Happy Birthday from this Thursday 16 April to James Byrnes, Louis Cross, Charlie Cutler, Bradley Goater, Victoria Godfrey, Scarlett Kent, Julian Lamy, Lauren Maltz, Kelly Mavididi, Lola McCann-Ezekiel, Dylan Michel, Dereece O’Callaghan, Robert Rigby, Sean Sutherland, Lucy Taylor, Odera Umeugoji, Alan Weller and Tariq Wild

SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS CORONAVIRUS STATEMENT, UPDATED 24 MARCH – The following is a joint statement by SBH and Saracens SBH Coronavirus Statement 24.03.20 Rev A

CURRENT UPDATE ON UPCOMING FIXTURES – Can be found in the ‘Upcoming Fixtures’ further down.

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).

YOU CAN JOIN TY HOLDEN’S CIRCUIT SESSION ON ZOOM – TY will be holding a circuit session on Zoom, which is a conferencing platform, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6pm. If you wish to join, please email TY at dtyholden@yahoo.co.uk and he will email you an ID number for you to join in. Zoom can accomodate up to 100 users at a time.

ENGLAND ATHLETICS CORONAVIRUS HELP FOR ATHLETES – Many thanks to TUNJI who as reported on the 19 March newsletter is the father of NIAH AKINTOKUN. 
In these unprecedented times, I wanted to draw the club’s attention to some of the great resources available online. England Athletics is expanding its campaign to support Athletics and Running for everyone @home, with a focus on ‘Running @home’ support and advice. The homepage can be accessed here
There are many webinars, interviews and tips from top coaches and athletes on how to stay conditioned and focused.
In addition, there are some fantastic videos for 4-11yr olds on the Funetics webpage put together in conjunction with England Athletics.  The videos demonstrate parents and children (aged 4-11) taking part in FUN activities based on fundamental core movement skills: running, jumping and throwing. Funetics is a programme that has been designed to reflect the requirements of the National Curriculum Key Stage 1 and 2. At this time when our children are currently schooling at home, we hope that these video activities will support the need for education to continue at home.  You can access the videos here

TUNJI AKINTOKUN MBE – Non Executive Director, England Athletics

EMMA TAYLOR ISOLATING IN ISRAEL – The following article was written by ROSALIND ZEFFERTT.
EMMA joined Shaftesbury in May 2014 age 13, and during that season was a regular in the Eastern Young Athletes League team, competing in the Shot, Discus and Javelin. 2015 to 2017 saw her performances improve in all disciplines, and was an ever present in the EYAL but also competed in UKYDL. 2018 and 2019 she joined the junior ranks and as well as the UKYDL she made her debut in the UK Women’s League. When the interrupted 2020 is over we should see an improved EMMA especially with NEVILLE THOMPSON behind her.

UK-ranked javelin thrower EMMA TAYLOR has had to get used to more than just a new training routine since arriving on kibbutz in late February. “Almost straight away we had the election, then PURIM, and we were just about to get going properly when we went into lockdown,” said ex-JFS pupil and Magen Avot synagogue member EMMA, 19, who is on a five-month programme at Sde Eliyahu, near Bet Shean in northern Israel. “We aren’t allowed out of the kibbutz now. But here is the best place to be isolated really because we’re in the middle of nowhere, there’s plenty of food growing in the fields and we have our own fresh water spring.” Photograph of EMMA enjoying the outdoors.

EMMA manages to find time for her fitness training outside a busy weekly schedule combining ulpan with cleaning the study and accommodation blocks and weeding the organic pumpkins (“It’s quite a lot of work actually – the weeds keep growing…”). Fortunately, there is a well-equipped multigym on site, not to mention the areas around the fields for general running and jogging.
But making time is one thing; self-motivation is quite another. Before EMMA left for Israel, she was training three times a week with her coach NEVILLE THOMPSON, who also coaches the UK’s top discus thrower, son GREG THOMPSON. So probably her main adjustment as an athlete has been to take charge of her own sessions, an issue many struggle with once they leave the structure of school and club. “I discussed it with NEVILLE before I came here and he told me to keep up with everything as much as possible,” said EMMA. “But it’s a lot harder this way. I’ve been going to Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers (in north London) since I was in Year 8, so that’s six years now, and in all that time I’ve never had to do training on my own.” She added, “I was always disciplined at school and I’m quite good at organising, but balancing study, work, training and socialising on Sde Eliyahu is an ongoing exercise in itself.” Photograph of EMMA putting in a hard session in the gym.

