Return to training and racing in England With the Government announcing earlier this week their anticipated road map for exiting lockdown many of us are already looking forward to getting back to group training at the track and looking ahead to upcoming races.
English Athletics have confirmed that clubs, groups, coaching and competition can return outdoors from
29th March for both adults and children, in-line with the UK Government’s road map, and have developed a helpful infographic outlining what this currently means at each stage. They will be providing updates as they receive more information.
Track news – mark your calendar for return to training
We are anticipating Ladywell Arena to reopen for Kent AC training from Tuesday 30th March in-line with the recent government update. We will be returning to our pre-COVID-19 training patterns of Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Please see future newsletters for sign-up lists, track passes, and sessions available in the run up to the reopening. Volunteers will be still be needed to help manage the entry and exit process so also keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities!
Many of you would have seen the news that the Big Half organisers have announced they are postponing the race until Sunday 22nd August (more information here).
For those with club places – we anticipate these will roll over. Ted will be in touch as he receives more information.
Note: Ted sent the registration link on the 7th February to all who applied, but there are still many that haven’t registered yet. Please check your junk email if you are still waiting for the link and please register ASAP to avoid disappointment.
There are still places available for those who may want to target an August half marathon. Please contact Ted directly if you would like a place
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CLUB 5 MILE HANDICAP CHALLENGE & EA NATIONAL RELAYS RECAP
EA National Virtual Relays
Kent AC finished a respectable 12th position overall in the national round out of the 50 clubs which had qualified from the regional round, narrowly missing out on a place in the top 10. Kent AC had a great turnout overall and individually Anthony Johnson was equal 4th overall. Well done to our scoring men and women (results below):
Men
Anthony Johnson (23:58)
Owen Hind (24:50)
Russell Bentley (24:58)
Noah Armitage-Hookes (25:57)
Women
Katie Rowland (30:18)
Sarah Hanley (31:36)
Victoria Buck (31:47)
Teresa Murphy (32:17)
Club Handicap:
A club handicap competition dove-tailed with the National Relays which saw a total of 77 Kent AC runners compete in 10 separate teams, a fantastic turnout. The results saw a tie for first place in the overall Team Handicap between Teams 7 and 10 captained by Nick Ostrowski and Ben Cook averaging a 5 mile handicap time of 23:58 each. Teresa Murphy’s Team 2 won the overall quickest team title averaging 30:31 for the 5 miles. Individually Katie Rowland was the quickest woman with 30:18, Anthony Johnson was the quickest man with 23:58 and Russell Bentley narrowly won the fastest age grade with his 24:58 giving him 89.68% in the age grade performance.
Thank you to Katie Rowland and James Bowler for organising!
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UPCOMING FIXTURES
Kent AC Summer Racing Calendar Dan Pettitt has put together a very useful google doc for the club highlighting racing fixtures for the upcoming spring and summer season. Everyone in the club can add races they come across to the list and we encourage you to do so!
Wimbledon 5 Mile Relays Ben Noad is organising a follow up Wimbledon 5 mile relays (actual physical racing rather than virtual racing!). Katie Rowland will be arranging the women’s team for this and James Bowler the men’s teams. This will be on Sunday 12th April. Ben is also organising a couple of fast road 5km races at Battersea Park on 7th May and 28th May, more details to follow.
BMAF 1 mile virtual race If you are ‘of age’ then there is the BMAF 1 mile virtual race happening until 7th March. Please sign up here – Kent already has 17 entries, but would be great to have some more. There are team competitions for the respective age brackets as well as individual ones. Use it as some speed training for your longer races!
Parkrun announces intention to recommence in the coming months Many of us have been missing Parkrun and with the Government announcement surrounding the road out of lockdown, Parkrun was quick to announce their intended return on Saturday 5th June. Junior Parkrun is due to begin earlier on April 11th. The last Parkrun in the UK was held on 8th March, 2020 so it will have been well over a year since we have had the opportunity to start our Saturday morning with a social run around our local parks! More information can be found here.
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EATING DISORDER AWARENESS WEEK
This past week marked Eating Disorder Awareness Week and it was powerful to see so many GB and international athletes speaking out about their experiences. Between 1.25 and 3.4 million people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder and people who participate in long-distance running are among those who are more vulnerable to developing one.
Optimi health is a platform developed by world leading sports medicine clinicians and physios to deliver personalised remote rehabilitation to aid the recovery of runners.
They are on a quest to support Runners get back to doing what they do best – running.
They are giving Kent AC members a chance to access a free personalised, progressive return to play / run programme from the comfort of their home via an intuitive app. Following a successful pilot in late 2020, Optimi are looking for people like you to trial the app and to help people get back quickly and safely to sport.
To take advantage of the offer, you must:
• have a smartphone
• have knee osteo-arthritis / wear and tear or runner’s knee
• be able to commit to 4 short phone calls and 4 very brief surveys over a 8-12 week period.
• These pilots will be used to test and evolve the core functionality and design of the app and will help Optimi to build the datasets required to develop more advanced features
To find out more or sign up, please contact Piers Shotter (Optimi CEO):
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NEW MEMBERS
Welcome to new member Bryony Proctor. We look forward to training with you soon!
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KENTversation
No new podcasts this weekend, but you can catch all previous episodes on Spotify here.