Biggleswade AC April 2004

The Tuesday Night Programme

  Apr 6   Our last night at Biggleswade. We are planning to run from Stratton to our new club house in Sandy (where there is a bar). Transport will be arranged for the return journey.

All activities below start at 7pm from Sandy Upper School, Engayne Ave, Sandy unless otherwise specified.

  Apr 13   Sunderland Road / St Neots Road Loop (twice if required)
  Apr 20   A lap of Sandy (in full colours if possible, its great advertising)
  Apr 27   Speed work with Steve.
  May 4   Sunderland Road / London Road / Bedford Road Loop.
  May 11   Hill running.
  May 18   Sandy 5 course.
  May 25   Away day and picnic - meet at Grafham Waters at 7pm with a hamper and your running kit (partners are welcome)
  Jun 1   Speed work with Steve.
  Jun 8   Hazels Hedge Run.
  Jun 15   Fartlek in the sun.
  Jun 22   RSPB circuit.
  Jun 29   Away day (Destination to be arranged)

All feedback is greatly appreciated. Please speak to Gavin or anyone on the committee. Also any ideas you would like incorporated into the programme please let them know.

SANDY 10 - Sunday 4th April
By the time you read this newsletter, the event may have been already been run. We have had an excellent response from members to help with the race, and we expect nearly 400 runners to compete. Thanks to everyone for their offers of help.

Club Championship Road Races
This year our club championship road races will be as follows:

  10 Km   Dunstable 10K   Sunday 13th June
  10 Mile   Leighton Buzzard 10 Mile   Sunday 26th September
  Half Marathon   Great Barford Half Marathon   December. date TBA

Leagues, Series, and Other Events

Southern Mens and Womens Leagues
All dates are Saturdays. Please note we have been given two home fixtures for each of the mens' and womens' matches. At Southend (Womens 24th April) we are co-hosts, it our responsibility to run and score our match. All assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Our main concern is the joint fixtures on May 22nd, where the womens and mens are on the same day. Assistance to judge/transport etc is required.

*Month*	Mens League		Womens League
Apr			24th	Southend (Home Fixture)
May	1st 22nd	Hemel Hempstead Thurrock (Joint Fixture)	22nd	Ilford (Joint Fixture)
Jun	26th	Luton (Home Fixture)	5th	?????
Jul	10th 31st	Walthamstow Stevenage (Home Fixture)	3rd	Kings Lynn
Aug	14th	?????	7th	Uxbridge
Sep			11th	Luton (Home Fixture)

Eastern Young Athletes League provisional dates
All dates are Sundays. Open to all club members between the ages of 11 and 17 on 31 Aug 2004

May 2nd	Bedford (Home match - we will need plenty of helpers)
May 30th	St Ives
June 20th	Cambridge
July 25th	St Ives again
Sep 12th	Divisional finals

East Midlands Grand Prix Series

Tue 4 May		Silverstone Grand Prix 10k, at 7:30pm
Wed 12 May		Rugby 6, Rugby, at 7:45pm
Tue 18 May		Bedford 6, at 7:45pm
Wed 26 May		Rockingham Speedway, 5 miles, at 7:45pm
Tue 8 Jun		Weedon 10K

Stondon Stomp - Sun 4 July
This legendary race is being staged again this year, after several year's absence. This year it will be an 8 mile event - it used to be 10 miles. We have been asked to help with marshalling on the day, so if you would like to stand in the sun, rather than sweat your whatsits off running (it's always a hot day), please contact Ken or Nigel.

London Marathon Update - Biggleswade AC Runners

Gavin has provided a list of all the runners and riders, and their expected times, for this years marathon, hopefully to inspire you to think about running it next year (the comments are entirely Gavin's):

Zoe Dawson Worrying times for Zoe at the moment with her continuing foot problems but she's too tough and too stubborn not to compete. Luckily she has a strong base of fitness to fall back on Pre 4 hrs 30mins (with two feet)
Katherine Brazier After an early scare with her knee injury Katherine is back on track. She has been packing in the miles running round all the London parks. 4 hrs 15 mins
Andy Brace Like Russell Crowe from Gladiator this warrior never gives in. Now a seasoned marathon runner, great things are expected this year 3 hrs 15 mins
Tony Hayes With Tony just missing out on the club ballet system he is out to prove something this year. His training is going very well and he is improving his speed with every race he enters. May be this years dark horse. Well inside 4 hrs
Tony Bedford Unfortunately Tony has reluctantly had to defer his entry until next year due to a niggling knee injury. Our thoughts are with him. But he'll be back.
John Pickle Johns training is going well with many long runs planned. He's a strong runner and will get even stronger now he's joined our ranks at "Biggleswade Athletic Club". Around the 4hr mark
Roy Kelloway Watch this boy go! Although he has found it difficult this year to fit in those essential long runs, hopes are firmly on him to lead Biggleswade AC home. Just under 3 hrs
Good luck to all our lads and ladies plus any others we don't know about. Just to let you know that a support team will be travelling down to cheer you all on. (See Tim for details). To all those not doing it - "Next year, it could be you"

New Members

Welcome to the following athletes who have recently been elected members of the Club:

Kathryn Draper - Kathryn is a senior, a Bedfordian by birth, and lives in Gamlingay
John Pickles - John is a senior and lives in Biggleswade and comes from Yorkshire
Glad to have you on board folks, and best of luck with your running.

