BRR Blog – 11 March 2025
Hi there, Road Runners,
BRR at the Chingford League relays. Or is it…
What a wonderful end to the 2024/25 Chingford League season we had at the relay races on Saturday at Wanstead Flats! It was the perfect time for the sun to show its face, given that relays always involve quite a lot of standing around (it would have been a bit miserable if the rain had been bucketing down). The Chingford League is fast and furious so it can be a bit off-putting for slower runners like me to take part, but the relays are actually the perfect opportunity to give it a go; each leg is only two miles, and there are always other people running round with you, though you have to be careful not to try and keep up with a faster runner from another team! Of course, there is also always fantastic support from your fellow BRR clubmates too. We can enter as many four-person male or female teams as we like, so why not give it a go next year?
I should also say ‘thank you’ to our volunteers and supporters. Joe did an excellent job pulling the BRR teams together; it is an incredibly stressful job but he kept his cool. Some of our runners also helped out with the organisation of the race. We received, via Adrian Frost, particular praise for Belinda, who helped to organise the kids’ start/finish funnel:
“Bob, Paul and Major want me to make a special point of passing on everyone's thanks to Belinda Riches for the job she did at the changeover pen.
“All U11s and U13s were kept in perfect order, there were no tears or tantrums, and they all started off at exactly the right moment. To put it mildly, this doesn't normally happen (!) and my colleagues are clear that it was Belinda's efforts that made the difference.”
Well done, Belinda!
Here Comes the Summer…Handicap
With only a few weeks of the Virtual Winter Handicap still left to run, we can start looking forward to the Summer Handicap, organised by Greg.
The Summer Handicap consists of eight races, all over a distance of 5k, in Barking Park at 7.00pm on eight Thursday evenings throughout the summer months. The dates for this year are:
8 May
15 May
12 June
26 June
3 July
24 July
7 August
28 August
The Percolate Festival is due to take place in Barking Park again in early June, which is the reason for the big gap between the second and third races.
Race starts are staggered according to members’ handicaps. For the first race of the series members will be handicapped as determined by Greg, based on: results from the previous summer handicap, a previous 5K race; or a parkrun. If a 5K time cannot be provided, then the first race by a member will be used to set their 5K handicap time.
For subsequent races in a series, members will be handicapped on the faster of their season’s handicap or their fastest actual time of the season.
It costs £1 to enter each race (or just £5 for all eight, if paid upfront), with the first across the line winning a tenner. In addition, points are awarded for finishing positions based on 100 points for first place, 99 points for second and so on. Each member’s five best results will count towards their final score, with trophies for the top three overall.
Non-members are welcome to participate as a guest of the Club. Non-members will not be required to pay the entry fee or be eligible for competition points or prizes.
London Marathon Water Station Update – Dustbin Marks the Spot
I took the opportunity of my long run on Sunday to trot along to Westferry Road and pinpoint our Mile 15 Water Station location exactly, using the What3Words coordinates (///term.model.asks). As you’ll see from the photos, one facing North and one facing South, we are just near the entrance to the underground roundabout at Westferry Circus. It’s about a 10-minute’ walk from Canary Wharf Station or an 8-minute walk from Westferry DLR station (the route from the DLR station is probably more straightforward if you don’t know the area). There are some stairs near us to the upper level of Westferry Circus where you’ll find Café Brera. The café sells hot drinks and cakes but they are pretty pricey (£3 for a back coffee, £3.60 for tea). If you want a hot drink to accompany your packed lunch, best to bring a flask!
Our water station location, looking North and looking South.
Tracksmith 100 Days to London – week nine
Sunday 16th March 2025 at 9AM (Run starts at 9:30AM)
The ninth run in Tracksmith’s 100 Days to London programme focuses on fuelling during the marathon. The run highlights the importance of fuelling over long distances and encourages you to practice all of your race-day routines. On offer are 15 km (9 miles) and 30 km (18 miles).
