Happy Birthday from this Thursday 11 February January Vanessa Ansuaa, Lucy Campos, Eva Chalisey, Natalie Connor, Davies-Pughe, Sophia Dempsey, Vera Doudko, Alexander Edu, Rebecca Jeggo, Tara Kafke, Rufus Kent, Mya Mairs-Ingram, Angus McInroy, Dalton McGuigan, Nadia Potter, Antoine Rey, Natan Rubeck and Morgan Webster
BIRMINGHAM 2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES – Well there is just 531 days to the Opening Ceremony, you may wish to sign up to receive their Newsletter. Link – https://www.birmingham2022.com/register-your-interest/. Tickets will be on sale later this year, and can only be purchased through the official Commonwealth Games website, this is the link to register – https://www.birmingham2022.com/the-games/tickets/. This is the link to the current schedule for the 25 events – https://images.birmingham2022.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/11441664_CWGs_Daily_Competition_Schedule_FINAL.pdf.
ATHLETICS take place at the Alexander Stadium 2-7 August, with the Marathons on 30 July. There will be 59 medal events including a fully integrated Para Sport programme. TRIATHLON and PARA TRIATHLON take place at Sutton Park 29 and 31 July. The Individual races contest a 750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run, and the Team races contest a 250m swim, 7km cycle, 1.5km run. Link to all events – https://www.birmingham2022.com/the-games/sports/?utm_source=workflow&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=popup_work_flow_send_welcome_autoresponder_pop_up_footer_form&utm_content=2021-02-05
Shaftesbury’s ANGUS MCKENZIE was appointed as Competition Manager (Athletics) last year, and the article on him can be found in the 26 November SBH Newsletter.
PHILLIP RICHARDSON – Last week I mentioned PHILLIP, who this year will have been a member of SBH, 61 years. I gave him a call over the weekend, which brought back my early days at Shaftesbury (I am a Junior, 37 years with the club). PHILLIP sent me these recollections.
In finding myself ranked 6th in the current all-timers membership list, causes me to think of where it all began. I had no idea until many years later that at my school William Ellis, were BRYAN SMITH and GEOFF MORPHITIS. It was DAVE HOWE, a year ahead who got me to join Shaftesbury, and later honoured me to be best man at his wedding to JANET ATKINSON. Although William Ellis was by name a rugby school, and with Parliament Hill on our doorstep, running on the Heath and away from an oval ball as quickly as possible was the best for the both of us. I had previously been caught by RON LAMBERT on Parliament Hill Track to join Wigmore Harriers. I found however that they ignored me. I then tried to join Highgate Harriers and got no further. So, I joined Shaftesbury Harriers and immediately HAROLD ASHTON said “OK for Saturday—yes” and he walked away I had no chance to reply I never then looked back. The moral is: Our officials are like the NHS, the greatest and without them we have nothing.
I met RON many decades later when he appeared to my surprise as a marshal in the car park of St Judes Church, Hampstead Garden Suburb at their annual Proms Festival. He still wore his smart black blazer proudly displaying his gold Middlesex AAA officials badge. I decided not to bring up my Wigmore Harriers snub and was rewarded with an excellent parking space.
My fondest early memories competing for SBH in the News of the World London to Brighton Relay of which Shaftesbury managed to keep just within the top 20 clubs eligible each year. I did Leg 11 and had the dubious treat to watch BRUCE TULLOH hand over to MARTIN HYMAN. It was some time after, that I began my 4-mile leg to hand over to TONY SUNDERLAND and believed that if anyone in the club could catch MARTIN it was TONY. I was met at the finish by JIM CUNNINGHAM who held the club record for my leg. He was so pleased to have his record still intact that I almost finished up in A&E with broken ribs. I vowed on that day never to beat any of his times.
The pre-race ritual of collecting snow in the tin baths to heat up the caldron at Brook Farm Cross Country headquarters was an experience. Tell me we have moved on!. This however was particularly irksome as it usually ended all for the young, and precocious DAVE BEDFORD to have first dip.
Another high was for GERRY ELMORE and I to hold the first one lap record for the then Copthall Stadium. They had just finished laying the track that day and we bunked over the fence in the dark.
I am still living around the Heath and still running past Parliament Hill track and can`t help thinking how fortunate I have been to have joined Shaftesbury/Barnet and then looking down to realise that I have been through a cinder and two tartan track surfaces in my lifetime. Surely I haven’t done that amount of training.
