Bronze at British Masters Road Relays!
With a lead out from Dan Robinson and then the final sprint from James Marshall all six of these athletes gave it there all to provide BRAT’s with a fantastic Bronze in the M35-44 Age Group. Great team spirit and commitment from all BRAT team members across all age groups – you should all be proud of a great result and wearing the club vest with pride! Team Captain (and a very hard man to please) Richard Gray said “Really chuffed with a medal for all the team. Yes, it would have been wonderful to win, but winning a National Champs should never be easy, and as far as I am concerned you all nailed it.”
BRAT youngsters shine at County Championships
On a beautiful sunny and warm spring weekend on May 11/12th our youngsters produce 28 performances in finals at the Warwickshire and Worcsetershire championships and came away with a magnificent 5 golds, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals. Star performance was by U13G Lily Smith, at the Warwickshire championships, who won both 200m in 29.40s, after a 29.25s heat, and Long Jump with 4.60m. She then followed these up with a second place in the 100m in 13.92s, following a 13.69s heat. Not to be out done, sister May Smith won the U13G Discus with throw of 14.14m. Another discus winner was U13B Solomon Humphries with a pb throw of 17.88m, ranking him in the UK top 20. Our final winner was Jacob Gosnall in the Long Jump at the Worcestershire Chjampionships, with a leap of 4.29m and he also secured 3rd place in the 100m in a time of…
Hilly 100 = 10 x 10miles of fun!
Well, it was a long day out for our 10 BRAT’s racing the Hilly Hundred, with Helen Pike (Team Captain) getting up at 03:00 for the 1st 05:00 start. Despite a chilly start for Helen, temperatures climbed from 3c up to 16c and great racing weather for those in the afternoon. Many thanks to Sandeep and Ollie who stepped in a the last minute when two athletes were injured prior to the start. Ollie was the 2nd fastest runner on the leg 8 mass start, giving Annie Byrne the handover to leg 9. For those who have raced before will appreciate the complicated logistics of starting and finishing in two different locations, so many thanks to both Paul Cannon and Helen (after finishing their legs) to provide car support for along with Hannah Ludford. It was great to see so many BRAT’s out representing the club and enjoying the day.…
BRAT’s Take On VLM!
On a perfectly peaceful morning 42,000 runners and more importantly 16 hardy BRAT athletes took on Virgin London Marathon challenge of 26.2 miles. Many many miles had been put into training for the event, and all participants should be extremely proud to have completed such a momentous achievement. First BRAT home was Dan Robinson in 2:35:39, with first lady Annie Byrne in 2:49:05. Runners came through fast with 8 BRAT’s in total finishing under 03:00:00 a fantastic achievement and showing the depth in club performance. All those that took part should be extremely proud of their achievements, performances, funds raised and sacrifices made to the training gods;-) Now make sure you put those feet up and take on those recovery beers – you have earned them! Special mention should also go out to all those BRAT’s supporting – great team spirit for all those who’s cheer kept everyone going to…
Track & Field League – Call to Action
Fellow BRATs – help needed in first athletics league match of the season. On Sunday 19th May the BRAT athletics team will be involved in the first meeting of the season in Gloucester. Many thanks to those of you who have already responded however the women’s team are still short in a number of events;800/1500/3000m 100/400 hurdles races Long jump/High jump/Triple jump/Pole vault Javelin Can you help? We need to gain as many points as we can which means filling as many of these events with ideally two athletes in each. The call for hurdlers, triple jumpers and vaulters is rather ambitious – I would suggest having a go only if you’ve done it before! However, Long jump, High jump and Javelin – we can teach you to be more than competent and get us some valuable points in the next few weeks. If you are interested in running, jumping…
NATIONAL 6-STAGE ROAD RELAYS
Another Saturday afternoon in Sutton Park, this time for the National Road Relays. Fresh from the test-run over the same course at the Midland championships two weeks ago, Team BRAT were ready to race against some of the best clubs in the country. The women saw the men head off on their quest over the 12-stage event before Molly Browne lined up ready to get the 6-stage underway for Team BRAT. It was always going to go off fast and as the gun went, the first-leg runners charged down the initial hill. A rather windy out and back made for a tough leg but it was downhill from the stone (except those final two hills and the uphill finish). With a kick for home, Molly finished in 13th place, a great start for the team. Next up was Anne Kenchington on the first short-leg of the day, with a brilliant…
