Autumn Road Relays Sign-up
The Autumn Road Relay’s are coming up and we are looking for people to sign up, this is one of biggest events in the BRAT calendar and a great chance to meet people from across the club.
BRAT Juniors Secure Promotion as League Winners!
Let’s be honest, it’s not the most enjoyable drive to Corby. The dull grey clouds over the motorway did little to inspire enthusiasm. As we arrived in the stand, the weather felt more like that of an early April warm-up meeting as opposed to a league competition in the middle of summer! As Europe basks in a heat-wave where people are advised to not go out and to keep their curtains closed, summer in Corby felt more like a game-of-thrones ‘north of the wall’ escapade. A strong and persistent head wind on the home straight put pay to the majority of our sprinter’s chances of PBs. If you achieved a PB at the weekend, then you should be very pleased with yourself. The dark skies were occasionally pierced with downpours and the odd bit of sunshine, perhaps this is as good as it gets in Corby??? On that backdrop, seeing…
MUCH WENLOCK OLYMPICS
There was a fantastic BRAT turn out at the Wenlock Olympic Games on Sunday 2nd July. Being the home of the modern Olympic games (and a 200m track) made the day extra special . To add another layer of history, the Wenlock Olympian Society were honouring Harold Langley who won the pentathlon at the 1923 Wenlock Games and finished fourth in the triple jump at the Paris 1924 Olympics. The medals presented to competitors at the Games this year are replicas of those awarded in 1923. It was great to see so many young athletes there and so many disciplines represented. This means that it’s not possible to mention all of the BRATs that took part, but I am sure that Collin has made a mental note of the grit and determination shown by all. The U11 category was very well represented across all four eligible events, with field events being…
ESAA
Four BRAT athletes were selected to represent the West Midlands at the ESAA Championships in Birmingham this weekend. First up, in Heat 2, was U20 Tywana Kuluziza in the SG 100m. Running into a headwind she came 5th in her heat and 14th overall. Next was U17 Jamie Callaghan in the IB Hammer. Unfortunately Jamie had a nightmare day; his two practice throws went into the cage so he decided to play it safe with his first throw just to get a mark. His second throw would have taken him through to the final eight had he not touched the rim and the 3rd went into the cage where he finished 9th overall. Last up on Day 1 was U17 Bonheur Tshibola in the IG 300mH who had to contend with false starts from other athletes prior to the race commencing. Bonheur had a good start, clipped the 2nd hurdle…
English Schools’ Athletics Association Combined Events
Last weekend saw the regional finals of the English Schools’ Athletics Association Combined Events, with 3 BRAT Junior athletes in attendance. U17 Isabelle Carruthers and U15 Robert Lee were sporting the red of West Midlands Schools, whilst U15 Evie Rendell was in the yellow of Warwickshire Schools. The competition was held at Moorways Stadium in Derby over a very warm and muggy weekend. U15’s complete a Pentathlon (80m Hurdles, Shot Put, Long Jump, High Jump and 800m) and U15 boys were up first on the Saturday. This was Robert’s first ever Pentathlon and he started strong with a 12.35s PB in the Hurdles putting him in 4th place. His Shot Put wasn’t quite a PB but still moved him up to 3rd place. This was followed by some difficult jumping where he struggled to find his form in both his Long Jump and High Jump. However, he did what was needed, getting legal…
The BRAT Juniors’ Winning Run Continues In Banbury!
Let’s set the scene. Meeting 1 in Stourport in June. The BRAT junior team delivered a crushing victory, finishing over 200 points clear of second place Banbury. Let’s not forget, we were only promoted to this division last year, so many of the existing clubs have no idea who we are and how strong our athletes are! It must have been a shock for the other teams, but with Banbury hosting this recent meeting, it was the perfect opportunity for them to put out their strongest possible team, and they did not disappoint! To complicate matters even more, this meeting unfortunately clashed with the Inter County Schools’ Championships (Mason Trophy) where we had a lot of athletes competing. In their absence, it was left to others to step up and make their performances count! What’s more…..Oxfordshire don’t compete in the Mason Trophy, so Banbury didn’t lose any athletes for this…
Mason Trophy
12 BRATs travelled to Stoke on 17th June to represent the West Midlands in the Mason Trophy. These 12 athletes covered all discipline types (sprints, hurdles, distance, throws and jumps) which goes to show the great depth of strength within the club which is a credit to the coaches as well as the athletes. The West Midlands were one of 10 counties being represented and each team could enter 2 athletes per age group per event. U17 Dylan Teasdale ran a PB of 9.34.16 in the 3000m where he finished 9th and U17 George Astbury a PB of 5.01.47 in the 1500m S/C where he finished 5th. U15 Alba Smith-Pena came 7th in her heat and 16th overall in the 1500m. U17 Nancy Foster-Jones ran in both the 100m and 200m where she was 2nd in both heats and 5th and 4th overall. U15 Kenyah Reddin also ran the 100m…
Heart of England League – A Crushing Victory For BRAT Juniors
It’s that time of the year again. Our first BRAT junior track & field league outing…and you know what that means….an opportunity for me to put together my usual protracted write-up for the website. As always, I start with my usual caveat that I can’t mention everyone, but rest assured, I have a close eye on all of you both during the event itself and via the results. I will be chatting with all our athletes at some point, hopefully! Taking a step back from results and performances for the moment, there are a few things that underpin our (fantastic) results: Officials (timekeepers, starters, track judges, field event helpers). I’m starting with officials as it our #1 most important point. In all honestly, officials are one of our most limiting factors when it comes to developing as a club. To host our own events, we need many more. A big…
County Championships
The weekend of 13th – 14th May saw the County Championships take place and the BRAT Juniors were out in force, (despite it being the weekend before GCSE’s and A’ Levels), with 111 entries for Warwickshire and 2 for Worcestershire! Whilst the older athletes took part in individual events, the Under 11 Boys and Girls competed in a Quadrathon – a combined event comprising of a 75m sprint, long jump, howler throw and 600m race. For many of the U11 athletes this was their first competition and every single competitor gave maximum effort with lots of PBs to show for it! The boys’ event took place on the Saturday with 4 BRAT entrants across a field of 18. After some very close races and huge long jump PBs, the event finished with a fantastic first place for Elliot Jones and second place for Charlie Keenan. The girls’…
Racing in Taiwan
James Drakeford
Astbury claims Midland Champs gold in strong BRAT juniors’ performance
Whereas the senior event in Sutton Park is a team based relay, the juniors run an individual 5k, the Midland 5k Championship. This is the best runners from across the entire midlands region competing in a championship race. Needless to say, it is a high quality event that attracts the best athletes. Several BRAT juniors took part on what is an extremely challenging course featuring some leg-sapping hills. George Astbury pulled clear in a final sprint on the hill to the finish line to capture his first major medal. A time of 16:15 gave him a 1 second victory in an extremely competitive u17s race. He also took a huge chunk off his 5k PB, which is even more impressive given the nature of the course. In the same race, Morgan Hill and Dylan Teasdale finished 7th and 18th respectively to bring home a bronze medal for the team. Another…
BRAT Women Teams at Midlands 6-Stage Road Relays
BRAT women had a fantastic day of racing at the Midlands 6-Stage Road Relays.