DAVE BEDFORD recalls meeting PHILLIP on the heath for their weekly efforts, and when JOHN DRYDEN lived locally he would also join them.
METROPOLITAN LEAGUE STATISTICS – Firstly, the history of how these statistics/documents were produced. In 2010 HOWARD WILLIAMS officially retired after running the Met League from its inception in 1967. On speaking to GAVIN COLLETT he had in his possession around 14 lever arch files with paper copies of every result sheet from 1967. He was going to scan every one for security, I discussed with GAVIN that I could replicate these on Excel Spreadsheets, whilst doing this I also Spreadsheets solely for SBH athletes. In 2015 JAN BOWMAN took over the role of the Metropolitan League Administrator, and she wanted some quite radical changes to the documents. I believed it was not warranted and very time consuming. I reluctantly stood down as Metropolitan League Statistician.
Since the start of the year I have started to update the documents, with the past 4 year’s results. In next weeks Newsletter I will publish the following, Part 1 will include all SBH Individual winner by age-groups from 1966.
INDOOR MEETING HAUTE-DE-FRANCE-PAS-DE-CALAIS – Took place at Levin, France on 9 February.
800m – SM B KYLE LANGFORD 7th (SB 1:43.38) and is ranked UK No.6 in 2021
AMERICAN TRACK LEAGUE 3 INDOOR MEETING – Took place at Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA on 7 February.
200m – SW H1 LINA NEILSEN 2nd (SB 24.28) and is ranked UK No.3 in 2021
400m – SW H1 LINA NEILSEN 4th (53.85)
ARKANSAS QUALIFIER INDOOR MEETING – Took place at Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA on 5 February.
Shot 7.26kg – SM GEORGE EVANS (Arkansas University) 6th (15.92m)
WT 15.88kg – SM GEORGE EVANS (Arkansas University) 5th (17.35m)
4J STUDIOS SCOTTISH ATHLETICS INDOOR MEETING – Took place at Emirates Arena, Glasgow on Saturday 30 January.
60m – SX KRISHAWN AIKEN 1st (PB 6.90) taking .07 of a second off his 30 January time, and is ranked UK No.6 in 2021
400m – SX KRISHAWN AIKEN 1st (48.42)
METROPOLITAN LEAGUE 2019-2020 ROUNDUP – Well it is almost 1 year since the final
ATW CROSS COUNTRY SERIES NEXT RACE – The third race is on Saturday 21 February at Merchant Taylor’s School, Sandy Lodge, Northwood HA6 2HT. The races are for Under 11, 13, 15 & 17s. This is the link for all details including entries – https://activetrainingworld.co.uk/events/atw-cross-country-series-round-3-21st-feb/
ASK THE PHYSIO – SHIN SPLINTS – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website recently.
PAUL HOBROUGH of IchatPhysio takes a look at how to treat what can be a painful leg problem. The title of shin splints is not actually using a correct medical term. Shin splints fall into a category of Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS). Wherever we see an injury being classified as a ‘syndrome’ we fall into a knowledge black hole, whereby we cannot be sure of a single symptom, rather a collection of signs and symptoms that can correlate to a certain injury. It means that a whole host of complaints can in fact be diagnosed as medial tibial stress syndrome. “(MTSS) is an overuse injury or repetitive-stress injury of the shin area. Various stress reactions of the tibia and surrounding musculature occur when the body is unable to heal properly in response to repetitive muscle contractions and tibial strain” – www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Shin splints (as we will continue to call them) are often caused by an increase in load on the lower limbs – and running has an uncanny ability to provide this increased load. Doing too much too soon in training is a major factor and, frankly, it’s the reason why I see so many marathon runners with this compliant six to eight weeks into their new training programmes. It’s not the only culprit, however.
Other factors are: Running downhill too much – Worn out trainers – Some say running on hard surfaces (see ‘worn out trainers’ and ‘increase training’ before this, however) – Past history of ankle, shin injuries – Biomechanics
The actual problem occurs within the muscle and inflammation of the fibrous tissue that surrounds the tibia and fibula (the two long bones in the lower leg) called the ‘periostitis’. There is a link to stress response and stress fracture in the tibia – many think that shin splints could be a precursor to this more serious bone issue.
WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE – Shin splints produce a pain in the lower third of the medial (central) shin bone. This initially seems to occur just as you start or finish a run, however progress is swift and you can be plagued by the sensation almost all the time within a very short time period.