Club AGM - 23rd March

18 people were present, about the same number as usual, at the AGM in the Purcell Room at the Weatherly Centre, Biggleswade

Committee - the retiring committee was re-elected along with two other committee members, Steve Worrall and Zoe Dawson:

Chairman	Nigel Bush
Hon. Secretary	Stuart Galloway
Hon. Treasurer	Chris Clarke
Vice Chairman	Kevin Ambrose
Track Secretary	David Brown
Road/Cross Country Sec.	Neil Gregory
Youth Sec/Schools Liaison	Ken Prior
Coaching Secretary	Steve Worrall
Child Protection Officers	Zoe Dawson and David Hindle
Newsletter Editor	David Hindle
Ladies Captain	Jan Forrester
Deputy Road/X-Country Sec	Gavin Elliott
Gavin Elliott is also doubling as Marketing Manager

Trustees are Rex Ball, Kathleen Hindle, and Graham Brown

Tim Huxtable agreed to become the club's webmaster

Team Managers were appointed:

Neil Gregory agreed to act as Road and Cross Country Team Manager (seniors) in his role as Secretary

Jan Forrester agreed to act as Ladies Team Manager in her role as Captain.

David Brown agreed to act as Track Manager (males) in his role as Track Secretary

Sharron Best has agreed to act as Track Manager (ladies)

Annual Subscriptions for 2005: Generally we will maintain the annual membership subscriptions to the Club at their current levels - �5 for those under 17 or still at school, �12 for seniors, �12 for families of three or more youngsters, and �25 for full family membership, regardless of numbers. However, the fee for second claim senior members of the club is raised to �7 (juniors remain at �5) and we have created a new category, Social Member, the annual fee for which will be �5. The date at which all annual subscriptions become payable remains 1st January.

Nick at the NIA

Nick Gilbert ran at the National Indoor Arena on 28 Feb, this is his account:

"...the experience was fantastic; it was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and seeing the likes of Dalton Grant and Mark Lewis-Francis was very inspiring. When I first entered the arena it was smaller than I was first expecting but the atmosphere was just as I had imagined it. When it finally came to my race I had to go and warm up, being one of smallest it was very intimidating but when it was my race I was really nervous having never run on the boards before, the slant was more than I had imagined and was quite difficult to adjust to but it was still an incredible experience. When I finally found out my time I was ecstatic having got a new PB by eight seconds."

New Athletic Track

Unfortunately a slip to the programme has occurred - although planning permission has been agreed by Mid-Beds District Council, the granting of the necessary lease by Bedfordshire County Council is still being worked on by their legal team. It is hoped to have the legal arrangements sorted by July so that the contractors, who are currently being selected, can begin work. Assuming the contractors can continue to work in the winter months (generally dry weather is needed when laying a tarmac[? - see below] track) it is hoped to have the facility ready by November 2004.

When this item arrrived for the newsletter, the track was described as "tartan" - clearly the contractors need dry weather to paint the track

Moving Club Headquarters to Sandy

The move of the Club Headquarters will still go ahead on 13th April 2004, despite the delay in the provision of the new track. Sandy Upper School have kindly agreed to make sure that a grass track is marked out for us by mid-April. On the first night we plan to meet in the bar (upstairs above the squash courts) so we look forward to seeing you all there at the usual time of 7.00pm!!

Club Web Site

April 1st 2004 will see the launch of the new Biggleswade Athletic Club Website. The site has been revamped to make it easier to use, containing relevant up-to-date information and closely interlinked with the excellent Newsletter website. The new site, with its new Message Board, will be the first place to get all the information you need about the club and discuss any issues you may have. However, to keep this up-to-date requires all of you to feed information to Ken Prior (01767 260592) or Tim Huxtable (01462 629006) so it can be included for all to see. Check it out and email Tim Huxtable with any comments and suggestions you might have.

Schools Cross-Country Relays

These were a great success with nearly twice as many children running as last year. We have had several letters thanking us for a very enjoyable event. Many thanks to all those who helped.

NEWS FOR YOUNG ATHLETES

The forthcoming SEAA Synopsis (U20/17/15) is now available for the events on Sat 29/ Sun 30 May - See David Brown for advice.
On 8th May there will be a County Squad training day for athletes ages 14/15 who have achieved AAA standard grade 3 or better. See a coach or David Brown the club's statistician, to see if you are on the county list.
Congratulations to Jordan Best who has been selected to represent the Eastern Region in the U13 High Jump in the national sports hall finals. Generally the winning team is selected to represent the regions, and individuals are selected on merit to compete in the national finals. The finals will take place Sunday 18th April NIA Birmingham. A coach is being provided by Mid Beds. Contact a coach if you want to reserve a seat.
1st EYAL Sunday 2nd May at Bedford.
Club Kit must be worn - get yours now from Sportscene in Biggleswade or see Ken who has shorts in small sizes and who can order crop tops (made to measure). Do not leave it too late!

BIGGLESWADE ATHLETIC CLUB

Newsletter : APRIL 2004

BIGGLESWADE ATHLETIC CLUB