Mk X

And so, our 2011 Arethusa Mile series is at an end. I think when the 'Brand Wingate' legacy is at an end, that signals the end of the Mile's run, as it were.

Thanks to all who have taken part and volunteered over the past 10 weeks and we may see you back in the spring of 2012.

RESULTS

1. David Rowe 5:21 (PB remains 5:18)
2. Ciaran Murphy 5:41 (PB remains 5:27)
3. Harry Matthews 6:03 (PB remains 5:52)
4. Hayden Matthews 6:09 (PB remains 5:53)

Mk IX

Crikey it's getting dark now. We gathered as usual whilst keeping an eye on the silhouettes of the Beasts of Bushy Park (you know, those rutting animals that have been rampaging around as the Daily Mail put it so unsensationally) as they bellowed repeatedly, egging each other on for a bit of an antler tussle. The dark crept on in, the roads shut, the cars went away our sturdy athletes set off on the Mile.

Ciaran Murphy was perfectly tooled up with a head torch and a workmen's flashlight, so thanks go to him for the illumination this evening!

As for the times, it was seriously windy, but credit to the Magnificent Seven.

P.S. Brand Wingate is still strong and ever present!

RESULTS

1. Ollie Upton 5:22 (PB remains 5:06)
2. Ciaran Murphy 5:40 (PB remains 5:27)
3. John Woods 5:55 (PB remains 5:41)
4. Andy Wingate 6:03 (PB remains 5:49)
5. Harry Matthews 6:19 (PB remains 5:52)
6. Hayden Matthews 6:20 ((PB remains 5:53)
7. David Tyas 6:20 PB

Mk VIII

Today we seemed to jump back in time a couple of months with the weather. It's cliche to go on about it, what with being British and all, but as today was a blue sky scorcher after the mostly drab "summer", it's hard not to mention it. Good weather normally means good turnouts and good times. Today's Bakers Dozen didn't disappoint.

We had a collective of first timers and volunteers in attendance, most notably the King and Queen of Bushy parkrun in Ray and Ann Coward. Ray volunteered on finish position duty and Ann, well I'm not allowed to write what Ann did. We also had the person most responsible for all of us being there taking part too. If anything, he's the Emperor of parkrun, PSH. Without PSH I'd not have taken part in Bushy parkrun, never met the runners that I have befriended over time tonight and wouldn't have met Tom Williams whose podcast Marathon Talk gave me the kick up the bum to start this Mile. So it's his fault we do what we do on a Wednesday evening now. As well as Saturday morning.

As for other news, we no longer have any actual "Ever-presents", but the name Wingate is "Ever-present" as Emma substituted her husband Andy tonight.

RESULTS

1. Ollie Upton 5:06 PB
2. Roy Reeder 5:07 PB
3. Matt Smith 5:09 PB=
4. Shane McDermott 5:26 (PB remains 5:17)
5. Ciaran Murphy 5:27 PB
6. Cristiano Bonato 5:39 (PB remains 5:37)
7. Paul Sinton-Hewitt 5:42 (1st timer)
8. Stewart Rose 5:48 PB
9. David Tyas 6:30 (1st timer)
10. David Worth 7:12 (1st timer)
11. Amy Sullivan 7:48 (1st timer)
12. Sandra Worth 7:57 (1st timer)
13. Emma Wingate 8:34 (PB remains 8:21)

Mk VII

There was a backing track of stag roars at tonight's Mile showdown. Whilst the antlered beasts did battle over the does in the surrounds, our all male field did battle in a less lethal style by trying to show each other a clean pair of heels.
Ideal conditions meant a majority of PB's all set under the mystical ambient lighting from the setting sun and scattered clouds.

Andy Wingate kept up his 100% attendance record, Jo Kilkenny was our Dolly Dealer (but with no oversized playing cards, just a pad and pen instead) and Ciaran Murphy finally got to test his mettle over the course for the first time.

