park 329.  That club total may rise a bit further as Claire Killen and Caroline Wilson have started running again in the Belfast area but I’m waiting to see if they want to join us again for another year.

Barry Walters (20:40) had another good run at Upton Court where he has now run ten times and it has become his favourite parkrun.

There was the usual good crowds at Bedfont Lakes where out runners were joined by Gregory Bailey. Gregory is doing a “Hoffman” in spades and that makes 186 parkruns at 186 different locations.  Has he been to your local run yet?  Check it out.  If not he could be there some week soon as he never goes back.  He does live in Yorkshire but that doesn’t seem to hold him back.

A welcome back this week to Joe Nolan (30:25) who has been suffering a bit with his feet over the winter.  He has been developing a squad pacing system for the first Saturday each month at Black Park.  This was his first run round the course for six months so we hope the worst is now behind him.

Ed: John Scaife's son Michael stood in for Benita as a volunteer at Maidenhead. Also token number 6 (of 289) was handed to Andrew Scaife in an impressive PB of 19:39.

For those with younger juniors in the family a new junior 2km parkrun (age group 4-14) has just started in Osterley Park.  9a.m. on Sundays.  The same barcode is good for both junior and senior parkruns.  Times at the first event ranged from eight to 26 minutes.

Ed: The pictures show similar shots taken during each of the adult and juniors inaugural runs.

Steve Newell

Updated club parkrun stats

parkrun Growth and Tourism

All 445 parkruns in the UK operated on Saturday - there were no cancellations. Almost 9 thousand volunteers and 110 thousand runners were involved.

Having run at Roding Valley Steve and I made our way promptly to my "home" parkrun of Pymmes where they were having their sixth birthday celebration.  Despite traffic and parking issues the cake hadn't run out by the time we got there.  They never used to have parking issues, I adopted Pymmes as home when they were struggling to get ten runners each week - in 2013 I got top ten finishes all three times I ran there.  On Saturday they had a record 101 finishers and only 14 of those were at Pymmes for the first time.

Paris had high parkrun numbers last Saturday - ahead of the Paris Marathon on Sunday.  There were 126 at Bois de Boulogne (lower than last year's 176) but then at Montsouris (that I ran with one other parkrunner late last year) there were a record 80 parkrunners (the previous highest was 27).  There must have been something happening in Milan also because Milano North had 160 runners (mostly "Sconosciuto" - "Unknown") beating the previous week's record of 51.  There are photos on their Facebook page saying "Run for Parkinson's" which I guess is the disorder not a local.

Meanwhile in Namibia at the inaugural parkrun at Swakomund they had a very impressive 177 runners of whom only 20 were "unknown" and only 21 had run a parkrun before - mostly South Africans including the Fordyces but also serial tourist Peter Fordham from the UK.

Two parkrunners have recently managed to record two parkruns run on the same day by flying across the Pacific.  One did Cornwall Park in New Zealand before flying to San Francisco to run at Crissy Field and the other ran at South Bank parkrun in Brisbane before flying to Vancouver for the Richmond Olympic parkrun.  parkrun spokespersons have previously suggested that such achievements would be discounted in the results but oddly both feats have been reported on in parkrun country newsletters with no such statement.

Roderick Hoffman

Marathon achievements?

I've heard rumors that several members are out there doing Marathons or more but no one has sent in any reports so it'll have to stay as rumors. Send future reports to news@barunner.org.uk .  Piers is given a bye - since he probably doesn't have easy access to WiFi for the next few days (he has just finished leg two of the six leg 250km Marathon Des Sables - as pictured).

Running Shorts

• Tomorrow Tuesday 11th April Orienteering Street-O event at Tooting - last start about 19:30 from "Selkirk Tooting" at 60 Selkirk Road, SW17 0ES, London.
• Coaching courses - another batch of coaching and officials courses have become available.  Contact Steve Hillier if you'd like more details. The club will subsidise such courses.

Next Digest?

Is it your turn to send something in this week?

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

Club website:

www.barunner.org.uk.