BRR Blog – 12 February 2024
Sunny at the Love Welwyn Garden City 10k
Hi there, Road Runners,
I feel like I don’t want to tackle the big news of the week: the decision by parkrun to remove all the records from its results. But I find it makes me very sad, and I don’t see how it will have any impact on encouraging more people to participate – parkrun HQ’s justification for the change. I’ve spoken to lots of newcomers who have said they were nervous about coming along for the first time, many were worried about being the slowest person there, but none of them have said they were put off by statistics!
The petition to try and persuade HQ to reverse its decision is getting more signatures by the minute. Here is the link if you want to sign https://chng.it/YWjF7JzTnr.
We were all shocked and saddened to wake up to the sad news that Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum, the marathon world record holder, had been killed overnight in a car crash, at the untimely age of 24. Kiptum had only sprung to world athletics fame in the last couple of years but quickly shot to fame, setting his world record of 2 hours and 35 seconds at the Chicago Marathon in October 2023. He was preparing for his attempt to be the first person to break the two-hour barrier in an open race at the Rotterdam Marathon this year, and who could doubt that he would have achieved it, if not this year then in the near future. A sporting great, taken too soon.
In more cheerful news, although Dee Spencer-Perkins has stepped down as Club Secretary, she is still happy to update us on our Hainault Forest-dwelling friend, Dottie Dear. It seems Dottie has the AI blues.
Dottie Dear’s Almanac for February - Chatbot
Dottie (#EcoDot) is online……
#Angela: Hello Ms Dear. How are you today? My name is Angela. I am doing a survey about AI. Would you be interested in taking part?
#EcoDot: OK, Angela. Could you tell me a bit more about yourself first? You can’t be too careful these days. Are you from an organisation?
#Angela: Our survey is about AI and whether people feel positive about it. How are you today, by the way?
#EcoDot: I’m OK, thanks – apart from falling off my rope ladder last week and busting a few ribs. But not to worry – who did you say you are, again?
#Angela: Our survey is about AI. Could you tell me how often you use it?
#EcoDot: I’m not sure that I do use it. I’m not all that tech savvie, if you see what I mean. I nearly bought some AI- powered binoculars last month for watching the birds, but I haven’t a clue how they were supposed to work. What exactly is AI – I’ve been wondering.
#Angela: For the initial post-injury recovery focus on rest. This is to manage the pain and inflammation and let your ribs begin to mend.
#EcoDot: Right, thanks for that. But how would I know if I am actually using AI. Isn’t it very hard to tell?
#Angela: Bruised or broken ribs can take from two weeks to two months to heal. You will need to take regular pain killers and do breathing exercises.
#EcoDot: Angela, I’m getting the feeling that you are not really listening to me. But since you mention it, yes, I do feel like a rest. Perhaps I should get away on a short holiday to relax a bit – all this climbing up and down the rope ladder can’t be doing me much good. I did enjoy that little break in Cleethorpes last year after all.
#Angela: Cleethorpes is on the Humber Estuary and is a fishing town which became one of England’s seaside resorts in the late Victorian period.
#EcoDot: I thought you wanted to ask me some questions about computers, and whatnot.
#Angela: Trainline voted Cleethorpes the number one seaside town reachable by train in 2021.
#Ecodot: Angela, are you OK? Perhaps you need a holiday too? If you can afford it, I believe that spa holidays are very relaxing, or perhaps a cruise?
#Angela: As well as world class cities, mountain towns and dreamy islands, a cruise can take you to unmissable destinations – most of the travel happens while you sleep so you wake to a new destination waiting to be explored.
#Ecodot: Yes, you could do that. Or if you wanted something closer to home you could go to Center Parcs and have a relaxing massage, feed the ducks and the deer maybe?
#Angela: There are six wild deer species in the UK: the red deer, the sika deer, the fallow deer, the roe deer, the muntjac deer and the Chinese water deer….deer….dear…Ms Dear….Ms Dear….Ms Dear……………How are you today?
#EcoDot: Well, Angela, thank you very much for your interest. I still haven’t a clue what AI is, but I hope you’re feeling better soon.
