The Weekly update had a little rest last week – did you miss it?

Mo reaches twelve
Notice of AGM
Rediscovering Hills 
No Sandy Balls
New Time for Tuesdays

Get involved!
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OtherRegulars

Please mail contributions to website@barnetadac.com by 6pm each Tuesday

The Thoughts of President Mo (12)

Hi, you may or may not have noticed that there was no newsletter last week that was because I was the only person to submit anything. Grahame & I decided that it wasn’t worth sending out it out with just one article & you therefore may find some of my words below slightly out of date as it was written over a week ago.
If we want the newsletter to continue we need more content, I know many of you are doing ‘virtual’ challenges & other interesting things during these strange times so please make the effort to send something to Grahame at  website@barnetadac.com so other members know what you have been up to.

Thank You

Maureen


Hello, it’s me again & my brain is still ticking over & finding a few thoughts. Another week on & ‘Lockdown’ is apparently easing from next weekend, although confusingly many people seem to think that it is ok already to have mass street parties & crowd on to beaches with little regard for social distancing & no respect for officials & police who are only trying to do their job & keep people safe. There are to be no more daily government briefings, I think the PM & his crew were getting fed up with all those questions & without the scientific advisers backing them up it was hard work. I think the new buzz words are ‘Be Sensible’ however we all know we still have to ‘Wash our Hands’ although I’ve not heard it said lately.

In athletics we know things are far from normal, New York & Boston marathons have now been cancelled as well as many events both domestically & world-wide, the London marathon organisers are still trying to make up their minds whether to go ahead in October, in fairness to athletes that decision should be made sooner rather than later. The situation in the club is that we are only able to hold training sessions with 5 athletes to one coach or leader, which is not great for club morale or recruitment. All the summer races have disappeared & we have no idea if the winter session will go ahead. Most of us are still doing our own safe & social distanced training but it is hard to keep motivated without races to aim for.

Keeping on the subject of athletics, it occurred to me that for the first time in over 30 years that my summer had not been dominated by the MWRRL, either as an athlete or a team manager, in some ways it was a relief not to have the pressure of trying to get teams out on the other hand I missed the team camaraderie. I thought it might be an idea to say a little bit about the beginning of the league so I rummaged in the garage to see if I could find any old results & read through old training diaries (yes I’ve still got diaries going back to 1981 – I’m a bit of a nerd!) – Anyway it was a project that keep me occupied for an afternoon & out of John’s way.

The league began as the Cheshunt Building Society MWRRL after the road running boom in the 1980’s, Barnet were one of the original 6 teams involved, the others  (I think from my memory & the info I found) were Orion, Fairlands Valley Striders, Royston Runners, Garden City Joggers & Trent Park Trotters. The first race was at Stevenage in 1986, the notes in my diary say ‘up & down cycle paths & new 10k PB 46.20 (I’d almost forgotten that I used to be able to run that fast – the following year I was 40s faster on the same course). The other races that year were at Trent Park, Barnet (from the old clubhouse in New Barnet & up Beech Hill), WGC & Chingford. Kirsty was the star of the ladies team in those days & was always our first lady home & sometimes won the race, we had a limited number of active ladies at the time but always did our best to try to get out a team, the men were usual keen but it often depended on their commitments on the track, something that the ‘new wave’ road-running clubs didn’t do.  

The popularity of the league soon became apparent & the original teams were soon joined by Bishop Stortford RC, Hertford & Ware (later to amalgamate with Verlea to become Herts Phoenix), Lea Valley Runners (later became Broxbourne), St Albans Striders & North Herts RR. By 1990 the league had 2 divisions & an end of season mob-match, our John Atkinson was race results secretary for many years, Dave Copeman was treasurer in the early days & then again in more recent times, I was chair of the league for a number of years so the club has had a number of close connections with the committee over the years. In recent years the league has expanded & possibly become too big, especially as for a number of reasons it is becoming more difficult to put on races.

However the MWRRL has many memories & a special place in my heart & if any of my recollections are incorrect I’m sure one of our long-time members will let me know. Here’s to next year & promotion, hopefully.



My thoughts are with you all. Stay Safe until we meet again.              

Maureen

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2020

In accordance with the Constitution and Rules of Barnet and District Athletic Club, notice is hereby given that the Club’s Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday 8th October 2020, commencing at 8:00 pm. Given the current circumstances the meeting will be held virtually.

Resolutions and motions for consideration, and any other items for discussion must be formally notified in writing, to be received by me no later than 15th August 2020. Only items so notified will appear on the agenda and be considered at the meeting. All motions must be proposed and seconded by fully paid-up members.

The meeting agenda will be sent to members during the month of September. Joining details will be sent out with the agenda.

This is also a chance for club members to consider if they have time and the commitment to be on the Committee. If you are interested please speak to our Chairman Adrian Mason or myself or one of the other current Committee Members. New Committee Members are always welcome.

Andrew Cunningham
Hon. General Secretary
andrew.cunningham15@btinternet.com

Rediscovering Hills

Whilst we wait for Saturday training to resume lots of members are still out and running and formed there own groups of 6. In Potters Bar this week we again headed for the golf course where a hill session was the waiting. We do this in the belief it won’t be so bad when we resume with Maggie, I have a feeling that will not be the case. Lovely to be outside and challenging ourselves. Thanks for session plan Maggie.



Di Godin

No Sandy Balls

It may come as no surprise, but the committee has decided not to run a formal club trip to Sandy Balls in November this year. Whilst it is of course now possible to book holiday accommodation it was decided that there were too many unknowns at this stage to safely organise this for members.

We hope to be back next year.

Adrian

New Time for all Tuesday Training Sessions

W.E.F. Tuesday 14th July, we hope to bring together all Club Tuesday training groups. We will meet at 18:15 in Trent Park. Please notify me IN ADVANCE if you’d like to attend so that we can arrange for sufficient coaches to cover more than 6 athletes. COVID-19 restrictions are constantly under review, so please stay alert for all Club messages as circumstances change.

Des

BDAC Time Trial week 11

…is coming soon.

Full results and details of the current trial is here:

https://docs.google.com/…/1PrRgZTTnBJyJalSFM6QPyyQIsg…/edit…

Jamie March

Training Sessions

Miscellany
Club Kit

We have entered into a partnership with iProsports to provide a range of club kit. The link below will take you to our Club Zone on the iProsports website. There you will find an initial range of items available for direct purchase through the website for delivery to your home or your preferred delivery address, with payment by credit card or Paypal.

Initially we have launched without ‘red’ shorts, as we have yet to agree on styles, and these will follow.

We will be looking to add extra sizes for Young athletes and other kit, with some blue options.

As outlined in the Club Magazine, club vests are currently being managed by our fantastic Membership Secretary team and orders can be made via their email address: membership@barnetadac.com and remain keenly priced at £15.00.

A reminder to members – please encourage family & friends to use the more20 code on www.moremile.co.uk & take advantage of a 20% discount – the more it is used the more the club can get back. Moremile kit is of good quality & very good value for money especially with the discount.

Happy Shopping

For all the latest England Athletics Courses and Workshops visit:

Coach/Officials’ Education courses:
https://www.englandathletics.org/Courses-and-Bookings?utm_source=CSM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Coach%20Ed


England Athletics events & workshops:
https://www.englandathletics.org/england-athletics-events?utm_source=CSM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Coach%20Dev

The club will reimburse course fees for those who apply their qualifications for the benefit of the club.

Services

Osteopaths / Sports injury rehab – Nikki Waker – www.brookmansparkosteos.co.uk