Masters Road Relays – Time to Enter
Good morning ageing, old, infirm, possibly deluded, but still very keen BRATS. Now is the time to embrace Spring, remember which is your right from left shoe, and demonstrate your undoubted pace. If you are still reading this and you are under 35, then you need to get out more. Yes, Masters National Road Relay Champs are here. Saturday 18 May at the usual Sutton Park spot. As you are unlikely to recall 12 months previous, here is how it works. There are teams for M35+ x6 legs; M45+ x4 legs, M55+ x3 legs, M65+ x 3 legs, M75+ x3 legs ! You can run for a younger team, and we can enter as many teams as we wish to pay for. Our priority is to populate with the quickest athletes, our team who have the best opportunity of a high finish or medal; with the exception of prioritising any…
National Road Relays – Men’s Manager Report
Well done team, and well done all the Midland teams. Good solid performances. Current course was introduced in 2015 and is slightly longer (3.16 miles Vs 2.995). I think there were pbs for Nathan, Karl, and Thanos. Dan missing his Midland pb by only seconds, and Colin 5 seconds. 36th overall and 32nd A team. 7th in Midlands excluding Bristol, 4th in West Midlands. Results at www.race-results.co.uk On a pleasant but slightly chilly day, we once again were amongst the big boys, interested in seeing how competitive we may be and defending our Midland ranking. Blimey, some of them are fast ! Dependable Dan, who just keeps getting faster, was first pressure leg as ever and did not disappoint. Although very slightly slower than at the Midland, I was happy, but don’t tell him that. Second leg was always going to be tough for Nathan following Dan. We did drop places, but it was an…
Midland 6-stage and 12-stage Road Relays
Saturday 23rd March saw Team BRAT head to Sutton Park for the Midland 6-stage and 12-stage Spring Road Relays. The sun was shining and the conditions were some of the best we’ve ever had for the relays, an improvement on the blizzard that runners battled with at the same event in 2018. BRAT had two complete ladies teams and the men had two complete teams and a third team shy of a couple of runners. The flags went up in our usual spot and eager runners arrived ready to give it everything over the familiar undulating and challenging long and short loops. BRAT Men were off first. Dan Robinson led the team out on the first of four long legs. Dan produced a brilliant run to bring the A team into 8th place. Great runs followed from Martin Matthews who wasn’t far behind in 36th for the B team and…
BRATs Spin-off
Back at the tail end of 2018, 20 hardcore BRATs (are there any other kind?) formed a team for a spin-off competition at the University of Birmingham, against several of their sports clubs, community members, and staff. The competition involved half an hour max effort on a spinning bike for each participant in the team. All the calories scores recorded by team members on the bikes were added together, and the team with the most calories burned, won. BRATs were triumphant and received a donation to club funds, which the team decided they would like to present to a charity instead (because we are a very nice club, as well as a hardcore one). The team were so delirious from their efforts that of course they chucked in a few extra pounds as well. The donation was duly made to St Mary’s Hospice, a fantastic local charity, and they sent…
BRATs Tri Harder and #TriLikeMe
BRAT and Team GB triathlete Lauren is the inspirational star of Tri Harder: What it takes to win a triathlon. Former BRAT Rosie is featured in British Triathlon’s current #TriLikeMe campaign. Read what she has to say about her triathlon experiences. It’s great to see more club kit on BT’s website, after triathlete and coach Elliott featured last year in their Rainbow Laces campaign.
Midlands 12/ 6 Stage Relays – Time to Enter
Yes BRAT mates, Spring is on its way. No more sharp spikes to stick in you and no more mud. If the club is your priority, then so is this. Let’s build on our XC performances and get our heart rates and speed up for this great event, that is the Road Relays. All running speeds welcome, we just put you in the appropriate team. Midland Road relay championship. Sutton Park Sat afternoon 23 March. Men: 12 legs comprising 8 x 3.16 miles, and 4 x 5.38 miles. Women: 6 legs comprising 4 x 3.16 miles, and 2 x 5.38 miles. Please email an indication whether you are definite, probable or yes subject to injury by Thursday 28 February. This will allow the managers to estimate the number of teams and squad names to enter. We can enter 3 x number of team places to allow for injuries/ reserves. If…