2020 – THE YEAR OF VIRTUAL TRAINING & RACING

Eton Manor was determined to continue providing members with training opportunities despite the pandemic. This was achieved by hosting virtual events, which enabled members to run by themselves (adhering to the governmnent guidelines of the time) whilst being part of a virtual team. At the outset the aim was simply to provide virtual versions of our existing races, such as the Spring handicap and Christmas Cracker Baton Relay. However, it soon became apparent that our committee had many more ideas up their sleeves!

* * *

The first variation on the theme was the “250 parkruns challenge”. Members were challenged to run as many parkruns as possible in a fortnight, and reach a ‘virtual milestone tshirt’. We managed 291, smashing the target! You can see how we managed it here:

* * *

For our “Strava Art” challenge, members got their creative juices flowing by using their GPS tracking devices to draw images or patterns whilst out running. Below is a gallery of some of our favourite entries. Highlights were Gail’s “Running Self-Portrait” and Jess’ picture of an engagement ring, to celebrate her actual engagement!

* * *

Whoever came up with the idea of “Mile Bingo” deserves a medal. Members simply had to run a one-mile time trial and check to see if their time was one of the ones on a virtual bingo card. You could have as many goes as you wanted, which turned out to be a blessing, because running a mile to a desired time (and accurate to the second) turned out to be harder than it looked! In the end we crossed off an awful lot of numbers, but only got one line – but for two frustratingly addictive weeks, none of us was bored!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QrJ49u5Ih9T04UtO3t2NZLX6MtT_7wH06abSCxCKZAo/edit?usp=sharing

* * *

We were not to be deterred by the cancellation of the annual Spitfire Scramble event – we staged our own virtual version! Ten teams of eight runners each ran 24 x 1h time trials between them over a fortnight. This was our toughest lockdown challenge – running to the clock instead of by distance is harder than you might think! The team aspect here was the main thing, as it involved a lot of online coordination between members, and helped maintain the feeling of togetherness the club is known for.

* * *

“Virtual Snakes & Ladders” raised the bar once again. Members printed out their own game board at home, and then moved their own counter each day according to the number they rolled with the virtual dice. The number of each roll was determined by the number of miles run, so in addition to keeping us entertained, we racked up a fair amount of miles too!

* * *

The premise of our “Postbox Challenge” was simple: complete a run in which you tag five local post boxes, starting & finishing at your house – fastest overall time wins. The beauty of this event was that all the routes were different, so it wasn’t just about being fast, it was dependent on where you lived in relation to local postboxes. It was hotly contested and we had some great photos from members on their runs.

* * *

We subsequently levelled up to host the “Pubs Challenge”. The principle was the same except this time members had to tag eight pubs! In a diabolical twist, the rules demanded the pubs be visited in alphabetical order! This meant much longer routes, and required detailed planning to find the most efficient route. It also incited a lot of heated discussion on exactly how to define a pub … from pubs that have been turned into blocks of flats, to pubs that are outdoor cabins attached to pubs, and the age-old ‘is a bar a pub’ debate. Once again, we successfully kept our members entertained and enjoyed some great competitive running.

* * *

You can see all of our virtual events, along with the winners & outcomes, in this document:

* * *