For more details and sign-up see https://ti.to/tracksmith/100-days-to-london-2025
Tip of the Week
We all know that fast music can help you to up your pace, but did you know that listening to slow, sedative music can help to speed up your recovery after a race? A study in Medicine and Science in Sport found slow music can have a beneficial effect on heart rate, cortisol level, and blood pressure. So, its Motorhead and Ramones for when you are running, and maybe save the nice Bing Crosby ballad for when you finish.
European Indoor Championships
It was no surprise that the Netherlands topped the medals table in front of a home crowd at the 2025 European Indoor Athletics Championships in Apeldoorn.
The wasn’t a big presence from Team GB, but we achieved some good results, although some favourites were a bit disappointed that they didn’t do as well as expected.
Our only gold medal was won by Jeremiah Azu, who came first in the men’s 60m. Azu was born in the Netherlands before his family moved to Cardiff when he was a child, so perhaps he felt at home. Veteran runner Andrew Roberston landed a surprise bronze medal.
Team GB’s George Mills and Melissa Courtney-Bryant achieved silver medals, in the men’s and women’s 3,000m respectively.
GB’s final medal of the day was silver won by the women’s 4x400m relay team. It looked at one point that it might be upgraded to gold after the winning Netherlands team was disqualified for obstructing Team GB at the last handover but, on appeal, it was decided that the officials were to blame for lining athletes up in the wrong order, so the Netherlands were conveniently re-instated.
Fuelling During the Marathon
Our body runs best on carbs; glucose to be precise. Glucose is energy derived from sugar and carbohydrates, which is stored in your body as glycogen. It is fast-release, meaning when your body needs it, it is available to you almost straight away.
Once you run out of glycogen, your body starts to utilize fat as fuel. This might be OK if you are looking to lose weight but is less than ideal in the middle of a race. This is much more inefficient and can make you feel sluggish, heavy, and slightly sick. It can also lead to ‘hitting the wall’ and – as mentioned a few weeks ago - bonking (having no energy in the tank and your legs sometimes feeling too weak to even walk).
You should carb-load before your race so your body has as much stored glycogen as possible when you start, but it is important to top up your glycogen stores during the race too. There are lots of options available for doing this, and lots of runners swear by natural foods like raisins, dried apricots etc, but the most commonly used are energy drinks, gels and chews/sweets.
An article in this month’s Runners’ World magazine recommends the following gels:
Best high-carb gel - SIS Beta Fuels Gel
Runner-up high-carb gel - OTE Berry Super Gel
Best caffeine gel – Maurten Gel Caf 100
Best no water gel – High5 Energy Gel Aqua
Best all-natural gel – Vala Energy Gel
But the most important thing is to practice with your chosen in-race fuel before race day. And don’t eat too much, to avoid getting a stitch or cramp, but keep snacking on energy gels, chocolate bars, or sports drinks (this will double as hydration, too).
In terms of how much fuel you need, the rule of thumb is: weight in kilos = grams of carbohydrates consumed per hour, so someone who weighs 70 kilos should consume about 70 grams of carbohydrates per hour for sufficient fuel on race day, starting about 30 minutes in, which is an awful lot of 25g gels. But needs will vary from person to person, which is another reason to practice before race day.
Run4Life
The Run4life 5k and 10k are back, at 8.00am on Sunday13 April, starting at Coventry University London, Rainham Road North, Dagenham, RM10 7BN (the old Dagenham Town Hall building). I have to say, the website and entry form are the oddest I’ve ever seen. I’d almost think it was a scam but there are adverts for the race across Barking and a few of us have done it before.
Greg’s Race Report
On Saturday, Barking Road Runners had the final Chingford League event of this season, the two-mile cross-country relays at Wanstead Flats. BRR had a good turnout of members with four full men’s teams of four runners and one women’s team. There were also two partial teams on the day. Sian Mansley and Ayoyinka Obisesan both received commemorative mugs for running in all the Chingford League races this season. Alison Fryatt received a coaster for running or volunteering at all the races.
Barry Rowell and Rosie Fforde ran in the Runthrough organised event at Victoria Park on Sunday. Barry ran the Half Marathon finishing in a time of 2:22:14 whilst Rosie ran in the 10k race finishing in a time of 49:47.
