UPCOMING ROAD RELAY AND TRACK AND FIELD FIXTURES FOR THE NEXT 4 WEEKS, WHICH COVERS THE PERIOD THURSDAY 7 SEPTEMBER UNTIL WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER – The SBH 2023-2024 Winter Fixture Card will be issued and posted on the SBH website from Mid September – http://sbharriers.co.uk/fixtures-results/fixture-cards/

EASTERN YOUNG ATHLETES LEAGUE TOP 6 FINAL  – Takes place on Sunday 10 September at the Chelmsford Sport & Athletic Centre, Salerno Way, Chelmsford (Satnav CM1 2EH)
Age-Groups Under U13, U15 & U17 Men/Women.
Link to the timetable – EYAL-Finals-Timetable-2023 (2)
Note: You will have to be selected by your Team Manager

SOUTHERN U15 AND U17 INTER COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS – Takes place on Sunday 10 September at the Horspath Athletics And Sports Ground, Horspath Road, Oxford (Satnav OX4 2RR).
Please Note: You will selected by your County Team Manager

SOUTHERN SENIOR MEN’S, WOMEN’S AND YOUNG ATHLETES ROAD RELAYS – Takes place on Saturday 23 September at the Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot (Satnav GU11 1PZ).
Timetable – 10.30 U13 Boys (3 x 3000m), 10.58 U13 Girls (3 x 3000m), 11.26 U15 Boys (3 x 3000m), 11.53 U15 Girls (3 x 3000m), 12.30 U17 Men (3 x 4600m), 12.32 U17 Women (3 x 4600m), 13.30 U20, Senior, Master 40+ & 50+ Women (4 x 6000m), 15.15 U20 & Senior Men (6 x 6000m), 15.15 Masters 40+ & 50+ Men (4 x 6000m)
Note: You will have to be pre-entered by your respective Team Manager
Entries Closing Date Thursday 7 September

NORTH WEST LONDON LEAGUE – The first fixture of five takes place on Saturday 30 September at the Tir Chonail Gaelic Sports Club, at the end of Berkeley Avenue, Greenford (Satnav UB6 0NZ).
For age-groups U11, U13 & U15 Boys and Girls.
Directions – turn off Greenford Road (A4127), opposite the entrance to the Glaxo Factory. The playing fields are at the end of Berkeley Avenue. Car parking spaces is limited and we had considerable problems with too many cars at recent fixtures. If you can share cars please, also do not park on the areas marked out for the course.
Timetable – Still to be issued.
Note: You do not have to be pre-entered, just turn up and run. Will any of our Female athletes please see JEREMY SOTHCOTT who will give you a race number

GEORGE HARRISON’S MEMORIAL – The St Albans School Memorial was held on Wednesday 23 August, at Woollam Playing Fields School Pavilion. Following the Memorial the guests adjourned afterwards to The White Horse in Harpenden.
Many thanks to MARTIN ROCHFORD who sent me this photograph showing SBH athletes at the White Horse. They are from left to right – BEN ROCHFORD, SAM GRIFFITHS, ROBBIE LIGHTOWLER, MARK PEARCE and TOM FULTON.

KRISTIAN IMROTH USA BOUND – Contacted KRISTIAN recently, who updated me on his upcoming move to the USA.

Yes I’m going to Eastern Kentucky University! This is for a 2 year masters in sport administration. It’s a very steeple heavy university with two guys running sub 8:30 so I’m hoping to be the 3rd. This is the strongest team they’ve had in years so really looking to try and get to NCAA cross country and challenge for all titles possible! My aims are to try and help the team make the NCAA cross country championships and then get to the NCAA outdoor championships next summer!

Eastern Kentucky University is located in Richmond, Kentucky, and currently there are 14,465 students. The University was founded in 1894, from 2012 the campus has been vastly improved with a multimillion-dollar project.

Traditions – Among EKU’s most prominent traditions is the rubbing of DANIEL BOONE’S left foot for good luck; the statue features prominently in front of the Keen Johnson Building. More recently, former President BENSON initiated the Welcome Walk at the beginning of the fall semester; first-year students gather in front of Keen Johnson Building with the President before walking along University Drive and passing through the new Turner Gate.

No name looms larger in the story of the early American West than DANIEL BOONE’S exploits in exploring and hunting in the Bluegrass, as well as its defense during the American Revolution 1775-1783 made him a legend in his own time.

The men’s and women’s cross-country team has also been a staple of success over the recent decade. The men’s team has won all ten of the last ten OVC Championships, and the women have won nine of the last ten. In 2011 the men’s cross country team qualified for NCAA National Cross Country Meet for the first time in school history. Since 2011, the team has qualified for the NCAA National Cross Country Meet five consecutive times.

