"In response to Bedfordshire being placed in Tier 4, and the rapid rise in cases locally, we have decided to suspend all training activity both at the stadium and in public spaces. Please adhere to Government guidance when training on your own in public spaces. We will keep this decision under review as the situation develops."
Public Space Covid Secure training returns from 30th March (the booking system is now open)
You can find the latest England Athletics guidance here: https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/news/guidance-update-2021/
In addition to training at Bedford International Athletics Stadium, and in line with England Athletics guidance, Bedford and County offers Covid secure training in a number of selected public spaces.
Bedford & County Athletics Club - Wheelchair Racing have been putting on twice weekly virtual sessions for our athletes during lockdown. Normally training would take place at Bedford International track and at Biggleswade AC track in Sandy in the absence of this the coaches have helped organise rollers for our athletes so they’re able to train indoors statically and for those that don’t have a roller the chair is set up on bricks in the garden and tethered. The sessions are held via Zoom and consist of a weekly shorter sprint session consisting of short burst and fast pushes and a longer hour and a half session designed to increase endurance.
This is Rebecca Dean - the Wheelchair section's newest recruit. Howard Darbon's group is now up to five, and doubtless will continue to grow.
Bedford has now been removed from the government's Covid 19 watch list, and so training resumes from Tuesday club 25th August. Please see the Small Group Training article for information about how to book training sessions.
Sadly, in light of the Bedford being added to to the government's Covid 19 watch list as an area of concern, the club has decided to suspend all training until 25th August. The situation will then be reviewed - please keep an eye on the website for announcements.
The committee understands - and indeed shares - the disappointment that the many club members who were enjoying the return to training will feel. However, action now, together with increased vigilance, may help to forstall the town being subjected to a local lockdown, and the difficult decision to suspend training was taken in this context. The current positivity rate in Bedford stands at 2.3%, and is rising, and cannot be attributed to any single cause. Bedford Borough Council has asked the town to avoid gatherings, as early action now may help to prevent a worse problem later. We hope club members will understand why it was necessary to suspend training, and can be assured that we will do everything we can to resume training when the situation allows. For more information about the context in which this decision was taken, see this news article from Bedford Borough Council, and Bedford Borough Council's most recent Covid 19 update. Also see, Public Health England's latest Covid 19 Surveillance Report, in which Bedford is listed as an area of concern.
Thanks to the recent relaxation of restrictions on sport by the government and England Athletics, Bedford and County A.C. is now able to further ease restrictions on training. We are now operating as a Covid-19 secure environment under England Athletic's step 3 guidelines. In order to achieve this, the club has had to appoint a Covid-19 officer, and club chairman Martyn Blackwell is acting in this capacity. The main changes are that more athletes are now allowed in some zones, and that hurdles are now allowed in zones 1 & 2 on a Sunday only. An overview of the updated policy is provided below (the fully policy is here).
Following reports of two cases of Lyme disease due to tick bites in Bedford Park, Bedford Borough Council is reminding people to be aware while out in local parks and open spaces.
There are several virtual races coming up during the next few weeks. To take part in these, you generally need a GPS running watch, and a Strava or Garmin account. The latter is free, although unfortunately GPS watches are not! You complete your run in a socially distanced manner, and then upload your time. Entry is often free, and sometimes there is the opportunity to make a donation to charity. A virtual race is effectively a time trial, but with an edge to it because your aim is to get as high up the leader board as you can. Some events are open to juniors – this usually requires a parent to accompany the athlete. Explore the links below to find out more about three of the virtual races that are coming up over the next few weeks:
If you haven’t already renewed your Bedford and County membership, you can do that now at a reduced rate.
Given the unusual circumstances this year, the club committee has decided on a 2 stage approach:
Licenced Competition Suspended until at Least 30th June 2020
In response to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, England Athletics have extended the suspension of all licenced competition until at least 30th June 2020. This means that all club competitions, including leagues, championships and open meetings due to take place up to that date have been cancelled. Additionally, the English Schools Athletics Association cancelled the 2020 English Schools Championships some weeks ago.