Next week - same place but at the earlier time of 7:00 meet for a 7:05-ish start.

RESULTS

1. Matt Smith 5:09 PB 
2. Shane McDermott 5:31 (PB remains 5:17)
3. Ciaran Murphy 5:35 (1st timer)
4. John Woods 5:41 PB
5. Andy Wingate 5:49 PB
6. Stewart Rose 5:51 (PB remains 5:50)
7. Hayden Matthews 5:53 PB
8. Harry Matthews 5:54 (PB remains 5:52)
9. Ollie Upton 5:17* (PB remains 5:08)

* Late starter (90 seconds after start)

MkVI

Compared to the moody, dark skies of last week it was if we had jumped back in time to the sunnier side of summer this evening. This also heralded perfect running conditions; no wind, dry road and a larger turnout to help people push that extra bit harder.

With the no show of Cristiano Bonato we only have one 'Ever Present' left in the shape of Andy Wingate. Let's see if he can tackle the coming winter weeks with as much verve when it comes to attending.

Thanks must go out to Paul Graham for being grabbed from his run to selflessly pace Emma Wingate round for her first ever Mile, and thanks to Ciaran Murphy for volunteering once again.

Same time (7:15pm for 7:20-ish start), same place next week.

RESULTS

1. Harry McCulloch 4:58 (1st timer)
2. Matt Smith 5:10 PB
3. Shane McDermott 5:17 (1st timer)
4. David Rowe 5:18 PB
5. James Russell 5:37 (PB remains 5:31)
6. John Woods 5:42 PB
7. Harry Matthews 5:52 PB
8. Stewart Rose 5:54 (PB remains 5:50)
9. Andy Wingate 5:55 (PB remains 5:54)
10. Hayden Matthews 5:58 PB
11. Emma Wingate 8:21 (1st timer)
12. Paul Graham 8:21 (1st timer)

MkV

Colder, windier, smaller. Sums it up really.
Thanks to Kirsty for taking down the results, and nice to have Ciaran Murphy and Roger Wilson spectating.

RESULTS

1. Ian Haylock 5:42 (1st timer)
2. Cristiano Bonato 5:48 (PB remains 5:37)
3. John Woods 5:53 (PB remains 5:44)
4. Stewart Rose 5:56 (PB remains 5:50)
5. Andy Wingate 5:59 (PB remains 5:54)

MkIV

Tonight I took part in the mile for the first time - and I enjoyed the experience greatly. Race directing and volunteer duties were passed over to Heather Martingell and Kirsty Bangham, both of whom did a sterling job. Heather will be race director next week in my absence as I help Jo Kilkenny as part of her support crew with David Rowe on her Arch to Arc attempt. We all wished Jo the best of luck this evening.
The mile itself was an all male affair it seems! Come on ladies, we need more of you and all levels are needed/wanted!
Same time and place next week for all that are interested.

RESULTS

1. Anthony Jackson 4:51 (1st timer) *COURSE RECORD*
2. Danny Norman 5:13 (1st timer)
3. Matt Smith 5:14 (PB remains 5:11)
4. David Rowe 5:19 (1st timer)
5. Grant Russell 5:31 PB
6. James Russell 5:31 PB
7. Cristiano Bonato 5:37 PB
8. Clive Cheesman 5:42 PB
9. John Woods 5:44 PB
10. Stewart Rose 5:50 PB
11. Chris Wyatt 5:52 PB
12. Andy Wingate 5:54 PB
13. Harry Matthews 5:54 PB
14. Hayden Matthews 6:05 (PB remains 5:59)
15. Peter Smith 6:21 (1st timer)

MkIII

I was a little late turning up for the start of this evening's mile. I squoze in a mildly long run straight after work and hoped to have enough time to get showered, changed and up at the start all in good time. I failed as I arrived at just after 7:50pm. I was confronted, and rightly so, by a restless and fast growing impatient group of runners. I apologised and apologise once again for this tardiness.
However, the weather was almost perfect by the time we started and the road totally clear. We welcomed new and ever present faces alike. Hope you enjoyed it as always.
Next week, same time and place, and I won't be late!