Diddly-Squat
We are now a third of the way through the 30-day squat challenge. I have to say, as we went past 35 squats there seemed to be a sudden step-change in difficulty. And it’s only going to get harder. But I think I am feeling the benefits – I am sure my ‘buns of steel’ will be romping up the hills at the South Weald cross-country race with ease!
This week our daily squat programme is as follows: 75/80/85/rest/95/100/105. Ideally, all the squats in a day should be done in one go. We’ll see if that’s possible.
While doing your squats, you can test if you are a quad dominant runner. Your quads are the four muscles on the front of your thigh that help power your runs, as they help flex your hip and extend your knee.
While having strong quads is a good thing, if your quads are too dominant that can lead to hamstring or back tightness, or knee pain.
How to Test If You’re a Quad-Dominant Runner
This month’s Runner’s World magazine includes the following simple test to tell if you’re quad dominant: Sink down into your best squat position with your eyes closed. Once you get into position, open your eyes. Can you see your big toes? If you can, that likely means your glutes are firing properly, pulling your knees and quads back into a perfect squat position.
If you can’t see your big toes it means your knees are settling over your toes and your quads are taking over the balance work your glutes should be doing. That means you’re likely quad-dominant.
How to Fix Quad-Dominance
To correct quad dominance you have to strengthen your hamstrings and glutes. You can do this through exercises such as deadlifts, donkey kicks, glute bridges, clam shells, and our old friend, the squat. Start with just your body weight and ramp up slowly while you nail form, then introduce weights to build strength and power. Trying to do too much, too soon just risks injury.
Virtual Handicap 03
Handicap 03 winner winner, Sunny
Barking Road Runners Virtual 5k winter Handicap Round 3 this week was won by Sunny Bulchandani who completed his run 1.32 minutes inside his handicap time. Second place went to Rob Courtier with Martin Page in third, both also bettering their handicap times. All three will also have new, tougher, handicaps for round four, starting on 17 February.
Greg’s Race Report
Belinda Riches and Tom Brennan competed in the Victoria Park half marathon finishing in times of 1:52:54 and 1:33:47 respectively.
Sunny Bulchandani achieved a PB in the Love Welwyn Garden City 10k finishing in a time of 50:25 to finish off a successful week’s running.
Barking parkrunners
Barking - Joshua Ezissi 23:17, John Whan 25:16, Belinda Riches 25:37,Joyce Golder 27:46, Martin Mason 30:52, John Lang 31:33, Les Jay 36:44, Alan Murphy 52:13 and Micky Ball 5:12.
Chalkwell Beach - Antony Leckerman 24:24.
Clacton Seafront - Nikki Cranmer 30:12.
Harrow Lodge - Rory Burr 25:36.
Itchen Valley Country - Rob Courtier 34:12.
Linford Wood - Mark New 24:47.
Raphaels - Paul Withyman 21:23, Peter Jackson 23:04, Doug King 27:22, Martin Brooks 27:56, Stephen Colloff 28:33 and Dennis Spencer-Perkins 33:34.
Valentines - Andrew Gwilliam 47:56.
Highest BRR age gradings this week were Belinda Riches 67.08% for the women and John Whan 70.65% for the men.
BRR Diary – February
Download the TeamUp app onto your phone, then enter the calendar key for Barking Road Runners when asked to add a calendar: https://teamup.com/ksc3wo2key9h6c2jb8 to see all BRR’s agreed fixtures for the year. If you have trouble accessing the diary via the app, you can also find it under the ‘events’ tab on the Barking Road Runners website: https://www.barkingroadrunners.org.uk/calendar.
7.00pm, Tuesday 13 February - Speed development. Jim Peters Stadium, Mayesbrook Park. This week Jess will be taking the session, which is called Snakes and Ladders:
3 min run, 90 sec recovery
2 min run, 90 sec recovery
1 min run, 90 sec recovery
3 min run, 90 sec recovery
2 min run, 90 sec recovery
1 min run, 90 sec recovery
3 min run, 90 sec recovery
2 min run, 90 sec recovery
1 min run, 90 sec recovery
Ready for drills at track
7.00pm, Thursday 15 February – Road Run. From the Castle Green Centre/Jo Richardson School, Gale Street, Dagenham. A run of 5-6 miles, all abilities welcome.
w/c 17 February - Virtual Handicap 04. Remember to post your result by close on Friday 23 February.
