Ladies National XC
National XC Championships 2022 The National XC Championships is probably the most iconic cross country race going, especially when it is held at the famous Parliament Hill, London. With the cancelled race in 2021, there was a genuine excitement amongst club runners up and down the country. BRAT had just about managed to scrape a team, which sadly got thwarted by Covid-19 the week before. The women were sadly missing Eloise Lee, who is no stranger to the joys of racing at Parliament Hill, so they decided they had to make the most of it for her and just enjoy the muddy course. Arriving at the National is genuinely like no other race, tents littering the hillside. With this year’s mud, there was an air of ‘Glastonbury’ about the place to add to the excitement. After watching several junior races, and concluding that it was probably going to be the…
Ladies Cross Country
The women are so happy to have XC back and have been off to a great start in the first two league races. The team finished 4th at the first race near Crewe and 6th at the second race in Stratford, putting them 5th overall. Thanks to all the ladies who have taken part so far. We are always looking for more recruits so please get in touch if you’d like to join the team email: bratladiesxc@gmail.com The next race is the county champs on 8th Jan and we could really do with some seniors joining the Warwickshire team. We currently have a Warwickshire masters team plus an U20 and a strong senior Worcestershire team. Entries close this week!
Another amazing BRAT junior XC performance!
Before I go into how well you all did (yes, you did well!), I want to mention about how you, and we as a team can be even better. This isn’t to take anything away from anyone’s performance, but rather, it’s a sign of how far the team has come. We are challenging the best teams, there’s no reason why we can’t break into the top 3 at the next event. You have 6 weeks until the next league race in Walsall (16th January). 6 weeks is a decent amount of time to put in some consistent training, and maybe add in a few additional races too. With regards to training, you know the drill. Keep consistent and work hard. It will pay off. Talk to the coaches if you want a specific training strategy. All of the coaches bring a wealth of experience and have all run cross-country, we…
Men’s XC team shine at Northampton
By: Martin Ludford (XC Team Manager – Men) What an amazing result the Birmingham XC League at Northampton on Saturday 4th December. Following our very encouraging start to the season in race 1 last month, BRAT recorded their best ever result, taking 2nd place in race 2, behind only Birmingham University, and beating all other local rivals in the process. Inspired running by our 24 BRATs meant we had our six A team scorers (Adam Peacock, Henry Brocklehurst, Chris Pickering, Karl Welborn, Dan Robinson, John Stolberg) all home inside the top 40, and our score of 130 put us well clear of Tipton in 3rd place 1 University of Birmingham 3 4 6 8 12 15 48 2 BRAT Club 5 13 19 20 35 38 130 3 Tipton Harriers 16 23 26 31 53 54 203 4 Loughborough Students 7 18 45 49 58 60…
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…