Barking Road...Footballers? The team(s) after Sunday's football game

Hello Road Runners!

After all the half marathon (and after-party) action last week, I thought it would be a quiet weekend for BRR this week, but there were quite a still a few sneaky Halves and 10 milers taking place. Otherwise, it was all about football training in Mayesbrook Park, preparing for the charity football match. Perhaps we need to order some bibs so one of the teams isn’t required to play half-naked to differentiate them from the other side (just a suggestion). Well done to Isabel for flying the flag for BRR Ladies (luckily Isabel wasn’t on the half-naked team).

Talking about naked, don’t forget we have the Naked 5K at track on Tuesday evening. Don’t worry, the ‘naked’ only refers to running without your watch, rather than taking off your clothes. It is all about seeing how accurately you can judge your pace without relying on your watch, so perhaps the alternative name of ‘Predicta 5K’ would be better. More details below. Don’t forget your bug spray, if you are someone that mozzies find attractive.

If you notice anything different about the font sizes in this week’s blog, it is as a result of me doing some training at work about accessibility of documents. For people with sight problems who use screen readers, it is important that the correct heading and paragraph styles are used, or the technology can’t cope. Not sure if this applies to any of our readers but I thought I should try my best, especially in honour of the Paralympics.

parkrun Records

The results from the 1,000th parkrun at Bushy Park were eventually posted on Tuesday morning (3 September), with 6,204 people shown as completing the course. The first across the line finished in 15.26, with the last person finished in a respectable 1.01.55, o it was by no means a slow run. However, I have been told by people who attended that the event only had 4,000 finish tokens, so finishers beyond that had to be written down manually. No wonder some people ended up queueing for two hours!

This Saturday Barking parkrun had its highest non-Christmas Day attendance, with 200 participants. That was quite enough, thank you.

Chingford League 24/25

With the end of the summer comes cross country! For BRR, that means the South Essex Cross Country League (SECCL) and the Chingford League.

If you haven’t participated in the Chingford League before, it consists of eight races, half of which are cross-country and half on the road. They are not too long but none of them are easy! There is also a relay race to end the season.

Member clubs from East and North-East London pay to be part of the League, so there is no charge for individual runners. We have already been given a batch of bib numbers which we will issue to anyone who wants to participate in advance of the first race. You keep the same bib number for the whole of the series except for the relays, so DON’T LOSE IT!

The dates/venues are as follows:

Tues 8th October at Hog Hill (Redbridge Cycle Circuit), Forest Rd IG6 3HP: Senior Women and U15/17s START 7.30pm, Senior Men START 8pm. All Seniors and U15/17s run a measured 5k.
Sat 2nd November, Eastbrookend Country Park trails (courtesy of BRR). Seniors (8k) u15/u17s (4.5k) 11am: 5m: Race HQ Discovery Centre, The Chase, RM7 OSS. We will need volunteers to make the race a success!
Sat 23rd Nov 5m xc Trent Park EN4 0JZ (courtesy of Barnet & DAC) Seniors start at 2.30pm.
Weds 11th December LV Velopark Road Circuit E20 3AB. Senior Women and Juniors 7.30pm, Senior Men 8pm.
Sat 18th Jan: 5m xc Epping Forest, (Race HQ Orion Harriers, E4 7QJ). U15/17s (4.5k) and all seniors (8k) start 11am.
Sat 1st Feb 5m road race, Victoria Park (courtesy of VPHTHAC - Race HQ: clubhouse off Cadogan Terrace, E9 5EG. Seniors (5m) & U15/17s (4.5k) start 11am.
Sat 8th March 4x3000m xc relays (U11/13s 4x2000) Wanstead Flats (courtesy of ELR) ALL start at 11.30am, followed by presentations for 2024/25 Venue Harrow Road Pavilion, E11 3QA.

Jogon

Thinking of treating yourself to some new running shoes? If so, don’t throw the old ones away. JogOn collects and sorts old running. Those that still have some life in them are distributed to people who can’t afford new shoes. Those that are past it are broken down and recycled, so they don’t end up in landfill.

If you have any running shoes you are getting rid of, let me have them and I will send them on.

Athletics in the News

It was all about the GB women at the Aurich Diamond League on 5 September. The best performance of the night was from Georgia Ball, who ran 1:57.94 in the women’s 800m, earning her second place. Jemma Reekie finished in fourth in 1:58.49. Dina Asher-Smith placed third in the women’s 100m, with a time of 10.89.