RESULTS

1. Sean Paynter 4:57 PB *COURSE RECORD*
2. Dave Wilson 5:16 PB
3. Roy Reeder 5:27 (1st timer)
4. Cristiano Bonato 5:43 (PB remains 5:42)
5. James Russell 5:45 PB
6. Stewart Rose 5:52 PB
7. Clive Cheesman 5:56 (1st timer)
8. Andy Wingate 6:01 (PB remains 5:59)
9. Harry Matthews 6:02 (1st timer)
10. Martin Stockholm 6:03 (1st timer)
11. Hayden Matthews 6:04 (PB remains 5:59)
12. Heather Martingell 6:53 (1st timer)
13. Kirsty Bangham 7:09 PB

MkII

Bit of a snap decision and not too much in the way of publicising it on my part, but I wanted to put on another Arethusa Mile, and why not do it a week after the first I thought? So, I did.

10 people took part this week, bit of a downturn in attendance but it's not about the quantity of runners but the quality that counts I reckon. ;)

Same again next week if you are interested, meet at 7:45pm for a slightly earlier start due to the road gates closing sooner.

RESULTS

1. Sean Paynter - 5:05 (1st timer)
2. Dave Wilson - 5:23 PB
3. Cristiano Bonato - 5:42 PB
4. John Woods - 5:53 PB
5. Stefan Hopper - 5:56 (1st timer)
6. Stewart Rose - 5:58 (1st timer)
7. Andy Wingate - 5:59 PB
8. Hayden Matthews - 6:02 (PB remains 5:59)
9. Jo Kilkenny - 6:33 (PB remains 6:30)
10. Kirsty Bangham - 7:20 (PB remains 7:11)
    

Results

Tonight, on a dry, breezy, slightly cool evening at just after 8pm, the first Arethusa Mile took place, comprised of two seperate waves of 12 runners. As the first wave was run the 2nd wave participants cheered the first wave home, and vice versa, which turned out to be an unforseen positive in the splitting of the entire assembled group. Everyone seemed happy and satisfied with the whole affair and it's certainly stirred the thoughts as to future occurrences. I'm delighted it all went smoothly and without a hitch.

A big shout out of thanks goes to Paul and Jo Sinton-Hewitt, Emma Wingate and David Rowe for their help in timing, registering and filming the run. I'd also like to thanks each runner who turned out and thanks to the spectators who cheered everyone home.

Don't forget of course to register your time here on the Marathon Talk page.
Here are the results as I have them;

FIRST WAVE

1.     Mike Skinner - 4:58
2.     James Williams - 5:07
3.     Ollie Upton - 5:08
4.     Matt Smith - 5:11
5.     Simon Campbell - 5:12
6.     Dave Wilson - 5:23
7.     Martin Connor - 5:28
8.     Doug Smith - 5:35
9.     Grant Russell - 5:36
10.     Nick Rowe - 5:52
11.     Nick Ward - 5:53
12.     John Woods - 5:54

SECOND WAVE

1.     Duncan Mallison - 5:14
2.     Andy Anstey - 5:41
3.     Steve Woodard - 5:45
4.     James Russell - 5:46
5.     Sonia Bandeira - 5:48
6.     Cristiano Bonato - 5:48
7.     Chris Wyatt - 5:56
8.     Hayden Matthews - 5:59
9.     Andy Wingate - 6:01
10.     Mark Fletcher - 6:19
11.     Jo Kilkenny - 6:30
12.     Kirsty Bangham - 7:11

    Many thanks to you all, and until next time.
    Danny N.

The Day Before

At the time of writing, tomorrow is Wednesday 10th August. It is to be the day of the Arethusa Mile.

