baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club
BA Athletics Club News Digest 10th August 2015Events:
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/). No longer interested? To be removed from the BA Athletics Club mailing
list please email us at
news@barunner.org.uk. Result of the 5th Rosenheim track league Wednesday 22nd July 2015
regards :- Eddie Giles Wednesday 19th August - Cranford Park Relay 18:00 and BBQ 20:00 - reminder and more detailsAll are welcome for the relay with leg distances of about 3k / 2miles. We'll try to organise everyone into equally matched teams to make it additionally competitive. Joe Nolan is in charge and is adding in an additional activity featuring a mini obstacle course 'agility/speed/balance' that will be timed with the winner receiving a prize! Just a short exercise over about 100m with any faults being penalised, which can be undertaken when runners are not on their relay leg! Afterwards there is to be a BBQ at the Heston Venue (Concorde Centre as was). The food will be complementary for all members and potential members* who sign up in advance. So you need to sign up in advance! And tell us what your food preference is. The main choice is between a Beef Burger in a bap with cheese and fried onions or a Falafel and Spinach burger in the bap with cheese and fried onions. There will also be salad and coleslaw and either Lemon Tart or Chocolate Fudge Cake. So click on the link to send me an email and tell me if you are likely to run, willing to marshal, if you want to come to the BBQ and your choice of meat or veg burger. Also could regular attendees please let me know if you are NOT coming - we don't want to over order. * If we have a large number of potential members attend we'll be delighted but we might need to charge a nominal fee to help cover costs. Also the Heston Venue do charge an entry fee of about £1.50 for non-members. But please don't let this put you off! Monopoly Event Wednesday 26th AugustWe will be repeating last Summer's Monopoly competition on Weds 26th, at 1800. This "Club In House Event" is open to everyone. All ages, from one year olds to ninety-one year olds, are welcome. It's a tortoise and hare event - walkers could win! It will involve up to 40 minutes of running or strolling, travelling from Old Kent Road to Mayfair, collecting houses and hotels. Teams will be brought together on the day to ensure a fun competition. See you there - bring the family if you can. Steve Hillier Advance Notice: Equinox 5k 23rd SeptemberAs is traditional the Equinox 5km will be held towards the end of September. Steve Newell would like to introduce a variation to the course (to make it more scenic and pleasant) but this would only be as safe as we like with the help of one or preferably two marshals in the Avenue Park vicinity. If you might be available please let Steve Newell know (steve-newell@blueyonder.co.uk) Ladies Surrey League Cross Country 1st match venue change...Hi Ladies, please note that the venue of our 1st match on 10th October will now be held at Roundshaw Common, aka Roundshaw Playing Fields, South Beddington. Start time remains 1200 noon. I will circulate more details nearer the time. Clara Halket Magic Mile Results from Thursday 6th August
Hi All, It was a deceptively warm day. The sun was trying to break through the clouds, but the humidity was noticed on the jog to the start. There was a lovely cooling breeze to go with it, but in the wrong direction for the run! This all lead to most people have average runs, with the exception of Vaneeta Cro who managed to record a PB now in the last 3 consecutive months. Vaneeta’s time is now down to 11:56 as she aims to break the 11 minute barrier in the coming months. Sharon Kassemzadeh made her first appearance of 2015, recording a time of 7:02. The best part of the run was the stop at the White Horse, sitting in the sunshine watching the world go by and being attacked by wasps! Next event will be on Thursday 3rd September 2015. Paul Knechtl Toby Houghton was also seen running the event, albeit early having misunderstood the start time. His self-timed result has yet to be added. Club parkrun results for Saturday 8th August 2015
Pride of place this week goes to Alan Anderson's run at Gunnersbury where he lowered his own MV80 age category record by 18 seconds down to 28:03. Chris Kelly intends to round off his "250" at Reading on 22nd August - all members are invited. He passed another milestone on the way this weekend with his 200th run at Reading in 19:42. Two other members notched up notable runs this week - Monica Alonso, 50 at Guildford (26:50) and Sreeram Serthuraman, 50 at Upton Court (26:29). Richard Ruffell returned to his home parkrun of St Albans, after 9 runs away including 8 different venues, and was only 5 seconds off a pb. His WAVA score of 72.91% was his best ever at St Albans. Our members ran at two previously unvisited parkruns this week. Piers Keenleyside was in North Yorkshire to run at the second running of Northallerton parkrun (23:55) while Roderick Hoffman (25:36) and Steve Newell (30:55) were at Dartford in Kent. Those two new venues take the club total to 191, the two hundred is fast approaching! Denis Foxley was at Harrow again (24:19) and so was Joan Foxley whose pb of 35:09 last week went unreported. After volunteer duties at Bedfont Lakes last week the Cockrams and David Duggan were also at Harrow for the first time. Updated club parkrun stats: www.barunner.org.uk/results/ba_parkrun_park_totals.xls Steve Newell Steve has now run at all 51 parkruns currently being held within the M25 and has made a point of using his bike, public transport or car share to reach each one at least once. His knowledge of the suburban train system is now much improved. Doing all of the parkruns in London is known to parkrun tourists as "Lon-done" and it doesn't matter whether you define London as within the M25 or any other classification (there are 47 in the parkrun "Greater London" region which doesn't include Aldenham or Cassiobury, and about 44 in London Boroughs). But the passage of time can easily convert a Lon-done parkrun tourist into an ex-Lon-done parkrun tourist!
Decline in Athletics Growth
Most of us will have seen the headlines last week about the decline in the number of people taking part in sports; and the 2012 Olympics were said to have only had a short lived impact on numbers. This point is demonstrated in the graph shown above. Where I'll surprise you is by pointing out that the graph shows the decline in the UK growth of parkrun. Gone are the years where the number of venues and participants doubled each year. The growth rate now is down to less than 50% per year. Now in absolute numbers that is still an increase and parkrun is correctly being credited as being an exception to the rule of declining numbers BUT the graph does show that growth is at a reduced rate - perhaps because the parkrun organisation cannot cope with the potential absolute growth or perhaps the sponsorship necessary for new parkruns is maxed out or perhaps there is some other limiting effect. Food for thought. Roderick Hoffman News ReportsDave Barnard came across this blog talking about our dear departed friend and colleague Patrick Barnes. http://www.triradar.com/blog/steve-trews-blog-a-true-gentleman/ I'll quote this section: "I was in the commentary box alongside my good friend Marc Dragan, probably the first Aussie pro-triathlete. Drags was visibly moved by Patrick’s efforts, and said to me: “We need to do something special, Steve.” Wow – praise indeed! “OK, we’ll cue up the national anthem and when he crosses the line, we’ll play it.” The finish was on a slightly raised area so the massed crowds could see the winners. As Patrick turned off the burning Tarmac for his final 30 metres, they cheered and shouted and applauded. When he was five yards from the finish, we put on the national anthem and three things happened. Patrick stopped on the finish line, stood erect and saluted. My good friend Drags started to cry (OK, so did I!). And behind Patrick, the three elite women screamed down on him. They were perhaps just five metres away when he finally strolled over the line to even more applause – not just for the best of the women, but also very much for him. Patrick took the silver medal in his age group and was the proudest man there. RIP Patrick. Sleep softly – we still miss you." Steve Trew Steve Trew makes reference to a helper of Patrick's with the name of "Steve Newsome". I wonder if he is linked in any way to one "Steve Newall" who was referenced last week in the Evening Standard on the subject of swimming in the Thames? http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/londons-best-wild-swimming-locations-a2323931.html. Perhaps Steve Newell can shed some light on that (as he did on the swimmer, apparently). 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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