Newstead Athletics 2020 Virtual Series

The Newstead Athletics Club supports the measures in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 but we are missing you all at our weekly cross country runs.  In an effort to keep us all connected, provide motivation and have some fun, we are going to conduct a virtual series until restrictions are lifted. 

How it will work - Every week, we will create an event on Facebook & Strava which will be the same distances as we originally planned for that week.  We invite you to run your chosen distance any time on Saturdays between 6am - 6pm. You record your run (see below options).  Results will be published with handicaps applied just so we can all get a measure of how we’re going and it adds to the fun and sense of involvement.

How to setup Strava - To make it easy to see everyone’s runs, we ask that you download the ‘Strava’ app which is free.  For those with a running watch it is possible to link your watch to Strava which means that your run will automatically be published.  If you don’t have a running watch, you can use the Strava app on your mobile phone to record and publish your runs. 

Once you have downloaded Strava, join the Newstead Athletics Club (Explore>>Clubs and search for Newstead).  It is easier to navigate through the process on a computer rather than mobile device.  Your run will appear on our club recent activity page but please name your run ‘Newstead Virtual Run – Week XX’ to assist in locating it.  Some notes on Strava settings:

• Strava is quite public and essentially you are showing the world where you start and end your activities and what times you leave the house and the tracks that you go on.
• Go to “Profile Page> Who can see” (on the computer) or “Profile Page” (on the app), change this so that it is Followers. This means that you need to approve who follows you.
• Do not allow (accept) anyone who you don’t know to follow you. If someone does ask to follow you, make sure you check them out. Look at their profile, do they follow people that you know? Are they the people you would expect them to follow?
• Go to ‘Privacy Zone’ and set a privacy zone around where you usually start and finish your activities (usually your house).  I would choose 1km just to be extra safe.  This blocks out the area so people can’t see where you live.
• Select ‘Everyone’ for who can view your activities to allow us to see your run.
• Please allow Barbara Clayton, Mick Halaby & Jen Tait to follow you so we can see your runs.

Notes - If you choose not to use Strava, then take a photo of your watch and post in the discussion tab on the Facebook event for that week.  The system may not be foolproof so please let us know if we have missed anyone.  For those without a mobile device (probably children for the short distance), please can parents post your name and time on the Facebook event page.

These runs won’t count towards consistency trophies but will count towards your total Newstead runs for the Long Term Clubber Awards.  It will be fun so let’s jump on board. 

Important - Don’t forget to comply with Government regulations such as exercising in your own municipality and running with no more than one person, unless they are part of your household.  Any questions, just let us know.  Event schedule as follows:

• 25/4/2020 – Week 3 – (Gravelly Beach)  –  5k / 4k / 2k
• 2/5/2020 – Week 4 – (Grindelwald) – 6k / 3k / 1.5k
• 9/5/2020 – Week 5 – (Goaty Hill) – 5k / 3k / 1.5k
• 16/5/2020 – Week 6 – (Hagley Farm School) – 5k / 3k / 1.5k
• 23/5/2020 – Week 7 – (Scotch Oakburn Park) – 6k / 3k / 1.5k
• 30/5/2020 - Week 8 – (Trevallyn Reserve) – 6k / 3k / 1.5k 

Full list of events in this file HERE