Golden Jubilee of Service: Gordon Ainsley Wins Prestigious Award for 50 Years in Athletics
This year, Gordon Ainsley celebrates an incredible milestone: 50 years of volunteering in athletics. And in fitting tribute to his half-century of dedication, this extraordinary individual has been recognized with the very award for which he was nominated, cementing his place as one of the sport’s most impactful volunteers. A Passion Turned Lifelong Vocation Gordon’s journey began in the 1960s as a competitive athlete, specializing in the 400m hurdles at Chelmsford AC. Following a back injury, he transitioned his passion into coaching after moving to Birmingham in 1970. This marked the start of a deep commitment that would see him become a significant figure through several club evolutions—from Warley AC to Borough of Sandwell AC, then Birmingham Rowheath AC, and finally to the formation of the Birmingham Running, Athletics & Triathlon (BRAT) club in 2010. Gordon was instrumental in each merger, ensuring the club always focused on serving both the…
HEART OF ENGLAND: SEASON WRAP-UP – WE CAME, WE SAW, WE WON (A LOT)
A couple of months ago, Colin asked if I’d take over the Heart of England team. I looked him in the eye, smiled politely, and thought:“These are some very big shoes to fill… but hey, why not jump straight in and see what happens?” Fast-forward to comp season: fixture clashes everywhere, athletes flying off to senior events, U15s and U17s disappearing to represent West Midlands Schools at the Mason Trophy, others vanishing for exams (how dare they prioritise education?), and the final meeting landing right in the middle of holiday season. Perfect timing! Was I panicking?Absolutely not (okay, maybe a little). But I looked at our talent pool, counted heads, and realised: we’re still in great shape. We filled every event. Everyone held their own. And some stars even stepped up an age group to compete in the age above, special shout-outs to Gabriella Blake and Amerai White, total legends.…
BRAT Round-up (WC 2nd June 2025)
Sandeep didn’t include himself in his weekly roundup, so i’ll include him. Attempting the Bolton 70.3 on Sunday, he managed to take an amazing 1 hour and 10 minutes off his previous best! He is simultaneously vowing never to do another one whilst scoping out future races, so I all think we know which way this is going! Well done Sandeep, a great performance, one to be proud of 👏👏👏 Super BRAT Leonie Goodwin finished in an awesome 5th in age group at the Eastbourne Triathlon. Tough swim with a windy and very hilly bike. Well done you. Super BRAT Jez smashed his way through Blenheim Triathlon. Well done Sir. Now how would you fancy running 56 miles in the blazing sun with 4000 feet of elevation??? Well take a bow Super BRAT Dan Robinson and Super BRAT Naomi Mitchell they did this at the weekend. What a monumental achievement…
BRAT Round-up (WC 26th May 2025)
So its another sunny week and well done to all BRAT’s at the B’ham Uni track event last Wednesday. Some PB’s and much improvement was seen by all. Really pleased to see the training paying off during race season. Please can I request you to fill in the below form so we can shout about all the BRAT’s and your magnificent achievements. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeu1afWfAugDKe908HTPe11nk-J-5sCnHrF3PFL43rFpITBSA/viewform Many of you are completing long rides and runs at the weekends and the nice weather is really helping. Bittell on Thursday evenings is now attracting approx 20 swimmers per week! Please support the session as we always need volunteers to support. This session is now open to members £6 and also non-BRAT members at £8 per session. Link is below https://clubspark.net/BirminghamRunningAthleticsTriathlonClub/Coaching/Summary/e8bb4836-8cc4-49cd-a0fa-33ae9e4bb60f Sunday morning BRAT rides: BRAT Coach Simon Pearson wrote…. After a delayed start, due to a technical fault with the ride leaders alarm clock, six…
Heart of England League – Results are in!
Huge thanks to everyone for your amazing effort! Special mentions: Matty, Alba & Robert – GCSEs + 2 days competing 👏 Amerai & Gabrielle – U15 girls stepping up to U17 with brilliant performances! Club records broken today:Muayyad – 300m (U15 boys)Jaya – High Jump (U13 girls)Austin – Equalled U15 boys High JumpAlisia – Equalled U15 girls 75m HurdlesU15 Girls Relay – smashed the old record by ~3 seconds! 🔥Hope I haven’t missed anyone!Massive shout-out to all the officials who put in a shift 💪And a big thank you to all the parents for bringing the kids and making it such a great day. 📅 Next match: 22nd June in Banbury – please save the date! Overall, an amazing performance from everyone. Wish me luck picking the next team with such a talented squad! 😅🙌 Results are here: https://hofe-league.org.uk/results-division-1/
BRAT Round-up (WC 12th May 2025)
Well, Super BRAT Claire Keene, 1st Place Roadford Lake Tri! Super BRAT’s John McKeon (5:19:34) and Leonie Goodwin (5:31:18) and Super BRAT Abbie Saker comes 7th 4:46:53………Wow you guys excelled at Outlaw Half yesterday….Amazing BRAT performance Super BRAT’s Paul Cannon and Helen Pike raced at 51 Fiver Triathlon. Helen finished 4th in Age group (2:52:41) It wouldn’t be a BRAT week without Ron Cattle competing Veterans Athletic Club 5 mile champs Battersea Park. 34:55 And Super BRAT Mark Ince setting another V50 record this weekend…..He did!!! James c Colclough M45 200m, Simon Pearce M40 PV, Karen Bailey W40 DT, Louise Robinson SW 400H, Alba Smith Pena 2000m S/C and Jenny Scott W35 HJ. What a BRAT team we have. Super BRAT Joseph Tuffin 2nd in the 3000m Loughborough International. Oh and what a day we had at Banbury Triathlon yesterday. BRAT Cleaned up the awards with the announcers stating…….”BRAT seem…
BRAT Awards 2024
It was great to see over 200 of you at our sell-out awards night back in November at our new venue of Moseley Rugby Club. A big thanks to everyone involved in making this happen and a huge congratulations to all of the awards winners. With such a massive number of athletes competing at the moment, gaining a nomination is an achievement in itself! Regardless of if you won an award, you are all a part of the big BRAT family and we look forward to what 2025 has in store. The awards winners from 2024 and all previous years can be found here. It’s well worth a look at who has been awarded the various trophies throughout the history of the club, there are some big names on there. Thanks to Toby Gosnall who captured the night on his camera, you can view all the photos here.