The much-vaunted men’s 1500m re-match between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr turned out to be a damp squib, with the race won by Yared Naguse. Ingebrigtsen finished second and Kerr back in fifth.

Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm. Photo courtesy of the BBC website

More exciting was the previous night’s 100m exhibition race between pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm. The race was won by Duplantis in an amazing time of 10.37 with Warholm not far behind in 10.47. Both times were PBs and would have earned the athletes places in the second round of the 100m contest in the Olympic Games. On reflection, pole vaulters need to be able to sprint well, and also have a lot of upper body strength, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Duplantis would be good over the 100m.

The next – and last for 2024 – Diamond League event is in Brussels on 13-14 September.

Paralympics 2024

Team GB has had a fantastic Paris Paralympics, finishing second to China in the medals table with 124 medals overall (49 gold, 44 silver, and 31 bronze). Not bad considering we have a population of 67 million while China is estimated to have a population of 1.4 billion. Sadly, our strong performance may be a reflection of the fact that a lot of nations don’t take sport for those with a disability as seriously as they take sport for the able-bodied (e.g. why is the US behind us in the table?). Alas, better worldwide equality for disabled athletes would probably mean Britain moving down the medal table.

Flat and Fast

Disappointed not to get a place for the London Marathon? Or looking for a new challenge with PB (Personal Best) potential? Looking to run a fast marathon? Women’s Running recommends the following flat and fast UK marathons:

Chester Marathon

Date: Sunday 6th October 2024
Entry fee: From £49

If you’re marathon fit right now, you could do worse than sign up for this race in pretty, historic, Chester. The Chester Marathon hosts the England Athletics Age Group Masters Marathon Championship so there will be a lot of older but talented runners on the start line. The cut-off time is six hours.

How to enter: Visit the Chester Marathon website to sign up for a spot.

Greater Manchester Marathon

Date: Sunday 27th April 2025
Entry fee: From £79

The Greater Manchester Marathon’s (mostly) flat, course takes in the city centre and Greater Manchester. The initial 28,000 places have sold out but you can put your name down on a pre-sale list for the remaining 20% of public places. The Finish Line will close 6 hours after the last runner has crossed the start line. For 2025 the race is on the same weekend as the London Marathon, so you will miss all the fun of the BRR water station if you take part. Also, I can’t remember it being quite so expensive to enter when I took part a few years ago…

How to enter: Sign up to enter or grab a charity spot.

Boston UK Marathon

Date: Sunday 13th April 2025
Entry fee: £33 (affiliated) £35 (non-affiliated)

No qualifying times for this Boston Marathon, unlike the one in the US! This is a small-scale run in Lincolnshire, a county that is well-known for being flat. The marathon route, along rural roads, has just 190ft (58m) of elevation. The race starts at 8.00am and has a generous cut-off time of 2.00pm.

How to enter: Enter via the Boston UK Marathon website.

Newport Marathon

Date: Sunday 13th April 2025
Price: From £48

Apparently more than 70% of finishers at the Newport Marathon have claimed themselves a PB on this flat, fast course, which takes in city landmarks, coastal views and picturesque villages in South Wales. The cut-off is six hours.

How to enter: You can register now on the Newport Marathon website.

Edinburgh Marathon Festival

Date: Sunday 25th May 2025
Entry fee: From £68

This race used to start and finish in Edinburgh, which meant a stonking hill towards the end of the course. Nowadays it starts in Edinburgh city centre and heads out to the coast before looping back to finish in Musselburgh. There are a few undulations but it is mostly downhill. The crowds are a bit thin on the coastal section, which might suit some people. There is a cut off time of six and a half hours.

How to enter: Enter via the Edinburgh Marathon Festival website.

Greg’s Race Report

More Half Marathons this week for Barking Road Runners. Dawn Curtis 2:40:58 and Ricky Narwal 1:56:51 ran the Great North Run.

Dawn and her brother and niece at the Great North Run

Rosie Fforde travelled to Warwickshire for the Kenilworth Half Marathon finishing in a time of very good time of 1:47:06.

Stuart Mackay ran the Battersea Park Half Marathon in a great time of 1:29:07.

Paul Withyman took part in the Bacchus Half Marathon on a course run around Denbies wine estate and included fancy dress plus up to 6 wine stops Paul still managed an impressive 1:43:24 despite the wine or maybe because of it.