Last night, Monday 8th August I was in Bushy Park overseeing a very small test mile. It turned out to be invaluable just to see a couple of tweaks I need to make to the original plans.

Firstly, the most apparent thing is the amount of cars on the road when I plan to start the first mile. At 7:30pm it seemed to me to be slightly too busy. However, as the gates began to shut toward 8pm the roads began to get very quiet. I set off two guinea pigs, James and Andy at around 7:50pm and the pair whooshed round the set course. I think one car was on the road, and maybe a couple of cyclists. They managed to get round safely and with no hassle. I then tested the route personally, and I ended up going around three separate times, and not once did a car go past me. I felt like I had total reign over the road. Apart from the imposing gang of Canadian geese that were waddling around at one point, the roads were clear. I'm not sure if the geese flew off later to try and loot a Cavan Bakery for the bread.

Dependent on numbers turning up on the night, I'd like to start the miles nearer 8pm than 7:30pm, purely from a safety and space point of view, and there is plenty of light to be had for quite some time before sundown.

I just need to reiterate that tomorrow it is an informal affair above all else. We are there to run a quick mile, but there are no prizes for first place and your own safety should be your paramount importance. Weather dependent it should be a pleasant night and a decent workout for each of you taking part.

Bring a watch or Garmin with you, bring warm clothing for afterwards, in fact bring anything you feel you may need or feel may contribute to the running of the event.

David Rowe tested his on bike camera last night recording us going around the course. If you want to photograph the event, feel free. Want to just watch the runners? You can do that too.

If you are coming by car, remember the gates are closing at 8pm. Park outside and jog in, or cycle there.

I will make a pre-run announcement to clarify smaller basic matters to people before they start and hopefully everyone enjoys the mile and comes away with a time they are happy with.

I'll see you tomorrow bright eyed and Bushy tailed.

Busier than expected

It's been a fortnight since my last post, and in that time I've come to realise a couple of things.
1) This could have more people taking part than I first thought or ever expected.
2) The concept of further 'mile challenges' or even races in various places could have legs. That is a bad, unintended pun.

I have also made the now regulation Facebook event as promised at the end of my last post. Thanks to the wonders of being locked out of accessing Facebook at work I cannot post the link to it right now, but if you want to find it a search for 'Arethusa Mile' should give you the return you want. It's not the most common name for an event. Just thank your lucky stars I didn't call it the 'John Smith Mile'.
I invited my Facebook running friends to the event, and being an open event to all means others have seen it, which is just what I intended and I've been taken aback by the idea actually attracting friendly strangers with positive responses.

The logistics for this mile could become a little more complicated if the numbers wanting to turn up keep increasing, but I think the numbers will stay manageable if I'm sensible with my forecasting. No entry fee and no prizes means that people can do this on a whim, which means the numbers turning up could be anyone's guess - and to let you know how many people have responded to my request to e-mail me with their predicted time... not very many at all! Either they aren't reading my posts or just not bothering to contact me just yet.

What this does cause me to do is start to draw up the possibility of closing the event out to people who don't let me know they are wanting to come. The run is just under 3 weeks away so plenty of time to let me know. I'd personally like to be able to deliver a somewhat organised mile challenge rather than having to deal with people at the last minute who've turned up on the day. The more I think about it, the more sensible I believe this to be. I'll think over this further in the coming week.

I've tweeted about it via the Bushy parkrun Twitter account, Marathon Talk have now mentioned it twice on their latest podcasts, it's on Facebook as detailed and Paul Sinton-Hewitt (parkrun CEO) has posted it on the parkrun Facebook wall. What I have noticed is that Facebook as a medium for inviting people to these kind of events seems to be the most successful way of doing things - mostly because of it's saturation in our lives now and it's enormous use as a form of online diary for many.

I still need to run a test event, ideally the week before on Wednesday 3rd August at the same time (7:30pm) to see what the park is like at that time of the evening. I have a couple of offers for this, and if you'd also like to help pilot the run, please let me know at danny@parkrun.com.