That said, EMMA is nothing if not resourceful. “In our three-hour sessions with NEVILLE we cover strength, endurance, plyometrics, stretching and much more,” she explained. “Here, I include as much as I can but I’m adapting a few things. For example, I don’t have a (throwing) net so I can’t throw a ball or a weight, but I’ve been passing tennis balls to people and throwing stones into a lake. I’m currently searching for a resistance band for those drills to give them more of a javelin feel.”
At the end of her gap year, EMMA is due to start a course in paramedic science at the University of Hertfordshire, current situation permitting. Once back in full-time education, she intends to return to Shaftesbury to train as often as her timetable will allow. “Sport is very important for me,“ she said. “I love javelin anyway, but I think it also helps me to be my normal bubbly, happy and calm self as well as to stay focused in class.”
For now, EMMA is continuing to work on power and fitness in between her kibbutz commitments, but she does admit that she has yet to incorporate NEVILLE’S rigorous training on a regular basis. “I have only forced myself to do a proper NEVILLE session once so far – and it hurt!”

SBH FINISH 6TH IN VIRTUAL NATIONAL 12 STAGE ROAD RELAY – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website. 
The Five-day event is deemed a great success with the Leeds City’s men and Herne Hill’s women came out on top in the inaugural Virtual National Road Relay Championships, which also raised over £6,800 for the NHS.
The innovative event involved over 3700 athletes running a 5km course local to them, while adhering to social distancing guidelines due to the coronavirus pandemic, and recording their results on a specially designed results platform hosted by OpenTrack.
The event has attracted lots of discussion on social media, with a number of athletes having praised the event for giving them competitive focus, and reconnecting them with team-mates. Future virtual events are already being planned by a number of other organisations.
Men’s 12-stage Results – 1st Leeds (2:57.08), 2nd Cambridge (2:57.44), 3rd Tonbridge (2:58.35), 4th Bedford & County (2:58.45), 5th Swansea (3:01.00), 6th SBH (3:01.31) – MARK PEARCE (14.18), JAKE SHELLEY (14.19), KIERAN CLEMENTS (14.24), LIAM DEE (14.35), DYLAN EVANS (14.43), JEREMY DEMPSEY U20 (14.50), KOJO KYEREME V45 (14.53), THOMAS BUTLER (15.20), KRISTIAN IMROTH U20 (15.26), THOMAS FULTON U20 (15.37), RORY MUIR (15.45), PHILLIP CROUT (15.46), THOMAS KEARNS (15.54), WILLIAM RYLE-HODGES (16.02), ALEJANDRO SANCHEZ (18.40), RICHARD WILLIAMS V35 (18.46), KEVIN WALDEN V35 (19.13), TIM PARKIN V40 (20.16), 7th Cardiff (3:03.12), 8th Bristol (3:04.09), 9th Conac (3:05.06), 10th Cheltenham (3:06.25).
The innovative event involved over 3700 athletes running a 5km course local to them, while adhering to social distancing guidelines due to the coronavirus pandemic, and recording their results on a specially designed results platform hosted by OpenTrack.

BETH POTTER SUPREME – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website.
BETH took part in the Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds-organised Scottish Virtual Road Relays, with over 500 athletes taking part. Following social distancing guidelines due to the coronavirus outbreak, athletes ran solo 5km legs and recorded them via Strava or Garmin, with four members to each team. Olympic runner turned triathlete BETH POTTER and her fellow triathlete GRANT SHELDON recorded the quickest leg times, with BETH running (15.23) and SHELDON clocking (13.38). The second fastest men’s time came from GB cross country and orienteering international Kris Jones with 13:51, with Scottish cross country champion Jamie Crowe running a time of 13:59 for third fastest. Behind BETH in terms of fastest women’s times was her fellow GB international SARAH INGLIS with (15.57) and GB under-20 cross country runner MEGAN KEITH ran (16.25) to finish with the third fastest female time.

