Biggleswade AC March 2008

AGM - Tues 15 Apr

The date of our AGM has brought forward by one week. It will now be held on Tuesday 15th April at about 8.00pm in the Classroom of the Future at Sandy Upper School.

Club Championship Road Races in 2008

10Km   Flitwick 10k   Sun 20th Apr
5Km   Doug Anderson 5km Bedford   Wed 23rd Jul
10 Mile   Swineshead 10 Mile   Sun 7th Sep
Half Marathon   Beds Harriers Half Wootton   Sun 14th Dec

25th Anniversary Sandy 10 - Sun 30 March

Entries are flooding in for the Sandy 10 race, and we are looking forward to making this a very special "anniversary" year. Many thanks to the numerous members who have volunteered to help with marshalling duties on the day, but if you have not yet volunteered, and you are available to help, please contact Nigel asap (01767 682251). Your help will be greatly appreciated as we are still short of helpers in some key areas.

There is also a 3km Fun Run for children (9 years and over) and adults, so if you have some friends who are thinking of taking up running, this is an ideal event to start them off. Entry to the Fun Run is on the day only and cost Ł2.00. The Fun Run starts at 10:45, and every finisher gets a medal.

Junior Web page competition

Congratulations to Daniel Steel for getting all the answers correct and being the first name from the hat. Watch out for Daniel in his new Biggleswade AC sweatshirt !

Icknield Way Run - 24-26 May

Plans are coming together for this. Starting Sat 24th (about 8 am) finishing that afternoon at Baldock railway station. Re-start 8 am Sunday (at Baldock obviously) and finishing that afternoon at Balsham (two pubs !). Zoe and Pat have agreed to make room in the garden/floor for tired runners and Pat is already polishing the barbeque. Restart next morning to finish at Thetford railway station.

We already have one offer of help to top-up drinks etc on route. Any other offers gratefully received. Of course anybody who wants to run part of the route can join at any time. Just don't expect us to keep up with you !

Senior Road Records

You may have noticed that the Senior Road Records information on the club web site has been updated recently to include new recognised distances (e.g. 20km, 30km, 50km) to bring it in line with IAAF and National record distances. Note that if you run a chip timed marathon like London, you will get split times at intermediate distances like 30k, and these are accepted for record purposes. Check out the web site for more details. We have also excluded some of the older distances that are no longer recognised.

Special Coaching Session, 15 Mar

This is the final of the series of Technical coaching, this one is at Sandy. Subjects include:

Long Jump/Triple Jump

A good opportunity to get some good quality coaching (many coaches are in the GB coaches squad) and a good opportunity for coaches to improve their knowledge. To register contact a coach; the fee is Ł7.50 per session.

Monday Night Training...

... at Biggleswade's Recreation Centre - circuit and conditioning for Senior athletes, Sportshall for juniors - 6:00pm till 7:00pm, still at Ł1.00 a session

(and there's a Sportshall Challenge on Sun 16th March)

The Seniors Tuesday Night Programme

You can find these and other training events in the training section of the Club website

4th Mar Speedwork with coach Zoe
11th Mar AWAY DAY- Bedford (Bedford Park and cemetary Hill)- lead by Gav
18th Mar Fartlek with friends
25th Mar Running on Sandy 10 course

1st Apr Black Barn
8th Apr Speedwork with coach Zoe
15th Apr Everton Loop, down donkey hill (2008 FLM runners please bring medals)
22nd Apr RSPB loop
29th Apr AWAY DAY- Tempsford lead by Paula

6th May Hill are just large lumps really!!
13th May Speedwork with coach Zoe
20th May Black Barn
27th May AWAY DAY - Navigators Way lead by Nigel

3rd Jun Lonely Pines loop
10th Jun Everton Loop, UP donkey hill!
17th Jun Speedwork with coach Zoe
24th Jun AWAY DAY - Grafham lead by Mark/Cassie (and picnic)

1st Jul Black Barn

*** you may need a track pass or to pay for a day pass when doing Speed or Track work

Thursday evenings will usually be "General Running", dictated by the race calendar, and are tailored on the night to the participants needs. Runners are usually split into ability groups to ensure everyone has a good run.

If anyone would like to organise an AWAY DAY in your village or town in 2008, or a run on your favourite training route, please let Gavin or one of the committee know.

Leagues, Series, and Other Events

Open warm-up meetings
These are well advertised now, the local meetings highlighted by the club are

Wed 19th March	Welwyn Garden City	for events see a coach
Mon 21st April	Bedfordshire open	co-hosted by Biggleswade/Luton/Bedford

Sports Relief Mile - 16 March
Biggleswade AC have agreed to take on this event, our bid has been accepted and we will contact the organisers to put our proposal foward.