All other collective athletic activity, including group training, remains suspended until at least the end of May. England Athletics say that they are likely to review this again during the week commencing 4th May.
However, the suspension of competition does not seem to apply to unlicensed virtual time trials, so long as these comply with social distancing rules. In fact, England Athletics have recently provided free access to the virtual running platforms OpenTrack and Racefully for all member clubs. A number of virtual races that club members may want to investigate are now popping up on OpenTrack (https://opentrack.run/product/virtual-racing.html).
Please see https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/news/statement-suspension-of-competitions-extended-u20-u23-champs-postponed/ for the full England Athletics statement on the suspension of competitions.
Bedford & County’s European Masters Hurdles Champion Tennyson James took the top Award at the Bedford Borough Sports Awards held at the Corn Exchange on Monday night.
Bedford Borough Awards night is always an inspiring occasion with hundreds of outstanding sports men and women nominated in eleven different categories, with many of the nominees internationals and some even world champions in their respective sports.
Winning an award is not easy, but Tennyson deservedly triumphed from a field of fourteen nominees from ten different sports to take the Adult Sports Personality of the Year.
His citation reads:
“Bedford & County athlete Tennyson has achieved outstanding success on the track this year at both National and International level. Earlier in the season he set a new British age group record and Championships best performance in winning the 60m at the British Masters Indoor Athletics Championships. He went on to take an international title in the 100m hurdles at the European Masters Championships in Venice to become European Champion 2019.”
Two other members were also nominated for the Adult Personality Award:
Frankie Johnson, the UK number one U20 Pole Vaulter, who won indoor and outdoor titles in that age group as well as finishing 5th and 7th in the Senior Indoor and Outdoor National Championships respectively. He also represented Great Britain at the prestigious Under 20 International in Mannheim.
Alek Swiecicki brought home a multitude of medals from the European Masters Championships: a gold in the Steeplechase (setting a new British record by some 19 seconds); a silver in the 5000m and a brace of bronzes for individual and team in the cross country.
Five club members were among the twenty nine nominated for the Junior Sports Personality of the Year:
Alex Alston who was 2nd in the England Athletics U17 Steeplechase and also 2nd in the Youth Nations Cup representing England, ranking 5th in the UK.
Etienne Maughan, who was 4th in both hurdles and long jump at the England Athletics U15 Championships, 5th in the 100m at the English Schools Championships and ranked in the UK top ten in four different events.
Stephen Simmons was English Schools Octathlon Champion, ranking number one in the UK, 2nd in the schools international pentathlon, 2nd in the England Athletics U17 hurdles (ranking second) and also ranked 7th in the UK in the discus.
Gracie Wall was English Schools U15 High Jump Champion in her first year in the age group, and also finished 4th in the England Athletics Indoor Championships and 5th in the Outdoor Championships, ranking 4th in the UK.
Tia Wilson not only finished 1st in the Inter Counties Cross Country, 4th in the National Cross Country and 5th in the English Schools Cross County, but also claimed 3rd place in the English Schools U19 3000m and 2nd in the Youth Nations Cup 300m. In addition, Tia has achieved the qualifying time for the Olympic Trials in swimming at 1500m front crawl.
Wheelchair racer Varun Bandi was nominated in the Disability Sport Award Category. He was a founder member of the Club’s wheelchair racing section. His achievements this year include 3rd place in the London Mini Marathon. He trains at the track on Sunday mornings and plays wheelchair tennis at Riverside Tennis Club.
The club was also nominated for the Sports Club of the Year, mainly for the development of young coaches.
Guest of honour, Bedford Resident James Keothavong, answered questions about his life as one of the world’s top tennis umpires. Apart from being hit full on the head by a wild shot (and he even laughed about that at the time), he enjoyed being in the high chair and controlling even the most temperamental players citing humour and good communication with the players as vital to his success. He said that the greatest privilege of his career so far was being in the Chair for the epic 2017 Australian final between Federer and Nadal.
It’s a brilliant reflection on Bedford and County that so many of our athletes were nominated. Well done to all the nominees (and especially Tenny), and also to all of the Bedford and County coaches, clubmates and volunteers who have been key to their development.