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS – Earlier this week I received via the website, an enquiry from RAY VAREY in Canada. Who was looking for HUGH RICHARDS who may be associated with our club. I taught with a HUGH RICHARDS at Hengrove Comprehensive School in Bristol in 1978-79 as an exchange teacher from Canada. HUGH was the Head of Science at Hengrove at that time and was quite an accomplished runner. I’ve always wondered what happened to him when I returned to Canada…no other agenda than that.
On speaking to HUGH, he recalls that we trained together, when he taught at the same Bristol School, in which RAY was on a year’s teacher exchange scheme. Like me he was a steeplechaser and represented Canada at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970, in the final of the 3000m Steeplechase he finished in a time of (9:02.2), the race was won by Anthony Manning of Australia (8:26.2) with 2 Kenyans just behind him.
It must have been in 1979 that RAY joined Messrs DAVE BEDFORD, JOHN DRYDEN, MARTIN MCEVILLY, RICHARD SAMUEL, HUGH STARKEY and HUGH at the Pont L’Abbe race in Brittany. Often wondered what happened to him!
PIPPA and HUGH remain in good health, and one of his daughters is slowly getting over Covid-19 and we think PIPPA’S son now has it. Both work in the NHS so hardly surprising.

SUCCESS FOR HENDON RUGBY CLUB – Who are based at Barnet Copthall have now been promoted from Hertfordshire/Middlesex League 1 to London 3 North West League. Club President DAVID GERSHLICK said “We have had a fantastic unbeaten season which is not over yet, but we expect the two outstanding cup fixtures to be moved to the start of next season.” Hendon are finalists in the Middlesex Federation Vase along with Wasps; “We currently hold this trophy as last year’s winners.” Hendon recently became Champions of the RFU London and South East Division and now go into the semi-finals of the RFU National Cup with a possible Final at Twickenham.

