On a lovely and pleasant Saturday,….if anyone can remember what that is !
BRATS were there in force; dominant over all others in numbers having with six teams, and a strong A team to boot. The B team were looking a real potential force to qualify, but illness hit their team making qualification it a tall order.
The six stage when compared with the twelve in Spring; has always been more difficult for us to shine, however, we are not traditionalists. The best of the Midlands all in our sights.
First leg, just like an “old man’s” particular seat in a pub had Dan’s name on it (He is a veteran, so appropriate). There were four athletes away: Bath, Bristol, Bath, Newcastle and Dan; who took on the lead on the way down to the lake. A great performance and pb putting us into 4th position. Karl was flying, overhauling a fast disappearing Bath and Newcastle, but being overhauled by Cheltenham; so onwards and upwards to 3rd. Ben Carrington was our next man who suffered an onslaught of very quick legs from predictably Birchfield, Notts and Tipton. Rugby and Birchfield B also inched past us and we were on the back foot. Mark Ince was next up; holding our now 9th position, but dropping back from Rugby and Birchfield. Great to see relatively new boy Henry Brocklehurst, well new to BRAT relays anyway. He pinched a place back from Birchfield B, and closed on Rugby. Glory leg specialist James Marshall was our final hope. Shame on any doubters; he raced a great leg and time, overhauling Rugby, dropping Birchfield B completely and gaining on Coventry.
7th it was, our best ever finish at the 6 stage, without a B team ahead of us, and a lot of good Midland teams behind us.
We should be pleased and proud of this performance. Now it’s time to take on the rest of the country !
A shame the B team had bad luck and were not quite strong enough to go through. Well done to , Jamie, Dan, Thanos, Damian and Nick. A pb for Thanos and I thought a good time by Dan Dalmedo in B and Chris Burrows in C.
I am always wary to state a pb these days, as courses have changed so much. Sorry if you ran well and I have not mentioned you by name. Have a look at the names and times below. Particularly notable is Paul Cannon, who appears to be our 3rd fastest athlete of the day !
Not sure which way you went Paul, but I have a good idea. Dazed and Confused comes to mind, but then I have always liked Led Zep.
With six teams; I am being lazy at the fear of being repetitive, and will just end by saying well done to all. A great atmosphere on the day with a suitable reward not just for the A team, but particularly everyone who raced, and also our supporters.
Richard.
7 Birmingham Running Athletics & ‘A’ 1:55:40
Daniel Robinson (4) 18:20
Karl Welborn (3) 18:52
Ben Carrington (9) 19:58
Mark Ince (9) 19:45
Henry Brocklehurst (8) 19:34
James Marshall (7) 19:11
35 Birmingham Running Athletics & ‘B’ 2:06:36
Ashley Fawke (44) 20:44
Jamie Abbiss (44) 21:26
Dan Dalmedo (42) 21:11
A Tsolakis (38) 20:41
Damian Cartland (38) 22:16
Nick Lewis (35) 20:18
52 Birmingham Running Athletics & ‘C’ 2:13:42
Toby Close (79) 22:46
Ben Beaumont (67) 21:47
Adam Western (59) 22:02
Brian Mcevoy (58) 22:40
Chris Grimley (57) 22:50
Chris Burrows (52) 21:37
79 Birmingham Running Athletics & ‘D’ 2:28:17
Andy Piddington (92) 23:40
Andrew Saker (98) 26:13
Joe Preece (89) 24:14
Martin Ludford (91) 26:32
Huw Jones (80) 22:59
Nick Price (79) 24:39
93 Birmingham Running Athletics & ‘E’ 2:38:11
Jort van Mourik (111) 27:09
Robert Rose (108) 27:39
Alex Edwards (103) 25:57
Sandeep Dhami (105) 31:56
Harry Fowler (103) 26:37
Paul Cannon (93) 18:53
Birmingham Running Athletics & ‘F’ DNF
David Sansom (118) 30:52
Richard Carney (113) 30:24
Chris Davy (111) 35:23
Simon Fawke (110) 29:55