View from the Chair – October 2020
Dear all,
Autumn is here with wet ground and darkening evenings but athletes are hardy creatures – with the right shoes, warm and waterproof clothes we can still get out there and enjoy ourselves.
This winter training will be somewhat different from normal with no indoor training at the University Sports Centre and less room on the track. However, behind the scenes work has continued apace. We have had several training groups fill up and so I want to share with you two key initiatives we’ve undertaken.
After the success of the virtual road runners (adult Endurance) training throughout lockdown, some training started in August at sites away from Wilberforce Road which has been well received. To provide some track time, the endurance coaches are now also offering Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. For information about Endurance running options please join the Endurance runners’ Facebook page. [This is not to be confused with the middle distance track groups run by Ric Park and Mark Vile, etc]
Secondly, applicable to everybody, the EA guidelines allow us to extend the number of athletes in a training group beyond 5 if we create a COVID Secure environment. Thank you everyone for filling out the COVID Declaration form thus far. We are now extending the list of questions to include an explicit requirement to inform your coach or a club official if you have Covid symptoms or are tested positive within 2 weeks of training at the club.
This does mean we need everybody to fill out the new declaration form here – a Google form, so no scanning or signing or emailing required. This will not be required before every training session but we do need you to remind yourself of your obligations regularly, and when signing up to a training session, there is a tickbox for you to confirm your Covid declaration still applies. In this way coaches have the freedom to have groups of up to 12 athletes each, depending on the environment of the training. This gives more people an opportunity to train in a safe and enjoyable setting.
Please go and fill out the new Google form now, then have fun and stay safe.
Regards,
Keith Clarke
Chair, C&C AC