Veronica, Louise, Rachel, and Alison at the Forest Five

Howdie, Road Runners!

Well, lots of you seemed to be parkrunning all over the place at the weekend! Those of us who took part in the Orion Forest Five were confronted by a herd of cows sitting on the start line. Luckily, they moo-ved before the race began (groan)!

The festival in Barking Park seems to have gone ahead without a hitch. Now we just have to wait and see if it is all cleared away in time for Barking parkrun next Saturday, as promised. If they have fixed some of the potholes on our course, that will be an added bonus!

In the meantime, Dennis and Dee have been on their grand tour of the North, but Dee managed to catch up with our Hainault Forest dwelling friend, Dottie Dear. She has been talking to that dreadful man again…

Dottie Dear’s Almanac for June: Passwords

Dottie (#EcoDot) is online……….

#NightSkyDude: You there Dottie, girl?

#EcoDot: Yes, Kevin. What is it this time?

#NightSkyDude: I’ve got in a bit of a pickle with my Debit Card, and I wondered if you could help?

#EcoDot: What kind of a pickle?

#NightSkyDude: Well, you know how usually it’s OK just to tap your card when you’re buying something….

#EcoDot: ….yes….

#NightSkyDude:….and it all goes through OK and the cashier lets you have whatever it is you’re buying…

#EcoDot: …yes, and this time it asked you to put in your pin, right?

#NightSkyDude: Yes, yes – how did you know that – you’re brilliant!

#EcoDot: So what happened when you put in your pin?

#NightSkyDude: Well, here’s the thing. I couldn’t remember it – I had three goes - I still can’t remember it – and I had to leave the shop without my new boxer shorts - my old ones were getting a bit holey. Nice colour they were as well. The new ones, I mean. The old ones had got a bit faded – in fact they were looking a tad greyish, and they were getting a bit baggy in certain areas.

#EcoDot: Too much information there, Kevin. Anyway, did you try your house number and your year of birth?

#NightSkyDude: Yep.

#EcoDot: And the other way around?

#NightSkyDude: Yep.

#EcoDot: Your age and your house number?

#NightSkyDude: That as well.

#EcoDot: An important year, like 1966 or 1066? Or 1888?

#NightSkyDude: 1888?

#EcoDot: The year the first revolving door was installed – I have a soft spot for it.

#NightSkyDude: Ah, right. Erm…..

#EcoDot: Do you have the same trouble with your passwords, then?

#NightSkyDude: Now passwords are a whole different ball game. I have a surefire method due to my ingenious way of setting them.

#EcoDot: Please do tell.

#NightSkyDude: OK, so you know how you can determine your own online Blog name by combining the name of your first toy with that of the street where you live? It creates a mysterious, sexy and alluring persona.

#EcoDot: I haven’t actually come across that one.

#NightSkyDude: Oh, it’s amazing. My Alluring Blogger name would be Teddy Nightshade. Great, no? And then to make my password out of it I just add the numbers 1-2-3 and Bob’s your uncle!

#EcoDot: Well going by that my Mystical and Sexy Blogger name would be Peggotty Birchfields, which I fear doesn’t have the same cachet. And anyway, doesn’t Teddy Nightshade sound a bit sinister?

#NightSkyDude: OK, well it works for me.

#EcoDot: Can you not just contact your bank and reset your pin?

#NightSkyDude: Too easy.

#EcoDot: Then, Kevin, I fear you are eternally condemned to a life of old pants.

Athletics in the News

This week the Diamond League was in Oslo, and there were some patchy performances from Team GB athletes. The best was probably by Matthew Hudson- Smith, who beat his own European Record to come first in the men’s 400m, with a time of 44.07. Daryll Neita was third in the women’s 200m, in 22.50. In the absence of Josh Kerr, Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the men’s 1,500m, but only by throwing himself across the finish line. Brits Giles Elliott (he of the interesting-shaped buttock) and George Mills were fifth and seventh respectively, in 3:31.06 and 3:31.57, season’s bests for both of them.

But perhaps the bravest performances were from those who came last in their races. Jeremiah Azu was in the lead in the men’s 100m until he pulled up with an injury, still managing to cross the line in 11.11. Jessica Warner-Judd took part in the women’s 3,000m. though she usually specialises in the 5,000m. In a meeting record-breaking paced race, she soon became detached from the rest of the runners. I think I might have felt inclined to feign an injury as an excuse to step off the track, but she carried on and eventually finished in 8:59.63, 17 seconds behind the runner ahead of her and more than 35 seconds behind the winner. It must take real guts to do that, and I applaud her.

On Sunday, the League moved on to Stockholm. The standout performance GB was from Laura Muir, who returned to winning form in the women’s 1,500, with a time of 3:57.99 in a slow and tactical race. The next best performance for a Brit was from Ben Pattison, who was just edged into fourth place after a photo finish in the men’s 800m, with Elliot Giles finishing in 6th place in 1:45.10, and Jake Wightman finishing a disappointing 8th in 1:45.35.

Going back to my Routes

According to a study reported in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, a familiar race route is your best bet if you want to get a Personal Best. This is because familiar landmarks let you know how much of the race is left so you don’t hold back unnecessarily. That must be why we choose lots of the same races every year for our Grand Prix competition…

Jog(gle) On

Bill Giduz juggling his balls. Photo courtesy of Bill Giduz

There was sad news this week that Bill Giduz, the inventor of joggling, had died earlier in May at the age of 72 as a result of complications from Parkinson’s disease. It is the sport where track and long-distance races are run while juggling It is running – or jogging - while juggling.