Other ideas I've noted are the possibility of recording this event with various forms of media. Photographers are welcome of course. I'd like to record some audio to send to Marathon Talk if it is useable and anyone with a video camera would be well received too. A pipe dream would be a video recording of the runners going round the road being filmed by a moving camera alongside them. Akin to the Tour De France motorbikes or an athletics track with those 4 wheel buggies they have. Hopefully you get my gist.

Ultimately timing the run is my biggest concern. The fundamentals are that the runners want to know what time they run a mile in. They need a mile distance to cover and a means to time it - be it their own watch or a person responsible for doing so. This timing and recording of times responsibility I believe to be my central role to all this, alongside gathering runners together at the same time and place.
I've already gone to the lengths of getting a timing app for my smartphone - this gives multiple times immediately and on screen - very neat. This is one way of doing it, but I have additional/back up timing means as well. And of course if you are coming and have an iPhone or Android capable smartphone, I'd of course appreciate any offers of additional timekeepers armed with these devices with a stopwatch app loaded.

So far the times coming in from people who have let me know their estimates are relatively wide ranging. Certainly enough to have a couple of waves and to get the best condition and group for you to run your fastest mile in. All I can hope for is that this persistent rain we've been having decides to scarper come August 10th.

Further thoughts

Time to update the proceedings on this as it's been a week since the first post.

So far feedback has been positive, which is always reassuring when you are trying or wanting to start something. There is always the extreme thought in the back of your head that no one wants to get involved and that on the day, in a worse case scenario, I'm left standing in the middle of an empty park clutching an unused stopwatch waiting for no one to show up. Then I imagine some sombre music to play in the background as I slink off defeated, head drooping down, slumping off into the sunset, a lonely shadowy figure.

However, this isn't going to happen! Positive thinking kicks in and people have promised to be there. Hurray! A plan is coming together.

Before I start the main body of this post just a reminder that the registration page for the Marathon Talk Magic Mile Global Team Challenge can be found here alongside the entry list of names so far.

On with the update! This week my Garmin Forerunner has decided to die. It's served me well over the past 3 years. I'm not giving up on it just yet, I'm charging it again as I type, never losing hope that it's flatlining will turn into a regular beat. But soon someone will have to grab me by the shoulders and pull me away saying "It's over, she's gone". This means I will have to go out and buy a new Garmin, like a family buys a new puppy to replace the beloved old hound who just got put down after 15 years of love, slobber, poop and attention. It also means that my plotting out a suggested amendment to the course will have to be on hold for a few days.

Why a possible amendment? Well this is where you the reader come in, in regards your confirmation of participation.
I received a call from Tom Williams of Marathon Talk who asked if the route could encompass only one lap of the Fountain. The suggestion entailed that if everybody set off together on the proposed 2 lap course then people could be lapped, it could get confusing as to whom should turn off to the finish and overtaking could put people at risk if they are not aware that someone may come flying past them. All very valid points. However, this is dependent on how many runners want to take part.
For example: If we only have 10 runners all of whom run sub 6 minute miling then lapping won't be an issue. However, this is extremely unlikely. In fact I know this won't happen, but it's just a logistic.
If however we have 50 runners, some of whom can rub sub-4, and others a 10 minute mile then lapping does become an issue on a two lap course, especially on a road still open to cyclists.
Then of course 50 starters in a mile race also becomes too big a field. It is then wiser to divide the runs up into groups of runners with similar time goals if this action is called for. This is of course first-and-foremost a coming together at the same time and place of some runners to see how fast they can run a mile whilst having similar speed athletes there to push them harder than they would do if solo.

Personally I do prefer to have the two lap course, mostly because it makes the run compact and easily viewable at all times for anyone and everyone. But this will come down to the fact I need to know who is wanting to take part.