TOM MCNAB’S THE TECHNICAL EVOLUTION OF THE JUMPS – Part 1 covering the Long and Triple Jumps, next week will be Part 2 covering the High Jump. 
Long Jump – The Ancient Greeks were ahead of us in at least one way, in that they deployed a landing-pit, the skamma, which also served as an area for combat-events. Alas, it is far from clear from the visual evidence that long jump was the same event as that which we now practice.
For we see jumpers in flight, (often supervised by a whip-wielding coach), holding light weights called halteres. This would almost certainly indicate a multiple jump, like five spring jumps, where the use of weights would provide advantage.
This deployment of weights featured heavily in Lancashire in the second half of the 19th century, part of a betting-based culture involving an infinity of standing and running jumps. In 1854, HOWARD of Chester leapt 29ft. 6 inches, off a beat-board, and carrying 8lb. dumbells.
All of this being said, we still have the Greeks writing of “making the bater ring”. The “bater” was the take-off area, and this is a clear indication of a running jump. The plain fact is that we will probably never know what the Greeks did.
It must be observed that, until the late 19th century, (and the first amateur athletics competitions), long jump was usually ground to ground. Indeed, a quick Google will show ground to ground jumping at Braemar Highland Games as late as 1925, and there is no reason to believe that the practice did not travel on into the 1930s. I certainly jumped ground to ground (and with great caution) at a Border Games as late as 1950.
Thus, until the early years of the century, outside of amateur athletics (which had little existence in rural areas) most jumping was almost certainly ground to ground, without benefit of a take-off board.
This being said, the basic elements of the event will have differed little from modern athletics, consisting of a fast run flowing into a high jump, though there is no evidence of flight- techniques until the early 20th century. And there is no evidence of specific training for long jump until the second quarter of the 20th century. That, and the increasing volume of nations involve in athletics, meant that the first jumper to leap 8metres was SYLVIO CATOR of Haiti, in 1924.
The visual evidence of flight-techniques can be seen in the film of the 1900 Paris Olympics, where the event took place on a grass surface, from a 20cm. board. There, the jumpers are clearly using straight “sail” techniques, and the literature of the period gives no indication of any technical/ training developments of any kind. The Irish jumper O’CONNOR, who leapt to 797.70m) in 1904, is described as making “running” movements in flight, some evidence of a hitch-kick, but there is no evidence other than that.
By 1936, both “hang” and one and a half hitch kick were being deployed at Olympic level, and both can clearly be seen in RIEFENSTAHL’S film “Olympia”.  The German silver medallist LUZ LONG uses the “hang” until the last round, then bizarrely deploys what appears to be a two and a half hitch kick in his final attempt. The great American JESSE OWENS deploys throughout a mis-timed one and a half hitch kick, which results in poor landings.
The 1936 Olympics provides us with the first sustained visual evidence of modern long jump. What is remarkable is that Long, an 11.1 sec. 100m runner, is clearly able to generate almost as much runway-speed as OWENS, who is about 0.9 seconds faster over the 100 metres distance. And his controlled ”hang” is much superior to OWENS’ hurried hitch kick. It is clear that OWENS (8.20m) jump off grass in 1935 in no way represented his ability in the event, and here it is worth observing that this was the only jump that he made in that competition.
Technical developments in all field events were modest in the first half of the 20th century. So also was any serious development in specialised training-methods. And there were less than 50 nations in the Olympic movement. That, and the fact that in many countries most jumping still took place on grass football fields, limited improvement in performance.
With the entry of the USSR to the Olympic movement in 1952, all this was to change. For the USSR brought with it the Communist bloc, and a more advanced version of the State-sponsored athletics which the Nazis had introduced twenty years before. In 1952, in Helsinki, they had featured three high jumpers deploying the Eastern Cut Off; by 1956, they had begun to transform the straddle technique, and had constructed the first effective high jump shoe. These transformations were soon to be echoed by similar changes in field events techniques and training in all major Olympic nations.
All of the above does nothing to explain BOB BEAMON’S remarkable (8.90m) performance, for that had nothing to do with improved technique or training-methods. I had watched BEAMON in the qualifying round, twice fouling the board by massive distances before finally leaping around (8.20m), at about 40cm. short of the board. Nothing in these jumps spoke of a sophisticated, well-trained athlete. What BEAMON’S jump did tell us is that the event is not a complex one, otherwise he could not have achieved that distance, one which was not to be matched for almost a quarter of a century.
POWELL’S (8.95m) world record took place in what was probably the greatest long jump competition of all time. Both he and CARL LEWIS were exceptionally fast on the runway, both used a two and a half hitch kick in flight. This method has been used because eight metre plus jumps often mean that the jumper “finishes” his one and a half leg- action early, resulting in too much forward rotation. Both jumpers therefore ”used up” the extra flight-time with that extra “kick”.
Two differences separated POWELL and LEWIS. We have no take-off clockings, but LEWIS was possibly 2% faster on the runway. Against this, his final stride slides to the left, so that his take-off drive was relatively inefficient. Viewed from the front, we see him jump from right to left, and had take-off to landing distance been measured, then he was probably over nine metres. And LEWIS was always a flat jumper, always lacked height.
Conversely, POWELL jumped slightly higher, and he jumped straight. But the key difference may well have lain in his leg-timing. He talks of sighting his left heel high relative to a photographer in front of the pit, and holding it there; this can be clearly seen in the film of the event. On such small margins can competitions be won.
I have highlighted these great performances, not only to make technical points, but also to bring the reader back to what athletics is all about, not simply a series of techniques and endless training-recipes, but red-blooded competition. For it is there that athletics lives and breathes.
What is remarkable in long jump is that for all the endless drills and analysis, that there has been so little improvement here in performance, particularly when we bear in mind the improvements in surfaces, indoor facilities, sports science, sports medicine and athlete- financial support. Thus LYN DAVIES’ (8.07m) on mud in 1964 in Tokyo and MARY RAND’S (6.76m) into a 1.6 m wind on cinders would still challenge most of our jumpers now. Such is progress.

