Another Inspired BRAT Junior XC Performance!
Warley Woods, race 2. Now, juniors, I know you may feel you worked hard, ran your socks off (or your shoes off, in 2 cases I know of…!), pushed to the line and given it absolutely all you had. BUT…what I have to say is “think of the parents!”. Do you know how hard it is to support at Warley Woods? I saw mums and dads going up and down those hills over and over again, toddlers and pets in tow, screaming at the top of their lungs! So, parents, you have my full respect when I say WELL DONE! As for the juniors, yes, I suppose you didn’t do too bad too. In addition to some top 3 and top 10 placings, we had a much strengthened U15 girls team, with 3 of the runners making their season debut. A special mention to Tilly & Katie who kept going…
Farewell Ruth
We’re sad to say that after 6 years of coaching the BRAT throwers, Ruth Briggs is moving on. She is relocating to pastures new in Somerset, and we wish her all the best in her new venture. BRAT are extremely grateful to Ruth for everything she has contributed to the club – not only has she coached discus, shot and hammer, she has also officiated as a Level 2 Field Official at numerous events and been instrumental in organising the AAA Awards for the athletes. Ruth started coaching BRATs in 2015 on Friday nights at the High Performance Centre. Her son Jonathan was being coached by Paul Chapman and he had also been training Ruth in throwing techniques for as long as Jonathan had been with him. It was his firm belief that parents could and should be enabled to help athletes in competition contexts if no coach could be…
BRAT JUNIORS’ AMAZING XC PERFORMANCE
What a day out! A few people have contributed to this write-up, but I’d just like to say a huge WELL DONE to everyone that got involved in our first cross-country since 2019. I’m fully aware of how daunting a task it must have been, I did start my athletics journey as a cross-country runner, many (MANY!) years ago after all. No matter how you felt you performed, I, along with the various team managers and coaches thought you did fantastic. Have no doubt, your contribution to the team is absolutely invaluable. As Dan mentions below, every BRAT runner that overtakes someone, knocks a rival team one place down the results! Bookmark the next date, a home fixture for us at Warley Woods on the 14th of November! If you’re not already involved and want to be, e-mail me here. U11 Girls 8 girls toed the line for the first…
NATIONAL ROAD RELAY 6 STAGE – MEN’S REPORT
Author: Richard Gray I have also shown teams B-H results from The Midland 6 Stage which were not in the previous report. The perfect non-storm greeted us at Sutton. Around 15 degrees; hidden sun; wind at 2mph and a gale force 3mph gust. PBs beckoned! We fielded two teams who had qualified in great style; only the second time having two teams in what is the highest quality team race of the year. There was a great mood, only marred by late changes which had left the B team short of a leg. Manager should have sorted this; so this was on B teams minds. Off we went, the A team fronted by Dan Robinson. Always reliable, but with a theoretically weakened team due to inevitable marathon damage, we needed quicker times to match The Midland performance. Indeed, Dan was 6 seconds quicker. We were on the right path. Tactically…
MIDLAND ROAD RELAY 6 STAGE MENS REPORT – 2021
Here is a short report on our superb performance. It is short without the banter as I do not know some of the athletes well enough, and performances are limited. There are so many teams that I have only reported in any detail for A,B; so apologies for this and any errors. It was wonderful to gather again at Sutton after being locked away for so long. A lovely day greeted us, perhaps a bit warm, but the same for everyone. With all the juniors, the women’s teams, and 8 men’s teams, it was quite a gathering. Just needed a barbie to set the day up. On the other hand, perhaps too much temptation for late leg athletes. This is our biggest turnout for any relay, easily surpassing all our rivals. There were quite a few last minute changes, necessitating swapping same legs between teams for safety of avoiding a…
Wrexham Final Fling & Much Wenlock Olympic Games
The weekend of 25th & 26th September was the Junior BRATs last chance to improve on their PBs and alter their standings in the Club Championships before the season came to a close. U15 Jamie Callaghan travelled to Wrexham to take part in a throwathon which consisted of hammer, discus, shot and javelin. Jamie finished 3rd overall with 1833 points, just 42 points behind 1st place. He won 2 x silvers and 2 x bronzes and threw 3 PBs, with his best being a hammer throw of 42.29m – just 19cm off of the club record, and a throw which moved him up to 9th in the UK rankings! The other BRATs took part in the Much Wenlock Olympic Games on Sunday 26th. U11’s William Tinsley, Tiernan Clark, Jake Holford, Oshi Knox, Millie Gordon-Maclean and Josephine Colclough all ran PBs in the 75m with Oshi securing a bronze medal with…
National Road Relays Preview
We will be at Sutton Park again on Saturday for The National Road Relays. This is a prestigious and high-quality event. Same courses, 5.88k for the men, 4.33k for the women and 3.88k for the juniors! It would be great to see support as present at The Midlands 6 Stage a couple of weeks back. It really does make a difference. The schedule is as follows (we have teams in all!): 11:00 – U13 boys 11:05 – U13 girls 12:00 – U15 boys 12:05 – U15 girls 12:50 – U17 men 12:55 – U17 women 14:00 – Men 14:10 – Women It’s “The National”, so more emphasis on front loading with a good sprint at the end. It’s only the second time we have ever qualified two teams in the men’s race. A great achievement, so let’s enjoy this. Saturday is looking dry and as warm as you would want…
BRATs at London Marathon 2021
Great results from BRATs at this years London Marathon.
Seniors Midland Road Relay’s
Midland road relay results were excellent for both our men and women.
BRAT Juniors @ The Midland Road Relays
A slight preamble before getting into how the BRAT juniors got on… Personally, I have ran a few variations of the seniors road relays over the past few years, and when I heard about the junior road relays, I was under the impression that the junior route wouldn’t be in any way similar to the senior route, alas! THAT HILL! Yes, THAT HILL! After a lovely 100m of downhill from the start, you are essentially faced with a climb that goes on for the best part of a kilometer. Another thing to mention here, the juniors, all age groups (right down to our 11 year olds) run 3.88km, it really is quite a challenge. My view is that the organizers enjoy pain, and enjoy inflicting pain, and enjoy watching everyone run hard on the endless undulations, with a nice bit of lactic acid already in the legs after the first…
Brewer Games Cheltenham 18th September 2021
With the end of the season fast approaching this was the penultimate weekend for the BRAT Juniors to improve on their PBs and move up in the Club Championships. It was an early start for some with the first events kicking off at 10:00, and a long day for those competing in the Quadrathons. U15 Ruby Smith improved on her discus PB with a throw of 20.32 to move her up to a Standard 4 and U15 Isabelle Carruthers threw a PB in the shot with 7.70. U15 Isla O’Connor improved on her long jump by a whopping 65cm to jump a PB of 4.46m and U15 Jake Gosnall jumped a further 5cm in the High Jump to clear 1.60m. Jake also ran a PB in the 300m in a time of 39.7 and U15 May Smith ran a PB in the 800m in a time of 2.38.8. U15 Jamie…
Action Heart ‘Tuff-Un’
Join us at the Action Heart ‘Tuff-Un’ in Baggeridge Country Park for an undulating trail run.