Men’s XC Captain Rob Andrew reports:
BvH Masters were in action last weekend at Derby in the National X-C Relays hoping to follow-up on the recent success at the 10k Road Championships in October. There were two men’s teams running in the M35 age category and a ladies team, although I’m not sure what has happened to the ladies result as they are not on the official link.
http://www.bvaf.org.uk/
The men’s A team finished 3rd in the M35 category and 5th overall – beaten by two M45 teams. Our ‘B’ team was unable to complete the race. The course was 2 laps, approx 3.1km in total, and was firm and fast. It was very compact, skirting around the outside of the athletics stadium, making it an enjoyable event to watch and to keep track of what was happening overall.
On first leg Rob Andrew (10:42) put the team in 7th place overall (5th in the M35 category) and Stuart Pearson (11:21) came in 15th – both benefitting from the fact that the first leg is like a genuine race, and the course is less churned up.
Sean Rose (11:20) took over from me and kept us in it finishing in 8th place (5th in the M35 race) still within touch of the leaders. Ed Hartley (12:41) enjoyed running as an M35 on second leg for the B team.
On the third leg Paul Thompson (10:36) produced our performance of the day pulling the club through into 4th place overall (3rd in the M35 race). Kevin Peace (14:18) made his debut for a club relay team on the same leg, and like Ed and Barry ran for us in the younger age-group.
On the fourth leg Sam Chatwin (11:20) dropped one place to 5th overall, but crucially maintained our position as 3rd in the M35 race. Barry (15:10) took over from Kevin and ran what would have been 9th fastest for the M65 age-group (although for an M35 competitor it looked like he’d possibly burnt the candle at both ends !)
Finally Orlando (10:43) ran strongly to secure 3rd place in the M35 race following up from his recent international exertions in Ireland.
Overall a good day out and an event that I hope we continue to field strong teams in future. Thanks to all who raced and to Kerrie, Katie, Linda, Gareth, Lesley and the ladies team for your support.
A big thankyou to Rob Andrew,Mens`XC Captain, for `sorting out` the Entry and BvH Teams for this prestigious event.An enjoyable occasion for the most part,but it was a shame that we weren`t able to field stronger teams on the day.`Overall a good day out`, and 3rd place in the M35 AC an achievement for the individuals concerned, and for Bournville Harriers in particular.The 2 lap Course(3.1k) was ideal for XC Relays.Most people ran well,some very well indeed,but I was disappointed with my own run which was `off the pace`.Hope to put things right next year.Running is a mental activity as well as a physical one,and running last in an incomplete Team,perhaps,makes it harder to motivate oneself.Maybe I need my own personal Sports Psychologist! Eating/drinking at the right time and warming up properly should also improve performance!
Thankyou,once again,to our wonderful supporters.