BRR Blog - 16 February 2026
A soggy Steph in Victoria Park, after her race
Hi there, Road Runners
Who knew there were so many romantics in the world? That’s assuming it was being romantic, and not just wanting to tick off another challenge, that made 2,331 people turn up at Valentines parkrun on Valentine’s Day. I imagine the core volunteer team is pretty relieved that the next time Valentine’s Day will fall on a Saturday isn’t until 2032. I’ll stick with a few hundred people at Barking parkrun, thank you very much.
At least the parkrunners had a dry day on Saturday, for a change. It wasn’t so nice on Sunday for Joyce and Steph, who were both racing. All the details in Greg’s Race Report, below.
Greg’s Race Report
Barking Road Runners Stephenie Rashbrook and Joyce Golder competed in very wet conditions on Sunday for their respective races.
In the 0nerace Events ‘One in the Park’ Victoria Park Half Marathon Stephanie finished in a time of 2:38:16. After completing the just-over-six-laps course, Steph stated that the only way she could have got any wetter is if she actually jumped in the lake.
A wet Joyce with her well earned finishers medal
In the equally wet Cancer Research UK London Winter Run 10k Joyce Golder finished in a time of 1:05:05. The route, through central London, saw participants pass live music performances, larger-than-life winter characters (think polar bears and penguins), and world famous landmarks.
BRR Parkrunners
ARU Writtle - Louise Chappell 33:22.
Barking - Owen Wainhouse 21:18, Joshua Ezissi 24:34, Mark New 24:43, Martin Brooks 27:16, Jason Li 30:03, Joyce Golder 32:58, Emma Paisley 33:08, Martin Mason 34:26 and Alan Murphy 56:11.
Basildon - Ron Vialls 25:42.
Billericay - Martin Page 22:13.
Brentwood - Nikki Cranmer 32:21, Rob Courtier 40:43 and Dawn Curtis 43:35.
Dawn, Nikki and Rob at Brentwood
Harrow Lodge - Rory Burr 26:15.
Ingrebourne Hill - Chandru Thayalan 27:00.
Raphaels Park - Barry Rowell 29:22.
Barry at Raphael
Severn Bridge - James Lowndes 20:52.
James L at Severn Bridge
Valentines - Richard Dudman 48:33, John Mitchell 49:56 and Andrew Gwilliam 91:06.
Yarborough Leisure Centre - Belinda Riches 24:37, Dennis Spencer- Perkins 38:07, Darren Graham 42:27 and Denise Graham 49:58.
Dennis, Denise Darren, Steve C and Belinda at Yarborough, Lincoln
Highest BRR age gradings this week were Belinda Riches 71.63% for the women and Martin Page 77.64% for the men.
BRR Diary - Feb/March
The highlights of the coming weeks are listed below but you can see the full diary of BRR events on the TeamUp app. Simply download the TeamUp app to your phone, then enter the calendar key: ks67p21gt8p5gzdo66 when prompted. If you don’t want another app on your phone, you can also find it under the ‘events’ tab on the Barking Road Runners website: https://www.barkingroadrunners.org.uk/calendar.
7.00pm, Tuesday 17 February - speed session. Jim Peters Stadium, Mayesbrook Park. Greg will be taking the session this week:
A VO2 session with a difference. It’s 3 sets of 1 minute at about 5k race pace with 15 seconds recovery x 6. Three minutes recovery between each set. The science behind it is to works not your aerobic system as 15 seconds doesn’t allow the anaerobic system to recover.
7.00pm, Thursday 19 February - Road Run. Castle Green Centre, Gale Street, Dagenham. A social run around the roads of Barking and Dagenham, we’ll be doing around five miles again this week:
Left out of Castle Green, left Goresbrook/Maplestead Rd, left Ripple Rd, right Upney Lane, right Westrow Drive, right Longbridge Rd, right Martin Rd, Right Porters Ave, left Gale St.