On behalf of the club we wish KRISTIAN every success in his academic and athletics career in Kentucky.

RIGA UNVEILS MEDALS FOR WORLD RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website recently.

Just one month to go to the next big global event following last week’s World Champs in Budapest. On the eve of the British trials for the World Half Marathon Championships in Riga, the organisers of the global event on October 1 have unveiled the design of the medals. British distance runners are poised to race in the half-marathon trial at the Vitality Big Half in London on Sunday (Sept 3) and the 5km and one mile trials at the Great North Run weekend in Newcastle and Gateshead next week.

With exactly one month to go to the World Road Running Championships, the local organising committee has revealed the medals’ design inspired by Latvian culture. The design of these medals, created by MAIJA ROZENFELDE, draws inspiration from Latvian artist’s NIKLAVS STRUNKE artwork “A Man Entering a Room.”

The artwork “A Man Entering a Room” by NIKLAVS STRUNKE is prominently showcased in the permanent exhibition of the Latvian National Museum of Art. To strengthen the connection between Latvian culture and the World Championships, the starting point for the mile race will be situated at the base of this iconic museum. Additionally, participants in the 21km distance will have the privilege of running past this prominent architectural gem. “At the outset of organising the championships, we made it clear that Latvian culture and art would be integral to the inaugural World Championships,” says AIGARS NORDS, head of the local organising committee in Riga.

“Participants of the World Championships will have the chance to enjoy singers and dancers during the race. And the medals awarded to both world champions and mass race participants at the finish line will be inspired by the renowned artwork by STRUNKE.”. MAIJA ROZENFELDE, the designer of the medals, says: “The concept behind the medals is rooted in the geometry of the race, encompassing elements such as body position, step angle, breathing rhythm, and pulse rate. It symbolises the multifaceted journey of each runner towards the finish line, abstractly representing the length of the specific distance (1 mile, 5km, 21km).”

FAITH KIPYEGON, the world 1500m and 5000m champion, is among the athletes who have already expressed an interest in racing in Riga on October 1. The world champions will be crowned in Riga in the one-mile, 5km, and half-marathon distances as well as teams’ standings in the half marathon distance. However, for the first time the event over all the championships distances is also open to masses and you can register here www.riga23.org.

PARLIAMENT HILL HOSTS NIGHT OF THE 10000M STYLE WORLD CROSS TRIAL – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website recently. Photograph taken by MARK SHEARMAN.

Race director EAMONN MARTIN is creating an exciting spectator-friendly cross-country event at north London venue on January 20 with the support of On Running. Cross-country running in the UK is set to be revitalised in spectacular fashion this winter with a new-look world trials event at Parliament Hill Fields in London on Saturday January 20. British distance running legend EAMONN MARTIN hopes to transfer the same kind of atmosphere and excitement seen at the Night of the 10,000m PBs in early summer on to the nearby grassy slopes of Hampstead Heath at the beginning of 2024. Early details of this new event were first published in the July issue of AW magazine, but since then plans have gathered pace with the shoe brand On Running coming on board to offer some support with the new event following their sponsorship of this year’s Night of the 10,000m PBs on the track that sits on the edge of the Heath.

“We plan to have a 2km lap and it will be an extremely spectator-friendly course with at least one decent hill on it,” says MARTIN. “We’re looking at athletes running through a tent and having features such as a hairpin bend in front of the crowd.” The event will be the official British trial for the World Cross Country Championships, which takes place in Medulin and Pula, Croatia, on February 10. In addition it will incorporate a home countries international including teams from the English areas, although entry requirements will be fairly tight in order to avoid runners being lapped on the 2km loop.

MARTIN is a former UK record-holder for 10,000m and the last British man to win the London Marathon in 1993. The 64-year-old adds there are plans to have a big screen and maybe even pyrotechnics on a Parliament Hill course that has long since been regarded as the spiritual home of cross-country running in the UK. “Everyone I’ve spoken to has been so supportive and wants to make it happen,” he says, adding that the same Highgate Harriers volunteers who make the Night of the 10,000m PBs such a special event are poised to act as marshals on January 20.

MARTIN has also been in talks with Night of the 10,000m PBs event director BEN POCHEE and long-time British Athletics Cross Challenge co-ordinator CLIFF ROBERTSON on the event and how best to weave it into the winter calendar. MARTIN adds that he’s also gained inspiration from the now defunct Great Edinburgh Cross Country International, plus the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, the 2022 European Cross Country Championships in Turin which saw athletes running through a museum, plus the 2023 World Cross in Bathurst, which featured a number of unusual course features. 