What this calls for is pre-entry notification. This will make my life easier if I know who to expect and roughly how many, rather than having to organise on the fly. This seems the most sensible decision to me.
So, if you are wanting to take part please e-mail me here - and I will put you on the 'entry' list. I simply need your name and estimated mile time. This list of course is not a binding contract to take part of course, and people can take part on the day, but I can make provisions for people based on how fast they expect to go and can then be grouped accordingly. I hope to hear from you soon.

P.S. If you are a Twitter user please use the hashtag #magicmile in relation to this Marathon Talk event.
Which reminds me, I need to make the now compulsory Facebook event and invite people.

Comments and suggestions welcome as always.

The idea

For some time now, ever since I was aware of the New York Road Runners 5th Avenue Mile race I've always felt that we could replicate something similar here in the UK. In fact, just like the creation of the London Marathon that was influenced by the existence of the New York Marathon.
However, there is no highly publicised mile race upon any of the mean streets of London to my knowledge, and in fact, I'm not even sure there is a straight flat mile akin to 5th Avenue. Maybe I'm showing my naivety toward London here. I'm open to corrections.

So, being a regular runner in Bushy Park I had come to learn that the distance from gate to gate is a mile on the road. Of course this got me thinking and I kept on doing this thinking and not much else. Then last week along comes MarathonTalk with their Magic Mile challenge. MarathonTalk is a runners podcast first released to the public on Tuesday, January 12th 2010, and I've been an avid listener since day one. It is hosted by my good friend Tom Williams and Martin Yelling (husband of Olympian Liz). They have set this challenge as so; 'Your task is simple... to represent either Team UK or the Rest of the World by running one mile as fast as you can between the 1st and the 14th of August.' All they require of you is to sign up, for free, to register your time for fun purposes.


I had coincidentally been doing a bit more thinking about the mile thing a fortnight ago, and felt Bushy had something to offer. I was drawn to the Fountain and the road that runs around it, and it's oversized and circular track shape. The road is flat, potentially fast and if a mile was to be run around it, it would negate wind conditions as it would balance itself out. I proceeded to map out a mile one evening by the combination of running around the fountain, starting from a particular place (just before the new path that cuts just in front of the Bushy parkrun start) after having mapped a route out online and using my Garmin to double check.


The route is like so.


It starts and finishes in the same place and takes in two laps of the fountain. Given the right conditions, I feel it could be very quick and no worse than a track mile.


Combined with the efforts of MarathonTalk to get a mile challenge off the ground I felt there would be no time like the present to press ahead with sorting out an organised mile myself. If there were to be many people wanting to find out their potential as to how fast they could do a mile, why not allow them to do so whilst pitting themselves against others so they get that extra push?


I must express that I intend this to be a low key affair. It is not an official race, it is just an organised time for various runners to come together to see how fast they could run a mile. If anything it's a speed session in the park where you simply do a mile rep balls to the wall.


I would like this to happen on Wednesday August 10th, in the early evening after the gates have closed to traffic. This should allow us time and space on the road, but I am also very aware that this does not mean there won't be bikes, or the occasional late car so would like to make sure that anyone taking part knows this. They have to be held responsible for their own safety and not take any unnecessary risks to save a few seconds. And if anything, if we cannot go over the proposed course, we do have a whole park to run an alternate route without the fear of cars.


I would love all range of abilities to take part, and members of any club if at all. I'd like to make provisions for recording times for people too, but also recommend people bring their own watches in case. With it being after the gates have closed then car parking would not be available in the park and the toilets may well be shut or closing. Baggage provisions and responsibility would also lie with the runner. We can only hope it doesn't rain.


Ideally I'd like to be able to gauge numbers and estimated finish times so that we could group people together if numbers were too high and we had to create multiple runs.


Anyway, those are my thoughts for now. Hopefully come August 10th I have some idea where this headed.


Thanks for your time, and if you need to e-mail me please do so.