Heart of England League – Banbury – 23rd June 2024
the Heart of England league. Rewind back to this time 2 years ago and we were in division 3. Since then, we have had 2 consecutive seasons of promotion. My expectation was that we would hold our own and finish comfortably around the middle of the division.
BRAT Juniors Shine at Regional Sportshall Final
Over the winter, BRAT juniors have been taking part in the Birmingham Sportshall League with a chance to compete against other clubs in the Birmingham region. Sportshall offers the opportunity to compete in a range of different indoor track and field events, with many of our juniors competing for the club for the first time. Following on from our attendance in the league matches, we were delighted to have 12 BRAT athletes selected to represent Team Birmingham at the regional final on Sunday 3rd March. The regional final brings together four teams from across the wider West Midlands region – Birmingham, Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Shropshire and Warwickshire – and it is a huge achievement for so many of our athletes to be selected for the county team. The morning session saw the Under 11 finals and BRAT had representation in both the boys and girls teams with Elliot Jones, Darcy…
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…
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…
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…
BRAT Athletes @ Junior Great Birmingham Run
A strong BRAT contingent entered the Junior Great Birmingham Run which was open to 9-15 year olds. The new 2.5km course started and finished in the Smithfield area of the city centre. Elliot Dawlatly, in excellent form of late, confidently set the pace early on and led throughout the race until tantalizingly being caught in the last few metres. He was followed by a succession of high finishing BRAT runners with Ollie Knight placing 3rd and Josh Taylor 4th. In the girls’ race Alba Smith-Pena finished 3rd in a strong field and raised over £500 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital! Other notable performances were in the 9-11 year old age categories with Anaadh Singh and Joseph Baker 2nd and 3rd respectively in the boys’ race and Orla Woodman 3rd in the girls’ race. Full results can be found here. Write-up courtesy of Andy Knight.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
BRAT Junior Athletics – End of Season
U15 twins Lily and May Smith travelled to Stretford, Manchester on 26th September, with both doing the 100m and 200m and Lily also competing in the Long Jump. Lily was tantalisingly close to her PB in the long jump again with a jump of 4.80m and May beat her PB in the 200m by 0.13 seconds to run a time of 30.26. U13 Alba Smith-Pena competed in the BCT Junior Aquathon on 26th September where she was just 10 seconds off of 3rd place. This is a fantastic achievement considering swimming has been off the agenda until recently so she has not been able to get any practice in. The anticipated wet forecast did nothing to dampen the spirits of the 12 BRATS who travelled to Nuneaton on 4th October. It was U9 Erin and Josephine Colclough’s first outing – they obviously have their dad’s speedy legs as they finished…