Welsh Castles Relay 14/15 June
To enter a team we will need at least 23 people (20 runners, 3 subs) who can run a undulating 10 miles - last year only 19 people showed an interest so we could not enter. If you are interested in trying to form a team this year please add your name on Welsh Castles Relay 2008 on the web site forum. For more information check out www.lescroupiersrunningclub.org.uk
Round Norfolk Relay 20/21 Sep
Rumours are rife that Bedford Harriers are entering a team this year so we have local competition.
Southern Womens League
All dates are on Saturdays in 2008

26th April, 31st May, 28th June, 26th July, 30th August

Southern Mens League
All dates are on Saturdays in 2008
We are in Division 4, which currently has 11 teams

3 May	Battersea Park	host QPH (6 teams)
7 Jun	Cambridge	host Cambridge (5 teams)
28 Jun	St Ives	host Hunts AC (6 teams)
12 Jul	Luton	host Luton (5 teams)
2 Aug	Ridlins (Stevenage)	host Biggleswade (5 teams)

National Junior Athletic League
All dates are on Sundays in 2008

4th May, 25th May, 29th June, 27th July
7th Sept Promotion match
Eastern Young Athletes League
All dates are on Sundays in 2008

27th April, 8th June, 29th June, 13th July, 3rd Aug
14th Sept (Finals)
UK Women Athletes League
The 4 dates in 2008 are on Saturdays

7th June, 5th July, 2nd August, 16th August

Some International Events in 2008

Sat 10 to Sun 11 May	World Race Walking	Russia
Sat 14 June	Race Walk Grand Prix	Leamington Spa
Tue 8 to Sun 13 Jul	World Juniors	Poland
Wed 23 Jul to Sun 3 Aug	Euro Masters
Fri 15 to Sun 24 Aug	Olympics	China
Sat 6 to Wed 17 Sep	Para Olympics	China
Sat 13 to Sun 14 Sep	World Athletics	Germany

Some Domestic Events in 2008

Sat 3 to Mon 5 May	BUSA	Bedford
Sun 11 May	County Champs	Bedford
Sun 18 May	Loughborough Games
Sat 24 to Sun 25 May	SEAA Champs U15/17
Sun 25 to Mon 26 May	CAU
Sun 1 Jun	BIG Games	Bedford
Sun 8 Jun	Norwich Grand Prix	Cardiff (!?)
Sat 14 to Sun 15 Jun	GB Masters	Ashford
Sat 14 to Sun 15 Jun	Sen/U20 SEAA Champs
Sat 21 to Sun 22 Jun	AAA U23/20 Champs
Fri 11 to Sun 13 Jul	Olympic Trials	Birmingham
Sat 26 to Sun 27 Jul	London Grand Prix	Crystal Palace
Sun 10 Aug	Hibbard (Eastern Inter-Counties)	Essex
Sun 24 Aug	SEAA Intercounties (U15/20)
Sat 30 Aug	U20 Inter-territories
Sun 31 Aug	British Grand Prix	Gateshead

Julie Pratt

On 1st March, Sandy was the host to a county squad day, and many young members took the opportunity to listen to Julie Pratt, a current GB International and former world junior champion and European champion. Julie explained how she got into athletics and her life story up to now. It is Julie's goal this year to represent GB at the Beijing Olympics.

Running with Morals

Clark Ian Skerrat recounts a couple of experiences which taught him valuable lessons...

The Long Run

I was staying at a small hotel on the outskirts of Brussels. On the Saturday I went for an hour's run leaving at around 10:00am - an out and back route of 30 minutes each way. After two hours I was lost in the suburbs trying to find directions to my hotel from anyone! Unfortunately it was a small hotel and not well known. I did not make it back until 5:30pm!! I was no longer running at this point. Obviously it had been right at the Tram Museum and NOT left!

Moral of this story - Know your route.

Speed Training

Whilst in Dhahran Sand, Arabia, I would train by running inside the camp perimeter fence, a distance of about 5 miles. One day having reached the farthest point from the housing I noticed some feral dogs on the other side of the fence. It soon became a pack of over fifty!!! and as I ran they kept parallel silently keeping pace. At this point I realised "I was lunch". I kept on running, hoping, praying that there were no gaps in the fence. That was the quickest two and a half mile I have ever run!

Moral of the story - Have an incentive, it will make you quicker!!