10.30am, Sunday 22 February, 10:30 - Hadleigh Legacy 10k. Hadleigh Country Park, Chapel Lane, Hadleigh, Essex, SS7 2PP. If you’re missing cross-country already, why not join Steve C and me and sign-up for this 10k race featuring tough hills and plenty of mud? Sign up at: Nice Work Race Management : Hadleigh Legacy 10k
Saturday 21 February - Friday 27 February - Virtual Winter Handicap 03.
11.00am, Wednesday 25 February - Ron’s 5k run. Barking Park, parkrun course. A chance to post your winter handicap time, with some company to push you on.
9.00am, Sunday 1 March - Trek London Half (GP01). Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E20 2ST. First race in this year’s BRR Grand Prix* competition. Enter at https://www.londonhalf.com/
*The Grand Prix consists of eight races, with distances ranging from 5 miles to HM. Points are awarded for finishing positions on the basis of 100 for first BRR finisher, 99 for second and so on, with separate points awarded for male and female finishing positions. The final score for each member will be calculated using their best five results with trophies awarded to male and female with the first, second, and third highest scores.
The much sought after Chingford League mug
11.30am, Saturday 7 March - Chingford League Relays. Wanstead Park, Harrow Road Pavilion, 4x3,000m cross country. The grand finale of the Chingford League season, and always good fun, followed by presentations for 2025/26 (and Emma collecting her mug for competing in every race in the competition). Some of us head off for pie and mash afterwards.
Celebrations
Tuesday 17 February sees two celebrations begin: Ramadan and the Chinese New Year. During Ramadan, many Muslims will begin a month of fasting from dawn to sunset, focusing on prayer, reflection and acts of charity. It is a time for strengthening community ties and practising compassion. Meanwhile, Chinese New Year welcomes the start of a new lunar cycle. Families will gather for reunion dinners, give red envelopes, light lanterns and take part in other traditions to usher in good fortune. Both occasions highlight renewal, togetherness and gratitude. Best wishes to BRR members who are joining in either celebration.
Kung Hei Fat Choi and Ramadan Mubarak!
Ain’t Nothing Gonna Break My Stride
Another in my occasional series – what on Earth does that data on my Garmin mean? This time looking at stride length.
Running stride length—the distance covered in a single step—plays a central role in your efficiency, speed, and overall running form. Many runners assume that increasing stride length automatically makes them faster. In reality, optimal stride length varies by individual and is closely linked to biomechanics, strength, and cadence.
An efficient stride length helps you run faster with less energy. Overstriding—landing your foot too far ahead of your centre of mass—can increase impact forces on the joints, elevate injury risk, and slow you down due to braking forces. Conversely, a stride that’s too short may limit speed and economy, causing you to work harder than necessary.
Research consistently shows that the most efficient runners maintain a stride length that occurs naturally at their preferred cadence, typically around 170–180 steps per minute. Rather than forcing a longer stride, runners benefit from letting stride length increase organically as speed increases. Here are some tips on improving whatever stride length is natural to you.
1. Build Strength and Power
Exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, and plyometrics (generally jumping) improve lower‑body power and propulsion. Stronger glutes and hamstrings help you push off more effectively, lengthening your stride naturally.
2. Improve Mobility
Tight hip flexors, quads, and calves restrict stride mechanics. Regular mobility work and dynamic stretching—such as leg swings and hip openers (e.g. opening and closing the gate) —allow for fuller extension and greater efficiency.
3. Increase Cadence Gradually
Using a metronome or music with a consistent beat, increase your cadence by 5–10% to reduce overstriding and promote a more efficient stride pattern. No soppy ballads please.
4. Incorporate Form Drills
Drills like high knees, A‑skips, and butt kicks improve neuromuscular coordination and running mechanics, supporting a smoother, more powerful stride.
The Ferrari of Races?
Not a real Ferrari, to avoid copyright infringement
After a successful debut in 2025, the Enzo Ferrari Memorial Half Marathon will take place again this year, with a 5k and 10k for those who fancy a shorter distance, over the weekend of 27 to 29 March.