Junior Cross-Country League Is Back!
Write-up by: Andy Knight If the colours are starting to change at Walsall Arboretum, that can only mean one thing: the cross country season is about to begin! The first race in the prestigious West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League is always one of the many highlights of the BRAT year, and this was no different. I’m sure it’s not just me, but with every passing year there is a greater buzz around the BRAT tent, more athletes and parents staying for the entire programme to cheer on teammates and more under 11s than ever! There were countless standout performances, including many by athletes who have never run in a cross country race or even represented BRAT before; the hard work of athletes and coaches is paying off! Well done all! There was great drama in the under 11 girls’ race, with Nya Williams involved in a titanic tussle…
We are the Champions!
The BRAT senior track and field team have been crowned champions of the MidlandsAthletics League for 2024, some 35 years since we last achieved that feat!After a very encouraging 2023 in which we finished second in the top flight, we weredetermined this season to go one better – but I don’t think anyone thought that we wouldwin all four matches. After the disappointment of the May meeting at Nottingham being cancelled, the firstoccasion that all division one clubs met was at Nuneaton for the ‘Technical’ Match in earlyJune. All the Midlands clubs from all six divisions meet up and compete over the 8 mosttechnically challenging events (pole vault, steeplechase, hammer etc..). You competeagainst all six divisions and only at the end are points awarded against clubs from yourindividual division. It if sounds complicated then that’s because it is! However, it’s great funand as a result of our efforts we picked…
Elliot strikes gold in Midland 5k champs
A strong team of BRAT juniors headed to Sutton Park on 23rd March for the Midland 5K Championships. Many of the junior endurance runners have trained with the seniors on Tuesday evenings throughout the winter, with some good cross country results coming as a consequence. This was another opportunity to see what they could do against strong opposition from across the length and breadth of the Midlands. Star performers of the day were the U15 boys. Team gold was secured with great performances from Diego Dalmedo (12th), Evan Tomlinson (6th), Josh Taylor (5th) and a magnificent individual gold medal by Elliot Dawlatly! The U13 boys also had a great day, taking team silver – missing out on gold by one place! Ollie Knight (3rd), Ben Eden (11th) and Joseph Baker (13th) were all delighted with their performances on the undulating course. There were also strong results in the U15 girls…
BRAT Juniors Shine at Regional Sportshall Final
Over the winter, BRAT juniors have been taking part in the Birmingham Sportshall League with a chance to compete against other clubs in the Birmingham region. Sportshall offers the opportunity to compete in a range of different indoor track and field events, with many of our juniors competing for the club for the first time. Following on from our attendance in the league matches, we were delighted to have 12 BRAT athletes selected to represent Team Birmingham at the regional final on Sunday 3rd March. The regional final brings together four teams from across the wider West Midlands region – Birmingham, Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Shropshire and Warwickshire – and it is a huge achievement for so many of our athletes to be selected for the county team. The morning session saw the Under 11 finals and BRAT had representation in both the boys and girls teams with Elliot Jones, Darcy…
A Warley Warwickshire XC Championships to remember
Saturday 16th December can only be seen as a major triumph and remembered as such. The infamous Warley Woods course, fields with athletes from both Warwickshire and Worcestershire, a dry mild day – were the melting pot for what was a masterclass from juniors-masters athletes competing for BRAT, with medals for both team and individuals. Going into the weekend, selection for the upcoming Intercounties in Loughborough next year would have been at the forefront of many minds. Each race had its favourites, underdogs and stakes for the athletes involved. Many BRATs who raced in the WMYACCL aimed to showcase their form in the championship. Prepared by the weeks of Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday sessions set by their respective coaches, the stage was set. Proceedings began at 10:45 with the U11 boys’ race and set the tone for the day to come. The boys took Warwickshire Gold with our three scorers…