UPHILL OPTION – When you consider that downhill running is probably the worst thing you can do, then one trick is to take to the treadmill and put the machine on a five per cent incline and run consistently uphill. This has, on many occasions, allowed someone with mild shin splints to continue running while they do their rehabilitation. There is also the option to buy an off-the-shelf insole for running which may just lift the inner edge of the heel and medial longitudinal arch up and give the tibialis posterior (the key stabilising muscle of the lower leg) a little break from being overworked. These can be used for a couple of months and either taken out once you have more strength or exchanged for a properly fitted pair of bespoke insoles if you feel you need to keep them longer term.
WHAT CAN BE DONE – The sooner you seek help the better with shin splints. The longer you keep trying to run through it, the worse things are going to get and therefore the longer you will be with a physio and in rehabilitation. If you look at the reasons for the injury outlined previously, you will see that simply googling exercises to do is potentially foolhardy, as a trained expert needs to work through the issues that have led to the injury and help you work through the process to eliminating the cause, as well as providing the right treatment for you to recover. I see a large number of athletes via the ichatphysio app for this and it is easy to work through the issues on a zoom call and provide the very best exercises for the fastest result. There some key exercises you can do, but first make sure you are certain of the cause before entering into just following these.
Toe raises – Stand with your back to a wall, feet about one foot forwards of the wall. Lift the toes up and down metronomically for 20 repetitions x 3.
Tibialis posterior strength – Sit on a chair and cross one foot over the other thigh. Wrap a resistance band around the involved foot and place your other foot on the band on the floor to create resistance. Raise your foot upwards (arch first) and slowly lower down. 3 x 20 reps. Perform calf raises while holding a tennis ball between the backs of your ankles. As you rise up, squeeze to keep the ball in the place. Do this 4 x 15-20 reps.
All of these exercises can be done daily to either prevent shin splints or help with recovery from the injury.
UPDATE ON PROPOSED TRACK AND FIELD FIXTURES – National Athletic League dates have been agreed – Sunday 6 June, Sunday 4 July, Sunday 8 August and Saturday 28 August – 4 club divisions – we are in Premier London North with Harrow, Newham and Woodford – Probability that most / all fixtures will be at StoneX Stadium. London Inter Club Challenge dates agreed Saturday 17 April Lee Valley, Saturday 26 June, Saturday 31 July and Saturday 21 August all at StoneX Stadium.
Provisional UK Youth Development League dates are; Sunday 2 May, Sunday 30 May, Sunday 27 June, Saturday/Sunday 4/5 September National Final
Provisional Middlesex Young Athletes League dates are; Sunday 25 April – Finsbury Park, Saturday 15 May – Perivale, Sunday 20 June – Parliament Hill and Sunday 18 July – StoneX Stadium
Provisional Eastern Young Athletes League dates are; Sunday 13 June, Sunday 4 July, Sunday 18 July, Sunday 1 August and Final Sunday 12 September (venues to be confirmed).
The SCVAC Veterans League dates are still to be announced.
2021 LEE VALLEY INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD MEETINGS – Currently Lee Valley is closed and awaiting an update.
2021 INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD MEETINGS – During the first week of January UK Athletics issued a Preliminary list of fixtures for 2021, this is the list – 2021-Fixtures-Calender-15.01.21
Non Lee Valley fixtures – February 27-28 England Athletics U15/U17 Open Meeting (Sheffield) – March 19-21 World Championships (Nanjing, China), 24-28 European Masters Championships (Braga, Portugal) – April 6-12 World Masters Championships (Edmonton, Canada). On the UKA fixture list they show various regional Indoor fixtures for Scotland, Wales Etc.
Recently Cancelled – February 6-7 England Athletics U18/Elite Open Meeting (Sheffield), 20-21 British Athletics Championships (Glasgow)
PROCEDURES FOR USING STONEX STADIUM FROM JEREMY SOTHCOTT – The Stadium is now subject to the lockdown guidelines recently set by the Government and is therefore closed to all athletes except “Elite” athletes as certified by UKA/EA.
STONEX STADIUM EAST STAND INDOOR AREA – Use of this area has been prohibited whilst London is subject to National Lockdown, with the NHS now using this facility as a Covid-19 vaccination centre for a period of 4 to 12 months.
