News

Josie Williams has won a bronze medal at the Midland Championships in Nuneaton. It was in the Girls under 13 quadrathlon (100m, long jump, shot and 600m). It was a brilliant result for Josie and for fellow BRAT competitor Monique James Thomas, who finished 8th out of a field of 21. Well done girls!

The BRAT track & field team saved themselves from the threat of relegation on Saturday at Stoke by finishing in fifth place on the day, whilst Stoke could only manage second, which was not enough for them to save themselves. In reality, we were always going to be fairly safe given that Halesowen had finished bottom in all three of the previous meetings and have struggled to get athletes out to compete but given that we only had eight women available again then there was still the feint possibility that we could still trip up. Our winners on the day were Jonny Briggs (Discus A), Jack Vickery (Hammer B) and Hannes Petzer (Javelin A) and making her debut for the team, Sophie Dalley – welcome to the team Sophie. In the end we finished third in the division but that only tells part of the story. At the halfway stage…

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Despite the continuing very un-British summer the autumn road relays are in sight and the mud of cross country is just over the horizon (yes it really is that time of year already !) Please keep the following dates free and do your best to run in these events. More details to follow. See Events Calendar for venue details Saturday 22nd September – Road Relays – Sutton Park Saturday 10th November – XC League race-1 Saturday 1st December – XC League race-2 Saturday 12th January – XC League race-3 Saturday 9th February – XC League race-4  

Due an injury at a schools meeting Josh Hale didn’t have the ideal preparation leading into the English Schools Championships at Alexander Stadium on July 13/14th, but he came a comfortable second in his heat in 50.27s to qualify for the next round. In the semi final he excelled breaking the club record yet again , dipping below the 50 second barrier with a time of 49.90s , again finishing second. In the final, he ran a great race again in finishing third and a bronze medal in another fine time of 49.93s.

Despite having only 8 women available for the third league match of the season, the BRAT team managed to overcome a relegation threatened City of Stoke team by just five points and therefore all but assure ourselves of remaining in division two next season. Naomi, Eva, Amelia, Molly, Eloise, Amanda, Judith and Rosie (on debut) managed to grab vital points on a sun-drenched, World Cup fuelled Saturday in Abingdon. Providing excellent support were the men’s team who managed eight wins on the day, including winning 6 of the 8 throwing events and coming second in both the remaining throws. Winners on the day were Jonny Briggs (Hammer A and Discus A), Igor Huszak (Javelin A), Dan Robinson and Martin Matthews taking A and B wins in the 5000m and a hat-trick of wins on debut for Hannes Petzer (Javelin A, Hammer B, Discus B) – welcome to the club Hannes!…

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Competing in the Cheltenham Harriers open meeting on July 5th, Zac broke the U13 Boys 75m Hurdles club record for the sixth time this year, in a time of 12.5secs. This now ranks him 9th in the UK this year.

Last night saw the third instalment of BMC regional races at the Tipton Track (DY4 0BS) BRATs were out in force recording 5 Personal Bests and 2 Season’s Bests   Proceedings got off to a flying start in the first race (5000m) with Mark Ince leading BRATs home in a solid season’s best, closely followed by Nathan Warren with a new PB and sub-17 performance in 16:56.67. Nathan himself was chased home by track debutant Thanos also scoring a PB.   Next up was Molly Browne in her favourite event (not) the 1500m. Unperturbed Molly sliced a massive 5 seconds off her PB and also claimed a new (to be confirmed) club record which has stood for 14 years.   Abayomi dropped down to 800m and undaunted by the pace stormed around 2-laps to also  record a new PB in 2:14.43. (those 4 x 400m relay legs are paying off).   Bournville’s Henry…

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Following his success at the West Midlands schools championships the previous weekend, Josh represented the area in the annual intercounties schools competition at Alexander stadium on Saturday, June 16thand again won  the U17 400m in a new club record time of 50.11s, beating other athletes with faster times this year.  This win and performance should ensure his selection for the English Schools championships next month.

New member Mike Bowler smashed the senior decathlon record at the Senior/U23 England Athletics combines events championships, incorporating the BUCS championships, at a Bedford on May 26/27th, scoring a very impressive 7263pts and taking the BUCS title , whilst finishing with the silver medal in the EA Championship. Also breaking the previous club record was the previous holder Alex Clegg , who scored 5766pts, finishing 11th in both the BUCS and EA U23 championship. Success continued at the Midland senior championships at Nuneaton on June 10th, where Prince Ahey won the 110m Hurdles title in 16.00s, whilst Jonathan Briggs won the shot with a put of 12.76m Not to be outdone our juniors recorded  some fine performances representing South Birmingham Schools at the West Midlands Schools championships at Alexander Stadium  on June 9th. Pride of place went to another new  member , Josh Hale, who won the Inter Boys(U17) 400m in…

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As you all know, the club is built around its volunteers and the club is keen to support you, and the time you commit. There is an opportunity for those who regularly lead club run sessions (or have thought about leading clubrun sessions) to attend the England Athletics: Leadership in Running Fitness (LiRF). There are a number of courses over the coming months and it would be great to get as many people as possible to attend, where you will learn about how to provide a safe and enjoyable running experience for young people over 12 years of age and adults of any ability, size or shape in both structured and fun sessions. If you are interested in attending a course, please see the link below for both the course, and a google form where you can express your interest and availability. The course is currently £120 if booked before 30/06/18 which theclub will cover once completed. Please…

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Ever wanted to try long jump, shot put, javelin or any other athletics event but didn’t know where to start? Over the next few weeks on Tuesday evenings starting on 12 June, Nigel Clegg who is our athletics team manager will be doing some intro sessions to allow BRATs to try out various events. No experience is needed for these sessions as Nigel will adapt the sessions to your current experience level. The sessions will be at the uni track (Postcode B15 2RA, check this file for further directions) starting at 6.30ish – warm up and then get started around 6.45/50pm until 7.45/8pm. On Tuesday 12 June we will look at Javelin and High jump and possibly long jump. For more information please email Nigel Clegg at athletics@bratclub.co.uk. We will also post details of sessions on the Facebook Event Page as they become available.

The BRAT senior athletics team followed up its good start to the season with an even better performance at Worcester on Saturday 2nd June. We had many individual winners on the day; Mike Bowler, fresh from his brilliant second place last weekend in the decathlon at the English Athletics Championships, on his debut for the club did a fantastic treble – pole vault A, 110 hurdles A and discus A. Fellow decathlete, Alex Clegg did the double in the pole vault B and 110 hurdles B as did Jordan Foley in the long jump and triple jump A with perfect back up from John Philip Stolberg who won both the B jumps. James Colclough (400 B) and Igor Huszak (Javelin B) also produced stand out performances as did Josh Hale, on his debut for the club, in winning the 400 A race. Starring for the women’s team were Amelia Rouse…

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