baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club

BA Athletics Club News Digest 22nd July 2019

Events:

• Tuesday 23rd July - NOW run - Hanwell from 12:00 (see below)
• Wednesday 31st July - Mile races and AGM (see below) #
• Thursday 1st August - Dream Mile Bath Road from 12:45.

We meet at 18:00 at the Bedfont Club on most Wednesdays throughout the year including this Wednesday - but over the summer numbers will be low so let me know to expect you.

New members and potential members of all fitness levels and abilities are welcome at most of our events. The full diary of club featured events is on the club website at: http://www.barunner.org.uk/Event Diary.shtml. Last updated: 4th April.

* Club Event Map: [Clickable link to Google Maps] (parkrun details updated 22nd July) / # Club Points event.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BARunnerUK/ (formal "front window" club page), BA Runner Facebook Group (informal "back office" - ask to join).

Inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk.

Brian Bennett

A large number of us attended last week's service for Brian Bennett who died on 29th June at the age of 78. The opening music was, of course, the theme from Chariots of Fire and our President, John Williams, reflected on Brian's running achievements and reminded us of all aspects of Brian's personality. Donations where collected for The Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Brian is missed.

Roderick Hoffman

NOW Event on July 23rd at 12:00 at Hanwell

Meet at the Bandstand type structure near the car park at the end of Church Road Hanwell (W7 3BZ or see Club Map). Public transport with trains to Hanwell or Drayton Green, or buses to Ealing Hospital or the E1, E3, 92 or 282. The car park is free but small. Church Road is "residents only" but other local roads are available to park in between 10 and 3.

There is a cafe next to Hanwell Zoo.

There is a Facebook event with other details: https://www.facebook.com/events/504061883734981/.

Roderick Hoffman {roderick@rhoff.org.uk}

Mile Races # and AGM on Wednesday 31st July

Schedule:

18:00 Meet in the Bedfont Club carpark, change into kit, jog or drive to the Feltham Track. See the club map for the most direct route to walk or jog to the track - distance 2km,

18:30 Elite Mile Race for those expected to beat 07:30,

18:40 Not-quite-so-elite Mile Race for those slower than 07:30,

19:00 Return to the Bedfont Club, shower and change,

19:30 Food - provided by the club (plus pay bar throughout evening),

20:00 AGM - to include a Chairman's selection process that will be more nail biting but hopefully with a better conclusion than the Conservative Leadership Contest. Probably,

21:00 Members Forum - tell us what you think.

Please tell us to expect you (but if you don't, then please turn up anyway). You can tell us either my emailing me and telling me which race you'll be in and whether you are to be catered for OR use the Facebook Event https://www.facebook.com/events/993176511028127/ to provide the same information. For the Facebook event you do need to have a Facebook account and to have requested membership of the "BA Runner" group via https://www.facebook.com/groups/636199849751546/ .

Roderick Hoffman

Great City Race Thanks

Club points update

To the club points table I've added in the points for the Great City Race and the recent Haworth parkrun volunteer takeover, not to mention all of the recent track & field events.

Whilst the top of the table looks familiar we do have a new leader - Steve Hillier now edges ahead of me (29pts to 27pts) thanks to the 23 scoring events he has taken part in (I've only done 14). Not far behind is Steve Newell (23pts) and then Simon Turton (18pts) just one point ahead of Neil Frediani and Graham Taylor. Chris Kelly is a relative non-mover - the Comrades Marathon may have been a great achievement but wasn't recognised as a club event - perhaps he and Ian Cunningham should have proposed it as the June Run-of-the-Month!

But to those seven we now have another six club members securing the ten points they need for recognition here.  So well done and thank you to Paul Brandon, Christine Munden, Benita Scaife, John Scaife, Joe Nolan and Harry Wild.

There are then four club members needing just a single point for such recognition - and the next points scoring event is the mile race before the AGM next week. Reminder: 1pt for running, 2pts for helping but not running and 4pts for setting up the event.

The table currently lists 235 people who have helped or participated so far this year with 82 having done so at more than one event. There have been a total of 498 instances of a club colleague or associate participating at a points scoring event.

Roderick Hoffman

Club parkrun results for Saturday 20th July 2019

This week's table leads with two results missed from the previous week. There are manual processes for publishing and corrected parkrun results and for our extraction of those results. If your result is missing or is incorrect in this table (compared to the parkrun issued results) then please tell us so that we can ensure that the BA database is up to date. 

Volunteers include...

The outstanding result this week was achieved by Kay Trinder (21:32, 80.88%) at Homewood.  She was the first female to cross the line and set a new age category record (WV50-54) after five previously unsuccessful attempts.  Paul Knechtl holds the men’s club record at Homewood with 18:38 (76.65%), Maria Jovani set a new female record there with 20:57 (74.54%) last month.  This week Maria Jovani set a new female over the damp grass at Wormwood Scrubs with 22:34.

Club secretary Steve Hillier doesn’t run at parkrun very often and we shouldn’t make any predictions based any statistical information.  I note though that he has now run on eight occasions and four of those have been at Northala Fields.  The weeks between the end of the Rosenheim league season and start of the league football season can make some people a bit restless.  Not long to go now.

Ian and Caroline are flagged as having now run five events in France. That currently puts them on the French "Most Events" table. There are only 33 runners listed including Roderick with 6 events.

Steve's parkrun stats - club parkrun stats - UPDATED

NEW club parkrun database - {read access to new club parkrun database} - UP TO DATE - Download and explore.

Steve Newell / Roderick Hoffman

Füssen Marathon - Sunday 21st July

On Sunday 21st July I ran the Füssen Marathon (2 hours drive south of Munich) otherwise known as the Königsschlösser Romantik Marathon. That morning the weather was about 16 degrees and light drizzle which was a relief as it was 32 the day before and forecast 32 the day after! The setting was beautiful. The track was mostly of road on walking/cycling trails through woods and around two lakes. Basically flat as a pancake too. This did mean a PB was on the cards. Personally I was looking for a 3:30 and that would have been achievable if I had maintained my training since my last marathon at the beginning of June. Unfortunately in my old age I am getting complacent and with training runs of no more than 8 miles a Sub 3:45 would be hard. (A few pints of Bavarian beers the night before didn’t help either!)

I started well completing 10k in 48 mins and halfway 1:45 then the wheels fell off. Around 16 miles in lack of training showed and I was starting to feel it. Around 20 miles I was doubtful I would sub 4 hours. Fortunately with 4 miles to go I got a second wind and was able to up my pace. This was a lovely marathon in a beautiful part of Europe. Forests, lakes, rivers and castles made it amazing (hence Romantic Marathon!) 

Overall I was pleased with a finish time of 3:53:23 which knocked 1:30 off my veteran PB. 

Cheers, Tim Bellars

Letters to the Editor

Dear Ed.   Piers! Snowdon! I know that refreshment cafe. It saved me on my way down in 2017. Running out of water, etc, Water, hot chocolate plus Mars Bar! The massive difference between Piers and I was that I was walking so I am a softee! Andy Rayner.

Next Digest - Results, news, pictures, feedback, jokes, stories - send them to the editor, Roderick Hoffman, at news@barunner.org.uk.

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