Mile Segments
You must evidence that you have completed a mile in the time needed for a Standard by recording a Strava activity on a designated route where a Squirrels Strava Segment exists. These segments will initially be introduced and run on club nights from early spring. Thereafter members can attempt them on their own to improve times. There are three locations:
- Great Central Way, Leicester
- Stemborough Lane, Leire
- Pingles stadium (track), Nuneaton
The Strava widgets on this page show the fastest times for everyone in the world who has run them. However, you can also see fastest times for just Squirrel's members by clicking the button to open it in Strava, and then using the filters to show just Squirrel's Running Group members.
Recording the Segment on Strava
Ideally, the mile you run will match against one of the Strava segments listed below - but it is possible it might not for various reasons. Providing your recorded activity shows you running in one of these locations, and is a mile in distance, we encourage you to not worry about it showing in the Strava segment and submit a link or screenshot of the activity showing the "Best Efforts" information (more guidance below under the Pingles section).
Here are some tips for ensuring Strava matches the Segment:
- When running a mile segment it is important to start running a little before the official start point and continue running for a few seconds when you reach the end point. This will ensure that you pass the start and end points when you are running at speed. The segment can be recorded as a single 1 mile run or as part of a longer run.
- Ensure that your watch or phone has picked up a GPS signal before you start. Failure to do so can mean that the start is not recognised and the segment will not show on Strava.
- Ensure that your watch or phone is not in Auto Pause mode when you start running. Failure to do so can mean that the start is not recognised because as you pass it, auto pause is still active and the segment will not show on Strava. If you use auto-pause then just walk or jog to make sure it has restarted before starting the run.
- Another factor which may stop Strava recognising the segment is your Strava privacy settings. You must opt in to appearing in Segment leaderboards. You may also have a setting enabled which hides the start location of your activities. You can get around this by either disabling this setting, or alternatively by starting to record the activity and then moving / walking / jogging lightly for roughly a quarter of a mile before starting the segment attempt.
1. Great Central Way
This can be run in either direction, North or South. Please start and end several steps either side of the start and end points to ensure Strava matches it to the segment.
- The Southbound segment starts by the steps to the canal towpath and ends at the junction with the path to Everard's Meadows.
- The Northbound segment starts at the junction with the path to Everard's Meadows and ends at the start of the bridge over Middleton Street.
2. Stemborough Lane, Leire
This can be run in either direction, downhill start or uphill start.
If you are starting uphill, you start at the sign pictured and then turnaround at the manhole cover and run back to the start. If you are starting downhill, you start at the manhole cover and you turn around at the sign.
However there are 2 such signs as Leicestershire Round footpath cuts off a corner and reappears further down. It is the second sign that is the turnaround.
3. Pingles Stadium (track)
A mile can be evidenced here in several ways:
- Using the "Squirrels Mile - Track" Strava segment. You can start at the start point (pictured below) and complete four laps (and an extra 10 metres to ensure it is a mile - 1609 meters). If you are doing this you must start recording a new activity otherwise Strava will include any warmup laps and your "fast" laps will not match the segment. You must also try to run in lane 1 as much as possible to ensure Strava matches it to the segment, and to ensure the distance is accurate.
- Alternatively, you can start at any point on the track in any lane (but we suggest the start point pictured is best) and run a mile measured by your watch. As with the previous option, you must start recording a new activity. This won't match to the Strava segment but the point is that you evidence the mile by the recorded activity being exactly a mile.
- A third option is to start at any point on the track in any lane (but we suggest the start point pictured is best) and run any warmup and your mile attempt(s) in the same single Strava activity. Doing this method may mean you do not show in the Strava segment leaderboard, as it may not match your activity to the segment. It can be evidenced for Standards by using the Strava "Best Efforts" view to show you the quickest mile you did during the entire recorded activity.
The start point is directly outside the cafe area and is marked by a straight line with numbers for each lane, pictured below. The "Squirrels Mile - Track" segment may not show immediately as there are lots of other segments on the track (e.g. "Pingles mile"). The easiest way to make it show in your Strava activities is to view the link for the segment (click here or the widget below) and star or favourite it. Don't worry, you can attempt the mile and do this afterwards, it will still match your activity to the segment.
Broughton Leisure Centre loop
This was the original Squirrel's Mile segment, but it is no longer accepted for Squirrel's Standards due to safety issues with traffic when crossing roads. It is a clockwise loop of Broughton Astley Leisure Centre and the School fields. It starts and ends opposite the White Horse car park.
