baRUNNER - a website for the British Airways Athletics Club

BA Athletics Club News Digest 24th October 2016

Events:

• Wednesday 26th October - Winter 5 mile handicap from 18:00 at Heston Venue (see below)*
• Thursday 3rd November - Dream Mile Bath Road - 12:45 Paul Knechtl*
• Wednesday 9th November - Club Charity Quiz - Heston Venue from 19:45 (comms next week but let Steve Hillier know you'll be bringing your crowd)*

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: [long Google-map hyperlink you would not copy]

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/).

New Promotional Poster

I've prepared a new poster to attract new runners to join in with the club and our activities.  Please click on the part image below and load the PDF version of the poster and print it out for display in your vicinity. The more members the club attracts the bigger the range of events we can participate in.

Roderick Hoffman

Winter Five Mile Handicap - first run Wednesday 26th October from Heston Sports Centre

It is the 5 Mile handicap season again.

This is a series of six 5 mile runs around the locality of Heston sports centre (Concorde club) taking place on the last Wednesday of the month from October through March inclusive. The exception being December when the run will be on Wed 14th. There is a trophy for the points winner at the end of the season.

Points are gained by completing the course as close to your handicap time as possible. Finishers will be ranked according to how close to their handicap time they finish. Watches are discouraged, though not banned to allow for those that log their miles times etc. as recorded by Garmin or similar.

Handicap times are set each month based upon the most recent 5M handicap time on record (I have records going back to 2009 when this event first started :). For your first run of the season I allow handicap times to be adjusted to allow for injuries illness etc. but only your first run of the season. The best 5 of the 6 runs count towards your total points. For any newcomers they can provide a time, or we can estimate a time based upon other events. The actual distance of the course is about 4.8 miles but you may be delayed crossing roads or encountering other pavement users.

Runners are set off such that if everyone ran their handicap time there would be a mass finish at 19:00. For example if your handicap is 45 minutes then you will set of at 18:15.

After the run we'll be having drinks and ordering food at the Queen's Head, adjacent to the course.

Kind regards,

Paul Brandon  (Senior Performance Analyst, Amadeus)

Ed: You'll notice that Paul is in the right career to be able to analyse the performance of us seniors in this event.

London Marathon entrants for 2017

Many of you will be thinking of pounding the streets of London next Spring.  Should your application have been unsuccessful, there might be a second chance...... 

The BA Athletics Club provides the London Marathon with over one hundred marshals.  In return LM provide us with some additional places that we can allocate to our members.  We will have a limited number of places to hand out this winter.   The BA Athletics Club committee will review applications from people unsuccessful in the main ballot during December, and priority will consider the following criteria:

• Those who have helped BAAC marshaling in previous years,
• BA Athletics Club members who regularly support club events,
• Paid up BA Athletics Club members,
• Family or Friends of people who meet the above criteria.

If you want to be considered for a place, think about which of those categories apply to you!  Then contact me on stevehillier@msn.com and provide details.

Anyone offered and accepting a club place will be expected to pay the normal entry fee for the Marathon, to provide a minimum of two marshals to the BAAC to assist with the 2016 London Marathon and to contribute to this digest with their aims and experiences of training and running the Marathon. 

Steve Hillier

Club parkrun results for Saturday 22nd October

The Homewood Park parkrun at Chertsey attracted a manageable field of 105 runners made up of a mixture of those returning for a second week (just 19) ,14 parkrun virgins, a sprinkling of the ever-present "unknowns" and the remainder experienced parkrunners trying the course out for the first time.  John Coffey (27:25) was one of those possibly making it his new home and will be hoping to improve his time on his next run.  Monica Alonso (28:50) established a club women's record and Helen Smith (30:48) set her first parkrun age category record.

Paul Watt (20:28) continued his improvement with another parkrun pb at Rushmoor where Julie Barclay (23:27) was the second woman over the finish line.

