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.

We are extremely sad to hear of the passing of Peter Radcliffe, former chairman of Bedford and County AC who through his dedication and hard work helped many people within the club and wider athletics community. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.

Unfortunately, in light of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, there have been further cancellations of events beyond the official suspension of athletics competition (currently set at 30th June).

The cancellations are:

• The last remaining Southern Athletics League matches of the 2020 season - in July and August - have now been cancelled.  Sadly, this means that there will be no Southern Athletics League matches this year.  
• All Eastern Masters Athletics Club (EMAC) League matches, including the September Final at Bedford.
• The British Masters Athletics Championships that were due to take place at Bedford in mid-August.
• The July National Athletics League match.

In more positive news:
• The August and September EMAC League dates are being held for open meetings, should circumstances allow.
• A number of virtual races are taking place in June (see the article about upcoming virtual races in June 2020 for more information.)

In addition to the fixtures metioned previously, the fixtures below have also been cancelled. We will update this section with the latest fixture cancellations due to Coronavirus when we get them.

• Southern Athletics League match on 7th June has been cancelled.  
• The English Schools Championships, which was scheduled for 11th and 12th July has been cancelled, ESAAstatement.

It Isn’t All About Cancellations

For anybody wanting ideas about what to do, the England Athletics, Athletics @ Home website is worth a look: https://www.englandathletics.org/about-us/athletics-at-home/