| Rotherham HAC |
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| Rotherham HAC |
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After a couple of days off with plumbing problems (my house, not me) I resurfaced on Friday with a gentle run down into Silverwood pit reclamation site. And what a spectacular display there was. We used to go there for the panorama from the hill top over a lot of South Yorkshire into West, but the trees have grown so high that it is hidden.
Gorse flowers a bit all year round but it's brilliant in the spring and if you get downwind of it, the smell of vanilla can be overpowering. This is gorse (='furze') not broom: you can easily tell the difference by getting a grasp of it- if you get streaked with blood, it's gorse. My real aim was to check on the Silverwood bluebells, well-advanced but not fully in bloom was the result. But they may be now - usually best in the low bottom corner away from the road
A good road route nominally from Asda roundabout is shown below but in my mazy run around the pit reclamation site I couldn't resist looking longingly at Silverwood Big Bank (pictured) which is a stupendous off-road club-night climb, sadly missed currently
Please share your bluebell wood pix with us
reply@rotherhamharriers.org
Wickersley Gorse is now brilliant
What about Creighton Wood, Anston Stones, Canklow Wood, Revel Wood etc etc
The group below is an archive photo from MRC's Memorial Race (2018 I think) but it does feature quite a few of the RH members who have launched crowdfunding to support NHS on Saturday 25th April. Click the display to go to the Just Giving site.
Steve Gaines tells me the JG site is creaking a bit with all the fundraising going on, but please do your best.
RHAC EXTENDED WHAT'S APP GROUP ARE TAKING ON A 24HR VIRTUAL RELAY
PLEASE SPONSOR VIA THE PICTURE LINK
If I understand the setup, people will run alone either as their exercise period or at home. The running 'team' do 24 hours in 1-hour slots. Each person runs for their hour then posts a picture at end, handing over to the next person. There is potential for more than one person in each hour, especially in darkness hours slots, if more than 24 want to take part. Donations for NHS on Just Giving site. Grid of people taking part on What'sApp group (or click here)
I have found myself making alterations to usual routes- as a norm I go off-road even for short distances (more interesting, no traffic etc). The reason?
SOCIAL DISTANCING: the paths can be very narrow.
Looking back over four weeks of running (and gardening, etc etc) it dawned on me that I have been lucky not to need medical attention. Even more significant in my case is: no injuries (except my feet unused to so much hammer). So touch wood no physiotherapy
It must be very difficult for physios right now. And for injured runners. But my own physio Blizard Physiotherapy and Running Clinic is making a good effort with virtual appointments.
Let us know if other physios are doing likewise and we will give contact details shortly (but you can find them on the internet)
I asked Wendy Whitaker how the couch-to-5k course was placed by the lockdown.
"We had just started week seven of nine, so people had two and a half weeks to complete the course on their own. [list is in lockdown at the stadium]..not certain who had got as far as week 7 but I can tell you that Diane Forth, Lee Allan and Steve Barnes completed the programme and 8 of them have formed a What's App group to continue running.
Great to hear of their obvious enthusiasm and success. What a success story for messaging apps in current life: Wendy and her associates use it too.
If you are out of touch with any colleagues, there is a good chance we have an email address or phone number for them. If you send a request to reply@rotherhamharriers.org we can forward your contact request.
Alternatively, if you try joe.egg@rotherhamharriers.org that address does not exist so me and Steve Gaines receive it as a "catch-all"
No substantial change in the information coming to us except that our somewhat gloomy forecasts look fully justified at this time....
A major concern developing is that based on evidence from Italy, the possibility of 'herd immunity' which protects people in general in some viral outbreaks seems not to work with coronavirus. Hence we need a vaccine for complete safety. Not this year though..
If athletic sports ultimately can resume later in the year, precautions might still be needed- so I would guess track and field ('low contact') could start before road racing (inevitable 'mass groups')
But there again, many T&F participants will be short of training, and very many track and field judges and administrators are over-70.....
Current government advice and requirements are here
Thanks to Dave Nuttall for a truly inspiring training hill. Maybe that should be awe-inspiring! Dave lives just over the town boundary in Sheffield, not far from Concord Park, he does the local Park Run I believe.
As his narrative below says, the route starts at the Park car park (marked SF) heading broadly north and dropping off-road to Ecclesfield Road (ER). Then it's on the Tour route along the valley bottom: I was on Jenkin Road on the tour stage, it was a brillliant atmosphere. The sharp right turn at (JR) climbing back up to the park is shown in the lower route and profile
Narrative :
Here's my hill run
"Cote de Jenkin Road" as featured in Tour de France.
A 5 m run with 0.5m hill 11 % gradient which
increases to 22% about halfway up.
Start at Concord Sports Centre car park.
Enter the park and follow the path past tennis courts.
At top of the hill take a path to right alongside the golf course. Follow the path until you reach the car park.
Exit the park and turn right down Sycamore House Road, at the next junction go right down Woolley Wood Road.
At the end of the houses turn right down path to Ecclesfield Road. Turn right and follow main road for about 2 miles until you come to Jenkin Road. Turn right and go up hill.
At the top drop down other side and follow the main road back to the sports center.
Our motto:
KEIN BERGE MEHR !
(When we've done them all........)
Thanks to Andrea HH
Please supply your own regular/favourite training or pleasure route. Whoever you are, wherever you are
Social NEARNESS but PHYSICAL distancing !!
A straightforward training run which can be done as a circuit either way round, go towards Dalton first to get best hill value. It's also easy to access Silverwood wood part way round- the wood has always been quite safe, being open in nature and popular with walkers.
And the Oldgate Lane -- Hollings Lane sequence is a good test either in 2 or 3 stages, or all at once. You will have worked out (or will soon) that successful running uphill is about thinking and planning in advance. This is a good test of it.
You can run it how you like. The route shown is start at 'ASDA' (M, Mushroom Garage for locals)head towards Doncaster, fork right in Dalton at ('D') after the LIDL (not the right turn, the right FORK uphill). Take a deep breath and put your plan in action
The crossroads ('R') is not the highest point of this run, Bawtry Road at the top of Church Lane is highest. But you've done the hard work
Turn right at the crossroads, on and down into Bramley Brook, follow the main drag up a bit and swing right up Church Lane before the narrow main street in Bramley to reach Bawtry Road. Right turn and home.