This is just to let everybody know that the Bedford and County committee is actively discussing plans for 2021, including league competition, and how to get the club up and running again once the current restrictions have been eased.  We would love to be in a position to give more information about the timescales for a return to training and competition.  However, we are, like everybody, waiting for a government announcement.  If the pattern of previous lockdowns apply, this will be followed by an England Athletics announcement, and at that point the club will be in a better position to know what it is possible for us to do, and when.  In the meantime, we hope everybody is managing to stay fit and healthy, and is doing their best to prepare for competition, whenever that may be.

Are you interested in volunteering for Bedford and County?  Michael Headley, who has been our membership secretary for some time, is stepping down, and so we are looking for somebody new to look after this side of the club.

Membership secretary is an admin, backoffice role, but it is essential for the club.  It will be particularly imporant as the club tries to encourage new members (particularly youngsters) when the current restrictions are eased.  It is a role that you can do in your own time.  It involves maintaining a database of members, updating the England Athletics portal with our members' information, keeping stakeholders such as coaches and Team Managers up-to-date about membership changes, and also complying with Data Protection legislation.  Michael also maintains the Mailchimp emailing system.  There tends to be a lot of work to do in April, when annual memberships renew, and it is a little quieter at other times.

If you would like to take the role on, please contact club chairman, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

"In response to Bedfordshire being placed in Tier 4, and the rapid rise in cases locally, we have decided to suspend all training activity both at the stadium and in public spaces. Please adhere to Government  guidance when training on your own in public spaces.  We will keep this decision under review as the situation develops."

Public Space Covid Secure training returns from 30th March (the booking system is now open)

You can find the latest England Athletics guidance here: https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/news/guidance-update-2021/

In addition to training at Bedford International Athletics Stadium, and in line with England Athletics guidance, Bedford and County offers Covid secure training in a number of selected public spaces.

Bedford & County Athletics Club - Wheelchair Racing have been putting on twice weekly virtual sessions for our athletes during lockdown. Normally training would take place at Bedford International track and at Biggleswade AC track in Sandy in the absence of this the coaches have helped organise rollers for our athletes so they’re able to train indoors statically and for those that don’t have a roller the chair is set up on bricks in the garden and tethered. The sessions are held via Zoom and consist of a weekly shorter sprint session consisting of short burst and fast pushes and a longer hour and a half session designed to increase endurance.

This is Rebecca Dean - the Wheelchair section's newest recruit.  Howard Darbon's group is now up to five, and doubtless will continue to grow.

Bedford has now been removed from the government's Covid 19 watch list, and so training resumes from Tuesday club 25th August.  Please see the Small Group Training article for information about how to book training sessions.

Sadly, in light of the Bedford being added to to the government's Covid 19 watch list as an area of concern, the club has decided to suspend all training until 25th August.  The situation will then be reviewed - please keep an eye on the website for announcements.

The committee understands - and indeed shares - the disappointment that the many club members who were enjoying the return to training will feel.  However, action now, together with increased vigilance,  may help to forstall the town being subjected to a local lockdown, and the difficult decision to suspend training was taken in this context.  The current positivity rate in Bedford stands at 2.3%, and is rising, and cannot be attributed to any single cause.  Bedford Borough Council has asked the town to avoid gatherings, as early action now may help to prevent a worse problem later.  We hope club members will understand why it was necessary to suspend training, and can be assured that we will do everything we can to resume training when the situation allows.  For more information about the context in which this decision was taken, see this news article from Bedford Borough Council, and Bedford Borough Council's most recent Covid 19 update.  Also see, Public Health England's latest Covid 19 Surveillance Report, in which Bedford is listed as an area of concern.

Thanks to the recent relaxation of restrictions on sport by the government and England Athletics, Bedford and County A.C. is now able to further ease restrictions on training.  We are now operating as a Covid-19 secure environment under England Athletic's step 3 guidelines.  In order to achieve this, the club has had to appoint a Covid-19 officer, and club chairman Martyn Blackwell is acting in this capacity.  The main changes are that more athletes are now allowed in some zones, and that hurdles are now allowed in zones 1 & 2 on a Sunday only.  An overview of the updated policy is provided below (the fully policy is here).

Following reports of two cases of Lyme disease due to tick bites in Bedford Park, Bedford Borough Council is reminding people to be aware while out in local parks and open spaces.

There are several virtual races coming up during the next few weeks.  To take part in these, you generally need a GPS running watch, and a Strava or Garmin account.  The latter is free, although unfortunately GPS watches are not!  You complete your run in a socially distanced manner, and then upload your time.  Entry is often free, and sometimes there is the opportunity to make a donation to charity.  A virtual race is effectively a time trial, but with an edge to it because your aim is to get as high up the leader board as you can.  Some events are open to juniors – this usually requires a parent to accompany the athlete.  Explore the links below to find out more about three of the virtual races that are coming up over the next few weeks:

How to Renew Your Membership

If you haven’t already renewed your Bedford and County membership, you can do that now at a reduced rate.

Given the unusual circumstances this year, the club committee has decided on a 2 stage approach:

• Stage 1 is to ask now for renewal to the club at a reduced flat rate for the year, including EA (England Athletics) membership.
• Stage 2 would come later in the year when social distancing restrictions are relaxed, with the option of renewing the stadium pass with Fusion. We will not ask for anything further for the club element at that time and will be expecting Fusion to offer a discounted cost.