Fantastic effort to everyone who took to the Welcombe Hills on Saturday in the 2nd Birmingham League Race at Clopton Park. The temperature had lifted a bit after a pretty cold week, and an eerie mist hung over the course which shrouded some of the higher parts. It was great to be racing alongside the ladies for the first time this season, and they stress tested the course for us which was undulating but not too muddy except in a few small areas. The ladies had a cracking race, finishing 5th out of 24, with first counter Virginia in an impressive 12th position out of a field of 400. This is incredible progress and great testament to the improvement throughout the squad, as well as much greater participation. Well done Massey ladies!
Massey men had 32 runners take the field which was an increase in numbers from the previous race. Well done to the debutants in the Birmingham League for Massey Ferguson: Nick Harwood, Mark Blaszczyszyn and Tom Wood, and also great to see a few returning to the ranks for the first time this season. It was a tough course to make your debut on, and to run generally so please come back in January and February! The first hill at the start is always a killer, but probably not as bad as the second big one, and the general undulation which was inducing motion sickness in some of the team. We also had a casualty in the team with Darren Chambers having to withdraw through injury, hopefully nothing too serious. The top 12 was unchanged from Telford, although there was some shuffling around of places, including in the top 6 counters. Overall though some great bunching throughout the squad, with many coming in within seconds of each other, working together as a team and really pushing each other on.
The ‘A’ Team finished a few points down on the last race, and one place lower in 12th which sees us also drop one place in the league, also to 12th. The ‘B’ team was 6th again, and 6th overall, and the strength here in pushing up close behind the ‘A’ team is helping take points off our rivals. We are only 2 points behind Tamworth in 11th, with King Heath only 15 points behind us in 13th, so every place and point is going to count in the next 2 races. Make sure you memorise the vest of these 2 clubs and do what you can to get past them!
Overall though a great day out, and excellent performances throughout: well done for braving a tough course. Next up is Cofton Park in the Birmingham League on Saturday 13th January, we raced here 2 seasons ago and it is another undulating course. That is 6 weeks away so plenty of time to get some decent training in and make improvements. For those who can’t wait that long, we have the Winter Handicap races coming up next weekend, and we are also entering a team in the Warwickshire XC Championships on Saturday 6th January at Warley Woods, near Birmingham. This a similar format to the Birmingham League races, and a great way to start the new year and get some sharpness before Race 3. Can you please contact me if you would be interested in entering, email direct (rosstcooper@aol.com).
Have a fantastic Christmas, hopefully I will get chance to catch up at some point over the festive season.
Many thanks
Ross, Men’s Captain
Results below:
Individual Results
47 288 38:49 Dean Clarke A Team
95 290 41:28 Ross Cooper
96 310 41:30 Chris Moore
98 287 41:32 Dave Clarke
105 313 41:44 Jason Nicholson
106 298 41:49 John Hosie
113 315 42:12 Mick O’Shea B Team
115 292 42:13 Alex Cotterill
128 312 42:45 Simon Neale
129 285 42:47 Simon Brown
133 303 42:55 Gary Lawson
153 307 43:47 Nick Luntley
174 566 44:46 Nick Harwood
180 321 45:15 Ian Redford
182 306 45:18 Jose Luis Sanchez
190 309 45:47 Alan McDougall
191 299 45:53 Tony Hoy
202 282 46:35 Mark Blaszczyszyn
205 304 46:48 Dave Lee
207 296 47:11 Pete Hall
222 324 48:43 Dean Semple
226 565 49:39 Tom Wood
239 281 50:42 Nathan Bignall
243 317 51:02 Peter Paprcka
260 327 52:47 Martin Smith
261 301 53:14 Martin Judge
262 314 53:19 Ian O’Donnell
275 323 57:51 Philip Sellars
279 289 59:56 Daniel Connolly
280 316 60:21 James Padvis
288 320 78:58 Dave Phillips
DNF Darren Chambers
Senior Men Team Results
A Team
1 Telford AC 3 6 8 14 20 29 80
2 Worcester AC 4 13 19 27 30 35 128
3 Cannock&Stafford 1 5 25 26 53 69 179
4 Halesowen A&CC 11 24 31 34 42 44 186
5 Bromsgrove&Redditch 12 21 32 40 43 55 203
6 Bournville Harriers 33 36 45 50 63 87 314
7 Stratford upon Avon AC 16 28 56 68 70 102 340
8 Black Pear Joggers 7 57 59 73 75 79 350
9 Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers 17 18 22 54 136 161 408
10 Tamworth AC 10 23 46 83 134 139 435
11 C.L.C. Striders RC 9 15 84 97 116 142 463
12 Massey Ferguson RC 47 95 96 98 105 106 547
13 Kings Heath Running Club 52 60 77 89 131 149 558
14 Gloucester AC 2 80 88 114 130 166 580
15 Northbrook AC 71 91 99 100 120 126 607
16 Spa Striders 49 61 90 112 158 171 641
17 Dudley Kingswinford RC 48 123 148 150 175 179 823
B Team
1 Worcester AC 37 38 41 64 85 92 357
2 Bromsgrove&Redditch 58 62 74 82 93 104 473
3 Halesowen A&CC 51 65 76 86 94 109 481
4 Telford AC 39 66 67 78 101 157 508
5 Stratford upon Avon AC 118 119 122 125 132 135 751
6 Massey Ferguson RC 113 115 128 129 133 153 771
7 Black Pear Joggers 108 124 127 140 144 159 802
8 Bournville Harriers 111 117 141 147 155 164 835
9 Northbrook AC 145 162 165 211 212 216 1111
10 C.L.C. Striders RC 151 154 197 206 252 257 1217
11 Kings Heath Running Club 163 178 210 213 228 234 1226
12 Dudley Kingswinford RC 187 198 200 208 218 229 1240
13 Spa Striders 176 201 203 232 248 274 1334
Senior Men Series Points Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match 4 Total
A Team
1 Telford AC 59 80 139
2 Cannock&Stafford 113 179 292
3 Worcester AC 182 128 310
4 Halesowen A&CC 182 186 368
5 Bournville Harriers 231 314 545
6 Bromsgrove&Redditch 375 203 578
7 Black Pear Joggers 263 350 613
8 Stratford upon Avon AC 281 340 621
9 C.L.C. Striders RC 409 463 872
10 Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers 515 408 923
11 Tamworth AC 627 435 1062
12 Massey Ferguson RC 517 547 1064
13 Kings Heath Running Club 521 558 1079
14 Northbrook AC 624 607 1231
15 Spa Striders 603 641 1244
16 Gloucester AC 811 580 1391
17 Dudley Kingswinford RC 703 823 1526
B Team
1 Worcester AC 445 357 802
2 Telford AC 324 508 832
3 Halesowen A&CC 449 481 930
4 Bromsgrove&Redditch 709 473 1182
5 Bournville Harriers 703 835 1538
6 Massey Ferguson RC 871 771 1642
7 Stratford upon Avon AC 949 751 1700
8 Black Pear Joggers 1067 802 1869
9 Northbrook AC 1053 1111 2164
10 C.L.C. Striders RC 957 1217 2174
11 Kings Heath Running Club 1129 1226 2355
12 Dudley Kingswinford RC 1265 1240 2505
13 Spa Striders 1175 1334 2509
