Tag Archives: cross country

Saturday 16th December can only be seen as a major triumph and remembered as such. The infamous Warley Woods course, fields with athletes from both Warwickshire and Worcestershire, a dry mild day – were the melting pot for what was a masterclass from juniors-masters athletes competing for BRAT, with medals for both team and individuals. Going into the weekend, selection for the upcoming Intercounties in Loughborough next year would have been at the forefront of many minds. Each race had its favourites, underdogs and stakes for the athletes involved. Many BRATs who raced in the WMYACCL aimed to showcase their form in the championship. Prepared by the weeks of Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday sessions set by their respective coaches, the stage was set. Proceedings began at 10:45 with the U11 boys’ race and set the tone for the day to come. The boys took Warwickshire Gold with our three scorers…

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A great start to the season with the club in 4th place overall with 49 athletes competing across the age groups. Star team of the day was the U11 Boys in 3rd place with the U17W 7th, U17M 6th, U11G 6th, U15B 8th, U13G 8th, U13B 4th, U15G 7th so excellent results across the age groups.  Individually we had some great performances with U11G Nya 5th, U13B Ollie 6th, U11B Charlie 9th with top ten finishers. But it does not show the true picture of the performance with lots of athletes moving up an age group and still achieving high placings.  Then there is the individual improvements of athletes which all adds up towards that 4th overall team on the day!  Remember that if you finish in 50th that is still 151 points for the club so all your efforts add to the overall total.  Thank you again for the…

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The junior cross-country league season was completed in February, but the biggest events of the XC season are yet to come. There were a number of county/regional races that took place over December and January, attracting the best athletes from Birmingham and the surrounding area. As a result of outstanding performances in these regional championships, we have had a number of athletes selected for the inter-counties XC championships and the English Schools XC championships. In both of these events, athletes will represent their county in a national level competition. Make no mistake about it, attaining county selection is a major achievements, so we’d like to congratulate the following athletes on their selection and give them a big “good luck” ahead of their upcoming races: Inter Counties XC Champs – Saturday March 11th – Prestwold Hall:  U13G: Amira Emery U15B: Jack Price U15G: Alba Smith-Pena U17M: Dylan Teasdale, George Astbury, Morgan…

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For the second year in a row we have finished 5th overall team out of 21 teams in total, so a lot to feel positive about. We went into the last race in fourth position but narrowly lost that position. Looking back over the previous few years we have finished: 21/22 – 5th 19/20 – 12th  18/19 – 15th  17/18 – 19th It’s pleasing to see that we have consolidated our improvement from last season. During the XC series we had 63, 58 ,57, 51 and 56 athletes competing across the five races.  So there has been a massive improvement in the number of athletes that are turning out to compete which has made the difference.  We can’t emphasise enough the importance that you all make to the overall team position so you all contribute to the success of the club if you win or finish further down the field! …

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Warley Woods was the place to be……

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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,…

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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.

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Midland XC League 2021-22 The women have bounced back from the Covid-19 XC drought with a brilliant set of performances across the four Midland XC League races this season. It has been great to see the team back in action on the hills (of which there were many) and mud (very much saved till the end). We’ve welcomed a couple of new members, who seemed to have enjoyed themselves enough to sign up for more! The women raced at some exciting venues this year with the first race at Betley Court Farm, followed by the tough Stratford course and iconic hills of Burton Dassett. The season finished at the trusty Leamington, where they were finally joined by the BRAT men which resulted in some much needed support on the course. Despite the infamous ditch being deemed unsafe, an alternative ditch was soon sought and the detour provided some serious mud…

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