Buxton AC juniors are doing their best to keep themselves fit and healthy while adhering to all the social distancing guidelines during the current COVID-19 crisis. The youngsters are taking part in various “virtual” challenges and sharing their training experiences with their athletics friends using social media.
With regular training sessions cancelled the Buxton coaches are using social media to set training tasks for the youngsters in place of face-to-face sessions and issuing weekly challenges where the youngsters take on the coaches and their parents!
The first challenge set by coach Terry Fowler, was to perform a 360 degree “roll” exercising your hip flexors while balancing a “slipper” on your raised foot! The juniors won this challenge with 12 athletes mastering the “slipper balance” followed by 7 coaches and 5 parents! The next challenge – a round the clock “lunging” task – currently stands at athletes and coaches level at 4 each with parents falling behind at 1!
Virtual “races” have also taken place using run mapping services such as Strava with runners each doing their own routes “racing” each other, virtually, over various distances. The 3K Challenge saw the youngsters complete a 3k run local to them – then repeat the same run the following week to see who could improve their time. 14 Buxton juniors had a go with Flo Brown and Stanley Cook making the most improvement with 17% and 12% improvements respectively – winning themselves a chocolate egg each.
The 1st of April was due to be one of the Club’s regular organised races. Jim’s “Dream Mile” usually takes place around the Pavilion Gardens but due to the current restrictions the race took place using social distancing protocols with athletes each running individually from their own homes. 10 Buxton athletes completed their mile, with Jonty Brown and Tommy Goulding both managing to achieve impressive personal best times over this distance.
Finally this weekend should have been the Club’s Pavilion Gardens 5k race. Again the juniors rose to the challenge each running a solo local 5km course and posting their race results online. 32 Buxton AC runners took part in this Lockdown 5k with the juniors taking the top places. On a super warm Saturday Harry Bond ran the fastest time in a blistering 16:33 with Jack Cook in 2nd place in a scorching time of 19:27. First lady was Buxton junior Lucy Bednall in a red hot 20:59 followed by team mate Amy Whelan steaming round 23:24. Buxton AC Junior of the future Leon Waplington aged 4 ran his first ever full mile accompanied by his dad, a Buxton Target 5k graduate in a great time of 12:23. Leon said that the mile run was even tougher than PE with Joe Wicks!
Just for fun the Buxton Juniors have also produced a video of the infamous “Loo Roll Relay Challenge” where 22 juniors have sent in videos of themselves running, jumping, playing football and basically fooling around with a loo roll – passing it “virtually” between themselves! As one Buxton AC juniors parent said, “I have watched this video loads of times now and every time it makes me smile!” And that’s what the Buxton juniors are doing – they are staying in touch with their friends, taking healthy exercise and having fun whilst still making sure that they are staying safe and supporting their communities.
Buxton AC Coach Rachel Dowle said, “It must be so hard for our kids – no school, no training, they can’t meet up with their friends or see extended family – I can’t imagine how frightening this situation must feel for them, but they are coping so well – they are really showing how resilient they are and we are all really enjoying sharing experiences, coaching sessions online and how amazing it is that the parents are joining their kids – exercising together and enjoying some really quality time together. Truly inspirational! Keep smiling juniors!”
Entries in the Buxton Juniors – Easter Egg Decorating Competition!
