Month: January 2024

Week commencing 29 January 2024

Training this week : on Monday, 10k-ish on the roads. On Wednesday, sprints of 50m, 100m and 150m on Copenhagen Drive. Hi-viz and/or lights please.

Racing : no open races this week or next.

Closing dates : next Sunday is the last date to accept invitations to the UK Athletics Indoor Championships 3000m races in Birmingham on 18 February. More details here. And also the last day to enter the European Masters Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, on 17-23 March. Features indoor 3000m races and outdoor 5000m races. More details here.

Week commencing 22 January 2024

Training this week : on Monday, 10k-ish on the roads. On Wednesday, 3 x 1000m on laps of the estate. Hi-viz and/or lights please.

Racing this week : on Sunday, the Aldershot Open track races of up to 5000m, starting at 10:45, and they are the last event in this winter’s Ray Hall League. More details in the full-page ad in the latest Race Walking Record, enter here by Tuesday.

Racing next week : none.

Week commencing 15 January 2024

Training this week : on Monday, 10k-ish on the roads. On Wednesday, 3 x 1000m on laps of the estate. It’s expected to be cold. Hi-viz and/or lights please.

Racing this week : on Saturday at 2 pm, races of 5k, 10k and 15k near Steyning, Sussex. More details here.

Racing next week : on Sunday 28th it’s the Aldershot Open track races of up to 5000m, starting at 10:45, and they are the last race in this winter’s Ray Hall League. More details in the full-page ad in the latest Race Walking Record, enter here by Tuesday 23rd.

Week commencing 8 January 2024

Training this week : on Monday, back to usual with 10k-ish on the roads. On Wednesday, 3 x 1000m on laps of the estate. It’s expected to be cold. Hi-viz and/or lights please.

Racing this week : on Saturday at 10:30am, this year’s Enfield League kicks off at Donkey Lane, Enfield, with races up to 10k. Plus presentations to the winners of last year’s League. Details here, enter here. On Sunday at Coventry, probably from 12 noon, the final event in this year’s Midland Winter League, with races of 5k and 10k. Some details here, enter using this form. More details expected soon.

Racing next week : on Saturday 20th at 2 pm, races of 5k, 10k and 15k near Steyning, Sussex. Be ready to leave the Steyning AC clubhouse at 1:30. More details expected soon.

Closing dates : Saturday is the last day for over-35s to express interest in representing the South in the England Masters Inter-Area Indoors match over 2000m on 25 February.

Anti-Doping – changes for 2024

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited Substances and Methods list has been updated for 2024, coming into effect on 1 January. More details here.

The major change is that the painkiller tramadol is now banned. Recreational drugs currently illegal in this country, remain banned for athletics purposes.

If you have medical needs, be sure to check your medications against the new lists, using an up-to-date list of ingredients, and get any Therapeutic Use Exemptions that you may need. If you need to, read the list with a medical or scientific professional.

The strong guidance issued for athletes by UK Anti-Doping during 2017 on nutritional supplements – basically, stay away from them, or be very, very careful – remains in place. More details on the page linked to above.