Junior XC – County Champs
Now, I may not win many prizes, but the award for the most waffle filled write-up goes to…. I am writing this short report from my perspective as the BRAT junior team manager/coordinator/head coach….or whatever my role is! For me personally, it was the first time in attending a cross-country county championships in….well…decades! Back when I was a junior, up in Lancashire, I remember doing the county champs and it felt like such a step up in quality as compared to the rest of the league races. This felt the same in the race last Saturday. Smaller fields across all age groups battled a challenging course; traversing narrow sections on energy sapped legs from earlier hills. Add to that the sub-zero temperatures and icy patches and you have a recipe for some tired junior legs! I interviewed one of the junior athletes (also known as a chat with my son,…
Warley Woods – Junior XC
The third fixture of the league was held at Warley Woods on a hilly course and again the club produced some great performances. Although we had 57 athletes finishing, we had a number of athletes unable to compete due to illness which affected a number of teams. The U11s bucked that trend with a superb 3rd place in the girls and 5th in the boys. The other teams in the top 10 were U17M 3rd, U13B 4th, U15G 7th and U13G 9th. Overall, we finished 6th on the day but with two teams very close in front. We still retain our 4th position overall after the third fixture so plenty of time to consolidate this over the final two fixtures. Thank you to the team managers, Jort for bringing the tent and the parents and not forgetting the athletes for doing all the hard work! Looking forward to seeing you…
BRAT AWARDS 26/11/2022
Saturday 26th November saw the return of a full blown BRAT Awards evening at Birmingham City Football Ground. It was great to be able to get everyone together again in person to celebrate the amazing performances across all agegroups and disciplines. The evening would not have been able to go ahead without the input from a number of people, but especially Julie Smith for organising it all, Gordon Ainsley for collating performances and Martin Ludford for sorting all the trophies. Awards got underway with the Junior Club Championships and AAA Awards, with the recipients detailed below:- Position Points U-11 Girls 3 Erin Colclough 47 2 Josephine Colclough 48 1 Anna Newman 50 U-11 Boys 3 Joseph Baker 41 2 Kai McMillan 47 1 Elliot Jones 49 U-13 Girls 3 Erin McDaid 62 2 Noor Bailey 68 1 Niamh O’Carroll 73 U-13 Boys 2= Oliver Knight 68 2= Dominic Moynihan 68…
Action Heart Tuff’Un
The BRAT club had its annual trip to Baggeridge Country Park on Sunday 20th November for the Action Heart Tuff’Un.
BRAT Awards – 26th November – Get your tickets now!
Right, here it is, the biggest social event of the year. It’s been a few years since we had an in-person presentation evening where all the club gets to celebrate, but we are back! This event is an opportunity for our athletes to spend time with their teammates and friends as we come together as a club to celebrate our successes over the past year. There will be a host of awards to be given out, along with baking competitions, quizzes, music and more. Who should attend Everyone! We would like as many of you to attend as possible, regardless of whether you are new to the club or you have been with us for years. Regardless of which group and which sessions you do, please come along. It’s rare for us to have an event that encompasses all our groups. Event Details Date: Saturday 26th November Time: 6:30pm Venue:…
Another strong XC performance for the BRAT Junior Team!
Another excellent turn out with 59 BRATs competing on the fast grassland course at Newbold Revel. After our excellent 4th place at the first match at Walsall, we again finished 4th on the day which consolidated our overall position in the league. The standout performance on the day was Nya 5th in U11 Girls, and she has two more years in this age group, a massive improvement by Josh finishing 6th in U13 Boys and Jack 9th U15 Boys and Amira 10th in U13 Girls. But remember this is a team effort and all the athletes contribute to the overall score! If you finish 50th you score 151 points, so it all adds to the performance of the club. it was great seeing so many athletes out enjoying themselves and especially the support of the parents and team managers! The next match in the league is at Warley Woods on…
New Club Record for 10 Miles at Portsmouth
The Club record for 10 Miles was previously set by Brian McEvoy in April 1990 at Wolverhampton. He ran 49:46 and his record has stood for over 32 years, until last week (16th October) in Portsmouth, when Charlie Davis ran 49:18 to smash Brian’s performance by nearly 30 seconds! Charlie finished 9th in the race and was ‘very satisfied’ with the run, not even knowing he had broken the Club record. The 10 Miles is seldom raced in today’s road calendar which now tends to focus more on the half-marathon distance but the longevity of Brian’s record stood as a testament to his sheer hard work and determination. When Brian, who is still a club member, found out about his record finally been broken, he reflected that ‘the record would be broken one day.’ Congratulations to Charlie on a brilliant performance! Check out the club rankings HERE
A great start to the XC season for BRAT juniors!
Taking a step back from standout individual and team performances, it’s worth mentioning how the scoring works for the cross-country league. Each race has 5 scoring athletes apart from the u17 categories that have 3 scoring athletes. Typically, each athlete will obtain between 100-200 points depending on their finishing position. If we don’t field a full team of scorers in each race, we will lose at least 100 points (but typically more- 1st 200pts 50th 151pts) per athlete missing, because our team is not complete. So, what was particularly pleasing yesterday, was that we fielded a FULL TEAM in each and every age category, for perhaps the first time ever. Yes, that means that all of you that turned up yesterday played a part in what was a very good start to the cross-country season. My memories of doing cross-country as a junior were those cold and rainy days when…
Women’s Cross Country
Cross Country season is fast approaching, and the cross country team are looking for athletes to take part, it’s a great opportunity to meet people from across the club too.
BRAT Field Fest
Due to losing the track to redevelopment and subsequently Covid striking, BRAT last held a licenced athletics open event on June 26th 2013, so the Field Fest on 11th September was quite a momentous occasion for the club. 65 athletes (including 41 BRATs) from 17 different clubs took part in the 12 field events which were laid on, resulting in 107 entries overall on the day. Athletes had travelled from as far afield as Aberdare, Windsor and Trafford to take part! The U11’s took part in a triathlon which comprised of Long Jump, Howler and Speedbounce (and medals), while the U13’s – U20’s could do up to three events which consisted of Long Jump, High Jump, Javelin, Discus, Hammer and Shot. Although the day started with a deep set autumnal mist, the weather held and it was a pleasant temperature. The coffee van was early and the ice-cream van got…
HUUB Triathlon Relay Championships
BRAT do organised chaos at the Triathlon Club Relays 2022
Autumn Road Relays Sign-up
The Autumn Road Relay’s are coming up and we are looking for people to sign up, for one of biggest events in the BRAT calendar.