Steve (23:11) and Linda Dodsworth (27:02) lowered the club course records at Gateshead where they were both running for the fourth time.

Benita (29:04) and John Scaife (29:05) continued their tour of New South Wales at Rhodes parkrun, again in the Greater Sydney area.  Roderick Hoffman (26:40) was in Poland and lowered the club course record at Krakow*.  Scott Davison (25:09) established a club record at Bournemouth where the attendance was 366.

Steve Newell (33:41) regained his "Current Lon-done" status* by running the capital's newest run at Canons Park on the borders of Harrow and Stanmore.  Also running there was former parkrun employee Danny Norman (20:50) sporting a "500" vest for the first time (run #501).

Steve Taylor (24:34) at Northala Fields became the latest member to join the "50" club.  After a year of great loyalty to Harrow, Dennis Foxley (27:43) tried the more rural setting at South Oxhey and found the going softer and the air noticably fresher.

Ian Cockram (24:38) registered BAAC as his first claim club with parkrun last week, immediately sprang into action and set a new male club record at Tooting Common.  Natalie Ruffell (currently stuck on 49 runs) holds the overall club course record with 20:24.

And to finish, Alastair Heslop (45:08) was 385th and last acting as tail-runner at Guildford.  His daughter Charlotte (45:07) was making her parkrun debut. [Ed: Please note that if you volunteer for the parkrun tail-runner role you don't need to also provide the runner that you tail]

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

Steve Newell

Roderick adds

*I didn't just lower the club record at Krakow I knocked over two and a half minutes off the record set previously by Ian "fast" Cunningham. But in difference to Ian I have to add that I ran the Krakow "A" course whereas Ian had run the "B" course.  These are different:

• The "A" course is as flat as a pancake whereas the "B" course is extreme hilly.
• The "A" course is on tarmac throughout whereas the "B" course was on wet sticky mud throughout.
• The "A" course was straight with just three corners and one bend.  The first 1.5k is the same as the last 1.5k and is as straight as the tram tracks that run parallel to the course.  The "B" course was twisty.
• Roderick describes the "A" course as "Easy" whereas Ian describes the "B" course as "The toughest I've ever done".

But the parkrun results computer doesn't worry about such detail so my record counts...until Ian or another club member knocks at least two and a half minutes off from my time the next time they visit.

*"Lon-done" and other parkrun region status are like being an Olympian.  Once an Olympian, always an Olympian.  So once "Lon-done" (once there are five or more events in a region) then always "Lon-done".  So I am still "Lon-done" though I too plan to become a Current Lon-done parkrunner again next Saturday.

And I see from the above results that Chris Cowell had spotted that I'd got ahead of him in the Tourist Table and wants his 20th place back.

Roderick Hoffman

Retired Runners Lunch

The traditional retired runners lunch this year will be in a pub by Kew Bridge on either Monday 12th or Tuesday 13th December.  It is open to anyone who has retired, either from running or working, or who is thinking of retiring from one or both. Those interested in attending should contact Steve Newell indicating availability and preference for either of those two days. 

There are public transport options and free parking is not impossible.

Steve Newell

Running Shorts

I did the Chelmsford Marathon this morning (23rd October) in a time of 3:30:19 and was 104th out of 592 finishers - takes me to marathon #117. Would have been nice to be under 3:30 but the course was a little bit too undulating for me. Some people said it was quite flat but I have no power in my legs and they detect the slightest bit of uphill and slow down! Still nice to do it faster than in Chicago (now there is a flat course) two weeks ago. That other serial marathon offender from BA A.C., Jasvir Singh Modaher, was also running and he finished in a time of 5:19:37.

Regards Piers Keenleyside

Great South Run

No report sent in but I note that Trish McCabe finished this in 1:29:45, Tony Barnwell in 1:44:51 and Marzia Coltelli in 1:48:22. Perhaps others also.  Janet Smith was there taking photographs...maybe next year Janet?

Next Digest?

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

Club website:

www.barunner.org.uk.