Barry after the Victoria Park HM
Rosie after her 10k in Victoria Park.
BRR parkrunners
Barking - Joshua Ezissi 22:09, Rosie Fforde 24:03, Barry Rowell 27:38, Nikki Cranmer 33:01 and Alan Murphy 53:55.
Great Nottley - Louise Chappell 32:13 and Craig Chappell 32:16.
Louise at Great Notley parkrun
Harrow Lodge - Rory Burr 24:17.
Market Bosworth - Robert Courtier 31:01.
Rob and friends at Market Bosworth Country Park parkrun
Oak Hill - Doug King 27:37.
Doug at Oak Hill parkrun
Shorne Woods - Jonathan Furlong 39:34.
Storey’s Field - Sunny Bulchandani 24:04.
Valentines - Kevin Wotton 23:50 and Faye Spooner 37:29.
Wanstead Flats - Jess Collett 22:41, Belinda Riches 26:39, Steve Colloff 28:51, and Darren Graham 56:37.
Steve C, Belinda, Jess, Darren, and James S, with Bel’s sister at Wanstead parkrun
Wickford Memorial - Gary Harford 29:27.
Wimpole Estate - Martin Brooks 28:27.
Highest BRR age gradings Jess Collett 67.82% for the women and Kevin Wotton 65.09% for the men.
Gary at Wickford Memorial parkrun
BRR Diary – March
To see the full diary of BRR events on the TeamUp app. Just download the TeamUp app onto your phone, then enter the calendar key: ks67p21gt8p5gzdo66 when asked. If you don’t want another app on your phone, you can also find it under the ‘events’ tab on the Barking Road Runners website: https://www.barkingroadrunners.org.uk/calendar.
8-14 March – Virtual Handicap 05.
7.00pm, Tuesday 11 March – Speed Session. Jim Peters Stadium, Mayesbrook Park. It will be Jess taking the session and, this week we have the Goldilocks session:
3x Baby Bears [1m run, 1m rec]
2x Mummy Bears [2m run, 2m rec]
1x Daddy Bear [4m run, 3m rec]
2x Mummy Bears [2m run, 2m rec]
3x Baby Bears [1m run, 1m rec]
7.00pm, Thursday 13 March – Road Run. Castle Green Centre, Gale Street, Dagenham. Usually between 4-6 miles. Maybe we will have a run that’s a bit simpler than my sweetie run this week…
10.00am, Sunday 23 March - Brentwood Half Marathon (GP01). Sawyers Hall Lane, Brentwood, Essex CM15 9DA. SOLD OUT!
22-28 March – Virtual Handicap 06. The penultimate virtual event.
Cracker Corner
Chris told me my home-made pancakes were terrible last Tuesday. I was flipping furious.
My local hot air balloon club has closed down. The members kept falling out.
Recently I’ve become addicted to pouring fabric conditioner over my food. My doctor says I’m comfort eating.
Quote of the Week
"The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass."
Martin Mull
And Finally
Imagine winning a 100-mile n ultramarathon. Then imagine being disqualified. That’s what happened to Californian Rajpaul Pannu, who (almost) won the 2025 Jackpot 100 Mile Road Championship in Henderson, Nevada.
The problem? His shoes. Pannu was wearing Hoka Skyward X, a high-performance max-cushioned trainer with a stack height of 48mm in the heel and 43 mm in the forefoot. This exceeded the maximum allowable stack height of 40 mm under USA Track and Field rules which govern the thickness of the sole at national road championship events.
Pannu took full responsibility for his actions, though you have to have some sympathy for him. At all marathon majors, elite runners must have their shoes approved by an official before the race but that wasn’t the case at the 100-mile Road Championships. Pannu pointed out that the protest about his win was filed by someone who was watching the livestream. “No one on the course cared about the stack height of my shoes. Not even the USATF official,” wrote Pannu. “I’m choosing to take the high road in hopes of shedding light on how all championship events could be better sanctioned.”
But I bet he wishes he’d read the rules more carefully…
Keep on Running
Alison
Chair, Barking Road Runners
