All is set for the NJ February virtual 5k Winter Handicap, which needs to be completed from Monday 1st to Sunday 7th February, on a local route of each club member’s choosing. All times will be included in the club achievement tables and will count for this year’s best club and individual PBs and for best age grade % performances for 2021. Here is the link for entering your time and details:
Entries for NJ 5k Winter Handicap
Good luck to everybody!
2021 Challenges: Club Secretary Sianie Painter has dreamed up two challenges for all club runners in 2021, to help keep us all motivated during the current Covid-19 lockdown and during the likely sparsity of real live racing opportunities in the months ahead. There is no compulsion to take part but if you would like to join the challenge, you will need to belong to the NJ Strava Club, which is completely free, as is regular membership of Strava. It is a great way to keep in touch with all the various running exploits of other club members. The majority of club members are already on Strava and most also belong to the NJ Strava Club. There is nothing for members of the NJ Strava Club to do, other than what they would do normally. Sianie Painter will keep a total of your miles/kilometres posted on Strava every week.
Champagne Challenge: The first challenge is to accumulate the most distance you feel able and willing to run for the whole of 2021. This challenge started on Monday 4th January but your mileage could probably be backdated if you join later. Sianie has set various yearly targets based on the sizes of large champagne bottles, so that a Jeroboam (contains 4 bottles = 3 litres) is worth 1000km (625mi) and a Methuselah (8 bottles = 6 litres) is worth 1500km (938mi). See table below for other sizes:
At the last count, Chris Gay (120.8km/week) and Jimmy Smith (114.4km/week) were well out in the lead, both averaging over 100km per week. That puts them on target for a Melchizadek top prize, which would be an amazing achievement. However, the idea is not necessarily to win but to give every club member a little more motivation by watching their total distance build, month by month. Then hopefully celebrating with a nice bottle of Champagne next New Year’s Eve….not provided by the club!
Appalachian Trail Challenge: The second challenge is to mount up your running distance to help your allotted Blue team or White team get to the end of the Appalachian Trail (2,193 miles long) first. Again, nothing to do except “keep on running” and Sianie will add your miles/km to your team’s total.
Red Sky in the Morning (Shepherds’ Warning?). Great photo taken by Richard Jones on one of his early morning local runs.
Hoohaah 10k Series: Alison Mckenzie and Bridget Wallwin are persevering in their series of three virtual Hoohaah Trail 10k races (in support of Arthur Rank Hospice & other charities), from which they stand to earn a very attractive set of 3 interlocking medals. They first ran the virtual Thetford Forest leg on 17th January, as reported previously on 18th Jan. Then they took on the Childerley 10k leg on 23rd January over another local trail route. Their total distance run was about 11.9km (7.4mi) so their elapsed time is not relevant for a 10k. However, their calculated moving time for 10k, according to Bridget’s watch, was 1:05:47, which is a pretty decent effort in very muddy off-road conditions. In the Thetford Forest leg on 17th Jan, Bridget’s moving time for 10k (they actually ran 10.7km in all) was 1:04:37, so a very good effort too. Their final stage will be the virtual Wimpole Estate Hoohaah 10k.