Paul in his usual attire, before running the Bacchus Half Marathon

Sunny Bulchandani ran a new personal best of 1:29:59 in the Sawtry 10-mile race near Huntingdon knocking over a minute off his previous best.

BRR parkrunners

Barking - Ayoyinka Obisesan 18:57, Adrian Davison 22:41, James Hall 23:25, Mark New 23:49, Joshua Ezissi 24:35, Jason Li 27:17, Joyce Golder 27:57, Isabel Pinedo Borobio 28:01, Barry Rowell 28:08, Andrew Hiller 29:17, Emma Paisley 29:22, Nabeel Akram 34:22, Les Jay 35:33, Nikki Cranmer 36:42, Greg Adams 39:26, Micky Ball 46:54 and Alan Murphy 47:46.

Billericay - Belinda Riches 24:27, Stephen Colloff 27:47 Louise Chappell 28:24, Craig Chappell 28:24 and Darren Graham 53:54.

Ron , Belinda, Steve and Darren, with Belinda's family at Billericay parkrun

Ron, Steve, Louise and Craig at Billericay

Finsbury Park - Rosie Fforde 30:59.

Gunpowder - Paul Ward 26:38.

Penryn Campus - Rob Courtier 37:00.

Rob with Stuart Henderson and Oscar the dog at Penryn Campus parkrun

Raphael - Doug King 25:20.

Richmond Park - Rory Burr 25:33

Sandall Park - Joe Stacey 19:41.

Valentines - Kevin Wotton 23:23.

Highest BRR age gradings this week were Belinda Riches 70.28% for the women and Adrian Davison 72.59% for the men.

BRR Diary – September

7.00pm, Tuesday 10 September – Speed Development Session. Jim Peter’s Stadium, Mayesbrook Park. This week we have the Predicta 5k, otherwise known as the Naked 5K, as you run it without your watch (I know, you may need counselling afterwards). How it works: you give us your best estimate of your 5k time, then run the distance on the track. The winner is the person who gets closest to their predicted time, not the first person across the line.

7.00pm, Thursday 12 September – Club run. Jo Richardson School/Castle Green Centre. Usually around 4-5 miles, all abilities welcome.

9.30am, Sunday 15 Sunday - Club run in Hainault Forest. Meet in the car park near the Global Cafe, Fox Burrow Road entrance. Trail run through the forest.

9.30am, Sunday 15 September – Pleshey Half. Pleshey Village Hall, Pleshey, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 1HA. Not a club grand prix this year, but a nice run through the Essex countryside (if a HM can ever be a ‘nice run’!) Entries at https://springfieldstriders.org.uk/pleshey-half/ OR

10.00am, Sunday 15 September – Dunton Demon 5. Langdon Nature Discovery Park Lower Dunton Road Basildon SS16 6EJ. Again, not a club race, but some of us raced at this location earlier in the year and it was a nice course near the Thames Estuary. Info and sign-up at: Dunton Demon 5 | phoenixstriders

10.30am, Sunday 22 September – East London Runners Valentines 5K (ELVIS 08). Valentines Park, near the Melbourne Road entrance. The last race in the East London fiVes Interclub Series. We usually go to the Great Spoon of Ilford for post-race brunch afterwards. https://events.kronosports.uk/event/192

Cracker Corner…the Frog Edition

Any link between this week’s jokes and the end of the Paris Paralympics is purely coincidental.

Q: How does a frog feel when he has a broken leg? A: Unhoppy.

Q: Why did the frog say meow? A: He was learning a foreign language.

Q: What does a bankrupt frog say? A: “Baroke, baroke, baroke.”

Boom! Boom!

Quote of the Week

"No doubt a brain and some shoes are essential for marathon success. Although, if it comes down to a choice, pick the shoes. More people finish a marathon with no brains than with no shoes."

Don Kardong

(I’m guessing Don is not a runner)

And finally… Strike a Pose

Research from the Harvard School of Business found that adopting a ‘power pose’ (an expansive, space-consuming posture) for just two minutes, people (both men and women) can increase their testosterone by about 20% and decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol by about 25%. Testosterone is linked to decreased fear and increased tolerance for risk and desire to compete. So, if you want to boost your performance in a race, try striking a power pose on the start line. But be prepared to get some strange looks from your fellow runners…

BRR Blog – 9 September 2024

Hello Road Runners!

parkrun Records

Chingford League 24/25

Jogon

Athletics in the News

Paralympics 2024