Triple Jump – The Scots poet ROBERT BURNS describes it as “hop, step and laup” as far back as 1793, but for us it is now triple jump. There is no doubt that in the 19th^th century, most jumping in Scotland, the home of the event, was ground to ground, yet HOGG of Hawick jumped just over (15m) back in 1893. This distance has never, to this day, been beaten in a Highland Games, and was almost certainly two hops and jump.
Even into the 1960s, some Games allowed two hops and jump as an option. This appears to have been geographically-based, with meets above the Highland Line insisting on hop, step and jump, and those below it making no such requirement. Back in 1963, I competed at Aboyne and Aberdeen, both using a triple jump. In my final meeting, Pitlochry, I was allowed to use two hops and jump, and that produced my best distance, although I had never before deployed it.
It comes therefore as no surprise that in the 1896 Olympic Games it seems likely that the American gold-medallist CONNOLLY almost certainly used two hops and jump. By 1900, a standard triple jump was required in Olympic competition, and thus it was to be from then on.
The literature of the period offers little advice on triple jump technique, with often ludicrous advice being offered by writers such as SAM MUSSABINI, forced by his publishers to comment on events of which he had no experience. The same was true for F. A. M. WEBSTER, though it is worth observing that the event did not appear in the AAA Championships until as late as 1917. It is some indication of the developmental zeal of the Scots that event did not appear in their National Championships until 1937.
As in long jump, “Olympia,” the record of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, provides us with our first glimpse of modern triple jump technique. It shows us that there was no generally-accepted method. The Australian METCALFE takes a high, massive hop, collapses into a short recovery step and struggles into the pit.  The Canadian RICHARDSON performs a high, straight-leg hop, lands on his toes, staggers into a short, diag step and staggers into the pit. MAURICE HARADA of Japan is most like a modern jumper, with a fluid, even leap, driving out of each phase, though he over-rotates out of his hop. His colleague OSIMA is similar, with a solid, more balanced, effort.
The gold-medallist, TAJIMA of Japan was an eight metre long jumper, and had finished third in that event. Fast and fluid on the runway, he hops high and lands on the ball of his right foot, travelling as a result into a short step and good, long final phase, to be the first man to clear sixteen metres.
Only the Japanese jumpers show any real technical consistency, and this was reflected in all four of the jumping events, where they finished in medal positions in all but high jump.
The big changes in the event took place, as they had in other field events, in the 1950s, when the Russians began to apply rationale to existing techniques. They soon produced a flush of jumpers, powerful, well-conditioned athletes, jumping well in excess of sixteen metres. It was, however, a springy “natural”, DA SILVA of Brazil, who was to dominate the post-war period.

BRITISH ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2020 – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website.
The Müller British Athletics Championships will now be held on August 8-9, provided competition can recommence during this outdoor season.
The event in Manchester had originally been scheduled for June 20-21 and would have incorporated the trials for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Following postponement of the Games to 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak, the hope now is that the British Championships can be held in August and for the event to still incorporate the trials for the European Championships, currently due to take place on August 25-30 in Paris.

DELAYED WORLD ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR JULY 2022 – The following article and photograph taken by the University of Oregon, was published on the Athletics Weekly website.

The World Athletics Championships in Oregon will now take place on July 15-24, 2022, following the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Oregon event was originally scheduled for August 6-15 next year but has moved to the following summer to avoid a clash with the Tokyo Games in the July and August.

It will create what World Athletics president SEBASTIAN COE has described as “a bonanza for athletics fans around the world”, with the global athletics event to be closely followed by the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham July 27-August 7 2022, and the multi-sport European Championships in Munich August 11-21 2022. In a statement, athletics’ global governing body said: “The World Athletics Council approved the new dates this week after extensive discussions with the sport’s stakeholders including organisers of two other major championships due to take place in July-August 2022, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the multi-sport European Championships in Munich. “The new schedule will prevent a direct conflict between any of these major events and, with careful programming, will ensure athletes can compete in up to three world-class competitions.” COE said: “This will be a bonanza for athletics fans around the world.

“They will be treated to six weeks of absolutely first-class athletics. More than 70 of our Member Federations are part of the Commonwealth and more than 50 of our Member Federations are European so our guiding principle in rescheduling the World Championships was to ensure enough space was created around the centrepiece World Athletics Championship for athletes to choose other major events to compete in. We were also very mindful that we did not want to damage the other major championships in 2022, because they are also very important to our sport. “We believe we have found a solution that will allow athletes who are eligible for the other two events to compete in them with the Commonwealth Games Federation planning to stage the athletics programme towards the end of their event. This will showcase our sport to its best advantage in the circumstances and we will continue collaborating with all competitions on the detailed programming. “We would not have chosen to have three major championships back-to-back but it will give us a unique opportunity to promote our sport and its stars around the globe over a six-week period. “I want to particularly thank Oregon 21 LLC and all its stakeholders for their collaboration and flexibility as well as all World Athletics’ partners and broadcasters who are so critical to delivering the Games and taking it into the homes of millions of fans.”