Giduz started joggling by accident in 1975, after taking his juggling balls to the North Carolina State University track to work on some juggling tricks after a running workout. But he started jogging while he juggled and found that the pace of a three-ball juggling pattern matched a wide range of running cadences. Each throw of a ball coincided with the natural motion of the arms when running. Realising that the motions of running and juggling complemented one another beautifully, he called it ‘joggling’ almost immediately. Giduz went on to become the editor of the International Jugglers’ Association (IJA) newsletter, and joggling became a recognised sport in its own right. Perhaps something to try next time you think you have lost your running mojo...

Greg’s Race Report

Several Barking Road Runners members attended the Orion Forest Five series in Chingford.

The 5-mile race, the first in a three-race series, was held on a tough cross-country course in and around the hills and mud of Epping Forest.

The BRR ladies were led home by Louise Chappell 50:45 followed by Alison Fryatt 54:22, Veronica Barikor 56:30 and Rachel Sharples 66:56. Steve Philcox had a great run finishing in 4th place overall in a time an impressive time of 31:23.

Paul Withyman competed in the Bleinham Palace Triathlon sprint event which consisted of a 750 meter swim, 20k cycle ride and a 5k run. Paul finished in combined time of 1:38:38.

Paul Withyman during the run leg of his Bleinham Palace Triathlon

Derv Bartlett continued his recent run of competitive racing by taking part in the Ballyskenach 5k, finishing in a time of 18.26.

BRR parkrunners

Banbury - Owen Wainhouse 22.01.

Chalkwell Beach - Antony Leckerman 25.11.

Chelmsford Central - Gary Harford 30.20.

Colchester Castle - Mark New 24.03.

Finsbury - Rosie Fforde 25.22.

Gnoll - Rob Courtier 52.28.

Letchworth - Rory Burr 24.27 and Steve Colloff 28.58.

Lowestoft - Melissa Lowndes 35.09 and James Lowndes 35.10.

Medina, Isle of Wight - Jason Li 28.59.

Mile End - Alain Cooper 27.30.

Southend - Ron Vialls 26.15.

Valentines - Kevin Wotton 24.49 and Alan Murphy 52.46.

Highest BRR age gradings this week were Rosie Fforde 58.94% for the women and Ron Vialls 68.89% for the men.

BRR Diary – June

7.30pm, Tuesday 4 June – Havering ’90 Joggers Midweek 5 (EL02). Raphaels Park, Main Road, Romford. Entries to the race now closed NOTE: there will be no track session, but…

7.00pm, Thursday 6 June – Replacement Track Session. Jim Peter’s Stadium, Mayesbrook Park. If you fancy a road run instead, why not choose the track as your start/finish point and join us for a cuppa afterwards? This week Greg will be taking the session:

60s warm-up jog to start then five times

90s with 60s recovery (RPE 6/7)
60s with 60s recovery (RPE 7/8)
30s with 90s recovery (RPE 8/9).

9.00am, Saturday 8 June – the much-awaited return of Barking parkrun – fingers crossed!

7.30pm, Wednesday 12 June – Crown to Crown.

7.00pm, Thursday 13 June – Summer Handicap 03. Barking Park. On the parkrun course. Just £1 to enter with the chance of winning a crispy tenner, plus trophies for overall first, second and third in the competition. Note: there will be no Thursday night run from Castle Green/Jo Richardson School.

10.00am, Sunday 16 June – High Easter 10k (GP04). High Easter Village Green. The fourth race in a grand prix competition. Sold Out.

7.30pm, Tuesday 18 June – East End Road Runners 5k (ELVIS 03). Olympic Park, Hopkins Fields (near the Velodrome). Sign up at https://events.kronosports.uk/event/289 NOTE: there will be no track session, but…

7.00pm, Thursday 20 June – Replacement Track Session. Jim Peter’s Stadium, Mayesbrook Park. Yes, we are doing the big swap-a-roo again!

7.00pm, Thursday 27 June – Summer Handicap 03. Barking Park. Another week away from Castle Green.

Cracker Corner

I went to the opticians because I kept seeing cream cakes out of the corner of my eye. He told me not to worry; it was just my profiterole vision.

Yesterday I watched as Chris tripped and dropped the pile of clothes he had just ironed. It was terrible seeing it unfold.

I’ve written my autobiography but I can’t find anyone who’ll publish it. That’s the story of my life…

Boom! Boom!

Quote of the week

“I know of no single factor that more greatly affects our ability to perform than the image we have of ourselves.”

Timothy Gallwey

Author

And finally…

After the Forest Five on Saturday I stopped off at the Sue Ryder charity shop in Station Road, Chingford to buy a couple of balls of wool (orange, of course!). The volunteers were in a bit of turmoil as the shop had been broken into overnight. However, the only thing that they could find had been stolen were some knitted hamsters. Which made me think; perhaps it was an inside job, and it wasn’t somebody breaking in but but the hamsters staging a breakout. If you see any of these dodgy characters around, report it immediately to Crimestoppers…

Policy advise that you do not approach the one with the carrot…

Happy running!

Alison

Chair, Barking Road Runners

BRR Blog – 3 June 2024