SBH SUBSCRIPTIONS 2020-2021 – SBH Treasurer GEOFF MORPHITIS has sent me the following regarding subscriptions.
The Club AGM took place virtually at 19.30 on Tuesday 24 November. One of the resolutions which was passed dealt with Club Subscriptions as follows. “The Annual Membership Fee for new members from 1 December 2020 will increase to £50. Existing members who have paid their membership fee for year ended 30 September 2020 will be considered as having also paid their fee for the year ended 30 September 2021.
In other words, in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19, these members will have 2 years membership for the price of one.” Therefore, I’m now asking athletes who have not paid their subscription for the year ended 30/09/20 (£45) to pay, so as to qualify for the 2 for 1 concession together with the England Athletics Registration Fee of £15 for 2020/21. The total is £60 and should be paid NOW to; ACCOUNT NAME: SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS, BANK: HSBC, ACCOUNT NUMBER: 41308378, SORT CODE: 400426 – Please let me know when payment is made. Thanks GEOFF
UPDATE ON SBH FIXTURE CARD – We are in the process of finalising the 2021 Summer Fixture Card
CAN YOU HELP PLEASE – During the period when all competitions are suspended, I will do my upmost in keeping the Newsletter information and other content going.
I would welcome any contributions From Yourselves, any impending marriages, or additions to the family, any running or competing incidents, also past warm weather training/holidays (No Club 24 please). Currently the response has been excellent, but if you have anything that could make it into next week’s Newsletter – please email me.
THE FOLLOWING SBH DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION CAN EITHER BE VIEWED, DOWNLOADED OR PRINTED
SBH 2021 Summer Fixture Card, and will be publishing a draft in the coming weeks.
Cross Country Team Managers Details – http://sbharriers.co.uk/athletics/cross-country/team-managers/
Road Running/Relay Team Managers Details – http://sbharriers.co.uk/athletics/road-running/team-managers/
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION OF INTEREST CAN BE FOUND ON THE SBH HOME PAGE BY USING THIS LINK, THEN SELECT THE LEFT OR RIGHT ARROW – http://sbharriers.co.uk/
Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Club Hoody, information on how to purchase one, please go to the bottom of this Newsletter.
SBH MIDWEEK JUMPS CLUB AT STONEX STADIUM (FORMERLY BARNET COPTHALL STADIUM) – Currently Suspended.
STEEPLECHASE TRAINING AT STONEX STADIUM (FORMERLY BARNET COPTHALL STADIUM) – Currently Suspended.
PARKRUN 5K RESULTS – Currently Suspended
PARKRUN – Can you make sure that you are registered as ‘Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers’, as the link I use to select all results only shows SBH athletes. If anyone is also officiating can you please contact me, and advise me where and when.
PHOTOGRAPH’S – From time to time we have photographs of our members taken at meetings or presentations which we would like to use both on the website or incorporated within our report to our local newspaper. Can you please let me know if you do NOT want your photograph to be published. Also, I would appreciate if you could send me any photographs, which I can then publish on the website and newsletter.
CLUB EMBROIDERED RED HOODIES – Currently there are now over 750 Hoodies in circulation, this is the link giving details on how you can order your Club Hoody for £35, which includes having your name embroidered on the front Club Hoodies Updated 01-07-19
FACEBOOK – Photographs can be found on the SBH page.
CURRENT DISTRIBUTION OF SHAFTESBURY INFORMATION – Currently I notify members (by email) using “MailChimp”. The reason I changed, was in November 2017 “Gmail” put a limit of 100 addresses that users could send to in a 24-hour period, and currently I send to approximately 850 members each issue.
On seeking technical advice “MailChimp” was recommended as the best way for SBH to go forward. There is one thing you should be aware off is that when you receive an email from me, the footer at the bottom has 4 options, of which one is “Unsubscribe Me From List”. Could I ask you not to select this as if you do you will be automatically removed from my distribution list.
SBH PRIVACY STATEMENT – In becoming a member, SBH will collect certain information about you. Can you please read the attached ‘Privacy Statement’ which contains Information on General Data Protection Regulations – SBH Privacy Statement Final April 2018
STONEX STADIUM (FORMERLY BARNET COPTHALL STADIUM) – Main Switchboard telephone number is 020 3675 7250.
CHARGES FOR USING STONEX STADIUM (FORMERLY BARNET COPTHALL STADIUM) – Currently the Stadium is closed.
ALAN WELLER