Also on Wednesday it was announced that World Athletics has postponed the bidding processes for the 2023 World Athletics Series events, with processes for that year’s World Cross Country Championships and World Athletics Relays now set to open in November.

THE FOLLOWING SBH DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION CAN EITHER BE VIEWED, DOWNLOADED OR PRINTED 
SBH 2020 Summer Fixture Card Front Sheet – Summer 2020 Fixture Card Front Sheet Final Issue 12-02-20
SBH 2020 Summer Fixture Card Fixtures, Updated 17-03-20 Showing Cancelled & Postponed Fixtures – Summer 2020 Fixture Card – Updated 17-03-20 Showing Cancelled & Postponed Fixtures
Track and Field Team Managers Details – http://sbharriers.co.uk/athletics/track-field/team-managers/
Road Running 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/
Allianz Park Membership, which gives SBH members 10% discount on entry to the Allianz Park stadium – Membership details and Form can be either printed or downloaded
Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Club Hoody, information on how to purchase one, please go to the bottom of this Newsletter

SBH MIDWEEK JUMPS CLUB AT ALLIANZ PARK – Currently Suspended. POLE VAULTERS REQUIRED FOR 2020 – Currently Suspended. STEEPLECHASE TRAINING AT ALLIANZ PARK – Currently Suspended.

WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER – It has just been announced that as the World Cross Country Chamionships is in Australia are on 20 March 2021, the Inter Counties in Loughborough will be on 20 February and the National Cross Country Championships will be at Parliament Hill on 6 March. Elsewhere the National Cross Country Relay Championships in Mansfield are on 31 Ocober 2020, European Trials are on 28 November and the European Championships in Dublin on 13 December.

MULLER BRITISH ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS – Since the current pandemic resulted in significant changes to the competition calendar, British Athletics have been in constant communication with our partners at European Athletics, World Athletics and the Wanda Diamond League to coordinate the remaining schedule of athletics events in 2020, prioritising the safety and health of our sport and spectators at all times.

At this moment in time, we are still working on the basis that all British Athletics events – Müller British Athletics Championships Manchester, Müller Anniversary Games London & Müller Grand Prix Gateshead – will be going ahead although we will continue to adhere to all government advice and guidelines to ensure the safety of those involved.

In coordination with the World Athletics Global Calendar Unit, we have now finalised discussions for a new National Championships weekend alongside other federations. As a result, should there be an opportunity to recommence competition during this outdoor season, the Muller British Athletics Championships will be rescheduled from its original date of 20/21st June to 8/9th August 2020, with the venue remaining as the Manchester Regional Arena.

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.

UPCOMING SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS FIXTURES AND OTHER FOR THE NEXT 4 WEEKS – Due to the Coronavirus situation, all fixtures until the end of April and part May have been cancelled. We have also been advised that the Lee Valley Athletic Centre fixtures have been cancelled until the End of May

The following fixtures have now been Cancelled
Middlesex Young Athletes League due to take place on Saturday 23 May
UK Youth Development League due to take place on Sunday 24 May, Sunday 21 June, Sunday 26 July and Sunday 6 September
National Athletic League due to take place on Sunday 3 May and 14 June
Eastern Young Athletics League due to take place on Sunday 3 May and Sunday 31 May
Veterans League due to take place on Monday 4 May  
BUCS due to take place on Friday 8 May to Sunday 10 May
Hertfordshire County Championships due to take place on Saturday 9 May and Sunday 10 May 
Loughborough International due to take place on Sunday 17 May
Middlesex County Championships due to take place on Saturday 30 May and Sunday 31 May 
World U20 Championships due to take place from Tuesday 7 July to Sunday 12 July
English Schools Championships due to take place on Friday 10 July and Saturday 11 July 
European U18 Championships due to take place from Thursday 16 July to Sunday 19 July
Olympic Games due to take place from Friday 31 July to Sunday 9 August

Virgin London Marathon and Mini Marathon due to take place on Sunday 26 April has been Postponed, and is rescheduled to take place on Sunday 4 October

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 used. 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 500 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

ALLIANZ PARK – Main Switchboard telephone number is 0203 675 7250.

CHARGES FOR USING ALLIANZ PARK – Currently the stadium is closed for athletics until the 31 May.

ALAN