Berkshire County AA Road Running Championships - 2007
Dear Club Secretary (or e-mail contact from club website), I have taken over from Stueart Wight as the organiser for these Championships following his retirement at the end of last year. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the handover, it was only possible to hold the Marathon Championships during 2006. However, for 2007 the full set of 4 road races (10k - Marathon) will be held Please note that further information on these championships can be found at:- http://www.maidenheadac.co.uk/berks_champs.htm To minimise administrative costs I would like to send relevent (infrequent) communications by e-mail. These typically would involve notifications that Berks Championship results are available on the website above, notification of events for the following year etc, i.e. about half a dozen per year. My apologies for the slightly late notification, especially in regards of the Half Marathon, but I only received details of affiliated clubs from Berks AA this week. Best Regards Mark Hollands - Maidenhead AC Berks County AA Road Running Championship organiser mark_hollands@btconnect.com Fixtures - 2007 Half Marathon Wokinghan Half Marathon 11th February Confirmed 2, 4 http://www.wokinghamhalfmarathon.co.uk/ 10 Miles Maidenhead Easter Ten 6th April Provisional 1, 3 http://www.maidenheadac.co.uk/ 10K Wargrave 10K 10th June Confirmed 1, 3 http://www.wargraverunners.net/ Marathon Abingdon Marathon 21st October Provisional 2, 4 http://www.abingdonamblers.co.uk/

To all Berkshire Athletics Organisations REMINDER:- This year's Berkshire Half Marathon Championships will be incorporated into the Wokingham Half Marathon on Sunday 11th Feb 2007. For entry to the race, see:- http://www.wokinghamhalfmarathon.co.uk/ (NOTE: Less than 200 places left as at 05/01/07) To assist with the race, contact:- wokingham.half@ntlworld.com For entry method and qualifying criteria for the Berkshire Championships, see:- http://www.maidenheadac.co.uk/berks_champs.htm (NOTE: Race entry alone is NOT sufficient for entry to the Berkshire County Championships.) Thanks Mark Hollands - pp Berkshire County AA

Hi Nick It's probably best to email Mark directly with this question: mark_hollands@btconnect.com . Mark asked me to forward the info onto TVT members but I don't believe we are affililated to the AAA anymore.

All, please note that I picked up the following e-mail this morning (sent last night) from Abingdon Amblers to the organisers of the various county and vets Championships that use this event:- "Regretfully we have had to cancel this year’s marathon. We opened entries in March in the hope that gaps in key positions on the organising committee would be filled but unfortunately that has not been the case and we decided last night that the best course of action was to call the marathon off for this year. We do apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience this will cause." Please ensure that your athletes are aware of this. At the current (early) stage I see 3 possible options:- 1) No Berkshire Marathon Championships this year 2) Find another local(ish) event with a similar timeframe for those planning an Autumn Marathon - although this may not exist, &/or may be too late to arrange with organisers anyway. 3) Use FLM as the Berks Champs. Whilst not everyone that wants to enter FLM can, the reality is that with GFA places available, the majority of those likely to win Berkshire medals are probably quick enough to get guaranteed places. I will be speaking to members of the Berks AA committee and updates will be posted at http://www.maidenheadac.co.uk/berks_champs.htm If anyone has any views on the options above please let me know ASAP. Thanks Mark - pp Berkshire County AA

All, further to my e-mail of April 13th advising that the Abingdon Marathon has been cancelled, and discussions with members of the Berkshire County AA committee, the following decision has been made:- - For 2007, the Berkshire County AA Marathon Championship will be decided on the basis of this year's official results for the Flora London Marathon. (See below for entry details.) NOTE: this event will NOT count towards the 2007 trophy series. We appreciate that this is not an ideal scenario, and that some runners who would liked to have run at London will not have a place. (This is why the event will NOT count towards the series.) The reasons for making this decision are as follows:- - The majority of those who are likely to be in contention for county medals will have had the opportunity to get a guaranteed place through the Good For Age system. (Over half those winning medals in the last 3 years at Abingdon had times that would have provided a GFA place, aside from any better performances elsewhere). - After reviewing event details on Runners World, there appear to be no marathons during the remainder of 2007 within the whole of BB&O. - Similarly there appear to be no 20-mile races as an alternative. - Widening the net further, the only events that appear vaguely plausible are the New Forest Marathon (16th Sept) or Luton (2nd Dec). Whilst both are UK:A Gold Graded events and only 5 weeks earlier / 6 weeks later than the original Abingdon date, geographically neither is particularly suitable. Using Reading as an approximate centre for the clubs affiliated to County, both venues are over twice (for New Forest nearly 3 times) as far as the original venue. Athletes from the further reaches of the county would be looking at journeys in excess of 80 milesor more. Consequently the Berkshire entry for London is likely to be far higher, and more representative, than either of these events. Entry Details:- For those with places in Sunday's Flora London Marathon, who are eligible for, and wish to be entered in, the Berkshire County Marathon Championships, please send the following information to mark_hollands@btconnect.com:- Name: Club: Age on race day: Race number: Note: Eligibility criteria are as follows:- " a) Any individual born in Berkshire OR permanently and continuously resident in Berkshire for 9 months before the race, AND b) who has not competed for any other county, or in any other county championships, in the previous 12 months." Due to the short notice of this change, entries will be accepted retrospectively if received by the end of April. This will also allow time for any minor corrections / additions to be made to the FLM results. (Information within this e-mail will also be posted on the championship website at:- http://www.maidenheadac.co.uk/berks_champs Regards Mark pp Berkshire County AA