BRR Blog - 2 February 2026
Most of the team at Victoria Park
Happy Groundhog Day, Road Runners!
It was a slip-slidey end to the South Essex Cross Country League competition at One Tree Hill on Sunday, but we made it through all five races without any serious mishaps. Well done to everyone who took part, and thank you to our supporters, and Ron for providing teas and coffees, Chris and Alan M for doing the scoring, and Lizzie-Beth for compiling the team lists.
It was also the last ‘individual’ race in the Chingford League season, but don’t forget we still have the relays at Wanstead Park on 7 March. They count towards the results of the overall competition so do come along and take part. Each leg is only 3k, so it is a very do-able distance for everyone. Plus, some of us go for pie and mash afterwards - it’s worth taking part just for that!
Greg’s Race Report
It was a busy weekend for Barking Road Runners with two races: a Chingford League race at Victoria Park and a cross country race at One Tree Hill.
First race was the 5 mile Chingford League run at Victoria Park hosted by Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets Harriers. First Lady finisher for BRR was Shantelle Keech followed by Belinda Riches, Joyce Golder, Emma Paisley, Alison Fryatt and Dawn Curtis. First finisher for the men was Daniel Plawiak followed by Martin Page, Mark New, Jack Stanford, Chandru Thayalan and Rob Courtier.
BRR at One Tree Hill
Next up was the fifth and final race of the South Essex Cross Country league hosted by Pitsea Running Club at One Tree Hill, near Basildon. First Lady for BRR was Belinda Riches followed by Nikki Cranmer, Joyce Golder, Dawn Curtis, Alison Fryatt and Zahra Akram. First finisher for the men was Steve Philcox followed by Daniel Plawiak, Martin Page, Mark New, Ron Vialls, Mick Davison, Gary Harford, Rob Courtier and Nick Gorman.
Steve Philcox first finisher for BRR
Away from the club races Barry Rowell ran in the Victoria Park Half Marathon finishing in a time of 2:15:40, as preparation for the London marathon in a few week’s time.
Barry Rowell after his Half Marathon
BRR parkrunners
Barking - Dominic Herring 21:46, John Mitchell 24:14, Chris Muthaka 26:57, Barry Rowell 27:43, John Lang 32:11, Rob Courtier 34:58, James Sheridan 34:59, Martin Mason 35:03, Les Jay 51:48 and Alan Murphy 52:45.
Felixstowe - Gary Harford 27:55.
Gary at Felixstowe parkrun
Ferry Meadows - Sunny Bulchandani 25:55.
Highbury Fields - Darren Graham 37:25 and Belinda Riches 37:30.
Denise, Belinda and Darren at Highbury Fields
Hillsborough - Rosie Fforde 24:37.
Oaklands College - Rory Burr 25:12.
Rory and friends at Oaklands College
Rushmoor - Owen Wainhouse 21:44.
Sheffield Castle - Joe Stacey 20:12.
Valentines - Kevin Wotton 30:08 and Steve Colloff 34:40.
Highest BRR age gradings this week were Rosie Fforde 61.14% for the women and Joe Stacey 66.09% for the men.
BRR Diary - February
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 3 February - speed session. Jim Peters Stadium, Mayesbrook Park. John L will be building on Jess’ KISA (Keep It Simple Again) from last week.
10 x 2 mins at 5k race pace, 1 minute recovery
7.00pm, Thursday 5 February - Road Run. Castle Green Centre, Gale Street, Dagenham. A social run around the roads of Barking and Dagenham, usually around four miles.
Saturday 7 February - Friday 13 February - Virtual Winter Handicap 02. Remember to post evidence of your time by close of play on Friday.
11.00am, Wednesday 11 February - Ron’s 5k run. Barking Park, parkrun course. A chance to post your winter handicap time, with some company to inspire you. The cafe in the park has now closed but, hopefully, Mr Murphy will be there to look after gear while you run.
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 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.
A-Z of Running
Episode twenty-five in the A-Z of running, and this week it is brought to you by the letter ‘Y.’
Yaktrax — A (brand-name) slip‑on traction device with coils or spikes for running on packed snow and ice. Fortunately, we don’t need them very often in the UK.
Yard (Backyard Ultra) — In a backyard ultra, each competitor must run a 6.706 kilometre (4.167 miles) loop in less than one hour, every hour until only one person remains. Each loop is called a ‘yard’, and is equal to 100 miles divided by 24 hours (1/24th of 100 miles) so that a competitor who can run for 24 hours will run 100 miles. No, thank you.
Yasso 800s — A popular marathon‑prediction workout devised by Bart Yasso: run 10 × 800 m with easy jog recoveries of equal time. The theory is that the minutes:seconds you can average across for the 800s roughly predicts the hours:minutes of your marathon
Example: Averaging 3:30 for the reps suggests ~3:30 for the marathon.
Yoga — Fabulous for stretching your muscles after a run, but also great cross‑training that builds mobility, balance, and breathing control; useful for recovery and injury prevention. You may get the idea that I like yoga…
Shine bright Like a Diamond
This year’s Diamond League series
There might not be an Olympics this year, but we have a whole season of Diamond League events to look forward to, across the summer of 2026. Always a great way to while away a few hours…
Running with the Night
Most of our races are in the morning, so I am often concerned about what I should eat before an evening escapade. It turns out, I needn’t worry.
One of the benefits of running at night rather than in the early morning is that you have all day to fuel your body with your regular meals. This generally means that, for runs less than 90 minutes, you aren’t running on an empty stomach and you don’t need to have a pre-workout meal or snack specifically intended to provide carbs before your run.
If you have a sensitive digestive tract, it is best to avoid a full blown dinner before running, unless you have three to four hours to digest before heading out the door. As with running in the morning, stick with simple carbohydrates in your pre-run fuelling if you only have one to two hours after eating before you lace up your running shoes and hit the roads.
After finishing a night running workout, you should still cool down and stretch properly, and have a post run snack containing refuelling carbs and muscle-repairing protein just as you would running at any other time of the day.
The cool down is especially important in the evening as it will help lower your heart rate to resting levels, decrease your elevated body temperature from the run and prepare your mind and body for sleep.
An elevated body temperature or growling stomach can make falling asleep more difficult and impact sleep quality.
However, some night runners find that a warm bath or warm shower helps de-stress and relax the muscles and mind before bed, so you may want to experiment with what post-run routine works best for you.
Cracker Corner
Today I opened the water bill and the electricity bill at the same time. Let me tell you, I was shocked!
I invented a pencil with two erasers. It was pointless.
Chris told me to put ketchup on the shopping list. Now I can’t even read it.
Quote of the Week
‘The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.’
Amelia Earhart
American aviation pioneer
And Finally…
The Hong Kong Free Press reports that a man who ran the Hong Kong Marathon on 18 January with a baby strapped to his chest is being investigated for child abuse.
Video footage of the man running with his race bib pinned on the baby’s pink clothes during the race went viral on social media.
Running baby man
“The case was referred to the Child Abuse Investigation Unit,” Hong Kong police said. No arrests have been made so far.
The Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates (HKAAA) said the man did not finish the race, with local media reporting he was asked to stop running and told to leave the course. Perhaps he just couldn’t get a baby sitter…
Happy Running
Alison
BRR Chair