MARTIN modestly describes it as a “pilot” event but is quietly ambitious that the venue could stage the European Clubs Cross Country Championships and maybe even the European Cross Country Championships itself in future. The latter has not been staged in the UK since Edinburgh in 2003.

ULTRA MOUNTAIN CHAMPIONSHIPS – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website recently.

For a week towards the end of August or early September every year, the French mountain resort of Chamonix becomes a global trail running hub as runners congregate from all over the world to compete in the the annual Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) races, writes ADRIAN STOTT.

While opinions among runners continue to be divided on the influence and growing global outreach of the UTMB operation, what cannot be denied is that some of the world’s best are in Chamonix this week. This week seven races are being held based around the Chamonix area, the blue riband of which is the UTMB over 171km (105 miles) with 9963m of climbing. The route circles Mont Blanc from Chamonix, France, through Italy and Switzerland, before finishing back in Chamonix with the race starting at 6pm on Friday 1 September.

2023-2024WINTER SEASON– With just 2 weeks to go to the Cross Country and Road Relays. Please see the link to the document on the ‘Club Information on Various Topics’ later in this Newsletter. Which gives details of the Metropolitan and North West London league dates/venues, Remaining Cross Country league dates/venues, Cross Country points and club championship races and Road Relay dates/venues.

SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS ON INSTAGRAM– Since the account was setup towards the end of last year, there has been an amazing amount of Videos and Photographs contributed with many comments. There are no posts this week.

SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS NEW INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT– Many thanks to SEAN SUTHERLAND who undertook a review on the best way forward, following this a decision was made to set up a new account, and SEAN has now set that account up.
To follow our newInstagram account, from your own account, by searching for ‘shaftesbury_barnet’ or by clicking https://www.instagram.com/shaftesbury_barnet/
To Members and Parents, if you wish for any photographs to be posted on Instagram, please email them to sbh.instagram@outlook.com  If you can at the same time give details on when and where the photographs was taken, plus any other comments.
Please feel free to post photographs of any special occasion, for example, your wedding day, an addition to the family.

THE FOLLOWING IS CLUB INFORMATION ON VARIOUS TOPICS

SBH 2023-2024 WINTER FIXTURE CARD –Will be issued and published on the SBH website, during mid September. 
Link to the document which gives details of the Metropolitan and North West London league dates/venues, remaining Cross Country league dates/venues, Cross Country points and club championship races and Road Relay dates/venues – SBH Winter Fixture Card Information

GEORGE HARRISON MBE MEMORIAL DOCUMENT – The document has been put together with contributors from LISA WEBB, MARTIN ROCHFORD, NADEEM SHAIKH, RACHEL FELTON, LIAM and JAMIE DEE, JAMES LOVELL, EMILIA ECONOMU, ALAN WELLER,  KAREN HARRISON,  TIM UNDERHILL, GLEN WATTS, JOANNA WINFIELD, SHAUN CLIFFORD and EUAN MACKENZIE – Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Memorial To George Harrison From Friends And Members 20 April 2023
If you wish to contribute your own memories and/or photographs of GEORGE, please email them to me, either within the email or as a separate attached word document.

CODES OF CONDUCT – SBH have now adopted the UK Athletics (UKA) and the Home Country Athletics Federations (HCAF) Codes of Conduct which set out national standards of conduct for all clubs, coaches, officials, volunteers and athletes in the sport.  The purpose of the codes are to clarify what behaviours are acceptable and unacceptable, the standards of practice expected and the basis for challenging and improving practice.  The Codes are similar to our previous Codes of Conduct which were part of the previous ClubMark scheme.  All club member and anyone undertaking a relevant role must agree to abide by the codes of conduct. The Codes of Conduct have now been put onto our Website, please read these to understand the commitments you are making by being a member of SBH.
Link to the Code of Conduct document – Codes Of Conduct Booklet 2021 (1)

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION OF INTEREST CAN BE FOUND ON THE SBH WEBSITE BY USING THIS LINK – http://sbharriers.co.uk/
Section ‘About Us’, includes Annual Reports, Best Performance Trophy Awards, Individual And Relay Best Performances By Year, Club Records and SBH All-Time Top 10 T&F Performances.
Section ‘Team Managers And Competitions’, shows details of Track & Field, Cross Country and Road Relays Team Managers.
Section ‘Future Information/Results’, includes Information On Each Fixture, Summer & Winter Fixture Cards, Winter X/C Points Tables and Winter Club Championships Winners.