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As Mike Ridger is now taking bookings for club members to train in groups of up to 6 athletes due to the Covid-10 restrictions, the existing bookings are now viewable in the Track Bookings Calendar on this website.

Dear Parents,

Thank you all for your enquiries and application forms for Startrack 2020. We had a discussion about it at committee recently and we came to the decision that reluctantly we will not be holding Startrack this year, certainly not yet anyway. We have not taken this decision lightly. We know there will be some disappointed young budding athletes but for safety’s sake we would not want to put anyone at risk.

The problems are manifold on numerous fronts.

Although we have opened our track for members-only training we can only train for hour-long sessions. We have to limit the numbers training there at any time due to this awful Coronavirus. We have to disinfect the gates and locks every time anyone goes into or out of the track. The same goes for any equipment we use which includes the Jump pits, which are supposed to be dug over after every athletes’ use of them, the High Jump bed which has to be sanitised after each athlete has jumped and so on. In addition, Putlands Leisure Centre is closed and therefore we have no toilet facilities or car parking. On top of all this it does not seem likely the Mascalls Academy will be open before our planned event would have taken place so there would be no indoor facility to use in the event of bad weather.

Also, many of our coaches are currently not working due to being furloughed and may well not have a job to go back to if everything begins to open up. They will need to earn money in order to live.

We have discussed the possibility of a shortened version of Startrack in the Autumn Half Term but this again will depend on the other facilities being available. This is the first time in over 30 years that we have had to cancel Startrack but we would rather put on a proper event than a mish mash one.

If there is any news of a shortened version of Startrack I will let everyone know as soon as possible.

Anyone who has filled in the form and e-mailed them to me I will keep them in my Startrack file anyway.

Thank you for your understanding, enjoy your summer and stay healthy.

Regards

MIKE DUFFIN

Startrack Organiser

England Athletics have released a document which details their “Route for Recovery” plans as Covid-19 restrictions are gradually reduced. As you will be able to see in the document below, we are currently at Stage 2. Stage 3 could be introduced on the 4th July, but EA will need to provide confirmation of this first.

Dear Member,

Our AGM was originally scheduled for the Monday 20th April 2020 and we were just about to send you the details when the full effects of the Covid-19 restrictions were announced and put into place. Therefore as I’m sure you will understand that we will have to postpone the AGM to a later date. As yet we are unable to confirm a date until we know when restrictions on travel and social distancing have been lifted.

Please rest assured that your committee and coaches are all still working hard behind the scenes to ensure the club keeps running, facilities are maintained, and the club stays up to date, with the aim of being able to hit the ground running (literally!) when we are allowed to resume normal daily life.

If you need any help or advice (training or otherwise) from the club and coaches during this difficult time please get in touch with us at info@paddockwoodac.co.uk your running (jumping and throwing) friends are still here for you.

Best Wishes

Liz Bignell (Duffin)

Club Secretary

Firstly, all coaches and committee members would like to wish everyone good health during these uncertain times.  The club would like to remind all athletes it would be wise to observe the social distancing guidelines during your training.   Although you are quite capable of arranging you own training plans, if anyone would like further advice or guidance, Richard Elliott and John Tilston are happy to support and if necessary provide schedules for your individual goals during the current ban on social gatherings.  If you require additional support please contact us via email, text or phone.  In the meantime, stay safe and look after yourselves and one’s close to you.  Happy running.

Regards

John

Paddock Wood AC, organisers of the Lambert and Foster Paddock Wood Half Marathon, take the health and safety of all our entrants, helpers, spectators and local residents very seriously.

With this in mind and following the recent government and England Athletics advice, we have no alternative but to postpone this year’s event and make priority the health of our nation the number one consideration. We are proposing to move the race to Sunday 6^th September 2020, with a 9.30am start. All existing entrants will automatically be re-registered to the new race date. If you are unable to race on the proposed new date or have any other race questions, please contact Sportsystems (our online race entry provider) by the 30^th April asking for a full refund.  Their email address is – enquiries@sportsystems.co.uk  If you want a refund and have also purchased a race t-shirt this can be refunded to, just advise Sportsystems.

We appreciate this decision will be disappointing for everyone but with the current situation surrounding COVID-19 and the world in an unprecedented situation grappling with the global pandemic, the health of everyone is a priority. We hope you understand this is not a decision we wanted to make.

We as a club are a charity and all the money we make from the event goes to various charities (this year’s main race charity is the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance). We hope you can work with us on some ongoing issues. One being the race medals which have already been made with the original race date on them (05-04-20). We will be handing these out to all finishers on the revised race date as we don’t want to incur further costs and environmentally, we don’t want 2500 medals going into landfill.

We thank you for your understanding and hope to see you all fit and healthy on Sunday 6^th September.

James Ridger

Race Director

The UK government has advised that everyone in the UK should now avoid “non-essential” travel and contact with others to fight coronavirus.  Whilst it has not issued any ban on public gatherings of any size either indoors or outdoors at this stage, the advice is to avoid non-essential contact with others, including going to sporting events, pubs, clubs, theatres and social venues.

As a result, England Athletics advises that all face-to-face activity such as club training sessions, events, competitions, club committee and face-to-face meetings, athlete camps, running groups and social events should be suspended until at least the end of April.

Therefore, all our training sessions are cancelled until further notice