On Wednesday 2 December the nation will emerge from Lockdown 2.0 to a rather different set of restrictions designed to reduce the spread of Coronavirus. Almost 99% of the country has been placed in the toughest tier 2 and 3 categories with only Cornwall, the Isle of Wight, and the Isles of Scilly escaping more lightly with the rather less restrictive tier 1 regime.

Fortunately for the almost 150,000 active RunTogether runners in 2,820 RunTogether running groups in England, and the thousands of competitive athletes in hundreds of affiliated clubs, there is clear, updated guidance regarding training and the return of competition in all areas from England Athletics, following extensive discussions with UK Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Sport England.

Runners can breathe a collective sigh of relief to hear that outdoor training in limited numbers can resume immediately in all tiers, with certain restrictions regarding travelling to comply with national measures. Groups of six runners may meet to train together in all locations but must avoid travelling into higher tier areas to train or while training (mirroring the national restrictions).

Understandably, there are far more stringent restrictions on training indoors and these arrangements also follow the national measures. In general terms, unrestricted indoor training in groups is not permitted except in those few tier 1 areas.

However, the good news is that road, cross-country, trail, and mountain running competition and even track and field athletics is permitted again in all areas – subject to national travel restrictions – as long as all organisers and participants adhere to England Athletics and government guidance. The full guidance is available at England Athletics here

In Northern Ireland, all athletics activities remain suspended until at least 11 December and different arrangements apply in Wales and Scotland, where restricted competition is taking place.

Already, many race organisers have announced that events are open throughout England and runABC's December fixture list sees opportunities to release some of that pent-up lockdown angst. Visit runABC race listing in your region to see where and when you can get back in action. 

Image: Running track at night by Jan Huber on Unsplash