The courses are designed to showcase Ferrari’s deep roots in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. All three races include sections of Ferrari’s private Fiorano test track, a circuit normally reserved for engineers, drivers, and prototype vehicles.
The half marathon runs point-to-point from the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, passes through the Ferrari factory complex, the Fiorano circuit, and, for the first time, the new Ferrari e-Vortex test track. Runners then continue through the towns of Fiorano Modenese and Formigine before finishing in Piazza Roma in the centre of Modena.
The 5 km and 10 km races follow looped courses that begin and end at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello.
Despite the exclusivity of the setting, entry fees are relatively low by international standards. Registration costs €11 (about £9.50) for the 5k race, €15 (£13.00) for the 10 km, and €28 (£24.50) for the half marathon. Cheap as chips, compared to the cost of entering one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Registered runners will also have access to discounted tickets at the Ferrari Museums in Maranello and Modena during the race period. Unfortunately, they don’t throw in a free Ferrarri.
So Close and Yet so Far Away
Imagine thinking you had broken a world record, only to have it declared null and void. That’s what happened to Jacob Kiplomo, after World Athletics declined to ratify his men’s half-marathon world record, citing breaches of competition regulations during his remarkable run at the 2025 Barcelona Half Marathon.
Kiplimo, 24, stunned the athletics world when he crossed the finish line in 56 minutes and 42 seconds—shattering the previous world record by a staggering 48 seconds, and making history as the first person to dip under 57 minutes for the distance.
However, upon reviewing race footage and official reports, World Athletics found that Kiplimo spent much of the race trailing a lead pace car at a distance of around 10 to 15 metres. According to Article 6.3.1 of World Athletics’ Technical Rules, athletes must not receive pacing help from non-competing individuals or technical devices (apart from personal wearables). In this case, officials judged that Kiplimo’s proximity to the vehicle provided an unfair advantage, as running behind the car would have reduced wind resistance—a tactic known as drafting. While the rulebook does not set an exact minimum distance from pace vehicles, the governing body ruled the arrangement violated both the letter and the spirit of fair competition.
There were also suggestions that Kiplimo may have received prohibited coaching advice during the race, further complicating the matter. As a result, World Athletics ruled his time would not be recognised as the official world record, although it will still appear in the all-time performance lists (unlike times annulled for doping offences).
This decision means Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha retains the official men’s half-marathon world record with his 57:30 run at the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon. The drama adds extra intrigue to the upcoming 2026 TCS London Marathon on 26 April, where both Kiplimo and Kejelcha are set to compete, promising a thrilling clash between two of the sport’s fastest stars.
Quote of the week
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”
Zig Ziglar
US Author and Motivation Speaker
(and inspiration for a Spice Girls song?)
Cracker Corner
Someone just offered me a guitar for free. I’m wondering if there are strings attached.
I’ve bought some banana skin shoes. They are very easy to slip on.
I saw a man yesterday with a wheelbarrow full of horseshoes, four-leaved clovers, and rabbits’ feet. I thought ‘he’s pushing his luck.’
And Finally: Picture This
How do I choose which photo should get pride of place at the top of the blog? No, I don’t just pick the photos with me in the middle! There is an informal hierarchy:
1. Photos of BRR participants in ‘official’ club races like cross-country or ELVIS (East London fiVes Interclub Series) are always first choice.
2. Photos of other ‘mass participation’ (that’s more than one member) BRR running events are usually second choice.
3. Photos of other events that BRR members have taken part in are usually third choice. If there are two to choose from, like on Sunday, I might have to remember who last had a ‘top of the blog’ photo.
Sometimes there is a week when no events at all have taken place. Then I might use a picture from parkrun or from a Club training session. Or use my imagination.
Of course, the quality of the photo also matters – the blog will pop up in Google searches for BRR, so it is important that we look our best; no blurry photos or Mr. Thumb in the corner of the picture allowed!