10.00am, Sunday 18 February – SECCL XC05. Weald Park. South Weald Country Park, Weald Rd, Brentwood CM14 5QS. Nearest main road is the old A12 (Brook Street) from which Country Park signs direct you to Weald Park Road. The last race in this year’s cross-country competition, courtesy of Billericay Striders Running Club. Usual routine: entry free is £5 but BRR members pay only £3, payable in cash on the day or directly into the Club bank account (sort code 40-03-33, account code 42026724). Club vests must be worn.
LOOK AHEAD:
A reminder of the four races selected so far for the Club’s Grand Prix competition (there may be additional races slotted in between Great Baddow and Ingatestone):
24 March - Brentwood Half - https://www.brentwoodhalf.org/
7 April – St. Clare Hospice 10k - https://stclarehospice.org.uk/event/st-clare-hospice-10k-2024/
19 May – Great Baddow 10 (mile) - https://baddowraces.co.uk/
18 August – Ingatestone 5 - https://baddowraces.co.uk/
As voted at the last Annual General Meeting, the 2024 competition will consist of eight races, with trophies awarded to the top three males and females based on the best five of eight results. First-claimers only for this competition.
Cracker Corner
It is good to take up new pastimes as you get older. Last week I started ballet lessons and learnt how to pirouette. It’s keeping me on my toes.
A riddle, courtesy of Lizzie- Beth:
What has four letters, sometimes has nine letters, never has five.
Quote of the week:
“The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.”
Juma Ikangaa
And finally…
If you are a magazine editor, the last thing you want is to become the story yourself. But that is what has happened to Kate Carter, the acting Commissioning Editor at Runner’s World magazine. Carter has come under suspicion for entering a fake time at last year’s London marathon and allegedly course-cutting at the London Landmarks Half Marathon after being investigated by American blogger Derek Murphy who has previously exposed a series of cheats at high-profile races around the world.
Records for the London Landmarks Half Marathon show that Carter completed the race in a time of 1:32:12, finishing as fourth fastest in her age category and 42nd among the 10,017 female competitors. But there was no evidence to show she had taken part in a 10-kilometre section of the 21-kilometre race. The runner had no time recorded at the 15-kilometre mark and her times for the first 10k of the race (48 minutes and 6 seconds) and second 10k (39 minutes) were dramatically different. Carter blamed a 'Paula Radcliffe-style' accident (you know the one) for missing part of the London Landmarks course, claiming that she had to take a detour to answer a call of nature and lost her bearings when returning to the course.
Carter was also scrutinised over times she posted for the London Marathon. She removed the timing chip from the back of her race number, claiming that she was off-form and didn’t want an official time. But, when her time was better than expected, she then manually created a record on Strava. Unfortunately, she based it on a course map that was four years out of date and showed she had run the race in the opposite direction from the rest of the runners. It could happen to any of us…
In her defence, Carter has said ‘I am not a cheat. I made some stupid mistakes in how I recorded my times on my personal Strava record, for both of these events and I deeply regret these errors in judgement’. She went on 'I admit that I was scared of having a time that I wasn't proud of on my 'Power of 10', so I removed my chip, and then made the mistake of trying to add my time on my personal Strava when it did go well.’ To be fair, having experienced loads of faster runners who refuse to have their barcode scanned at parkrun if they haven’t done as well as expected, her explanation does ring true. In addition, as Carter has only held the role at Runner’s World on an interim basis since August 2022, she may feel pressure to perform well in order to justify her position at the magazine.
But it brings home that, in an age when every step we take – in races, at least - someone is watching you (sorry Sting), honesty is the best policy. Better for people to think you haven’t done as well as you could have done than for them to think you are a cheat. And, if you nip off course to have a loo break, keep careful note of your position…
